The Economy Crisis

Click on the title above to view a short video or the paste the link below into your browser. Perhaps these two have the solution to the current problems facing our country. What do you think?

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=a7871c34a8b0acc522f4

Choices

In The Highest Tide, Florence tells Miles O’Malley, “This is your summer, Miles. This is the summer that defines you.” (47)

Assuming her prophecy is right, how has Miles defined himself by the end of the summer? Or, put another way, at the critical defining moments of the summer, Miles makes choices that can be viewed in terms of loyalties or betrayals. How do these critical choices indicate the person that he is choosing to become?

Imagine

Snowman and the Crakers...plus maybe 3 more people. What will he choose to do? At the end of the novel, is Snowman a phoenix rising from the ashes and is there a hope for rebirth? Can he "Imagine"?

Margaret Atwood was in the process of writing Oryx and Crake, had mapped out the novel and reached the end of Part 7 by September 11, 2001. She recalls, "It's deeply unsettling when you're writing about a fictional catastrophe and then a real one happens."

She classifies Oryx and Crake as "speculative fiction" rather than "science fiction," since it "invents nothing we haven't already invented or started to invent....It's not a question of our inventions - all human inventions are merely tools --but of what might be done with them; for no matter how high the tech, homo sapiens sapiens remains at heart what he's been for tens of thousands of years - the same emotions, the same preoccupations."

Ultimately, "We are betrayed by what is false within."

The novel ends with Chapter 15. Post in your response what you think Snowman will do and what will happen in the next chapters.

Sideman

Many of our novels tell the story of loyalty/betrayal between two close friends. This relationship is often quite complex, but frequently one person emerges as the leader, while the other is the "sideman." Listen to Paul Muldoon reading his poem "Sideman," and post your response about how this poem might shed light on the changing nature of the relationship of the dyad in "Absolutely True Diary" or even in our current novel. (I do not have the text of the poem at this point, so you may have to listen to it several times.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvnlgjsXJ28

Character Foils

In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of the minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character.

In The Kite Runner, analyze the ways that the character Hassan functions as a foil to Amir, and the ways that their relationship illuminates the meaning of the work.

Opinionaire

Opinionaire

Identify whether your actions, present or past, are more likely to be similar (S) or dissimilar (D) with each of the following statements. Tally the results. Then read Baba’s statement from The Kite Runner (17-18) and post a comment about this passage, based from your own experience, as an interpretation of the meaning of the novel.

____ 1 Lie on your income taxes.

____ 2 Go over the posted speed limit while driving.

____ 3 Drink or smoke under age; use illegal substances.

____ 4 Cheat on a test or plagiarize a paper.

____ 5 Cheat on boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse, including casual flirtations.

____ 6 Lie about weight, age, or height.

____ 7 Lie to parents about school, grades, friends, what you were doing.

____ 8 Lie to your friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, teacher.

____ 9 Repeat a rumor, gossip.

____ 10 Take something from a store if you know you won’t get caught.

Total: Similar____ Dissimilar_____

from The Kite Runner: “There is only one sin…And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft….When you kill a man, you steal a life….When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness….There is no act more wretched than stealing.”

Love, loyalty, and betrayal

The novel, Shark Dialogues, asks the question: "When is love too much? When is it not enough?" (149) Is it possible to love someone too much? Do you think Pono was a good mother to her children? Was Duke a good father? What experiences from your life help you relate to these questions? to these characters and their issues of loyalty and betrayal?

Discrimination hurts us all

View the following video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7VbzzfMAuc.
First describe your initial reactions to it as a student. Then envision ways as a teacher you might use this video in your future classrooms to create powerful lessons.

Enactments

"People tend to replicate things they enjoy. Boredom inhibits learning. Enjoyment fosters creativity, a natural high." Csikszentmihalyi, Flow, 1990.

Watch these enactments on The Odyssey and answer the following questions:

1) Did the students seem to learn/comprehend the material as evidenced through their enactment?
2) Did they seem to be enjoying the learning experience, i.e. having "fun"?
3) Which video did you enjoy the most, and why?
4) As a future teacher, what did you learn from watching these videos?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RExpvv2zJo4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=chl3DZ8Ys2w
http://youtube.com/watch?v=965zTvxTcwI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9xnHKrNIu-s
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YNnftI6bbnE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=C9E7uWzNYWY
and another one on "Gift of the Magi"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBT7GhiceWI

Toxic Lies--The Betrayal of Heroes

Have you ever been betrayed by someone you trusted? a best friend, teammate, colleague, fellow worker, even relative? How did you feel? What do you do about it? In some cases, how can you pick up the pieces of your life and go on? This is a topic that touches us all, at one time or other, in so many ways.

So what? On a more global scale, watch the following video and think how you might ask your students to respond. Challenge: weave these components into a powerful lesson.

It is a short video about the environmental catastrophe created by the aftermath of the collapse of the Twin Towers and Building 7. And about those who are now suffering tremendously as a result of Toxic Lies told to them about the air quality at Ground Zero.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GFPBWj_G9Zc

War and the world today

As this year's election heats up, the topic of the war in Iran will become even more prominant and controversial. Challenge your students to think deeply about their stand on this issue and not just parrot back what the media or a popular candidate espouses.

Read the link provided to Wildfred Owen's classic poem, "Dulce Est Decorum Est." http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html Then respond to the following:

What does it mean to you to be patriotic? Should you be willing to die for your country? If you aren't, does that mean you aren't patriotic?

Voicethread.com

This is a really easy site to use for creating pod casts. Check out the "mash up" on Catcher In the Rye #69839 that was created this week and the podcast for "Love Poem" by Nims #68404 that currently is on page 16. Then post a response--or even better--create a voice thread yourself and tell us to go look at it!

Media Seduction

Please view the YouTube video at


http://youtube.com/watch?v=rMR9SfYjp8Q

and then post your comments as to how you will use this information on media seduction in your future English classes.

Violence in Our Schools

After the tragedy at Northern Illinois University this week, Governor Rod Blagojevich said, "If there is a way where this tragedy could have been anticipated, or stopped beforehand, we will find it."

Charles Steger, President of the University of Virginia, where a similar tragedy occurred less than a year ago, wrote in a letter to Northern's President Peters, "We would like to think that institutions of learning and of rational thought would be spared such madness. Sadly, this is not the case in today's world."

This is our reality as educators. What can we do about it? Please post your thoughts.