Oh, the Places we do love!

I love my house entirely decorated in holiday garb. Everything looks so complete. The smell of live greens and the stockings hanging on the chimney make my family room one of my favorite places to be.

This week, I want you to think about your favorite place. What makes it so perfect? What emotions does it evoke in you? What does it look like, smell like, sound like?

Do not tell us the place. Just like last week, I want you to describe it for us.

Character

Songs play an important part to how so many of us understand the world. I want you to listen to this song by Tom Petty, "Wildflowers." (Click on the song title. It is the link.) This song paints a picture of a person simply by the lyrics. By using the word "you," he makes it personal to the listener. I have always felt like this was about me, knowing full well it is not. However, I do relate to the idea of wanting to throw all matters of conformity out the window while embracing all of the wildness of nature that is pure and good, so I could find myself sitting to bask in the sunlight while feeling the wind against my face without any cares or worries. The boat out at sea paints the picture of freedom in all directions. The idea of complete freedom. By implying that the listener needs these, the lyrics implicitly--indirectly--tells us the listener feels restricted, held captive, unable to be who they want or do what they want.

I want you to write about a person without telling us who they are directly--explicitly. You will show instead of tell. You will help us to see the person for who they are by using indirect characterization. I would type this in Word so that you can paste your answer. I will want you to bring this to class. Be creative and school appropriate.

Writing

It is interesting to me to look at and think about all of the reasons people write. We all come to writing for our own personal reasons regardless of whether or not a teacher makes us. Many came together during the month of October to explain for the National day of writing and to answer the question, "Why I write." Attached is the link to a website entitled Figment. (click the word Figment it is the link.) Here students, adults and others submitted reasons as to why they write or in some cases why they do not write. I want you to go to this site and read through at least two essays. Do not just pick the first two. Go through and read the two that appeal to you. Describe the reason they write and comment about their writing on our blog. Do not just take the easy road and say, "It was good." That would unacceptable!!!!!

Seriously look at what they wrote, how they wrote and the reason they wrote. Comment on one of the three items. Once you have described two from the Figment site, I want you to answer the question, "Why I write." Do not just say, "Cause mean old Mrs. Perrin says I have to or I fail." If you write that, guess what--that would be uncool!!!!! Think about why you write. It can be in poetic form like mine or in paragraph form.

I write to better understand the world

and my place in it.

I write to give voice to ideas yet unborn

soon to be birthed into a world filled with confusion.

I write to breathe life into moments

painted by words and given shape by emotion.

I write to remember and forget; to learn and to unlearn

I write to play with words yet untouched and watch them

unpack themselves into disheveled beauty.

I write because sometimes survival is necessary

and a concrete manifestation of thoughts set me

free.

Darkness and truth

Our book Night is a memoir. Memoir is when the author tells of a significant event. It is not an autobiography that starts from birth until their current spot in life, but rather a focused lens on a significant moment. Often times when we read memoirs, we question. We search for truth. We think about how perspective comes into play.

In looking at our book Night, I want you to look at the darkness. What parts of our book speak to darkness? What happens in the darkness? How does the darkness influence the emotion, the senses, the perspective? Keep in mind our archetypes of light and dark. How do the light and dark differ in our text? Use quotes to support your answers.

Once you have thought about the darkness, think about what we know to be true. What did Wiesel shed light on for you as a reader? In other words, what do you know now as a result of Reading the book that you did not know before reading the book?

Please comment on one other person's blog after you have added your own thoughts. This is worth 25 points.

Quotes

Our book, Night, is filled with beautiful and painful prose. One quote in particular that speaks of despair to me is when Wiesel refers to Zalman while on a march:

I soon forgot him. I began to think of myself again. My foot was aching. I shivered with every step. Just a few more meters and it will be over. I'll fall. A small red flame...A shot...Death enveloped me, it suffocated me. It stuck to me like glue. I felt I could touch it. The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me. To no longerexist. To no longer feel the excruciating pain of my foot. To no longer feel anything, neither fatigue nor cold, nothing. To break rank, to let myself slide to the side the road...(104)

The despair in his thoughts is palpable. The short sentences create a slow staccato movement in the writing. The personification of Death wrapping itself around him to suck the life from him shows Wiesel as vulnerable and unable to get free. The most powerful writing, though, comes in the anaphora near the end. He repeats "To no longer" three times showing that his hope, a concept which escapes him comes in death. He sees life and what he is going through as tough and hard. I think what he is enduring is unspeakable and unfathomable. To him the desperation for hope and a freedom of life where he is no longer imprisoned by those who have committed these crimes against him is unbearable and only found in giving up. However, after this moment he sees his father and realizes that to give up would not only be a death sentence for himself, but also for his father. His father needed him.

