The following journal entries are from both the junior and the senior English AP classes, taught by our wonderful literature teacher, Mrs. Sharon Williams. She has been teaching for 15 years and has opened up a whole new world of learning for each and everyone of her students. I would like to dedicate this page to her and just say thank you.

Every six weeks our English class writes a page or less about a poem or story that we just finished reading. This helps with the writing skills we will need for college. It also helps us break down a story to our level so we can better understand it.

Jessie's journal entry, "Elements of Beowulf"

Beowulf contains the main elements of Anglo-Saxon literature. These elements are kennings, caesuras, and alliteration. Beowulf uses these three important elements very well. An example of a caesura, which is a pause in the middle of a line, is "I drove Five great giants into chains, chased All of that race from earth." The pause in this line is noticed by the comma after the word chains. Another element is using kennings. An example of the use of kennings is when the words goldshining hall were used in place of meadhall. A kenning is nothing more than a synonym. The last element is the use of alliteration. Alliteration is the repeating of the first letter in several consecutive words. An example of the use of alliteration is in this line, "Out from the marsh, from the foot of Misty Hills and bogs, bearing God's hatred Grendel came, hoping to kill anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot." All of these elements were used in Beowulf, and they could be easily found.

Jenifer's journal entry, "Love of Nature. . ."

In Bryant's poem "Thanatopsis," he illustrates the Romanticist's love for nature. In this poem, Bryant talks about the open sky, earth and her waters, and planets. Bryant even tells his readers that they may learn a lesson about life by looking at nature. Bryant felt that nature was a continuous cycle of life and death. He tells his readers not to be afraid of death because everything in nature dies. In another of Bryant's poems "To a Waterfowl," the narrator is watching a duck fly south for the winter. In Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker," he describes how nature looks all around Tom Walker. The Romanticists believed that nature teaches everyone a lesson about life.

Rachea's journal entry, "Important Piece of the 17th Century":

The piece called "The Temptation of Eve" was the most important piece of the Seventeenth Century to me. This piece is important to me because it makes me think about obeying God. When we reviewed this piece in class, I thought to myself about my obediences to God's word. I think that if I were in Eve's position, I would have been very tempted to eat the fruit too. Because of reading this piece, I realized that the world is the way it is because of selfishness. I have decided from this day forward I will try my best to be less selfish, so that no other person will have to suffer because of my selfishness.

Katie's journal entry, "Pope's Quote"

"Tis education forms the common mind: Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."

I believe Pope meant for this quote to be positive. I think he meant that education can expand one's mind. He is comparing education to a tree. If just one man is educated, he can teach others. If one branch grows, the tree grows fruit, sooner or later. One tiny seed can make a big tree, just as one mind can educate many minds.