“Stranger Than Fiction”
This story, “”Stranger Than Fiction” is a study in the relationship between fate and free will. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles studies this relationship as well. In his play, he raises the question:
1) Does the world shape how we think or what shapes our lives?
2) Do we really know who we are and what our role is in the world?
3) Do we have the freedom to choose for ourselves?
4) Do the choices we make lead us to our fate even though we are the ones making the choice?
5) How can we know if we are really making the choice?
6) How are we to live our lives with these unknowns and uncertainties?
7) Can we change our fate?
8) What makes us good or evil once we know our fate and destiny?
Harold Crick, in this modern tale, is facing these same questions. Which of these questions does the movie answer or try to explain. Choose three or four of the questions that are answered in the movie and shape your answers into a short essay . Post your response by next wednesday the 24th, by 9 PM
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Independent Reading Blogs
The requirements for independent reading blog:(The details are also listed in the calendar under the first independent reading blog assignment)
On these days you should find a passage in your text and copy it onto your blog post. You should then explain how the passage helps to develop theme, characterization and/or setting. You may pose questions; you may state aspects of the story that are confusing; you may predict future events, etc. DO NOT use the passage to explain the plot.
Also, pose one or two questions you have that will help to guide your reading.
You should post by 9:00 PM every Tuesday and Thursday.
On these days you should find a passage in your text and copy it onto your blog post. You should then explain how the passage helps to develop theme, characterization and/or setting. You may pose questions; you may state aspects of the story that are confusing; you may predict future events, etc. DO NOT use the passage to explain the plot.
Also, pose one or two questions you have that will help to guide your reading.
You should post by 9:00 PM every Tuesday and Thursday.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Do you believe??
Most of us in the modern world believe that we are in control of our own actions and we have the freewill to determine our future. The ancient Greeks felt differently about this idea. Perhaps you may also feel that there is a destiny awaiting you. Before you make a rash choice, think about the following in relation to the life you live. Some philosophers believe that our actions are shaped by our environment and our DNA. Those philosophers use the term "determinism." Your life is solely determined by those two major factors. Muse about the possibilities of all three: complete freewill, destiny and determinism. Which of those seem more plausible to you and why? Can you think of a situation in which the three could coexist? Do they all exist together or does one idea/belief override others?
post is due by next Thursday night.
post is due by next Thursday night.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Who's he battling?
"Battle Royale" is a complex story, at the very least. If the narrator's story is symbolic of a black man's struggle in America(therefore, the narrator needs no specific name), and his struggle to find dignity, what are the forces which battle against him?
Each of the narrator's events/situations/dilemmas is symbolic of a larger, abstract idea. Choose one of these situations and explain what they are symbolic of, and how do the situations contribute to the overall meaning of the story.
The scene with the prostitute, the boxing match, the grappling for the fake money and the narrator's final speech.
Or
How does the title reflect the meaning of the story?
Each of the narrator's events/situations/dilemmas is symbolic of a larger, abstract idea. Choose one of these situations and explain what they are symbolic of, and how do the situations contribute to the overall meaning of the story.
The scene with the prostitute, the boxing match, the grappling for the fake money and the narrator's final speech.
Or
How does the title reflect the meaning of the story?
Grading scales for blog entries
What I am looking for when I ask you to write about the previous night’s reading:
(2 points each)
1) Writing is relatively free from grammatical, usage and spelling errors.
2) Writing that has enough detail to illustrate that you’ve read the homework
3) Depth of thought, either in asking insightful questions(not rhetorical ones) or insightful comments that illustrate complexity of the text
4) Evidence from the text that supports your insights and not plot summary
5) You avoid summarizing the plot, rather use the plot to illustrate your point.
I will post, as a comment, which number you are missing and your total points.
(2 points each)
1) Writing is relatively free from grammatical, usage and spelling errors.
2) Writing that has enough detail to illustrate that you’ve read the homework
3) Depth of thought, either in asking insightful questions(not rhetorical ones) or insightful comments that illustrate complexity of the text
4) Evidence from the text that supports your insights and not plot summary
5) You avoid summarizing the plot, rather use the plot to illustrate your point.
