H4: Fantastic Lit/SF so far

“Leaf by Niggle” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”

• What do these stories tell us about the human condition? Support and Explain.
• What do these stories tell us about how the world works? Support and Explain.
• What do these stories tell us about the place of Consensual Reality in our world? Support and explain.

"Sandman" by ETA Hoffmann

• PGS. 214-233: The Letters & The Visit Home
• PGS. 233-245: The Romance & The Epilogue
• What would Nathaneal's life be like if he were born in the late twentieth century? Support and explain.
• Which "woman" was actually the better match for Nathaneal (Klara/Olimpia)? Support and explain.
• What modern stories clearly reference "The Sandman"? Support and explain.
• Analytical Paragraph: What does this story hypothesize about evil? Support and Explain.

“The Picture in the House” By HP Lovecraft 

• Analytical Paragraph: What is insanity? Support and explain.

Read and discuss HG Wells’ “The Star” 

• What is our place in the universe? Support and Explain.
• What sound scientific theories of the late 1800’s have been disproven? Support and explain.
• Why might turn of the last century scientists have been right about Mars? Support and explain.

C. Clarke’s “The Star” pg. 385

• What is our place in the universe? Support and Explain.
• What sound scientific theories of the early 1900’s have been disproven? Support and explain.
• What specific ideas of Wells’ is Clarke responding to? Who do you agree with? Support and explain.

English 4: Scifi

Isaac Asimov’s “Reason”

• Why are the Three Laws of Robotics important? What role have they played in later science fiction? Support and explain.
• Why (and how) does Asimov reference Islam? Support and explain. It would help to know where Asimov is from (country) and when he was writing this story.
• How does technology at this advanced level change what it means to be human? Support and explain.
• How has Asimov been honored/disagreed with/acknowledged in modern television, films, and books? Support and explain.
• What is Asimov saying about religion? Why does he use Islam instead of Christianity? Support and explain.
• Name and explain three to five qualities that make us human.

Clifford D. Simak’s “Desertion”

• What do we now know about Jupiter that supports/refutes Simak’s suppositions? Support and explain.
• How important is loyalty in relationships? Support and explain.
• What have we learned about other planets that would lead us to having manned bases on them? Do you think we will ever expand beyond earth? Support and explain.

E2: Scifi Starter and Vocabulary for 5/4/15 Quiz

Using your resources (various packets of information, class discussions, the wide web) answer the following questions completely––

1. What does SciFi have in common with mythology? Support and explain.
2. What does SciFi have in common with fairy tales? Support and explain.
3. What do the two sets of archetypes (Classic and Romantic) have in common? Support and explain.
4. What archetype do you most relate to? Why? Support and explain.
5. How much does technology affect your day to day life? Support and explain.
6. What do you think will be the "next big thing" in technology? Support and explain.
7. What do you think the world will be like when you are thirty? Support and explain.
8. Why do ScifFi writers use religion in their stories? Support and explain.

Among the stories we will be reading are (the provided links are what I could find): 

• "Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgeon
• What would you give up in the name of progress? Support and explain.
• Is it alright to trick people into doing something? Support and explain.
• Why do people give up their ability to make decisions or think for themselves? Support and explain.
• What was Kidder's best invention? How would it fare in our world? Support and explain.
• What will happen if the neoterics ever leave the island? Support and explain.
• "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov
• What would it be like to never know true darkness?
• What places in our own world may have inspired this story?
• Why do people go crazy when it actually gets dark?
• What is normal? (Analytical Paragraph w/support from the story)
• "Mimsy Were The Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett with a bonus "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Caroll
• Why are the children able to accomplish things the adults are not? What lesson is there for the rest of us? Answer with an analytical paragraph using examples from the story and make a connection from other stories, real life, etc.
• "Huddling Place" by Clifford D. Simak
• How common is a fear that controls someone so completely? Answer with an analytical paragraph using examples from the story and make a connection from other stories, real life, etc.
• "That Only a Mother" by Judith Merril
• Why doesn’t the mother see the problem with the child? How do parents often see the best or worst in their children? Answer with an analytical paragraph using examples from the story and make a connection from other stories, real life, etc.
• "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke
• Why do some people want the world to end already? Answer with an analytical paragraph using examples from the story and make a connection from other stories, real life, etc.
• "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin
• When is it okay to sacrifice one life for the needs of several others? Answer with an analytical paragraph using examples from the story and make a connection from other stories, real life, etc.
• Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (yes, it's a novel)

