agenda T/W Feb 20/21: rugs, paragraphs, booklets

learning goal: what literary motifs in The Kite Runner adapt themselves most forcefully to a visual motif in your original Persian-rug design?

By the end of this class, submit the complete assignment either for the carpet card or the KR paragraph.  The other assignment, if necessary, you may submit sometime before the next class on Th/F Feb 22/23. (Remember that submitting the carpet-card assignment means handing me the card and submitting the artist’s statement to TURNITIN.

carpet cards: type artist’s statement under these terms–100 words, 12 pt. font, 1.8″ margins on both sides; submit text to TURNITIN; this may mean pruning the existing text of your artist’s statement; I recommend printing and taping the new text to back of your rug; below you will find the current text of my artist’s statement*.

KR paragraphs:  if you are working on “Paragraph 2 (student art),” feel free to leave class in order to view the art piece in person across from the Campus Store entrance; finally, remember to use the complete template with pledge-header and acknowledgment-footer, whether or not you have someone/some source to acknowledge

KR booklets: turn them in by the end of class (you may want to keep them during class, as reference for the other projects)

 

*

The main visual motif represents companionship.  The interlocking designs symbolize Amir and Hassan’s relationship.  Although largely through Amir’s immaturity the companionship suffers harm, that injury is not irredeemable for Amir.  Another prominent motif is the three concentric circles that represent the idea of gaining perspective by walking in someone else’s shoes.  Gradually, Amir understands Hassan’s painful experiences.  Most readers see this pain before Amir, making them more empathetic as people themselves. The other major motif, a half-moon arc, represents the idea of a bridge.  This idea combines the other two by suggesting a way to make our companionships and relationships more empathetic—in other words, by building bridges instead of walls.                                         Bill Brown 20 Feb 2018

 

 

 

 

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agenda T/W Feb 20/21: bookmark, paragraph

learning goal: describe how three significant motifs weave together in the novel.  What does this weaving mean to your overall understanding of the novel?

TIME IN CLASS: to complete the two projects due–(1) Persian rug bookmark and (2) one of the two paragraphs described in the instructions from last week (T/W Feb 13/14)*.

*KR: Two paragraphs and bookmark

Paragraph 1 (main idea)

A main idea you want to express about the novel as a whole, or about some particular aspect of the novel—for example, a character, theme, setting, or conflict.  What is the idea you want to express?  Why do you want to spend time trying to communicate it to others?

Recommendation: though not required, consulting the “Questions” section of your booklet’s interior may well produce a meaningful idea you want to express in this assignment. 

Paragraph 2 (student art)

How does one of the three pieces of student art (a painting, a photograph, and drawing) help you think about Hosseini’s novel in a new way?  What is the new thought, and how does this piece of art contribute to this new way of thinking about the book?

Recommendation: After viewing the student pieces in today’s agenda (T/W Feb 13/14), go see the actual art works; as of today, all three hang on the wall opposite the entrance to the campus shop.

Bookmark

Using the description of a 2014 HIES project (see other side of this sheet), create a bookmark.  One side of the bookmark shows an original Persian carpet design.  The other side briefly explains the design’s motifs and their significance to an understanding of the novel.

Recommendation: for ideas, review the Persian carpet design in the header of our course blog.

General Instructions

Complete the bookmark and one of the paragraphs (you choose) by the class on Tue/Wed Feb 20/21.  Submit the paragraph to the corresponding box in TURNITIN.

To be accepted, paragraphs must use the prescribed template, with the acknowledgment-footer describing sources for ideas or details originating from outside your own mind.  For example, if conversations or other types of exchanges with classmates produce ideas or details in the paragraph that would not otherwise be there, acknowledge that person or persons.  This is just one example of a situation requiring clear acknowledgment in the prescribed footer.  Paragraphs without the complete template will not be accepted.

General Recommendations

Unless you have another basic model in mind, I recommend the 11-part-paragraph structure for both paragraphs 1 & 2.  It continues to work for me in my personal and professional writing.

Actual passages from the novel itself will make your paragraphs more compelling.  Be sure, however, that the passages you choose to include support your ideas rather than overwhelm or outweigh them.  In other words, use more of your own sentences than Hosseini’s.

