ALMOST THERE...

Here is the link to the google doc with the answers to the review. Study hard! :)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/123gFZeCI7I3-7rkuzBdbrIq_1HWOkl222ASgzgty8yY/edit?hl=en

STUDY HARD!

So you don't have to look like this kid, here is the link to your review for finals (it's a google doc). Let me know if you have questions. ENJOY!

Everything You Need To Know for Your Literature Final

The Balance of Life? (Essay)

One of society’s favorite pastimes is to create divisions. From these divisions come stereotypes, and from these stereotypes come violence and from violence come wars… This continues today and has been going on since before your time, before my time, and “back and back and back”. Why does this happen? What can be done to stop it? In The Giver, many positive aspects of society were sacrificed in order for the negative aspects to be eliminated. Are violence and peace, love and hate, black and white, and other divisions all just a part of the balance or “ying-yang” of society? Or, could we work to take away some of the divisions to work towards a more “perfect” world (though, ultimately, never achieving perfection)?

Media and Your Mind (Essay)

1.       Is knowledge power? Is ignorance bliss? Media depends on the ignorance of people. They do not want you to analyze their biases; they do not want you to point out the stereotypes you use. They want you to believe them. “They made us hate ourselves and love their wealth” (West). Lucky for you, you have access to an education which pushes you to look beyond the “face value” of what you see, hear, read… Unfortunately, the general population of this world does not have the same luck as you. Many are forced to live their lives like the members of the community in The Giver who “know nothing”, simply because they don’t have the knowledge. Nowadays, is knowledge available to all, and people just choose to stay ignorant? Or, is society more similar to “the community” than we thought, in which only some people are afforded the opportunity to gain knowledge? Should all be provided this opportunity?

The Power of Words (Essay)

1.      Words are powerful. It is through words that we transmit history and memories, share feelings and ideas, and enact a change. Words can liberate or oppress people. Words can evoke powerful feelings. Words can make people believe stereotypes. How do people use words to do all this? In The Giver, community members are taught precision of language from a young age to ensure the correct ideas are always transmitted. How are words that we tend to be passionate about changed in the community? Think about words like:  “love”, “passion/desire”, “family”, “home”, “career”, etc.

Freedom or Equality? (Essay)

1.   

1.      Would you rather have complete freedom or complete equality in society? We have seen the importance of equality throughout history as oppressed groups have struggled, and are still fighting, to gain equal rights, such as the Civil Rights Movement. Yet, we see that even when BY LAW we are equal, this is not always the case IN PRACTICE. Media provide us with countless examples to defend this. The community in The Giver has “Sameness”. Does that mean everyone is equal? What did they need to sacrifice for Sameness?

Important Information for Final Essay

HERE ARE THE GUIDELINES:

Select one of the questions below to write a 5-paragraph essay on. Feel free to combine questions and be creative in your voice/ writing style, as long as you include evidence from or references to texts we’ve studied the year.

You will be graded on:

-          Are your ideas well-developed? (5 pts.)

-          Do you use concise and powerful word choice? (5 pts.)

-          Is your message clear? (5 pts.)

-          Do you answer all the questions? (5 pts.)

-          Do you include textual evidence from or references to at least 3 literary works we studied this year in your answer? NOTE: 1 of these should be The Giver (5 pts.)

-          Do you include the elements of  an essay: introduction, MEAL body paragraphs, conclusion? (5 pts.)

-          Do you indent your paragraphs? (2 pts.)

Total Possible Points: 32

LITERARY WORKS

Following, are a few excerpts from some of the literary works we studied this semester, to help get you thinking. You may use them in your writing if you like, but you can include others that are not here as well.

Lauryn Hill, Motives and Thoughts:

“When the blind lead the blind
Just more trouble and woes
It’s the mind that they chose
Its designed to stay closed”

Lois Lowry, The Giver:

“Listen to me, Jonas. They can’t help it. They know nothing.”

“You said that to me once before.”

