Generation Why - What?!

1) Review (and some babbling to transition us to the next story and a little real-life writing job we've been asked to do) - looking at short stories, reviewing basic terms, beginning to write analytically, making-meaning (the stuff of life), and yesterday, we watched a "story." The story was about addiction... addiction is a struggle for every generation... which leads me to a point.

All the stories we have looked at, so far, have been about a vastly different social/cultural/historical setting from the one you live in - 2013, technology, social media, exponential change, media savvy, etc...

Discussion Questions - What are the features of the world you live? What is your setting? What are the addictions of your generation? What are the  things that your generation will be remembered for? What will your generation have to figure out and fix? What will be celebrated about your generation?

What do these images seem to say about your generation?

• With these ideas in mind, let's first explore your REAL lived setting and then, by Friday, read a more contemporary story, that will feel a lot like your world right now.

2) Generation Why - a weekly interactive magazine curated by young Canadians for young Canadians.

In partnership with CBC News Canada, a number of teachers across Canada have been asked to help to support the development of this online news magazine. It offers students a rich opportunity to write in response to non-fiction news and opinion pieces. You are going to be published online! 

Let's take a look: http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2013/02/introducing-generation-why-must-reads-for-canadian-youth.html 

Read over how to submit. Tour the CBC website.

Today  - find a CBC item and then write about it. Your item can be a story, a standout radio or TV interview, a documentary, a photo gallery, an interactive map, etc. As long as it's CBC content we can link to online, it's an option! 

Write a couple paragraphs (200 words max) about why this news item caught your attention and why you think other young Canadians might be interested, too. First person and conversational is fine! 

Submit by email, and 'cc' me too... tara.colborne@sd71.bc.ca 

Library Day - Boys and Girls Response

Hey Everyone,

I have been asked to attend a district meeting this morning about creating cross-curricular courses in our high schools (for example, taking a CSI English/Chemistry class where you read mystery novels and solve crimes using science). So, I'm away again today. My apologies. Mr. Janz will go over the writing topic and the integrating quotes handout and take you to the library. 

Best, Ms. C

Boys and Girls Response:

Read this article about gender norms and toys http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/opinion/sunday/gender-based-toy-marketing-returns.html or find your own article that is from 2010 or earlier, and answer the following question, quoting both the story, "Boys and Girls" and the non-fiction article, and referencing your own impressions and opinions about gender issues.

How is the protagonist in the short story "Boys and Girls," by Alice Munro, trapped, like the foxes, and like Flora, 

by the gender norms of her time? This is a formal response (please do not use first person).

Min 500 words - multi-paragraph.

Focus - Style:

• Elevate Vocabulary
• Sentence Diversity
• Seamlessly integrate quotes from two sources... see handout on board
• Works Cited - see example introduction below...

Outfoxing Gender Norms
Exploring the limits of gender in "Boys and Girls."

by Tara Colborne

Gender norms have pervaded most societies since there have been societies; girls are raised to be caged and boys to wander. Post-feminism, post-modernity, one would expect the limits of gender to be a thing of the past. However, a quick tour through a local Toys-R-Us will plainly point out "there are pink aisles, where toys revolve around beauty and domesticity, and blue aisles filled with toys related to building, action and aggression." The hegemonic, divisive, gendered, and colour-coded norms are still predominant. The simple fact is that boys and girls even in privileged 2013 North American high schools can still read Munro's "Boys and Girls," set in a small farm-town in the Forties, and understand exactly how it is that the "just a girl" girl is unjustly set-up to set foot in the cage of the kitchen. The protagonist is limited, at first softly, but then firmly, by a very strict set of gender norms: girls work inside cooking, cleaning and sewing, while boys only get to experience the roaming freedom and independence of outdoor work. Only briefly, as a young child, was the main character able to out-fox the rules of the fox farm. Unfortunately, it was just a temporary thing; like Flora, eventually she had to be reigned in and sacraficed. 