MOTIFS* IN VISUAL AND LITERARY ART (March 2014)

After reading Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, set primarily in Afghanistan, students designed their own Persian rugs to represent motifs in the story.  The visual elements in these carpets embody literary elements seen by the artist as important to the novel.  Under each rug is the artist’s statement explaining the motifs, their relationships to one another and the significance of these motifs to an understanding of the overall novel.

In this novel, two young boys from different ethnic groups grow up as close friends.  The older boy’s inaction harms their relationship, and the rest of the story concerns that boy’s need to make amends for his mistakes.  Throughout the novel, readers learn about the history and culture of Kabul and neighboring Pakistan, as well as the daily lives of Afghani immigrants in California.

*Motifs, as defined by students at UNC Pembroke, are recurring objects, concepts or structures in a literary work. (http://www2.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm)

 

agenda T/W Feb 13/14: 2 paragraphs and a bookmark

learning goal: how would you answer one of the “Questions” on the right-hand side of the KR booklet’s inside pages?

distribution of “KR: two paragraphs and a bookmark,” which shows assignment choices and due dates  (click here for 11-part-paragraph model)

Here are the three student art pieces mentioned in the instructions for Paragraph 2.

agenda M/T May 1/2: drawing on our reading

learning goal: what do the various physical locations look like?  where are which features in relation to each other?

draw one or more of the physical locations, with as much detail as you like–e.g., Stephen’s grandparents’ house in Tarumi, the village of Yamaguchi, the area around and including the grandparents’ house, or another physical location of your choice

enter some content (of your own choosing) on one of the squares inside the SG booklet with reading schedule

leave a thoughtful, original comment to one of the posts about The Samurai’s Garden, found at readingcolors

agenda Th/F Mar 16/17: conscience meter

learning goal: what is a conscience? in watching or listening to a person, what evidence shows, or suggests, a conscience?

distribution and drawing of the conscience meters: demo and follow-up (Act 1)

considering the notes sheet from the previous class (people were asked to complete the Act Two portion): how should we use the right-hand rectangles?

reading time

due Tue May17: completed journal

Be ready to hand in your completed journal during class on Tuesday May 17.

Those people who some class time to complete the project will have it.

During class, we will review the novel for the exam, while anyone who needs to is finishing  the journal.

agenda Fri May 13: time to read, write, draw, paint THE SAMURAI’S GARDEN

F / 8:30

H / 11:45

learning goal: how do the novel’s various settings support the theme of healing?  what forces contribute to the three main characters’ healing?

time to read, write, draw, paint

review schedule for next week:

Tue May 17: focus on the novel and poetry

Thur May 19: focus on the two plays, Antigone and Macbeth

 

agenda Wed May 11: journal work

F / 10:30

H / 1:50

learning goal: what main idea(s) is(are) surfacing in my journal entries? what image(s) on my journal cover capture this(these) idea(s)?

time to enjoy writing / drawing / painting / reading

n.b. be prepared to explain connection(s) between emerging journal idea(s) about your chosen character and the image(s) on the journal’s cover

 

Remember that published deadlines for The Samurai’s Garden assignments can be found here.

agenda Thu Mar 31: the voice within the Macbeths

H / 10:30

F / 1:50

learning goals: what is a conscience?  where is it born? In the opening section of the play, how do the consciences of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth compare?

favorite lines from other eight student poems  (next class)

homework check–for table from p.36, exercise #4

complete individual copies of the Conscience Meter (see image below)

with SIB read through Act 2 Scene 3  (2.3.139)

 

agenda Tues Oct 20: motifs in THE KITE RUNNER

F / 10:30

H / 1:50

learning goal: what are some motifs* in THE KITE RUNNER?

*According to the Glossary of Literary Terms from UNC Pembroke, a motif is a recurring object, structure or concept in a literary work.

point out visual motifs in the classroom carpet

identify literary motifs in THE KITE RUNNER

draw visual motifs that represent the literary motifs in the novel (one each: recurring object, structure, concept)

I used to think . . . , but now I think . . . . :  if time allows: a passage round-robin–i.e., a passage from recent reading that connects to your first impressions and follow-up  response written the index card