I want you to choose a passage that you underlined in the book Night, type it out and then analyze it. Look at the structure, the wording, and using your literature terms explain what you see going on. You should also explain why you chose the passage you did. (Use mine as an example.)

Your grade this week will also include you going back and commenting on one other person's analysis and explanation. Maybe you see something in their quote they missed. Maybe, you agree. What ever you respond with, it must be kind, and appropriate. Do not just say, "Nice quote." That is not enough. This blog will be worth 25 points. Happy thinking!!!!!!!!

Music

My daughter is doing research on The Beatles and will give a book speech on them this week for her English class. It made me think about how often music creeps into our lives. So often when we read a book, we forget to think about how music sits perched in the background. Our story takes place during WWII. Listen to this song played by Glenn Miller, "In the Mood." (Click the song title. It is the link.)

This song was released in the late 30's and early 40's. People in the states danced and listened to this type of music finding solace from what was going on in the world. Music is often what we turn to in moments when times are tough, when we need inspiration, or when we need to understand.

After you listen to the music, think about what modern music would capture the mood or energy of this song? What music do we turn to in our most recent war that helps us to understand, try to understand, honor, or try to honor those who have and are fighting for us.

Write about one song and in what way it impacts those who turn to it in times of conflict. Many many songs have been written. You may go back to the Vietnam war to find even more songs. Incorporate the lyrics, song title, and artist in your explanation. Feel free to listen to many different songs before you find the one you wish to write about. Happy listening!

I watched the movie Soul Surfer with my youngest the other evening. For those of you who have not seen it, it is about inspiration, hope, and perseverance. We watched not knowing what to expect. But in watching, we saw how being indifferent impacts others. Elie Wiesel talked about this in his speech that we listened to last week. He discussed and explained how indifference is about inaction. Doing nothing. Watching. In the movie Soul Surfer, indifference would have cost Bethany her life. If her friends stood by doing nothing she would have bled to death. Had she herself been indifferent to the needs of those affected by the Tsunami, she would have lost hope and denied hope to those who knew and met her.

Indifference is the friend of the enemy as Wiesel explains. It permits the enemy to have power. Undeserved. I want you to look around you. Where do you see indifference? Describe a time you watched indifference occur.

When I was eleven, I was riding with my grandmother in her car. We were on our way to breakfast. This was my favorite part of spending time with my grandparents. Going out to dinner was not something my family did often. We did not have an abundance of money and for seven people to go out was costly. So this was something special my grandmother and I did. On our way to breakfast, we saw an elderly woman fall forward and face plant on the concrete. People did not stop. My grandmother, stopped her car in the middle of the road and told me to get out. I was to go to the woman's side and help her. I was eleven and clueless. I jumped from the car and ran to her side. I helped her turn over and her face was covered in blood. As I sat there helping her, a man came over and said he called the police. I held this woman's head on my lap while we waited. Once she was taken by ambulance to the hospital, my grandmother and I headed to breakfast.

My grandmother was a woman who took action. It would have been easy for her to keep driving. People were waiting for us. But, she was not like that. It was something she taught me. She refused to be indifferent to the fallen woman's pain.

This is what I want you to do. Describe a time where you chose to not be indifferent or a time when you witnessed indifference win. (Please protect the identities of those you describe. Do not include names in your answer.) What were you thinking in the moment?

Loss

In my family, we enjoy asking moral dilemma questions and psychology questions that ask those who are playing to make choices. You are now part of the discussion. I want you to think about what you have that is important to you. What defines you? What could you not live without? What would you give up and what would you keep?

