ENGLISH 10 – 2024/25
December 19th, 2024
We will continue the movie today. Hopefully we can finish it, then you can work on the following questions:
- In the voiceover at the film’s beginning, Thomas says: “There are some children who are pillars of flame that burn everything they touch and there are some children who are just pillars of ash that fall apart when you touch them. Me and Victor, we were children born of flame and ash.” Thomas uses metaphors, pillars of flame and ash, to describe character traits. What do you see in Thomas and Victor that show them to be as Thomas has described?
- In a flashback, Suzy and Arnold share the worst things they have ever done. Arnold gives no more details than that he “broke three hearts, too.” To what is he referring?
- Thomas, the film’s narrator, is a storyteller, an individual responsible for carrying on the oral tradition of the tribe. What stories does he tell that seem to carry more meaning than what appears on the surface?
December 18th, 2024
I have a story that will help you understand what we’re about to watch:
this-is-what-it-means-to-say-phoenix-arizona-sherman-alexie
Questions at the end of the document.
We will start the movie today. I hope you like it.
There are three questions I would like for you to complete after the film is over.
- In the voiceover at the film’s beginning, Thomas says: “There are some children who are pillars of flame that burn everything they touch and there are some children who are just pillars of ash that fall apart when you touch them. Me and Victor, we were children born of flame and ash.” Thomas uses metaphors, pillars of flame and ash, to describe character traits. What do you see in Thomas and Victor that show them to be as Thomas has described?
- In a flashback, Suzy and Arnold share the worst things they have ever done. Arnold gives no more details than that he “broke three hearts, too.” To what is he referring?
- Thomas, the film’s narrator, is a storyteller, an individual responsible for carrying on the oral tradition of the tribe. What stories does he tell that seem to carry more meaning than what appears on the surface?
December 17th, 2024
Work block to finish this assignment:
ASSIGNMENT #1 Overcoming Stereotypes:
Research the commonly held belief that the Indigenous communities of North America and the Aborigines from Australia are particularly susceptible to alcoholism / addiction and other harmful stereotypes. Are these bogus stereotypes? Come up with a small presentation on the validity of and reasons for this belief in groups of three / four. Presentation or essay format is okay. You will not need to present this work to the class.
December 16th, 2024
Musical Mondays then preparation for the discussion and research tomorrow.
December 12th – 15th
Sherman Alexie Unit!
FIRST: Discussion of What you Pawn, I Will Redeem
Read this poem:
How Do We Forgive Our Fathers? by Dick Lourie
How do we forgive our Fathers?
Maybe in a dream
Do we forgive our Fathers for leaving us too often or forever
when we were little?
Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage
or making us nervous
because there never seemed to be any rage there at all.
Do we forgive our Fathers for marrying or not marrying our Mothers?
For Divorcing or not divorcing our Mothers?
And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness?
Shall we forgive them for pushing or leaning
for shutting doors
for speaking through walls
or never speaking
or never being silent?
Do we forgive our Fathers in our age or in theirs
or their deaths
saying it to them or not saying it?
If we forgive our Fathers what is left?
Agree or disagree with this statement:
BE IT RESOLVED THAT anger and resentment is relieved by forgiving those who have caused an offense. People who forgive others for grievous offenses often say that by releasing anger the act of forgiving allows the person who forgives to move on.
NOTE:
We will watch a film starting soon. It is called Smoke Signals. There is a screenplay and it’s written by Sherman Alexie. You can find it in the library.
Here is a small research assignment I would like to have you look at:
ASSIGNMENT #1 Overcoming Stereotypes:
Research the commonly held belief that the Indigenous communities of North America and the Aborigines from Australia are particularly susceptible to alcoholism. Is it a bogus stereotype? Come up with a small presentation on the validity of and reasons for this belief in groups of three / four.
ASSIGNMENT #2 – Smoke Signals Reader Response on the Following Questions:
- In the voiceover at the film’s beginning, Thomas says: “There are some children who are pillars of flame that burn everything they touch and there are some children who are just pillars of ash that fall apart when you touch them. Me and Victor, we were children born of flame and ash.” Thomas uses metaphors, pillars of flame and ash, to describe character traits. What do you see in Thomas and Victor that show them to be as Thomas has described?
- In a flashback, Suzy and Arnold share the worst things they have ever done. Arnold gives no more details than that he “broke three hearts, too.” To what is he referring?
- Thomas, the film’s narrator, is a storyteller, an individual responsible for carrying on the oral tradition of the tribe. What stories does he tell that seem to carry more meaning than what appears on the surface?
December 11th, 2024
Today, we will be reading a story without introduction.
What you Pawn, I will Redeem Alexie
Here are some questions to think about before we move on to the novel. We’ll try and go through a few today, the rest tomorrow. Questions and graded discussion Friday.
- In “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” what is the purpose or symbolism behind the three Aleut Indians?
- How would you describe the narrator of this story?
- What are some of the literary elements used in Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”?
- Is there a bias? If so, what is the nature in the story?
- What does Jackson do with the money he gets?
- Who is Jackson and what does his quest symbolize?
- In Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” how is Jackson alienated from the community? How does he respond?
- How does Jackson Jackson change as a result of completing his hero’s journey in Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”?
- What challenges does Jackson face in trying to get the $999 dollars in “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”?
- In Sherman Alexie’s short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” does Jackson really work hard for the money at the end of the story like he says?
- Identify the historical era Sherman Alexie is writing about in “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” and its significance to the story.
- In “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” how does Sherman Alexie show belonging ?
- In the opening of “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem,” explain what the protagonist means when he says “it’s my secret story, and Indians have to work hard to keep secrets from hungry white folks.”
- In Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” is Jackson a reliable narrator? Is his story believable? Is it important for Jackson to be reliable or his story to be believable?
- How does Sherman Alexie complicate stereotypical notions about American Indians in “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”?
- How does Sherman Alexie in his story, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” complicate stereotypical notions about American Indians?
- What is regalia, as mentioned in “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” and why is it valuable?
- Is there an epiphany in What You Pawn I Will Redeem?
This unit is discussion heavy. I would like for you to be attentive and have respect for the material we will be discussing.
December 10th, 2024
Please finalize your drafts today. Do not make this a nothing class. I will ask you to leave if you are not working.
The peer review is due at the end of class for a completion mark.
You can work outside if you are feeling chatty.
December 9th, 2024
Musical Mondays
Good drafts due soon. Make sure to work on them.
Peer review:
Short Story Peer Editing Checklist
I’ll give you paper copies tomorrow.
December 6th, 2024
Sorry I’m not here to help. I think you’ve got this.
Please have your rough drafts done by tonight midnight. Upload to teams.
December 5th, 2024
Here are the templates. Have your outline due by the end of the day.
This is a template for all the different plot points:
EA-Deverell-Plot-Formula-Cheatsheet
Here is the outline once you’re done with the elevator pitch.
Template-for-short-story-writing
December 4th, 2024
Task:
Come up with a rough outline for one of these time travel plot ideas if your idea hasn’t already materialized.
Then ELEVATOR PITCHES!!
So today, I’d like for you to commit to a ‘theory’ and brainstorm a plot that the theory fits into. We will talk about this a little bit.
What are the ‘Must Haves’ of time travel stories?
Seeing the Future
In these stories, it is actually information that travels through time. And this might be the most scientifically plausible form of time travel, one that is already happening all the time on the quantum level.
Visions of the future have shown up in literature and mythology for millennia, it’s just that we used to call them prophecy. But the fundamental storytelling device has changed little, even as it evolved with the times, manifesting in various communication technologies. Characters connect to the future through newspapers (the film It Happened Tomorrow, which inspired the show Early Edition), letters (The Lake House), radio (Frequency), photography (Time Lapse) and now, the Internet.
All these stories of peering forward in time differentiate into two categories on the basis of one crucial question: If you see the future, can you change it?
1a: Stories of Inevitable Foresight
These are stories where the future can be seen—but ultimately, what you see can’t be stopped.
The archetype for this form is one of the oldest works of dramatic literature in the Western canon—Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex, where the titular king is warned by the seer Tiresias that he will murder his father and wed his mother… and despite his best efforts to the contrary, he ends up inadvertently doing just that (and then gouges his eyes out for good measure).
Stories of inevitable prediction speak to one of our deepest fears: that we have no free will, no agency, no power to control our fate. A glimpse of the future, foreknowledge of what’s to come, only ends up causing the events we aim to prevent.
Sound depressing? Maybe that’s why it’s a theme that spoke to sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, author of Minority Report— which is, for all its superficial differences, a story very similar to Oedipus Rex. It features a trio of precogs who dream of future-murders, and a cop assigned to prevent such killings—until he finds himself accused of one himself.
