Moving to Canvas, and continuing to study Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
As we anticipated, we will run class next week from our canvas web page. The course syllabus and materials will shift to that platform effective as-of this posting (3/13/2020). I will likely have next week’s syllabus posted either Friday or Saturday in preparation for next week’s curricular activities.
As a side note, the text itself is in the public domain, and if you ever forget your book at school, and need to read a chapter here or there, you can locate that at Project Gutenberg.
WHEN READING GREAT EXPECTATIONS you should be certain to circle vocabulary, write your thematic based questions, and annotate for the theme of Pip's emerging identity. Remember that your notes in the margins should reflect the reader's dialogue with the narrative and what the author wants the audience to consider. I will collect and grade these. If you are having trouble with this text, please see me in room 330 to discuss. You can likewise use the RWC for help with your reading and annotations.
Introduction to Dickens, annotating Great Expectations, and breaking apart Dickensian sentence structure. Dis/lecture: What do we learn about Pip in chapter one? Where does the older Pip—our narrator—bleed through the plot, and what are his observations? While reading, pay careful attention to Dickens’s observations: What does he say about his life’s path? What does he say about justice? What does he say about human nature when observing, as he does, about his sister, Mrs. Joe? Time permitting, we will get into an overview of Victorian England.
HW: In which passages does Dickens express his view of life, justice, and human nature? Finish reading chapter two, and also read chapter three tonight.
Read chapter four. Pay attention to the guests at Christmas dinner. What impressions do you have, as a reader, of these individuals? How does Pip barely escape being caught for thieving household goods, as Dickens calls “wittles”? We will also read chapter five together. What do you make of the two convicts, and what importance should we impart to the one convict’s confession?
HW: Reading chapter five and six for homework.
Reading chapter seven and eight together in class. For chapter seven, pay attention to Joe and Pip’s relationship. Why is Joe so kind and fatherly towards Pip? For chapter eight, while listening, you are to answer the following question on paper, creating a drawing that illustrates the details of Dickens’s vision: Who is Ms. Havisham, and where does she live? This illustration should capture the details of both the character and setting, should use color, and will be shared with other students in class
HW: Finish reading chapter eight. Draw a detailed picture of Satis House. What is Dickens vision of this house? In your drawing, include visual answers to these questions: Who is Ms. Havisham, and where does she live? This illustration should capture the details of both the character and setting, should use color, and will be shared with other students in class on Thursday.
In class review of chapter 9. Discussion of Pip. What does Dickens want us to learn about life through Pip’s example? How is Joe a mentor/father to Pip? What is Pip struggling with in life?
HW: Reading chapter 10.
Documentary day. We will begin watching a reality show set in Victorian England.
HW: Read chapters 11-13 over the weekend.
Click on image above to watch video...
Read the following articles and keep notes in your copy of Great Expectations:
Starting next week, our class will be meeting in:
This one: ISBN 9780375757013.
Click on image above to watch the documentary.
Setting and story are invariably tied together, so much so we rarely think closely about it. For example, Lord of the Flies is of course set upon a deserted, hostile, tropical island. Where that story takes place naturally determines how the story plays out. When the Emperor Was Divine is naturally tied to time and place, because Japanese-American internment could only have happened during the early 1940s on California’s coast, during a time of war with Japan. But can setting have large impact when the connection between character, conflict, and plot is less obvious?
This documentary examines our home-city, Chicago, and explores how place determines fate in a number of disturbing yet subtle ways, ways we might easily overlook were we not paying close attention.
How might similar correlations have had an impact on Wes Moore(s)?
Scholars:
Everything with my surgery went well. Dr. Helfand said that everything about me was textbook and entirely boring—good news for me, certainly! I’m home from the hospital and resting. Later this week I’ll touch base with Mrs. Lahey to check in on class.
