More on Emmett Till

Today we learned about the murder of Emmett Till.  If you want to read the Look magazine article containing the confessions, click here.  You may also want to read some of the letters people wrote to the magazine in the aftermath - you'll find them here.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Today in class we heard Lincoln's iconic Gettysburg Address.  We wrote responses to it by "transplanting" a phrase from the speech and using it as the start of a new piece of writing (poem, speech, dialogue, etc.).  We did this twice - once to link the speech to ideas and details from the Civil War, another time to whatever personal connections or insights we had to Lincoln's words.  Here is the text of the speech with hyperlinks to what we had to say.  Clicking on the highlighted text will bring you to the blog of that particular student.

The Gettysburg Address:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal (2).

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Images of Jim

By today you have read through chapter 23 of Twain's novel.  Yesterday in class we explored the nature of the relationship between Huck and Jim.  We wrote about the ways in which it did / didn't change after the events of chapters 14 and 15.

What are your thoughts about Jim at this point in the novel?  What kind of character is he?  How are you picturing him?

In a new post, respond to the following prompts:

1. Generate a list of 7-9 words you would use to describe Jim in terms of his beliefs, actions, and feelings.
2. Generate a list of 3-5 words you would use to describe Jim in terms of his physical appearance.

Next, go to this gallery of images (you might need to use this one).  These come from a variety of sources but are all illustrations of Jim.  Some of them were images included within the text; others were covers or promotional posters.  Browse through the gallery slowly, spending time looking at each image.  Be aware of these issues (take some notes in your notebook - no need to write anything yet):

• Which characters other than Jim appear in the illustration?
• What are they doing?  What is their physical relationship with each other?
• What is Jim doing? 
• Examine the physical details of Jim - his face, especially eyes and mouth; his expression; his arms; his body - what is the image conveying about him?
• Who holds power in this image?  How is it conveyed?
• Is Jim shown through stereotypes?  Which ones?

Now, select one or two of the images that most closely illustrates the words you used in your post.  Cut and paste that image from the "Images of Jim" post above into your blog post and add a short comment explaining the connection.
Then, select one or two of the images that is least similar to your description - the one furthest from your impression of him.  Again, cut and past them into your post and add a commentary.

Lastly, write a response to these questions:

• Which image most faithfully illustrates the novel's text?  How do Mark Twain's words represent Jim - as more of a character, or a caricature?

Occupy Wall Street and Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience"

What would Thoreau think of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement?

We will explore that hypothetical possibility on our discussions later today.  For now, you will take some time to familiarize yourself with this month-old movement that continues to gain more participants, attention, and analysis.  Browse through some of these sites first, then search for recent stories.  Take notes in your journal to help you to participate in the discussion next period.

http://occupywallst.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/occupy-wall-street
http://www.cnn.com/
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/occupy_wall_street/index.html

and here's a great collection of photos to browse through:
http://70.32.78.35/symu/lee/2011/10/12/ows-new-photos-oct-12/

Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

Today we will work with Emerson's "Self-Reliance" essay.  Read through these instructions - we will be looking to make connections between Emerson's essay and photos we find.

Start by going to this document and selecting one of the quotations from the essay.  Once you have selected the one you want to work with today, come and tell Mr. Rigler or Mr. Kramer.  Each one will be used only once on a first-come, first served basis (per computer lab).

Next, spend some time brainstorming ideas that will become the basis of your search for a photograph / image that expresses something about what the quote means.  You should have several words / phrases as a starting point.

Then, you will work to find a collection of photographs that somehow express the ideas in the quotation.  You can look anywhere on the web, but these are good places to start:
NYPL Digial Gallery
Alamy
FotoSearch
Worlds Famous Photos
ScribD Famous Photos

Create a post using at least three images and your chosen quotation.  You do not need to type anything else.

Go to the class blog.  Look at the three names above yours (starting from the bottom of the list if necessary).  Go to that person's blog and look at their Emerson quote / picture post.  Add a comment to it, saying something about how the image affects your thinking about the quotation.  What do you now understand about it?