Dick was a pessimist about the prospect of free will, and in his story (spoiler alert!) his character ends up going through with the predicted murder. But perhaps unsurprisingly, when Steven Spielberg got hold of the same material, the outcome changed, and Tom Cruise’s version of the character was able to alter his destiny. How? Sheer force of movie-star charisma mostly. Which brings us to—
1b: Stories of Preventable Foresight
Other stories of seeing the future treat altering the timeline as quite evitable. In fact, the very act of viewing what’s ahead empowers the individual to change things, and prevent the foreseen events from coming to pass. That’s how Early Edition worked, with Kyla Chandler given the thankless daily task of averting tragedies only he could foresee.
But the prototype for this story form can be traced at least to 1843, in A Christmas Carol. Yes, even Dickens wrote some timey-wimey shenanigans; what else are the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Yet To Come? And when Scrooge beholds the pitiful sight of Tiny Tim dead, and his own neglected grave, he is promised a chance to rewrite the narrative if he can merely change his ways.
Which means that Dickens was much more of an optimist than Sophocles or Philip K. Dick. Being able to see the future and change it, whether through an epiphany or a magical newspaper, is the sort of world most of us want to believe in… whether that’s the way things actually work or not.
But in other types of stories, it’s not only information that travels through time. Many stories concern people getting to do so too—and the way authors treat those journeys says just as much about who they are and how they view the world.
- Traveling to the future
One of the clearest progenitors of the time travel narrative, H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, is about a man zipping off into the distant future. But the world he encounters—one full of peaceful Eloi and belligerent Morlocks—is so disconnected from our own, it’s hard to know why it’s not simply a story about aliens on another planet.
This points to a problem with time-travel forward. The future feels so unknowable, it often ends up being less interesting than we’d expect. That’s why some “travel into the future” stories make our present the future of the characters—like Time After Time, which features Jack the Ripper fleeing 1890’s London and winding up (via a time-machine that belongs to H.G. Wells) in 1970’s San Francisco (it’s as ridiculous as it sounds, and well worth a watch). But this plot device is really no different from the fish-out-of-water Rip Van Winkle premise, dressed up with technology.
Perhaps this is why “travel into the future” has perhaps been used most effectively as a last-minute twist ending, as in the original Planet of the Apes.
In other words—time-travel into the future is just not that special… maybe because we’re doing it all the time, at a consistent rate of 60 minutes per hour. And given that our own lifetimes have witnessed such seismic changes in technology and society, do we really need to imagine a cosmic leap forward to see things that will blow our minds?
That’s why the most interesting physical-time-travel stories have focused on…
- Traveling to the Past
Some of these stories are just touristy jaunts that don’t bother with the ramifications of intervening in history (like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court). Which is fine and well, but more interesting are stories that grapple with the question: Can we alter the past? And by implication… can we alter our own present? Which breaks the category down into two distinct groups…
3A: Changing History
Perhaps the most intuitive mode of time travel is where characters travel to the past, and in doing so, alter the present they left behind. Back to the Future is probably the most popular of all. It’s fun to meet your teenage parents, but if you mess things up, you risk erasing yourself from existence. So then you have to… fight off your mom’s sexual advances and help your dad save her from getting raped? (Yeah, I didn’t really get how messed-up that was as a kid either…) Fix the past, fix the present, life goes on.
Of course, beyond just keeping your parents married and yourself in the family portrait, what people dream of is using time travel to fix history, the easiest go-to being the plot to kill baby Hitler. But in the massive time travel canon, it’s almost exclusively villains who try to rewrite the past. Very few stories feature heroes changing history for the better. Butterfly effects are almost always negative, and even the most well-intentioned time travel plans (like saving Kennedy from assassination in Stephen King’s 11/22/63) result in horrible misfortune for the world (catastrophic earthquakes in that case, for, ya know, reasons).
All of which points to the fact that on some profound level, as much as our minds love playing with the possibilities of altering the timeline, we are deeply attached to the one we have, and innately suspicious of any effort to correct it. Which is why we have…
3B: Immutable Timelines
Stories where characters find themselves fundamentally incapable of altering history, regardless of their level of intervention. 12 Monkeys (and the French film it’s based on, La Jetee) tells the story of a time traveler seeking to prevent an apocalyptic manmade plague. He ultimately fails and realizes, too late, that as a child he witnessed the death of himself, as an older time traveler. The ending is incredibly satisfying—despite the fact that it’s profoundly fatalistic, suggestive of a world in which not even high-tech time-bending can save the human race from killing itself.
A less fatalistic example of this approach to time-rules is found in Avengers:Endgame, in which the characters travel to various moments throughout Marvel history to steal Infinity Stones (think Oceans 11 with a lot of fan-service). Smart Hulk (yes, seriously) gives the stipulation that history will “heal” itself of their interventions, preserving the timeline. On its face, this sounds like a lame gimme of a screenwriting rule — but turns out, it’s actually reasonably well-supported by recent experiments on quantum time travel. Science and sci-fi both point to the same idea: we can’t change the past.
- Time loop
Which brings us to the final category—the pinnacle of unalterability—stories where a character is stuck reliving the same day again and again. The prototype here is the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day. The formula it set out brilliantly has been replicated in other genres, including but not limited to YA melodrama (Before I Fall), slasher-horror (Happy Death Day), sci-fi action with aliens (Edge of Tomorrow), sci-fi action without aliens (Source Code, ARQ), episodic existential-dramedy (Russian Doll) and then circling all the way back to comedy again in last year’s Palm Springs.
These films don’t merely share a high-concept, they all have essentially the same theme: life doesn’t change until you change. Which would seem to make them remarkably unoriginal, if not for the surprising fact that they’re ALL good. (Seriously, I’ll go to bat for Before I Fall). No doubt there are some bad time-loop movies that I missed, but the fact that one hyper-specific premise has resulted in so many excellent movies points to the fact that there is a deep, resonant truth to the notion of being trapped in time.
Of course, this is only a partial taxonomy of time travel, but even this incomplete catalogue points to a few key takeaways. Most time travel stories are cautionary tales. Attempting to meddle with history is punished; defying prophecy is futile; the best we can do is pull a Marty McFly and close the Pandora’s box we opened in the first place. These stories, for all their far-flung leaps through space and time, are ultimately about how, if we want to change our lived reality, we need to start with ourselves.
Our job is to look through these four types of stories and find a universal truth to why we are obsessed with the notion of time – the true ruler of us all.
Task Part 2:
Come up with a rough outline for one of these time travel plot ideas if your idea hasn’t already materialized.
December 3rd, 2024
In class write. Once you’re done, please stay quiet.
This in class write is a formal reader response to: Red Letter Day.
Please follow the structure:
Story:
FORMAL READER RESPONSE TEMPLATE:
December 2nd, 2024
Musical Mondays. Thank you for sending me the files.
B. After that, you come up with a theme statement.
Ex. The religious connotations in “Yesterday was Monday” theorize an interesting version of the afterlife.
C. Choose a theme statement to use that works with your personal views.
D. Now you have all the ‘data’ needed, structure the 1-3 paragraph response like this:
- Summarize (briefly) the text
- give your own opinion on why it was good / bad.
- Connect the thematic statement to a personal anecdote or philosophy that you have.
- How does your view fit in the bigger picture?
November 27th, 2024
November 29th, 2024
Let’s read together.
FORMAL READER RESPONSE TEMPLATE:
Final reader response. Tuesday Due.
November 28th, 2024
FORMAL READER RESPONSE TEMPLATE:
A. You should have all the following questions completed:
- Do you agree or disagree with the writer’s choices in the story? Would you have made different choices to make the text better?
- What’s the overall message? Does the message clash with your personal views?
- How does the text relate to you personally?
- To what extent did the text challenge or change your opinions or beliefs?
- Did you learn anything from the text? If so, what did you learn?
- What is your overall reaction to the text? Why did you [dis] like the text?
B. After that, you come up with a theme statement.
Ex. The religious connotations in “Yesterday was Monday” theorize an interesting version of the afterlife.
C. Choose a theme statement to use that works with your personal views.
D. Now you have all the ‘data’ needed, structure the 1-3 paragraph response like this:
- Summarize (briefly) the text
- give your own opinion on why it was good / bad.
- Connect the thematic statement to a personal anecdote or philosophy that you have.
- How does your view fit in the bigger picture?
November 27th, 2024
4th story today!
Yesterday was Monday (Sturgeon):
Permanence in linear time
Besides time, we sense that history, science, craftsmanship, and perhaps even theology all come together in this Gordian clockwork of “Yesterday Was Monday”, and all these presented as the almost-believably realistic scenes and events experienced by an ordinary guy who happens to wake up on Wednesday before it’s quite finished.
Reader Response:
A. You should have all the following questions completed:
- Do you agree or disagree with the writer’s choices in the story? Would you have made different choices to make the text better?
- What’s the overall message? Does the message clash with your personal views?
- How does the text relate to you personally?
- To what extent did the text challenge or change your opinions or beliefs?
- Did you learn anything from the text? If so, what did you learn?
