LUNCH WRITING PROMPTS

WRITING PROMPTS

Prompts typed up by Tynesha Brooks. Thank her when you see her.

Caesar Questions

CAESAR QUESTIONS!!!!!!

Preparation for Caesar; Arrogance and Realism

Today, we introduced the concept of Realism by discussing movies, characters and stories that capture this phenomenon. Also, this essential definition was on the board,
Realism,=non-perfect/ideal presentation of the major elements in a text.
It focuses on the lower and middle class, as well as the ordinary, mundane, and familiar aspects of life.
Realism is life portrayed as it truly is. No extras (hyperbole) and NO less (sugarcoating)!

After this discussion then the students were given the following assignment:

Recall or imagine the most arrogant person you know or can create. How do people respond to this person? If this arrogant person did get power, how do you think he or she would behave and treat others, as in peers and subordinates?

Don't forget to bring your books tomorrow!!! Also, be ready to discuss your work, or we will get straight to work!

Peer Reviewing of Compare and Contrast Papers

Today, you are to exchange papers with another student and review their paper for the following items. If you are by yourself, then perform this for yourself.

Points: What clear information do you take away from their paper?
Vagaries: What information distracts you as a reader from the main point?
Weaknesses: What parts of the paper hurt the writer's intentions or goals?
Writing Issues: What sentences need to be restated for clarity?

Articles to Ponder

Sexual Innuendo in Disney Films
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080715033621AAcH5RW

http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.asp

http://www.snopes.com/disney/info/lionpics.htm

http://www.diversityinc.com/public/823.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_minority

http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2004/06/29/News/White.People.To.Become.Minority-690168.shtml

Bluntly stated article.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2007/oct/22/thelionkingtheonlywaltdisneyfilmwithasexscene

Racism in Disney Films
http://www.nhaeyc.org/newsletters/articles/Racism_in_Childrens_Movies.pdf

http://www.cracked.com/article_15677_9-most-racist-disney-characters.html

http://www.newint.org/easier-english/Disney/diswomen.html

http://www.progressiveu.org/025805-disneys-sex-and-race-issues

Lion King, Simba or Sundjata?

Please find the Lion King movie here.

Also, please find your assignments here.

Moreover, here is a great script of the movie that does a little bit of explication also.

Congrats Kyra King in 7th period!!! We are very proud.


Also, congrats Bro. Brougton! Keep us going inside the classroom and on the track!

What is the Hero's Journey?

Today we discussed the Hero(ine)'s Journey.

This journey is one which is trying almost beyond reason, however, it is very necessary for the development, survival, and sanity of the hero(ine). Let's read about exactly what this battle entails.

1. Separation (from the known)
1. It is one thing for someone to thrive in an area where he or she is comfortable, but what about in unfamiliar territory. It is there that you find the true test of a person's ability.
   
2. For a more personal or familiar example think about the neighborhood basketball court or the basketball hoop in your yard. No one can shoot on that court better than you because you shoot on it all the time. With that in mind, remember that it takes a highly skilled athlete to out score someone on the other person's goal.
   
3. Yet it is this very phenomenon that a hero(ine) must experience if he or she is to become great. A hero(ine) must be able to excel not just where he or she is comfortable, but must be able to perform in any arena.
   
2. The Call
1. First of all, what is a call? What is the function? Is it a demand or a request? Does the person that you call have to answer positively or can they just chill?
   
2. This part of the journey requires a hero(ine) to answer the call for help, for surely that is the only and basic/essential reason that you call upon a super hero(ine). When all hope is lost and you have done all that you can do then you light up the Bat signal.
3. The messed up part about this is that at any time, whether you are in a nice warm bath after a tough day, sitting at the dinner table with the family, in the middle of a 360 sports game, or downloading music onto your PSP, you must answer the call because a hero(ine) is supposed to be selfless (thinking only about others) and not selfish (thinking only about one's self).
4. "The Call" is both a blessing and a curse because it verifies your quality or merit as a superhero(ine), but at the same time it strips away all hope of ever having a normal life where you can chill and relax for a reasonable time period everyday.
   
3. The Threshold (with guardians, helpers, and mentor)
1. It is at this point that hero(ine) must cross a point of no return and he or she understands once and for all that he or she can never go back to the life that was lead previously.
   
2. Similarly in a marriage, when the husband carries the wife over the threshold the statement made is that we two are together as one and we claim this place as ours, a place where we will build a new life together. From this point onward we are pledged to love one another and work together for the good of US and nothing else.
3. This is the true beginning of the journey, though it is number three.
   
4. Initiation and Transformation
1. This step in the journey ensures that the hero(ine) is ready to start. It is a "baptism by fire". Meaning that the hero(ine) learns quickly that he or she is bound to face problems, pain, and peril in their new life.
   
2. Often times this initiation comes in the form of a great personal loss, Uncle Ben's death in Spiderman, or Mr. and Mrs Wayne's (Bruce Wayne's parents) in Batman. This secures empathy for the society or people whom the hero(ine) protects. It's a lot harder to ignore a siren, crime, or cry for help when you know what it means to have been in need of being saved.
3. It is after this initiation that the hero(ine) accepts his or her fate and embraces their new identity, becoming the hero(ine) once and for all.
   
5. The Challenges
1. OF course now the hero(ine) must now face his or her arch enemy, but it goes deeper than that. A hero(ine) must also do battle with the demons or problems within. These issues are more combative, harder to perceive, and even harder to engage.
   
