Book 2 of 2012

I finished this book after waking up this morning. By the way, book one of 2012 was Shakespeare's Othello, which I read and annotated because I'm teaching it for the first time this year. In order to avoid getting sick of it before my students even start reading the play, I'm holding off on a proper review of it. It is pretty great, though.

2) Cool Hand Luke by Donn Pearce
For the longest time, I had no idea this book existed because the movie starring Paul Newman has always stood on its own as such a timeless piece of cinema that I never thought to question its origins. A few minor events are switched around from novel to film, but the things that happen are familiar. Lucas Jackson, a war "hero," gets sentenced to two years in a Florida chain gang and is too bullheaded for the guards' liking, so they proceed to try and get his mind right by breaking him down.

While the movie is a character piece, and the book does focus on Luke as the central figure, Pearce spends the majority of the novel detailing the harsh life of the chain gang. It's written in first person from the perspective of another prisoner who admires Luke for the savior-type leader that he is but also recognizes that no good outcome can result from Luke's behavior. Pearce provides insight into Luke's past, explaining how and why Luke's time in World War II led to his disillusionment with religion and disdain for authority.

This is a good book, and I really enjoyed it, but that enjoyment is also somewhat tainted by the film. Paul Newman and George Kennedy so encapsulate those characters and the movie itself is such a classic that it's difficult not to compare the two. Much like Fight Club, this is an occasion where the film trumps the original work. In both cases, the filmmaker decided to focus on the characters and landed actors that could do a great job fleshing them out and making them whole. That streamlined approach helps achieve the status it still holds today. Meanwhile, the book, by discussing the cruelty and despair of the chain gang life, touching on the depravity that men sink to during war, and merely hinting at the savior figure that Luke becomes in the eyes of the camp has a more scattered view. By tackling so many themes, it fails to accomplish getting a point across about a single one of them.

As a companion piece, to the film, this is an interesting read. On its own, it's merely just good but not really great.

Good news, everyone!

Professor Hubert Farnsworth
approves!

Shortly before we went on Spring Break, I interviewed for a position to teach honors next year. And, well, I got it!

Next year, instead of teaching frosh college prep, I'll be teaching the freshman honors class along with Mrs. Windt. I'm really excited to take on something that's completely new yet also a little familiar. It'll be an interesting challenge that will allow me to grow as an educator and as a person.

And now it's a ketchup time, in that we will catch up with all of the days I have neglected to blog about previously.

Frosh
On Thursday, March 31, you worked on deliberations in the case of the Choctaw Three and we discussed the results you determined. The lesson here is that despite years of progress, racism is by no means dead or done. It still exists, but hopefully that is something that all of us can combat in a meaningful way over the course of our lives.

Friday, April 1, you moved forward.

For Monday and Tuesday, you viewed the documentary titled Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, detailing the case of the nine black men accused of raping two white women. There will be an opportunity later on this quarter where you will write a compare and contrast essay, and one choice will be comparing the court case in To Kill a Mockingbird to the Scottsboro boys' case. If that is something that interests you, then make sure to hold onto those notes when I return them to you in the Graded Work tray.

Wednesday, we finished watching the documentary, picked up To Kill a Mockingbird and discussed the pre-interviews that you handed in.

You took the quiz on the "What Was Jim Crow?" packet on Thursday. Once that was done, we began reading the first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird. By Monday, you should be finished with chapter three. That first chapter is challenging and somewhat long for the book but the story deals less with the history of the town and the Finch family after that point, so it should be less confusing. Keep with it and write down any questions you have so we can discuss your understanding after the weekend.

You moved forward on Friday for the final time this year.

Seniors

On Thursday, March 31, we listened to The Cure's "Killing an Arab" and Guns 'N Roses' "Civil War" in order to discuss the connections to both Cool Hand Luke and The Stranger. There were four questions dealing with each song, and your group chose which song to discuss the answers.

I told you a story on Friday, April 1, in the hopes that you would all make safe decisions on prom night. Hopefully, you did. We also attempted to watch a short film made by Mr. Rubel on the birth of the hippie movement, but my DVD player was uncooperative. 

Monday was a big day. You checked out One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest from the library and received both the reading itinerary and the Table of Contents assignment. We began reading chapter one. Keep in mind that Chief's perception changes throughout the novel, so the beginning is much more difficult to understand than the latter parts of the book. He views things from a metaphorical point of view, and it's up to you to determine, at least in the beginning, what is literally happening on the ward. 

On Tuesday, we finished reading chapter one and discussed the most important line in the book in terms of understanding Chief's perspective. We then focused on some terms that will aid your understanding of the novel.

Wednesday saw us finish the terms and read through the article "Tarnished Gallahad" by Matthew Rick. Ken Kesey lived a pretty fascinating life and writing this book was just a small part of his experience.

I gave you Thursday to read after you turned in your latest ORU. 

Friday, you took the quiz on section one, which consisted of the first four chapters of Cuckoo's Nest. You then received some questions that you began to answer in groups and will get the chance to complete on Monday. 

YOUCANHASCHEESEBURGER

Spring Break was fun, wasn't it? Mine can be summed up in one word: Youcanhascheeseburger.

YOUCANHASCHEESEBURGER - $5.50 worth
of delectable.

I CAN HAZ?

