Unknown Citizen

Today's seminar on Auden's "The Unknown Citizen" led to some interesting comparisons to Brave New World, but most students did not make any personal connections to the poem.

Here are the questions for the seminar:

Stage 1 (Tell the Story)

Round Robin: Besides “unknown” what word sums up the citizen’s life and why?

What details are known about the citizen’s life?

Stage 2 (Themes)
What timeless themes does Auden develop?
What is Auden saying about individuals and society?

Stage 3 (Extend to Literature and Life)
Compare and contrast the characters and themes in this poem with the characters and themes in Brave New World.
How does the poem connect to life today?

In hour 6, I asked if people felt like "Unknown Students" in the school--students reduced to statistics for test scores, sports scores, etc. That opened up the discussion to a personal level, and the de Cafe got a little more lively then

If you still had thoughts on the poem or would like to comment further about the "Unknown Student" idea, feel free to do so as part of the comments of this post.

To re-read Auden's poem, click here.

Auden and Huxley lived very similar lives. To read about their entwined lives as pacifists who left Europe before World War II broke out, click on this Peace Magazine article.

I think both Huxley and Auden are putting down Henry Ford in their works, but I can't discover Ford's reaction to Brave New World or "Unknown Citizen."

Character Analysis

Our two-day, character analysis lesson involves the following steps:

1. Student-selected groups of four will be assigned a character in Brave New World.
2. In their notebooks, students create a tree map for direct and indirect characterization. Items in the direct characterization branch are found directly in Huxley's quotations and include both physical descriptions and personality traits. Indirect characterization branches include actions, thoughts, and reactions of others.
3. To extend the thinking, students will also complete a bubble map to describe the character. Some adjectives may be directly in Huxley's text, and those should be given a small line to the bubble. Other adjectives are inferred from the indirect characterization branches of the tree map. Inference adjectives should have a long line to the appropriate bubble.
4. A few key quotations should be included in the frames of both Thinking Maps. Do not use the same quotations in both maps.
5. The frame should also contain thoughts on Huxley's intent for including this character in the novel. What themes in the novel does the character help develop?
6. After extensive thinking about the assigned character, groups will create an artistic representation of the character to use as a visual aid for the presentation.
7. Character presentations will include a discussion of the visual aid, the Thinking Maps, and Huxley's intent.
8. During presentations, all class members complete a Key Word Notes chart where they summarize the presentation into one word and then write a summary sentence to capture Huxley's style of characterization and/or intent for certain characters.

The characters to be analyzed include:

• Bernard
• John
• Linda
• Lenina
• The D.H.C.
• Helmholtz
• Mustapha Mond

After the presentations, students return to their country base groups to complete a double bubble map that examines an assigned foil set. Character foils to be analyzed include:

• Bernard vs. Linda
• Bernard vs. Helmholtz
• Bernard vs. John
• Bernard vs. Lenina
• Bernard vs. DHC
• Bernard vs. Mustapha Mond
• Linda vs. Lenina

Review this definition of foil from Cummings Study Guides.

Foil: (1) A secondary or minor character in a literary work who contrasts or clashes with the main character; (2) a secondary or minor character with personal qualities that are the opposite of, or markedly different from those of another character; (3) the antagonist in a play or another literary work.

A foil sometimes resembles his or her contrasting character in many respects, such as age, dress, social class, and educational background. But he or she is different in other respects, including personality, moral outlook, and decisiveness.

Stanislaw Lem and Science Fiction Satire

For more information on Stanislaw Lem and his science fiction, click here.

To re-read the math poem that the electronic bard created in the story read in class today, click here and scroll down. Since I don't understand math (just ask Mr. Woelber), you can comment here to tell me what is funny in the poem.

Literary Devices in Brave New World

The class will explore how Huxley employs literary devices to criticize society, keep the reader interested, and connect to past literature.

