E4: Scifi as Lit

For each book, you are expected to be reading over Spring Break, writing summaries each time you finish reading (I'm expected 8-10). It would be a good idea to have some general notes/questions relating to the key questions or potential answers for the discussion on April 1.

• Brave New World (1932)—Chapter 7
• How do John, Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson, and Lenina Crowne show different aspects of human nature? Explain.
• What current technologies are similar to the ideas behind the ones described in this book? Explain.
• What trends in the world today imply we are/are not on a similar path to Huxley's vision? Explain.
• 1984 (1949)—Chapter VIII
• How do Winston Smith, Julia, O'Brian, Mr. Charrington, and Syme show different aspects of human nature? Explain.
• What current technologies are similar to the ideas behind the ones described in this book? Explain.
• What trends in the world today imply we are/are not on a similar path to Orwell's vision? Explain.
• The Martian Chronicles (1950)—September 2005: The Martian
• How do the humans interacting with the ghosts of Mars and the Martians interacting with the ideas of Earthers explore the idea of what it means to be human?
• What has our current exploration of Mars proven or disproven about Bradbury's ideas? Explain.
• In what ways are Bradbury's short stories not science fiction? Explain.
• Fahrenheit 451 (1953)—Part 3: Burning Bright
• How do Montag, Clarisse, Faber, and Mildred show different aspects of human nature? Explain. 
• Why are books banned periodically by different groups? Are ideas really that dangerous?Explain.
• What current technologies are similar to the ideas behind the ones described in this book? Explain.
• What trends in the world today imply we are/are not on a similar path to Bradbury's vision? Explain.
• Childhood's End (1953)—Part 3: The Last Generation
• How does each section of the book show a radical change in humanity and society? Explain.
• What current technologies are similar to the ideas behind the ones described in this book? Explain.
• What trends in the world today imply we are/are not on a similar path to Clarke's vision? Explain.

E2: The Catcher In The Rye

Finish the book by the end of Spring Break (you're back on April 1) and answer the "overall questions." The study guides and chapter summaries are to help you on this assignment and the essay we will start upon your return to school. Come prepared, with the reading done.

Overall Questions: Paragraph+ answers

1. After reading The Catcher In The Rye, does it make sense that this was Mark David Chapman's "statement" about shooting and killing John Lennon in 1980? Explain.
2. Do you think Holden Caulfield is suffering from a mental illness or problem? Explain.
3. How many teenagers suffer from the same kind of depression and anxiety Holden Caulfield does? How do those filters affect people's actions (use Holden's actions as examples)? Explain.
4. What is your overall impression of the book, Holden Caulfield, Holden's family? Explain.
5. What was the plot of the book? What was the climax? Does it make sense? Why or why not?

E2: Catcher In The Rye (before New York)

Remember, each paragraph answer should be at least seven sentences long, include at least one example, and a reasonable explanation.

• Chapters 1-4: Thinking back to A Separate Peace and Gene as an unreliable narrator, is Holden a reliable narrator? Explain fully. 

• Chapters 5-8: There's an old saying, "Those who annoy you most are most like you." How does that saying fit Holden, his descriptions of others, and his choices? Explain fully.

E2: Catcher In The Rye Pre-reading

• Briefly discuss John Lennon, fame, and The Beatles
• Watch clips of interviews with Mark David Chapman on youtube
• http://youtu.be/TaUe5rCO6xU
• http://youtu.be/X0wwPl7N7OY
• Paragraph 1: How does mental illness affect our actions in the outside world? Use examples from the Mark David Chapman Interview with Larry King and Barabara Walters. Do books/movies/video games/tv shows control our actions?
• Paragraph 2: Look at and through the book Catcher In The Rye—at first glance, what could motivate someone to let go of their inhibitions or the rules of society in order to commit murder? Does anything jump out at you from the book that makes Champan's "This is my statement" make sense? 

E4: Epic Paper

The Big Ideas:

• The Book of Job asks why bad things happen; the story shows us why isn't as important as how we handle bad things when they inevitably happen.
• The Book of Job asks what it means to be good; a good person does the best he can with what he has, helps others, is loyal, and is true to his beliefs.
•  The Illiad shows us that manipulative people win out in the end and good people die along the way through the war for Troy.
• The Odyssey asks us to compare the anti-hero, Odysseus, to the hero, Telemachus. The real comparison for either man should be to Penelope who did more with less as a woman in a fiercely male-dominated world.
• Beowulf looks at what it means to be good in a society that is focused on war rather than religion. It also looks at how a pagan culture assimilates a peace-oriented, monotheistic religion.