Works Cited:

Munro, Alice. "Boys and Girls." Handout. 

Sweet, Elizabeth. "Guys and Dolls No More?"  Web. Feb. 25, 2013 <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/opinion/sunday/gender-based-toy-marketing-returns.html?_r=0>

Boils and Ghouls Cont'd

1) Boys and Girls Questions - discuss and submit...

2) Hand back "A & P" responses - feedback... read an example.

3) How to integrate quotes - handout

4) Netbooks - new writing topic:

Read this article about gender norms and toys http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/opinion/sunday/gender-based-toy-marketing-returns.html or find your own article that is from 2010 or earlier, and answer the following question, quoting both the story, "Boys and Girls" and the non-fiction article, and referencing your own impressions and opinions about gender issues.

How is the protagonist in the short story "Boys and Girls," by Alice Munro, trapped, like the foxes, and like Flora, 

by the gender norms of her time? 

Min 500 words - multi-paragraph

• Elevate vocabulary
• Sentence Diversity
• Seamlessly integrate quotes from two sources
• Works Cited

Elements of Fiction Quiz

Quiz and Boys and Girls

1) Quiz!

2) Sticky Note Drawing Warm Up

• What should a girl look like? Draw!
• What should a boy look like? Draw!

What do you see? What do you think? What do we think girls are? What do we think boys are? Why do you think this?

3) Symbols - review term. The calendars. The stories. Who does our protagonist worship? What do they represent? What about Flora? What does she represent?

4) Study Questions - due tomorrow...you can find them here.

 And cut and pasted here:

1. Who is the narrator? What perspective does she have on the events in the story?
2. Where and when does the story take place? How do you know?
3. What roles are assigned to men and to women in the world of this story? How do the mother, the father, Henry Bailey, the narrator, and her brother Laird exemplify aspects of these masculine and feminine roles? Chart your answer somehow.
4. What people and things represent freedom in this story? What people and things are not “free”?
5. What do you see as the primary conflict in the story; in other words, what does the dramatic tension come from? 
6. What do you see as the turning point in the story?
7. What changes occur in the course of the story --to the girl, to her fantasies, to her relationship with Laird and her father?
8. The phrase “only a girl” is used in two different situations. What meaning does the phrase have for the girl in each situation? How does it contribute to the overall meaning of the story?
9. This sort of story is called a “coming of age” or “initiation” story. Why do you think that is? What is the girl “initiated” into? Of what does she become aware?
10. In “Boys and Girls”, what does the girl gain? What does she lose? Do you think what she becomes reflects nature or nurture? Do you see these changes and losses as necessary?

Identities done, hegemony, and Boys and Girls.

1) Go over Identities questions. Submit.

2) Finish reviewing the basic Fiction Terms. Quiz on Monday.

3) 100 Words every high school student should know (see other post for list)... let's start with hegemony.

Hegemony has nothing to do with Hedgehogs. 

Hegemony

Definition of HEGEMONY

1

: preponderant influence or authority over others :domination 

2

: the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

— heg·e·mon·ic  adjective

All societies, all cultures have dominant ideas, norms, rules, groups.

• What are the dominant norms of North American culture? How do you know? Top ten list.
• Where does hegemonic culture come from?
• What are the problems with Hegemony? 
• Who gets left out under a hegemonic culture?
• Now that you are aware, how will you deal with group-think and other everyday forms of hegemony? 

4) Introducing "Boys and Girls" and Alice Munro.

 - this story explores gender norms and its effect on a young woman.

- it was written in a time two generations earlier yet its topics are still current.

- Alice Munro is amazing. Let me tell you why. And, she used to live here!

5) Start Reading. The rest of the story is for homework.

100 Words Every High School Student should know...

Identities

1) Read aloud, and discuss - the story, "Identities."

         identity           Crown Isle               nostalgia                  irony

2) Fiction Notes

3) Plot Stuff - 

Plot for this wee film? Plot for story?
Why does plot matter? Why does plot tend to have this shape?