- What is your overall reaction to the text? Why did you [dis] like the text?
B. After that, you come up with a theme statement.
Ex. Very special conditions must be satisfied before one may assert the identity in time, the duration of a given existent. The permanence of marble, over which time passes almost imperceptibly, differs so essentially from the permanence of a living being that one questions the usefulness of joining them under the same concept.
C. Choose a theme statement to use that works with your personal views.
D. Now you have all the ‘data’ needed, structure the 1-3 paragraph response like this:
- Summarize (briefly) the text
- give your own opinion on why it was good / bad.
- Connect the thematic statement to a personal anecdote or philosophy that you have.
- How does your view fit in the bigger picture?
November 26th, 2024
Today we’re reading a new story: All You Zombies. (Fact: It’s not about zombies)
You will also learn a new word: Solipsism. Look it up.
Here is the text:
Robert-A.-Heinlein-All-You-Zombies
Now today’s assignment is going away from the usual written response / comprehension questions.
I will give you paper – on which you are to draw a timeline. You have to sort out this story so that it makes sense to you. At the end of the class, I will take your “Timelines” and see if you came up with something that is tangible and related to the story.
Let’s practice with this 1950’s song:
Here is some help: TIMELINE OF ALL YOU ZOMBIES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER / GRAPHIC
1. On September 20, 1945, the Bartender drops off baby Jane at an orphanage. She grows up there. She dreams of joining one of the “comfort organizations” dedicated to providing R&R for spacemen.
2. Nearly 18 years later, the man who refers to himself as “an unmarried mother” is dropped off at April 3, 1963, by the Bartender. He meets and, after some weeks of dating, seduces and impregnates the 17-year-old Jane, who has an intersex condition. From Jane’s point of view, he then disappears. Actually, he has been retrieved by the Bartender, and taken to 1985 (see sixth bullet point).
3. Jane learns that she is pregnant by the now-missing unknown man. After giving birth by C-section, she is found to be a “true hermaphrodite” who has been severely damaged by the pregnancy and birth; on waking she learns that she has been subjected (without her consent) to a “sex change” which reassigns her sex to male.
4. On March 10, 1964, the Bartender kidnaps the baby and takes it back in time to the orphanage (see first bullet point). Jane, now male, becomes a stenographer, and then a writer. Whenever he is asked his occupation, he replies, somewhat truculently, “I’m an unmarried mother—at four cents a word. I write confession stories.” He becomes a regular at the bar where the narrator, the Bartender, works, but does not interact with him significantly for six years.
5. On November 7, 1970, the Bartender meets the Unmarried Mother, yells at the customer playing “I’m My Own Grandpa“, conducts the Unmarried Mother into the back office, and takes him back to 1963 to “find” (and, ostensibly, get revenge upon) the man who got him pregnant (see second bullet point). He returns to the bar, seconds after going into the back room, and allows the customer to play the song. From his own point of view, he has carried out his mission of ensuring his own existence.
6. On August 12, 1985, the Bartender travels to 1963 and retrieves the Unmarried Mother — whom he had left there (then?) during the events of the fifth (and second) bullet point(s) — to the Rockies base and enlists him (actually a younger version of himself) in the Temporal Bureau.
7. On January 12, 1993, the Bartender, who is also Jane/mother/father/Unmarried Mother, arrives back at his base from 1970 to think about his life.
November 25th, 2024
So by now, I’m sure you’re aware that if one changes even the slightest thing in the past, then the consequences could be dire.
This next story is one that is similar in theory, but has a few differences. Basically, it’s about a jealous ex-boyfriend trying to mess up a happy marriage by trying to erase the married couple’s past. Pretty cool idea.
Please work on these questions for tomorrow:
- How is the realism portrayed in this story, taking into account the fact that it is a conceptual fantasy piece?
- What are the elements that make Needle in a Timestack a fantasy story rather than a Sci Fi story?
- Why would having the capability to time travel in today’s society be a problem?
- What are the different motivational qualities of the main characters in A Needle in a Timestack and how are these qualities both an asset and a detriment?
- Does the story align with the beliefs of our contemporary Western society in regards to romantic love and the idea of soulmates (or that two people are ‘fated’ to be together)?
- What made this story’s version of cause and effect so interesting to the reader?
- How are the basic emotions of the human condition portrayed through the actions of the characters?
BONUS:
Also take into account a reader response. You DON’T have to do this without me but look at the questions.
- Do you like or dislike the text?
- Do you agree or disagree with the writer?
- Does the text clash with your personal views?
- How does the text relate to you personally?
- To what extent did the text challenge or change your opinions or beliefs?
- Did you learn anything from the text? If so, what did you learn?
- What is your overall reaction to the text?
For a response, you are to look back at the answers you have just written from these general ones and come up with a claim (thesis) summarizing everything you’ve written.
Example: You wrote about how both Mikkelsen and Janine are both fighting to keep their love in tact. So you can summarize with “Love is seen of as fleeting, yet something worth fighting for in Silverberg’s “Needle in a Timestack.”
November 18th-21st
I will be gone for this week, so I expect this to be done by the time I get back. We will continue the Time Travel unit on Friday, November 22nd. Some good dates to remember:
Wednesday, November 20th 11:59PM: PODCAST DUE
Friday, November 22nd 3:30PM (Physical Projects due INS / 11:59PM Digital Projects due INS)
INDEPENDENT READING PROJECT INFORMATION:
Information on Independent Novel Project:
What is the independent Novel Study Project?
Here is the project:
Independent Project Final_2021
And here is the rubric:
Novel-Study-Project-Rubric-2018
PODCAST:
Here are the questions:
Independent book questions podcast V3
Record yourselves talking about this. We will get everything clear before you start.
November 15th, 2024
Here is a run down of what we will be doing –
V3.5_21_Time Travel Short Fiction Introduction
Discussion Questions: (Write, then discuss with a partner)
- What is the definition of Science Fiction?
- What are some examples of science fiction stories? (Movies, Manga, Fiction etc.)
- Is science fiction an effective genre? Why or why not?
- What sub-genres of science fiction can you think of?
The short stories I have chosen for this specific unit are ordered and as follows:
A Sound of Thunder
[We will do a pre / during / post reading of this text in a worksheet. Here is the story:
Here is the worksheet. It is due Friday at midnight.
Next:
Needle in a Timestack
All You Zombies
The Seventh Voyage
Yesterday Was Monday
And if we have time: This is one of the academic skills I want you to take away:
November 14th, 2024
In class write today. Have your notes printed and ready. Good luck. I’ll have paper ready.
November 13th, 2024
Please work on the draft today. I have printouts for you to help formatting.
November 12th, 2024
In class write is this Thursday.
Here is a model example: This is a “B” level paper:
Star Wars – A New Hope Transcript PDF
Archetypes are essential components used to highlight the various traits, roles, and characteristics of significant aspects in our society. Accordingly, ‘Star Wars – A New Hope’ by George Lucas is about Luke Skywalker who works together with other allies to end a civil war occurring in a galactic world between the enlightened jedi rebellion and the despicable empire. Undoubtably, archetypes like the Mentor, Hero’s Journey, and Light vs. Dark are used in this movie to accentuate the hero’s personal growth internally and externally throughout the film’s intergalactic conflicts.
To begin, the Mentor character archetype is clearly portrayed through the story of Obi – Wan Kenobi and his responsibilities considering his age. First, Obi – Wan Kenobi shares his immense wisdom with Luke whenever he is struggling. Thus, he serves as a father figure for Luke Skywalker during his journey. Throughout the film, Luke receives many lessons from him about managing the force, staying calm, and versatile on their expedition to Alderaan when Obi – Wan claims “a Jedi can feel the Force through him” [page 60] and “Your eyes can deceive you, do not trust them” [page 61]. He is clarifying the importance of unlocking one’s own abilities, while believing in the Force. Additionally, master Kenobi asks Han Solo, “Who’s the more foolish… the fool, or the fool who follows him?” while hiding from scanning crews on the Millennium falcon. That is, Obi – wan is a kind, mysterious mentor who tries his best to advise Luke, or other young warriors with his immense insight into certain circumstances they might have overlooked.
On the contrary, the significant situational archetype of the ‘Hero’s Journey’ powerfully demonstrates the diverse, challenging experiences Luke Skywalker’s young mind is tested with, enhancing his hidden independent talents. Coincidentally, the audience witnesses numerous tragedies and battles, which gradually refine Luke’s personal identity. When he was involved in a fight for the first time in the ‘Ros Eisley Cantina, his perspective of his power and influence was changed instantly. He took his time to consider his options before acting upon them, preventing himself from rushing into other problems. Heartbroken, he realizes the differences in his judgement and responsibilities after most of his loved ones were taken from him. Like a snap of a switch, this mental change of outlook was instantaneous when he loses his relatives, saying “There is nothing here for me now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.,” displaying his immediate autonomy and sovereignty. He also helplessly watches the demise of Master Kenobi, feeling immense regret. Nevertheless, remembering the old master stating “the Force will be with you, always,” [Page 70] he decides to pursue the mission with great perseverance. As a result, he learns to prevent his personal feelings from interfering with a crucial mission. He begins to understand the consequences of his actions and their future effects. Various stages of his gruesome journey force him to think more critically, soon becoming a daring starship pilot alongside the other X –wing rebel fighters during the final space – fight. In fact, Darth Vader admits during the galactic fight, “The force is strong with this one!” [Page 141]. Therefore, Luke achieves his aspirations of becoming a successful starship pilot after destroying the DEATH STAR with great honor.
