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?

FRESHMEN: Prepare for M&M

No, not the candy-shell covered chocolate candies, nor the white rapper from Detroit. Of Mice & Men is the next novel we are going to be reading in class. One of the central themes of the novel is that of friendship. So I ask you, what does friendship mean to you? What is a friend?

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.