Just wanted to pass on the good news to you all. Wishing I was there in class,
Mr. E
The image above links to the audio files to the book. Click on it, and select the chapter you want to listen to. To see the assignment sheet for the reading, go here.
Who is Kwame Rose? And why is he angry at Geraldo Rivera? This video from 2015 is a good introduction to the questions Wes Moore asks in his autobiography/biography: What is American life like for a person of color today?
The above documentary provides some historical context for Wes Moore’s family’s experience. Why have Black Americans struggled at the hands of white Americans? This episode covers late 19th and early 20th century history.
How does violence against Black Americans affect children of color? Young Americans were interviewed by the BBC, wherein they explain their experience.
How does one talk about race in a multi-racial community? Eric Deggans describes his approach during a TED talk that was used during New Trier’s seminar day on race, a video all students watched during advisery in 2016.
What does it mean to be Black in America? This sociological documentary takes a look at the mid 20th century to help us better understand why the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Click on the video above to watch a lecture that Wes Moore gave, wherein he discusses his book and why he wrote it.
Two additional videos of Wes Moore, both from 2017. In this first one, [click here] he discusses his view of the Charlottesville riot caused by white supremacist terrorists who disrupted the Black Lives Matter protest. In the second video [click here] , he discusses his acceptance of a position as CEO of the Robinhood Foundation.
Remember to bring your copy of the annotated short story, several pens, and a #2 pencil for the objective portion of the test.
Post your paragraph that explains what Williams is saying about humanity via his poem as a comment to this post.
Starting with an Anne Sexton poem, "The Evil Seekers." Then we will start adding quotes to a google sheet.
HW: Gathering our notes on the topic of evil. Does evil exist in the hearts of the boys? Are the boys born evil? Taught to be evil? Forced to act in evil ways? Students will submit four quotes: two on evil, two on violence.
Discussion on “The Evil Seekers.” Collecting your copy of LOTF
HW: Write a short paragraph that answers this question: who are the “evil seekers,” and why must they seek evil? In other words, think about what Anne Sexton thinks about the nature of evil. Quote the poem directly. You should write your answer either on the front of or the back of the poem.
We will watch a selection from STOP: Survival on a Deserted Island , a documentary about the making of Castaway and real-life survival on a deserted, tropical island.
HW: Read the poem "Man, Frightening Animal" by Oscar Williams. DRAW what you see in the poem, on the back of the poem. Use any medium; do not use any words.
Discussion of the last night’s poem. We will start that discussion by sharing and reviewing your drawings., Is man truly an animal? If so, does it matter that we have animal instincts? If not, then what are we? What do you think? What does Golding think?
HW: As with the Sexton poem, write a short paragraph that explains what poet thinks about the nature of evil. Quote the poem directly. Write your answer on the back of the poem.
Writing a claim for our upcoming paper on LOTF and evil.
HW: Reviewing claims, reasons, and evidence for a paper on LOTF by posting these onto a shared google sheet.
What do we learn about the speaker of the poem, via the animal that is within him/her/it/they?
What do we learn about the speaker of the poem, via the animal that is within him/her/it/they?
WE’LL FINISH THE NOVEL THIS WEEK. WHO IS MORALLY responsible for the events on the island? What is at work on the island—an inherent evil within nature and wilderness? Or is it something within a boy in particular, in in the boys in general? Think outside of the plot: What is Golding’s view on this question? We will conduct some group quote analysis, using google sheets to coordinate our results. We will also begin looking at a series of poems about wilderness (just as we examined New York poems while reading Catcher in the Rye.).
Starting the week with Carl Sandburg’s poem, “Wilderness.” Why does Sandburg say that “[he is] the keeper of the zoo”? Are human beings “a noble animal”?
HW: Read chapter 10 tonight for class discussion.
Chapter 9 & 10 discussion. Why is Simon killed? Are Piggy and Ralph complicit in his death? Legally? Morally? In the eyes of their peers? In the eyes of God?
