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."
7 comments:
I enjoyed hearing what other people had to say about being an "Unknown Student/Citizen". But what they didn't get at was all the people who aren't involved in athletics, the music program or the theater. I know they are many students like me that aren't involved in these things but are involved in other groups/clubs at the school. Last year and this year I have been apart of Sober Squad. We are recognized more by other school districts than our own. They want to know how they can start a similar program and since Edina already has one they don't care as much.
Like Judith said you either have to be an outstanding student/athlete or a bad student to be known by the administration. The rest of us are just stuck in the middle.
A theme that I got from the poem is life is what you make it. The guy seemed to go along with everything around him. He was content with his life. It was extraordinary but it wasn't boring either. This theme also relates back to Brave New World. Most of the characters go along with what they are suppose to do and are happy. But Linina chooses what she wants to do. She seems to be a lot happier than the others.
Caitlin M
6th hr
I also really liked hearing what other people in sixth hour had to say during our semiar on Friday. I often feel "unknown" in our school but I never knew that so many others felt the same way. It seems that to be noticed by the administration and often even by some teachers and students, you have to have amazing grades, be a captain of at least one varsity sport and really invovled in music or theater or some other club and other leadership position. For most people these standards are too high and many people feel inadequate that they are not meeting these standards.
I think the man in the poem is similar to how many of us feel. He poem is an excellant citizen- he had a solid job, a good family, always followed the rules and was liked by many people. He was good but he wasn't great enough to be recognized as anything special.
When we were takling about this poem I first thought about Lenina in Brave New World because she is popular and is a pretty typical World State woman (at least before she started liking John). She seems to think she is happy. But, is she truly happy or does she just think shes happy because that is what she has always been taught to think? Bernard and John on the other hand know they are not content and are not afraid do something about it in an effort to better their life. I think a key idea in this poem and the book is to not merely be satisified with what other people tell you right or "normal". Do what is right for you as an idividaul and don't worry about others. Strive to be the best you can be and don't be afraid to go beyond or do something different than what others tell you is right.
i also enjoyed friday's discussion. i thought it was interesting going around and sharing one word that we thought represented "unknown citizen." i liked how a lot of people came up with different words.. it really shows that we all think differently.
I thought it was also interesting when you asked us if we felt like unknown students.. most of us felt like we were, and i liked hearing different peoples ideas of how we are unknown. some of the ideas people came us with never crossed my mind before.
I really enjoyed doing this seminar. First becasue the class had control. It was fun to see everyone saying what they thought of whenever they wanted. This poem I thought connected to both Brave New World and the world we live in today. I believe society hugely influences on how people live. Everyone has to follow whats "normal" and anyone who is against that is different then the rest. In all three cases, including our world, I feel that we are just a statistic. People only want to see the superfical level and its hard to find people that want to go to a deeper level. Thats also why I thought the title "Unknown Citizen" is perfect because the man that is represented does what everyone else does and doesn't seem to show anything extra that makes him different. He is just like the rest. Seems like his life is perfect but then theres a shirt towards the end of the poem asking if he was happy or free? It makes me think if people now are the same as the unknown citizen.
i feel that this seminar was very succesful and i was glad to be able to relate it to brave new world. I also felt that as a class we were able to connect the poem to society today. The poem talks about people doing the same normal daily routines and going along with what other people do and that is exactly what our world is like today. im really happy that we did this seminar because the book connects to the poem and the poem connects to our world which is pretty exciting.
The seminar at the decafe i thought was fun because we were outside of the classroom but other then that I don't know why we took a day out of the Brave New World sched. to talk about this poem, yes I see the connections but the class was still somewhat irrelevant.
I feel like getting out of the classroom environment was a new more entertaining way of learning. The poem I felt was very interesting and that it brought about valid points. Such points as the one brought about by the title which I feel like was probably a great title. I feel like it shows that their many times people can go living unnoticed. Not till they day may someone really take into consideration their life and who they really are.
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