Writing Across Cultures

This morning, after our pop quiz on The Handmaid's Tale (see homework below!), please complete your portfolios today in lab. Save about 20 minutes (9:10) for a discussion/question session and instruction from Ms. Jordan. Clip #1: Bella: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTM1irjA9Es Answer question #1 now. Clip #2: Buffy:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwM3GvaTRM Answer question #2 now. HOMEWORK: We do not have classes next week. Please use this time to complete your reading of The Handmaid's Tale. Be prepared to discuss the book and take a test on it when we return from mid-term break.

This is a reprint from early September and November: I will be using the following rubric when assessing your portfolios. A portfolio is due each quarter and comprises the major part of your quarter grade (along with attendance, participation/homework, reading, quizzes/tests, presentations and class activities like discussions and so forth). 4 = Exemplary 3= Accomplished 2= Promising 1=Beginning 0=Failing Exemplary : Thoroughly and artistically developed characters, plot, structure, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses vivid description, effective diction and word choice, tone or voice, POV, imagery, and compelling dialogue throughout portfolio. Uses a variety of effective literary devices. Writing can be considered “art,” effectively communicating issues central to the human condition in a compelling way. Has few errors in spelling punctuation, syntax, and usage. Sentence structure and overall effect of the work is artistic. Format is carefully and correctly followed. Work incl...

After our quiz on The Handmaid's Tale, please work on your portfolio today in class. You should have at least the following assignments in your portfolio this quarter: A. The Fairy Tale Poem Draft Please select a fairy tale you would like to work with and retell it as narrative poetry. You are more than welcome to do several of these as a poem cycle if you wish. Look here for examples of stories from the Brother's Grimm. Pick a story, read it, then rewrite it as poetry in verse. Use Anne Sexton as a model. B.  Gloria Steinem: "If Men Could Menstruate" Women Against Feminism (Rush Limbaugh) "Who's Oppressing Who?" by Barbara Kay Judy Syfer's essay: "Why I Want a Wife" (1971) Camille Paglia: "The Modern Campus Cannot Comprehend Evil" (2014) Please read the five articles linked above and compare/contrast the ideas presented therein. Which article speaks loudest to you, and why? Please respond in a thoughtful short e...

After a discussion on the first few chapters of The Handmaid's Tale, let's go back to examining some fairy tales with poet Anne Sexton. See previous post for details. A refresher: The Archetypal Fairy Tale • Stories, often told to children, to entertain, instruct or teach • Often used to illustrate the problems that children and young people face as they become adults • The characters in fairy tales represent part of our own “psyche” or inner self Common themes in fairy tales include: • Metamorphosis • Transformation • Imprisonment • Love • Good versus evil (overcoming obstacles) • Death or transition • Illusion or misunderstanding • Rules or authority There are often  boy  and  girl  fairy tales. These differ in  plot . • Boy fairy tale plots focus on exploration, discovery, and include a climax which separates the boy from his childhood. Usually by the end, the boy has grown into a man. • Girl fairy tale plots focus on discovery as wel...

This morning, after reading our class responses and reflecting, we will read selections from Anne Sexton's poetry book Transformations (1971). As you will see, she takes standard fairy tales and rewrites them (often with a feminist flair). In the lab, to be included in your portfolio, please select a fairy tale you would like to work with and retell it as narrative poetry. You are more than welcome to do several of these as a poem cycle if you wish. Look here for examples of stories from the Brother's Grimm. Pick a story, read it, then rewrite it as poetry in verse. Use Anne Sexton as a model. After reading some poetry, we will be picking up The Handmaid's Tale and taking a look at the first chapter. As we read the first chapter together, notice how Atwood creates setting and tone to hook the reader. HOMEWORK: Please read the first 53 pages for Friday. (Parts 1-3) Also, see below for other homework and notes.

  "In my heart, I think a woman has two choices: either she's a feminist or a masochist." —Gloria Steinem "The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race." —Susan B. Anthony "In passing, also, I would like to say that the first time Adam had a chance he laid the blame on a woman." —Nancy Astor (British Politician) Feminism  is the theory that men and women should be equal politically, economically and socially. Notice that this theory does not subscribe to  differences  between men and women or  similarities  between men and women, nor does it refer to excluding men or only furthering women's causes. Most other branches of feminism do. Why you believe in feminism and what your ideas are to make feminism a reality is ...

While I'm out doing the district's work, please follow the instructions I gave the sub. I'll be back Wednesday. Please turn in any work you have to the sub. If you were absent last class, please complete the writing assignments from last class. See our previous blog post for details! After reading and responding to the articles today, please go to the lab and work on your portfolio. Your portfolio is due next Wednesday, January 21. Remember that you will want to show some revision in your portfolio (and yes, you should have a quarter reflection!) HOMEWORK: None.

Please turn in your response and analysis of the fairy tale assignment from last class. In the lab today, please answer the following prompt and write a paragraph describing the perfect man and the perfect woman. You will have at least 2 paragraphs: one to describe the perfect traits of a woman, and one for the perfect traits of a man. Traits can be physical, mental, social, or personality. Try to imagine the ideal woman and the ideal man and describe these figures or archetypes with your own viewpoint, description, and opinion. After writing, please hand in your work. We'll use these articles next class. Then: Please read the philosophical articles on Mary Wollenstonecraft, Simone De Beauvoir, and Julia Kristeva. Identify their main points and compare how each is different or expands on the theme of feminism. Then as a more contemporary viewpoint, please read the article by Ariel Levy on "Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture"--how does Levy's argument fit in...

Archetypal Theory or Myth Criticism The Collective Unconscious , is a collection of latent images, not in one’s personal unconscious but from the ancestral past, as well as pre-human or animal ancestors. Not inherited, the Collective Unconscious belongs to all of us in a certain culture and time. Latent images manifest from our unconscious minds so that we can recognize patterns and symbols in an icon or persona. It is these primal symbols and concepts that create the tropes we use in story telling. A full list of tropes can be found here . C.G. Jung :  Psychology of the Unconscious Here's a link referring to  Jung's theory of Archetypes J.G. Frazer :  The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and Religion Arche = original Typos = form Patterns, as those found often in literature, originate in the  collective unconscious. Both  plots  and  characters  of literary works can be examined for archetypal patterns. In literary criticism, the f...