Now, pretend that you are being taken from your home and you can only take what you can physically carry for long periods of time. You may or may not be able to plug in and whatever you choose eliminates something else from being chosen. What would you choose?

Think about the above questions. Answer carefully. Explain the significance/importance of each item to you. List each item and explain why it was chosen.

Darkness

We have been looking at the different Archetypes that exist in literature. These archetypes are one way that we may read and analyze a text. As individuals living in a world where we are bombarded by visual icons, and by visual interpretations of our words by way of texting emoticons, "sign language,"[the signs we see everyday either billboards, spam across the screen, advertisements, etc...] We are reading and interpreting all of the time. Sometimes, we do not even realize how much or how quickly we do this.

I am asking you to please watch this video and listen to the song. It is entitled, "Head full of doubt and road full of promises" by the Avett brothers. (click on the title. It is a link.) This brings in the idea of our archetypes, while asking us to think about what we know and who we are. Listen twice. Listen once to hear the lyrics and then listen while viewing to understand the video.

Listening without viewing: What is the artist trying to say in the song? What lyrics get to the heart of the meaning? What lines really jump out at you and make you think?

Listening while viewing: What is the video about? Do the video and the song match up? How does the video change your thoughts on the song? In the end, what is the artist trying to say?

Use your archetype notes to help you answer the above questions. As we go through the notes this week, you may add to your response through an additional response or you may wait until Wednesday to post once the notes are complete.

Tragedy

Look at your notes and the definition of tragedy. We use this word often. People will often say "It is such a tragedy" or "tragedy has struck again." Yet, Romeo and Juliet is considered a tragedy.

How does a story that is about true love get titled, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet? In looking at the definition from our notes, argue why the play is considered a tragedy. You must have quotes to support your answer to get all of the points.

Once you have made your argument, go back and comment on a peer's argument. You may discuss their points, ideas, but do not be nasty. If I find your response to be rude or nasty, I will remove it and take points off. This blog is also worth 25 points.

Fate

One of our big ideas is the idea of Fate. It is often said by many that fate is the reason they were in a particular moment at a prticular time, or that it was fated they would meet their spouse at a party they never intended to go to but decided to at the last minute. Fate is blamed and given credit for many events and meetings.

Look through the book, and think about the importance of the role of fate. Does it exist? Are the events in Romeo and Juliet guided by fate? Is fate an excuse?

Argue for or against the role of fate thus far in the play. Use the text to support your answer. Your points this week will also be dependent on you commenting on one other person's blog. Be sure to blog twice--once for yourself and once on another's argument. This week's blog will be worth 25 points.

Love

Yes, I am going to talk about this topic this week. Our second Act deals with the result of Romeo and Juliet seeing each other for the first time and kissing at the ball. Here, is the idea of love at first sight.

This idea has always been touted as a "romantic" idea only to be seen in Disney movies or romantic comedies. We see it in "Cinderella," "Snow White," "Little Mermaid," and many others.

I think there is a part of all of us that wants to believe that this type of relationship exists. We hope that we will see our dream across the room and our hearts will know before our minds that true love exists. However, love is more than this.

Yes, a spark may be ignited in an instant. This spark may burn us from the inside out with a desire to be with, dream of, and connect with our dream. But what is it that keeps the love glowing?

In looking at our play, love will show itself beyond the characters of Romeo and Juliet. Think about love. We know that love between man and woman involves many things. We are going to stick to the brain, heart, and soul components for this blog. (no physical discussion will be held.) Where does it come from? How do you know that you love? Is romantic love the only type of love? How does it evolve? Ultimately, how does it dissipate?

Reflection

I am a person who does a great deal of reflection. I look back at roads I have taken and think about what I have learned. I can recall one moment where I realized what it is that people have taught me. I wrote, "I am amazed what other people have taught me. Some teach me patience, some teach me disappointment, and others teach me silence." People teach us things everyday. I have learned recently that ignorance and blindness make people attack what they do not understand. I have also learned that when opinions are formed rapidly without knowledge a shell of understanding is formed and no argument can hold. In my youth, I struggled horribly with learning from people. My cynicism kept me from the glass half full and turned me to the opposite. As I have grown older, I have come to see people differently and learn to accept people regardless of their beliefs. This, however, was born out of seeing beyond my own place in the world. I have tried on other people's shoes and walked around in them. This has taught me much.