Devices of Satire

• Sarcasm: harsh comments that aim to hurt
• Overstatement: exaggeration
• Understatement: saying less than is meant
• Parody: mocking a known person, literary work, movie, etc.
• Irony: saying one thing yet meaning another
• Pathos: going from the serious to the ridiculous quickly
  

Other Literary Devices

Foreshadowing: clues that suggest events that have yet to occur

Allusion: reference to another literary work

Make Your Own Blog

If you would like to make your own blog to post ideas, photos and information about world literature, click here and follow the instructions for opening a blogger site.

Then comment to this post telling us your URL.

Follow your Web 2.0 code of ethics when creating your own blog.

Science and Technology Journal Entry

After the Final Word discussion on The Art of Being Human selection, students answered one of the prompts with at least one page in their notebook.

1. What positive and negative effects does industry have on a person’s life as a worker and as a consumer?

2. What mechanical device can you not live without? Is there a piece of technology that is controlling your life?

3. Are medical researchers playing God? What medical advances go too far?

4. What are you doing to show stewardship towards the earth? How are you going green?

5. What Frankensteins have been created in our world? In other words, what technological advancements do you feel have been abused and why?

Students should feel free to share their journal entries by posting a comment here.

World Issues in World Ark and Star Tribune

This weekend I was reading the latest issue of World Ark magazine, a promotional piece put out by the non-profit Heifer International. World Ark articles referenced a number of Internet sites for people to visit to find out more information on certain topics facing our world. I found an uncanny overlap with this magazine and the A to Z taxonomies that were developed in class. I was comforted by the fact that the world's future is in your hands because World Lit students were concerned about many of these pressing issues.

You may want to visit two of the websites listed in the World Ark magazine:

For information on climate change and a humanitarian challenge, visit www.terradaily.com.

To learn about how attitudes in Africa towards "women and their position in society" are affecting their contracting of AIDS, visit www.irinnews.org.

Another science and technology issue that what raised in class is the shortage of safe drinking water facing the world. The Star Tribune ran a detailed feature article yesterday and today on the water supply in the Twin Cities. One contaminated water well in Edina that needed to be shut down was even mentioned. Read the full article for more information.

Work Respect Belong Take 2

Classroom norms (or rules) were developed on September 10, 2007. The class as a whole created a tree map of specific details for the classroom motto--Work, Respect, Belong--with each word in the motto getting its own branch of the tree map.

Hour 1 Norms

Work----Group Effort, Be on Task, Attempt to do Tasks, Read

Respect---courtesy, don't talk when others have the floor, respect cultural differences, respect other's possessions

Belong----Contribute, share ideas, positive affirmation


Hour 2 Norms

Work---complete on time, read, be thoughtful

Respect---treat others as you wished to be treated, respect other's property, don't tattle--talk directly to people that you have problems with, don't discriminate, don't talk when others are talking

Belong---work in your base group, participate, include everyone


Hour 6 Norms

Work---cooperate, participate, put forth effort, be on task, read

Respect---cooperate, respect opinions, treat others as you wish to be treated, embrace equity and diversity

Belong----cooperate, participate, relax, have fun

A to Z Taxonomies of Science and Technology Issues

Students created the following A to Z taxonomy lists of science and technology issues that they feel they will have to deal with in their lifetimes. Each class will revisit their list near the end of the Brave New World unit to determine if Huxley, 75 years ago, was already concerned about these issues. Revisiting the list will not only allow students to evaluate to what extent Huxley can be called a futurist, but also allow students to develop these topics into Brave New World themes.

Hour 1 Issues

Abortion
Bombs
Clones
Drugs
Environment
Fossil Fuel
Global Warming
Health
Internet
Jobs
Kinetic Energy (How will things move?)
Life Forms in Space
Medical Advances
National Defense
Obesity
Population
Questioning Things
Race and Religion Impacted by Science
Solar Power
Transportation
Universe
Vaccines
Water
X-Rays
Youth Preservation
Zygotes


Hour 2 Issues

Automation
Biomedical Ethics
Cloning
Debating Issues
Evolution
Fertility
Global Warming
Heredity
Inventions
Jobs that are ever-changing
Knowledge
Land Preservation
Media
Nuclear Power and War
Oil
Population
Quantum Physics
Robots
Satellites
Travel and Transportation
Utopias (Are they possible?)
Video Games
World Wide Web
X-Rays
Youth Preservation

Hour 6

AIDS
Biomedical Ethics
Cloning
Designer Babies
Extinction
Fossil Fuels
Global Warming
Hunger
Interstellar Travel
Jobs
Kinetic Energy
Logistics of Communication
Medications
Nuclear War
Over Population
Pollution
Quantum Physics and the Existence of God
Robots
Sex
Transplants
UV Rays
Viruses
Water
X-Ray
Youth
Zoology

Web 2.0 Code of Ethics

Remember to bring your signed letter regarding acceptable use of Web 2.0 to class next week.

