By the sweat of one's brow...or bro?

Ah, the power of the female mind! No offense, guys. But it stands to reason that one should be suitably impressed by someone who asked "How can a rational being be ennobled by any thing that is not obtained by its own exertions?" Mary Wollstonecraft asked this question, as I'm sure you know, and dared the women of her time to answer it for themselves. It was a bold move in 1792, but I think it is a question that, for all intents and purposes, seems timeless. What is she really asking here? Is it specific to women? Is the notion of a "rational being" limited to one sex or the other? No need to be politically correct here, it is far better to say what you really think. Just be sure to qualify your answer with relavant examples, either textual or personal. (300 words/35pts)

Aphorisms R Us

Our old pal Henry David Thoreau said, "Men have become the tools of their tools." Now, this quote was written way back in 1860 before tools such as cell phones, the internet, iPods or PDAs were even a glimmer in Steve Jobs' eyes. How much relevance does this pithy little declaration hold in these modern times? What do you think it means? What did it mean to him? What does it mean to you? (250 words/25pts)

The First One...

Welcome to your very first (unless you had me last year) 204 blog post. We will be using this blog frequently, both as a tool and a resource to get the most out of our time, and as a place we can go to share thoughts and valuable information and ideas whenever we need to. Each week, there will be a question posted that you all must respond to in the allotted amount of time. These questions may be a jumping off point to class discussions, a support activity to lend insight or knowledge to what we are doing in class, or simply a thought-provoking way to get you to look at the world around you and marvel at your place in it. These questions will not be simplistic, and they should not be done when you only have 5 or so minutes on the computer; rather, they are questions designed to make you think and your posts should reflect that. You will be graded weekly on your responses by their content, so I would encourage you to try to not leave them for the last minute. Each one will have a word minimum, but don't be discouraged by that. I care much more about the quality of the thought you put into your responses rather than the quantity of the words you use.
Now that the formalities are finished, I would like you to consider the following: You are now entering your junior year. Some people say that this is the toughest, most demanding year of high school for a variety of reasons. What do YOU think? Do you have any expectations about what this year should bring? What are you hoping to get out of your AP Lang class and your junior year in general? What are your fears about this class and/or about 11th grade? Are you where you want to be academically, socially, physically etc? If so, how do you know? If not, why do you think you aren't? (300 wrds/25pts)