What I have found is that learning isn't something only gained in classrooms. Yes, it is where we are pushed, asked to think deeply and to demonstrate what we know. In addition, we learn from our surroundings. In Romeo and Juliet, we will see what happens when hate is learned and sides picked. In high school we learn more than books.

I want you to think about what you have learned this year? I do not want you to pick a class and list all of the vocab or dates learned. I want you to think BIGGER. What did you learn about yourself as a learner? What did you learn about friendship? What did you learn about family? What did you learn about relationships? What did you learn about high school?

These are just optional questions. You know what you learned this year. Please reflect without using names--this is not a slam fest where we attack others. Attacking other only breed animosity and anger. This is about finding future direction. We cannot move forward until we have examined the journey.

Loyalty

I have been watching the movie A Few Good Men, one of my favorites. It is about having honor and being a part of something greater than the self. It is about how honor starts with honoring yourself and those around you. However, it is also about loyalty. When I was in the military, it was imperative to be loyal. I was loyal to my platoon, my company, my unit, my country. However, loyalty does not just belong to those in the military. It is something we live everyday. We are loyal to our friends, we are loyal to our families, we are loyal to our spouse/significant other.

This idea will crop up in the pieces we read and the movies we watch. Romeo and Juliet will show us loyalty and its impact on those who abide and on those who choose disloyalty.

I want you to think about what loyalty looks like. Describe it. Who has your loyalty? Why do they have it? What is the cost of it? How do they lose it?

Friendship

In Romeo and Juliet, we will see friendship in many forms. So often our own friends are the guides we need through our darkest hours. I can recall many times when I have called upon another to help me carry whatever pain or fear that I had strapped to my back. Our friends are our confidants, our vessels to scream into knowing that our secrets will never be shared or dispersed.

I want you to think of the role of friendship in your life. What do you expect of your friends? What do you trust them with? What can they count on you for?

Thinking

I recently started thinking about how I have changed as a thinker over the years. As a kid, I would find myself gathering information from books. I read constantly. I still do. I also gathered information by listening to others. So often, the intelligent people I knew would reveal their wisdom through conversation. Additionally, I was exposed to other types of conversation that allowed me to come to my own conclusions about what they really knew. I found myself thinking in a straight line. I started at point A and ended at point LMNOP.

As the years have progressed, I have also found information through the Internet, databases, research, and now my iPod touch. It is information at my finger tips. I download apps that provide specific information focused down for my knowledge. If I want to learn about Mythology, I download the app. If I want to lose weight, I download an app. If I want to learn about local restaurant experiences, I download an app. My thinking has changed. My thinking now is an explosion. An idea will strike me and I will see information exploding out from that single experience to see the ripples, the fragments, the impact of one bit of information on many others.

I want you to think about how your thinking has changed. How have you changed the way you gather information and make decisions? Have you changed? If not, why have you not changed? What is the result of the world around you on your thinking?

Voice

I have been thinking a lot lately about voice. Where do our voices come from? How do we find a voice? At what point is it a good idea to muffle our own voices? To what end does having a voice provide us with identity, or a lack there of?

I can recall sitting at the kitchen table with the grown ups. My mother always had a rule for us to sit there and if it wasn't followed the privilege was revoked. Her rule--If you sit with the grown ups, then you are a listener only. Grown ups need to have their time to talk. I learned a great deal about conversations, conservation etiquette, and conversation appropriate public versus private topics. This was also where I started to find my voice.

To read this probably begs the question as to finding voice in silence. I know it sounds weird or contradictory. It is a paradox of sorts--to find a voice in silence. However, my voice rose out of observation and listening. I have always been an observer. I often get busted at the mall for sitting and watching others interact. They look at me weirdly and expect my gaze to quickly find a new location. But to me, a great deal can be learned through observing. I watch how facial expressions mask emotion, how body language fidgets or twitches tell us when the heart and mind do not agree, how eyes tell us what people really think when they try to cover up disgust, worry, sadness or fear.

