Semester Reflection Period 4

What changes have you seen this semester in regards to your education? What role did technology play in that change? What role did the constructivist philosophy play in that change? (constructivist-students becoming producers of information, students in charge of their own learning. What suggestions for improvement do you have for me next year? What are some of the things you would suggest I do again?

Make sure to include specific examples and expand on each other's ideas. Your feedback- honest and reflective- is important!

May 7, 2008

Today we wrote our essay for the final in class. The students who were gone for AP tests turned in their essays ahead of time, and the rest of us typed ours in class and then put them in Mrs. Smith's drop box. Everyone should bring two dollars to go towards pizza next week while we are viewing our final projects.

Scribe: Cinco De Mayo (May 5th)

Hello Class!
Less than two weeks! Keep it up!

HOMEWORK: PREPARE FOR ESSAY TEST TOMORROW
Trace a sacrifice through Brave New World and compose an essay about how this sacrifice came true in Brave New World and in today's society. Be specific, have well thought out explanations

In other news, we have an important update about our semester projects:
Due to conflicting schedules and Ms. Smith's dedication to us and Emma, she will regretably not be able to attend class on Monday because Emma has field day, and so she wants to be a great mom and be there.

THIS MEANS THAT ALL FINAL PROJECTS WILL BE PRESENTED WEDNESDAY MAY 14TH, AND WE WILL STAY IN CLASS THROUGH SECOND LUNCH

WE WILL ALSO BRING TWO DOLLARS TO WEEMS OR DUSTY FOR PIZZA AND SODA FOR OUR PROJECT LUNCHEON.

Please keep your projects below ten 10 minutes.
Reminder of the groups:

1. Emma, Cec, Katherine, Dan C.
2. Sam, Kyle, Michael, Brooks, Joe, Dusty
3. Jackie, Emily L., Becca, Soo
4. Sam E., Melinda, Ryan x2, Courtney
5. Iain, Weems, Tucker, Alex, Kenny
6. Alex, Emily, Allie

Have an excellent week and sorry about the late post!!!

Wednesday Scribe

April 30, 2008

Due on Friday:

BNW Socratic Seminar ticket (one page reaction paper on chapters 13-16)

After going over the homework for Friday, we talked about Monday’s Socratic Seminar. A lot of us felt that the sub. talked more than the kids did, and that it was not successful.

Then we got into our semester project groups, and Ms. Smith handed out guidelines and objectives for the projects.

Some important things to remember are:

• Use specific examples! (with explanations)
• Generalities don’t work here
• Relate examples to modern world-make several connections
• Creative and captivating
• Good grammar and mechanics
• Leave a final, lasting message
• What do you want Ms. Smith and the audience to take away?

Presentations will be on the 12^th and 14^th.

The final work day will be on May 9^th.

Ms. Smith recommended that we get it done before prom weekend for obvious reasons.

Remember, these projects are going on the blog for the world to see, so represent our class and each other to your best ability!

And finally, Wednesday, May 7^th is the in-class essay test. Bring notes/an outline.

If you will not be in class, either come in on an off hour or have your parents time you 58 minutes and sign off on it.

Good luck to everyone these last couple weeks!

Scribe for Monday, April 28

Monday, April 28, 2008

We had a sub today, Mrs. Ritzdorf. We also turned in our ticket for the fishbowl of chapters 7-12 and the summary response paper to the movie clips that we originally watched on Friday.

Brooks was the lucky duck who was put in charge of the seminar!

Important points of the Fishbowl
What is the significance of Shakespeare’s quotes in the novel?
-Passion of society leads it down a path of bad thoughts
-Quotes are used as a reference
-Thought of love and death
-From the Tempest (the title) separates the people into specific groups
-Shows its timelessness
-John is the tragic hero who is Huxley’s Romeo
-Bernard is Juliet’s cousin (shows the jealous trait)
-John and Humholdz friendship to Shakespeare’s
Significance of Religion
-Idea of being alone
-p.136 “He discovered Time, Death and God.”
-People don’t have time to reflect or be alone
-Why is time capitalized?
Eternity?
-p. 137 He wanted to know what it was like to be crucified
-Is Huxley using religion as an escape? More everlasting than soma
-Time to yourself
-Bernard and John- notice the need to be alone and see by doing so
They realize what society has become
What is socially acceptable?
-conformity
What do the colors mean?
-Sense of emotion and individuality

p. 148 Hemholdz- follows thoughts to be different
-Bernard is a catalyst for John’s approval of man kind
-Threat makes him change his mind
-Instill Fear
-ASTRAY
-Greater talents
-able to lead people
-creates a new norm
-lead others in a particular way
-one person with talent should be punished so that they
don’t influence others
-Follow Leaders
-A leader becomes a target of those who are threatened
-poses a threat to society
-step up to position with a leader
-Harrison Berger (Ray Bradbury)
-Short story
-Restrain Talents
-Equality
-Prevent a talented person to excel
-A leader doesn’t get rid of all the problems
-Political- Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein
-Better to have one suffer than to have all suffer
Why bring the savage back?
-Selfish
-Bernard is using John to go back into society
-Is John using Bernard to gain a follower?

1939-How many predictions have come true?
1. Cloning (genetic Engineering)
2. Sex (PDA) (sex sells)
3. Drugs
4. Technology (taking over society)

What prevents (if anything) the kind of negative consequence that Huxley foretells?
The Individual


HOMEWORK:
Semester Project!

See you all on Wednesday!

Scribe for Monday, April 28

Monday, April 28, 2008

We had a sub today, Mrs. Ritzdorf. We also turned in our ticket for the fishbowl of chapters 7-12 and the summary response paper to the movie clips that we originally watched on Friday.

Brooks was the lucky duck who was put in charge of the seminar!

Important points of the Fishbowl
What is the significance of Shakespeare’s quotes in the novel?
-Passion of society leads it down a path of bad thoughts
-Quotes are used as a reference
-Thought of love and death
-From the Tempest (the title) separates the people into specific groups
-Shows its timelessness
-John is the tragic hero who is Huxley’s Romeo
-Bernard is Juliet’s cousin (shows the jealous trait)
-John and Humholdz friendship to Shakespeare’s
Significance of Religion
-Idea of being alone
-p.136 “He discovered Time, Death and God.”
-People don’t have time to reflect or be alone
-Why is time capitalized?
Eternity?
-p. 137 He wanted to know what it was like to be crucified
-Is Huxley using religion as an escape? More everlasting than soma
-Time to yourself
-Bernard and John- notice the need to be alone and see by doing so
They realize what society has become
What is socially acceptable?
-conformity
What do the colors mean?
-Sense of emotion and individuality

p. 148 Hemholdz- follows thoughts to be different
-Bernard is a catalyst for John’s approval of man kind
-Threat makes him change his mind
-Instill Fear
-ASTRAY
-Greater talents
-able to lead people
-creates a new norm
-lead others in a particular way
-one person with talent should be punished so that they
don’t influence others
-Follow Leaders
-A leader becomes a target of those who are threatened
-poses a threat to society
-step up to position with a leader
-Harrison Berger (Ray Bradbury)
-Short story
-Restrain Talents
-Equality
-Prevent a talented person to excel
-A leader doesn’t get rid of all the problems
-Political- Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein
-Better to have one suffer than to have all suffer
Why bring the savage back?
-Selfish
-Bernard is using John to go back into society
-Is John using Bernard to gain a follower?

1939-How many predictions have come true?
1. Cloning (genetic Engineering)
2. Sex (PDA) (sex sells)
3. Drugs
4. Technology (taking over society)

What prevents (if anything) the kind of negative consequence that Huxley foretells?
The Individual


HOMEWORK:
Semester Project!

See you all on Wednesday!