Whenever posting comments to this blog or when creating your own Web 2.0 products, you need to obey the following Code of Ethics:

Blogging/Wiki/Podcast Code of Ethics

1. Students using Weblogs, Wikis and Podcasts are expected to act safely by keeping personal information out of their posts. Students will agree to keep out last names, email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, or other information that could help someone locate or contact them in person.

2. Students using Weblogs, Wikis, and Podcasts are expected to treat these tools as a classroom space. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate on Weblogs, Wikis, or Podcasts. Students are expected to treat others online with respect.

3. Assignments on Weblogs, Wikis, or Podcasts are like any other assignment in school. Students are expected to abide by policies and procedures in the Student Handbook, including those policies regarding plagiarism and acceptable use of technology.

4. Student Blogs are to be a forum for student expression. However, they are first and foremost a tool for learning. The district may restrict speech for valid educational reasons as outlined in School Board Policy 5145.3. The district shall not restrict speech on the basis of a disagreement with the opinions expressed.

5. Students shall not use the Internet to harass, discriminate or threaten the safety of others. If students receive a comment on a Blog or other Web 2.0 tool used in school that makes them feel uncomfortable or is not respectful, they are to report this to a teacher. Do not respond to the comment.

6. Students accessing Blogs, Wikis, or Podcasts from school must take good care of the computers by not downloading or installing any software without permission, and not clicking on ads or competitions.

7. School Board policies concerning acceptable use of technology include the use of these Web 2.0 tools for school activities; Board policy 6161.2 Acceptable Use Policy, Board Policy 6161.3 World Wide Web and Board Policy 6160 on Copyright. Failure to follow the guidelines will result in disciplinary action.

Question Stages

For open forum classroom discussions, students should think about questions in all three stages of the Paideia Seminar framework.

Stage 1 Questions: (Re-tell the story.) These are content questions where the answer is right there in black and white. These questions are similar to reading quiz questions. You may ask a stage 1 question when you feel clarification is needed regarding the facts surrounding the plot, settings or characters.

Stage 2 Questions: (Extend the story to themes.) These theme questions uncover the deeper meaning of a text. What is the author's central meaning or life lesson? Theme questions get at eliciting people's opinions that are supported with textual references.

Stage 3 Questions: (Connect the themes to personal experiences or world events.) These questions allow students to express their opinions about personal and world issues that they feel are relevant to their lives. Opinions and debate abound when these questions are posed to the class in an open forum. You will almost hear Socrates whispering, "good job," as you take World Literature: A Senior Seminar to this highest stage of discourse.

Settings in Brave New World

Brace Map

To bring Huxley's settings to life, base groups will dissect an assigned portion of the novel to uncover all of Huxley's details. The following settings in the first three chapters of Brave New World will be explored:

Fertilizing Room, pages 3-10

Embryo Store, pages 10-18

Infant Nurseries, pages 19-26

Dormitory with Hypnopedia, pages 26-29

Garden at Playtime, pages 30-33

Girls’ Dressing Room, pages 36-38

Montage of Nine Years’ War, pages 47-52


Steps of the Setting Assignment:

1. After the lottery for setting selection, base group members will skim the assigned pages, jotting down all objects they encounter in those pages in their notebooks. This is similar to what we did for objects in Room 271.


2. Then students will take all the sub-parts and work back to the whole of the assigned setting by organizing the details in a brace map. The brace map should be created in your notebook.


3. The frame of the brace map should contain the most illustrative and visual quotation, in your opinion, that Huxley puts forth in your assigned setting pages.