Vocabulary for 5/4/15 Quiz

• Bailiwick: a person's area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work
• Bona fide: made or carried out in good faith
• The Bounce: the ability to move, then crawl, then walk after life knocks someone all the way to the bottom 
• Complacent: pleased with oneself, often without awareness of some potential danger or defect; self-satisfied
• Dharma: the principle of cosmic order (Hindu); the teaching or religion of Buddha; applying beliefs to how life is lived 
• Dilettante: a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement; may find a true passion or in the promotion of others; a dabbler
• Eclectic: not following any one system, but selecting and using what are considered the best elements of all systems
• Enfranchise: to grant a franchise to; admit to citizenship, especially to the right of voting

Seniors: Vocabulary for a bit

Quiz on 4/21

• Mitochondrion: an organelle in the cytoplasm of cells that functions in energy production
• Nebula: a cloud of interstellar gas and dust
• Nihilarian: a person who deals with things lacking importance
• Nonchalance: cool indifference or lack of concern; casualness
• Nonsectarian: not affiliated with or limited to a specific religious denomination

Quiz on 5/4

• Non sequitur: it does not follow; a statement containing an illogical conclusion
• Omnivore: will eat anything
• Panacea: a remedy for all disease or ills; cure-all
• Passion: any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling
• Perfunctory: lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent or apathetic
• Pernicious: causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful
• Proletariat: low-wage earning folk who often struggle to afford the basics (food, shelter, clothes)
• Quip: a clever or witty remark or comment; a sharp, sarcastic remark; a cutting jest

Quiz on 5/18

• Quotidian: average; ordinary; every-day
• Reflection: an image seen in a mirror or shiny surface; serious though or consideration; contemplation of life, choices, actions, and consequences with an eye to change
• Respite: a delay or cessation for a time, especially of anything distressing or trying; an interval of relief
• Responsible: accept consequences for actions an choices; work for needs and wants; adapt to things that happen rather than blame others.
• Rivals: people who seek to occupy the same place at work, school, or in a social group
• Sargasm: when the urge to make a sarcastic reply is so overwhelming you can only roll yours eyes and grunt incoherently
• Solstice: either of the two times a year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator
• Succumb: to yield to disease, wounds, old age, etc
• Supercilious: looking or behaving as if better than other people

E2: Poetry and Vocabulary for 4/20/15 Quiz

4/7/15––Poetry Notes; read and discuss "To Autumn" by John Keats; write an analytical/claim paragraph

4/8/15––Read and discuss "Autumn Daybreak" by Antonio Machado; write an analytical/claim paragraph; write a Snapshot Poem (3-10 lines/20-50 words/capture a specific moment or image)

4/9/15––Read and discuss "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman; write an analytical/claim paragraph; write a Haiku (5 syllables/7 syllables/5 syllables; Japanese nature poem)

4/10/15––Read and discuss "Fog" by Carl Sandburg and "Falling Snow" by Amy Lowell; write an analytical/claim paragraph; write a Five by Five poem (five lines/five words per line/no rhyme)

4/13/15––Find examples of each poetry term from the packet (underline and label it)

4/14/15––Share examples; read and discuss "Spring is like a perhaps hand" by e.e. cummings; write a two-sentence summary for each part of the poem (whole; in parens; not in parens)

4/15/15––Read and discuss "Hurt Hawks" by Robinson Jeffers; write an analytical/claim paragraph; write a poem (your choice of topic and style)

Poetry Terms for April 20 Quiz––it's open-note, so make sure you find an example of teach term from your poem packet.