I will post, as a comment, which number you are missing and your total points.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
This I believe...
I believe in the power of an early morning run. Of course, I could talk about the health benefits of running, how running can help me live a happier, less stressful, more productive and longer life. As a high school English teacher, stress relief is important. Yet I would assert that the health benefits of running do not get me out of bed at 5:15 in the morning. I run because I believe that running is a creative act. I say this because I run the same route, everytime I run my morning run. My afternoon or weekend runs are often in different places or different courses. But my early morning run route is the same. Because of this routined route, my mind is allow the freedom to observe and the freedom to create . I feel something along the lines of a Henry David Thoreau vibe most mornings.
My creative moments are inspired by the weather conditions. Everyday is slightly different and in that difference I find a universe of possibility. I notice slight variations in the smell or texture of a breeze. In summer and spring, the trees transform the road into a collage of shadow and light. In the winter the branches create a simple calligraphy on the pavement. In the fall, the leaves create an impressionist painting.
On the very cold mornings the air is clear and the stars’ particular clarity reminds me of my singularity . I am here on this minuscule spec of earth running my even more minuscule route and I know that I am alive and have the power to imagine the cosmos’s wonder filled with black holes, galaxies, binary stars and planets in retrograde. I try to imagine what the Greeks saw in their night sky. Their mythology must reflect the extraordinary sight of the their night sky.
Some mornings the humidity is so thick and the air is so heavy with the fecund odor of the south that my imagination collapses time and I remember my childhood days of eating watermelon in the late evening with my grandmother on her screened-in porch.
The regularity of my foot strike and the consistent pace of my breathing allows me to think of things wholly unrelated to running. The more consistent the pace, the more my mind loses the self-consciousness of stress and I think of new ways to teach a particularly difficult concept. This paradox puzzles me but since I run with it, I feel more comfortable teaching it to my students. Because of my morning runs I am always trying lessons to inspire creativity in my students
In these times of powerful educational standardization, of graduation tests and end of the course tests and of the quantitative benchmarks, I must constantly remind myself of the yet more powerful creative imagination and the fundamental power of moral imagination. I put on my running shoes and remember Thoreau’s words: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” I believe in the power of an early morning run.
My creative moments are inspired by the weather conditions. Everyday is slightly different and in that difference I find a universe of possibility. I notice slight variations in the smell or texture of a breeze. In summer and spring, the trees transform the road into a collage of shadow and light. In the winter the branches create a simple calligraphy on the pavement. In the fall, the leaves create an impressionist painting.
On the very cold mornings the air is clear and the stars’ particular clarity reminds me of my singularity . I am here on this minuscule spec of earth running my even more minuscule route and I know that I am alive and have the power to imagine the cosmos’s wonder filled with black holes, galaxies, binary stars and planets in retrograde. I try to imagine what the Greeks saw in their night sky. Their mythology must reflect the extraordinary sight of the their night sky.
Some mornings the humidity is so thick and the air is so heavy with the fecund odor of the south that my imagination collapses time and I remember my childhood days of eating watermelon in the late evening with my grandmother on her screened-in porch.
The regularity of my foot strike and the consistent pace of my breathing allows me to think of things wholly unrelated to running. The more consistent the pace, the more my mind loses the self-consciousness of stress and I think of new ways to teach a particularly difficult concept. This paradox puzzles me but since I run with it, I feel more comfortable teaching it to my students. Because of my morning runs I am always trying lessons to inspire creativity in my students
In these times of powerful educational standardization, of graduation tests and end of the course tests and of the quantitative benchmarks, I must constantly remind myself of the yet more powerful creative imagination and the fundamental power of moral imagination. I put on my running shoes and remember Thoreau’s words: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” I believe in the power of an early morning run.
Is he or isn't he?? "The Man With the Enormous Wings"
Choose one side or the other, and illustrate your belief in whether or not the man with the enormous wings is just that or he symbolizes some abstract idea. First state your side, and then justify your opinion with evidence from the text (one quote will do) and then explain, given what side you choose, what you think the story means.
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