4. The frame of the brace map should also contain your thoughts about Huxley's intent for including the specific objects. How does the setting relate to themes, images and character development in the novel?


5. The base group will create an artistic representation of the setting to use as a visual aid for the class presentation.


6. Groups present their setting creations while discussing their brace map and sharing their key quotation and commentary on the author's intent.


7. Students will reflect on their classmates' setting presentations on a Key Word Notes page, which includes a summary sentence at the bottom of the chart on Huxley's intent regarding his detailed settings.

TPCASTT for Poetry Analysis

Title – predict what the poem will be about

Paraphrase – re-tell "the story of the poem." What's the literal meaning?

Connotation – What do words mean beyond their literal meaning? Do words symbolize something? What poetic devices are used?

Attitude – What is the attitude of the speaker?

Shifts – Where are the shifts in attitude?

Title – Look again at the title to re-examine and determine any connotative meaning.

Theme – So what does this poem have to say about human experience? What is the life lesson?

Our first TPCASTT of the year was on the following poem:


"Assembly Line" by Shu Ting

Translated by Carolyn Kizer

In time's assembly line
Night presses against night.
We come off the factory night-shift
In line as we march towards home.
Over our heads in a row
The assembly line of stars
Stretches across the sky.
Beside us, little trees
Stand numb in assembly lines.

The stars must be exhausted
After thousands of years
Of journeys which never change.
The little trees are all sick,
Choked on smog and monotony,
Stripped of their color and shape.
It's not hard to feel for them;
We share the same tempo and rhythm.

Yes, I'm numb to my own existence
As if, like the trees and stars
-- perhaps just out of habit
-- perhaps just out of sorrow,
I'm unable to show concern
For my own manufactured fate.


Click on comments to further discuss this poem.

Brave New World Reading Schedule

Below is the reading schedule from the bookmark.

Read the pages indicated that night for homework.

Sept. 11: Chapter 1, pp. 3-18
Sept. 12: Chapter 2, pp. 19-29
Sept. 13: Chapter 3, pp. 30-56
Sept. 14: Chapter 4, pp. 57-71
Sept. 17: Chapter 5, pp. 72-86
Sept. 18: Chapter 6, pp. 87-106
Sept. 19: Chapter 7, pp. 107-122
Sept. 20: Chapter 8, pp. 123-139
Sept. 21: Chapters 9 and 10, pp. 140-152
Sept. 24: Chapter 11, pp. 153-171
Sept. 25: Chapter 12, pp. 172-185
Sept. 26: Chapter 13, pp. 186-197
Sept. 27: Chapters 14 and 15, pp. 198-216
Sept. 28: Chapters 16 and 17, pp. 217-240
Oct. 1: Chapter 18, pp. 241-259

Brave New World Vocabulary

Below is a list of vocabulary words from Brave New World that will be part of your multiple choice exam at the end of the unit.

Your notebook assignment for vocabulary is to create a 30-box flow map (that's one box per vocabulary word) and to illustrate that word after you encounter it in the reading. Not only will the illustrations hopefully cement the definition in your mind, but also when you are finished with the book, you will have a graphic representation of this futuristic novel to help you remember the plot.

If you have helpful hints to remember a word, add those hints to the comments of this post. For example, the word may be close to a word in French, Latin or Spanish.

Here are the words:

predestination: p. 10, all things are decided in advance

freemartins: p. 13, sterile female

conditioning: p. 24, providing a stimulus until desired behavior is achieved.

hypnopaedia: p. 25, sleep teaching

viviparous, p. 36, giving birth to offspring that develop in the mother’s body.

pneumatic, p. 44, filled with air; ample bust

simian: p. 58, ape or monkey

stupor: p. 59, lethargy; mental confusion

sententious: (p. 74, “sententiously”) terse; moralizing; short statements about life

soma: p. 75, a drug that dulls emotion and creates a false sense of happiness.

solecism: p. 96, impropriety, mistake, violation of etiquette

octoroon: p. 104, a person who is one-eighth Black.

