agenda Th/M Mar 8/19: meeting Macbeth

learning goal: before Macbeth appears, we hear about him?  what do we hear, and what do you think about what we hear?  what is the dramatic effect of hearing about someone before we meet that person, especially a play’s title character?

review opening scene (1.1): tone?

next scene: meet Macbeth, the title character (1.2)

actually, we only hear about him—what do we learn about him? what specific attributes do people ascribe to him? What lines indicate these characteristics, either directly or indirectly?

___

Questions for today’s scenes:

 MW: what qualities are associated with women and men so far? what specific lines support your answers?

 LP: what qualities are associated with kings and leaders so far? what specific lines support your answers?

 WS: how would you characterize the wyrd sisters, based on just the opening scene? what lines make you think this?

 PC: who, if anyone, in 1.2 shows any suggestion of a conscience (that internal voice that tells us when we have done, or are considering doing, something that is morally questionable or flat-out wrong)?

 

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agenda Fri/Mon Feb 9/12: courage, news, and patterns

learning goal: Though this novel, The Kite Runner, is fiction–i.e., made up, fabricated, in what ways is the story true, which is different from claiming it is factual?

three stations:

wisdom and courage, news and poems, patterns and problems

 

agenda Th/F Feb 1/2: notes, novels, and poems

learning goal: what connections do you find in your notes booklet–between quadrants one and two?  Which of these means the most to you?  What meaning do these particular connections hold for you?

 

agenda Fri Jan 26 (B&D blocks), Mon Jan 29 (H block): booklets, notes, etc.

learning goal: what are one or two other ways I can use the booklet note-quadrants, besides the way(s) I have been using them so far?

In a small group of no more than four people, describe and explain notes you have entered in the first quadrant of the Kite Runner booklet.  Listen to each other well enough to appreciate the variety of approaches people are taking to this process–this process of recording ideas or details that each of you wants to remember as the reading proceeds.

Once your group has done this, separate the desks and individually email Mr. Brown (bill.brown@hies.org).  In the body of your email, explain how the group conversation has (1) expanded your vision of what’s possible with these note-quadrants and (2) deepened your understanding of some aspect of the novel.  For example, maybe you now see a way to sharpen or adjust your note-taking in this booklet, and you now see something about a character or theme that had not occurred to you before this group conversation.

Compose your email response as a single, focused paragraph–with the subject line of “KR conversation.”

With any remaining time, continue reading in the novel.  Remember that the first week of reading ends on Sunday.  In other words, on our reading schedule, the phrase “the week of” means the calendar week of Monday through Sunday. If you have already reached this week’s goal (page 100), get a start on next week’s, since it covers more pages.

agenda W/Th Nov 29/30: ANTIGONE discussion

learning goal: I used to think ______ about the play, but now I think ________

 

membean 15′

other Antigone questions

time to discuss ANTIGONE with Dr. Pendrick

follow-up exercise

agenda M/T Nov 27/8: current thoughts about ANTIGONE

learning goal: which one of these questions draws me in more than the others?  why?

20-20-20

20 reading/reviewing last 500 lines

20 small-group discussion of the Kendrick questions

20 to compose email described below

In an email to bill.brown@hies org (subject line: “current thoughts about ANTIGONE”),

explain your current thinking about one or more of the questions below,

remembering that the email will be assessed for its clarity, specificity and development.

In other words, how clearly does it express its ideas and how well does it develop those ideas with specific references to lines of the text (with line numbers cited)

QUESTIONS (from Mr. Jerry Pendrick)

Most modern readers sympathize strongly with Antigone. In democratic Athens, how would the audience feel about Antigone — who is essentially a princess and daughter of the (former) king, a sort of Ivanka Trump figure, a member of the “1%” of Athenian society — asserting her right to disobey laws she happens to disagree with?

What exactly are Antigone’s motives for disobeying Creon’s edict? Are they religious, as her famous speech at lines 487-508 suggest? Or are they purely personal, as her speech at 987ff. suggests? Is she a consistent character who operates from consistent principles/motives?

The plot of the play proves that Creon was ultimately in the wrong. Does it also prove that Antigone was ultimately in the right? Why or why not? A related question is: what actually does it mean to be an Athenian tragedy?

Heads-up: Antigone questions

 

Some questions/comments from Mr. Jerry Pendrick, Classics Scholar, who will visit our classes after Thanksgiving.  Consider these questions about Antigone.  If these give rise to others, great! Bring your ideas and questions back to school.  Mr. Kendrick is excited to discuss Sophocles’ play with you.  BTW, he has read it in the original Greek.

“Most modern readers sympathize strongly with Antigone. In democratic Athens, how would the audience feel about Antigone — who is essentially a princess and daughter of the (former) king, a sort of Ivanka Trump figure, a member of the “1%” of Athenian society — asserting her right to disobey laws she happens to disagree with?

What exactly are Antigone’s motives for disobeying Creon’s edict? Are they religious, as her famous speech at lines 450–457 suggest? Or are they purely personal, as her speech at 920ff suggests? Is she a consistent character who operates from consistent principles/motives?

The plot of the play proves that Creon was ultimately in the wrong. Does it also prove that Antigone was ultimately in the right? Why or why not? A related question is: what actually does it mean to be an Athenian tragedy?

This should provide enough fodder for discussion.”

agenda T/W Oct 17/18: compare, discuss, outline

learning goal: how do the second and third-choice stories compare to the one that evokes the most empathy?  Where do they fall short?

group discussions (cf. student discovery paragraph from PDF & Lucille Clifton’s windows and mirrors)

outlines

next steps & timeline

 

agenda Th/F Oct 5/6: inherited stories

learning goal: what gifts do we inherit from the four short stories we have read so far–as readers, writers, thinkers, human beings?

For example, which of the four stories evokes the most empathy in its readers?  How does it do this?

check reading journals

individually, and in small groups: Guiding Questions for Fiction

small group presentations

individual writing time

reminder re membean

agenda T/W Oct 3/4: the good around us

learning goal: how can fictional stories encourage us to see the good around us?