Unit Nine: Modernism

Once you finish, you should be able
to explain how this image fits the unit.

Opening: Take a moment or two to review the Georgia Performance Standards and Essential Questions for this unit.  I have found that students who are more deliberate in this step have a much easier time with the material because they have set expectations for their learning.

ELAALRL3.1.b.iii The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods. The student relates a literary work to the characteristics of the literary time period that it represents: Modernism

Essential Questions:

 What is the American Dream -- Can you define it?

Is the American Dream a Reality for all Americans?

Key Terms:

Disillusionment ( Make sure you can tell me all about this)
The Harlem Renaissance
The Jazz Age
Regionalism
Local Color
Dialect
Psychoanalysis

On your blog:

1. After reviewing the standards, essential questions, and key terms, write a paragraph or two in which you explain your expectations for this unit.  Some students choose to provide answers to the essential questions, or you may want to investigate some of the key terms as well.

Mini-Lesson

The Great War (World War One) lasted from 1914 until 1918, and The United States became involved in 1917. The war was fought to protect humanity around the world, but became a bloodbath before long at all. Nearly 1,000,000 soldiers were killed in the Battle of Verdun alone. This was one of the first times modern technology like airplanes, poison gas, tanks, and other machinery were used to kill large numbers of people. World War One was a turning point for America and the rest of the civilized world, and it had major effects on the literature of our country.

One of the biggest themes of Modernist American Literature is disillusionment. Disillusionment is defined as freeing oneself, or getting away from an illusion, or getting away from ideas that have no logical basis. One of the most common targets of disillusionment was the American Dream -- the idea that the United States of America was a land of opportunity and that all its people were virtuous. Many writers were beginning to see that this wasn't all true, and they were not afraid to attack this ideal in their work.

This idea of disillusionment set the stage nicely for the Harlem Renaissance, when African-American artists were beginning to enjoy some mainstream success. These artists expressed the illogical nature of the American Dream since they especially were not permitted to enjoy the lifestyle it seems to guarantee. Many black soldiers who came home after serving in Europe immediately recognized that they were not treated with the same respect in their own homeland as they were in Europe. Many of these artists were the children and grandchildren of former slaves, and they too were ready to show that the American Dream was not quite the reality people thought. In their writing, music, and painting Harlem Renaissance artists either focused on the inequities that black Americans faced or celebrating the black American culture many people had not seen in art until this time.

Throughout the United States there was increased interest in the field of psychology, and this also showed up in the new literature. Look for instances where the author is inviting readers to look inside the minds of the charaters to figure out what may have contributed to their struggles.

The United States government also decided that alcohol was central to the social evils in the country, so they made its distribution and manufacture illegal in 1919. This contributed to the prevalence of speakeasys (illegal bars) and gangsters who became good at distributing illegal booze. You have probably heard these people refered to as "bootleggers". This shows up in Modernist literature as well. Many people call this the Jazz Age, and you can see many examples of speakeasys, jazz music, and an illegal lifestyle that was pretty common amoung social Americans.

Many American artists who had served in Europe during the war decided that Europe had more to offer than the United States. These people thought that the American Dream that they had heard about so much was not true, and they enjoyed the more lively and inexpensive lifestyle in Europe. This group, who chose to live mostly in France included writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Earnest Hemmingway, and Gertrude Stein came to be known as the Lost Generation.

Please post the following to your blog:

2. Choose one of the Modernism themes named above that you are most interested in studying: Disillusionment, the Harlem Renaissnace, The Jazz Age, or Phychoanalysis. Write a paragraph that describes why you made this choice and how you expect to see the topic you chose represented in the literature you are about to read.

3. Read the story that coresponds to the theme you chose. Chose a topic according to your interests, not the length of the story. Choosing a story because of its length is not the wisest way to approach this assignment.

Disillusionment -- Soldier's Home by Earnest Hemmingway

The Harlem Renaissance -- Sweat or The Gilded Six-Bits by Zora Neale Hurston can be found here.

The Jazz Age -- Choose a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald here.

Psychoanalysis -- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber

When you are through reading, you should type a two-paragraph response to the story you read, and then provide another two paragraphs in which you analyze the theme you chose and how it is represented in the story. Take time to explain how the author features the theme you chose, and go deeper and explain what you believe he or she is saying about America.  This will require you to provide examples straight from the texts as well as some synthesis on your part (drawing your own conclusions).