pueblo: p. 107, a community dwelling up to five stories high built out of adobe by Indian tribes in the Southwest U.S.

goitre: p. 112, a non-cancerous enlargement of the thyroid, visible on the neck

mescal: p. 125, Mexican liquor fermented from the agave

viscose: p. 139, rayon—manufactured fabric

vestal: p. 144, chaste, pure, virgin

peritoneum: p. 146, membrane lining the abdominal walls

sonorous: p. 155, producing a full, deep or rich sound

brachylcephalic: p. 159, having a short, broad head

heretical: p. 173, departure from established beliefs or standards

sepulchral: p. 176, suggestive of the grave; funereal

abstemious: p. 193, eating and drinking in moderation

strumpet: p. 194, prostitute, whore

moribund: p. 202, Approaching death; about to die

derision: p. 210, contempt; ridicule

impunity: p. 219, exempt from punishment

postulates: p. 236, basic principles

copse: p. 247, a thicket of small trees or shrubs

turpitude: p. 258, depravity, baseness, moral corruption

Aldous Huxley Brief Biography

photo from somaweb.org

Aldous Huxley

British Novelist
1894-1963




Key facts:

• Grandfather and brother were biologists


• Educated at Eton and Oxford


• Nearly blind so learned Braille


• Published travel books, poems, novels, plays and essays


• Huxley’s style is known for its brilliant dialogue, cynicism, and social criticism.


• Brave New World, first published in 1932, is a dark vision of a highly technological future society.


• Married twice; had one son


• “Huxley scandalized millions” (Malcolm X)

Read more about Huxley on Wikipedia or at somaweb.org (a website devoted to exploring Huxley and his works complete with a discussion board).

To view a brief video of Huxley himself discussing Brave New World, click here.

Brave New World Castes

Huxley uses the Greek alphabet to name the castes of people in Brave New World.

Caste and Color

alpha = grey

beta = mulberry

gamma = green

delta = khaki

epsilon = black

Brave New World Online

Thanks to Matt E. in second hour for pointing out that Online versions of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World exist. If you ever misplace your book, you can simply click here and scroll down to the assigned nightly chapter(s) to keep up with the class.

Happy reading!

Newsweek's "What You Need to Know Now"

Remember to read Newsweek's article "What You Need to Know Now" and change your anticipation guide to reflect the correct answers according to Newsweek and their authors.

If you can't locate your copy of the Newsweek article, read it online.

If you want to take the entire Newsweek Quiz, click here.

Below are the Anticipation Guide statements:

1. A definitive list of what Americans should know exists on Newsweek.com and in E.D. Hirsch’s book, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.
2. We cannot thrive in the world today if we do not know what people love and hate.
3. James Joyce based his book Ulysses on Virgil’s The Aeneid.
4. Buddhism in its earliest form is atheistic.
5. The White Album by The Beatles beat out Michael Jackson’s Thriller as the top-selling music album in history.
6. There will be about 10 million bloggers by the end of 2007.
7. The major religions of the world are essentially alike.
8. Picasso created the most important work of art of the last 100 years.
9. Ann Coulter outsells Jane Austen in 2007.
   
   

To continue the debate on whether you agree or disagree with some of the open-ended statements on the anticipation guide, click on the comments below.

Solzhenitsyn's One Great Heart

photo from gulaghistory.org


If you would like to read more of Solzhenitsyn's thoughts on World Literature, click here. If you scroll down to section 7 of Solzhenitsyn's lecture, you will find the excerpt we read from our textbook, "One Great Heart."

To learn more about Solzhenitsyn's life, visit the Nobel Prize Internet Archive.

Bubble Map Paragraph: Roehl Seeing Green

After completing your bubble map, draft one paragraph that details one of your adjectives. Remember to concentrate on one adjective to give focus to the paragraph. The typed paragraph is due on Thursday along with your completed bubble map and double bubble classmate comparison.



Roehl's sample paragraph is below.