Lastly, the most prominent symbolic archetype is Light vs. Darkness. Plainly, this is seen with the intergalactic conflict between the imperial empire and the peace rebels. The bright rays of hope are seen with the excellent teamwork and resistance displayed by Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and others. Everyone unites to defeat the empire during a meeting on the planet Yavin. After analyzing the space station plans, they discover a weakness they plan to exploit. As the pilots rush to the hanger for the ultimate battle, a Rebel commander Dodonna declares “Man your ships! And may the Force be with you!” [Page 105]. That is, all fighters unite like past Jedis and the light side of the Force to resist Darth Vader’s Empire with pride and hope. Furthermore, this sense of redemption and integrity is shown soon by Han solo’s changed mind. The greedy space smuggler learns the value of loyalty, and the bitterness of cowardice when the Millenium falcon spaceship returns to aid in the fray. The ship races around the DEATH STAR and collides directly with two TIE fighters, causing Han to exclaim, “Now let us blow this thing and go home!” [[Page 145]. Their sudden involvement brings a smile to everyone’s face. Inversely, the Darkside is portrayed by Darth Vader and commander Tarkin clearly. During their meeting on the DARK STAR, Dath Vader furiously claims, “I find your lack of faith disturbing,” [Page 40] mercilessly choking Motti. Furthermore, Tarkin casually commands the destruction of Tatooine by ordering “Fire when ready.” [Page 58]. Obviously, these remorseless actions committed by the empire show their obsession with evil conquest.
Overall, ‘Star Wars – A New Hope’ is a sci – fi movie with a variety of archetypes, enabling many audiences to relate to numerous characters. Thus, everyone can immerse themselves into the main adventure easily. Likewise, this story teaches us that “Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness.” {David & Goliath, page 11}. That is, characteristics that seem to overpower the enemy may lead to their downfall. In conclusion, impactful advice from ‘Mentor’ Obi – Wan Kenobi, Luke’s individual challenges during the ‘Hero’s Journey,’ and strong depiction of conflicts within Light vs. Darkness make ‘Star Wars – A New Hope’ a meaningful film to watch.
2 things:
body paragraph and this:
Musical Mondays Final Presentation Guide
Now that you’ve seen six different styles of how musical genres and themes can be connected, it’s your turn to come up with a final presentation and paper that is a culmination of all the connective tissue of writing and presenting in class. I will list them for you.
So why do we do Musical Mondays? So that you can understand:
- Literary Lenses
- Literary Analysis
- Musical / Poetry Analysis
- Creativity
- Reader Response Evaluation
Today is the first day of your preparation for the final. Here are some things you need to do so that when you write your paper, you will have all of the necessary evidence and prerequisites.
There are two parts to the final. You will be graded as an individual, but can perform in groups.
Part 1 – Paper guidelines (Do this first):
Critical response multi-paragraphs do not simply summarize the text or evaluate whether you like the text; they are a three paragraphs, persuasive, and focused analysis, argument, or interpretation about the text. They not only help you think critically about the texts you read but also help you formulate ideas that can be expanded into longer essays. There are four parts to a critical response multi-paragraph:
You will be doing your own analysis / question and answer on lyrics or musical elements. I would like to see the outline (which are the questions I’ve been making you do for seven weeks) and a final paper that is well polished with a thesis and topic sentences with evidence from the songs themselves.
1) an argumentative topic sentence (What is the theme??)
2) evidence in the form of quotations or paraphrases for the argument you are making, (Lyrics that fit your theme)
3) interpretation of your evidence in relation to the argument (Analysis of the theme and lyrical interpretation)
4) Personal connection (How does this song connect to you?)
4) a strong concluding statement.
Note: This is a review and collaboration of your lens paragraphs and non fiction narrative writing– an extended idea that is fully developed and flows well.
Part 2: Presentation guidelines
Follow these directions in a PPT / Canva / Whatever Presentation:
Before you play the song – discuss this / present this to the audience:
- What is your song?
- What Genre is your song?
- Explain the lyrics of the song in detail.
- Hand in your written paper to me
- Play the song
- Have questions for the class to do individually – up to 3 – no more
- Discuss
- Provide everyone with a final ‘takeaway statement’
November 8th, 2024
How are archetypes relevant in popular culture and how is the underdog’s journey a reflection of these relevant societal archetypes?
- Hook / literary theory used: Archetypes – what are they?
- Answer the elements of the question: Relevance of archetypes / Underdog focus
- Introduce the Movie: Star Wars
- Make a Claim: Star Wars characters / plot = Character / situation / symbolic archetypes
- Explain the claim as it relates to your literary theory: Archetypes as a whole
BODY PARAGRAPH:
A. Topic sentence (what this paragraph will discuss, how it will prove your thesis)
B. Context for the quote
1. Who says it?
2. What’s happening in the text when they say it?
C. Quote from the text (cited appropriately)
D. Analysis of the quote: How does it prove your thesis?
E. Closing sentence (wrap up the paragraph to effectively transition to the next idea in the paragraph)
November 7th, 2024
Let’s talk about the movie based on the handout questions I gave you.
THEN:
Complete 6 sentences for your introduction:
- Hook / literary theory used: Archetypes – what are they?
- Quote from outside source: Malcom Gladwell Chapter – See your specific chapter notes
- Answer the elements of the question: Relevance of archetypes / Underdog focus
- Introduce the Movie: Star Wars
- Make a Claim: Star Wars characters / plot = Character / situation / symbolic archetypes
- Explain the claim as it relates to your literary theory: Archetypes as a whole
ROUGH MODEL EXAMPLE:
Archetypes are ways in which society can understand each other through generalizations of character, symbol, and situation. When looking at archetypes, one finds themselves mirrored to the hero’s journey, just as Luke Skywalker is forced to look at himself in the film Star Wars. Star Wars in its essence is a film about an underdog good that is an ember to the goliath evil that encompasses an entire universe. Within the realm of Star Wars, the viewer can see how the basis of an archetypical situation, mirroring our own life, can be explored through the eyes of Luke Skywalker. Since archetypes are a way in which humanity can understand more about themselves, Luke’s journey throughout the film is no exception to the rule and is insightful not only to the audience but those in search of meaning in their own lives.
Please turn in your introductory paragraphs by the end of the class – I’ll have a teams page up for you to submit. If you would like to go further, then this is the structure of the body paragraph:
A. Topic sentence (what this paragraph will discuss, how it will prove your thesis)
B. Context for the quote
1. Who says it?
2. What’s happening in the text when they say it?
C. Quote from the text (cited appropriately)
D. Analysis of the quote: How does it prove your thesis?
E. Closing sentence (wrap up the paragraph to effectively transition to the next idea in the paragraph)
Make sure to have different styles of sentence (Factual / Inference / Opinion)
November 6th, 2024
Continuation of the Star Wars cinema adventure.
November 5th, 2024
FIRST: You need to do this worksheet – I’ll have paper copies as well so that we can have a discussion once the film is over.
StarWarsANewHope_Discussion questions
Please no talking during the movie – I’ll ask you to leave if you do. Also, no phones. Why would you need them?
Also- remember your film terminology. We are combining both into this essay.
Part 1_Cinematic Elements Intro
November 4th, 2024
No Musical Mondays this week – we’ll do a practice for the final next Tuesday.
We will finish the presentations today. Then:
We watch the movie:
I have organized the archetypes in the movie to this PPT:
WOTB_Intro_and_Archetypes_2020
FIRST: You need to do this worksheet – I’ll have paper copies as well so that we can have a discussion once the film is over.
StarWarsANewHope_Discussion questions
Please no talking during the movie – I’ll ask you to leave if you do. Also, no phones. Why would you need them?
Also- remember your film terminology. We are combining both into this essay.
Part 1_Cinematic Elements Intro
November 1st, 2024
So you should make a thank-you card for Kayla Sinclair. She told me that you need more time to work on these presentations, so I’ll give you half your class. Hopefully, we can begin the presentations after that, because I don’t want to spend much more time on this. GET TO WORK!
I would like to start Star Wars next week.
October 31st, 2024
Make sure to answer these following questions regarding your chapter.
- Who and/or what are the Davids?
- Why are those David more powerful than others presume?
- Who are the Goliaths?