4. Read the following poems. When you study poetry, it is a good habit to read each selection MORE THAN ONCE.

Richard Corey by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Mending Wall by Robert Frost

A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes

Incident by Countee Cullen

Chicago by Carl Sandberg

Write a paragraph response to each poem in which you explain your opinions about what is being written as well as identify one of the elements of Modernism in each. These paragraphs must contain direct evidence from the poetry to support whatever claims you make. Please be thorough enough in this section so not to have to go back and make adjustmetns after I read your work.

SELF-EVALUATE YOUR WORK!!

Closing:


5. Review your response to number 1 in this unit.  Then explain how you have addressed the Georgia Performance Standard you said was a challenge for you.  You should support this claim with evidence from your own work.

Once you have completed all of the above, leave me a comment to remind me to check your work.

Unit Eight: Realism

Opening:
To begin a new unit of study, it is always helpful to review the Georgia Performance Standards, Essential Questions, and Key terms associated with the research and learning you will conduct.  Please take a moment to do so:

ELA11C2.c The student reflects appropriate format requirements, including pagination, spacing, and margins, and integration of source material with appropriate citations (i.e., in-text citations, use of direct quotations, paraphrase, and summary, and weaving of source and support materials with writer’s own words, etc.). 

ELAALRL2.d The student analyzes and compares texts that express universal themes characteristic of American literature across time and genre (i.e., American individualism, the American dream, cultural diversity, and tolerance) and provides support from the texts for the identified themes. 

ELAALRL4 The student employs a variety of writing genres to demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of significant ideas in selected literary works. The student composes essays, narratives, poems, or technical documents.


Essential Questions:
1) Does our imagination ever accomplish anything?
2) How do we address social problems?
3) Which is more effective, detail or abstract?


Key Terms:

• Realism
• Social Problems

On your blog:

1) After reading the GPS, Essential Questions, and Key terms take a moment to explain your expectations for this unit.  What do you think will be important?  How will this unit be different from those that we have already completed?  You may choose to provide answers to the essential questions if you wish.

Mini-Lesson:


The Rationalists thought the Puritans did not use enough of their scientific minds. The Romantics thought the Rationalists did not use enough of their imagination. How do you think the next group thought about the Romantics?


How would you feel about someone who was always stuck in their imagination?


The Realists came into fashion in the 1840s and 50s, and they did not think all the Romantic writings were doing much for people. The Realists saw social problems all around, and didn't think turning ones back on them would do much. Instead, they thought more could be accomplished by having readers face the ugly facts in their worlds.


Have you ever seen Boyz in tha Hood? It is an excellent example of realism. Boyz in tha Hood shows people who have never been to South-Central Los Angeles what life is like for the people who live there. When people see the blood and violence in the film, it should make them more aware of the social problems in that area than just being told about it. The realists felt the same way about slavery, the brewing civil war, women's rights, and many other social issues that they felt were not getting the attention they deserved.



Realists did not want readers to use their imagination, so their work is extremely detailed. These details can be the ugly facts they are trying to disturb their readers with, or they may be extremely descriptive explainations of how things look or what a character does. Think again about Boyz in the Hood. It is meant to disturb people. When people are disturbed, they are more likely to try to fix a problem.


I have another theory . . . Realism emerged at the same time photography was becoming popular. Think about the difference between a painting and a photograph. When you view a painting, you are encouraged to use your imagination, but when you look at a photograph, that isn't as necessary. Think painting=imagination=Romanticism / photograph=detaill=realism. Reading realism is much like looking at a photograph; they provide all the details so you do not need your imagination.


Your tasks:


2) Read "A Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. You should be able to indentify the following in this story:


a. details that specifically explain a characters actions, or detailed descriptions of a setting

b. a social issue that Chopin wants to solve


Write a paragraph respone to a and b in which you explain how this story includes these aspects of realism. Each paragraph should have some direct evidence from "A Story of an Hour".


3. Read "The Battle with Mr Covey" by Frederick Douglass. Follow the same directions for #1. Go further on this one to explain what you think Douglass' purpose was for writing this. Your response should be three paragraphs.

4. Provide a modern example of realism (Boyz in tha Hood, and Menace II Society, for that matter are off-limits). This can be music, a movie, a television show, a book, or whatever you may choose. You need to explain how it is realism, and provide an example from your choice (a lyric, description of a scene, quote, etc.)


5. The fun part - - -

a. Decide what you like best, Dark Romanticism or Realism.

b. Create a short piece ( a poem or very short story) of whichever you choose.

c. Explain (with at least a paragraph or two with direct evidence from your own example) how it is a good representation of Romanticism or Realism. Keep in mind that you are proving how your story fits whichever idea you choose, so discussing the idea itself is necessary.


