Old School EQs chap. 4-6

Old School :  Exploring some of the Essential Questions

Directions:  Select a significant and dense passage from chapters 4-6. Make sure that it is a passage that you can closely analyze. Consider its relevance to one of the essential questions listed below.

Essential question #1:  How is identity linked to storytelling?  If we are authors of our own lives, how do the narratives we create about ourselves influence our behavior, our attitudes, and our actions?  How do these stories help us to make meaning out of our experiences and to make choices that steer the directions of our lives?

 

Essential question #2:  Evaluate the belief in meritocracy.  Do we totally earn our own accomplishments and failures?  How responsible are we for the honors bestowed upon us?  How much are we to blame for our failures?  Are we also responsible for the happiness and success of others?  If we have experienced success, are we obligated to share that success with others who have not earned it?   Can a belief in meritocracy coexist with a belief in the greater good?

 

Essential question #3: How do we know if a piece of writing is good? What makes writing powerful, effective, interesting, or worth reading? If the author intends one meaning but the reader interprets the text to mean something very different, how should we make sense of those discrepancies?

 

Essential question #4: As different writers influence the narrator, how do his values and his identity morph and change? Is that pliability a sign of a weak character? What do you think of him along the way and why?

 

Essential question #5:  What impressions can you draw about the characters and the professional writers from the glimpses into their work that the narrator provides? How does their writing compare to the details of their lives?

 

Essential question #6:  What does it mean to discover one’s voice?  How original are our voices?  How do we distinguish between the people/texts/social roles that influence us and those aspects of ourselves and our voices that are truly unique and individual?  What is the difference between influence, imitation, and plagiarism?

 

Essential question #7:  Notice continual references to acting, role-playing, performance and theater.  How does this motif help us understand the characters, the school, and some larger themes in the book? To what extent does this notion of performance become internalized? Is our identity simply an internalization of the roles we play? Are we something more than that?

 

 

In your blog post be sure to do the following:

1.      Center your discussion around the ANALYSIS of one particularly dense passage that you believe connects to one of the questions above.

2.      Articulate a claim that clearly designates a stance or an interpretation about the passage and the essential question.

3.      Closely analyze the passage. The majority of your post should center on analysis and examining specific textual details that contribute to the overall meaning of the passage. Consider diction, figurative language, repetition, syntax or any other devices that apply.

4.      You can make larger connections to other parts of the text. However, we want to see an in-depth analysis of one passage. Doing this will help prepare you for your paper when we come back from break.

 

5.      Write about 300 words and proofread.

6.      One you have finished writing your post, get involved in at least two other online conversations. Be sure to use respectful language! Here are some things you can write in your response:

a.       Agree or disagree and use something in the text to develop your response.

b.      Comment on someone’s post that makes you notice something that you didn’t think of  before. Talk about what this person’s post helped you to see.

c.       Make connections to other aspects of the text that might develop someone else’s idea further.

d.      Offer an alternate way of interpreting the text that someone discussed in his or her post.

Old School chap. 1 - 3 reflection

Choose a passage from the first 3 chapters that you think is revealing and/or significant. 

Consider its relevance to one of the themes or motifs listed below.

       Identity             Theater/Acting               Meritocracy            Egalitarianism         

     Belonging/Exclusion            Passing            Writing         Class & Status


         In your blog post be sure to do the following:

1.  Center your discussion around the analysis of one particularly dense passage from the first 3 chapters that you thinks connects to one of the themes/motifs above.

2.  Articulate a claim that clearly designates a stance or an interpretation about the passage and the theme/motif. 

3.  Closely analyze the passage--consider diction, figurative language, repetition, syntax or any other devices that apply.  Talk about specific details and words in the passage.

4.  Make larger connections between textual details and thematic ideas, and/or connections to other parts of the text.  Ask, so what does this mean?

5.  Write about 300 words.

6.  Proofread.

Seminar Questions for Othello (up through act 4 scene 2)

These are the questions we, as a class, chose to focus on for our up-coming graded discussion. 

