SENIORS: Bless Me, Ultima

Okay, the next novel we will be reading is called Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya.

This novel covers a lot of different subjects, framed in the context of conflict.

A few of them include:

Old vs. New. That covers a lot of subjects itself, such as the old culture versus the new culture. The old values versus the new values. The old religions versus the new religions. Old methods and ways versus new methods and ways. Imagine your grandparents, their beliefs and values and ideas versus your own. Imagine what people valued in their cultures 100 years ago versus today.

This is a Mexican-American novel. Some words will be in Spanish. You should have a hand-out to assist with this.

This novel also deals with something called magical realism. This is basically the idea of a real world with some magical elements that just fits right in as real as anything else. Don't really worry about this element though.

We'll talk more about this either in your questions or in person in a few weeks!

SENIORS Study Guide

Hello my seniors. Almost half-way there!

There are fifty(!) questions on Brave New World. These questions are really kinda basic actually; they are really more about remembering names and facts and events from the book. The questions aren't that deep but will test your knowledge of the book. Your essays are how I judged your deeper understanding of the book.

There are eleven questions about Beowulf. These questions are not only about the names and events, but also the motivations of the characters.

There are thirty-two questions about Canterbury Tales. Why so many? We have three chapters, essentially, to cover. The Prologue, The Wife's Tale and the Pardoner's Tale are all covered. As with Beowulf, you not only need to know the main characters and the main events of the plot, but also their motivations.

The remaining forty-two questions are about Macbeth, asking specific questions about each act. Again, know the main characters (mainly Macbeth to be honest), the things they do, and their motivations for them.

All of these works of literature, except obviously Brave New World, are in your large literature book. It's big, it's heavy, but you'll need to review what's inside them. You have your copy of Brave New World with you; I'd also review your dialectical journals to help you remember what is going on.

If you have specific questions, remember, I might not be able to answer them but I will try to do my best. Please ask them here so that everyone has a chance to see the answers.

Good luck!

SENIORS: Brave New World Questions

Please post any questions you may have about the readings you have to do over the break. Remember, by now John the Savage is back in the World State and there will be a great amount of adjustment on both sides. It might be slightly confusing, so ask away!

SENIORS: Brave New World Essay

As promised, here are the guidelines again for the essay I will be expecting by January 6 at midnight.

Times New Roman font, size 11. Not double spaced, please one and half (1.5) times spacing.

2-3 pages.

Your topic? Is our world, in 2007, on the path to becoming the Brave New World? Yes or No?

Take a side, do some light research, and email me the essay you write. Please embed the essay text in the email message itself; NO ATTACHEMENTS!

The email address is mrejameson@yahoo.com.

Ask if you have specific questions.

Enjoy!

SENIORS: Macbeth & Shakespeare

Our next work of literature is Macbeth, by the immortal bard, Shakespeare. He has a very poor reputation, in that it is commonly thought to be very difficult for most people to work through and understand Shakespeare. But if that was the case, why do they keep doing Shakespeare in plays, in schools, and in movies? My question is what have your experiences with Shakespeare been like? Do you like his work, or try to avoid it whenever possible? Hard to understand or do you know what to do?

Seniors - The Pardoner's Tale

The first of two tales we will look at from The Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner's Tale, is a morality tale about greed. The Pardoner tells stories of greed to scare people from their money, so that they will give their money to him. He says that "Money is the root of all evil." Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

Seniors - Cultural Perceptions of Jobs

As you are now going through the Prologue of Canterbury Tales, you are seeing the views of certain vocations during the Middle Ages. Lawyers, for example, weren't loved back then either. What do you think the top 5 most respected/loved jobs are? What do you think are the Top 5 Least Respected jobs are? Provide at least a bit of reasoning for your opinions.

Seniors - Cultural Inaccuracies?

We've been talking about how pop culture reflects the social values and morals of the society that creates said pop culture art. We talked about how violence in particular is an accepted part of our culture and how it is in many of our films, television shows and even in our music. A gunshot is okay, but a bare buttock isn't. Contrasted with Europe, where the opposite is general true.

Are there examples of where you think this isn't true? As in, do you think perhaps there are examples of pop culture values that aren't the real values of America? Adultery and cheating for example; it's common in film, but is it common in real life?

Post your comments and react and respond to each other.