Closing:
6. Explain (with DIRECT EVIDENCE FROM YOUR OWN WORK) how you have met (or exceeded) at least two of the standards listed in the opening.  Explain how your learning and your work relate to the expectations you set in number one.  Be sure to self-evaluate your work using the rubric provided on the right, and once you are comfortable with your work, leave me a comment to let me know it is time to read what you have published.



(P.S. You may also want to include these standards highlighted in other units)
ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding.

ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods.

Lit 11 Pacing Guide

I have adjusted the pacing guide for Lit 11.  You can see the updated version by clicking on the link on the right.

Songs of the Day

11.8.11 -- http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi702586393/ 
11.6.11 -- 





11.2.11:

Watch Daft Punk - Da Funk (ipod) in Music  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
 
9.26.11: 

The Wildest Swing Dancing - Harlem Congaroos... by Tushratta
9.23.11: Sister Nancy -- "Bam Bam"

Sister Nancy - Bam Bam (Audio MP3 Stream)

9.22.11: Phil Phillips -- "Sea of Love"

Unit 7 -- Walt Whitman and Emily Dickenson

Unit Six -- American Gothicism / AntiTranscendentalism

Opening: As usual, I would like you to spend a few minutes reviewing the Georgia Performance Standards, essential questions, and key terms.  Doing this should prepare you for the unit, and help you understand on which aspects of the texts to focus as you read.

ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods.

(you have seen this one before).

ELAWLRL1.3.a.i The student identifies and analyzes elements of poetry from various periods of world literature and provides evidence from the text to support understanding; the student:

• a. Identifies, responds to, and analyzes the effects of diction, syntax, sound, form, figurative language, and structure of poems as these elements relate to meaning.
• i. sound: alliteration, end rhyme, internal rhyme, terza rima, consonance, assonance

ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding.




Essential Questions:

• What draws people toward things that are mysterious?
• Are people generally good or generally evil?
• Think about the Transcendentalists' philosophy for a moment. With which of their ideas would you disagree?

Key Terms:

• Gothicism
• Narrative Poem
• End Rhyme / Internal Rhyme
• Alliteration
  
  
  MINI LESSON:Before you start:
  
  What is original sin?
  How did the Transcendentalists feel about it?
  
  If you cannot explain these two questions, you probably need to call me over for a little conversation. It would not make much sense progressing without knowing these things and being able to explain them well.
  
  Just like every other movement in American Literature you have studied (Puritanism, Rationalism, Romanticm, and Transcendentalism) Gothicism (also called Dark Romanticism) is a reaction to the movement that came before it. Gothicism is a little different because it coincides with Transcendentalism. Sometimes the Dark Romantics are known as Anti-Transcendentalists for this reason.
  
  First, let's review the Transcendentalist philosophy:
  
  1. They believed that everyone was absolutely pure and that each individual is a part of God.
  
  2. They believed that people's thoughts and intuition were the voice of God.
  
  3. They did not believe in institutions like government because they thought the individual human mind was the strongest power in the universe.

What would your argument to this philosophy be? Are all people good? Is the voice inside people's heads the pure voice of God?

Let's review the lives of some of the Dark Romantics to see if we can predict how they would answer these questions:

 

Nathaniel Hawthorne's great grandfather was one of the judges in the Salem witchcraft trials during Puritan times. During these trials, nineteen people and two dogs were hanged, and one man was crushed to death by stones all in the name of God. Nathaniel Hawthorne was embarrassed by this, so he changed the spelling of his to lessen the association with his relative, a minister and a judge who sentenced people to cruel deaths because other people accused them of being evil. Hawthorne would become famous for his novel The Scarlet Letter and short stories like "The Minister's Black Viel" and "The Birthmark" in which he criticises the Puritan culture. How would Hawthorne feel about the Transcendental philosophy? Reread thier beliefs if you need to.

 

Herman Melville was not a trained and educated writer like Emerson, Thoreau, or Hawthorne. He instead made his early living in the merchant marine as a sailor because of the fiancial breakdown in his family. Melville, who wanted to become a writer, was working on a ship as early as twelve years old. While sailing around the globe, Melville witnessed many things he would not have seen at his home in New York. One sight that reportedly effected him severely were the cannibals he saw in the South Pacific. Melville would write Moby Dick later in his life. Moby Dick was a novel about a ship captain, Ahab who was so obsessed with killing a white whale that ate his leg that he sacrifices his entire ship and all the men on it. Was Ahab pure of mind to sacrifice all the men he was charged with leading? Would a man who witnessed people eating human flesh agree that everyone was good and pure?

