Both Blocks
Due for Tues Read Bragg's Where Alabama Inmates Fade Into Old Age. Blog Post What should we do with old prisoners? Do you have any sympathy for old prisoners? What determines this sympathy? Why do we withhold sympathy for youthful prisoners but lend it to older prisoners? Does Brag’s depictions of these prisoners play with your sympathies at all? Does our societal understanding or picture of what “danger” looks like play into our sympathies? Due over Break Nothing! It's a HW free break :D Due for Fri Dec 6th, 7:00 AM Your final draft of the Observation assignment on Turn It In
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F Block
For Tuesday Read through Act 3 Scene 2 of Julius Shakespeare. Come up with 2 reasons why Antony's speech to the people was more persuasive than Brutus'! Think about the "rhetorical triangle" when thinking of your notes. Over the Break: Nothing! It's a HW Free break! G Block For Wednesday Read through Act 3 Scene 2 of Julius Shakespeare. Come up with 2 reasons why Antony's speech to the people was more persuasive than Brutus'! Think about the "rhetorical triangle" when thinking of your notes. Over the Break: Nothing! It's a HW Free break! For Both Blocks
I'm going away this week! I'll be in DC with a group of my journalism students, missing class on Thursday and Friday. Because of this, this week's homework will be a little bit more independent, so strap in and make sure you make the time to be productive in our class and outside of it! You have my permission to leave 6167 in order to interview people for your project! Don't betray my trust! Here are your tasks: 1. Read the rest of Act 2 (don't worry, the scenes are short) through the first 105 lines of Act 3 Scene 1 (SOMETHING BIG HAPPENS). As you read, take a few notes on the portrayal of women in the play and the civic duties that include immorality (like lying, hiding, and killing). 2. Listen to the second half of this podcast - from about 17:30 through the end, where Dr. Thompson says "So what's interesting is that I'm not sure I'm a fan" - on wrestling with the toxicity of Shakespeare's writing. 3. Produce a video, a podcast, or a transcript (include photos!) in which you go around the school and ask 5 individuals (teachers, aides, or students) about their opinions of Shakespeare and his portrayal of women. If it's really good, we'll probably ask if we could put it up on Denebola! Also, it's worth 30 points. 4. Read through the anonymous op-ed that confesses resisting Trump on a secretive, administrative level. We'll be discussing this in conjunction to our reading the day I return to school. I'll be in DC from Thursday through Friday! Spend some of the time that I'm out on your "on campus" observation.
Both Blocks Due for Tuesday Read the following profiles on young football players taking their lives: Bleacher Report and New York Times. Blog post: Would you let your kids play football? Due for Monday 1. Come to class with the rough draft of both observations! 2. Read Bragg's "A Thief Dines Out, Hoping Later to Eat In” and “New York Bodegas Become Islands Under Siege” What meaningful distinctions should exist within the broader term “criminal” or “crime”? Why should these distinctions exist? What purposes should the criminal justice system serve? Who or what is at fault for these sentences: “Mr. Leon talks almost fondly about the days when he first came to New York, when robbers were slow to kill. They were professional. "They would take the money and would not even hit you," he said. "But in the last three years the robbers are children. They're not experienced. They are nervous and scared." And worse, he said, "they have no experience living." They do not appreciate their lives, he said, or his.” “She said it was maddening to defend him. Every time she gives him her card and tells him to call, so she can help when he gets out, he throws it away. She cannot compete with prison. The food at Rikers is tasty, said Mr. Mahes. For supper, he had pork chops.” C Block
Due for Thursday Bring in your Hiroshima book! Due for Friday Complete your profile assignment brainstorm; share this with me on Google Drive. Due for Monday 1. Complete your profile assignment proposal. 2. Read any two of the following articles 1. The Cut's Piece on Instagram Celebrity 2. NYT's Piece on Finstas 3. ESPN's piece on Madison Blog Post: All of these articles were published before you were in high school - has much changed? What dynamics or understandings of social media have changed or remained constant? What human truths do these articles try to expound upon? What purposes or dangers does Instagram in particular meet? D Block Due for Wednesday Bring in your Hiroshima book! Due for Friday Complete your profile assignment brainstorm; share this with me on Google Drive. Due for Monday 1. Complete your profile assignment proposal. 2. Read any two of the following articles 1. The Cut's Piece on Instagram Celebrity 2. NYT's Piece on Finstas 3. ESPN's piece on Madison Blog Post: All of these articles were published before you were in high school - has much changed? What dynamics or understandings of social media have changed or remained constant? What human truths do these articles try to expound upon? What purposes or dangers does Instagram in particular meet? F Block
