Entries categorized as ‘BIG PICTURE’
NEW RULES for 4th QUARTER for ALL ENTRIES:
- 1 entry for a “C”; 2 entries for a “B”; 3 entries for an “A”.
- Length: Each entry must be a minimum of 3 full paragraphs
- Paragraphs: Each paragraph must be 5+ sentences.
- Any entry that is less than 3 paragraphs — and entries with paragraphs less than 5 sentences – are not guaranteed credit.
BACKGROUND: All of you are extremely bright and have figured out a remarkable range of ideas along the way. This is a wide open question that allows you to consider anything we’ve discussed in class this year. Absolutely anything.
- Sometimes the realizations — or ‘epiphanies’ — may have been purely based on the plot or text of something we’ve read.
- Other times they may have been about something that is in the real world…and suddenly feels connected to our class/texts.
- Whatever it is, I’m curious about one ‘big idea’ or realization you’ve had this year (that continues to stick with you) because of anything that was discussed in class. Sometimes they’ve been a mixture of both plot and real world. Actually, it may be hard to separate them.
CHALLENGE: Tell us about ONE thing that really made an impact on you as a person (and student).
Categories: BIG PICTURE · HOW WE THINK
Obviously ‘college’ is a word that we hear a lot about on a campus like ours. In some ways, getting into college seems to be the focus for many…but I often wonder what students really want to experience the year after they graduate from high school. And with the upcoming 10th grade trip in a few weeks to visit 2 Texas colleges, I’m even more curious.
Many students across the world take what is called a ‘gap’ year.
This is essentially a year between high school and college where a student pursues something really important to them (traveling, volunteering, working, creating, etc.).
Challenge:
- If you could take 1 year off from ’school’ between HS graduation and starting college — to do something truly meaningful with your life — what would it be? And why?
- For the sake of this assignment, assume the money is limited (or at least something that has to be taken seriously) and that whatever you choose it must be something that will have a significant impact on your adult future.
Length: 7+ sentences
Categories: BIG PICTURE · HOW WE THINK · INSPIRATION · SEM 2 WEEK 3
Back story: In a poem as long and constantly evolving/changing as Wordsworth’s piece (“Tintern Abbey”, for short) that we’ve been reading, there are countless lines/phrases that seem to have a life of their own, that almost seem as if they could be a title for a new poem or story.
This is similar to when we listen to a song and find a lyric that seems to speak to something far deeper in our lives. We write it down so that it never is forgotten. It becomes an anthem for our lives — a shortcut expression that says how we’re feeling and how we see the world around us.
Challenge:
- Find one line from this poem that grabs your attention for any reason whatsoever (and not even because of what Wordsworth is trying to say in his own poem). Ideally the line/phrase has the potential to inspire a piece of writing, be the title of a poem/story, or just be a life anthem/quote for you personally.
- React to the line in one of two ways: 1) Explain why it has such an impact on you or 2) write a short paragraph/poem that is inspired by (or uses) the line/phrase.
Length: 7+ sentences/lines
Categories: BIG PICTURE · HOW WE THINK · INSPIRATION · LITERATURE · POETRY · SEM 2 WEEK 1
Back story: In class this past week, we discussed something called “The Experience Machine”, a thought experiment originally conceived of by Harvard Philosophy professor Robert Nozick. As he originally described it in his text, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, we are given the following scenario:
“Suppose there were an experience machine that would give you any experience you desired. Superduper neuropsychologists could stimulate your brain so that you would think and feel you were writing a great novel, or making a friend, or reading an interesting book. All the time you would be floating in a tank, with electrodes attached to your brain. Should you plug into this machine for life, preprogramming your life’s desires?…Of course, while in the tank you won’t know that you’re there; you’ll think it’s all actually happening. Others can also plug in to have the experiences they want, so there’s no need to stay unplugged to serve them. (Ignore problems such as who will service the machines if everyone plugs in.) Would you plug in? What else can matter to us, other than how our lives feel from the inside?” (43)
Challenge: Would you plug in? Why or why not? What circumstances would/could change your original response?
Length: 7+ sentences
Categories: BIG PICTURE · HOW WE THINK · SEM 2 WEEK 1
Who: All periods
Set-up: While most people think that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is simply a ‘monster story’, it’s really a ‘morality tale’.
Ultimately, readers are faced with determining if the creator (Dr. Frankenstein) or his creation (his monster) is more morally ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in terms of what ’sparks’ their actions/choices.
Challenge: With that in mind, let’s take an on-line morality test — sponsored by Harvard University — that asks us to consider whether ‘morality’ is based on a) the specific situation and/or b) choosing between the ‘lesser of two evils’. Do the following:
- Take this test. It’ll take approximately 5-10 minutes (depending on how long you take to read the various questions. Note, some of them seem similar, but the final ‘question’ or some of the details will change from question to question).
- Write a response to what the test is trying to determine in terms of how you view ‘morality’.
Length: 5+ sentences (after you take the test).
Categories: "FRANKENSTEIN" · BIG PICTURE · HOW WE THINK · WEEK 11
Who: All periods
Set-up: See here.
Challenge: Answer the following question:
What does it truly mean to ‘live in the moment’? Have you ever been able to do this in the ‘real’ world (in spite of the pressures of day-to-day life)?
Length: 7+ sentences
Categories: BIG PICTURE · HOW WE THINK · INSPIRATION · WEEK 11
Who: All periods
Set-up: See here.
Challenge: Answer the following question:
Why do we constantly pursue ‘excellence’?
Length: 7+ sentences
Categories: BIG PICTURE · HOW WE THINK · INSPIRATION · WEEK 11
Who: All periods
Set-up: See here.
Challenge: Answer the following question:
If you had the opportunity to ‘travel back in time’, would you do so? If you knew that any ‘changes’ you made would change everything you’ve ever experienced since that moment, would you still go back in time?
Length: 7+ sentences
