We recently watched The Terminal with Tom Hanks.
We looked at the true story of Merhan Nasseri.
What do you think about this “Lost Canadians” news article at CBC?
What do you think about this video titled “Waking up Canadian”?
Consider questions related to our course focus in your writing: The Human Condition: In Search of Self.
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Tonight I was “surfing the net while sitting on the couch” again and I stumbled upon a terrific site for generating random ideas for writing short stories.
“Tropes are storytelling devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations.”
Here’s one
And another …
The real value is when you click the Setting, Plot, Narrative Device, Hero, Villain, Character As Device, and Characterization Device. A wiki opens explaining the pattern, theme, cliché, or archetype with connections to examples from literature, film, comics, and video games. Very rich. Happy digging.
Have you ever googled “Applied Phlebotinum“?
Create a “Who Am I?” crossword puzzle for your group/class.
Example clues:
Across:
Use the following, or similar, crossword puzzle maker.
Attach a printable copy of your completed puzzle to a post and pingback here.
Grandfather would prowl through the living room as though seeking a place of rest and not finding it, would stare fixedly without speaking, and would then descend the basement steps to the rocking chair which sat beside the furnace. — Margaret Laurence, “Mask of the Bear”(139)
… not selfishly–or not always selfishly, we are in search of our identity, the identity of our human condition.
– Malcolm Ross & John Stevens
The most profound discovery that we can make is our discovery of self. Our identity rests in the kind of people we are. To understand who we are and to develop fully as human beings, we must explore the nature of our humanness and the purpose of our lives. Who and what are we? What are the common human qualities and ideals we hold? What roles do other people (e.g., friends, family) play in our lives? What brings us joy, inspiration, and fulfillment? What doubts and fears do we have? By examining our lives and searching for answers to these and other questions, we can find meaning and fulfillment as human beings.
The life which is unexamined is not worth living.
– Plato
Read closely Margaret Laurence’s, “The Mask of the Bear.”
As the title suggests, masks are a significant literary device in the development of character in this story.
30-1 Write a five paragraph essay in which you discuss the ideas suggested by Laurence about the relationship between masks and the search for identity.
30-2 Write a five paragraph essay about masks. Research masks, psychological and cultural. How are masks significant in your life in 2009?
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There is an increasing appetite among STJ bloggers for fresh books to read. At the STJ Library blog the list of books read and reviewed keeps increasing, however, I fear the lack of choice in our current library stacks may soon inhibit this momentum.
So, I’d like to try something to abate/assuage my fears.
In my vision, I’d like to have a solid list of “teen recommended books” in my hand that I’d like to have the library acquire … some day.
So here’s what I’d like you to do:
I’ve added a few widgets to the Library blog with links to libraries, resources, and reviews to help get you started. However, I personally find Amazon’s “listmania” feature quite useful.
Shirley Jackson regarding the letters she received after publishing The Lottery …
Curiously, there are three main themes which dominate the letters of that first summer–three themes which might be identified as bewilderment, speculation, and plain old-fashioned abuse. In the years since then, during which the story has been anthologized, dramatized, televised, and even–in one completely mystifying transformation–made into a ballet, the tenor of letters I receive has changed. I am addressed more politely, as a rule, and the letters largely confine themselves to questions like what does this story mean? The general tone of the early letters, however, was a kind of wide-eyed, shocked innocence. People at first were not so much concerned with what the story meant; what they wanted to know was where these lotteries were held, and whether they could go there and watch.
Assignment 1
Work with a partner to complete task A and B.
Task A. Imagine you live in 1948 have just read The Lottery (originally published in The New Yorker, June 28, 1948).
Write a letter to Shirley Jackson.
Task B. Imagine you are Shirley Jackson and you have just read a letter from your audience in response to “The Lottery” during the summer of 1948.
Write a letter in response to that letter.
Assignment 2
Write a post examining the cause and function of violence in your life in 2009.
English 30: reading these, making these, writing these, discussing these
Religious Studies 25: reading, writing, discussing these
English 10: reading these, writing these, making these
English 9: reading these, writing these, and making these
Write a personal essay in response to one of the following:
1. Macbeth puzzles over 2 “riddles.”
2. Thermoptic Camouflage
3. Macbeth hopes for an emergency.
4.
5. Lex Caesarea??
6. Lady Macbeth’s “slayer.”