“I said it because it’s true. It’s the way they live. It’s the life that was created for them. It’s the same life that you would have, if you had not been chosen as my successor.”

“But he lied to me!” Jonas wept.

“It’s what he was told to do, and he knows nothing else” (p. 153).

Kanye West, Self Conscious

“It seems we living the American dream
But the people highest up got the lowest self esteem
The prettiest people do the ugliest things
For the road to riches and diamond rings
We shine because they hate us, floss cause they degrade us
We trying to buy back our 40 acres
And for that paper, look how low we a'stoop
Even if you in a Benz, you still a nigga in a coop/coupe…

…I say f**k the police, thats how I treat em
We buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom
We'll buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need em
Things we buy to cover up what's inside
Cause they make us hate ourself and love they wealth
That's why shortys hollering "where the ballas' at?"
Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack
And a white man get paid off of all of that”

Black Star (Talib Kweli, Mos Def), Thieves in the Night

“Most cats in my area be lovin the hysteria
Synthesized surface conceals the interior
America, land of opportunity, mirages and camoflauges
More than usually -- speakin loudly, sayin nothin
You confusin me, you losin me
Your game is twisted, want me enlisted -- in your usary
Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly
Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception
Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the lookin glass
Walkin the street, wonderin who they be lookin past”

Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Taylor Mali:

“Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.” (from: “Speak with Conviction”)

“I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?” (from: “What Teachers Make”)

Martin Luther King Jr.:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Violence for Violence?

Yesterday, thanks to several Blackberry broadcast jokes and "gifs" of Osama Bin Laden "alive in the Dominican Republic and dancing reggaeton", I found out that the United States had found and killed Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Wanting to know more, I looked up reports on cnn.com, and found this one:

CNN: "A Good Day for America"

I have to admit, I have mixed feelings about celebrating ANYONE'S death, even if he was a murderer. In Ancient Babylon (about 4000 years ago), this intellectual named Hammurabi came up with a law called Hammurabi's Code, which stated, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." In other words, if you hit me, I can hit you back, 'cause that's just fair! I tend to agree more with Mahatma Ghandi, an Indian Human Rights Activist of the early 1900s (A.D.), who stated, "An eye for an eye leaves everybody blind." This "monumentous day in American history", the murder of Osama Bin Laden, speaks very clearly to these principles, in my opinion.

Thinking about terrorism, I remembered last year when we blogged about if Hitler was a terrorist. Check out the page for a blast from the past and to see your ideas last year about terrorism and if they have changed. Take time to read through it... it's pretty interesting, and amazing how your thoughts have grown so much in a year! Make sure to read the poem which, ironically, is called "Eye to Eye". It was written by a Palestinian teenager who lived through the "War on Terrorism". This poem was also made into a song, so you can see the power that WORDS can have to inspire AWARENESS and CHANGE. Here's the link to last year's blog on terrorism:

Was Hitler a Terrorist?

Feel free to share here what you think about all of this. I will leave you with the full quote (part of it I gave you in class today) from Martin Luther King Jr. about hatred and violence:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(taken from: http://www.drmartinlutherkingjr.com/mlkquotes.htm)

Knowledge is Power, Ignorance is Bliss

If knowledge is power and ignorance is bliss, which is better?

In The Giver, Jonas and The Giver are the only 2 community members who are granted the POWER of KNOWLEDGE. The community remains ignorant. Think about how this relates to real life and the question above. You may want to use some of the quotes from The Giver below.

The Giver: "Everyone had access to the memories... It was chaos," he said. "They really suffered for a while... But it certainly made them aware of how they need a Receiver to contain all that pain. And knowledge" (Lowry 104).

The Giver: "I used my wisdom, from the memories. I knew that there had been times in the past -terrible times- when people had destroyed others in haste, in fear, and had brought about their own destruction" (Lowry 112).

About Jonas: "That he had this power frightened him" (Lowry 117).

The Giver, on the community: "They can't help it. They know nothing" (Lowry 153).