Roehl Seeing Green

Having grown up on a farm in Medina, I have an affinity for rich, black soil laced with a little cow manure. Such a garden that yields the juiciest tomato or the tenderest ear of corn is a thing of beauty. However, my small yard in St. Louis Park doesn't afford me the space for a large vegetable garden, so I supplement my longing for my farming anscestory by belonging to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. My CSA farmer Richard delivers one box of fresh, organic vegetables each week for my family to enjoy. I make an awesome chocholate zuchinni cake and a beans and greens dish sure to please the most sophisticated Italian pallate. Richard also provides my family with organic fruit that he gets from his farming friends on the West Coast and in Mexico. For nine months out of the year my produce needs are met by this buying locally, biodyamically earth friendly CSA method which allows my family to know we are being as green as possible where groceries are concerned. I have taken this green philosophy to other areas of my life. This past summer I began mowing my lawn with a reel mower; that's the type of push mower that's powered only by humans. Although the reel mower might not leave the most manicured lawn, I enjoy the quiet, peaceful mowing experience that saves gas and carbon emissions. Speaking of emissions, I have also reduced my clothes dryer emissions this summer by hanging most of my family's laundry on the line. While my family was in Spain for three weeks last year, I noticed that most, if not all, Spanish families hang their clothes on the line from their apartment windows. I figured that if they can do it without a backyard, then I was being wasteful of the planet's resources my using a machine to dry my clothes, a machine that also pumps emissions into the atmosphere. Although being green takes a lot of work, I am glad that I have taken a few simple steps to reduce my carbon footprint.

Thinking Maps: A Common Language for Learning

Give students a thought and they'll learn for a day.

Teach them to think, and they'll learn for a lifetime.

Motto from Thinking Maps, Inc.

Thinking Maps provide a common language for teachers and students to use to discuss metacognition--thinking about your thinking. When students create a Thinking Map, other students and the teacher can clearly and explicity see what was going on in the student's brain.

Regarding research behind the maps, Thinking Maps, Inc., explains why the maps work on their website. Here's a summary from their website:

"Thinking Maps® have assisted many educators and students with the learning process. By linking a visual pattern to specific thought processes, Thinking Maps® enable students to develop neural networks for thinking that the brain recognizes and builds on continuously. Thinking Maps® enhance the student's ability to independently transfer thinking skills to content learning across disciplines and to lifelong learning. Through repetition, consistency and extension, the use of Thinking Maps® strengthens networks for thinking which in turn enhance the brain's natural ability as a pattern detector."

Thinking Map, Inc.'s website also includes data from schools across the country who have improved standardized test scores since implementing Thinking Maps.

David Hyerle developed Thinking Maps using the brain research of Art Costa, Al Upton and Robert Marzano. Hyerle summarizes research into the successes of Thinking Maps that is found in his book Student Successes with Thinking Maps. For more information explore Hyerle's website, mapthemind.com.

Even more research on student successes with Thinking Maps can be found at Thinking Foundation's website.


One question that students always ask is: Do bubble, double bubble, and circle maps really need to be circles?


The answer is YES. Since the Thinking Maps are a common language and since the brain is a pattern detector, students and teachers need to keep seeing the same shapes and format for the maps. Some students may believe that strict adherence to these shapes and forms is ridiculous and make circle and bubble maps with squares. However, to use the maps to their optimum benefit, the brain needs to detect these common language patterns. Consistency is the key!

bubble map from thinkingmaps.com

Cooperative Education Base Group Communities

I will place citizen scholars in base group communities. The purpose of these communities is to work cooperatively on focused activities, allow for peer coaching, keep each other informed of work missed when absent, and to have a safe and comfortable classroom community. I will change the base group communities throughout the semester.

I believe that working in base groups furthers my vision of Know Your World because a major part of knowing the world is knowing how to get along with one another. Roger and David Johnson, University of Minnesota brothers and professors, who are key players in the cooperative education movement, give the following reasons for cooperative education in the 21st Century Classroom:

• The world is increasingly characterized by interdependence, conflict and rapid change.
• We live in a complex, interconnected world in which cultures collide.
• The solution to most problems cannot be achieved by one country alone.
• People need to learn to resolve conflicts within cooperative systems.
  

