We’re pleased to announce that the 2015 PSR/Sacramento Scholarship Essay Contest is now open to high school seniors in Sacramento and surrounding counties (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, San Joaquin, Solano, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba). A total of $15,000 in scholarship money will be awarded to 12 students. The prompt for this year’s contest, chosen by a vote of our members, is a quotation from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who stated, “The world is over-armed, and peace is under-funded.”

To enter the contest, high school seniors must submit an original essay of 500 words or fewer describing their thoughts about Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s words. The deadline for essay submission is midnight on Wednesday, March 11, 2015.

The finalists will present their essays orally at a dinner beginning at 6 PM on the evening of Sunday, April 26, at the Dante Club, 2330 Fair Oaks Boulevard, in Sacramento, and a distinguished panel of judges from the community will select the first, second, and third place winners. First place will win a $3,000 scholarship, second place a $2,500 scholarship, and third place a $2,000 scholarship. The other seven finalists will all receive $1,000 each, and the two alternates will both receive $250. (We’ll send you another email in the near future with details regarding making reservations for the dinner. For now, just save the date!)

Detailed contest instructions and an entry form are available on the PSR/Sacramento website and are also attached in PDF format, along with a contest flyer. If you have other questions about the contest or would like additional information, please send an email toessaycontest@sacpsr.org or call (916) 955-6333.

We’d appreciate your help in bringing the contest to the attention of any high school seniors you know. We would also welcome your help in reading the essays and in selecting the 10 finalists and two alternates. Send us an email if you’d be willing to be an essay reader and participate in the finalist selection process.

Over the past 10 years, PSR/Sacramento has given out over $100,000 in scholarship awards. It’s through the generosity of supporters like you that we can continue to offer the scholarship essay contest every year. Tax-deductible contributions toward the scholarship fund can be made online via the donations page of the PSR/Sacramento website or sent by regular mail to PSR/Sacramento, 10 Dumfries Court, Sacramento, Ca., 95831. One hundred per cent of contributions made to the scholarship fund go directly to the students.

Thanks for your help in bringing the 2015 PSR/Sacramento Scholarship Essay Contest to the attention of this year’s class of high school seniors. And remember to save the date of Sunday, April 26, to attend the essay contest finals dinner.

Sincerely,

Bill Durston, M.D.

President, Sacramento Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility

2015 essay contest announcement w sig form

2015 Essay Contest Flyer

Hey IB seniors!

If you were absent Friday, October 10th, this is the assignment I need  you to complete by Monday, October 13th:

Chapter XI and Appendix

Questions for Discussion of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass For this assignment, prepare at least three passages (thematically linked of course) for question 1 AND three passages for question 2. Due Monday. You will not have advanced knowledge of which question you will be assigned to discuss for 10 minutes! So prepare both! Sorry, that’s IB.

To support your journey into the ‘highlands of the mind,’ I would like to share the following resources so that we may further develop an understanding of the historical and literary context surrounding Douglass’ narrative:

1. The Abolitionists, a PBS documentary, is fantastic! Abolitionist allies Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Brown and Angelina Grimké turned a despised fringe movement against chattel slavery into a force that literally changed the nation. This is a must see!

2. Characteristics of the Slave Narrative. This is an outline of the archetypal slave narrative plot, themes, and motifs.

3. Understanding Racism to End Its Effects. This essay describes the mythology behind antebellum white supremacy and the approaches African-Americans might take in order to refute such racist claims.

4. Three maps of the United States of America: 1820, 1850, and 1854

5. Frederick Douglass’ Vocabulary Defined!

6. Our reading schedule…Reading Schedule

This should suffice for now. I have other resources, but I don’t want to inundate you with too much. Check back soon for an update.

Kind Regards,

Mr. Coey

Hey Seniors!

Here are some great sample essays and other resources for your consideration:

Four essays written as part of the college-application process reveal students and their families going through tough economic times — and emerging stronger.

The winners of the SN&R’s 2014 College Essay Contest

UC Personal Statement Presentation

Personal Statement Unit

Common pitfalls to writing a personal statement

Dear students,

Bring your phone or music player today. Headphones might be helpful too.

