Joining the Dialogue about Digital Distraction

Greetings!

My apologies for not being with you again today.  As you might already know, my father passed away earlier this week and I've been in New Jersey with my family.  I'll return next week and look forward to seeing you all.

For today, you are going to go to this website from the New York Times.
Read what the page is asking you to do - read the two short articles they link you to, then join in the digital dialogue about it.  You can see the specific directions where it says, "So if you're 13 to 25 years old...."

Also, please write a short post on your own blog about your reactions to the articles and / or thoughts to the other questions they ask here.

Have a great weekend.

Synthesis - Ray Bradbury story #2

Good Morning!

We'll start today by reading one more story from Ray Bradbury: "A Sound of Thunder." 
After you read the story, please go to your blog and create a new post with answers to these questions:

• Who is the protagonist?  Who is the antagonist? 
• How does the point of view from which the story is told affect your understanding of it?
• Why are the time travelers told to "stay on the Path?" What is "the path"? What could happen if a traveler goes off the path or steps on a mouse, for example?
• The narrator uses the phrase "A sound of thunder," several times in this story. What is the sound of thunder being referenced?
• What point might the author be making with this story?  What other potential themes are there?

Synthesis - Ray Bradbury short story

Before you read the story for today, go to your blog and start a new post to keep track of your thoughts and responses to the questions below.

(Please respond to these before you read the story - a few sentences for each)

1. What would you do if you knew this was the last night of the world?
2. What do you think other people would do if they knew this was the last night of the world?

(Read the story - click here)

(Respond to these questions after you read the story - a few sentences for each)

1. Who are the protagonists in this story?  In what ways are they similar / different?
2. What are the main points behind the husband's reasoning and actions in the story?
3. Choose two details from the story (specific objects, locations, people) and explain their role / purpose / significance.
4. How would you describe the tone in this story?  How is it similar to / different from what you wrote about in the pre-reading questions?
5. What overall point is the story making?  Name it in one sentence.

Sequence and Meaning - Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl"

Today we'll read "Girl," a short piece by Jamaica Kincaid.  Here is a link to a copy of it.

After we heard it out loud a few times, I asked you to select one of the phrases and do a little writing to explore what it means, either looking deeper into the actual meaning or thinking about what it is implying.

We made a list of the "voices" in the piece.  On one wall we listed all of the "things" present in the piece - people, food, objects, etc.  On the other wall we listed all of the "topics" the piece discusses - instructions it gives or issues it raises either implicitly or explicitly.

Then, you selected one of the "things" and wrote in the first person of that "thing" to explain one of the "topics."  So for example, the "flies" might explain "how to act in church" or "wharf rat boys" may explain "being independent."

Sequence - How the order of events shapes our understanding of them

Last week we did a few different activities to help us explore the idea of sequence and story.  We wrote our own stories and cut them into pieces to re-arrange.  We looked at the Justin Bieber - Anne Frank story that slowly revealed more information with each step and talked about how it shifted the focus of the story.  We read "An Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge" and explored the way Ambrose Bierce changed the sequence of events to give his story power and mystery, and help us connect with the protagonist in deeper ways.

Today we will return to current events and look at the ways in which the media coverage of last week's bombing of the Boston Marathon played out.  In many ways it was rather controversial, from falsely reporting information to blaming innicent people to stirring up fears about people and parts of the population.

Here are links to a series of articles:

• MediaITE - "10 Absolute Worst Media Reactions"
• Huffington Post - "Media Criticize..."
• The New Yorker - "The Saudi Marathon Man"
• Salon.com - "Let's Hope..."
• Huffington Post - "Reddit Apologizes..."
• and here's a link to the Jon Stewart clip we watched

Using Setting to Understand Poetry

When we talk about setting, we can think in terms of some basic questions:
- where is the poem taking place?
- who are the people in the poem?
- when is the poem taking place?
- what is happening in the poem - event, occasion, etc.?

We can use these to help us answer two other questions we can ask about the poem:
- How is it creating meaning(s)?
- Why are the ideas and events in the poem there?
- What are the meaning(s) / message(s)?

We'll continue to use these four poems for our work.

Browsing Magazines

We'll look at these magazine sites today:

The Atlantic Monthly

New Yorker

Harper's Magazine