Scribe April 25, 2008

Hello class,

H.W. Response paper Ch. 7-12 due monday
Response paper over film due monday

• The response paper is suppose to be an entire page

Structure

• Topic sentence
• Include movies
• Connection to Brave New World
• Motifs
• Explanation
• Conclusion

Mrs. Smith wont be here Monday (doesn't mean we don't have to turn in our response papers, they are still due Monday)

• Socratic seminar Monday
• Feel free to ask questions
  
• 
  

Today we watch V for Vendetta directed by James Mcteigue

• We watched the beginning and end of the movie
  

Summary
In the near future, Britain is ruled by a totalitarian regime, led by the Norsefire party. Evey Hammond, a young woman, is rescued from harassment by state police by a masked vigilante who introduces himself as "V". V then takes Evey to a rooftop location to witness his spectacular destruction of the Old Bailey, . The regime explains the incident to the public as a planned demolition, but this is shown to be a lie when V takes over the state-run British Television Network (BTN) the same day. He broadcasts a message urging the people of Britain to rise up against the oppressive government on November 5 ; one year from that day, when V says he will destroy the House of Parliament.

the next scene we watched
As November the fifth nears, V's various schemes cause chaos in Britain and the population grows more and more intolerant and subversive towards government authority. On the eve of November 5, Evey again visits V, who shows her a subway train that he has filled with explosives in order to destroy Parliament through an explosion in the abandoned London Underground. He delegates the destruction of Parliament to Evey, believing that the ultimate decision was not his to make, but hers. He then leaves to meet Party leader Creedy, who, as part of an earlier agreement, has agreed to bring V the Chancellor in exchange for V's surrender. Creedy kills the Chancellor in front of V, but V does not surrender. He takes a barrage of bullets from a dozen men, and remains standing thanks to a hidden armour plate he is wearing. He then proceeds to kill Creedy's men before they can reload, then strangles Creedy himself despite being shot six more times - just as he promised. V, mortally wounded in the fight, returns to Evey. He confesses his love to her, thanks her, and then dies. Evey then places his body upon the train with the explosives.

Have a good weekend

SCRIBE April 23, 2008

Hello Class,

Today we only had 23 minutes of class time because of the ACT Testing, so we worked on our Slogan activity right away. We cut off words and pictures from magazines and glued them on the poster that Ms. Smith gave us.


Then we eat some delicious donuts, but most of our class time was spent cutting words and pictures to glue on the poster to make connections and relate it to BNW.


Whats due today:
Movie Clip: Kyle- typed reaction, connections to BNW.


Homework:
Chapter 9-10 due, and there's no reaction paper due on friday for some of you who are confuse about that.

Thanks,
Milenda

Scribe Wed 4/16

Hey Everybody!

Today was of course a Wednesday and therefore a doughnut day and Ms. Smith was very excited to get her sugar high which led into our Socratic Seminar quite nicely as we put great focus on the value of mind altering substances in Brave New World during the first 6 chapters.

Notes from the discussion
Drugs
Soma ensures that people don’t have thoughts that could be destructive to society
Soma makes you numb to your surroundings much like alcohol or marijuana do in today’s
society
In modern society we medicate for everything
The prevalence of drugs in BNW is similar to that the film Equilibrium
Sex
Huxley’s ideas of the promiscuity of sex were beyond his time
Current society’s focus on sexual suggestion reflects that of BNW
Did the removal of the family system bring about the sexual promiscuity of BNW?
Religion
All people follow a single religion praising Ford, but is that nothing more than praising
technology, consumerism and efficiency?
The Solidarity Service is comparable to modern church
My biggest question
How big of a role did the “9 years war” play in reshaping the world psyche as there is no longer
hostility between races, sexes or original nationalities?

Our Homework was to finish our Montages by Friday.

SCRIBE April 14, 2008

Hello Class.

Today we started off discussing any confusion over our montage assignments or any other work from last Friday from Mrs. Smith's absence.

The rest of the class period was used for group time to work on our Montage assingnments.


Homework:

1. Bring a one page reaction paper over chapters 1-6 for Wednesday's Socratic Seminar as this will be your ticket for participation.
For the reaction paper: Find one focus, motif or idea from ch. 1-6 and react. NO PLOT SUMMARY

2. Our Montage assignment is due on Friday. In class we went over how to use the Audacity program to record our voices. If you have any questions, just ask the all knowing Kyle Bobkowski.

Thanks.
-Michael

Scribe Friday 4.11.08

Homework: continue reading BNW, and work on montage project due April 18th.

In Class:
~We had a sub, Ms. Ridesky
~We should have been through chapter 4 in BNW
~Weems showed the class the example of a montage the English office created on BNW
~The rest of the hour we had time to work in groups and create a script for our own montage, which we will later pod cast
~It is due April 18th

Montage- the technique of combining in a single composition pictorial elements from various sources, as parts of different photographs or fragments of printing, either to give the illusion that the elements belonged together originally or to allow each element to retain its separate identity as a means of adding interest or meaning to the composition. (www.dictionary.com)

happy weekend!

Wednesday April 9, 2008 Sribe

Jackie and Emily started the class off right by bring Lamars donuts! I may be speaking for the class but I think those are the class favorite.
After everyone had their donuts, Ms. Smith wanted to answer some last minute comprehenison questions to make sure that we understood the basic gist of what we were assingened to read. We found that A.F. in the novel stood for After Ford, the current time period. Also, the reasons why the babies were shocked when they approached the books and flowesrs was a part of conditioning. Each social class had a seperate way of conditioning the new "members" of the class. The higher classes used things like hypnopaedia to educate the young while they sleep, as opposed the the previously mention techniques used by the lower classes.

After the brief discussion we immeadiately began work on a project involving understanding the London hatchery and the process of standardization in the "New World."

Below is an image of the intructions sheet we used for the project. The bottom of the first page has two questions to answer, and the second page is the back side which has the rest fo the questions. All questions are due Friday, but only one sheet is needed per group. Also, the picture of the selected room or process is due with these questions

Brave New World- HELP!

I dont know about you- but for the first three chapters I had a really hard time understanding it all. I did some research, and was able to de-code what some of the meaning of these confusing chapters were.