The Giver: "My work will be finished... when I have helped the community to change and become whole" (Lowry 161). 

Family Values

To get the picture for this blog, I typed "perfect family" in a google image search and these are the first two images that appeared. I wouldn't have expected anything different, yet at the same time felt somewhat disappointed. We see societal views haven't changed much in the past, oh, 50 years.

Is society right? Do these images capture "family"? Do they capture the "family unit" in the "perfect world" of The Giver? Would you say the "family unit" was a "family"?

Think about all the times throughout the book we are asked to question the meaning of "family" and how this applies to real life. You may want to consider discussing:
-Mother's job in the Department of Justice vs. Father's job as Nurturer (gender equality, anyone?)
-When Jonas recieves the memory of Christmas/Love
-The concept of grandparents, and biological parents (birthmothers) vs. those who raise the child (family unit)
-Jonas asking his parents if they love him
-The Giver's love for Rosemary and Jonas
-Jonas' relationship to Gabe
Try to take these events from this fake society and expand them out to real society, adding your own opinions about what is family?

Memories

"Memories are forever" (Lowry 144).

What do you think? Use evidence to support your answer from both The Giver and your life.

Here is a song for you to enjoy (about memories). Check out the lyrics.

Thank you, all, for creating very happy memories for me in class!

The Color Divide

Don't we all wish that the world could follow Micheal Jackson's famous words, "It don't matter if you're black or white"?

The problem is that skin COLOR is an easy way to DIVIDE people. It's visible, just like eye color in "A Class Divided", the video we saw today.

In these videos, did eye color CAUSE divisions in class, or was it the MEANING that the teacher (the person in power) put to eye color that caused them?
In society, does skin color cause divisions, or is it the meaning that society puts to skin color that causes the divisions? Do you think the people in power help to form and keep these meanings going?

Now, let's think about the societal problems you mentioned today that are caused by dividing people by color (whether it is eye color, skin color, hair color, etc). Some of those "color" problems are: racism, discrimination, stereotypes, prejudice... the list goes on (and on and on).

In Chapter 12 of The Giver, we discover the community's "solution" to these problems:
"There was a time, actually-you'll see this in the memories later-when flesh was many different colors. That was before we went to Sameness" (Lowry 94).
When Jonas asks why colors disappeared, the Giver responds, "Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences... We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others" (Lowry 95). 

So, is the PROBLEM in the COLORS themselves? Do we need to eliminate different skin colors to eliminate racism, etc.? Or is the PROBLEM in what skin color MEANS? Think about the video in the previous post (Perspectives on Life). Is the problem between Haitians and Domincans the NATIONALITY or is it what MEANING we give these nationalities? What (historically, culturally, socially, etc.) causes "The Color Divide" in society? Why does it (still) exist? What can we do to eliminate it, without going Giver-style and sacrificing colors?

Perspectives on Life

 

Yesterday, we were VERY lucky to be able to have a discussion with Emmanuel College students and staff. 

To all of our visitors from Emmanuel College... thank you for taking the time to come to MC School and share with us. Also, thank you for pushing us to think about and express our opinions on important issues in society today. 

To my beautiful 8th graders... I can't express enough to you how impressed I was with how you handled yourselves yesterday. Not only was I amazed at your ideas, but also the fluency and clarity with which you expressed them, and your focus, dedication and participation in the discussion. You make me proud to be your teacher and happy to know such bright, intellectual, caring individuals.

Now, to continue the discussion... Our main question is: 

Does everyone deserve the right to a quality education? 

(Think about The Giver and why the members of the community don't have books).

And if you would like to specify it to this country: 

Do Haitians deserve the right to a quality education in the Dominican Republic? 

(You may want to check out this video so you understand a little more how Haitians are treated legally in the Dominican Republic). 

 

I would like to invite everyone, including Emmanuel College, to comment. Feel free to look back on and comment on prior blog posts as well!

