Entries categorized as ‘SEM 2 WEEK 1’
WARNING: DO NOT COPY/PASTE full paragraphs (from Wikipedia and other websites).
To get credit, you MUST write the descriptions of each stage in your own writing. Learning facts from other resources is fine, but it is not academically acceptable to simply copy/paste. This will be considered academic dishonesty (in addition to making it impossible for Mr. Long to give you credit).
Please be careful.
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Back story: We’ve done this many times over by this point, so I’ll assume you recall the spirit of this prompt without me going through all the details. There must be 6 — fully described — stages to connect the two items. Good luck.
Challenge: Connect in 6 stages the following:
- “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (currently in movie theaters)
- William Wordsworth (or any of the other “Romantic Era” poets found in your literature text).
Length: As appropriate, but it is expected that some explanation will go with each stage.
Categories: 6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION · SEM 2 WEEK 1
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: Every student will be writing a 4-stanza poem in the style of William Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey: On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During a Tour. July 13, 1798″. The heart and soul of his poem speaks to the “sublime” and “blessed mood, / In which the burden of the mystery” of nature continues to impact him many years later (in spite of the way he may feel “‘mid the din / Of towns and cities” at times).
Challenge: Your poem — like Wordsworth’s – will focus on a single moment you spent time alone in some form of ‘nature’ at least 2 years ago.
- Describe a natural setting that you visited years ago that continues to inspire you and may even be a place you occasionally still daydream about returning to, especially during the stressful times of your life.
- Focus on visually striking descriptions. Really try to ‘paint’ a picture in the minds of your readers.
- Don’t worry as much about ‘why’ you were there. Instead, focus on the way the natural setting affected you and your senses.
Length: 7+ sentences.
Categories: LITERATURE · POETRY · SEM 2 WEEK 1
NOTE: THIS IS A MANDATORY BLOG ENTRY FOR EVERYONE.
- You must fully complete this for a separate ‘quiz’ grade.
- In order to get credit for any other blog entries this week, you must do this entry as well (which you will also get credit for as one of your entries).
Back story: All of you have met with Mrs. Piland about the “ACT Discover” website program that will assist you in researching a wide variety of information about potential careers that you may consider in your future.
Challenge: Using the “ACT Discover” program (on a school computer or at home), answer all 9 of the following questions. Remember that you’ll need your UserID and password when you go to the ACT website.
- Work tasks
- Salary and outlook
- Training
- Desirable personal qualities for someone in the field
- Likes & dislikes
- Majors related to the field
- What classes will you take if you major in this area
- Mention one college or university that has this related major
- What did you like best about this career?
Length: Appropriate for each of the 9 questions.
One Last Thing: Also, remember to take the Values, Interest and Abilities inventories at some point. See if suggested areas relate to the career you are researching.
Categories: CLASS IN GENERAL · HOW WE THINK · SEM 2 WEEK 1
Back story: All of you are being challenged to memorize — and perfectly reproduce — the poem, “Ozymandias”, by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Challenge: Because everyone has a slightly different style of memorization, I’m curious:
- what tricks you’re using to pull off this challenge
- what part(s) of the poem is/are the most difficult for you to memorize– and why?
Length: 5+ sentences
Categories: HOW WE THINK · 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
Use the 10 following words (from the Jan 20 list) to describe one of the following images; include the part of speech in parenthesis:
- antipathy – aversion; dislike
- criterion- a standard on which a decision can be based
- deride- to laugh at with contempt
- elusive – difficult to find
- fledgling – inexperienced, beginner
- guile – deceit; particular cleverness in deceiving people
- harangue – long, passionate, and intense speech
- innocuous – harmless
- irresolute – uncertain how to act; weak
- preclude – to prevent
Image 1: http://tinyurl.com/8gj8lx
Image 2: http://tinyurl.com/8qw3fk
Image 3: http://tinyurl.com/88xjod
Categories: SEM 2 WEEK 1 · VOCAB
