Being an Original

You will all be embarking on the greatest journey in about a month.  High school will be over and you will have many paths to choose from.  Some of you have already accepted that your life is your own and that you make choices everyday that will propel you forward.  Others may blame everyone else for your life and the choices you make. What we do not see is that the world requires us to think.  There will be no multiple choice test for you to fill out at work or before you buy a home.  You will have to think.  Be an original in all aspects of your life.  I want you to watch this TED Talk and tell me how it applies to you.  Are you a pre-crastinator, a procrastinator, or an original?  Does he say anything in this talk that you can take with you as you prepare to head down your next road? 

The people we meet

The people we meet in life leave a profound impact on who we are currently, as well as, who we will become.  Look back over your four years in high school and think about those people who have impacted you.  Write your post this week as a thank you letter to that person.  Remind that person how you met and then go on to explain how they have impacted your life.  If you wish to change the names to protect the innocent, go ahead.  

New Beginnings

The 4th quarter begins today and this is the beginning of the end.  After this quarter, you will be leaving not just a grade, but high school.  Your days as a high school student will end, and you will assume the responsibilities of an adult.  Life only gives us so many chances to start over.  When those chances present themselves, it is imperative that we embrace those chances and make the most of the opportunity.

For your blog this week, think about how you will use this new beginning to make changes.  Think about what new beginnings mean.  What do you need to do before the end of the year to help you enter the adult world confidently and ready?  Tell us where you will find yourself after high school and the steps you need to take to make it happen.  

Revenge

I am sure you have heard that The Lion King is closely connected to the storyline of Hamlet.  We see the idea of revenge in both stories and the outcome of what happens when we seek revenge.  For this week's blog, I want you to think about revenge.  How do you see revenge?  Is it justifiable?  Think about your world and how this idea of revenge emerges?  What is the result?

Explain your definition of revenge, where you have watched revenge play out, and what the result of revenge is.

Betrayal

Betrayal is a powerful word.  It is about disloyalty and about breaking trust.  We will see betrayal in Hamlet.  Think about why people betray others and what that says about the state of trust in a relationship.

In this week's blog, think about how one character is betrayed in Hamlet and what that causes. Then connect that betrayal to your world--pop culture wise.  Look at how betrayal is portrayed in film, television shows, books.  What is the result of betrayal and how do people in the pop culture pieces feel about the betrayal?

Roles of Women

Each generation sees a change in the roles assigned to women.  When my mother was growing up, the expectation was for women to grow up, get married, have the 2.5 kids and the house.  My generation had different gender expectations.  

For this week's blog, think about the expectations being put on your generation.  Examine how those roles are conveyed: television, movies, songs.  

Your post should include the following information:
1. What roles or expectations are placed on women today?
2. How do you see those roles/expectations being conveyed?
3. What are your thoughts on those roles?

Loyalty

We often hear people say that we live in a "dog eat dog world."  With this in mind, we need to look at where our loyalties sit.   What makes a person loyal to another?  How do we know if someone is loyal to us?  What happens to break that loyalty and how do we feel when we are disloyal?  

Think about this idea.  In your post, explain how and why you are loyal.  Who are you loyal to and why does loyalty matter?  

Innocence and Experience

This week as you read keep in mind how we see our characters remove their rose colored glasses.  What do I mean by this?  Often times we go through life thinking that the way we live is the truest and clearest perspective possible.  Sometimes, we do not see the evil that exists in the world or we do not see the world from outside our small glimpse. 

Think about how in the Harry Potter series Professor Snape was perceived.  Throughout the entire collection, unless you read very closely, you see him as a villain.  He is seen as evil.  This is our innocence in this world.  We are unable to see the world for what it is.  At some point, the curtain is pulled back and we are able to see the entire picture.  When that happens, we see that Snape was really looking out Harry and only had his best interests for him as a result of his love for Harry's mother.  

The same would hold true for those who did not believe that He Who Must Not Be Names was still alive.  They only saw the world in a certain light.