Characters:
Thomas "Tomakin", Alpha, Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (D.H.C.) for London,
who is later revealed to be the father of John Savage
Henry Foster, Alpha, Administrator at the Hatchery and Lenina's current partner
Lenina Crowne, Beta Plus, Vaccination-worker at the Hatchery; loved by John the Savage (From Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader during the Russian Revolution)
Mustapha Mond, Alpha-Plus, World Controller for Western Europe, Asistant Director for Predestination (from Mustapha Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic after World War One, who pulled his country in to modernisation and official secularism; and Alfred Mond, charismatic British businessman and politician, the founder of the Imperial Chemical Industries corporation)
Benard Marx, Alpha-Plus, psychologist (From George Bernard Shaw, Playwright, and Karl Marx, a German Philosopher and Author)
Fanny Crowne, Beta, embryo worker; a friend of Lenina (from Fanny Kaplan, famous for unsuccessful attempt to assasinate Lenin)
Benito Hoover, Alpha, friend of Lenina; disliked by Bernard (From Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy; and Herbert Hoover, then President of the USA)
Helmholtz Watson, Alpha-Plus, lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing), friend and confidant or Bernard Marx and John the Savage (from the German Physician and physicist Hermann von Helmholtz)
Morgana Rothschild (from the Rothschild family, famous for its European Banking Operations) Herbert Bakunin(from Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian Philosopher and anarchist), Fifi Bradlaugh (from the British political activist and the atheist Charles Bradlaugh) Jim Bokanovsky, Clara Deterding (from Henri Deterding, one of the founders of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company) Joanna Diesel (from Rudolf Diesel, the German engineer who invented the diesel engine) Sarojini Engels (from Friedrich Engles, co-author of The Communist Manifesto along with Karl Marx; and Sarojini Naidu, Indian Politician) and "The Great Lout" Tom Kawaguci (from the Japanese Buddhist monk Ekai Kawaguchi, the first recorded Japanese traveler to Tibet and Nepal)
Miss Keate, headmistress of the high-tech glass and concrete Eton College, (the Eton headmistress, from ninteenth-centuary headmaster John Keate)
Arch-Community songster, a quasi-religious figure based in Canterbury(a parody of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Church's decision in August 1930 to approve limited use of contraception)
Primo Mellon, a reporter for the upper-caste news-sheet Hourly Radio, who attempts to interview John the Savage and gets assulted for his troubles (From Miguel Primo de Rivera, a prime minister and dictator of Spain (1923-1930) and Thomas Mellon, Banker)
Darwin Bonaparte, a paparazoo who brings worldwide attention to John's hermitagee (From Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of the First French Empire, and Charles Darwin the author of the Origin of Species)
John The Savage (Mr. Savage), son of Linda and Thomas (Tomakin/the Director) an outcast in both primitive and modern society
Linda, a Beta-Minus, John the Savage's mother, and Thomas's (Tomakin/the Director) long lost lover, She is from England and was pregnant with John when she got lost from Thomas in a trip to New Mexico. She is disliked both by savaged people because of her "civilized" behavior, and by civilized people because she is fat and looks old
Pope a native of Malpais. Although he reinforces the behavior that causes hatred for Linda in Malpais by sleeping with her and bringing her alcohol, he still holds the traditional beliefs of his tribe (from the Native American Rebel who was responsible for the conflict now known as Pope's rebellion)
Henry Ford has become a messianic figure to the World State- "Our Ford" is used in place of "Our Lord" as a credit to his invention of the assembly line
Sigmund Freud "Our Freud" is sometimes said in place of "Our Ford" due to the link between Freud's psychoanalysis and the conditioning of humans, and Freud's popularisation of the idea that sexual activity is essential to human happiness and need not to be open to procreation. It is also strongly implied that citizens of the World State believe Freud and Ford to be the same person
H.G. Wells "Dr. Wells", British writer and utopian socialist, whose book Men Like Gods was an incentive for Brave New World
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov Whose conditioning techniques are used to train infants
William Shakespeare Whose banned works are quoted throughout the novel
Thomas Malthus Whose name is used to describe the contraceptive techniques (Malthusian belt) practiced by women of the World State
Reuben Rabinovitch The character in whom the effects of sleep learning hypnopaedia

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World


Frameset of Brave New World
"The tradition of utopianism is one of the oldest forms of political and ideological writings. The term 'Utopia' (meaning, literally, "no-place") was invented by Thomas More in 1516, but the tradidion can be traced back to Plato's Republic, and forwards through the writings of the likes of Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rosseau, Henry Thoreau, and H.G. Wells. However, it was the Twentieth Centuary that saw the rise of the distinct genre of 'dystopian' writing. The word 'dystopia' was actually not coined until nearly twenty years after the publication of Brave New World, and there is perhaps more than just a semantic significance in this given that the novel is perhaps more anti-utopian than actually dystopian. That is to say that rather than present in a world of unrelenting fear, degradation, gloom and hopelessness as for example Orwell does in 1984, Huxley's World State is, for most of its inhabitants, a place of apparent permanent methods bywhich these ends are achivved ultimate in human, but that all utopian ideals will come at a number of costs: the restriction of human liverty, the controlling of the arts, science and religion; and ultimately access to the truth. Indeed, five years after Brave New World, Huxley wrote that "The end cannot justify the means, for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced."
Source: www.bibliomania.com/1/7/100/2010/frameset.html


Also- I made bookmarks with key facts about the novel and the author, and the eight sacrafices- I would be more than happy to print one for you- either respond to this post or e-mail me at kebgresh@comcast.net

Thanks Guys! Hope this Helps!

Scribe for April 07

We started off class today with a visit from Mikela and Philip. Today was the day they interviewed some of our fellow class members. Mikela thanked us for being part of this experiment!

What we did in class:
Finished satire presentations
Some of the were pretty humorous. Actually they all were, we had good laughs.
Pavlovian activity
Iain was Smith's victim to show us the directions.
Then we were off to try by ourselves.
Directions: Choose who will be the guinea pig and who will be the experimenter. (In a group of two)
Then have the guniea pig sit in a desk and take their pulse. The experimenter must then catch the g.p off guard, yell their name, and bang three to four times on something. Then g.p takes their pulse. Then this happens once more. After this the g.p must get their pulse to their first pulse rate. Then experimenter does everything before except this time the g.p has to hop on one leg for thirty seconds after. Checking pulse each time, and then do it two more times. And then go back to first thing; name, band, and pulse. We had to record all the pulse rates.

Homework:
Read chapter 1-2 for Brave New World. Due Wednesday.
Read chapter 3-4 for Brave New World. Due Friday.

Scribe - Monday 3/31/08

Today we started class with a new seating chart. After receiving our new seats, Mrs. Smith briefly discussed our revised Brave New World calendar with us. We then broke into our Semester Project groups and worked for the remainder of the class. At the end of class, an outline of our plans for the project was handed in. On Wednesday we will begin a study of satire.

Note: If anyone is interested, Kyle would like some suggestions for movies that relate to Brave New World.

Friday, March 21

First of all, I would like to apologize for getting this up so late, I just got back, but here it is!

1. Turned in Dorian Gray Assesment
2. We discussed how to present Brave New World (written by Aldous Huxley)
-This was wrote as a Satire
-Written in 1931
-It predicted the 7 downfalls of society, and they have all come true

Ideas of how to present Brave New World
-Debate- Taking sides of the predictions that are coming true and us outside sources, 2 debate teams will discuss their sides and how it relates to the world today (1 specific sacrafice)
-Discussion- Of the weekly reading- any questions or comments on the novel (use the blog as a study group)
-In Class Art- activities
-Pavlov- Over a large period of time track peoples habits and reactions (class conditioning)
-Essays- Get in the routine of practice writings (weekly reactions)- a journal and uen them all in at the end, as an encompassing reaction- Google Groups?
-Chapter by Chapter reading- discuss just what happened in the specific chapters so that we can have a better discussion
-Fishbowl- as an entire class and not just the inner circle- Socratic
-Downfalls of our society- What they are to us now
-Sacrafices of the Brave New World Society
-Image of the book- writing of image- pre-essay preperation

What has been decided on so far:
In Class Essay- (May 7) pick 1 sacrafice to trace throughout the novel, show how it was potrayed in the book and how it relates to society today (can argue against this)
Socratic- Have a written reaction to the first six chapters- Typed, 1 page, NOT A SUMMARY, and any questions- This is your ticket to participate in the discussion- you must have this in order to contribute to the discussion and it is worth points.
Chapters 1-6- April 16
Chapters 7-12- April 28
Chapters 13-16- May 2
Movie Clips- these will be shown on April 21 & 25

8 Sacrafices of Brave New World
1. Pure Science- that technology has become a god
2. High Art- All forms of Art
3. Religion
4. Family
5. Individuality/Identity/Humanity
6. Education
7. History
8. Democracy


Homework: Buy Brave New World, if you would like to read it over spring break you are more than welcome to.

Hope you had a great spring break! See you all tomorrow!!

Wednesday March 19

Today was Donut day!
If you would like feedback on your National Geographic project from Phillip and Micayla tell Ms. Smith

Homework:
Finish Dorian Gray Beauty assessment. It's due Friday, no exceptions!