Work Respect Belong

Our classroom community will function more smoothly if we all follow the maxim: Work, Respect, Belong. Each class will determine what those words mean specifically in a cooperative education classroom where base group members rely on each other for success.

Copies of Brave New World Needed

photo from Amazon.com

The edition most students will read has this cover.

Last spring, the English department predicted only three sections of World Literature based on registration numbers. However, course changes over the summer resulted in adding a fourth section of World Literature. Nearly 30 students decided to switch to World Literature from other senior electives in June alone. Although I am excited for the increased enrollment, I did not budget for those enrollment numbers during the book ordering process last spring.

Therefore, the school finds itself short 30 copies of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, which students begin reading on September 10. So please consider purchasing your own copy of the book for your personal library. You won't regret it! Not only will you help out the class by being a good citizen, but also you will be able to mark your book, keeping track of key thematic quotations, summarizing events at the top of key pages, and creating a character tree map in the front cover. Just think how excited you will be if you are assigned Brave New World in college and your book already holds many of the answers.

Students have found copies of Brave New World for as low as $2 at Half Price Books in Miracle Mile Shopping Center, and used copies of our class's exact edition go for $4 on Amazon.com.

Class Supplies

photo from school-pak, inc.

World Literature students use a single subject, composition notebook to showcase all of their thinking and activities in World Literature. Notebooks need to be in class every day as notebook participation points are given on a regular basis. Use a Sharpie to write your name on the notebook and bring it to class every day starting Thursday, September 6.

Fully prepared students also come to class with a pen, pencil, highlighter, glue stick, and post-it notes. And outstanding citizens of Room 271 donate Kleenex and scissors for the common good.

Blog Comments and Cyber Bullying

Remember that this blog is an extension of our classroom, so every comment that you write needs to follow our established class rules around the words Work--Respect--Belong.

All of your comments and posted images need to be appropriate.

Here's a quick video reminder about the negative effects of cyber bullying.

Also, posting comments as someone else is also considered cyber bullying. Be respectful!

Know Your World

Congratulations on selecting World Literature for your senior English class!

I hope that you will not only enjoy learning about what the world loves and hates through the literature we study this year, but also that you will leave Edina High School a little bit more prepared to succeed in the increasingly connected global society.

My vision statement for you this year is for you to leave my classroom each day having learned at least one thing, no matter how small, about the world you live in. Each day I will write an essential question for you to consider on the classroom white board, but that question will just be the beginning of your exploration each day. I want you to challenge yourself to take your study of the world even further. Read, talk, write, think, cooperate, and know your world!

My World Literature vision statement, Know Your World, aligns closely with Edina's mission statement.

The mission of the Edina Public Schools, working in partnership with the family and the community, is to educate individuals to be responsible, lifelong learners who possess the skills, knowledge, creativity, sense of self-worth, and ethical values necessary to survive and flourish in a rapidly changing, culturally diverse, global society.

Since World Literature is a senior only class, students discuss literature and its themes maturely and respectfully. I will also guide you in your quest to become an increasingly autonomous, adult learner so that you feel better prepared for life and school beyond Edina High School. Part of our time together will be spent on how you learn; I won't just rush you through the course content.

This year I will also challenge your notion of what the word literature means. A quick scan of our common textbook, World Masterpieces, reveals that world literature goes beyond novels, poems, play, and short stories to also explore the realms of philosophy, religion, and the arts. To strive for cultural literacy today, I feel that you need to expand your notion of literature, so during the fall semester, you will encounter "texts" beyond the traditional English class genres.

You will notice in the World Literature I course overview, that fall semester also covers a quick study of the five major religions of the world--Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Students who took World History should have a strong academic background in the five religions; however, we will do a quick review so that our class will have a common understanding of ideas to discuss issues around birth, life and death in a comparative religions framework.

In case you were wondering, studying religion in a public high school is not a violation of church and state laws. The Supreme Court has ruled that public schools may not sponsor religious practices but may teach about religion. (Engel v. Vitale (1962) 370 U.S. 421.) This serves the academic goals of educating students about history and cultures.

You can watch the Did You Know? video again. Just click on the video title. It's a link.