For this week's post, look at how a character in your book gains an element of experience in the book.  They move from being innocent to seeing the world more clearly;they gain experience.  Provide the context for how this happens and then write  about the result of this happening.  

Government and the Individual

As you begin reading this week from A Clockwork Orange and 1984, think about the governments presented in your texts.  What is the government like?  How does the government impact the lives of those who live within/under that government?  Who has power and who does not?  How is it different from your government?  

In your post this week, explain the government in your book and how it impacts the individual thus far.  Give examples from the book and then explain how you would feel if you had
to live under that government rule.  

Movies and societal problems

Over this break, I am sure you watched at least one movie or show that addresses a societal problem the writers wanted you to take note of.  I had entirely too much screen time.  It was nice to just veg out while watching the television.  Of the shows I watched, these are some of the social problems observed: society's reliance on technology and how it will destroy culture; bullying and its long term effects; drug use and how drugs destroy the lives of those who use, distribute, and are in the lives of users; the corruption of power and man's desire to acquire it.  

I want you to think about what you have watched over the last two weeks.  Identify the societal problem presented within the film and what message is being conveyed through this medium.  In your post, include the following information: a brief summary of the film or show, how the problem is presented, and the overall message conveyed.  

Anthem

In reading Anthem, you have been exposed to a world very different from your own. Choose one aspect of Equality's world and comment on it. For your post this week, include the following information:

1. Type out a quote from the book that addresses the part of the world in Anthem you wish to comment on.
2. Explain how this world impacts the characters and their lives.
3. Contrast this world with the world you live in.
4. Give your thoughts on why the government in the book would create this type of society, and what they hope to accomplish.  

Reflection

The world we live in is often forgotten because we are so busy looking at our computer screens, cell phone screens, or television screens.  Conversations get lost and we disconnect from one another.  Last week you had the opportunity to listen to the stories of others.  These stories were not prepared or preplanned.  They happened as a result of being engaged with others.  

For this week's blog, I want you to recall one aspect of the interview you participated in and tell us about it.  Once you have described this story, tell us what the story has taught you.  What do you take away from these stories.  How did the experience affect you?  I know we talked about these briefly last week.  Now that you have had time to digest it all, it is time to write about it.  

War: the Individual or family

      We have been looking at how war affects the individual, the family, the community, and the country.  Look at your world.  What songs, poems, books, movies have I not shared with you?  Choose one of those and then write about how war affects the individual or the family. 
     You need to explain a little about it so we have a context and then you can explain how war is working in the genre.

Book Passage

In looking at the book you read the last four weeks, The Things They Carried or The Yellow Birds, I want you to choose a passage that you think is significant.  In order to choose, you need to think about the following:

1. The passage should influence the entire book.
2. Your explanation should unpack the passage by looking at what is written and how it is written? (This means lit terms.)
3. It should affect the reader

Type out your passage and explain how the passage you chose fits in with the above three items and why you think it is significant.  

Family Time

We encounter people everyday who have opinion about war, ideas on courage, thoughts on heroism.  For this week's blog, I want you to conduct a mini-interview.  You will ask two people the questions provided and then record their answers.  One of them needs to be at least 20 years older than you.  The other can be any age.  

1. How do you think war affects communities?
2.  What does it mean to have courage?
3. What makes a hero?
4. You can create the fourth question.

When you post, list your questions, the ages of those you interviewed, and then your own answers.  After you have done these ideas, explain how you see these ideas show up in your book.  Maybe, someone you interviewed answered how you thought a character might? Maybe your ideas manifest themselves in your book.  This should be a solid paragraph after you have added your interview answers.  (Keep the interview answers PG.)

Connections

You are reading either The Things They Carried or The Yellow Birds.  Each book addresses a specific war.  However, the war that is addressed is only part of the story.  There is a timelessness to these books.  They capture humanity, people, ideas, emotion.  For this week's blog, I want you to make a connection.

Choose a character or scene in the book.  Explain that character or scene very clearly using quotes to back up the description.  

• For the character think about the following: What does this person look like? How do they behave? What motivates them?  What role do they play in the text?  
• For the scene, think about the following items: What does this place look like? What happens here? How does the scene change?  