Thanks,

Mr. Coey

Look at these examples! It’s quite easy actually.

Citing Drama

This would be ‘germane’ to your typed Antigone essay. Be sure to include a works cited page with the proper citation for your essay:

Sophocles. The Oedipus Cycle: An English Version. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald.   San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, 1977. Print.

Kafka, Franz. “Letter to His Father.” Trans. Ernest Kaiser and Eithene Wilkins. Legacies: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1995. 322-28. Print.

Kafka, Franz. “The Metamorphosis.” The Complete Stories. New York: Schocken, 1988. 89-139. Print.

Ninh, Bảo. The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam. Ed. Frank Palmos. Trans. Phan T. Hao. New York: Riverhead, 1996. Print.

–Coey

EAP (Early Assessment Program)
http://www.calstate.edu/eap/
https://www.ets.org/csu/about
English: Practice for the EPT (English Placement Test)
http://www.csuenglishsuccess.org/ept_practice_tests
http://www.ets.org/csu/about/ept/ept_sample_questions

Math: Practice for the ELM (Entry-level Mathematics Test)
http://www.csumathsuccess.org/exam_prep
http://www.ets.org/csu/about/elm/elm_sample_questions

Greetings all,

Below are examples of high-scoring IB English essays.

Score of 23/25

engalit_hl_sample9  

Enlish HL sample 9 examiner comments

Score of 22/25

engalit_hl_sample10_en

English HL sample 10 examiner comments

Score of 18/25

engalit_hl_sample12_en

English HL sample 12 examiner comments

Remember to write strongly focused topic sentences, and in each paragraph discuss the writer’s choices and the extent to which you appreciate those choices. If you discuss Kafka’s choices throughout your essay (perhaps 2-5 times each body paragraph) you will likely improve your evaluation of “The Metamorphosis” as a work of art.

Thank you for all of your hard work.

Kind Regards,

Mr. Coey

p.s. Spring Break is almost here!

My dear students,

I’m surprised to know that you haven’t discovered the wonderful world of audiobooks! You know, this can be a great way to experience great literature. In my experience, the best professional readers generally are NOT giving their work away for free, however. If you want a GREAT listening experience, you’ll need to go the the public library. Once there, you can often search for available audiobooks or search for the book title. Some audiobooks you can stream, or you can request the title and have it sent to your nearest library branch. It’s easy, and it’s a great way to read. Yes, this still counts as reading. And for you reading purists out there, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it!

Some free audiobooks are available through Youtube. Grab a cup of tea and enjoy someone else reading to you!

“The Metamorphosis” audiobook by Librivox

Also, some people process/learn better by listening and using their imagination. If this is true of you, then what are you waiting for?!

Kind Regards,

Mr. Coey

Dear students,

Again, thank you for all of your hard work!  Last week we wrote creative, Kafkaesque shorter stories and shared those stories with a small writing group. I hope you have had a chance to make revisions to your story (so that it is more Kafkaesque). By the way, I would like to thank my group for providing valuable suggestions for how to improve my creative writing.

1. Please proofread your shorter story prior to publishing in the ‘comment’ section of this post. Be sure to provide your user name (as I previously approved it); otherwise this website will think you are a different user.

2. Upload your shorter story. Due Monday at the start of class.

3. Provide positive comments about your classmates’ stories, specifically citing examples of Kafka’s style in their writing. Due Monday at the end of class.

Kind Regards,

Mr. Coey

Dear students,

Again, thank you for all of your hard work!  Last week we wrote creative, Kafkaesque shorter stories and shared those stories with a small writing group. I hope you have had a chance to make revisions to your story (so that it is more Kafkaesque). By the way, I would like to thank my group for providing valuable suggestions for how to improve my creative writing.

1. Please proofread your shorter story prior to publishing in the ‘comment’ section of this post. Be sure to provide your user name (as I previously approved it); otherwise this website will think you are a different user.

2. Upload your shorter story. Due Monday at the start of class.

3. Provide positive comments about your classmates’ stories, specifically citing examples of Kafka’s style in their writing. Due Monday at the end of class.

Kind Regards,

Mr. Coey