Essay Options: Remember, these are meant to be a starting point.

• Analyze one of the main characters in relation to the story and in relation to his or her culture.
• Compare two of the characters from different stories and cultures.
• Look at the bigger questions one of the stories adresses and how it impacts the plot, the characters, and the ending; what does that question imply about the culture the epic comes from?
• Pick your own topic that relates to one of the four stories.

Sample Q&D Outline:

• Claim: Job and Cassandra of Troy both represent how their cutlures viewed faith. The Jews thought it was important to be true to their beliefs, but they didn't always know what that meant; the Greeks weren't usually very devout to their gods which is shown in the way Cassandra is cursed for reminding her "god" of his own rules.
• Brief discussion of Job, it's larger questions, and how Jews practice their faith now.
• Brief discussion of Greek mythology, whether or not faith plays a part in most of their lives, and what Cassandra's curse was really about.
• Examples of how Job and Cassandra were similar—fully explained
• Examples of how Job and Cassandra were different—fully explained

Bibliographic Examples (reverse indent each entry):
The Books of the Bible: New International Version. [Colorado Springs, Colo.] : Biblica, Inc: distributed by Zondervan, 2011. Print.

Butler, Samuel, trans. The Iliad and The Odyssey. e-book. Buki Editions, 2009.

Heaney, Seamus, trans. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2000.

Thouvenel, M. 2014 Frame of Reference. Pendleton High School. February 2014. Lecture Notes.

Thouvenel, M . "E4: Beowulf Notes." English with Thouvenel. 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://phs242.blogspot.com/2014/03/beowulfnotes.html>.

E4: Beowulf Notes

The early Christians called themselves "followers of The Way" and lived in small communities where they helped each other and any strangers who needed their help. As their message of love (God and neighbor) spread, their forms of worship were formalized. No longer could any believer share communion (bread and wine), no longer could any believer teach "The Word". The Didache is a collection of early Christian rituals and debates; as the religion changed with Constantine's conversion, more and more people became invested in how people should be allowed to worship and what they should be taught about Jesus and his teachings. There were three hundred years of brutal, bloody meetings to determine the core of what became The Bible and what it meant to be a Christian.

In mid-evil times holy men and women would seek out solitude in the forest or near the ocean to mimic the 40 days Jesus was said to have spent alone in the desert by isolating themselves to focus on God (v. Platonic). Eventually, eager students found them and formed communities around them—monasteries and abbeys.

As Christianity crossed continents and oceans, it was tweaked by each successive culture. The Irish combined their many-faced gods and goddesses with various Saints of the early Catholic church; their faith was full of debate, knowledge, and conflict. The Danes, Scandinavians, and such balanced the message of love with their centuries old culture of war in fits and spurts as reflected in the oldest manuscript of Beowulf and its many incarnations. Theirs was a Christianity of action, not passivity. Beowulf's creation story focuses on monsters and evil; Grendel is from a long line of monsters that started with Cain's children (Cain killed his brother Abel and was marked by God as a kin-killer).

Beowulf (1000 AD for oldest manuscript)

• The Danes versus Grendel
• The Danes are a fierce people who value kings and queens that kick butt.
• Hrothgar, the builder and ruler of Heorot, is a Dane.
• Grendel, the monster who torments and tortures the Danes for twelve years, is a descendent of Cain (this is a Biblical allusion).
• The Danes turn away from the Judeo-Christian God during that time and back to the pagan gods which only makes things worse.
• Everyone hears about the trouble between Hrothgar and Grendel. 
• In Geatland, another island kingdom near the Swedes/Danes/Dutch, Beowulf, the son of the king, decides to help out with his favorite warriors.
• The Danish Coast Guard challenges Beowulf's boat, then backs down when they realize the Geats are ready to throw down with Grendel.
• Beowulf and his crew arrive at Heorot (it's only used during the day) to make nice with Hrothgar and his warriors. 
• There's some bragging about Beowulf's level of awesome. He was fifteen when he swam around several islands, killed a bunch of sea monsters, and lost a race on a technicality.
• Unferth, one of Hrothgar's warriors, throws shade at Beowulf which causes some uncomfortable moments. Especially when Beowulf shows that he's heard of Unferth and his totally naughty ways.
• Beowulf versus Grendel
• Grendel hears the sounds of partying and gets pissed off. He rages across the countryside in preparation for killing.
• One of the Geats gets snagged and snacked on.
• Beowulf, refusing to use any weapons, grabs onto Grendel's arm and holds tight. His men spend their time grabbing Grendel's fingers and stabbing at him.
• Grendel pulls away from Beowulf, leaving his arm behind, and runs home just as dawn is starting.

Paragraph 1: Which character from Job (Job), The Iliad (Agamemnon, Achilles, Petrocles, Hector, Paris, Cassandra), or The Odyssey (Odysseus, Telemachus, Penelope) is most like Beowulf? Explain.

• Beowulf versus Grendel's Mother
• As the feasting, storytelling, and gifting winds down (it's been days), a new enemy approaches.
• Grendel's Mother, a swamp hag (who never gets her own name), comes to avenge her son's death. She kills Aeschere, one of Hrothgar's most trusted advisors and warriors.
• A whole company of Danes and Geats heads after her to avenge Aeschere.
• They get there just as she is disappearing into the water, so Beowulf jumps after her with only his sword.
• They fight in her cave, Beowulf kills her with a special sword, notices Grendel's body and decides to come back up with a prize—Grendel's head.
• Beowulf versus The Dragon
• Beowulf returns home. Shares his gifts and his story with his king and, eventually, becomes King of the Geats.
• Beowulf rules for fifty years. Then, one day, a thief sneaks into a remote castles, steals a cup, and flees with a dragon on his tail. The Dragon wreaks havoc across the country looking for the thief and his cup. Beowulf is forced to get involved even though he is an old man.
• Beowulf and his most trusted soldiers track down the dragon. When the dragon reveals himself, all the soldiers except for Wiglaf run. 
• Beowulf and Wiglaf fight the dragon and eventually kill it. Beowulf is mortally wounded in the fight and passes the kingship to Wiglaf. 
• Wiglaf is pissed and demotes all the soldiers who ran.

There is archeological evidence that Beowulf existed and his army fought another army. The second army carried a Dragon Standard (flag) that probably set off this part of hte legend. Beowulf had ruled for many years and was an old man when he led his army onto the field of battle. He died there. 

Paragraph 2: Which characters best represents his or her culture? Early Judaism, Ancient Greece, Late Norse/Scandinavian

E4: The Iliad and The Odyssey Notes

The Greeks—a collective of city-states that housed some of the greatest thinkers, scientists, and story-tellers the world has ever known. Their religion was as varied as their gods and goddesses.

Key Philosophers/Philosophies

• Plato (393 BC)
• The Question: What is real/reality?
• The Answer: Not us. We are only reflections of a greater reality.
• Aristotle's response to Plato (354 BC): We can only live in the world we are in—
• Think about it
• Do it
• Learn from it
• Immanuel Kant (1754) 
• Consensual Reality: agreed upon rules for the universe and society regarding what can and cannot exist
• Knowledge: data organized into concepts; outside perception 
• Analytical Knowledge: breaking down the sense and understanding of an experience 
• Synthetic Knowledge: connecting sense, understanding, and experience 

Key Players in the Trojan War (The Iliad)

• Achilles: Son of Thetis who dipped him in the River Styx
• Agamemnon: King of Mycenae; Sacrifices daughter, Iphigenia, to gain favorable winds to sail to Troy; Killed by his wife and her lover
• Priam: King of Troy
• Hector: Crown Prince of Troy and great warrior; Husband of Andromache; Killed by Achilles in war after killing Achilles' best friend
• Paris: Prodigal son of Priam; Always trying to prove he’s as good as his many brothers
• Helen: Wife of Menelaus; Lover of Paris; Considered “the most beautiful woman in the world” 
• Cassandra: Daughter of Priam and priestess of Apollo; She is doomed to always tell the truth and never be believed after she refuses to have sex with Apollo

The Iliad by Homer (750-800 BCE)

• Helen of Troy was the most beautiful woman in the world. Agamemnon convinced all the leaders of Greek islands and city-states to support his brother, Menelaus, as Helen's husband. 
• Paris and Cassandra were born a prince and princess of Troy. 
• Due to several prophecies about how Paris would cause the destruction of Troy, he was sent to be raised in the mountains. He ended up judging a beauty contest among three goddesses and is promised Helen in return. 
• Meanwhile, Cassandra becomes a priestess of Apollo and refuses to have sex with him since she's a sworn virgin; Apollo curses Cassandra to see and tell the truth while no one will believe her. 
• By the time Paris returns in triumph to Troy, Cassandra has been branded as a total crazy.
• Odysseus likes the Trojans and has no wish to fight them. He pretends to be crazy until his son's life is threatened.
• Once he gets all his warriors on board, Agamemnon, sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia in order to convince the gods to give him the winds he needs to get to Troy. This comes back to bit him later...
• Achilles has spent his whole life being hidden from the world by his mother, Thetis, who dipped him in the river Styx to keep him from harm. This mama's boy ended up in the Greek army.
• Petroclus, Achilles best friend, takes his place in a pivotal battle to save the Greek ships and is killed by Hector. Even though the Trojans give Petroclus the same honors they give to their own fallen warriors, Achilles freaks out and kills Hector. Instead of giving Hector's body back, Achilles desecrates it before offering to exchange it for Cassandra who happens to be a virgin priestess of Apollo.
• Some sources claim it was Apollo, others claim it was Paris, who shot an arrow from the walls of Troy into the heel of Achilles thus killing him.
• Most of the greatest warriors of the Greeks and Trojans were killed during the ten years of the war. Before the end, Hector and Paris both died. Aeneas was the only Trojan warrior known to escape. He led a small group of refugees outside the walls of Troy on the last night of it's existence and went on to found Rome.
• Ten years into the fighting Odysseus convinces the Greeks to build a horse (which is sacred to Poseidon) and fill it with soldiers while moving all their ships out to sea. The Trojans are so excited to finally be winners that they bring the horse inside their walls. Later that night, the Greeks open the gates, destroy Troy, kill and rape and pillage...
• Cassandra is claimed by Agamemnon. By the time his ships return to Mycenae she is pregnant. According to the Iliad, Agamemnon and Cassandra are both murdered by Clytemestra (his wife) and her lover, Aegisthus which causes Orestes and Electra to avenge their father. There are sources that claim Cassandra and her child survived...

Paragraph 1: Which warrior from The Iliad truly deserves to be remembered? Explain fully.

The Odyssey by Homer (800-850 BCE)

Odysseus: 

• Ogygia—Odysseus is the reluctant lover of the nymph Calypso until Athena finally convinces the gods to free him. 
• The Phaeacians—after leaving Ogygia on a raft, Poseidon sends a storm to drown Odysseus who ends up on a friendly island. While there, Odysseus tells the story of his ten year absence from Ithaca which includes the Lotus Eaters, The Cyclops, Circe, the Sirens, Hades (to talk to Tiresias from way back in the Oedipus plays), Scylla, and Calypso.
• The Phaeacians help Odysseus return to Ithaca, but all the sailors die...

Telemachus:

• Telemachus was a baby when Odysseus went to war. For most of his life a large group of men have taken over his house and lands while they try to get Penelope, his mom, to give up Odysseus as dead and marry one of them.
• Athena shows up, pretends to be an old friend of Odysseus', and convinces Telemachus to bail on Ithaca for awhile. She sends him to Pylos
• Since he didn't learn from from King Nestor of Pylos, Telemachus journeys to Sparta where he learns about Odysseus' feats during the Trojan war from Menelaus and Helen.
• Finally, Telemachus returns to Ithaca

Penelope:

• Left behind to raise and son and keep the lands, Penelope doesn't have the money or fire power to get rid of her suitors. She does manage to make them wait several years for her to weave a shroud for her father-in-law. Eventually, one of her maids betrays her.
• Telemachus has a total hissy-fit and blames all his problems on Penelope. Faced with increasingly impatient suitors and abandoned by her son, Penelope manages to keep a step ahead of all the men who think they know best.

The Final Battle:

• Odysseus returns to Ithaca and hides out with Eumaeus, a swine-herd 
• Odysseus and Telemachus have a happy reunion and plan the slaughter of the suitors
• Odysseus pretends to be a beggar and fools almost everyone. His nurse recognizes him and Penelope suspects who he is. She organizes a contest to see who can string and shoot Odysseus' bow
• All the suitors fail, Odysseus and Telemachus kill the suitors. He then decides to "test" Penelope fearing she wasn't loyal...

Paragraph 2: Compare and contrast Cassandra of Troy and Penelope of Ithaca. OR Compare and contrast Agamemnon of Mycanea and Odysseus of Ithaca.

E4: The Book of Job Notes

Reviewed notes on myth, various types of religions, proto-human societies, and the definition of a classic epic.

The Hebrews (Judaism)—enslaved in Egypt, wandered to Canaan, conquered and renamed it Israel, dispersed around the world by Babylon and Persia. Out in the larger world, Jews kept their traditions thanks to two centers of theology (Palestine and Babylon); they were routinely persecuted by governments in need of an enemy culminating in the German Holocaust of the 1930’s and 1940’s. In November of 1947, Jews returned to and conquered Palestine which was renamed Israel. They follow the Ten Commandments which are broken down into "love God" and "love others".

The Book of Job (2000-950 BCE) has long been a stumbling block for many Christians. How could God allow Satan to torture someone? Our idea of the devil comes most clearly from this Jewish epic about a long-suffering and faithful servant of God, the ultimate Jewish hero.

• Job is tested; his reaction is "I came into the world naked, I will leave it naked. God gives and God takes away."
• His wife demands he react; his reaction is "How can I accept the good and not the bad?"
• Three close friends show up to offer comfort and instead begin "The Great Debate"
• Secret sin causes bad things to happen
• Job has lived a good life and done nothing to deserve this, but he must endure it 
• Job's friends try to get him to denounce God
• Job would rather suffer the loss of his family, his wealth, and his health than deny God
• A younger man comes to join the debate. Job tries to understand why things have happened the way they have.
• God arrives, speaks to Job; Job's reaction is "You're right God, I'm a lowly human who cannot understand your ways or your reasons.
• When God is unimpressed with Job's friends, Job speaks for them.
• Job is blessed 

Write a 7-sentence paragraph that addresses the epic's answer to the following questions.

• Why do bad things happen?
• What does it mean to be "good"?

E2: World Poetry (Feb. 2014)

Objectives

• Learn the differences between prose and poetry
• Dig into figurative language and apply that knowledge to a variety of poems
• Apply knowledge of storytelling and poetry through the analysis (written and verbal) of various poems

Please request notes from the teacher if needed. They were included with the original poetry packet and were reviewed in class.

Poems to read, discuss, and write about:

• "Sonnet 18" by William Shakespeare (1609)
• "Sonnet 130" by William Shakespeare (1609)
• "The Tyger" by William Blake (1794)
• "The World is Too Much With us" by William Wordsworth (1806)
• "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1818)

Poems to read, watch, discuss, and write about:

• “Childhood” by Justin Long and Ishmael Islam (2009)
• “Hands” by Sarah Kay (2007)
• “If I Had a Daughter” by Sarah Kay (2011)
• “What Teachers Make” by Taylor Mali (2006)
• “To This Day by Shane Koyczan (2013)

Poems we wrote:

• 2 nature Haikus
• 5 couplets
• 3 Five by Five
• 4 Snapshots
• 2 Writer's Choice

E4: Elements of Writing (Feb. 2014)

Students were given a choice between reading pre-determined sections of various writing handbooks, six of seventeen articles collected over the last six months from online and offline sources, or a non-fiction book of their choice.

Four times over the three weeks provided for reading, students were asked to turn in paragraphs that answered the following questions:

1. What was the article/section about?
2. What was your reaction to the information?
3. Was it well written? Explain.

At the end of the three weeks, students were asked to write a claim for a five-paragraph essay that would include two citations (based on paraphrases or quotes) and a bibliography that included all their sources. They were provided with a slide-show and notes which reviewed our Fall unit on MLA formatting.

Students then spent five days in the library writing and revising their essay. The essays and two revised drafts were due February 25, 2014 and accepted through February 28, 2014.

The first round of rewrites are due March 7, 2014 and the second round of rewrites are due March 14, 2014.