The Ceremony

8th grade is a BIG year, the year you "move on" to high school or graduate from middle school. You will soon celebrate this process with a ceremony in which each one of you is recognized for your abilities, talents, and strengths as an individual. In Jonas' Ceremony of Twelve a similar process happens, as we read in chapters 6-9. We often call this "moving on" a "rite of passage" or "coming of age". What other ceremonies have you had or will you have that are a "rite of passage"?

Imagine someone from a different community or culture were watching your move-on ceremony. They might find it a little strange that we have the tradition of wearing a funny-looking, flat, square hat with this little colorful string that dangles in front of the face. They may not understand why we wear a silky nightgown-like robe. Do you? (Read about it in "The History of Graduation Day"). Just like we found the community's ceremony a little different, we might find this 13-year-old Apache girl's "coming of age" unique (definitely compared to a USA-style "Super Sweet Sixteen"). The point is, every community and culture has their own way of recognizing important landmarks in life, such as the "coming of age".

What ceremonies do you/will you celebrate as you move through life?  What "rite of passage" or "coming of age" will you have? How are these similar and different to those of the community? Feel free to share here any ideas that came up in class while working with chp. 6-9, such as which Assignment you may have been given if you were a member of the community, the "timeline" of life that each community member follows, etc. Make sure to check out all the links above so you can use those to help enhance your ideas and comment!

What is Love?

Valentine's Day: The day of love and friendship. On this day, everyone celebrates the "power of love" by giving cards, chocolates, flowers, balloons, teddy bears... while chocolate distributors, card stores, and flower shops everywhere rejoice. But the question is, what exactly are we celebrating on this holiday? WHAT IS LOVE?

Here's what the "Top Ten Love Songs of 2010" say about love:
Top Ten Love Songs of 2010-Hub Pages 
(NOTE: This is not MY opinion).

You all did a VERY impressive job of describing this sensation in class, without using any of the traditional words we usually do, just as Lois Lowry did in Chapter 5 of The Giver. (On a side note, please feel free to share any of those descriptions here, or descriptions you like from your favorite songs). In Chapter 5, we read about Jonas' first "stirrings". He describes a dream in which he has that feeling of "wanting" another person. *Sigh* Jonas, can't we all relate? He describes this feeling as being pleasurable, and wanting to feel this way again. *Sigh* Jonas, don't we all? Sorry about that pill...

So, the questions that remain:
1. What does it feel like to love someone?
2. Is this a PROBLEM for a "perfect society"? Why/Why not?
3. By eliminating "stirrings" with a pill, what societal problems does "The Community" avoid?
4. Is there any potential harm to "The Community" by eliminating "stirrings"? Explain.

(I would like to remind you to answer in the format you wish, but please keep your comments PG and put your name so you get credit for your work).
Much love to you all!

Community Roles: The Giver Chapter 1-4 Review/Literature Circles

Here are the tasks for each role in your "community". Please come prepared on Thursday with your task(s) complete and ready to share... or else you may get "released" from your community!

SPEAKER: Make a list of all the rules in the community (in Chp. 1-4). Include the p. # you find the rule (or a hint of it) on. You will present your group's work to the class.

"OUTSIDER": You just moved from your community (Santo Domingo) to "the community". Write a letter home describing the community and summarizing what's happened so far.

ELDER: Record observations of Jonas' character (what he says, does, thinks...). Choose the format you wish, but include p. #s of where you got the info.

PRECISION OF LANGUAGE MASTER: Select 5 words from each chapter (2, 3, &4) that you or your group does not know. Mark or record their context. Then, make vocab. word cards for the words. Design a creative way to teach the words to your group/the class. (Color code: Chp. 2=orange, Chp.3=blue, Chp. 4=yellow).

PLANNING COMMITTEE: Draw "The Community" based on the descriptions you have read so far. Write down 4 quotes (with p. #) that helped you create your drawing.

In a Perfect World...