- Why are those Goliath not as powerful as they seem?
And give evidence:
| QUOTATION | SIGNIFICANCE |
| 1. | |
| 2. | |
| 3. |
The presentation should be 5 minutes (give or take). As a group, this should be easy. Minor letter grade.
October 30th, 2024 / October 29th, 2024
Presentations – finish them off… and classroom presentations, but also this:
Read the introduction only.
David and Goliath – Malcolm Gladwell
After reading the Introduction as a class, you should be able to answer the following questions that we will discuss formally:
1.What does Gladwell mean by “giants”?
2. In what ways was David an underdog?
A. In the Bible, what is the original story of David and Goliath?
B. What is the moral we usually take away from this story?
C. What is Gladwell’s new explanation of David and Goliath based on modern theory?
You are now going to be put into groups of 3. Each will tackle (Individually) the chapter. You will be doing what is called a (partial) annotated bibliography on it tomorrow.
- Chapter One – Basketball : Parsa, Matthew, Anthony / Emilio, Chaiten, Isaac, Miguel
- Chapter Two – Class sizes: Sophia, Sierra, Rita, Kayna / Stone, Benjamin, Donal, Jimmy
- Chapter Three – Selecting a university: Ariyan, Carolyne, Maiysa / Evelyn, Jade, Sophie
- Chapter Four – Dyslexia; taylor, JULIA, / Shyla, Paisley,
- Chapter Five – Childhood trauma Sienna, Gabriella, Harmony / Emiko, Caralina, Jiiya, Alanna, Tianna
- Chapter Six – The Civil Rights Movement : Cora, Sorna, / Addison, John, Natasha
- Chapter Seven – Authority figures: Michael, Ben, Alex / Hila, Morgan, Josie
- Chapter Eight – Crime and punishment: Lucases, Ethan, Ryder / Kylie, Vania, Alfonzo
- Chapter Nine – Nazis and the French resistance Sydney, Cole, Justin, Pat Kristina /Mini Chen, Kartar
October 28th, 2024
Independent Novel Journals due Wednesday, October 30th, 2024
MUSICAL MONDAYS #6: (Final One)
Songs that Define a Generation
Every generation has an anthem or song that defines them. Music, as we’ve found out, is subjective and personal. Yet there are some songs, factoring in where those songs were played, (For example – an American wouldn’t think that the Korean song “Come Back Home” by Seotaiji would define their American cultural experience in the 1990’s) contribute very heavily to the generation it was played.
I have touched upon North American generational connections from 1968-2004 for this assignment. After 2004, I stopped caring because I moved away:
- Say it loud, I’m Black and Proud – James Brown 1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0A_N-wmiMo
- God Save the Queen – Sex Pistols 1976
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMxqcgBhWQ
- Don’t You Forget about Me – Simple Minds 1985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdqoNKCCt7A
- Fight the Power – Public Enemy – 1989
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmo3HFa2vjg
- Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana 1991
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg
- Hey Ya _Outcast 2003
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw
These seven songs are not the definitive voice of a 35-year period, but their lyrics were cutting edge; the songs themselves were completely new and fresh, daring and authentic.
Your job is to look for a connection between self and society. What is the song of your generation? Go through these questions for the criteria to be met:
- Describe your generation in five descriptive words (Adjectives).
- What is the music that you and your peers are into (if anything?) Who are your heroes? What is ‘popular’ now currently? How has that changed from your past? As a contrast, what is uncool? Be as specific as possible.
- Focus on other areas of popular media that have to do with your generation. What are they? Why are they important to you and your friends?
- Create a slogan (phrase that is marketable) for your generation.
A. Example: We don’t care about your rules! Freedom unites us all!
- Choose a song that is an emblem (guidepost) for your generation OR goes with the slogan you’ve just created. Tell me about the song a little bit.
October 23rd & 24th, 2024
New unit is Archetypes
Here is an overview of the entire thing:
Underdogs-Archetypes-Introductionv2.5SW
Now let me explain what these questions connect to with a very visually unappealing PPT – take notes as this will be revisited many times throughout the unit:
Archetypes Notes for Outline 1
Task 1: Self Evaluation “My Archetype”
Take the Myer’s Briggs style test. Tell me what your archetype is – what this means to you and whether it is an accurate categorization of who you are as an individual. It is argued that all humans fall into 16 categories.
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
Task 2: Characterization
You are to find a clip from a movie, TV show or animation and show me the different character archetypes you find. Use the archetype PDF as an example and use the vocabulary that describes the archetype. The PDF is below:
October 22nd, 2024
In class write.
October 21st, 2024
Reading / Journals.
Crossover Genres (or ‘Polystylism’): Getting out of your Comfort Zone
This unit is a two in one, as I had two similar ideas that seem to blend well together – this is actually apt as the whole presentation is about how music went to crossover genres as a marketing gig in the 90’s – yet it’s always been there, we just called it different names in the past. ‘Experimental’ ‘era-bending’ etc. the list goes on.
I’m focusing on how crossover genres got me out of my purist ‘rock’ ‘rap’ mindset when I was young. So another way to look at this unit is how to listen to music that you don’t usually listen to. For me, that was when I was introduced to crossover genres. Nowadays they’re more common than Subway sandwich franchises.
Here are some of the… I wouldn’t say best, but the most well known. I picked four out of the usual 10+ on my shortlist.
Maybe the most iconic cross-genre performance known to popular culture. The best part perhaps is that Run-D.M.C. doesn’t even bother to change the lyrics, suggesting that Steven Tyler was a rapper without even knowing it.
This one was Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Puff Daddy(P-Diddy?) doing the title track to a movie that was terrible. We all bought the soundtrack however because we liked the crossover.
This one I don’t even know that well – just a strange combination that works. RIP Juice WRLD. Long live BTS
Well this one is strange, but I’m on a Post Malone kick now and thought it would fit the lecture. I’m not sure if these two should ever collaborate again, but I like this song sparingly. Marketing or creative choice?
Assignment:
Since this is a double lesson combined, there are four questions. I expect a lot now that you’ve done this five times before. I think this might be my last music lesson, because you should be ready – next week will be all about you putting everything together for when it’s your turn to present.
- What do you think the reason is for crossover genres? Do you think that it’s a money making scheme or a creative liberty to expand our musical horizons? Explain this answer, because I would love to know the reason myself.
- Choose a crossover song that you can really get into – tell me your honest opinion of the song and why you chose it. The more obscure, the better. Give me a link to the song.
- What is a genre of song that you’re not comfortable listening to? Why do you dislike this genre? Are there any songs in this genre that you could get into, despite hating it generally?
- Choose a song from a genre that you’re not comfortable with or do not like. Give me a link to it. Analyze the lyrics. Tell me your experience now while listening to this song in a different lens than before. Try and choose a song you (kind of) like, rather than one you hate.
ALSO:
INDEPENDENT READING PROJECT INFORMATION:
Information on Independent Novel Project:
What is the independent Novel Study Project?
Here is the project:
Independent Project Final_2021
And here is the rubric:
Novel-Study-Project-Rubric-2018
And here is the journal for Independent reading (Due soon):
October 18th, 2024
Reading?
TRANSCRIPT OF MOVIE FOR PROOF OF EVIDENCE: edward_scissorhands1
Remember to finish the outline – you will only be allowed this on Monday for the final:
Literary-3-Paragraph-Specific-Outline_RU
Also I will have examples modeling what I want tomorrow.
INDEPENDENT NOVEL STUDY
Here is the project:
Independent Project Final_2021
And here is the rubric:
Novel-Study-Project-Rubric-2018
And here is the journal for Independent reading:
October 17th, 2024
Reading?
Groups to finish day “D” of your notes and final discussion.
We will start on a brainstorm outline for your analytical paragraphs / multi paragraphs that will be due on Friday of this week Please note the following structure and try to fill it out by the end of class:
Analytical Statement with Textual Support and Reflective Commentary:
Tim Burton, in Edward Scissorhands, used _____________________________ in order to _______________________
For example,____________________________________________________________.
Provide evidence from the text to support the topic sentence.
_______________________________________________________________________.
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________.
Reflective commentary
THEN:
TRANSCRIPT OF MOVIE FOR PROOF OF EVIDENCE: edward_scissorhands1
Remember to finish the outline – you will only be allowed this on Monday for the final:
Literary-3-Paragraph-Specific-Outline_RU
Also I will have examples modeling what I want tomorrow.
October 16th, 2024
Yesterday was so/so – we’ll do a full work day today, so no reading.
- Watch the film (about 25 minutes)
- Get together with your groups and exchange notes on your cinematic element
- discussion on questions at the bottom of the section
- Watch the film (about 25 minutes)
- Get together with your groups and exchange notes on your cinematic element
October 15th, 2024
We are working on the third section of Edward Scissorhands. We will follow a little schedule change for this unit. It will go as follows:
- Reading 15 minutes
- Storyboard prediction based on the dialogue given.
