Students:
Due on 12/17 is your portfolio of poems.
Before this date I expect you to post at least 3 of the 7 on your blog and collect student responses. Part of your portfolio is to respond to these responses and make changes to your poem as you feel necessary.
You entire portfolio should be sent to me either by e-mail, shared by google docs, or given to me on a flash drive. I will not accept any hard copies or late work.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNbPnqyvItk
This is a modern version of The Scarlet Letter. I hope to see this and see if anything really correlates with the book!
This is a modern version of The Scarlet Letter. I hope to see this and see if anything really correlates with the book!
Example Student Response
The Scarlet Letter
I decided to pick up The Scarlet Letter over the weekend. It was a book that I had long dreaded reading, but knew someday it was one I must overcome. It had never been assigned to me in high school and listening to my peer’s say how everyone has obviously read it before made me feel like I was missing out on something, even though it was a something most people groaned about.
After reading it I, unlike most people, actually enjoyed it! I got right into the story and felt as if I could sympathize with Hester's alienation at some points. Although she had sinned and was forced to wear the scarlet letter on her chest, she held strong and taught her daughter from her mistakes. I also loved that one of the main themes dealt with identity. By accepting her sins, Hester then could do some soul searching to find her true self. Though this seems like an outdated text it can really help to provide students that the feeling of insecurity of not knowing who you are is okay at times and eventually you will find yourself. When they find who they truly are, it might not come with the sublimity of sunlight and the profound expression of ripping the scarlet A off of their chest, but it helps to work towards that goal.
It also helps to show how you can change the way others look at you to show them who you really are. Hester's society had characterized her as a woman who had committed adultery and that’s about it. Though she was forced to wear the letter, she had complete control over how people viewed her wearing it. She seemed to wear it loud and proud, not of the sins she committed but of how she was turning herself around to teach her daughter to do the same. Even when she was allowed to take the letter off, she refused because that would mean she accepted it as a symbol of shame and sin rather than forgiving herself and allowing this piece of fabric to become part of who she is.
Over all I actually loved this piece of work. Although my students may hate me in the future for assigning it, I think I will anyway. I am somewhat grateful that my teachers in high school never assigned it to me because I wouldn't have read it in the same lens as I did now. I wouldn't comprehend it completely and just throw this valuable piece of literature far from memory. I can't wait to read it again in a couple of years in order to see what else I can learn from it!
I decided to pick up The Scarlet Letter over the weekend. It was a book that I had long dreaded reading, but knew someday it was one I must overcome. It had never been assigned to me in high school and listening to my peer’s say how everyone has obviously read it before made me feel like I was missing out on something, even though it was a something most people groaned about.
After reading it I, unlike most people, actually enjoyed it! I got right into the story and felt as if I could sympathize with Hester's alienation at some points. Although she had sinned and was forced to wear the scarlet letter on her chest, she held strong and taught her daughter from her mistakes. I also loved that one of the main themes dealt with identity. By accepting her sins, Hester then could do some soul searching to find her true self. Though this seems like an outdated text it can really help to provide students that the feeling of insecurity of not knowing who you are is okay at times and eventually you will find yourself. When they find who they truly are, it might not come with the sublimity of sunlight and the profound expression of ripping the scarlet A off of their chest, but it helps to work towards that goal.
It also helps to show how you can change the way others look at you to show them who you really are. Hester's society had characterized her as a woman who had committed adultery and that’s about it. Though she was forced to wear the letter, she had complete control over how people viewed her wearing it. She seemed to wear it loud and proud, not of the sins she committed but of how she was turning herself around to teach her daughter to do the same. Even when she was allowed to take the letter off, she refused because that would mean she accepted it as a symbol of shame and sin rather than forgiving herself and allowing this piece of fabric to become part of who she is.
Over all I actually loved this piece of work. Although my students may hate me in the future for assigning it, I think I will anyway. I am somewhat grateful that my teachers in high school never assigned it to me because I wouldn't have read it in the same lens as I did now. I wouldn't comprehend it completely and just throw this valuable piece of literature far from memory. I can't wait to read it again in a couple of years in order to see what else I can learn from it!
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