HW: Read chapter eleven, “Shadows and Tall Trees.”
Discussion of the poem, “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost. Here’s a short biography.
HW: Reading chapter twelve.
Discussion on chapters 11 & 12: Does evil exist in the hearts of the boys? Are the boys born evil? Taught to be evil? Forced to act in evil ways?
HW: Read the poem, “The Evil Seekers.” Post three quotes about evil, from the novel onto a google sheet located here.
We will watch the rescue of Chuck Noland in “Castaway.” We will then turn to an Anne Sexton poem on nature, “The Evil Seekers.” What is the nature of evil? If this poem and Lord of the Flies were having a conversation together about evil, what would they say?
HW: Finish the worksheet on chapters eight and nine.
AS THE CONDITIONS ON THE ISLAND DETERIORATE, Ralph struggles to maintain control of the boys, young and old. He cites in his speech on the platform: lack of fresh drinking water, contamination from defecation, out-of-control cooking fires, and lack of coordinated rescue efforts. Perhaps most important is the overall morale of the boys: they are frightened. They are hyper-focused upon hunting. Their disorganization means they will never be rescued, save by good luck. How does Ralph attempt to maintain order? Why do these attempts ultimately fail?
Examining mob psychology with partners, reading aloud to one another, circling vocabulary, and writing connections to LOTF in the margins. Once done, students should read through an overview of “Classical Rhetoric 101” to better understand Ralph’s speech on the platform (reading up to Medeival rhetoric). You should also review this page, which covers some of the basic terminology. (the three means of persuasion (ethos, pathos, logos).
HW: Finish the chapter five study guide for homework tonight.
We will start into chapter six, “Beast from the Air.” How is any logical advances made by Ralph dissipated by the flapping beast on the mountain top?
HW: Read chapter seven, “Shadows and Tall Trees.”
Small group analysis of chapters six and seven.
HW: Reading chapter eight, “Gift for the Darkness.”
in class discussion. How—and why—have the boys failed to maintain order? Why have the ancient Greek rhetorical devices failed, and mob psychology succeeded in leading the boys toward their collective doom?
HW: Read the second half of chapter nine for class tomorrow, “A View to a Death.”
We will watch the escape and rescue of Chuck Noland in “Castaway.”
HW: Finish the worksheet on chapters eight and nine.
HOW IS THE ISLAND A METAPHOR that Golding uses to expose the truth about good and evil? How does the wilderness of the island, this confrontation between human and nature, provide insight into the boys’ true selves? This week we will explore the island as a symbol, a device authors use to challenge our preconceived notions of society and human beings’ role in the world. Pay careful attention to the language Golding uses to describe nature, how it stands in contract with the boys’ actions, and where that intersects with our discussions around islands as metaphors.
Our first look at the island as a metaphor: Chuck Noland (get it? NO-land?) in the film Castaway, who is the sole survivor of a Fed-Ex plane crash in the Pacific Ocean, who survives five years alone on a deserted tropical island like that of Golding’s school-aged boys. We will also start reading chapter four, "Painted Faces and Long Hair.”
HW: Finish reading chapter four for homework.
In class discussion: how does Golding depict the boys’ challenges on the island? How is their struggle to survive depicted? We’ll keep notes in the typical Great Books style.
HW: Watch minute 25 to 45 (20 minutes total) from Ancient Greeks: Crucible of Civilization about the foundation of Athenian democracy. Note the similarities between “Sound of the Shell” and the Ancient Greek founding of social order.
Second discussion on chapters one through four: Why is Simon described as being alone? What does he discover about himself when alone? Also, what impact does wearing a mask have upon our behavior?
HW: Read the first half of chapter five for class today.
Working on small group exercise on chapters three and four.
HW: Read the second half of chapter five for class tomorrow.
Returning to the film “Castaway,” to see how Chuck Noland is struggling to survive.
HW: Finish the worksheet on chapter five.