For our discussion you need to prepare notes. 

For each question, write down your ideas, page numbers with passages you want to examine, and connections you want to make.  You should write either a lengthy paragraph or a lengthy list of developed items for each question.

Do your prep work on a piece of paper that you can bring to seminar, not as a comment on this blog.

Please note:  if you do not come to class with the prep work completed, you cannot participate in seminar & you will receive a zero for that activity.


QUESTIONS:

1.  What is the root of Iago's evil? Is he a psychopath?  What does the evidence in the play suggest about who he is?   What does Iago really want to happen; does he expect to face repercussions?

2.  Is it possible for Othello to overcome his jealousy? What would make him look past his suspicions? Does Othello have the ability to kill Desdemona--what would prevent/encourage him to do so?

3. Did Othello change his identity completely due to jealousy, or did he always have some darkness, and where did that come from? What outside forces influenced Othello's identity, and how do they affect him; where do we see that influence in the play?


4.  Did Othello ever really truly love Desdemona? What does Desdemona signify to Othello?  Is that true love?


5.  Why would Othello allow Iago to come between him and Desdemona, yet not allow Brabantio to ruin the relationship?


6. . Did Othello sense that Iago wasn't worthy of trust from the beginning; what caused that to change; did it change?


7.  What is Shakespeare's message about evil/corruption?  Where do you see that developed in the details of the play?


8. Is Shakespeare relying on stereotypes to construct his characters, or does he attempt to deconstruct these stereotypes?  Is Shakespeare a racist/misogynist?  Is he trying to be ahead of his time--does he construct plays that cause controversy to further thinking?


9. How are we as an audience being set up to respond to Desdemona's character?  How do the two women (Emilia and Desdemona) reaction to the Othello's abuse?

Othello Motif Blog

Othello Motif Blog

A motif is a recurring object, image, or word that  sometimes takes on symbolic significance and unifies a text. 

You will track the development of motifs in the play.  When you see one of the motifs used in an interesting or significant way in the text, add comments under the spot where your motif is listed.  Include the following:
           * Quote the lines of dialogue where the motif occurs
           * Analyze how the motif is used in those lines.  What ideas or emotions are evoked?    
              How does this use of the motif develop something you noticed earlier ( the development
              of a character, situation, relationship, or theme)?  How does this use of the motif add
              a new layer of meaning?

Please note that variations or close matches to the words listed below also count in terms of your tracking of the motif.

 

Expectations:

 

How many?  Each time we assign the Motif Blog, we will give you a number of entries to complete.

 

Length?   List the quote that connects to the motif.  Then write a well-developed paragraph of approximately  8-12 sentences.

 

Be sure to…   ANALYZE the quote.  Break it down—discuss specific words, images, figurative language, and details.  Do provide some context for it (what’s going on when this quote comes up in the play), but most of your writing should be analysis, NOT paraphrasing.  Use the questions above to help you develop ideas.

Blog #1 -- "Why You Truly Never Leave High School"

Directions: Based on our discussions of what it means to have an idea and the “notice and focus” reading strategy, your first writing assignment is to write about an original idea(!) you have after reading an article from New York Magazine, entitled “Why You Truly Never Leave High School.”

For homework, as you read the article, apply the “notice and focus” strategy that we learned in class today. You can take notes in the margins—this will help you arrive at an idea that you will write about on our class blog. You can write about anything that interests or strikes you based on what you read. As you write, make sure you refer back to specific details from the article. Note: This assignment asks you to write about an original idea you have. Please do not repeat other classmates’ ideas. This means that you need to read previous blog entries before submitting yours for everyone to see.

Don’t forget to construct your entry with your audience in mind. Your personality and your voice in writing is what makes a blog engaging. Also, avoid writing long paragraphs—long blocks of texts are difficult for readers on a computer to digest. Remember to include a catchy blog post title—you want your entry to stand out from the rest! Your blog entry should be approximately 300 words long (circa one page typed). This will be due on Friday, Sept. 12th.