Edgar Allen Poe's mother died when he was very young, his stepfather disowned him when he went to college, and all three of his wives died from tuberculosis. Poe developed terrible addictions to opium and alcohol. By today's standards, he was probably insane. Poe's stories and poetry all feature characters who begin with a small grain of evil in their minds which eventually takes over. Many biographers argue that every one of Poe's stories represent something inside his mind.

In short, the Dark Romantics, after reviewing their life experiences thought that the Transcendental philosophy was severely flawed. They saw that people could be evil, insane, unpure, or generally not 100% good like the Transcendentalists thought. Unlike the Transcendentalists, they believed in original sin, and that it was responsible for the evil that existed inside of everyone.

Post the following responses to your blog:

2. On which side of the divide do you fall? Are you closer to being a Transcendentalist or a Dark Romantic? Explain your answer with a short paragraph.

3. Read either "The Black Cat" or "Hop-Frog", both by Edgar Allen Poe. As you read, keep the Dark Romantics' beliefs in mind because you will be asked to point out these beliefs in the story later. \

4. Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the story you read. You should explain what you thought of the story as well as how well it illustrates how the Dark Romantics disagreed with the Transcendantalists. You need to provide at least a line or two of direct textual evidence from the story you chose to prove your claim.

You can also see the video a little larger here.

5. Once of Poe's most famous works was "The Raven", a poem he wrote while his second wife was literally dying in the next room. Read the poem (more than once), and then write a response (at least two paragraphs) that includes a few lines that stuck out to you. Add another paragraph or two that should explain how this poem represents an anti-Transcendental idea. As always, responses with direct evidence are always better than those that do not.

6. Look over the text of The Raven once more.  Provide evidence from the poem for each of the following elements:

• End Rhyme
• Internal Rhyme
• Alliteration

CLOSING:
7. Review your responses to the essential questions, Georgia Performance Standards, and key terms in the opening of this unit.  How have you addressed these elements in your work.  Explain to me how you have done this, and provide evidence from your work to support your claims.


When you are finished, review your work to be sure it contains everything I've asked for, and then leave me a comment to this post to remind me to read your work.

Self-Evaluate Your Work!!

Unit Three -- Renaissance Poetry

Unit Five -- Romaticism and Transcendentalism

Opening: Let's start where we always do -- with a discussion of the standards this unit will address. Take a moment to read the Georgia Performance Standard I have pasted below:

ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding.  The student:

a. Applies knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a universal view or comment on life or society and provides support from the text for the identified theme.

b. Evaluates the way an author’s choice of words advances the theme or purpose of the work.
c. Applies knowledge of the concept that a text can contain more than one theme.


Essential Questions:



What is theme?

How is imagination important? Is it more important than rational thought?

Are people essentially good or evil?

Key Terms:


Romanticism

Transcendentalism

Theme



1. ON YOUR BLOG: Read the standard one more time. What is a theme? Would you know one when you saw it? Could you provide evidence to support what you say? Take a moment to post to your blog what this standard might mean, and while you are at it, what this thing called theme" is.  You may also provide answers to the essential questions if you like.  However you decide to respond to this post, be sure to make some sort of prediction as to what this unit may be addressing.

Mini-Lesson -- Washington Irving was a straight-up pimpdaddy. Just look at him. If there was MTV then, he would have been on Cribs. He crashed parties at the White House, and he rolled the tightest whips. Most of this is true.

Irving was probably The United States’ first home-grown celebrity, and you are probably familiar with some of his stories like "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". These stories are some of the best examples of American Romanticism, a style of writing that required people to use their imaginations.

Irving was so famous that some of the stories he created are still accepted as fact today. Have you heard the story about Christopher Columbus proving the earth was round? That is fact, right? NOPE.

This myth (as well as some others) were created from Washington Irving’s stories. Irving wrote a children’s book about Columbus in which the explorer wanted to prove the world was round. The fact is that everybody already knew it was round at the time. In fact, globes were a popular thing with which people decorated their homes.


It is not hard to believe that so many people would take Irving’s stories for fact. People needed a little fiction and imagination to get away from their lives because living in the United States during this time (the 1820s-40s) was not the most enjoyable. Most people lived in large cities like Boston, New York (which quadrupled in population in twenty years), and Philadelphia. These places were nasty. People threw their trash and sewage in the street; horse droppings were everywhere; if a horse dropped dead, it would stay in the street to rot; thousands of children and adults were homeless; pirates would come ashore and rob people in the cities; gangs controlled sections of many these cities, and a cholera epidemic killed up to one hundred people a day.

