Writing Across Cultures

This morning, let's take another 20 minutes or so to complete our discussion on The Stone Gods . See previous post for sample discussion questions. Please complete and turn in your Socratic review sheets for credit. We made slight reference to the idea that history and human events (like natural ones) tend to be cyclical or repeat themselves. To branch out a bit then, take a look at the handout on George Santayana. He is most famous for the quote: "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." For progress to be possible, he says, "we must not only remember past experiences, but also learn from them; to see different ways of doing things" and "real progress is not so much a matter of revolution as of adaptation." Listen to the linked article on Santayana and then respond in writing to anything you heard or found interesting or thoughtful. Period 2: Let's start off with a little research and brainstorming about Argentina...

Period 1: We will take our test on the novel The Stone Gods this morning. After your test, please work on your portfolio (see below) and when all have completed their test, we will have our Socratic seminar discussion on the book. PORTFOLIO PROMPTS for  The Stone Gods : Use any of the prompts below to create something. You may (of course) use your own ideas, or combine any of these prompts as you'd like. Write a traveler's tale about a secret place that no human has visited...until now (this could be a planet, a country, an island, a city, a house, or anything imaginable).  Write a short story or poem in which you deliberately use a metaphor to say something about the human condition or an environmental issue. Pick your favorite "classic" novel, short story, or poem. Steal a line from this literary work and/or use this allusion to enhance your own story (or choose to revise something you've already written and use allusion to enhance the piece). Write your...

Let's take the next 20 minutes this morning to complete the poems and short stories in the packet. Then, please use the rest of class to workshop. Remember to comment IN the Google doc of your fellow workshop participants--give them feedback. You may refer to the workshop handout I gave you to help. When you have completed your feedback to your peers, use the rest of the workshop time to develop your own work and write.  Here are some recent writing prompts: PROMPT: Write an "anti-poem"--break poetic convention. See the Nicanor Parra post/writing for details. PROMPT: Mistral combines the themes of LOVE and DEATH in many of her poems. Write an elegy or use these themes in your own writing. PROMPT: Mistral and Neruda both use body parts in their poetic lines and connect these body parts with nature or natural imagery. Do the same. PROMPT: In The Stone Gods , Captain Handsome and the crew tell stories of planets. Make up your own planet and tell that story. PROM...

Now, back to our Chilean writers. Let's look at Gabriela Mistral and other contemporary poets/writers today. Before Neruda and Parra, there was Gabriela Mistral. Let's learn about her here:  Gabriela Mistral documentary  (11 min.) and then read some of her poems. We will stop occasionally for some writing prompts. Your portfolio is due Nov. 4. At 8:30 or so, we'll stop where we are and return to  Easter Island . Here's another current  article on Easter Island . Can't read? Here's a helpful video . PROMPT: Take a look at a recent discovery in science, archeology, or some other current event and speculate (ask what if...?) about something that intrigues you. Then write that story. Here are some sites to help: Science ( Discovery ) Wired  (Technology) Astronomy Archeology Science Daily PROMPT: Write a science fiction story. Examine some science fiction tropes, get a couple of characters together and strand them on your fictional planet. Can they ...

Let's check in with Jeanette Winterson's novel. Jeanette Winterson  is a contemporary novelist. She is a lesbian writer who dabbles in science fiction, literary and poetic prose. She was born in Manchester, England, and adopted by Pentecostal parents who brought her up in the nearby mill-town. She attended Oxford, and currently writes for various UK newspapers (she is a journalist, as well as a literary novelist and poet). 5 Minutes with Jeanette Winterson Jeanette Winterson talks about her favorite books Author interview with Jeanette Winterson “I can't believe that we have reached the end of everything. The red dust is frightening. The carbon dioxide is real. Water is expensive. Biotech has created as many problems as it has fixed, but we're here, we're alive, we're the human race, we have survived wars and terrorism and scarcity and global famine, and we have made it back from the brink, not once but many times. History is not a suicide note - it...

