Except for journalism, all classes started a new unit. English 8 students began their second STEAM unit. We’re keeping some of the details under wraps for the next few days, but it involves bullying, numbers, and literacy. We read Thank You, Mr. Faulker as an introduction to the unit and a chance to practice a new literacy skill.

English I Honors students began a short unit on short stories (see what I did there?) and an introduction to how to write about literature. We began by looking at a poem by Li-Young Lee and its summary and analysis.

The Gift

To pull the metal splinter from my palm
my father recited a story in a low voice.
I watched his lovely face and not the blade.
Before the story ended, he’d removed
the iron sliver I thought I’d die from.

I can’t remember the tale,
but hear his voice still, a well
of dark water, a prayer.
And I recall his hands,
two measures of tenderness
he laid against my face,
the flames of discipline
he raised above my head.

Had you entered that afternoon
you would have thought you saw a man
planting something in a boy’s palm,
a silver tear, a tiny flame.
Had you followed that boy
you would have arrived here,
where I bend over my wife’s right hand.

Look how I shave her thumbnail down
so carefully she feels no pain.
Watch as I lift the splinter out.
I was seven when my father
took my hand like this,
and I did not hold that shard
between my fingers and think,
Metal that will bury me,
christen it Little Assassin,
Ore Going Deep for My Heart.
And I did not lift up my wound and cry,
Death visited here!
I did what a child does
when he’s given something to keep.
I kissed my father.

The handout is available here.

Homework

• English 8 Studies: none.
• English I Honors: 
  • turn in the electronic version of your initial 500-word essay (or turn in a blank document if you don’t have it — what’s important is the element of practicing turning it in online) at the Moodle site;
  • complete the online survey;
  • complete the benchmark test (by Monday).