Pretty much all we did was Hamlet. Watching so many movie versions of the play was pretty cool, and I was surprised by how much each had to offer that was unique.
Last year I was in Brit Lit with Ms Huntley and while reading Macbeth she kept stopping and having us write out "directing decisions" and consider things such as lighting and costumes and acting instructions. I really didn't like it. It took forever and seemed pointless... I did it of course but I didn't understand what difference it would make; I thought that there was only one correct way to do a Shakespeare play. Viewing multiple versions of Hamlet brought me back to that assignment, and shed more light on it. Now I understand better the impact that even subtle directions can give to the film/play. They can answer questions as huge as "Is Hamlet really mad?" or "Did Gertrude sacrifice her life for him?"
Something I am particularly proud of is helping our class examine Hamlet as a devil-figure. He starts out all Christian and good but he decides he want to take the King's power, and then when he tries to kill Claudius in the chapel, he can't! Obviously because prayers weaken demonic spirits (If you're not that kind of Christian, just think of exorcism movies). Then all that weird stuff happens like incest and madness. Then Ms Holmes confirmed what I was saying, so it's legit. She also said he redeems himself with the Sparrow speech, but I'll have to look back through that because I don't remember it. But this is just like how Lucifer was an angel, and tried to usurp God and then became the Western symbol of evil. Oh and it should be noted that in the play Hamlet puts together, the King's son is called Lucianus or something like that, which is a clear deviation of Lucifer.
The only other things we did were all those blog posts about Shakespeare in Prison, in the Bush, and the poem for Ophelia. Those were all really good but I'm not sure they furthered our discussion hardly at all in my hour. But I'm still glad I read/listened to them, because they were really interesting.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Open Prompts #4
Essay on the 2004 Question 3
**Note- It didn't include the graders' comments or score so I couldn't consider that.
The first essay is very fascinating! The student analyzes the novel Candide and what its central question is. The introductory sentences are really good and do a great job of framing the essay and setting the mood for the reader. It's so good that one almost doesn't notice that they neglected to include the author or mention the effect that the author's treatment of the question has on the reader (as indicated in the prompt). The student does too much summarizing in the body paragraphs, and the summaries are confusing for someone who has never read the novel, but then it is tied up startlingly well at the end! The concluding paragraph is very tidy, complete, and logical. Interestingly, the student brings in a second piece of lit, a poem by Gibrar, which seems unusual and is possibly not allowed, but it actually is worked in very well and smoothly. This is an excellent essay that answers the question, but it's not perfect because the body paragraphs lack substance.
The second essay covers The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This is also a really well done essay. The student made a lot of scribbles over their mistakes which was kind of annoying, but it was still fairly readable. The language and syntax was a lot simpler in this one but the arguments were better crafted than the previous essay. Each paragraph makes sense and builds towards the thesis, albeit with unimpressive language skills. This essay surely warrants a decent score, maybe an 8.
The third essay discusses the novel Things Fall Apart. There seems to be an intro paragraph and then another intro paragraph which contains the thesis. This is a poor structure, and the thesis itself is weak. Based on the students' description of the story, the central question they identify doesn't seem to fit with the novel. There are also a lot of grammatical issues and the student writes out pluses like "+" in place of the word "and," which is poor form on the exam. The unfitting thesis, illogical structure, and frequent, annoying errors certainly mean a low score for this essay. It would probably get a 3 or 4, based on the grading rubric.
**Note- It didn't include the graders' comments or score so I couldn't consider that.
The first essay is very fascinating! The student analyzes the novel Candide and what its central question is. The introductory sentences are really good and do a great job of framing the essay and setting the mood for the reader. It's so good that one almost doesn't notice that they neglected to include the author or mention the effect that the author's treatment of the question has on the reader (as indicated in the prompt). The student does too much summarizing in the body paragraphs, and the summaries are confusing for someone who has never read the novel, but then it is tied up startlingly well at the end! The concluding paragraph is very tidy, complete, and logical. Interestingly, the student brings in a second piece of lit, a poem by Gibrar, which seems unusual and is possibly not allowed, but it actually is worked in very well and smoothly. This is an excellent essay that answers the question, but it's not perfect because the body paragraphs lack substance.