Today we did peer editing of our papers, here are some notes to help you to succeed!
How does beauty influence society?
Thesis: One sentence including the titile, author and argument you are making in your paper.
Quotations: rule of 3

1. Explain quote
2. Relate to topic sentence
3. Relate to Thesis

Make sure you lead into quotes
" blah blah blah" (cited work).
No personal words/ contractions
Don't forget a works cited!

2 more days till spring break! We're almost there!

Fishbowl 17-20

In preface of Dorian Gray, Wilde states that, "There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all." Does the novel confirm or deny this comment?

Dorian Gray 17-20 Fishbowl

Happy CSAP Wednesday everyone!

Today Ms. Smith passed back our National Geographic projects and we had a fishbowl on chapters 13-16. Today was also donut day!
Homework:
1. Beauty Assessment is due Friday March 21
2. Blog post for fishbowl if you weren’t a leader today.
3. Semester projects

Notes from fishbowl 13-16
Why does Dorian want to show Basil his dark soul?
1. he’s looking for acceptance
2. does it on impulse
3. human nature to tell others your problems
4. Basil was the creator

· The portrait is a reflection of what he has done, Dorian has sold his soul to the devil.
· Does Dorian have a conscience anymore?
1. He felt guilty in killing Basil which showed compassion
· It is human nature to pursue pleasure
· He is a narcissist (we looked at characteristics of narcissists online and what characteristics Dorian has)
· If people can get away with something they will do it.
· What is society’s effect on Dorian?
1. Others idealize Dorian because of his beauty.
2. What message does this send to him? ( what message has it sent to Britney Spears and other celebrities in our society)
3. No matter how much society influences Dorian, the decisions he make are still his own, and he must be held accountable for them.
· Basil tries to get Dorian to repent his sins
1. similar to Claudius from Hamlet
2. The power they have is too much, that they don’t regret their sins until it is too late.

Enjoy one more day of sleeping in! See everyone on Friday!

Chapters 13-16 Question

What was the main catalyst of Dorian's downfall? What role did his family life play?

Dorian Gray Fishbowl 13-16

Wednesday March 5, 2008

Today was an easy day if you missed. We were granted a work day to work on our semester projects. The end of the semester is coming fast with only 78 days until graduation, so don’t take this project lightly. The goal for today was to set group meeting days to plan, and complete the project.

Before we got to work we handed in outside sources for out beauty papers. This was something we found on our own, or the sources Smith gave us at the beginning of the unit. We also got these back today. The turnaround was so fast so we can get reading and get ideas for that paper.

Homework is as follows: Read chapters 13-16, semester project, and get going on the beauty assessment.

Don’t forget the next week we have CSAP and don’t meet until Wednesday. Also don’t forget fishbowl on chapters 13-16 is on Wednesday, so come prepared.

Have fun sleeping in!

Fishbowl 9-12.

What do you think is going to happen in Dorian's life in the next couple of chapters? Do you think anything will happen as a result of anything in ch. 9-12?

Scribe 3/3/08

Hello Class!
Well today, everyone was present in class so we should all know what is going on, unless you were sleeping or not paying attention. (Kyle)
In other news, Today's top story: MRS. SMITH IS GETTING MARRIED!! After some confusion with the restaurant reservations, Mrs. Smith was engaged over the weekend, delaying the grading of our projects. But congratulations and best of luck!

Today was another fishbowl over chapters 9-12, but first we were to write a learning reflection for conferences with our parents. If, for some reason you didn't write it, Mrs. Smith would like these by Wednesday and should include the following:
1. Assess your learning in class so far this semester. Look at your participation, growth in writing, comprehension, etc...
2. Where, in terms of your learning, do you want to be at the end of the semester?
3.How are you going to get there?
4. What can Mrs. Smith do to help?
5. Then, write a message to you parents. (Tell them that you love them... you know, all the mushy stuff. I guess they like that...)

For Homework:
Read ch. 13-16
Semester Projects
Bring the two sources you are going to use in your paper by Wednesday
and respond to the blog question unless you were a fishbowl leader.

Dorian Gray 9-12 Fishbowl

Chapter 5-8 Fishbowl

Hey sorry guys I just got the e-mail from Ms. Smith to be invited. But! Have no fear, here is your question!

After reading up through chapter 8, what is your opinion on Lord Henry? Is he good or evil? What other characters in literature can you connect him to? Or to Oscar Wilde himself?

Scribe: Monday, 2/25

Our self-portraits (the ones that describe how others see us and how we see ourselves) were due today. Also, today was another fishbowl day which, I must say, lead to some interesting discussion. We were without computers today, but we were able to manage without them.

Through discussion, we interpreted the connections between this story and that of Hamlet. We also discussed whether or not Dorian had anything to do with the death of Sibyl and how each of the characters connected to Dorian (Basil and Henry) are developing into a certain role of good or evil (respectively).

Homework: Respond to blog post, conference with Ms. Smith BEFORE WEDNESDAY'S CLASS (remember, we have a PLC day. You could come in early Wednesday *wink wink*), National Geographic Project is due Wednesday, and be ready to present your self-portrait next class

ch. 1-4

Compare and contrast the characters we have met so far to Oscar Wilde and the Victorian Era.

SCRIBE WEDNESDAY 2-20

Today was a fishbowl day, before the fishbowl we talked about the homework and ate donuts.  

Due Today:  Our rough draft journey stories.  We did not actually turn these in, but we signed up for days and times to conference with Mrs. Smith about our stories and at that time we will show her our stories.

Homework:  Answer blog question, take home quiz, semester project, beauty project and reading for the next blog.

When we got into the fishbowl the outer circle had a silent discussion through computers and the inner circle discussed out loud.  The inner circle presenters chose to hand the leading of the conversation to the discussers.  the inner circle mainly talked about beauty vs. brains, which character represents the author, and the relationships between the characters. (are they homosexual?)

Dorian Gray 1-4 Fishbowl

SCRIBE 2-15

Hello class! I apologize for the lengthy delay of this blog post but here is what we did on Friday:

HOMEWORK: We changed the due date of our Dante projects. A ROUGH DRAFT is due on Wednesday and we need to conference with Ms. Smith because we are having trouble getting the whole thing together. Also, read 1-4 of DORIAN GREY for the fishbowl on Wednesday. Semester Project- keep it in mind.
Also for Dorian Grey, keep track of what you do/don't understand for the fishbowl, and remember that there is a ton of analysis for this book that can help.

Today was a Reflection Day. We wrote to Ms. Smith about what was going on, what was going well, what we're struggling with, and how Ms. Smith can help. That took a while, and then Ms. Smith told us her answers to the reflection questions. Ms. Smith is excited because her volleyball team dominated earlier this week and she gets to excercise again soon. The troubles have arrived again with her freshmen, and here's what we can do:
We need to make sure we put in our best effort for this class because we agreed it is very frustrating to try to teach people and really care and the people we are teaching do not care at all. Our fishbowls need to be amazing, because Hamlet was good, but now we are aiming for "superbly incredible".

After our heart to heart chat, we got out some scratch paper and did a prewriting activity. We answered questions true or false for if we agreed or disagreed, and all of the questions were connected to Dorian Gray. Most of them were about appearance and how that affects certain aspects of our lives, and there were a few surprises in terms of response, but everyone was very respectful and attentive to each other's opinions. We just barely finished when the bell rang- you could say we had perfect timing!


HOMEWORK: We changed the due date of our Dante projects. A ROUGH DRAFT is due on Wednesday and we need to conference with Ms. Smith because we are having trouble getting the whole thing together. Also, read 1-4 of DORIAN GREY for the fishbowl on Wednesday. Semester Project- keep it in mind.
Also for Dorian Grey, keep track of what you do/don't understand for the fishbowl, and remember that there is a ton of analysis for this book that can help.