• Imagery: words and phrases to create “mental images” for the reader
• Figurative language: writing appeals to the senses; using words that have unusual constructions or sounds
• Alliteration: two or more words in a grouping with the same opening sound (the super suicide society of summer session)
• Analogy: a comparison of two things (the umbrella for metaphor and simile)
• Cliché: overused phrase
• Conceit: an unusual or fanciful comparison
• Euphemism: an inoffensive expression used in place of a blunt or embarrassing one
• Hyperbole: an extreme overstatement
• Idiom: a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light ).
• Metaphor: an implicit comparison that doesn’t use like or as
• Personification: giving human qualities to something not human
• Onomatopoeia: sound words
• Simile: an explicit comparison using like or as 
• Symbol: a word or phrase that signifies something or has a range of reference
• Lit. Devices
• Allusion: a historical or cultural reference to something outside the piece of literature
• Ambiguity: uncertainty of intended meaning
• Atmosphere: mood, ambience, or emotional tone of a text
• Cacophony:  the use of words and phrases that imply strong, harsh sounds within the phrase (these words have jarring and dissonant sounds that create a disturbing, objectionable atmosphere)
• Diction: word choice
• Fallacy: a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, belief, etc.
• Irony: playing around with words such that the meaning implied by a sentence or word is actually different from the literal meaning (the deeper, real layer of significance is revealed not by the words themselves but the situation and the context in which they are placed)
• Motif: a conspicuous element that recurs throughout a story
• Paradox: a statement that seems to be contradictory, but that actually makes sense
• Point of View: the way a story gets told; the way an author presents characters ,dialogue, action, setting, and events
• Theme: the big idea examined in the text
• Tone: overall effect

Vocabulary for April 20 Quiz (there will also be an open note portion for poetry)

• Theme: the big idea examined in the text
• Tone: overall effect
• Trickster: element of chaos, curious to know how and why, practical joker; often causes problems for everyone by accident; Comic relief 
• Voice: agent or agency speaking through the poem; persona

Poetry: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

Part 1: Forced, Stealth Story-telling

Part 2: The Ship, The Sailing, The Albatross, The Drift

• Analytical Paragraph (General)
• Summary (What was it about? What  was the message?)
• Support from the text (paraphrase or quote w/acknowledgement)––Explain the first piece of support
• Another piece of support from the text (paraphrase, quote w/acknowledgement)––Explain the second piece of support 
• Make a connection to another article, poem, chapter, short story, television show, film, class, etc.––Explain the connection
• Finish with “So what? Now what?” or "Why does it matter? What does it mean? What does it change?"

Part 3: The hallucinations get more serious and Death arrives

Part 4: Everyone dies; the Mariner lives and suffers

• Analytical Paragraph (General)
• Summary (What was it about? What  was the message?)
• Support from the text (paraphrase or quote w/acknowledgement)––Explain the first piece of support
• Another piece of support from the text (paraphrase, quote w/acknowledgement)––Explain the second piece of support 
• Make a connection to another article, poem, chapter, short story, television show, film, class, etc.––Explain the connection
• Finish with “So what? Now what?” or "Why does it matter? What does it mean? What does it change?"

H4: Fantastic Literature and Speculative Fiction Notes Questions

Read through the packet

• What is the real purpose of fantastic literature?
• How is fantastic literature grounded in myth and history?
• How is fantastic literature connected to scifi?
• What elements make something a story worth reading?
• Why do people keep telling the same story about the same characters over and over? What are some examples of this practice?

LBN Paragraph 1: What happens when we die?

Poetry: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1911)

Three-part answers for the following questions:

• What do we know about the narrator based on the first two pages? Back it up.
• What do we learn as the poem progresses? Back it up.
• Why does the poem end the way it does? Back it up.
• What was the poem really about? How do you know?
• What is the poem's message? How do you know?