2. Another very difficult problem for the hero(ine) to surmount is the battle that is within. When does he or she stop caring about the people that need saving and start caring about his or her personal needs. After all, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I bet you didn't know that is where this phrase originates from!?
   
6. The Abyss
1. This is the point at which our beloved hero(ine) is at the lowest possible point. He or she has experienced some temporary seemingly insurmountable failure and now it seems is on the verge or failure.
   
2. This low point or valley is also experienced by the people or society that the hero(ine) serves.
   
3. However, the one good point about being in the abyss, is that you can only go up, because if you survive here, then you must eventually arise.
4. PHYSICAL ABYSS OF THE EARTH IS CALLED THE MARIANAS TRENCH.
   
   
   
7. The Transformation
1. Now at this step in the journey the hero(ine) makes their final change and accepts their fate as a suffering servant. I introduce that link because one must understand that this idea or concept of a hero is derived and perfected in the life and story of Jesus Christ.
   
8. The Revelation
1. The revelation that the hero(ine) then experiences is understanding and acceptance of what he or she must do to not only keep the people or society he or she has been entrusted with safe from peril, but he or she also figures out exactly how he or she must live and behave in order to also be in harmony with his or herself. This revelation is priceless to the hero(ine) and provides him or her with the means to continue the fight against evil as long as he or she may live.
   
9. The Atonement
1. The atonement is the righting of wrongs. One must always remember, that is Superman, Batman, or Spiderman takes a day off, for whatever reason, then things get crazy and the bad guys would do whatever they wanted to do, with no fear or thought of ever being caught by the helplessly inept officers that ever so poorly police the city.
   
2. OR, for instance if the hero(ine) refuses the call then he or she must make some sacrifice to make right the wrongs that he or she either caused or didn't solve as a result of procrastination or denial.
   
10. The Return
1. This final step of course takes place when the hero(ine) returns to the physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual place where this "EPIC" (pun) journey began bringing back either something tangible like a cure, money, or some other form of goods, or something even better an intangible quality like a new found pride, respect, dignity, maturity, or existence that would have never been achieved had it not been for the hero's journey. (Yes, corny, but you will get over it. :-) Thanks!)

Explication Take-home Quiz

Over the weekend, students were expected to complete the following quiz.

Consider this example when completing this quiz.

He heard the flapping of wings and saw an owl perch on a nearby branch. It was one of the owls that Balla Faseke had seen in the chamber of the Sumangaru's tower and it was sent as a messenger. Here is the dialog between Sundjata and Sumangaru relayed by the sorcerer-bird:

Owl: "Behave yourself, little boy. I am the king of Mali. If you want peace, return to Mema."

Sundjata: "I will achieve my destiny here in Mali. It is you who will leave."

Owl: "I am the wild yam of the rocks; nothing will make me leave Mali."

Sundjata: "I have master smiths who will shatter the rocks. Then, yam, I will devour you."

Owl: "I am the red-hot cinder on which you will burn the soles of your feet!"

Sundjata: "I am the rain that will extinguish the cinder and wash it away."

Then Sundjata grew tired of the battle with words. "Diabolical little bird, go and tell your master that I wish no further speech with him. I am not a jali, I am a man of action. Tomorrow I shall wage war."

Well, when you look at the language that hypes up this vicious intellectual exchange, then you notice the extreme disregard and contempt that Sumangaru holds for our hero, Sundjata. Also, you see the fruit of Sundjata's many years having to learn on his own, since his jali was taken from him, when he was younger. We see that not only has Sundjata grown in physical strength, as evidenced by his success on the battlefield, but we notice that his mind is also very sharp and extremely capable when it comes to handling himself in an intellectual capacity. Behold now, a conversation between a man, who believes himself invincible and is comfortable, and a man who has grown through hardships and become tough and strong because of destiny and experience.

Sumangaru begins his patriarchal discourse with this sentence, "Behave yourself little boy."

TBC...

PSAT Preparation

Here is some extra information, which will help you do well tomorrow, while you take the PSAT. Please review all the sections in preparation. For your benefit.

Sundjata

Don't forget also to finish reading Sundjata, have questions created from your reading, and finally, be ready to discuss the epic in detail, so that we can move on.

Color Legend for Sundjata papers

• Blue= good points,
• Red=unclear, off topic, or bad stuff
• Green=comments

PSAT Question Assignment

PSAT QUESTION ASSIGNMENT

You need to identify and explain the following four items in the PSAT booklet:

• 1. Keywords, words that are important like verbs, nouns, and their adjective and adverbs, and, lastly, words like, even, although, nevertheless, etc. which indicate opposite meanings.
• 2. Translations, synonyms, definitions, or smaller/more familiar versions of those keywords. That way, we understand exactly what is being asked.
• 3. Finally, all those need to be put together so that you have a fluid sentence that you can now understand.
• 4. Compose a short answer where you explain why the wrong answers are wrong and why the right answer is right.
  
  

Innocuous= innocent
The PSAT question to answer:

Although the poet’s status as a modernist master is by now all but ____________, her unsavory politics continue to _____________ many who study her works today.

• (a) canonical .. berate
• (b) incontrovertible .. trouble
• (c) undeclared .. instigate
• (d) hypothetical .. polarize
• (e) inconclusive .. provoke