The winner of the presidential debate is....

ANAPHORA! It was the rhetorical device that was thrown around most.

Here's how nerdy I am. While watching the debate, I kept a chart of rhetorical devices and logical fallacies. It is not comprehensive. I got distracted by chatting with Mr. Lundin about it, so I didn't catch everything.

But here's yet another glimpse into the Word Nerd who is your English teacher.

McCain
Pathos (sad news about Kennedy)
Antimetabole (2)
Allusion to Eisenhower
Epistrophe
Ad Populum (The American worker, I still believe in the United States)
Anadiplosis (We came to power, and power changed us.)
Red Herring (Bear study)
Begging the Question (He has earmarked $ for pork barrel spending.)
Ad Hominem (maybe that’s not a lot of money to Senator Obama)
Red Herring (I didn’t win Miss Congeniality in the senate)
Red Herring (Ireland pays 11 percent business tax)
Ad Populum (look at them, my friends, you’ll be appalled)
Parallelism (walking the walk, talking the talk)
Anaphora (we have to, we have to)
Polysyndeton
Tricolon and Epistrophe (how we leave, when we leave, what we leave behind)
Pathos (let us win, we don’t want our kids coming back here)
Red Herring (this business about Pakistan, let me tell you my record)
Ad populum (one of the most popular presidents, one of the men I admire most)
Anaphora (I have a record)
Pathos (I will wear your dead son’s bracelet with honor)
Red Herring (you would think that with that kind of concern Senator Obama would’ve visited…)
Ad populum/Bifurcation (We cannot allow a second holocaust)
Bifurcation (if you sit down with that person, you legitimize his comments)
Red Herring (the average S. Korean is three inches taller than the average N. Korean)
Pathos (I love veterans)

Obama
Tricolon – many times
Anaphora (he’s right that…he’s also right that…)
Repetition
Hyperbole (this gas cost that is killing them)
Polysyndeton (and, and, also, also)
Begging the Question (opposing George Bush’s wrong-headed policies)
Hyperbole (health care problems are crushing people across the nation)
Parallelism
Anaphora (we hadn’t, we hadn’t)
Epistrophe (wisely, wisely)
Red Herring (I’m very proud of my VP choice, when asked about not going to Iraq)
Red Herring (General Petraeus has done a brilliant job)
Anaphora and Epistrophe (you said that, you were wrong)
Anaphora (we need, we need)
Bifurcation (if we don’t, Americans won’t be safe)
Allusion (McCain’s bombing Iran song)
Anaphora
Epistrophe (he may be a dictator, but he’s our dictator)
Pathos (I’ve got a bracelet, too)
Ad Populum (No U.S. soldier ever dies in vain)
Anaphora (we took our eye off)
Anaphora (you don’t muddle through)
Anaphora (they have funded)
Parallelism, allusion (walk the walk, talk the talk)
Pathos (my dad was a determined Kenyan)

Volunteers needed

We need about a dozen seniors at school on Monday from 10:30 - 4-ish. Let me know if you are interested and available to be there.

Students go back to school on...

TUESDAY.

We teachers will be there on Monday; you guys go back at the regular time on Tuesday. I do not yet know if it will be block or not. Get back to you on that.

An invitation

Who?
You, if you wanna.

When?
5:00 this Saturday until whenever

Where?
At my house.

What?
Pizza, cokes, cookies, informal English class, and AIR-CONDITIONING

Why?
We've missed 6+ days of instruction! That's a HUGE deal when the AP test is around the corner.

How?
E-mail, call, or text for directions.

Other questions?

No, you don't have to come. Only if you want to and have the means to get here safely. This is not an official YES-sponsored activity. Can you bring your friends who aren't in AP? I suppose so, but only if they're YES students.

You should bring something to write with and take notes on.

RSVP.

Two important things

First of all, I screwed up your homework assignment. I meant for you to do a STAARS paper on the first paragraph of PAGE 12, not page 13. The first paragraph of page 13 is not all that interesting. But on 12, now that's good stuff. Sorry for the confusion, and please pass the word along to your classmates.

Second, please keep the North Central campus in your thoughts. Their administrative building, which includes their sanctatorium and several classrooms, was damaged to the point that it will be unusable for the rest of the semester. They are only able to have ten volunteers at a time up there, and I have signed up for a shift to help clean. I know some of you are nearby and would like to help out, so I will inquire about the possibility. But I have a feeling between their staff and students, they will be pretty set. Regardless, it's a chance for us to realize how lucky we are at Southeast -- we will be able to have classes, almost as usual, much sooner.

I'm missing all of you guys and hoping you are well.

YES update

We officially have no school this week, September 15-19.

Because so many power lines are down, and they are live, it's not safe for anyone to be on campus, so please do not go.

I was so impressed to see '09 starting to rally the troops to help clean up, and I'm personally disappointed we can't assist in getting set back up. Spend some time helping your family dig out, and we'll all see each other soon.

If you're in my AP class, it wouldn't hurt you to read more of The Devil in the White City. You knew I was gonna say that.

Campus damage

None of these pictures should cause anyone any panic. I spent some time today up at campus with Mr. D looking at the damage. Our district facilities manager and Mr. Villalobos were also there (and there was a cameo from Mr. and Mrs. Mulholland - we just are all so concerned!).

Anyway, there will not be any school on Monday, for sure. We will keep you posted about what date we will return. These photos don't look good, but keep in mind, I didn't take pictures of buildings that were normal, and most of them are.

The good news is, the school's power as already been restored. The tricky part is that several power lines have blown all over the place and need to be fixed.

There will be a chance to volunteer with clean-up, and I will post more info when I have that.

Aftermath

Hi you guys. I don't know if anyone is checking this / has power, but just in case...

I went to the campus a couple hours ago, and there is some significant damage to the school. However, it's not anything we cannot handle.

Some classrooms had a lot of roof damage, and a couple have holes in the walls because of wood that flew around. Power lines are down all over campus that were ripped by metal flying around. The canopies are surprisingly okay although some are warped. Because the teachers don't yet know how their rooms fared, I'll refrain from saying which rooms got hurt the most. But mine is fine. The tree on the left side is more or less destroyed, and a bunch of metal smashed our garden. The shed behind the chem building is absolutely devastated.

The cafeteria, office, and college corner are fine. The gym is slightly damaged at one end of the roof, and some water got blown in under the doors, but nothing too bad. Our cool new signs at the front of the campus are toast, sadly.

But long story short, we'll be okay. This is not an official statement - it's just my guess - but I think it will take some time to ready the campus for the students to return. I have no idea how much time, whether it be a day or several. I will let you know as much as I know.

I hope you are all safe, safe, safe.

Our webcam

Out of boredom, we have tied a stuffed frog to our mailbox and are broadcasting over the Web. We've got over 350 people around the world watching this. Check it out, kids.

Stay safe.

The Devil in the White City

Buy it TOMORROW, in case we don't have school on Friday.

I want you to get started over the weekend. Seriously, if you have to spend 17 hours in a car, what else are you gonna do?