It is close to Thanksgiving. It is hard to believe. We are about to embark on the holiday season and all that it brings with it. On Facebook, so many people are posting what it is that they are thankful for. It seems cliché, yes. However, it is apropos. So, I would like for you to take part in this ritual.
For your post this week, please make a list of the following things you are thankful for:
1. A person and why.
2. A material possession and why?
3. A place and why?
4. A piece of advice and why?
5. A moment of learning and why?
I
will go first:
1. I am thankful for my two daughters. They remind me everyday of the person I want to be, should be, and the person I will be.
2. I am thankful for my iPad. I love having reading material forever at my fingertips.
3. I am thankful for my home. It is a place built with my husband, for our daughters and our new puppy. It is a safe haven, a place where sweatpants and a hoodie are always acceptable.
4. I am thankful for the advice my dad gave me when I was younger. He always told me that when you go into a fight never take something you wouldn't want used on you. It is appropriate in so many ways. I think about this when I engage in debates, when I face adversity and when I need to remember my human side.
5. I am thankful for learning how to cook. I worked in a kitchen with a woman named Bev who taught me so much about working with food and flavors. She taught me to not be afraid and to try any recipe that I wanted. I love to experiment with food and new recipes thanks to working in
restaurants during college.
When we read a book that speaks to us, it stays with us. There are many books that when I read them, I mark them up. I annotate them until the page becomes a mix of mine and the author's words. These words will resonate for some reason or another. Sometimes it is because we agree with the thinking; sometimes it is because on that day and time it fit with our state of mind; sometimes it supports a belief we have. The reason the words resonate is personal.
Your blog this week is to pull out a quote from a piece of school appropriate literature and explain why it resonates. Now, don't pick something that is so personal that it makes you uncomfortable to share. Type the quote, gives us some context, and explain why it matters to you!!!!
For example: This is from The Things They Carried by Time O'Brien.
"And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war. It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen" (85).
The Things They Carried is a book about the Vietnam War. I love this quote from the book. It reminds us that war is often not what we think it is. It reminds us that we are human. When we hear of war on television or in video games, it is about the fighting. O'Brien reminds us that at the heart of war is a human. It is about making a statement and no one caring what is said.
We have been looking at the author's purpose in the songs we listen to for Music Mondays. However, author's purpose is present in any text we read, any art piece constructed, any movie created, and so on. The way we see art differs from person to person just like the way we hear a song is different from person to person. I enjoy street art. I find it to be incredibly interesting and I love the commentary it makes about society. However, the word art has so many connotations.
The word "Art" like any word is subjective. We see art everyday and do not stop to appreciate it. Go to the site, Huffington Post, and look at what the different individuals say about the role or definition of art. Once you have have read through those definitions, go to the below websites and choose two art pieces to discuss.
What to discuss:
1. Give the title of each art piece before you discuss it. (If the art piece does not have a name, describe it as best as you can.)
2. Explain which artist's definition applies to each artwork.
3. Explain what you see when you look at the art piece.
4. What is the purpose behind each artist's piece of artwork? What is their message for society?
Websites to find the artwork:
1. http://kurtwenner.com/gallery/street_gallery/
2. http://www.streetartutopia.com/?p=8241
As always, keep all posts school appropriate!