4) Group (1 - 4) Discussion/Hand-in Questions - submit answers with everyone's name on it by end of class...

What kind of identities are at play in this story? 

What is our protagonist like? How do you know? (quotes as evidence)

Why does he leave his neighbourhood of twice cut lawns? What is his motivation? 

This story has some very detailed and descriptive passages. What setting description stood out to you? What is the point of the contrast between the two settings of suburbia and urban slum?

Using the glossary at the back of the book to review the following terms - point of view, simile, symbol and metaphor.

What similes, symbols and metaphor are used? To what effect?

What is the point of view? How do you know?

If the theme of a piece of literature is a generalized understanding about how life is, then what do you think the theme of "Identities" is? In other words, what's the big idea here? 

First Literary Response

1) Return Introductions 

• a                           lot          TWO words, like a bunch, a group......
• Sentence Variety
• Elevate Vocabulary
• The Six Point Scale

2) Sammy - A Character Analysis - 12 marks DUE at end of class tomorrow. No Homework! (yet)

In a well-developed (long) paragraph of at least 250 words, and in a third-person formal style, assert your answer to this question: 

How does Sammy change over the course of the story? 

3) Character Paragraph "Formula"

• Catchy Opening - engage you reader...tackle the general topic with broad strokes
• Thesis Statement - In a truly "wowsa" sentence, using the author's name and the title of the text, articulate your inference, your main idea, in a way that gives your reader a sense of direction.

Examples - which is the best one? Why?:

In the story "A&P" Sammy is a guy who decides to quit his job.

Sammy has some good qualities and some bad qualities. In this paragraph, I am going to talk about both.

Sammy, the conflicted protagonist at the centre of John Updike's story "A&P," transforms from a bright but judgmental small-town boy who hates his job into a hero who dares to question the status quo.

• Point and Evidence - use at least four short supporting quotes, integrated into your sentences.
• Evaluation - make sure you explain what those quotes prove and how they relate to your thesis.
• Transition - use transtional words and phrases to move from idea to idea
• Repeat
• Concluding statement  - find a novel way to rephrase your main idea. Close well. Latency effect! Last words are the ones we remember....

4) Library - start on thesis today... it is the hardest sentence to write... it is also the most important sentence....

Oh, Sammy, Sammy, Sammy...

1) Silent Reading to finish story?

2) More Review of Fiction Terms

• Characterization - direct and indirect
• Epiphany - what is Sammy's sudden realization?
• Protagonist - round, dynamic
• Other types - flat, stereotype, static, antagonist, character foil

YOUR TASK: Group Annotation --> In a group of 1 - 4 students, underline the ten most important lines that inform you about the characteristics of our central character. Include two examples of direct presentation. For each quote, describe what you come to infer about Sammy.

Feel free to disagree and debate! 

COMPILE notes in a chart on the chalkboard.

Discussion questions. 

3) Hand Back - first writing sample.

The Six Point Scale - a portfolio folder...

Paradox Assignment and Fiction Begins...

1) My six words...

2) What is a par·a·dox ?

/ˈparəˌdäks/

Noun A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true. example - It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. How are we all a paradox? First writing sample.  3) The Elements of Fiction - SETTING Physical: The time, place, year, location, season... Emotional: the mood or tone of the piece... Social/Political: What is the larger context of the text?  3) Introducing "A&P", by John Updike What is Misogyny? What might a poodle skirt and mini skirt teach us about the setting of this 1961 story? What is the status quo? Who works in a grocery store? Don't forget...Setting is not just a place and time, it is also a social and political context, and the overall tone. 4) Reading A & P

Welcome to Colborne's English 11

1) The Epic Outline 

ep·ic  

/ˈepik/

Noun A long poem, typically derived from oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of...

Adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of an epic or epics.

Synonyms noun.   epos - epopee adjective.   heroic - epical

2) Bad Cattitude...In other words, do not behave like these two little cat darlings.



3) Six Word Introduction