Utopia: (n) an ideal place or state (see full definiton and source here)

What makes "Utopia" or "the perfect world"? Peace. Justice. Independence. Disney World. Education. "Hotties". Equality. Clean Environment... These are all words that were thrown around in your discussions of what "The Perfect World" would have. We also thought about what keeps that world from happening.
In The Giver by Lois Lowry, Chapter 1 introduces us to a "perfect world".  
What elements does the author say make a perfect world? 
What is needed to keep that world perfect? 
Do you agree? 
Has your opinion changed at all after reading Chapter 1 about what is a "perfect world"?

Please answer these questions in your comment. You may want to include a link to a picture you find on the web or a video that shows what you believe to be "the perfect world", although this is not as neccesary as your ideas on the subject. Don't forget to write your name!

People who have read beyond Chapter 1: PLEASE answer the questions as if you have only read up to p. 10. We don't want to give away any of the juicy parts of the book for our classmates! PLEASE!!!

Mindful Media

Media messes with our minds! For years, your brain has been trained by the media (magazines, television, music videos, youtube, radio, newspaper, etc.)to have certain ideas about what is "right" and what is "wrong", about how society "should" be. 

As we end the 20^th century, young people (and older) are taught- largely through media repetitions of social myths, misconceptions, stupidity, and outright bigotry- to view people as types locked into certain stereotypical, inalterable (and inaccurate) modes

(Dennis & Pease, 1994). 

The media, in other words, help to create a divide amongst people and shamelessly give those labels we all unfortunately have: stereotypes. Media have a huge impact on our perceptions of the world, whether we like it or not.

Every day we are bombarded with biased non-fiction, with fictional stories perpetuating played-out stereotypes, and with distorted images of the world and how it should be. For example, check out this youtube video, "Gender Stereotypes in Media" that compiles clips from different commercials, movies, and TV shows throughout the years that have OBVIOUS gender stereotypes. Each clip tells us  how a man/woman "should" be. 

Unfortunately, the media create certain standards for different races, as well. These we can see instilled in our minds even from a young age, through media you would never expect, like cartoons. We can see several examples in "Racial Stereotypes in Children's Entertainment" of how kids can sublty form misconceptions about different races. These youtube media compliations are only 2 examples, you can find thousands more on TV, in movies, and on the internet.

In our "Mindful Media" project, it was your responsibility to be a critical viewer and make your own judgments about the media, then stand up against the stereotypes you see. You had the power, through your words, to CREATE new media that is free of bias and stereotypes.

This blog is for you to share your work from your "Mindful Media" project, as well as any additional discoveries you may have made since then. Please post the link(s) to the media you analyzed, and a brief summary of your analysis of that media. (Note: If you selected an entire movie, you may want to provide a link to the trailer of the movie, the part of the movie that most impacted you, or the website for the movie). Also, if you would like to upload your new, unbiased media and share with us, that would be great! (Please provide the link as well).

Do not feel limited to comment on your project only. Feel free to share a thought, question, or conclusion your may have come to from other projects, or simply from something you saw in the media that you feel the need to speak out against. Don't let the media mess with your mind anymore!

How to Make a Gr8 Comment

As you know, one period of Literature class never really gives us enough time to discuss everything we want to. This blog is designed to give you the time, space, and powers of the internet to share your ideas with your classmates and internet users worldwide. Remember that any spiteful, mean-spirited, or inappropriate comments could jeopardize both this blog and Literature class, so please keep those unpublished, and hopefully unsaid.

Here's how to comment on a post:
1. Click on the title of the post you would like to comment on.
2. READ and THINK about the post, including any comments that have already been made.
3. Write your comment/question in the blank box provided, where it says "Post a Comment". Check your conventions (spelling, grammar, etc.).
4. WRITE YOUR NAME either at the beginning or end of your comment... give yourself credit for your ideas!
5. In the box where it asks "Comment as", select "Anonymous". Then, click on "Post Comment" and ADMIRE your contribution!

It is very important to note that all comments must be RESPECTFUL to yourself and others... please use YOUR OWN WORDS and make sure that what you write is a positive representation of you and your class... remember that the whole world can see it!