That's the basic summary of our class hour, and sorry again for the post delay!!

Introduction to Dorian Gray

lIf you could do something without getting caught, would you? Why or why not?

February 8, 2008

Hello Class,

Today we were in the computer lab again working on our National Geographic Project. Ms. Smith wasn't there today because she was in the Science Leadership Academy. We had a sub.--
Mrs. Bearden who explained everything that we were suppose to do...
Our Hw. for today--

• HW. Computer lab; work on National Geographic Project
• HW. Purchase the Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Wednesday of next week), National Geographic Project Due 2/20

Next week: Monday--

• Don't forget we are meeting in the computer lab again
• Decide due date of Project Overview
• Feel free to email Ms. Smith if your confuse

Have a safe and good weekend guys!!

Scribe for February 6, 2008

First and foremost Congrats to Weems And Ian they signed today... to college that is.

Donuts Donuts Donuts
Most Importantly the Projects are due Wednesday the 20th

Ms. Smith will be gone Friday and she expects hard work and minimal conversation.
Fun Fact for the day passing back papers is Hell for Ms Smith
Today was a work day in the Computer Lab
Did i mention projects are due February 20, 2008
If you have any questions Ms. Smith will check her E-mail this weekend so feel free to E-mail her with any concerns and such.
H.W. Work on the Project
In case you were wondering the Project is due Wednesday the 20th of February...of this year(2008).
Well have a good night Try Harder Fly Higher

Scribe for February 4th

Hello Class!

HW: Work on National Geographic Project

Today was a work day, so we met in the computer lab.
Mikaela and Phil were here to help us. :)
We first turned in our papers or compass to Ms. Smith.
We looked at www.journeystreams.com and went to the "Tell Your Story" section.
We explored the tools under "Story Tools" to see if any of them could help tell our story.
(Another tool to look at is www.vuvox.com.)
Also look at the "Dante A Hypothetical Situation" sheet online.
(Incorporate the elements listed in your journey.)

Sorry this post is so late... :)

Scribe Posting 02/01/08

Friday, February 1st.

In class:

In class today we finished reading the Contos in the packet that we all printed off. Next week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we will be in the computer lab (you will need to have done the homework by these days so that you are well prepared).

Canto 4

- There is light in Limbo

- It is not a bad place, and there is no punishment

- Key people who reside here: Aristotle, Plato

- Limbo- These people have never had salvation and wonder why, which makes it a mental hell

Canto 5

Canto 34

- Get out by a stream- symbolism- a way of purification

- Betrayal for Dante is the worst layer of hell because he was betrayed

- Why is it the worst layer of hell?

-The closest people to you have betrayed you

-You trusted them and they broke a promise

Homework:

Answer the following questions in a typed double space paper. Develop a clear rationale for your thinking about the hypotheical situation.

1.) How have the texts, songs, videos, etc. affected your thinking? Support and Defend your answer.

2.) As you create your hypothetical situation, how will you use this background information?

3.) Make sure in your hypothetical situation that you explain/defend your structure, placement, decisions either in paper format or included in your presentation.

Another suggestion in preparing for creating your project is to complete the compass that can be found on Ms. Smith's website or on Emily's post.

Have a great weekend!! Don't forget about the Super Bowl!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Hello everyone,



We started off the class with donuts, Thank you Micheal, they were very good. (Weems some how ate 4 donuts)

Mrs. Smith was not in the best mood during class due to her freshman class, who drove her crazy with there lazyness. She also advised us to be nothing like them and to turn in good quality work throughout the semester.

We circled our wagons and went over any questions and reviewed over Dante's Inferno

• Sam brought up a great question about how there hasnt been any encounters with the number 6, instead 3 has seemed to replace it. 3 is a holy number and 6 is known to be a common number associated with lucifer. We decided that hell is a mockery of heaven and is trying to copy God.


• lucifer means "light-bearer"

We decided to start readiong from the beginning of Dante's Inferno (nobody seemed to remember what we read on monday)

Every reader read threee trisets (three is prevelant) before it was the next readers turn.



CANTO 1

• Dante is lost in a dark forest in which he is trying to find his way out of


• He comes against three beast ( leopard,lion and a she-wolf)


• He meets Virgil who says he can get him out by taking him though Hell


• Virgil lived on the first level of hell because he lived before christianity

Canto 2

• Virgil diagnoses Dante's problem as cowardice, and tells him the story of the blessed and beautiful lady, Beatrice, who came to Virgil in Limbo, the outermost part of Hell where he inhabits, to urge him to save Dante

• Dante feels new courage spread through his whole being and tells Virgil he is really ready to follow him now

• Some of use were mssing the last three pages ( Again, three is prevelant) of Canto 2, so make sure you go back to the website and try to print those pages off.

Homework:

• Read Cantos 3-5
• National Geographic project

monday Januray 28

In class today, people had the case of the Monday’s. Not much happened over the weekend except for Emily had another car accident, and everyone was tired from the dance. Ms. Smith tried to rid the Mondays out of us, but her jokes were not enough to battle the beginning of the week. Our homework is to think of ideas for our national geographic project. We will be in the computer lab next week so be prepared. We started off class by discussing the blog. Katherine G. said that the greatest sin is refusing the gift of life, Rebecca said addiction is man’s greatest weakness whether it be drugs, food , or personality. Jackie mentioned the seven sins and stated along the lines of if you don’t accept God’s forgiveness for your sins then that is man’s greatest fault. Brooks said to not forgive others, or holding things against people is man’s greatest weakness. We continued through class by taking the rest of Dante’s notes on hell and the following questions came up: Why are interest rates in the 7th level? Are some sins worst then others, in our minds, but in a lower level in Dante’s hell? What are OK wrongs? Ms. Smith made note of the number three and how it is repeatedly used. Ex: 3 lines per stanza, three animals, three women, three names for the devil, and the father, son and holy spirit. When we discussed the back round reading a few questions came up. Tucker brought up the point of is the punishments in hell sever enough or would you get use to it? Brooks wanted to know about the windmill reference to the devil and it about how mechanical he is. Emily wondered about the relationship between Dante and Beatrice, Dante’s first love. Another question that brought up was, would if you only did one of these ‘sins’, it was not a repeated offence, what would happen to you? Why is Dante allowed to go into hell? Dante is allowed to go into hell because god makes it possible. This makes Menos mad, but what we see is that god has power in hell. He was also supposed to tell of what he saw. We have the yellow ribbon assembly tomorrow here is the bell schedule and the notes that we took in class on Dante
Schedule for Tuesday, January 29th
Report to 1st Period Class 7:21 Dismissal from class at 7:25
Assembly 7:30- 8:15
Period 1 8:20 – 9:09
Period 2 9:14 – 10:03
Period 3 10:08 – 10:57
1st Lunch 10:57 – 11:32
Period 4 11:37 – 12:26
Period 4 11:02 – 11:51
2nd Lunch 11:51 – 12:26
Period 5 12:31 – 1:20
Period 6 1:25 – 2:16
Notes on Dante
Levels of hell (top is best, bottom worst): light= reason, no light= no reason
**Numbers= levels of hell, dashes=obstacles**
--The river Acheron. Charon= ferryman
1. Limbo (purgatory). Shades and Virgil reside here. Also unbaptized and those that come before Christ.
-- Minos decides to what level you go.
2. Lustful. Ex. Cleopatra.
3. Gluttonous. Can see past and future but not present. Continually rains.
4. Avaricious and prodigal. Shove wealth against each other.
5. Wrathful and sullen. Lie in black mud creating gurgling sounds. Attack and bite their own bodies.
--River Styx (i.e. Mr. Roboto)
--Wall of Dis. 3 furies at gate, gates open b/c of heaven’s decree, city of tombs, flames in open graves.
6. Heretics. Believers in temporal happiness.
--Phlegethon. River of blood. Minotaur: guard of this circle. Centaurs: shoot arrows at shades who try to come to surface.
The violent.
--Against others.
--Against self, i.e. suicide. Body becomes tree (“wood of suicide”). Harpies tear at trees.
--Against God: blasphemers, sodomites, usurers. Area of burning sand rains flames, stream of flowing blood. Where Dante receives warning of his future.
--Abyss
Fraud. 10 groups called Bolgia.
--Pimps and seducers. Ex. Jason. Lashed with enormous whips.
--Flatterers. Wallow in excrement.
--Simonists. Named after Simon who tried to buy the holy spirit. Upside down in a hole where feet stick out and are engulfed in flames. Known as “perverted Baptism”.
--Soothsayers: Diviners, astrologers and magicians. For ex., Tiresias. Distorted bodies.
--Grafters. Gamblers. Lake with boiling tar.
--Hypocrites. Wear cloaks lined with lead and must walk steadily.
--Thieves. Serpents chase after them.
--Deceivers or fraudulent counselors. Flames burn all around and within each flame is a soul.
--Sowers of scandal and schism. Shades are torn apart only to heal again and be ripped apart another time.
--Forgers. Falsifiers of metals (alchemists), persons (falsifiers) and words (counterfeits). Sinners plagued with different illnesses, for ex. leprosy, thirst.
Treachery. Agiant sheet of ice.
--Caina: Traitor to kin. Frozen in ice with only face above to show pain.
--Antenora: traitors to country, city, or political party.
--Ptolemea: traitors to guests. Sinners frozen with head above eyes, eyes frozen with tears.
--Judecca: Traitors to masters/ lords. Bodies alive on earth, but possessed by demons.
--Cocytus. Separates Lucifer from
--Lucifer (“light bearer”): Body half frozen, wings like a bat that continually flap. 3 faces, each stuffed with a traitor:
1. Red: mocks primal love with hatred (Judas).
2. Yellow: parodies divine power with weakness (Cassius).
3. Black: perverting highest wisdom with ignorance ( Brutus)
To exit hell: must climb down hairy Lucifer to center of earth at which point you will begin climbing back up.