My voice has changed because of this. I learned that to speak to my mother required a different approach than to speak to my students. I learned that my vocabulary switches dependent on the company I am in. I learned that there are some places where silence is stronger than response. Additionally, I learned that sometimes my voice gets lost and will only truly come out through writing poetry or stories.

I want you to think about your voice. How did you find it? What have you learned from it? Who do you change your voice for and why?

Outsiders

According to the dictionary, an Outsider is someone who does not belong to the group. I want you to listen to a song called, "Outsiders" by a band called Need to Breathe. (Click on the title of the song.) It is not important if you like the song.

What is important is that you listen and choose a couple lyrics to respond to. Once you have chosen your lyrics, explain why you chose the lyrics. What do you think they mean?

Think about how the band defines Outsiders. What does the band's definition mean? What are the benefits of being an Outsider?

The rest of the world has an opinion of what it means to be an Outsider. How do you think the world defines it and why? Think of an example in history where we see the idea of Outsiders and the result of being one. Explain.

Night

When I was a kid, I hated the dark. If I was the last one to go to bed and had to turn the lights off, I found myself running as fast as I could up the stairs sometimes taking them two at a time. It was my hopeless pursuit of light. For some reaon, the dark behind me was frightneing. The light at the top of the stairs provided me with comfort and as long as I did not look back, I could move forward.

In Language Arts, we have discuss archetypes. We discussed light versus dark: Light--hope, renewal, or bright ideas, the beginning of knowledge. Darkness--the unknown, ignorance, despair, the absence of knowledge.



In looking at these two ideas, I want you to define "Night" (not the book title) in your own words. What do we know of night? Why do you think people experience fear at night? Why do you think our author, Elie Wiesel, entitled his book Night? Use quotes from the book to support your thinking.

Material Things

I have a hard time getting rid of things. I am a keeper. I keep photos, letters, dried flowers, memories, books, etc... These things have emotional attachments to them. I remember my first journal. When I graduated from high school my best friend's mother gave me a journal. I was never much of a journal writer, but the book was perfect. When I went to basic training, I took it with me and wrote every day. It holds so much of what I was and how I evolved not only in age, and maturity, but as a writer too. Since then, I have filled 13 other journals with my musings, rants, poetry, letters, observations of my children, and whatever else I feel compelled to write. These journals are important to me. I am also a scrapbooker. I have made many scrapbooks for my family and spent hours designing and remembering. Even though these may not seem like much, they are things that I will take with me wherever I go.

In our book, Night, as his family was forced to leave their home many took prized possessions with them. So much was stripped from them, but they took what they could. I want you to think about what you would take with you. Why would you take those items? What value do they posses?

In addition to posting this week, your points will be determined on you posting to one other person's post. It does not have to be long, but it does need to be on topic and thoughtful.

Indifference

Elie Wiesel argues in his speech, The Perils of Indifference, that, "Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And therefore, indifference is always a friend to the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor--never his victim whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten."

Webster defines indifference as a "lack of interest or concern." In looking at these two definitions of indifference, it is necessary to look at our own indifference. I think we are all guilty of indifference at one time or another. As Wiesel questions if we do it for our sanity? To remain normal? He also cautions that indifference is dangerous. More dangerous than anger and hate.

I ask you to think about indifference. When have you watched indifference occur? Your witnessing of indifference may not ever be as dramatic as that of Elie Wiesel or soldiers in war. But I am sure it exists in our world. Perhaps you witness it here at school, at home, in Brunswick.

I watched one day, as a teenager, as my dog was hit by a car and no one stopped to help or check to see what could be done. My dog pulled herself out of the road and to the side where I picked her up to carry her in the house. Those who drove by were indifferent to her crying, to her struggle to move, to her dying. I do not know why? As the person who watched indifference be born, I was sickened by those who did nothing. I should also say, that I have also watched as individuals stepped up in other instances and did not allow indifference to be born. They helped when needed and reminded me of what it means to be part of the human race.

I want you to think about why people are indifferent?

Be mindful, that in this blog we are not to give names. We must respect others.