ENG 2D: A Break From the Pattern

We have been following the Reading Style approach for two weeks or so. Today, I’d like to break away from this approach to show you scenes from a documentary about Monroeville, the town that inspired Harper Lee to create the fictitious town of Maycomb.

Remember that your assignment for this unit will require you to play the descendents of one of Maycomb’s families. Thus, this documentary may be very useful to you.

Please divide a new page into three sections. Give the sections the following headings: Monroeville as Inspiration,  The people of Monroeville, and How much has changed?

Remember, too, that the documentary still has a narrative. Are there any parallels between the narrator’s “interaction” with Harper Lee, and Scout’s interaction with Boo Radley?

ENG 4U 2012: Essay Rubric

Here is the link to the ENG 4U Comparative Essay Rubric.

On Friday, we will dedicate half of the class to including secondary sources. This article will help us achieve our goal: How to Include Sources in an Essay. We will also begin a series of short conferences based on your notes.

We will dedicate the first days of the new week to troubleshooting specific issues in your writing. Our goal is get as specific as possible; thus, it would be beneficial if you had at least a rough paragraph completed.

In the area below, I will add a number of quick reference resources for you:

• Strengthen Your Verbs

 

ENG 4U 2012: Blog topics

Here are the topics for your remaining blog entries. Remember that you only need to complete two entries for this round; thus, choose two starting points, and use these as the basis for your blog entries.  Take a look at the  rubric.

TOPIC	STARTING POINTS
The News	Given all of the factors that shape its production, should we trust the news?
Conventions	Explain how the conventions of a genre of your choice have become cliché. Is the strong mother/inept father convention of sitcoms a challenge to our culture, our is it simply a convention that produces a laugh?
Semiotics and Language	How should we respond when a well-known sign is considered inappropriate or offensive by others? (think of the Redskins or the Rippers examples)
Virtual Worlds	Are relationships fostered by social media and/or virtual worlds less real than those that rely on face to face interaction? What do you think about the trend of spending real money on virtual goods? (think about our discussion of Second Life)
Violence and Media	Is violence in one medium (say, print) more permissible than violence in another? How do the conventions of a genre shape the way we perceive violence?
Commodification of Dissent	Is Catholicism counter-cultural? Given that so many forms of dissent (punk, hip hop) have become marketing tools, what does it really mean to rebel?

ENG 4U 2012: The Last Day of Media

IMPORTANT NOTE: Make an extra copy of your notes before you submit them on Tuesday. This way, you will be able to work on your essay next week.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: I will provide you with a rubric for your two blog entries on Tuesday. This rubric will differ from our previous blog rubric in that it will make specific references to the concepts discussed during the media unit.

Our day will start with a discussion about media violence, especially in the context of the reading from Wednesday. Remember your focus was:

Is violence in one medium (say, print) more permissible than violence in another?

 

Next, we will discuss the Commodification of Dissent, a fancy phrase that essentially means turning rebellion and individuality into a product. Before we read an article about this topic, I’d like you to recall the following:

• The term carnival (or the carnivalesque) has been used to describe any counter-cultural undertaking, including media pieces that invert traditional power structures. Watch how the author uses the term in this article.
• How have signs that point to serious threats to authority been repositioned to point at less threatening signifieds? Blue jeans, once symbols of rebellion, are now  commonplace. Punk, a genre that terrified the establishment, is now used to sell cars.
• We have already discussed who owns the news. I wonder….who owns rebellion?

 

ENG 4U 2012: A Discussion About Media Violence is Like a Kick in the Teeth

On Friday, we will host a discussion about media violence. In preparation for this discussion, I need you to:

1. read the first page and a bit of the article
2. divide the research strands amongst your group. Each person should take two strands.
3. explain your strands to your group

Once you have finished, I’d like you to write a 3/4 page piece answering the following question:
Is violence in one medium (say, print) more permissible than violence in another?
As you address the question, consider the following quotations from Macbeth, a play you studied in Grade 10:

Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/ Which smoked with bloody execution

As Macbeth’s blade cuts into his opponents, the heat from their bodies escapes as vapour, making his blade “smoke”

Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops

Macbeth cuts his opponent from his navel to his jawbone, or chops, unseaming him (think of stitching…).

Is there something about Shakespeare’s violence that makes it permissible?

ENG 2D 2012: Your Responsibilities

The table below outlines your responsibilities according to your groups.  If you were absent yesterday, please review another student’s chart, and decide which group you wish to join; if I added you to the wrong group, feel free to change. Once you have made your choice, discuss the structure with a member of the group.

Class, I was impressed by your response to the framework I presented yesterday. Please impress me even more by doing the best work you can today.

Chapter by Chapter	Reader   Response	The   Big Picture	Intertextuality
For the first 25 minutes, complete one of the tasks on the sheet. For the next 25 minutes, discuss your task with the rest of the group. If you created questions, make sure that the group answers them! Dedicate the rest of the time to reading	Choose a task from the sheet, and use the time today to complete this task to the best of your ability. Remember that the task needs to be at least one page single-spaced.	Yesterday, we decided that you would begin with this topic: Some   have argued that to understand Mockingbird,   you need to understand Franklin Delano’s Roosevelt’s famous line, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Explain the impact fear has on characters in the novel. Today, I’d like you to spend the first 40 minutes collecting evidence from the novel to address this question. Please use the remaining time to discuss your findings with the group.	Choose a task from the sheet, and use the time today to complete this task to the best of your ability. Remember that the task needs to be at least one page single-spaced.   I will introduce the first video clip to you on Thursday. Hopefully, this will help you see how to bring multimedia into your discussions.

CHW 3M 2012: Skits and a Riot

You will have the first 45 minutes of today’s class to plan your skits. The groups are listed below. Those students whose names are listed next to the groups are in charge; I urge them to let the power go to their heads:

• War and Conflict (531-533)  Donny
• Religion and War (534-537) Nathaniel
• Learning and Art (540-544) Rebecca
• The Knight (547-550) Sam
• Daily life in a Castle (551-554) Laura
• Women (554-556)  Meghan
• Black Death (563-565) Marlie

You will perform your skits on Thursday. Make sure that your skit features 5 specific references to the information from the text. I’d like to see some creativity, please.

In the remaining 30 minutes, you need to turn back the clock and briefly examine the Byzantine Empire. Read pages 495-499, and explain  Justinian’s persecution of heretics, the Justinian Code, and the Nika Riot in your notes.