Friday, January 25,2008

Hello Everyone!!.. Today was a short class because of the assembly, and we were pretty busy..

First of all, we started class by writing down our homework for this weekend:

• Commenting on our latest blog: What are the greatest wrongs people can commit? Why? and What punishments/ consequences should fit these wrongs?
• Make sure to print your own copy of Dante's text, if you haven't yet. Which you can find on Ms. Smith's page, and don't forget to read the first nine pages of it. Take notes.
• Also feel free to continue commenting on the blog: Why does a just and good God allow Evil to exist? Their are some great ideas and great feedbacks commented by our fellow classmates on there, and its awesome. Good job guys.
• Start writing your ideas about our NG project and visualize how you will create your own.

If you want to be ahead- develop a clear rationale for your thinking about the Hypothetical situation.

1. How have the texts, songs, videos, etc... affected your thinking? Support and defend your answer.
2. As you create Hypothetical situation, how will you use this background information?
3. Make sure in your Hypothetical situation, that you explain, defend your structure, placement and decisions either in paper format or included in your presentation.

If your not going to the winter dance, your bored and you have nothing else to do... you can start working on your monday hw. Which is to finish Dante background notes, ideas for NG project, canto one. And start looking at compass--> who, what, where and why<-- Plus check out the site that Ms. Smith showed us today- www.wsu.edu/~alake/ Its the site of "Where in hell do you belong". It helps us give a colorful look on what hell looks like and shows different types of hell. There are 9 layers of hell. We wrote down some notes today in class:

1. Limbo-Virtuous Pagans and Unbaptized Babies, Virgil exist
2. Lustfull- Creature name Minos- how ever many tails he curls, thats what stage you go
3. Gluttonous- Dante leaves sinners here and they can see the past and future but never the present
4. Prodigal- People who have extreme wealth and they give their wealth to each other back and forth for eternity
5. Wrathful- Extreme anger, Extreme Sadness, (Rivers of Styx)
6. Heretics- (City of Dis)
7. Violent- Neighbor (Plegethon), Self (Wood of Suicides)
8. Fraudulent- Seducers, Simonists, Diviners, Grafters, Hypocrites and so on
9. Treacherous- Kin (Cain) Lord (Lucifer)

On work days- Planning and talking... use Mikayla and Philip and ask them any questions that you have in mind because they are a great resource and ask Ms. Smith as well because she is semi- good. And like Ms. Smith said in class " The sky is the limit". Think BIG! Go BEYOND!

By the way.. Ms. Smith and Mr. Krause did a fantastic job dancing today!! And the rest of the teachers!

Have a Good Weekend Guys!!

Greatest Wrongs

What are the greatest wrongs people can commit? Why?

What punishments/ consequences should fit these wrongs?

Scribe 1-23-08

Compass information

Hello Class!! Today was a big day in the good old English class but first things first:

HOMEWORK: Print your own copy of the Dante text and bring it to class on Friday. Don't print it in the library or you will owe them your lunch money. Also, Ms. Smith really likes the conversation about why a just and good God allows evil to exist, so keep returning to the page and commenting.

Today was our National Geographic Day. We met Philip and Mikayla (sp?) Tarlow in the computer lab. Lovely people, quite nice. The rest of the time we looked at the learning platform we are going to use with Dante.

It is an interactive website (up and running February 4) that is fun and easy to use. It is all about journeys. Any kind of journey you can think of.

There are two main steps for the process:

1. Create your journey
2. Create a story about your journey

We then got an inside look at the five main pages on the site!

• The Home Page- it's the home page where you can navigate where you want to. There will also be about 25 regular columnists who post 3 times/month about journeys.

• Design Your Journey- this page is about how to construct a journey; it has story board and adopt a story to help you get started.

• Tell Your Story- this page has tools for telling about your journey, such as a link to free images and sounds!

• Idea Lab- this is the "out there" page of the site, you can post your journey, all of the worksheets for designing your journey are on here.

• Gallery Page- it has pictures on it from different stories.

• Story Garden-here is where you can show the progress of your journey if you so choose to post it.

You do not have to post on the gallery or story garden but it is a good idea because there are multiple contests you can enter...

We then divided into groups and came up with possibilities for our own versions of the afterlife that were similar to the Inferno.

Group 1 - physical journey - mountain (get to peak), amusement park, mall, hotel, climates, levels of atmosphere, parking garage

Group 2 - imaginary journey - "Alice in Wonderland"/Through the Looking Glass, a "second life" game, a video game where you choose your adventure or fight enemies depending on how far in hell you are, board game ("Life"), Willy Wonka and his crazy candy factory...

Group 3 - social landscape - interview people from different professions, religions, cultures/countries, ages, social classes

Group 4 - service story - rehab facilities, homeless people (how they got there), psychiatric ward, veteran's clinic

All of these ideas represent a different way to demonstrate the punishment of people in hell or the afterlife, just to keep a clear idea of what this is for....

Last thing: There is going to be a compass uploaded that is the who what when where and why of the project.

1. Where is your journey going to be?
2. Why did you choose this place? (this is where you go deeper into the meaning and motives of your setting)
3. Who will your audience be? (obviously the class, if you post it, many more people) (how do you want your audience to feel when they see it? Motivated? More compassionate?)
4. How will you tell your content?

All of these questions get combined for one paragraph about WHAT your story is. Having this complete before we read helps you pull ideas from the Inferno that you can work into your own idea of the afterlife. It can be your opinion or you can make up something that isn't your opinion.