Due for Wednesday Read Act 1 Scene 1 of Julius Caesar. Respond to the Schoology post in paragraph form - around 150 words! Recently, Kanye stated that he intends on running for the office of the president in the year 2024. After reading Act 1, Scene 1 of Julius Caesar, why do you think he might have a chance? What forces might try to stop him or prevent him from winning the race? What chance would you realistically give him if he registers as a democrat? As a republican? Why? What ideas from your reading carry through into your reasoning? Write 150 words! Due for Thursday Read Act 1 Scene 2 of Julius Caesar. Come to class with notes and quotes that try and compare the political atmosphere of Rome in the text to historical or contemporary political landscapes. Is the cultural and political landscape of Rome recognizable to a modern reader? Why or why not? Due for Monday Read Act 1 Scene 3 and the first 205 words of Act 2 Scene 1. Respond to one of the three prompts in Schoology in paragraph form - around 150 words! Prompt one: How do we see the conspirators rationalizing and "filling in the lines" in Act 1 Scene 3 and Act 2 Scene 1? What might Shakespeare be suggesting about humanity, justice, or ambition with these passages? What examples from science, the news, or history can we use to see if these are true? Prompt two: What logic does Brutus use in order to dissaude the conspirators from killing Athony? Are there distinctions in the types of killing there are? Are some forms of killing more justified than others? Does this instance meet that standard? Prompt three: What does Brutus say about his concerns with Caesar becoming king? Are his fears justified? What examples from history or current events can we use to see if this is true? G Block Due for Wednesday Read Act 1 Scene 1 of Julius Caesar. Respond to the Schoology post in paragraph form - around 150 words! Recently, Kanye stated that he intends on running for the office of the president in the year 2024. After reading Act 1, Scene 1 of Julius Caesar, why do you think he might have a chance? What forces might try to stop him or prevent him from winning the race? What chance would you realistically give him if he registers as a democrat? As a republican? Why? What ideas from your reading carry through into your reasoning? Write 150 words! Due for Thursday Read Act 1 Scene 2 of Julius Caesar. Come to class with notes and quotes that try and compare the political atmosphere of Rome in the text to historical or contemporary political landscapes. Is the cultural and political landscape of Rome recognizable to a modern reader? Why or why not? Due for Tuesday Read Act 1 Scene 3 and the first 205 words of Act 2 Scene 1. Respond to one of the three prompts in Schoology in paragraph form - around 150 words! Prompt one: How do we see the conspirators rationalizing and "filling in the lines" in Act 1 Scene 3 and Act 2 Scene 1? What might Shakespeare be suggesting about humanity, justice, or ambition with these passages? What examples from science, the news, or history can we use to see if these are true? Prompt two: What logic does Brutus use in order to dissaude the conspirators from killing Athony? Are there distinctions in the types of killing there are? Are some forms of killing more justified than others? Does this instance meet that standard? Prompt three: What does Brutus say about his concerns with Caesar becoming king? Are his fears justified? What examples from history or current events can we use to see if this is true? This week, work on your revolutions project. Seriously. Work on it!
Following this week, we'll be diving into William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, asking questions about political philosophy, rhetoric, and the right to rule. So, pick up a copy of the book for the Tuesday we return from the long weekend! Here's an amazon link: LINK. Please note: I am planning to start our unit on Rick Bragg's Somebody Told Me on the 15th or 18th of November; we don't have enough copies in the English department to distribute them, so please find your own copy! Here is an Amazon link if you are interested in purchasing your own copy. If you need any help procuring a copy of our text, please let me know!