- Watch the film (about 25 minutes)
- Get together with your groups and exchange notes on your cinematic element
- discussion on questions at the bottom of the section.
October 11th, 2024
We are working on the second section of Edward Scissorhands. We will be following the same schedule for this unit. It goes as follows:
- Reading 15 minutes
- Watch the film (about 25 minutes)
- Get together with your groups and exchange notes on your cinematic element
- discussion on questions at the bottom of the section.
October 10th, 2024
We are starting the first “Section” of the movie today. If we have time, we will go on to the second section afterwards. I will guide you through the process. You just need to work on the expert cinematic element.
Period 4.
1. CAMERA MOVEMENT: Sydney / Taylor / Matthew / Anthony / Ethan / Gabriella
2. CAMERA ANGLES: Cole / Julia / Michael / Rita / Lucas C. / Sienna
3.EDITING: Justin / Ariyan / Benjamin / Sophia / Ryder / Cora
4.SOUND: Pat / Carolyne / Parsa / Kayna / Lucas S. / Sorna
5.LIGHTING: Kristina / Maisa / Alex / Sierra / Harmony
Period 5.
1. CAMERA MOVEMENT: Paisley / Jade / Sophie / Caroline / Ariyanna / Miguel / Donal
2. CAMERA ANGLES: Natasha/ Evelyn / Emiko / Isaac / Chaiten
3.EDITING: John / Josie / Tianna / Vania / Finley / Benjamin
4.SOUND: Addison / Hila / Alanna / Kylie / Alfonzzzo / Stone
5.LIGHTING: Shyla / Morgan / Jiya/ Kartar / Emilio / Jimmy
October 9th, 2024
Reading
Presentations
Download this and I’ll get you started:
Period 4.
1. CAMERA MOVEMENT: Sydney / Taylor / Matthew / Anthony / Ethan / Gabriella
2. CAMERA ANGLES: Cole / Julia / Michael / Rita / Lucas C. / Sienna
3.EDITING: Justin / Ariyan / Benjamin / Sophia / Ryder / Cora
4.SOUND: Pat / Carolyne / Parsa / Kayna / Lucas S. / Sorna
5.LIGHTING: Kristina / Maisa / Alex / Sierra / Harmony
Period 5.
1. CAMERA MOVEMENT: Paisley / Jade / Sophie / Caroline / Ariyanna / Miguel / Donal
2. CAMERA ANGLES: Natasha/ Evelyn / Emiko / Isaac / Chaiten
3.EDITING: John / Josie / Tianna / Vania / Finley / Benjamin
4.SOUND: Addison / Hila / Alanna / Kylie / Alfonzzzo / Stone
5.LIGHTING: Shyla / Morgan / Jiya/ Kartar / Emilio / Jimmy
We will be jumping into Edward Scissorhands. I plan to have this done by the end of class Wed. This is a very tall order, but I think that we can get through it.
I will be stopping periodically so that you can complete the necessary pages for the completion booklet and meet in what I’d like to call ‘expert groups 1/2/3.’ I will assign those now. (It’s a variation of a jigsaw group you might have done in middle school.)
We have already done this observation / explanation three times, so you should know all the terminology by now.
There are questions I would like for you to complete as well that lead to what you will be completing for me as a standalone piece – connected to ‘essay writing skills’ you will get familiar with.
October 8th, 2024
Reading!
Musical Mondays #4
Soundtracks and Scores of each Individual
So when we put a visual to our auditory experience, it connects on a deeper level – even if you don’t like music, we can all agree that there is a lot to be said about the emotional impact of a movie or story we watch and the soundtrack to go with it. Unless it’s a Coen Brother’s film (No Country for Old Men), most movies have a soundtrack – either made specifically for the movie (like a score to enhance the mood or feel) or pre chosen songs in different context to their original intended audience (Like Quentin Tarantino films).
I have chosen 4 movies where the soundtrack has changed, not only my musical preferences, but also my connection to the film itself / the strengthening of my neural connections to the film, the impact and the flashbulb memory to where I personally was in this space of time. Before I get there –
I like this quote:
“When I listen to my movie scores, I play songs that I know will make me feel a sort of way. I sometimes walk a little faster to class if I listen to the score from an intense battle scene, or I find myself more mellow and slow-moving when listening to a soft love theme. When I need to get motivated for an exam or to complete household chores, I go to specific songs, and when I need to cool down and relax, I go to different tracks. The beauty of all music is that it persuades you to feel a certain way—movie scores included.”
These are the songs / scores to the movies I have a personal connection to:
Vanilla Sky is a great movie, but also connected me emotionally to a band called Sigur Ros – an amazing ‘post rock’ band that I still am listening to 20 years later.
What a great ending to a great movie. This is The Pixies – Where is My Mind – whenever I listen to this song, I think of this movie.
I have to put Quentin Tarantino in this because a lot of his songs I’ve loved and have been given a huge genre of music to open up to – the thing is, a lot of these scenes I like are not school appropriate – but this one is – and it has Isaac Hayes ‘Tough Guys’ theme to a cool Kung-Fu scene. Tarantino did this a lot.
Probably my favorite ending of all time – Just Like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain was a great addition – indie rock surged again after this movie came out. My Bloody Valentine was also introduced to a new generation. I also love this movie as it is very personal to me – as it is to a lot of people who saw it when it came out.
Your task:
Now that I look at these selections I’ve made, I think that there is a common theme here, but it’s up to you to decide what that is.
Here is your task:
- How does the connection between sound and visual enhance our connection to a work of art? Can you think of examples?
- Is there a time in your life – an interesting experience you’ve had – that could have used a great song to make the experience even better? Explain the memory and explain the song you chose to the memory.
- Choose a song that you loved from a particular movie / animation / TV show etc. Give me a link to the song or the clip of the movie where the song is featured. Explain why you chose this song & this movie clip. Where were you in this space of time?
October 7th, 2024
READING.
Please present your terminology projects to your classmates. You have time in class to complete them today. We’ll do Musical Mondays tomorrow. Good Luck.
Your exercise will be to find a clip from your favorite movie and show me some of these vocabulary words explained.
Here is an example:
October 3rd & 4th, 2024
Part 1_Cinematic Elements Intro
At the end of the unit, all you will do is turn in these packages – fully completed. The thing is, I will guide you through each page. I am not going to tell you exactly how long it will take us, but it has taken usually about a 2 weeks for other classes.
I will constantly update this page and explain what we have done. There will be other minor assignments and completion checks that will be due throughout the unit as well. Please keep up with this, as each part makes up a whole.
The unit itself is also a chance for you to review analytical paragraphs.
Film Terminology:
We will go over shots. Here is a video we will watch:
Your exercise will be to find a clip from your favorite movie and show me some of these vocabulary words explained.
Here is an example:
October 2nd, 2024
Reading.
Your rough draft should be finished.
Timeline > Outline > Rough Draft > Peer Review > Good draft
An actual outline is impossible for a narrative non-fiction. That’s what makes the writing form so great.
Today is NEW UNIT DAY.
All the film stuff you’ll need is here – Download it:
Part 1_Cinematic Elements Intro
At the end of the unit, all you will do is turn in these packages – fully completed. The thing is, I will guide you through each page. I am not going to tell you exactly how long it will take us, but it has taken usually about a 2 weeks for other classes.
I will constantly update this page and explain what we have done. There will be other minor assignments and completion checks that will be due throughout the unit as well. Please keep up with this, as each part makes up a whole.
The unit itself is also a chance for you to review analytical paragraphs.
Film Terminology:
We will go over shots. Here is a video we will watch:
Your exercise will be to find a clip from your favorite movie and show me some of these vocabulary words explained.
Here is an example:
October 1st, 2024
Reading
Rough Draft final.
Peer review today. Peer Review Narrative
I have paper copies.
September 27th, 2024
Reading.
Rough Draft. (750 words approx.)
This is a work block for you to complete your rough drafts. On Tuesday, we will be working on peer edits and there will be a lot of time to work on your final drafts.
If you want to see what the peer review sheets are like, I will post them here:
An actual outline is impossible for a narrative non-fiction. That’s what makes the writing form so great.
September 26th, 2024
Reading.
Then, more reading! Yes, I want you to read this story. I would like you to know how narrative non-fiction can work. The questions for today’s story are due tonight, yet if the discussion is good, this will not have to be the case.
Here is the story:
COPY AND PASTE THESE QUESTIONS:
- How does Sedaris use humor and characterization to come to terms with his fear of learning a new language?
- Explain a time in your life when you have overcome adversity at school or a place of learning?
- What quotes can you find in this story that are affecting / resonant? Choose up to three.
September 25th, 2024
Reading
Due today at the end of class (with the 10 memories on a separate paper)
Here is a worksheet for the timeline. I will give you big paper to take home as well. All you need to do is look for 10 memories of your past in a linear way. Ask family / friends for ideas.