Washington and the Forming of a Nation

As you know, American government was still in its infancy after the ratification of the Constitution.  How that government would work in practice however was (and is still today) still much in question.  Additionally, America was (and is) still defining the values and beliefs that were the foundations of American political and social thought.  Today, you will work to assess how the early nation was doing; how ideas like liberty were being developed; and whether or not, the new nation was accomplishing the goals set forth in the Preamble to the Constitution.

Instructions for class on 9/30/2011:

1) (15 mins.) In your American Reader read George Washington's Farewell address that begins on page 71.
Annotate the reading according to the actions and/or advice Washington offers in response to:

• The potential threat of political parties and interest groups
• The mounting criticism of government and the authority of the executive.
• The proper role of the United States in international politics.

2) (20 mins.) Next you will investigate a person or event that also influenced the early American republic.  Click on this link and find the person or event that corresponds to your assigned number.  Then you will research your term by going to the subscription databases on the Library website.  Using either the American History database, the Salem History database, or American National Biography online, research your assigned person or event.  Take notes about the key facts or details that are necessary to understand the significance of your assigned person or event.  Note-you may need to go to more than one database to get a full understanding.

3) (20 mins.) Write a post that does the following:

• Has a creative title that says something about the significance of your assigned person or event.
• Summarizes enough key details so that someone reading your post will understand your assigned person or event.  This may be written out in paragraph form or a list of bullet points.
• Contains a paragraph that links your assigned event or person to George Washington.  According to his Farewell Address, what would George Washington say about the information you discovered?  In what way did (or didn't ) your person or event reflect the values or ideals that Washington defined in his address? 
• Contains a paragraph with your assessment of this person or event.  How does your person or event match up with what we've been studying so far?  Does your research help to expand any ideas or notions of liberty that you've seen already?  Are there Constitutional questions that arise as a result of your research?  Does this person or event help to accomplish or go against the goals set forth in the Preamble?

4) (15 - 20 mins.) When finished with your post. Spend time exploring the events or people that your classmates have written about on their blogs.  

5) (20 mins.) After reading at least 4 or 5 others, write a final response to this activity in your notebooks.  Based on what you've seen in your research and your classmates' blogs, how would you assess this era?  How is the United States growing as a nation?  Are there any links or connections that you can make between any of the issues that arose then and what you see in the nation today?  Be sure to check your final notebook entry in with Mr. Kramer or Mr. Rigler.

Speaking of Government...

Just thought we might find this story to be interesting - questions from the Federalist papers continue to resonate!

Connecting Historic Documents to Today

In class today we studied writings from Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine.  Now, you will revisit those works along with a collection of photographs about 9-11 we viewed last week.
You can find those pictures here.
There are other collections of photographs here and here. 
Scroll through the photographs while you have the documents handy.  What you are looking for an image you want to match with a quotation from one of the documents.
To post this onto your blog, open a "new post," then browse through the photographs in another open window.  When you see an image you want to use, just right click it, go back to your post, and paste it in.  Hit the enter key then type the quotation under the image.  If you have time, go back and find another pair. 
Then, hit the enter key again and spend a few sentences explaining your thinking behind this pairing.  What is it like to see the words of 1776 paired with images of 2001?  What connections do you see?
Hit "publish post."
When you are done, please go back to the class blog then visit the blogs of other students to see what they created.

Remembering 9-11

For the past few weeks we have been reading Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close as part of our look at the 10 year anniversary of the events of 9-11-2001.  In class we showed you the website associated with the 9-11 Tribute Movement, 911day.org.  We wrote "I will" statements and shared them in class already, but we're also inviting you to share them (or another statement) as part of this official website.  Just click on the link above and enter your thoughts.  Thanks!

Here is an image of the notecards we wrote:

Questions for first blog discussion of EL&IC

After you create your blog today, you will respond to one of these questions:

1. What are your thoughts about Oskar at this point in the novel, after "Heavier Boots"?  Do you sympathize with him?  Are you critical of him?  Choose a specific action of his as the basis for your comment.
2. How do the different story lines in the novel work together?  Do you detect any specific similarities in terms of topics and themes?  What are they?  Name both the similarity and the different ways in which the novel expresses and explores it.
3. How does the variety of images, layout, typography, and narrative voice affect your reading and understanding of the story up to this point.  Select 1-2 specific examples to use in your response.