Last summer I had a really interesting job. I was a customer service representative for a big children's toy store. Six of us were trained in answering the phones and processing information on the computer. Aside from a few complaints by some unhappy customers, it was a great job for teaching me valuable computer skills. I took notes directly on the computer as I spoke with a customer, and then I wrote a report. Once the report was finished, I saved my work to the hard drive and to my flash drive and forwarded a copy of the report to my supervisor. I have learned that a computer is a wonderful tool for a writer. Why did the toy company ask sales representatives to write directly on a computer?

A.
The company believes that most employees have illegible handwriting.
B.
The company knows that writing directly on the computer is more efficient than taking handwritten notes and typing them later.
C.
The company believes that writing directly on the computer makes a writer more creative.
D.
The company wants to help summer students develop their computer skills for the workplace.

“dylan was a revolutionary,” bruce springsteen said in his 1988 speech inducting dylan into the rock and roll hall of fame. “the way that elvis freed your body, bob freed your mind.” early masterpieces such as “a hard rain’s a-gonna fall” and “visions of johanna” and “like a rolling stone” fueled a debate: are rock lyrics poetry? the answer must be yes, because on thursday, dylan was awarded the highest honor for a writer: the nobel prize in literature. the swedish academy, in making him the first american winner since novelist toni morrison in 1993, cited him for “having created new poetic expressions within the great american song tradition.” –“dylan's nobel prize settles debate: rock lyrics are poetry,” dan deluca what is the best summary of the author’s claim? rock lyrics can be like poetry. bob dylan was a revolutionary. musicians deserve nobel prizes. more americans deserve nobel prizes.

In a 10-12 sentence response-style paragraph, explore the degree to which you agree or disagree with faulkner’s message. “i believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. he is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. the poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. it is his privilege to man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. the poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to him endure and prevail” (faulkner 773-775).

Follow the directions (and example) given to create your own sonnet. william shakespeare's sonnet 130 my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun, coral is far more red, than her lips red, if snow be white, why then her breasts are dun: if hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head: i have seen roses damasked, red and white, but no such roses see i in her cheeks, and in some perfumes is there more delight, than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. i love to hear her speak, yet well i know, that music hath a far more pleasing sound: i grant i never saw a goddess go, my mistress when she walks treads on the ground. and yet by heaven i think my love as rare, as any she belied with false compare. instructions: write fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. use a sonnet rhyme scheme. use the first eight lines to set up your idea (the octave). use the last six lines to conclude your idea (sestet). (variety may be added by including a substitute foot from time to time such as the two anapests in line 3 above.) work in small groups giving each other feedback. reading the sonnet aloud allows you to hear the words and rhythms of the lines. generate questions that will clarify the use of words and forms. for example: was the idea of the sonnet presented in the first eight lines? how was sound used to enhance the meaning of the sonnet?