The Ad & The Ego

In the comment box below write...

3 (three) ideas or facts that you heard in The Ad and the Ego
2 (two) ideas or opinions that you have in response to The Ad and the Ego
1 (one) ideas or opinion you have in response to a peer's comment about The Ad and the Ego

This is due by class time on Tuesday (1/29), which is when we will discuss the comments.

Brave New World

Read Brave New World through Chapter 2 (p. 29) by Wed. (1/30). (You will finish reading the book by Monday February 15 but along the way we'll have other deadlines so we can discuss aspects of the book in class and on the blog.)

Take notes:

What is the civilization (the culture, the society) like? For what purpose is the world set up this day? (Think both about the general set-up of the civilization and about specific features of it? Think about why the author has constructed the civilization this way: to promote or critique? Think about why those in charge of the civilization have constructed the civilization this way. Think for yourself: how do you feel and what do you think about the way the civilization depicted in the novel is constructed?)

How do the characters respond to the world? (Think about the ways they're influenced by their environment. Think about whether they go along with the way things are or whether they resist. Think about whether they belong or are alienated. Think about how different characters respond similarly or differently.

In the comment box write two post-it note length responses (one response for each question).

Exam

* Study vocabulary from Beowulf, Grendel, and Lord of the Flies. (I can print extra copies for those who need them.)
* Study important characters, events, motifs, and themes in Beowulf, Grendel, and Lord of the Flies by listing them out for yourself. We will review your lists & comments on Monday. If we do not have school on Monday you may share & comment on each other's lists here.
* Study your notes on the Lord of the Flies lenses: anthropological, psychological, biographical, & poetic.

* Finally respond to the prompt I gave you on Friday. These responses will be due THURSDAY by NOON. (That's not a misprint.) If you have questions & ideas you may share them here or email me directly. I encourage you to ask questions, check in to see if you're on the right track, etc.

Poems & Lord of the Flies

The Second Coming
by William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

The Sick Rose
by William Blake

O Rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

~
In the comments box write a post-it note length comment about the relationship you see between the poem {lines, images, events, themes, etc.} and Lord of the Flies {characters, events, motifs, etc.} . (Quoting parts of the poem for commentary is a good technique.)

Lord of the Flies Test on Monday (Jan. 7)

Study:
* Study the LotF Vocabulary Words (definitions only)
* Write sentences with underlined context clues for the LotF Vocab. words

* Study the quiz on the second half of LotF that we reviewed on Wednesday and Thursday.
* Study the comments that you all have made on the blog. (Read the D-block and E-block comments.)
* Make a list of the characters, motifs, and major events. Be able to explain how each relates to the overall purpose and the overall themes of the novel (the danger of ignorance about human nature, the reality of the beast within, the power of fear to unleash the inner beast, the danger of ignoring the structures and values of one's civilization, etc.)
* Read the Epstein essay at the end of the book. It will help with your understanding of Simon's encounter with the pig's head and with your understanding of the title.
* E-block only: Study the anthropological model and think about how it applies to the novel. (Don't worry D-block you'll get those notes eventually...)

Final Response to Character & Motif: D-block & E-block ch. 9-12

1. Choose a passage from chapters 9-12 that shows a significant development or change in one of the novel's characters. (I would prefer that you write about the character you were assigned earlier, but if compelled--or if your character has died--you may write about someone else. Try to pick a passage other classmates have not covered.)

2. In the comment box below write your name, the character, the page number of the passage, and explain how the allegorical significance of the passage and how the passage is important to the novel as a whole.

3. Choose a passage from ch. 9-12 that shows a significant development or change in one of the novel's motifs. (I would prefer that you write about the motif you were assigned earlier, but if compelled you may write about a different object/concept. Try to pick a passage other classmates have not covered.)

4. In the comment box below write your name the motif, the page number of the passage, and explain the allegorical significance of the passage and how the passage is important to the novel as a whole.

5. Respond thoughtfully to someone else's character and/or motif comment. Write your name, the name of the classmate to whom your responding, the name of the character/motif, and a comment.

Post by class on Wednesday, January 9.