C Block Due for Tuesday Read Chapter 4 Blog post: One common notion that we notice, time and again, is how the repeated exposure to something - even as appalling as the fallout of a nuclear strike - can quickly lose any immediate impact on an observer. Revisit a page on which we can see this happening, copy and paste a sentence that exemplifies this, and consider how this can connect to or be true for our lives today: what is something that, if we wrote down plainly and simply, people might find disturbing or appalling, but - due to repeated exposure - we have accepted/ become inured to it? Due for Thursday Find some time to sit somewhere outside of our campus for 30 minutes, taking notes that can become an observation that tells us "the story of that location", rich with evocative details! Due for Friday Complete your group explication; print out 3 copies of your completed explication for class: Group 1 - P. 29 - 31 “Mr. Tanimoto, fearful for his family…they parted as casually - as bewildered - as they had met.” Group 2 - P. 35 - 36 "All day, people poured...bowed to him, in thanks." Group 3 - P. 45 - 46 “ Mr. Tanimoto found about…why didn’t they come to help these people?” Group 4 - P. 49 - 51 “Early that day…to the people in the park.” Group 5 - P 80 - 83 “ A new municipal government…the efforts of their conquerors to keep security on atomic fission.” Group 6 - P. 110 - 111 “Back in the hospital…he would henceforth bear: Father Makoto Takakura” Due for Tuesday Know that you'll have an in-class explication on a passage from Hiroshima! D Block Due for Tuesday Read Chapter 4 Blog post: One common notion that we notice, time and again, is how the repeated exposure to something - even as appalling as the fallout of a nuclear strike - can quickly lose any immediate impact on an observer. Revisit a page on which we can see this happening, copy and paste a sentence that exemplifies this, and consider how this can connect to or be true for our lives today: what is something that, if we wrote down plainly and simply, people might find disturbing or appalling, but - due to repeated exposure - we have accepted/ become inured to it? Due for Wednesday Find some time to sit somewhere outside of our campus for 30 minutes, taking notes that can become an observation that tells us "the story of that location", rich with evocative details! Due for Friday Complete your group explication; print out 3 copies of your completed explication for class: Group 1 - P. 29 - 31 “Mr. Tanimoto, fearful for his family…they parted as casually - as bewildered - as they had met.” Group 2 - P. 35 - 36 "All day, people poured...bowed to him, in thanks." Group 3 - P. 45 - 46 “ Mr. Tanimoto found about…why didn’t they come to help these people?” Group 4 - P. 49 - 51 “Early that day…to the people in the park.” Group 5 - P 80 - 83“ A new municipal government…the efforts of their conquerors to keep security on atomic fission.” Group 6 - P. 110 - 111 “Back in the hospital…he would henceforth bear: Father Makoto Takakura” Due for Tuesday Know that you'll have an in-class explication on a passage from Hiroshima! Possible Four Paragraph Explication Models The question that all explications are essentially asking you to address is: “how is this passage doing the thing that it is doing?” When you feel like the author is trying to say something or raise a question • INTRO - Start by talking about the concept/topic that the author wants to touch on. Then, introduce the passage and the context in which it is found. Finally, end with your thesis that runs along the line of “In this passage, Hersey ultimately VERBS CONCEPT.” e.g. “By presenting a sympathetic, contrasting perspective, Hersey raises doubts about the moral standing of waging total war.” • BODY PARAGRAPH ONE - What is the initial impression presented in the first segment of your passage? Focusing in on the first or so paragraphs, what is the understanding of the passage that you are presented with? What does the first segment do? • BODY PARAGRAPH TWO - How does the rest of your passage play off of/ subvert/ affirm/ qualify that initial impression? How does it answer questions or raise doubts or criticisms about the impression/ understanding that the first part establishes? What meaning or significance can you draw from this dynamic? • CONCLUSION - Why does understanding this concept or what this author has to say matter? When you notice a lot of cool things the author is doing to give an impression/ understanding of a subject • INTRO - Start with some sort of hook (that isn’t a super vague, general statement or a dictionary definition), introduce the passage, and then end with your thesis - Through DEVICE, AUTHOR does THIS THING. • BODY PARAGRAPH ONE - Focus on the major device that is being used or a major moment in which the reader can see a device being employed/developed • BODY PARAGRAPH TWO - Focus in on another moment where this device is being employed/developed again OR draw a distinction between a “major” and a “minor” device and focus in on another device that also aids in establishing the impression of the subject. • CONCLUSION - Here is where you show off your other notes in a construction that says “these are some other things going on in this passage (I’M SO SMART) but these aren’t as important as the things I wrote about (SEE, I’M SMART). Or you can just go with the traditional “so what?” Kind of conclusion. |
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