W7, #6: CURIOUSLY

Set-Up: Author Dorothy Parker once quipped:

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

Challenge: React to this quotation.

Think of your life, both in the classroom and in the real world.

• Where do you become profoundly curious?
• Where do you find that you can’t shut your brain ‘off’ when your imagination takes over?
• Is this something that teenagers still do, or is curiosity just child’s play?

Length: 7+ sentences

W7, #5: “LORD OF THE FLIES” MINI ESSAY FEEDBACK

Set-Up: Did you get that sneaky suspicion that this week’s in-class essay challenge — the group paragraph — covering chapters 5 & 6 in Lord of the Flies felt strangely familiar?

Sure, on one hand each of you had practiced this experience a week ago in a 2-day test run.  Hopefully this made it easier for each of you to sort out a) the how to organize group dynamics and b) how to translate many creative ideas into a single, well-worded, focused argument within a very short period of time.

But did you also get the sneaky feeling that the class experience itself was meant to mirror something on a much deeper level?

Hint: Maybe you’ll find the answer inside the text.  Perhaps Simon will tell you.

Challenge:

• Read all 12 of the mini group student paragraphs found below.
• Pick the 7 paragraphs that you believe are the most effective.
• Identify 1 specific strength from each of the 7 paragraphs you selected.
• Optional:  explain why each strength is particularly effective to the overall paragraph the group wrote.

Length: as appropriate

Ch 5: “Beast from Water” & Ch 6: “Beast from Air” small group mini-essay paragraph writing challenge (in lieu of the typical in-class essay).  Note:  all links can be found on the class wiki in the Lord of the Flies section:

Link: original quotations and assignment

• Title 1: “A State of Disarray”
• Title 2: “The De-evolution from Civilization to Savagery”
• Title 3: “The Menace Within”
• Title 4: “Descent into Darkness”
• Title 5: “Metamorphosis into a Tribal Civilization”
• Title 6: “Animals Can’t Make Fire”
• Title 7: “The Beast Within”
• Title 8: “Loss of the Supernatural Authority”
• Title 9: “Evolution of the Conch”
• Title 10: “The Call to the Wild”
• Title 11: “Devolution of the Conch”
• Title 12: “Unknown Danger”

W7, #4: MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

Set-Up: Apologies to romantic Kevin Costner films and a classic song by the Police, I’m going to bring out the “message in a bottle” concept to see how each of you can play around with the mindset of one of the character’s on the island at this point in the story.

Challenge:

• Pick a character that you are beginning to figure out in terms of their inner feelings and motivations.
• Write a private letter from them to ’someone’ in the real world.  Note:  they have secretly put this note into a bottle that will to be  tossed into the ocean in hopes of being read one day.
• Offer a hint of how this character is privately seeing the events on the island unfold and what they really think about the group dynamics, chances of survival, etc.
• Bonus: can you write it so that it ’sounds’ like their personality (as well as what they are thinking)?

Hint: Tell us right away how far you’ve read so that we have a sense of what you are familiar with as the letter is written. Try to focus on their inner mind, not just the plot of the story.

Length: 7+ sentences

W7, #3: STEADY PROGRESS

Set-Up: Now that we’ve begun to challenge what we mean by being writers/thinkers on many fronts, especially now that we’re in the midst of a novel that demands our radar remain on at all times, I’m curious how you see your own growth in this class.

Challenge: Share with us one way you have definitely grown as a student of English so far this year.

It can be something very specific or a big picture item.  Likewise, it can be something internal or external.  Finally, it can be something that has dramatically evolved or something that you think is on the verge of being an important part of how you’ll continue to write/think/debate in the future (but may be in a raw state currently).

Length: 7+ sentences

W7, #2: HIDDEN IN THE JUNGLE

Set-Up: We’ve crossed a certain point in the Lord of the Flies experience — by the beginning of chapter 5 — where it seems that every page is intentionally loaded with imagery.  Seems that something vital is cleverly hidden in the jungle by Golding at every turn of the pig trail and curve of the horizon line.

While we don’t pretend to ‘get’ everything he’s throwing our way quite yet, we are developing decent radar for ‘tracking’ a few gems hidden in the creepers along the way.

Challenge:

• Point out 1 thing that you think is really clever on the part of the author in terms of weaving together a many-layered story that obviously is hinting at something fare more complicated than just having ‘boys on an island’ try to get ‘rescued’.
• Tell the rest of us what it means and why you think Golding is doing some pretty solid work as a writer in terms of pushing well beyond basic plot/action to hint at something bigger at the end of the novel.

Length: 7+ sentences

W7, #1: VISUAL VOCAB STORY

Set-Up: Vocab, photos, you get it. At least — by now — I hope you do. [smile]

Challenge: Use all 10 words [with the part of speech, please] to creatively describe 1 of the following photos:

Length: 7+ sentences

Words:

• banal – commonplace; trite; lacking originality
• burnish – to make shiny by rubbing or polishing
• cogent – convincing
• delineate- to describe or explain
• ephemeral – fleeting; short-lived
• exhaustive – complete
• gregarious – sociable; friendly
• indiscriminate – making no careful choices
• laconic – brief and to the point
• venerate – to revere; to regard with respect

Photo 1 (link: http://tinyurl.com/4omppl):

Photo 2 (link: http://tinyurl.com/485gvp):

Photo 3 (link: http://tinyurl.com/4a8qqf):