Writing Across Cultures

Today during 1st period we will be discussing the novel Shabanu . You will have a test on this book on Wednesday, Nov. 3 (our next class meeting). When in the lab please look up Pakistani Newspapers (see post below) and choose 2 articles to summarize and hand in. After completing the two articles, you are free to work on your group project or pop culture project. HOMEWORK: Please read the essay: Nund Rishi, The Flag-Bearer of Kashmir Look up Kashmir and learn a little bit about it. Add details to your notes for the Middle East. Please read Act 1 of Tony Kushner's Kabul for Wednesday, Nov. 3. Be prepared to discuss this in class.

Please read two articles from any of the newspaper links regarding Pakistan. The articles you read (I suggest at least one editorial) should involve Pakistan rather than Pakistan's reporting about world events outside of Pakistan. Here are the links: Associated Press of Pakistan Dawn (Islamabad newspaper in English) Lahore newspaper: Daily Times Frontier Post (from Peshawar, on the border between Pakistan & Afghanistan) HOMEWORK: Please summarize each article in a paragraph or two and then respond or reflect in a personal way to each of them. This is homework, due next class. Please click here to read about President: Asif Ali Zardari.

From Random House: IN HER OWN WORDS: A conversation with Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind Q: When did you know you wanted to become a writer? A: I have always wanted to write—from the time I was a toddler, walking around with pencil and paper, asking adults to teach me to write my name, or the names of flowers, or things around the house. I was different from other family members, and I felt like an outsider. Writing was a way to express myself. And in stories I found ways of looking at the world that helped me make my own sense of it. Q: What inspired you to write Shabanu? Was there a specific person who inspired Shabanu’s character? A: I worked on a literacy project for women in a rural village in Pakistan’s Punjab province, and during my time there met many women who were eager to tell me stories about their lives. I found myself seeing that our experiences were very similar. Despite the profound differences in our cultures, we shared hopes,...

The Ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century pre-Islamic Arabic verse. It is one of the principal poetic forms which the Indo-Perso-Arabic civilization offered to the eastern Islamic world. History: The ghazal spread into South Asia in the 12th century under the influence of the new Islamic Sultanate courts and Sufi mystics. Although the ghazal is most prominently a form of Persian and Urdu poetry, today it is found in the poetry of many languages. The Arabic word غزل ġazal is pronounced [ˈɣazal], roughly like the English word guzzle . The Form: A ghazal is composed of five or more couplets. The second line of each couplet in a ghazal usually ends with the repetition of a refrain of one or a few words, known as a radif , precede...

I will highlight a few Pakistani/Middle Eastern poets in the next few classes. Today let's introduce Mr. Faraz: Ahmed Faraz: Considered one of the most popular Urdu poets, Faraz died in 2008 in Chicago of kidney failure. He was a lecturer at Peshawar University (Pakistan). Among many prestigious international and national poetry and literary awards he was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz prize in 2004, in recognition of his literary achievements. He returned the award in 2006 after becoming disenchanted with his government and its policies. "My conscious will not forgive me if I remained a silent spectator of the sad happenings around us. The least I can do is to let the dictatorship know where it stands in the eyes of the concerned citizens whose fundamental rights have been usurped. I am doing this by returning the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (civil) forthwith and refuse to associate myself in any way with the regime..." --Ahmed Faraz Poem Sample: Dreams Do Not Die Dreams do not...

Please view what we do not view in class and use this information as the basis for your own story, poem, film, essay, etc. dealing with ideas found within or use Pakistan as a setting. National Anthem & slideshow Pakistan Disappeared 2007 Flora and Fauna of Pakistan (slideshow video) Doing it For Allah (Dateline report) 2007 Pakistani Wedding Dance Searching for the Snow Leopard (National Geographic) & BBC's Snow Leopard of Pakistan The Siachen Syndrome (BBC) P akistani National Song (& slideshow) Modern India-Pakistani Make-up Art

Please continue to work and complete your zombie/survival story & your proposal for the Popular Culture Project. Both should be completed by the end of class today. Please use the lab time to move forward on your projects. You may use the library for secondary resources. Results of Voting Poll (in order): Middle East, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Asia, Africa, South/Central America. HOMEWORK: Please begin reading our first novel: Shabanu by Suzanne Fisher-Staples. You can get information about her here . And about Pakistan here .

Please choose any of the following projects (note: some are group projects). Common Elements of the projects: A. All projects should have a Works Cited page. This is a requirement, as the project encourages and requires additional sources, books, interviews, materials, etc. Check out the link to MLA format on the link page to your right. B. All projects should have a: treatment, outline, or 1-2 page proposal. This proposal should outline the following: 1. what do I want to do? (an explanation of the project as you imagine it) 2. Why do I want to do it? (your reasoning and interest in the topic) and 3. What is it going to include or cover? (No, you can't just wing this at the last minute.) C. Individual projects will have individual requirements. See below. 1. SPEECH & PERFORMANCE : Write a 5-7 minute speech (with visual aides...flyer, brochure, pamphlet--at least one is required). Your speech may be: persuasive, informational, or entertainment (comedy/stand-up, etc.) b...

After our discussion, please write a zombie or survival story.

You have a senior meeting, a senior picture, and some sort of field trip today. Please make sure you have turned in your portfolio. The marking period ends Friday.

Like a Greek Chorus, Zombies represent us. They are us in the mass sense: the public opinion, the zeitgeist of the times. They speak (and eat brains) for us as a collective. As such, when you watch a zombie film, it is helpful to also watch for the satire that generally tags along. Horrible? Yes. But underlying the disturbing feeling of not being sure how to react to something that is neither alive nor fully dead, is a commentary about us as human beings. This makes Zombies a popular modern symbol. Please watch Zombies of Mass Destruction directed by Kevin Hamedani. Cinematographer or director of photography is John Guleserian, special effects by Tom Devlin, and written by Ramon Isao & Keven Hamedani. Cast list is listed on the back of the essay I handed out today. Sorry about the gore. HOMEWORK: Respond to the film. Write about zombies, use zombies in your poetry, in your haiku, in your stage plays. Use zombies as a jumping off point to comment about mass society as you see ...

Consumerism: Big Ideas that Changed the World Please watch the following clips and respond to the videos in your notebook/journal. Consumerism, the Musical George Carlin on Consumerism Consuming Kids Zombies: for some of you, let's watch and creatively respond to one of the films.