Once you have described the character or scene, you need to make a connection to something in your world that is like your character or scene.  It could be a character/scene in a movie, book, television show, someone you know (do not use name), a speaker in the song.  You will describe and explain how these two are connected. 

Your post should be about two paragraphs in length.  

War in Film

War movies abound.  They are everywhere.  What is their appeal and why do we go in flocks to see them?  I have seen many movies about war over my lifetime.  I have watched war through the news in my lifetime.  To say that film captures war is not for me to say.

This week, I want you to watch two war movie clips on YouTube.  Choose from this list of films below and then you can choose the YouTube clips you can watch.  (By can, I mean you are able to watch emotionally.)

1. Unbroken
2. Lone Survivor
3. American Sniper
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Saving Private Ryan
6. Born on the Fourth of July
7. Platoon
8. Courage Under Fire
9. Band of Brothers
10. Forrest Gump

While you are watching these clips take notes on the following things:

• What is the language of war?
• What kinds of relationships develop during war?
• What conflicts or struggles are had during war?
• How are emotions dealt with during war?

When you post, briefly describe each clip you observed.  Then choose to answer the questions above about your two clips.  After you have answer the questions, explain what this tells you about war.  You are looking at about two paragraphs.  You should cite specific details about the clips to reinforce your arguments.  

Heroes

We have been taking notes the last two weeks where we have looked closely at archetypes and how they emerge within our pop culture.  This week, we will begin the analysis of Beowulf and look at the Epic Hero.  For this post, I want you to think about the heroes in your world.

Think about the heroes you watch in movies.  Choose one hero and explain to us why this person is a hero.  Include some of the following information:

• His/her name
• Describe him/her physically
• Economic status
• Personality traits that make him/her heroic
• Do he/she have any of the following archetypes: unhealable wound, shadow, nemesis.
• What is the motivation for his/her behavior?

Be sure to be as specific as possible and be sure to really explain why your hero fits the title.  Your response should be about two paragraphs long.  Be mindful of your grammar and your spelling.  Your writing is public.  

Hamlet

The story of Oedipus: The king and queen of Thebes were desperate for a child and, after numerous failed attempts, went to an Oracle to receive advice about their problem. The Oracle told them that any son that was born to the king and queen would eventually kill the king. Soon, the queen (Jocasta) became pregnant with a boy (naturally) and so, in order to prevent the prophecy from becoming fact, the kind and queen gave their son to a servant to kill. The servant, however, gave the child to a shepherd who raises the child with his wife. Years later, the son (named Oedipus) was made aware of a prophecy about him that would cause him to kill his father and marry his mother. In an effort to prove the prophecy wrong, Oedipus fled home and headed to nearby Thebes. On the way, he encounters: a man whom (through circumstances) Oedipus kills and a sphinx (which has been causing a problem for Thebes) that Oedipus successfully defeats which allows him to become king of Thebes thereby marrying the queen. Though he did not know if immediately, through trying to prove the prophecy wrong, Oedipus did in fact kill his father and marry his mother. He later went on to blind himself using a pin, is exiled, and wanders in the woods for many years; but that’s a different story.

Hamlet is often analyzed as having Oedipal undertones (Oedipus being Hamlet and Jocasta being Gertrude). Can you analyze Hamlet is this way/see this as being at all likely? Why or why not?  

Reflection

Whenever we embark on a journey that feels all uphill or one that engulfs us, it is easy to quit.  This research paper is a challenge.  It asks you to do so much that you are not use to doing or have not done in a while.  For this week's blog, I want you to use this to reflect on this process and paper.  Use the questions below to guide your thinking. 

1. What did you learn about yourself as a writer?  How do you write, what is hard about writing, and what works for you as a writer?
2. What did you learn about yourself as a reader?  How do you read, gather information, process information?
3.  What did you learn about yourself as a student?  What are your work habits, how do you do at meeting deadlines, what motivates you, how much effort do you give the work you produce?

Write this like a letter to me telling me your thoughts on all of these things.  Be specific.