This will be a focus for today:
Due tomorrow at midnight.
September 23rd, 2024
Reading.
Musical Mondays #3
Songs in Translation
Music, of course, transcends verbal language. I believe that there is a lot to be said about music around the world. This is not to be confused with World Music – that’s another genre. What I’m talking about is that sound crosses all borders and makes an ignition – the key turns for a new sound and then it blows up around the world. It’s a phenomenon. Think about all the subgenres we have in our own language and then refer to all music from another country as a huge category. Not all music from Korea is Kpop – not all music from Sweden is Metal. (Etc.) A lot of my friends from other countries who had never been to Canada thought most Canadian music was French folk songs and Rush.
I will introduce three songs – out of thousands – I’ve really enjoyed and then ask some specific questions before you go on a hunt.
Seotaiji – (My personal favorite)
This artist is so influential in his native South Korea that it is often said music can be divided into two eras: pre-Taiji and post-Taiji. He is often referred to as “the President of Culture”. He can sing, dance, play guitar, bass, produce, he’s a fashion icon, a businessman and a composer.
The Brilliant Green (Japan)
The Brilliant Green take much of their influence from Western music, most predominantly the Beatles with over half their songs including English lyrics. They released their first single “Bye Bye Mr.Mug” in 1997 with little success, but their break came in 1998 when their third single “There Will Be Love There” was chosen as the theme song for popular the Japanese drama Love Again, and as a result went straight to the top of the charts. This is my favorite:
Drunken Tiger (Back to Korea)
Drunken Tiger (Korean: 드렁큰 타이거) was a Korean hip hop group that debuted in 1999 and has since released several albums and won numerous awards. They are known as pioneers of Korean hip-hop who helped bring the genre into the mainstream. This is of his more Recent EP – The Cure.
I have a shout out to some great Icelandic bands: For a Minor Reflection / Sigur Ros / Mum – I won’t play them today.
Your task:
This is a little difficult, as a lot of you might not know songs from other countries – or maybe you do. Every class is different. What I want you to do is find a song from another country and is not in English. You can choose an English song that’s been translated into another language if you’d like. Here’s an example: You know Hard day’s Night by the Beatles? They sing the German version here:
Questions I’d like for you to put into a coherent paragraph with a link to the song and the lyrics:
- What is the difference between listening to a song for the beat and for the lyrics? What kind of music listener are you?
- How is listening to other cultures / country’s songs beneficial to you? What can we learn from music and the countries they come from?
- Find the lyrics to your song (Both English and the original language) after you listen to it once. Now you might know the language – if you do, does the English translation change the meaning? If you do not, then how does understanding the lyrics to the song make it different? Does the experience change for you?
September 19th, 2024
Reading.
This is a kind of “Speed Writing Challenge” that will be shared with someone in class. These are all random essay questions college boards would ask you during the application process. It is good to familiarize yourself with this kind of essay question before we get into the more ‘fun’ side of narrative non-fiction.
- Please answer two of these questions. I will time you for each. (15 Minutes)
- After answering the questions, I will ask you to choose the strongest of the two.
- Group discussion of these pieces – what you took from your partner’s work.
You can download the questions here:
V2.5_NarrativePrompt_PreAssess
Narrative Essay Outline_Student
September 18th, 2024
In class write today.
September 17th, 2024
Reading 15 mins (get into the habit of this!!)
Structure for essay:
Literary-3-Paragraph-Specific-Outline_RU
Through what lens best represents the meaning of Aladdin? Provide evidence to support your answer in a 500-750 words multi paragraph response.
Focus on those three questions again to help you with the body paragraph.
- What lens best represents the movie and why?
- What two pieces of evidence can you find (in the transcript or your notes) that backs up this lens?
- What does this mean as a ‘bigger picture’? For example – what can we take away and learn from this episode?
Transcript of Movie:
https://movies.fandom.com/wiki/Aladdin_(1992)/Transcript
September 16th, 2024
(Finish Aladdin- Per 5’s)
MUSICAL MONDAYS #2
Alternative rock came about in the 90’s. Some of you might have heard about it , some not. I am giving you three songs that had their moment in the sun, then passed away. These are one hit wonders – in my own time growing up. We love songs then hate them after some time has passed. These songs were some of those songs for my generation.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Why do we hate songs we once loved? What is over-saturation? Think deeper than ‘ it got boring’.
Here are the songs. The rest of the day is normal. We’ll discuss them during and after you finish the work:
Here’s something to do before you finish the work, however:
- Find song from your past that got ‘over saturated.’ Play it for your people / classroom buddies.
- Discuss these three questions and make sure to be ready to discuss the answers to me personally.
- What made this song old and stale to you? (Besides repetition) Why is it that songs become loved, hated, then loved again?
- What memories does this song invoke?
- Are the lyrics even important or is it the beat? Something else entirely? (Nostalgia, aesthetic, etc.)
- Discuss these three questions and make sure to be ready to discuss the answers to me personally.
- Jump Around – House of Pain
2. Chumbawumba – I get Knocked Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc
3. Whetus, Teenage Dirtbag:
September 13th, 2024
Let’s try and get through Aladdin today! No in class reading.
September 12th, 2024
Reading 15 minutes approximately.
We will start Aladdin today and talk about the lenses. You will have time to formulate an outline today and tomorrow. Keep it as you will be handing it in with the final.
Introduction-to-Literary-Theory-Grid-Grade-10.11Download
Focus on those three questions again (from the Simpsons episode) to help you:
- What lens best represents the movie and why?
- What two pieces of evidence can you find (in the transcript or your notes) that backs up this lens?
- What does this mean as a ‘bigger picture’? For example – what can we take away and learn from this episode?
Structure for essay:
Literary-3-Paragraph-Specific-Outline_RU
This will help you if you need help. We’ll go over it after the movie is over:
Marxist:
- Why is the poorest character—Aladdin—the only one who’s able to enter the Cave of Wonders?
- How are Jasmine’s choices limited because of her status as a woman?
- Why do you think Aladdin sees wealth, riches, and increased social status as a way of winning Jasmine’s heart? What does he learn about her as he tries to woo her this way?
Psychoanalytical:
- Toward the beginning of the movie, Jasmine releases her birds from their cage. Can you think of any other symbols of freedom or confinement in Aladdin?
- What do you imagine the Genie’s life has been like? What’s his backstory? What will he do after being freed?
- Do you think the comparison between Aladdin and Jasmine is fair? Are both of them equally trapped by their circumstances? Does one of them have it worse? Why or why not?
Postcolonial:
- Why do you think Jafar really wants to be sultan?
- How does Aladdin react to finally having some power when he finds the Genie? How is his reaction different from Jafar’s?
- If the Sultan had the power to change the laws in Agrabah this whole time, why didn’t he change them earlier when he saw Jasmine was so unhappy?
September 11th, 2024
Simpsons Finalized (1st academic Paragraph)
Let’s think about these three questions:
- What lens best represents the episode and why?
- What two pieces of evidence can you find (in the transcript or your notes) that backs up this lens?
- What does this mean as a ‘bigger picture’? For example – what can we take away and learn from this episode?
First, you can have a discussion with partners, and then begin to make a good idea of this in your writing. Make sure to answer the questions based on the lens you have chosen. I will hand out a paper that is a matrix of lenses so that it can help you. This will also be used for the full length film.
.Introduction-to-Literary-Theory-Grid-Grade-10.11Download
Please complete a paragraph based on your answers. Use the transcript of the episode for guidance:
https://www.simpsonsarchive.com/episodes/3F05.html
Example (From Nusayba Khan):
While watching the Simpsons episode ‘King-Size Homer’ through a feminist/gender lens, there are multiple aspects that stick out. The episode focuses on Homer Simpson while he purposefully tries to gain weight to qualify for disability leave, so he will be able to work from home; Although he soon realises that having a disability isn’t everything he had imagined it to be. I believe that the feminist/gender lens best represents the issues in this episode, due to the portrayal of an unhealthy marriage where Homer (the husband) is often disregarding his wife’s opinion or perspective.
This is shown multiple times throughout the episode. The first being the scene as follows:
Homer: I was going to surprise you, but what the heck: honey, I’m purposely gaining 61 pounds to get on disability!
Marge: [gasps] Have you lost your mind? Have you thought about your health…or your appearance?
Homer: Oh. So that’s it, isn’t it, Marge? Looks. I didn’t know you were so shallow.
Marge: Oh, please. I would love you if you weighed 1000 pounds, but —
Homer: Beautiful. Good night.
[Quickly turns off light.]
This scene is one of multiple cases where Marge, Homers wife, expresses her concern about a decision Homer has decided to put into action, and Homer decides to respond simply by deflecting the question, and exiting the conversation as soon as possible. This demonstrates how single-minded Homer is, and how little he cares about his wife’s perspective and input. I would argue that this also proves how little respect Homer has for Marge, as he never seems to take her criticism seriously, and more often plays it off as a joke and swiftly moves on.