When I look back on my life and think of how I came to the point of suffering my first heart attack, I'll look fondly on this picture knowing that it was all worth it. This is no ordinary cheeseburger; it's a cheeseburger that replaces regular buns with grilled-cheese sandwiches. Normally, this is the kind of novelty food item that sounds good on paper due to the decadence and pure gluttony involved but ultimately proves untenable when actually eaten.

That is not the case here.

Somehow, the fine folks at The Brunch Box overcame this problem. I'm guessing because they use Texas toast for the bread on the grilled cheese sandwiches. Either way, it's the most delicious burger I've ever consumed, and I plan to make this a ritual of every visit I make to Portland, Oregon.


Frosh
Way back last Thursday, March 17, you spent the period self-editing your most recent draft of the essay using the self-edit guide provided to you. The next day, Friday, March 18, you turned in the final draft of the Character Analysis Essay along with the Character Quote Sheet. We spent time that day discussing what made this particular assignment different and why so many of you chose to complete it and hand in the essay. The rest of our time was spent discussing the final on Romeo & Juliet and what you could expect for it.

Tuesday, we returned from spring break and you took the aforementioned final.

Today, you received the pre-interview assignment for To Kill a Mockingbird. Remember that any interview subject must have read the novel previously and be over 30 years old. Make sure that you ask your subject to elaborate on their answers so you can get enough information to fill out the entire sheet. We then read the article dealing with the Choctaw Three, who were convicted of killing a baby whose mere existence came into question. If you're interested in reading more about them, there's a fairly in-depth article located here that provides an update to their story. You then spent the last part of the period in groups determining what information in the article goes towards their innocence and what information leads the reader to believe they are guilty. We'll continue the article and talk about this some more tomorrow.

Seniors
Thursday, March 17, we continued our analysis of Cool Hand Luke. The following day, Friday, March 18, you took your final on The Stranger and then completed the film.

Upon our return from spring break on Tuesday, we spent the period discussing Lucas Jackson and Meursault. As I said in class that day, I hold no grand notions that every single student fully read The Stranger, which is really too bad considering what an easy book it is to get through. Understanding it's deeper meaning may be a bit tougher, but the prose of The Stranger itself is simple to read. And now that opportunity is squandered along with the points available for the unit. Our next book, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, is much deeper, longer and more difficult to understand initially. It's also the final unit of the year and you're last chance to improve your grade. If you're already in a good place grade-wise, then keep on making that happen and stay the course. If you're not? Skipping the reading won't help.

Today, you read Albert Camus' preface to The Stranger and began answering questions about it with the whole period at your disposal. The assignment is due on Friday.

It does a body good.

As the journalism adviser, recruiting new talent each year is a constant struggle. For the third year in a row, I decided to represent the Brave Times at Alta Loma's 8th Grade Welcome Night to attempt to entice eager, incoming students to write for what I consider to be the best newspaper in the district. It's always an interesting sight to see the people who show up, parents and students alike, all on their phones, with earbuds securely in place and video game devices at the ready. Just about everyone was attentive during the presentation, but very few of the people waiting beforehand spent the time interacting with those around them. I was also just as guilty of this, too, so don't think I'm placing myself above the fray. The experience left me thinking about a video I recently caught on YouTube, similar to one I posted back in December. This one, though, is directly related to education and what reform for it might truly look like.

Tell me what you think of the video. I'm curious about what students would have to say about it.

Frosh
This past Monday, you turned in your final review and study guide for Romeo & Juliet. I answered your questions about the essay and then gave you the rest of the period and the whole of Tuesday to focus on getting as much writing done as possible. Always remember that writing an essay out of order whenever you have the opportunity is actually the ideal way to get the best possible outcome. My experience shows that writing the thesis first should be the goal, followed by finding concrete details and evidence, and then writing the body paragraphs. Introductions and conclusions, while important, pale in comparison to the body of an essay. Speaking of which, below is the layout of your body paragraph, using the Jane Schaffer format.

1. Topic Sentence - State a reason why the character(s) you listed is/are to blame relating to one of your sub-topics in your thesis statement.
2. Concrete Detail (CD) - Incorporate a quotation from the play that supports the topic sentence with a proper citation. Your second semester ORUs demonstrate how to incorporate quotations.
3. Commentary (CM) - Explain how and why the quotation in your CD supports the TS using at least two sentences.
4. CM
5. CD
6. CM
7. CM
8. Transition Sentence - Write a sentence that allows you to flow from this paragraph to your next body paragraph. You won't need this sentence in your final body paragraph.

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8. Concluding Sentence - Conclude your body paragraphs in order to flow into your conclusion.

Today, you focused on peer editing. Tomorrow, you may use this marked up draft or modify your existing draft for the purposes of self-editing. My suggestion is to do whatever work now as opposed to later so you can save yourself the headache of having to do everything the night before. If you wrote it out, type it; if you chose to type it, put it in MLA format.

Seniors
We discussed a few terms on Monday that will hopefully inform your reading of part two of The Stranger. Keep these terms in mind as the magistrate questions Meursault and also wonder where the focus is during the trial.

Yesterday, we took a look at the idea of savior symbolism in comparison to our discussions on existentialism. In order to properly study this idea, we're taking a look at Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman. Keep in mind that you're taking notes on this for the purpose of seeing how Luke fits into either idea: savior or existentialist.