REMEMBER- anything you post for this will be a reflection of you FOR EV ER, so be appropriate, and make sure it is your best work!

The rest of the time we got to absorb and reflect, got our papers back, and got to eat the fantastic donuts, thank you for those.

Don't forget your homework :) you know you love it: Print your own copy of the Dante text and bring it to class on Friday. Don't print it in the library or you will owe them your lunch money. Also, Ms. Smith really likes the conversation about why a just and good God allows evil to exist, so keep returning to the page and commenting.

Over and out.

JANUARY 18, 2008

Scribe January 18, 2008

Today:
Shared our visuals in a nice big circle.

Homework-
BLOG. This is a serious subject that can be very sensitive for some people. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God allow evil to exist? Please check the blog more then once.. some conversation may spark from your comment. Please answer this question in two ways… personally/religiously and intellectually based on what we have read in class.
Print Dante text from the website.

Next Week:
Monday—NO SCHOOL!!!
Wednesday- Meet in the library computer lab and don’t be late! We are meeting Mikela and Philip from National Geographic. Mr. Booth will also be there that day so make Ms. Smith look good. Don’t be shy around Mikela and Philip, introduce yourself. They will be introducing the platform for our big project. Don’t forget to be patient with technology especially if something goes wrong.
Friday- ASSEMBLY DAY with short classes. NEED DANTE PRINT OUT TODAY! This will be the first day of reading.

Projects:
Weems did a photo story about hell. He defined hell and put pictures to each part of the definition. Comments: Liked how it was outlined. Liked the picture of the angel in hell.

Joe drew a picture of a ying-yang with the balance being a dove on the hell side and a pitchfork on the heaven side. Comments: Liked the dove and pitchfork switch... Most people forget about that part of the ying-yang, it represents Lucifer in Heaven. The dove brings light into hell.

Jackie drew a picture the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. The roots to the tree go down into hell. Hell is shown bruning under Adam and Eve. Comments: Liked the choices bar shown between heaven and hell. Liked how it all blended and connected together, like a ying-yang.

Sue made a photo story representing heaven and hell and things that can make people go to hell, like lust and greed. Comments: Liked the part about the things that make people bad, corruptions. Liked how all cultures and religions were represented. Heaven vs. other afterlives.

Ian made a power point he used song lyrics from songs looked at in class with stories and pictures representing the lyrics. Evolution was also shown. Comments: Liked how pictures related to the text.

Emily H. made a collage showing polar sides, heaven vs. hell, showed qualities of religion. Comments: Liked the college and the polar sides.

Rebecca made a collage with a ying-yang in the center with everything connecting to it. Temptation was represented. Comments: Liked ying-yang, you can’t have good with out bad or light without dark.

Tucker made a photo story about his feelings on human being initially good or bad. He chose bad. Our society leads us to hell. If we all died today everyone would go to hell. Comments: People are not willing to accept corruption. Human is bad because God is not present. Why else would bad things happen?

Brooks made a photo story with a picture from the movie Legend. Comments: Light then dark picture organization. Nature represented as good, things we do represented as bad, an example is 9-11.

Ryan F. made a power point, but sadly it did not work because of Mac vs. Dell computer trouble. Instead he told us about it. It was about journeys that compare and contrast two choices, choices that set you apart. Comments: You control your destiny because you make your own decisions. Its not a mistake you make but a path you take. Like you should dance when no one is watching, do it for yourself.

Dustin drew a picture of a faceless person in the middle being stretched between heaven and hell. Comments: Liked the stretching in both directions. And liked how eyes were only represented in hell.

Emma made a fold out collage. On the good side there were happy things including Adam and Eve, a baby, all innocent to start. In the middle crossroads. Things we do on the bad side, like stealing money. Comments: Liked the crossroads.

Melinda made a picture book with alternating heaven and hell pictures. Comments: Liked representation of the world having both light and dark and alternating pictures.

Katherine represented heaven and hell with a slide to hell (it is easy to get there) and a ladder to heaven (harder to get there). Comments: Simple picture, but strong meaning.

Sam created a painting of a hand (the devils hand) coming out if earth, open for choices. Comments: Liked how the hand was reaching for heaven, but it couldn’t reach far enough.

Dan C. made a collage. Are humans good or bad? Family is good, society is bad. Comments: Liked the background color of red then purple then blue. Purple is the balance.

Alex F. drew a picture with a path in the middle with God on one side and the devil on the other. Each had one angel wing and one demonic wing representing the good and evil in all of us. Comments: Liked how it was represented that the one who is evil came from God.

Alex B. made a college and on the good side everything was black and white, on the bad side society was represented. Comments: Liked the faceless people. They sway our decisions. Liked the black and white.

Emily L. Made a 3-D picture of heaven earth and hell. Stairs to heaven and hell but it is easier to go down stairs then to go up. Comments: Liked the 3-D. Liked the commentary of the people in the picture.

Cecily represented earth with a people looking deep in though with a kid looking content representing honesty. In heaven religious symbols were represented. Comments: Liked how the child represented honesty.

Well that was all of the projects we got through today.. hopefully there will be the rest to come.
HAVE A GOOD 3 DAY WEEKEND!

Scribe: January 16, 2007

Hello all and sorry for the delay of this scribe, I had difficulties with my google account all yesterday and this morning....

Firstly, we should all congratulate Smith on a phenomenal half marathon run in Phoenix. She placed 221 of 9,000 women and 1100 of 26000! Her time was 1hour and 44minutes. Thanks to Led Z. she was able to push herself to the max for the last mile and a half averaging 7.5 minutes for each mile. If you want to get her Gatorade for a congragulatory gift...don't get passion berry mango, it tastes like "poo" to her...

Ok first off, our papers on Hell are lost, print off an extra copy for tomorrow just in case...

Secondly, make sure that your National Geo. signature is in because she needs them all ASAP...

Thirdly, we turned our second paper in to her. She apologizes for any confusion regarding the whole Updike story...

For homework we must finish reading Milton's excerpt (which begins on pg. 435 of the big purple Literature book) and then after that we must create some sort of visual understanding that pulls in everything togeher (Milton, creation stories, movies, songs, paintings, etc.) It is imperative that everyone relates this to the essential question: Are humans good or evil?!?

Apologies again.
Brooks

Why does a just and good God allow evil to exist?

Why does a just and good God allow evil to exist? Take yourself out of your mental model for this! Remember be respectful, respond more than once, react to one another's’ comments.

Scribe: January 14, 2008

Apologies that this is up so late, there's really no excuse for it.

Monday, Ms. Smith was gone in Phoenix for her half-marathon, and we can't wait to hear how everything went tomorrow in class! So unfortunately Smith wasn't present in class, and Mrs. Ridiski (sp?) was there instead to help us through reading Genesis. It started with some confusion as to the proper way to use "Popcorn" when reading aloud in class, but the disorder was quickly cleared up when Cecily called out "Popcorn: Kyle". Before the reading We checked out the Big Purple Books, and opened to page 416 to read Genesis. The reading covered the biblical version of the Earth's creation by God in seven days. Here's Genesis in a nutshell....

• In the Book of Genesis, the Bible tells the story of the creation of the world. the story tells that God, hovering over an empty, watery void, creates the world by speaking into the void and creates land, animals, light, plants, and the sky, over the period of six days. On the seventh day, God created a being in his "own image" called humankind. The man is created from dust, and the woman from the man's ribs. They are told to live in the Garden of Eden, to enjoy the new earth's wonder, to procreate freely, but not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve then encounters a serpent, who convinces her to eat the fruit. After disobeying God, and eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve immediately feel remorse and shame, and are banished from Eden by God. Eve is punished with painful childbirth and the submission to Adam's authority, and Adam is cursed to work the ground for food.
• Eve then gives birth to Cain and Abel, and when God is more pleased with Abel, Cain kills his brother in outrage, and is banished to the lands East of Eden. Adam and Eve give birth to another son, Seth, and through Seth and Abel, the human race begins to grow.