I think this story really represents just how much women’s perspectives are over overlooked in real life. From marriages, to even how they’re written in shows, female opinions are often taken less seriously, and played as light-hearted, almost suggestions sometimes. Even in cases where the female character is obviously more educated to make a decision, such as in this case with Marge and Homer, they are often still not given the opportunity to. A real-life example of this is Margaret Hamilton. She is the woman who led the process of writing code for the Apollo mission in 1961. Although she played a major part in the team, she was not taken as seriously by the other software developers at the time and is still often overlooked by historians to this day.
September 10th, 2024
INDEPENDENT READING PROJECT INFORMATION:
Library today at the beginning of class. (Thursday) Independent Novel Study Project
Information on Independent Novel Project:
What is the independent Novel Study Project?
Here is the project:
Independent Project Final_2021
And here is the rubric:
Novel-Study-Project-Rubric-2018
And here is the journal for Independent reading:
Today will be a day to celebrate reading and all that. Spend time in the library – no rush – then you’ll have some extra time to come back, read an possibly start your journals.
Check with me if you’d like to talk books or ideas for good novels etc.
September 9th, 2024
New Term Long Unit! (Only on Mondays)
When you analyze a piece for perceptive reasons, then the basic questions asked are the ones that seem simple, but provide evidence for good discussion.
Narrative in Song. Musical Mondays #1
Every song has a story to tell. Yet some stories are better than others. The artist actually has a narrative in mind when they write the thing, so what we have as listeners is a fully fleshed out story, characters, rising action, climax, the lot. The following four songs have stories to tell. It’s your job to understand what the plot is. Then at the end of the analysis, you are to write your own lyric based on the prompt given.
Choose 1 of these, or choose your own.
Space oddity – David Bowie
Stan – Eminem (Clean Version)
This is America – Childish Gambino
Eleanor Rigby – Beatles
- Choose a song as a story. What is the story about? Give a summary of the story as you understand it.
- What is the effect of this story as a song? How do the words and music combine to make a different experience?
- Now that you know a little bit about stories in general, how is a short story different from a lyrical story? What are the pros and cons of both?
- Write a story as a song. (Free verse poem with a point) Basically, you will write 10-20 short lines as poetry but tell a simple story. This is an example:
LYRIC EXAMPLE:
Refrigerator, 1957
Thomas Lux
More like a vault: you pull the handle out
and on the shelves not a lot,
and what there is (a boiled potato
in a bag, a chicken carcass
under foil) looking dispirited,
drained, mugged. This is not
a place to go in hope or hunger.
But, just to the right of the middle
of the middle door shelf, on fire, a lit-from-within red,
heart-red, sexual-red, wet neon-red,
shining red in their liquid, exotic,
aloof, slumming
in such company: a jar
of maraschino cherries. Three-quarters
full, fiery globes, like strippers
at a church social. Maraschino cherries, “maraschino”
the only foreign word I knew. Not once
did I see these cherries employed: not
in a drink, nor on top
of a glob of ice cream,
or just pop one in your mouth. Not once.
The same jar there through an entire
childhood of dull dinners—bald meat,
pocked peas, and, see above,
boiled potatoes. Maybe
they came over from the old country,
family heirlooms, or were status symbols
bought with a piece of the first paycheck
from a sweatshop,
which beat the pig farm in Bohemia,
handed down from my grandparents
to my parents
to be someday mine,
then my child’s?
They were beautiful
and if I never ate one
it was because I knew it might be missed
or because I knew it would not be replaced
and because you do not eat
that which rips your heart with joy.
September 6th, 2024
Presentations for completion grade.
PERIOD 4 ONLY: We go to the library today.
INDEPENDENT READING PROJECT INFORMATION:
Library today at the beginning of class. (Thursday) Independent Novel Study Project
Information on Independent Novel Project:
What is the independent Novel Study Project?
Here is the project:
Independent Project Final_2021
And here is the rubric:
Novel-Study-Project-Rubric-2018
And here is the journal for Independent reading:
Today will be a day to celebrate reading and all that. Spend time in the library – no rush – then you’ll have some extra time to come back, read an possibly start your journals.
Check with me if you’d like to talk books or ideas for good novels etc.
IF WE HAVE TIME:
The Simpsons.
Here is the script of the show:
https://www.simpsonsarchive.com/episodes/3F05.html
And we will briefly look at a part of an undergraduate thesis from someone who studied in the University of Iceland. Luckily, it was on The Simpsons and lenses… but how they look a little later down the academic road. We’ll discuss it:
EXCERPT:
2.1 The Pleasure Principle in “King-Size Homer”
In the seventh episode of the seventh season of The Simpsons, Homer strives to obey the pleasure principle to new extremes. In a mandatory five minute session of calisthenics at the Nuclear Power Plant, Homer finds out that one of his co-workers got injured on the job and is now on disability with full pay. Upon hearing the news, Homer immediately decides to get himself injured enough to become disabled so he can work from home. Unable to harm himself, he realizes that hyper obesity can qualify him as disabled. He consults Doctor Nick Riviera, who recommends “a slow steady gorging process combined with assal horizontology” and that Homer focuses “on the neglected food groups such as the whipped group, the congealed group and the chocotastic.” With help from Bart, Homer begins his mission of overeating himself into obesity. This is obviously not a good idea; however, Homer is regulated by the pleasure principle, which entails that when confronted with pain he finds the easiest way to relieve himself of it (Freud, Beyond 1).
MARGE. Let‟s quietly and calmly discuss the pros and cons of your controversial
plan, shall we?
HOMER. I …
MARGE. Con! You‟re endangering your health.
HOMER. Pro. I‟m drought-and famine-resistant.
MARGE. Con! You‟re setting a bad example for the children.
HOMER. Pro. I, er, don‟t have to go to work.
MARGE. Con! You‟re running the air conditioner non-stop. It‟s freezing in here.
HOMER. Pro. Uh… uh… I love you?
MARGE. Con. I‟m finding myself less attracted to you physically.
The ego’s intervention is too feeble, too late. Utterly disconnected with reality, Homer exclaims that this is everything he ever wanted and now, he finally is a “big fat dynamo.” He now works from home and for Homer that is enough. Of course, his happiness based on a change of scenery lasts only a few hours and although he does not have to face the morning traffic, he does have to succumb to the boredom of sitting in front of a computer all day pressing Y for Yes, N for No and Tab for ordering the soft drink TAB. To be fair, his job as a Nuclear Safety Inspector never seemed to require as much attention while he worked at the plant itself. Now, he has to actively take decisions over and over again on serious matters like venting gas to prevent explosions. Even when confronted with this critical task, he fails to realize the impact of his deeds.
END OF EXCERPT
Let’s think about these three questions:
- What lens best represents the episode and why?
- What two pieces of evidence can you find (in the transcript or your notes) that backs up this lens?
- What does this mean as a ‘bigger picture’? For example – what can we take away and learn from this episode?
First, you can have a discussion with partners, and then begin to make a good idea of this in your writing. Make sure to answer the questions based on the lens you have chosen. I will hand out a paper that is a matrix of lenses so that it can help you. This will also be used for the full length film.
.Introduction-to-Literary-Theory-Grid-Grade-10.11Download
September 5th, 2024
I’d like for you to take notes on this video to reflect on the content. I’ll hand out paper.
- Structuralism:the significance of the changing balance between text and image and its relationship to an interpretation of the story as a fantasy – a figment of Max’s imagination, oppositions.
b. Feminism: the role of the mother (and the absence of the father), the balance of power between mother and son, the role Max adopts with the ‘wild things’, the representation of the ‘wild things’ as gendered or genderless.
c. Postcolonial: the role Max adopts with the ‘wild things’, his colonising – and subsequent desertion – of the creatures, the behaviour of the ‘wild things’, the colour symbolism of Max’s clothing.
d. Psychoanalytic: what the ‘wild things’ might represent, Max’s relationship with his mother, the absence of the father, dream/reality distinctions, sublimation of desires into fantasy.
Look for fairy tales. Either by yourself or with a partner. Pick a lens in which to view your fairytale.
Look at this document. There are 8 lenses to choose from, but you only need to familiarize yourself with four.
Here’s some fables from Aesop etc. you can choose from:
Tomorrow, you’ll present your fairy tale for class. You will do these three things:
- Summarize the fairytale
- tell the class what lens you are looking through and why
- explain why this lens is relevant to the story.
September 4th, 2024
Here’s the introduction to the first unit – Let’s get started right away:
10 Essential Questions (out of 100)
https://www.signupgenius.com/groups/getting-to-know-you-questions.cfm
- Brainstorm with class on questions
- Find someone you don’t know
- Ask 10 of the questions from the board – answer them – Vice versa
- Get ready to present your partner to the class
Let’s get started.