The second essay covers The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This is also a really well done essay. The student made a lot of scribbles over their mistakes which was kind of annoying, but it was still fairly readable. The language and syntax was a lot simpler in this one but the arguments were better crafted than the previous essay. Each paragraph makes sense and builds towards the thesis, albeit with unimpressive language skills. This essay surely warrants a decent score, maybe an 8.
The third essay discusses the novel Things Fall Apart. There seems to be an intro paragraph and then another intro paragraph which contains the thesis. This is a poor structure, and the thesis itself is weak. Based on the students' description of the story, the central question they identify doesn't seem to fit with the novel. There are also a lot of grammatical issues and the student writes out pluses like "+" in place of the word "and," which is poor form on the exam. The unfitting thesis, illogical structure, and frequent, annoying errors certainly mean a low score for this essay. It would probably get a 3 or 4, based on the grading rubric.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Close Reading #4
http://kotaku.com/5806664/how-pokemon-was-born-from-bug-collecting-and-aspergers-syndrome?tag=totalrecall
In the article "How Pokémon Was Born From Bug Collecting and Asperger's Syndrome," author Luke Plunkett discusses how the creator of Pokémon, Satoshi Tajiri, became inspired to create the popular franchise. By the use of awkward syntax, great diction, and details, Plunkett creates contrast between where Tajiri started with where he is now, a distinction between past and present.
Plunkett utilizes an excessive amount of commas. This is so that he can fit two juxtaposing ideas into one sentence, but still make the individual ideas clear. This results in a "before and after" kind of effect for the reader. For example, the sentence "As happens when kids get older, though, interests come and go, and by the time he was a teenager Tajiri's focus had shifted from harvesting bugs to pumping coins into arcade games..." The separation of this sentence with commas has an effect of separating Tajiri's life into distinct stages, too.
Another technique in Plunkett's writing is his diction. In two adjacent sentences he describes Tajiri's hometown today as a "sprawling metropolis" and describes it when he grew up as "quaint, almost rural..." When talking about Tajiri's youth, the words are cozy, and when talking about the present the words sound more institutional-like, and modern. The game is even referred to as a "role-playing juggernaut" which really emphasizes Tajiri's successful new life.
Plunkett incorporates a lot of details about Tajiri's life that are not necessary to the goal of the article but do contribute to the contrast between past and present. He describes how Tajiri's childhood friends called him "Mr. Bug" due to his fascination with insects. That detail seems cute and nerdy, which fits Plunkett's pattern of describing the past. A detail offered about the present is Nintendo representatives' description of Taijiri, which is "creative" and "eccentric." The present is all glory and success, while the past is very humble and curious.
In the article "How Pokémon Was Born From Bug Collecting and Asperger's Syndrome," author Luke Plunkett discusses how the creator of Pokémon, Satoshi Tajiri, became inspired to create the popular franchise. By the use of awkward syntax, great diction, and details, Plunkett creates contrast between where Tajiri started with where he is now, a distinction between past and present.
Plunkett utilizes an excessive amount of commas. This is so that he can fit two juxtaposing ideas into one sentence, but still make the individual ideas clear. This results in a "before and after" kind of effect for the reader. For example, the sentence "As happens when kids get older, though, interests come and go, and by the time he was a teenager Tajiri's focus had shifted from harvesting bugs to pumping coins into arcade games..." The separation of this sentence with commas has an effect of separating Tajiri's life into distinct stages, too.
Another technique in Plunkett's writing is his diction. In two adjacent sentences he describes Tajiri's hometown today as a "sprawling metropolis" and describes it when he grew up as "quaint, almost rural..." When talking about Tajiri's youth, the words are cozy, and when talking about the present the words sound more institutional-like, and modern. The game is even referred to as a "role-playing juggernaut" which really emphasizes Tajiri's successful new life.
Plunkett incorporates a lot of details about Tajiri's life that are not necessary to the goal of the article but do contribute to the contrast between past and present. He describes how Tajiri's childhood friends called him "Mr. Bug" due to his fascination with insects. That detail seems cute and nerdy, which fits Plunkett's pattern of describing the past. A detail offered about the present is Nintendo representatives' description of Taijiri, which is "creative" and "eccentric." The present is all glory and success, while the past is very humble and curious.
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