Why is Chile the Land of Poets? (Article) 8 Chilean Female Poets You Need to be Reading (article) Nicanor Parra & Antipoetry Anti poetry is an art movement that rejects the "mystical" aspect of poetry--the poet as seer or prophet, for example. Anti poetry also rejects the idea of the "love poem". Nicanor Parra's style is meant to be prose-like and involves irreverent subject matter. Punctuation is minimal. Made up words or grammar mistakes are used as an effect. The poetic form, traditional formatting or line breaking and capitalization is also examined. The subject matter might be comical or simple or taken from normal everyday life. The subject matter involves the banal or common or ordinary: kitchen sinks, bathtubs, light bulbs, a coffee stain or broken pencil--all common items are fair game. Serious subjects are dealt with humorously or irreverently, or even matter-of-factly. The speaker of the poem often lies or presents misinformation or leaves...

Period 1: Please complete your poeyry project and submit it to our Google Classroom. You may use the lab next door if you need it. Part 1: Select one of the 20 "love" poems in the collection and create a short poetry video that you will share with our class to celebrate Neruda's work. You should either read the poem out loud and record your vocal reading - or -  Print the poem's lines to be clearly read along with your poetry video. Your poem presentation should, like the examples above, show images and photography that visually enhance the experience of reading the poem. Part 2: Neruda reminds us that a poet's responsibility is to speak out against injustice. Fight for the ordinary moments of human life worth fighting for! To this end, create a poem of your own (this can be included in your visual poetry project, but by no means has to...) in which you speak out against injustice by writing about an ordinary object, describe a natural landscape, or exa...

Pablo Neruda: Romance & Revolution  (5 min.) Indeed, as the video mentions, Neruda's poetry focuses on the simple, ordinary overlooked objects of our lives, natural landscapes, the supernatural, the human problem of longing, solitude, and political strife. He spent a good portion of his life in exile, returning to Chile in 1952. He ran for President in 1970, later agreeing to be Allende's advisor. For more information about Pablo Neruda, you may find this documentary helpful... Pablo Neruda documentary  (part one, you can find the other parts online as well.) OUR TASK (Poetry Film): Part 1: Select one of the 20 "love" poems in the collection and create a short poetry video that you will share with our class to celebrate Neruda's work. You should either read the poem out loud and record your vocal reading - or -  Print the poem's lines to be clearly read along with your poetry video. Your poem presentation should, like the examples above, show ...

Please take the short quiz on "The Overcoat" in our Google Classroom this morning. Our next unit will discover Central and South American writers. Today, we'll delve into Chile with the poetry master Pablo Neruda . Brainstorming! (5 minutes) Alone, write down what YOU know about Chile.  Then working with a partner, take a couple minutes to find out what you both know about Chile.  If you run out of things to jot down, join another group of 2, until you all run out of things you know, then join another group, etc. until there are no other options left.  Let's go to the library to pick up his book 20 Love Songs and a Song of Despair , then return, learn about Chile and read some of Neruda's poems. Please also pick up The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson while we're at the library. You may begin reading this book if you have time this week. More info on the book will follow... First, let's learn a little about Chile ( 15 Things You Di...

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). Please note that you will be expected to conduct some revision each marking period, along with a short 1-3 page reflection. Reflection pages  do not count for the # of pages indicated below.  Please also note that your portfolio grade is a combination of  quantity  AND  quality . Scores are determined by an average score based on the holistic rubric. Some papers/assignments are also required and should be included in your marking period portfolio. This marking period your identity drafts should be included in your portfolio. 4 = Exemplary 3= Accomplished 2= Promising 1=Beginning 0=Failing Exemplary : Thoroughly and artistically developed and crafted characters, plot, structure, conflic...

Period 1: Please complete T he Namesake Test this morning during period 1. This is a timed test. If you have arrived late today, you will still only have until the end of period 1 to complete your exam (8:20). Please make every effort to arrive to class on time (7:30!) Tardiness will affect your portfolio and marking period grade--as well as tests like this one. The last bus arrives at SOTA by 7:10. If you are driving yourself or being dropped off or walking, please adjust your time schedule to arrive at the beginning of class! NOTE: If you have a problem with this, please speak to Mrs. Apenleiter about it. When you have completed your test, please use any remaining time (until 8:30) to work on your portfolio. See rubric post above this one. Period 2 (8:30-8:55) We will continue reading "The Overcoat". What we don't complete please read as homework (I would suggest completing the reading today if you are attending the Senior Trip this weekend--or complete the...