After the reading, we had some troubles quieting down, but eventually got to working on our homework: reaction paper, due Wednesday, that covers all the stories that we've read, including Genesis, Koran, Updike, and the creation stores. This includes connections between Updike, creation stories, and Genesis. Can't wait 'til tomorrow when Smith's back and the disorder from Monday can be returned to normal.

Hope everyone has a good day sleeping in on PLC Wednesday, (I know I will). Until next time!

Scribe- January 11, 2007

Hello, hope everyone has had a nice weekend and hope Smith did well on her half-marathon.

Homework: Finish stories, reaction paper due Monday about Hell. Remember 1 1/2 pages. double spaced, strong topic sentence statement connecting visuals of movies, art, and songs with personal commentary.

First, Smith collected the National Geographic signed sheets.... If you forgot the sheet turn it in on Monday. Smith has a folder on her desk so you can turn it in to her. Please do this as soon as possible.

For the majority of the class we listened to the songs referencing Hell.
Song #1-- Seven Deadly Sins, by Flogging Molly. Brief overview-- the music video has images of the devil and fire was always in the background. They were on a ship and the water surrounding them was actually fire. Connections/Questions-- what are the 7 deadly sins.
Song #2-- The Devil Went Down to Georgia, by Charlies Daniel Band. Connections/Questions-- Think about the devil trying to steal souls.
Song #3-- Crossroads, by Eric Clapton. Connections/Questions--What are the crossroads where you meet the devil? What are the crossroads in heaven and hell?
Song #4-- Highway to Hell, by AC/DC. The guitarist never stopped moving his head, I can't believe that guy still has any brain funciton.
Song #5--Hells Bells, by AC/DC. For both of the AC/DC songs look over the lyrics, they often describe the qualities of the people who are said to go to hell. Connections/Questions-- What are they saying about the qualities these people have?

For the last fifteen minutes of class we read short stories about creationism.
Story #1-- The Rig Veda and the Brhadaranijka Upanishad. Remember to relate to other creation stories and think about personal beliefs.
Story #2-- Hopi: Spider Woman. Ideas- evil comes from bad magic, symbolic of people--Why, youth and echo? We didn't finish this story so we must finish at home.

Most significant quote from the day and something to think about- "You can't have light without darkness."

Enjoy I hope these help everyone who wasn't there or needs a reminder.

Joe R

Escribano Numero Dos Para El Semestre: Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Hdub for today: Parent permission letter for National Geographic project signed and returned by Friday and a one page reaction paper to the movies, art, and songs presented in class due Monday.

Handouts: Parent Permission form, Song lyrics packet.

Movies to react to:
Legend
Devils Advocate
Bedazzled
South Park: Satan's Sweet 16

Art:
Hell art (link to art shown in class)

Songs:

1. Flogging Molly - Seven Deadly Sins
2. The Devil Went down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
3. Crossroads - Eric Clapton
4. AC/DC - Highway to Hell
5. AC/DC - Hells Bells

Use the movies, art, and songs to help you with your reaction paper.

Today we got through all of the movies and here is some insight on each one that we watched.

Devil's Advocate: A movie about two lawyers, Al Pacino and Keanue Reeves, where Al Pacino ends up being Satan and Keanue Reeves ends up being his son. Satan's goal in this movie was to recieve a "spawn of evil" by making Keanue and his half sister have sex. This movie was a good example of how Satan is manipulative to get what he wants and plays a lot of mind games to get you to stumble. Also, we see in this movie that Satan is not bound by death and is depicted that there isn't a lot of limitations to what he can do.

Legend: Satan lives in the deepest parts of the earth and is out to destroy all that is good and innocent. Unicorns represented all the was good and innocent, so Satan would send out his demons to find them and kill them. In this movie, we see that Satan becomes bound in lust towards a woman and wants her as his bride. It was seen that through time and patience Satan can be beaten. In a way, it is seen that he is weak in a drive for lust just as a man can be. Also, a lot of anger surrounded Satan in this movie because he rarely got what he wanted and was always out to manipulate and control others so that he could satisfy his own carnal desires. In a way, Satan was very much like a human (male) and in the end he said the he was apart of all of us. Could there be a connection between our sinful flesh and the very nature of Satan himself?

Bedazzled: Satan is depicted as a sedcutive woman. Again, a manipulative being only wanting to satisfy her own desires. I thought that this movie was a good example of how the Devil does not always get what she wants and when she doesn't her frustration and anger towards failure knows no bounds. Also, how sometimes we forget that we have free will and can put Satan's plans and schemes into turmoil just by simply saying no. It is shown how Satan will take any chance that she could get to try and control and manipulate our lives. As Brendan Fraser said, "I would do anything to get that girl," Satan was quickly there to respond and tempt Brendan so that in the end she could take hold of his soul. I think that this is a good depiction of the battles that take place in the Christian faith. Truly, as Christians believe, life is a battle for the heart of man. God wants to show us His Love and Grace so that we can get a chance to live happily here on earth and eternally in peace and joy and in His presence forever in the afterlife. Satan, on the other hand, despises God's creation and wants only our destruction and is quick to respond in situations where he can get a chance to take hold of us so that we can't share in eternal life with our Heavenly Father and instead live in eternal damnation, gnashing of teeth, and torture (Hell), when wen die.

South Park: Satan's Sweet 16: I thought this movie was a very good depiction of how our culture views Hell. We see in this episode that it's just like a big party and Satan is the host of the party. Satan is also depicted again to succumb to the desires of human flesh by wanting a party and seeks approval of others. This movie was a good depiction on how culture can put covers over how bad Hell really is, that it's going to be party time and it's not as bad a people set it out to be. This episode also displayed how religion is a joke and that it is incapable of doing anything for you. We saw this in how the priests tried to get into Satan's party to crash it but failed to do so. It is a good example of how most people believe in a Hell and that Satan exists but don't believe that there is God. There can be no shadow without light.

Things to tie together: In each movie, the color red was symbolized as the Devil and the characteristics of manipulation, trickery, empty promises, forcefulness, frustration, and anger could be seen in each movie. These movies were very good at showing what we as culture have defined Satan as and even Hell.

For now, I must sign off and I hope everyone has an awesome rest of the week.

First Blog of the Second Semester. Monday: January 07, 2008

Big Question (?) of Second Semester:
What does literature say about us as human beings? Are humans good or evil? Do you agree or disagree?

Smith thought us a new word today and we tried to help her spell it. (That was the highlight)

Homework for today: Print out expectations and if you want the National Geographic Information.

We got a new seating chart today (and new students), answered class questions (answer will be at the end in black), signed up for donuts and scribes, got told an overview of this semester (will be in pink also at the end) , and we looked at hell art.

Big Question.
National Geographic Project.
Dante/Hell
Dorlan Grey (spelling?)
Brave New World

What do you want to get out of class this semester?
Open discussion with maturity, respect, and adult like matter.
Hand on learning (ex: multi media).
Everyone get into the discussions.
Enjoy literature.
Intrinsic Learning.
FUN.
Teach Smith something.
More movies (Disney was said in the background).
Group projects.
How do you want to grow as a learner? ("Important for college.", Smith said)
Going beyond what is expected.
Thinking on your own.
Lead your own learning. (Maybe with a fishbowl)
Deep learning, no boredom.
Intellectual Conversations.
Make it more learning and not grade.
Intrinsic. INTRINSIC.

HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE.