Amanda Palmer: TED Talk on “The Art of Asking” (2013)

• What is good art? How does one make it?
• Why is it important to ask for help? When should one ask for help?
• Why is failure important?
• Why is it important to have a community? A support system? A group of friends? Why does this remain important throughout someone’s life?
• What is art worth? How do people determine the worth of art?
• What is the essence of Palmer’s advice?

Neil Gaimain: Commencement Speech at the University of the Arts (2012)

• Why do we have speakers at graduations?
• What is the difference between school and scholarship, between school and education?
• What do successful people have in common? Define success.
• Why is failure important?
• What is good art? How does one make it?
• What is the essence of Gaiman’s advice?

Vocabulary

English 2

• Meter: rhythm in language that is recognized through beat patterns
• Metrical Verse: a structure of lines, rhythmic energy, and repetitive sound; meant to be read aloud
• Memoir: the mostly true story of what the author has learned through life
• Mentor: teaches and protects the hero; Gives the hero magical gifts to help complete the quest; Often tied to nature or religion; could be a failed hero who is trying to help the next generation
• Monologue: a lengthy speech by a single character
• Motif: a conspicuous element that recurs throughout a story
• Myth: stories told in pre-literate cultures to explain the universe, mankind’s existence, and how to live in community; a culture's sacred stories
• Negative Capability: a concept developed by John Keats to describe the way some writer’s explore things through their absence
• Objective: the author presents the information or story with a detached tone

English 4

• Belie: to show to be false; contradict
• Bellicose: inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile; belligerent
• Boisterous: rough and noisy; noisily jolly or rowdy; clamorous; unrestrained
• Bona fide: made or carried out in good faith
• Bourgeois: affluent, middle-class folk who are conventional, conservative, or materialistic
• Brusque: abrupt in manner; blunt; rough.
• Camouflage: a device or stratagem used for concealment
• Carte blanche: unconditional authority; full discretionary power.
• Caustic: capable of burning, corroding, or destroying living tissue; severely critical or sarcastic

WR 121 Research Proposal Notes

You must have a conversation with me explaining how your topic of choice connects to either The Scarlet Letter or The Awakening. This leaves a huge pool of topics to pull from, like the following examples:

• Should we still be protesting for equal treatment based on skin color/gender/sexual orientation?
• What should modern education look like?
• How much control should the government have over the individual?
• How should people with mental illness be treated? What options for care should be available to them?
• What makes someone a good parent?
• How should current research on brain development affect parenting/education?
• How should local forests be managed? Who should make the decisions about public spaces?
• What duty does society have to the working poor?

The first step in the research paper is developing a question, writing a proposal, and writing an introductory/thesis paragraph.

Proposal Format

• Topic (Research Question):
• Thesis Statement:
• Reasoning in Support of Argument:
• #1
• #2
• #3
• #4
• #5
• Counterarguments:
• Counterargument #1:
• Refute:
• Counterargument #2:
• Refute:
• Counterargument #3:
• Refute
• Source Material:
1. Article title, author, publish date:
2. Article title, author, publish date:
3. Article title, author, publish date:
• Thesis Paragraph/Introduction:

Honors 4: The Scarlet Letter vs. The Awakening

The Scarlet Letter Notes

• A Romantic critique of American hypocrisy: the first settlers were quick to judge anyone who was a threat to their sense of community, faith, and power
• sin: any selfish act that impinges upon the personhood or property of another
• penitence: true contraction for the act of sinning and the accompanying actions that keep the sinner from repeating the infraction
• penance: a series of behaviors or tasks designed to repay the person sinned against
• Feminism: the belief that equality is not based on gender
• Fairy Tale: written by the literate for the literate
• restoration: the “hero” loses his or her place which is returned after he/she passes through the forest and passes a series of trials
• the rise: the “hero” starts with nothing and gains everything after he/she passes through the forest and passes a series of trials
• the forest: a place where the rules are totally different and unknown; everyone enters, not everyone leaves and not everyone leaves sane
• coded language is used to give the story multiple levels of meaning
• The Characters
• Hester Prynne: the hero who is forced to take full responsibility for her sins and suffers a mental breakdown before rising to meet every trial and face her shadow
• Arthur Dimmesdale: the stand-in for every person corrupted by the safety of their life at the expense of others; he is the damsel in distress who fails to understand what meeting his shadow is about (only when he finally faces himself is he freed)
• Roger Chillingworth: he entered the forest, faced his shadow, and returned to society slightly cracked; his issues were exacerbated by greed and revenge; however, even he has a moment of redemption
• Pearl Prynne: Hester’s illegitimate daughter; a shadow for each of the adults, she is seen by her society as flawed simply because of the circumstances of her birth
• Other Points of Interest—
• Anne Hutchinson: a female religious leader who was banished by the “good people” of Boston
• The Rose Bush: a piece of nature/the forest that has creeped into the town
• Native Americans: represent the unknown which the Puritans assume means evil, the witches hope means freedom, and th reader is to come to understand that they represent our otherselves/shadows
• The Clergy: must maintain order because order is power and power keeps them/the community safe…
• The Graveyard: home of the bodies, not the souls; the place between civilization and the forest (chaos); the place between life and death
• Chapters 1-4 (Hester as Maiden transforms into Hester as Mother)
• How does the scaffold represent sin?
• What does the forest represent?
• What brings about Hester’s mental breakdown?
• Why does Hester keep Dimmesdale’s and Chillingworth’s secrets?
• Chapters 5-9
• How is Hester outside of society? 
• What does the forest/cottage/seashore represent? 
• How has age transformed Pearl? 
• Chapters 10-11 (Hester as the Sheltered Wife transformed into Hester as the Intellectual)
• What purpose do the graveyard conversations between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale serve in the narrative?
• What purpose do the graveyard conversations between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale serve for the reader?
• How do Dimmesdale and Chillingworth function as shadows?
• Chapter 12
• How are the events on the scaffold a representation of hypocrisy?
• How has Dimmesdale been transformed by guild? Is it penitence or penance?
• How has Chillingworth been transformed by revent? Why does Hawthorne choose to make the transformation physical?
• Chapters 13-19
• How has the meeting of the scarlet letter transformed? Why?
• What does the forest represent in these chapters?
• How does the forest’s meaning change over these chapters? Why?
• How do Pearl and Dimmesdale function as shadows? As shapeshifters?
• How do Pearl and Hester function as shadows? As shapeshifters?
• How do Hester and Dimmesdale function as shadows? As shapeshifters?
• Who does the forest really transform? How?
• Chapters 20-23
• How does the scaffold serve as a tool of redemption?
• Is Dimmesdale truly redeemed?
• Chapter 24 (Hester as Wise Woman)
• How has Hester and Pearl’s escape from Boston transformed Chillingworth?
• How has Hester and Pearl’s escape from Boston transformed Pearl?
• How has Hester and Pearl’s escape from Boston transformed Hester?
• Choose three overall questions (answer with the analytical paragraph)
• How is The Scarlet Letter a Romantic era critique of the Colonial era?
• How does The Scarlet Letter qualify as a feminist fairy tale?
• How do the forest and graveyard represent specific characters in The Scarlet Letter? Which characters?
• Which character’s transformation matters the most to modern readers? Howso?

The Awakening Discussion Questions

• In what ways is Leonce a good husband?
• In what ways does Leonce see Edna as property? How is this typical of the time period?
• How is Edna not a typical wife or mother for her time period?
• What are some examples of culture shock Edna (from the conservative Bible Belt) suffers from in Creole New Orleans?
• What does the sea represent?
• How is Edna waking up?
• What is the one thing Edna is truly afraid of losing?
• Does Edna recognize choice versus consequence? Does she apply those lessons or ignore them?
• Is Edna ever truly independent? Explain.
• How are Hester Prynne and Edna Pontellier similar? Why do they face the world so differently?
• How is Alcee Arobon a predator? Why?
• What does Dr. Mandelet recognize that neither of the Pontellier’s do?
• How is Enda’s “goodbye dinner” a turning point? Think beyond the move, that’s obvious.
• If Edna is married to Leonce and in love with Robert, why does she enter a sexual affair with Alcee?
• What about Madame Rantignolle’s birth changes Edna’s life? Why?
• The Awakening: Analytical Questions
• Is Edna Pontellier capable of love? Explain fully.
• How are Leonce Pontellier, Robert Lebrun, and Alcee Arobon shadows? What do they each reflect?
• How are Edna Pontellier, Madame Reisz, and Adele Ratignolle shadows? What do they each reflect?
• How does Enda’s personal journey reflect the idea of “coming of age”? Explain fully.

English 4: Media and Information Manipulation

Documentaries to watch, discuss, and write about—we watch a variety of unrated documentaries in order to examine issues people today face, how to (and how not to) problem-solve, and the difference between communicating through film and through writing

Your January essay will be connected to the following topics:

• What is the purpose of the news?
• What is bias? How and when is it easily identifiable?
• What information is omitted that could change opinions? [Give an example of information omitted from many news sources that could change public opinion. Why do you think this happens?]
• Give an example of a news program or anchor who exhibits bias regarding a particular story. Why do you think this happens?
• What programs that touch on current news topics are clearly biased? How do you know?
• Where do you get your information? Is it from reliable sources? How do you know?
• How does a scene’s setting (music, images, dialogue, lighting, etc.) affect the information presented’s impact?
• Who is the ideal audience for a piece? How do you know? How does it impact the film?
• How does your frame of reference (personal knowledge) affect your understanding of a topic presented in the news media or in a documentary film?

2057: The Body. The City. The World (2007)

• What technology do you really hope to see in the future? Why?
• What is “Big Brother”? Does it exist? Why do you think that?
• What is “Little Brother”? Does it exist? Why do you think that?
• What are the chances we will end up in a world with some form of suspended animation? Why do you think that?
• What technology from each part is already on its way to existing? Why do you think that?
• What elements of this documentary do you like? Explain.
• What elements of this documentary do you hate? Explain?
• How likely is it that advertising will really be tracked according to our interests? Where does it already happen?
• What are the dangers of government scrutiny of individual citizens? Why do you think that?
• What are the dangers of private company scrutiny of individual citizens? Why do you think that?
• What are the dangers to people who oppose the government? Private companies?
• Notes:
• Big Brother is a term coined in Aldous Huxley’s 1984 and refers to government surveillance of individual citizens to ensure people do what they are supposed to
• Little Brother is a term coined by Cory Doctorow in his 2008 book of the same name and refers to the surveillance of the individual by other individuals

Poster Girl (2010)—the story of an Iraqi War Vet who came home and had to deal with severe PTSD

• Is there anything you have been planning to do your whole life? How does your image of this thing match Robyn's image of what life in the military would be like? Explain.
• Have you ever been broken/shattered/shocked by an event? How did your response compare to Robyn's?
• Is there anything from Poster Girl (lesson, idea, etc.) that you can connect to your own life? Explain.
• Who is Poster Girl meant for? How do you know?
• What information is Poster Girl trying to convey? How do you know?
• How does the Sara Nesson (filmmaker) want the audience to feel about the topic? How do you know?
• Why this topic? Explain.
• Why this approach? Explain.
• How do you see Robyn’s story being manipulated?
• How do you see information about the US Military or Veterans’ Services being manipulated? 
• What can be done to help people currently in the military? 
• What can be done to help people who have recently returned from active combat?

The Stories We Tell (2013)—Sarah Polly tries to understand her parents, their marriage, and why we tell ourselves different versions of the same story

• What are the things (3-5) that are the basis for a strong marriage? Briefly explain.
• What is your passion? What would make you give it up? Briefly explain.
• What kinds of people are best at keeping secrets—those who seem open or those who have obvious walls? Briefly explain.
• Why do we sometimes keep secrets from the people we love? Briefly explain.
• Why is Sarah Polly (the filmmaker) an obvious part of this documentary?
• Should we see other people’s stories? What needs does this fill for the audiences? Briefly explain.
• Have you ever gone through the same moment as someone else and had a totally different memory from that other person? Briefly explain.
• Have you ever read or watched a story that reminded you of your own life? Briefly explain.
• Why does Sarah Polly try to get everyone’s version of her mother and her parents’ marriage? Briefly explain. 
• Notes:
• Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author of science fiction that focuses on equality, equity, and abuses of power
• Diane lived large (and kept many secrets) while her husband, Michael, lived quietly and for the people he cared about

English 2: December

Period 1 read Catcher in the Rye and wrote two analytical paragraphs based on two of the four prompts below:

• When Holden says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all” (Salinger 173), what does he mean? What does he really want? Support and explain.
• Why does Holden see kids so differently from adults? According to the things Holden says and does, at what age to kids start to turn into “phonies” or adults? Support and explain.
• Why does Holden struggle so much with the world, the rules of society, understanding other people? Support and explain.
• Is Holden going to “get better” and be able to function in society? Support and explain.

Period 7 read Winterkill and wrote two analytical paragraphs based on two of the four prompts below:

• By the end of the book, is Danny a responsible adult? How do you know? What events changed him? How?
• What moments/people go furthest in helping Jack and Danny reconcile? Support and explain.
• What does the whole subplot about SUNCO represent? Are these things people should still be concerned about? Support and explain.
• What is the purpose of Danny sharing Red Shirt's stories of the Nez Perce with Jack? 

Another Analytical Paragraph Approach: response to an article, short story, chapter/book, play, poem, television show/episode, film, lecture, etc. (should be 7-14 sentences)

• Reading & Thinking
• Understand The Information—fiction, research (academic/internet/primary), opinion
• Determine the value of the information and sources
• Writing
• Answer the question or Make a statement
• Support the main point with specific information (statistics, quotes, examples, paraphrases)
• Explain the support
• Why does it matter? 
• What does it show? 
• What is its value?
• Make a connection (literature/popular culture/classes/opposing points of view)
• Explain the connection or counter-argument 
• Why does it matter? 
• What does it show? 
• What is its value?
• Wrap it up