Romanticism is the school of thought that emphasizes intuition over logic, and feeling over reason. You should immediately recognize how this is different from the Rationalist (Franklin / Age of Reason) school of thought. Romantics felt that reason and logic can only go so far for someone who is homeless and starving, or suffering the side-effects of the Industrial Revolution like pollution and being injured in large factories.

Be careful not to confuse Romanticism with what we commonly call "romantic" today. They are a little bit different. We call lovey-dovey movies and stories romantic today because it is a kind of Romanticism in that they depict relationships in the way we would imagine them, and not the way they actually are.

The Romantics believed there were higher truths than reason and logic, and they felt this could be accomplished by listening to one’s heart, or using one’s imagination to reach better places than where they were physically.

Many people around the world thought Americans were unsophisticated and stupid, and the Rationalists tried very hard to prove that this was unfair and untrue. Romantics, on the other hand, told stories of ordinary people, like Rip Van Winkle or Natty Bumppo who were unsophisticated and were able to rise to the level of hero. They wanted to prove that Americans were more innocent than Europeans, and that true knowledge was not found in libraries, but in adventures.

Romantics also focused on nature in their writing since they thought it was a way to escape from the loud city, as well as a way to hear ones intuition.

Work Period:Read either Rip Van Winkle or The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and then post the following to your weblog:
Better yet, listen to Rip Van Winkle as you read it. Please take the time to open the text file since reading and listening together will be the most useful, especially since you will need to find textual evidence later.
Rip Van Winkle Audio:




2. What about the story did you find particularly Romantic? You may want to reread the section on Romanticism again to refresh your memory. Give at least two examples with direct evidence for each.

3.
You can also find this video in my assignments folder in my drop box. If you view it there, you will be able to watch it full-screen. You can also view it here.

How does this poem illustrate all three of the main themes of Romanticism? Make sure you provide evidence for each claim you make.

BEFORE MOVING ONTO THE NEXT SECTION OF THIS UNIT, YOU SHOULD BE SURE YOU CAN ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

a. What is original sin?

b. How did the Puritans feel about original sin?


c. How did the Rationalists differ from the Puritans?


d. What are the main themes of Romanticism?

Georgia Performance Standard ELAALRL2 states that you should be able to identify themes and support them with evidence. I will expect that you can do this at this point.



That should have been easy.

Now we are going to investigate the central themes of another group of Romantics called the Transcendentalists.

Another Mini-Lesson:

By the mid-1800s, the United States was still in search of its literary identity. America had popular writers like Washington Irving, but they still did not have the heavy hitters to match up with some of England's poets and essayists. The United States wanted to declare literary independence from England, much like the political separation that happened almost one hundred years earlier.


It was a good time for Americans to want to assert themselves in the literary world. Learning was very popular at the time. Most Americans wanted to improve their minds in one way or the other. Some of the most popular things to do were attending lectures on topics from astronomy to botany to physics to philosophy. Groups pushing for the abolition of slavery and increased rights for women were also forming during this time.



This strive for independence began for the most part during a hiking trip and dinner with a guest list that would include some of the United States' most famous literary figures: Nethaniel Hawthorne, Herman Mellville, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. It was at this outing that these men decided that the United States should have writers as good as England's William Shakespeare, and that this would never happen unless they made an effort to do so. These men's dreams would soon be realized in two separate groups -- The Transcendentalists and the Dark Romantics, sometimes known as "anti-transcendentalists".



The Transcendentalists:



The Transcendentalists were Romantics who adopted philosophies from many other places and cultures. They believed that the individual human mind was one of the most powerful instruments in the world, and that the individual mind was connected to all others through what was known as the "oversoul", a collection of everyone's soul that we all share.



Transcendentalists believed that God spoke through people's minds and their hard work. Since they believed this, they also believed that every human was absolutely good and pure. They did not believe that the origianl sin committed by Adam and Eve made the rest of us sinners. Why would God communicate through an impure mind? They also believed that God could communicate to people through nature and a persons intuition.



Since God spoke through individuals, Transcendentalists did not belive that institutions like the governemnet or organized religion were effective. They believed that if a person was truly in touch with their surroundings, they could transcend these physical and man-made things to connect with God. The Transcendentalists' optimism and overall trust in the goodness of all people made them popular with outsiders who would often enjoy their lectures.



Please read the following (all of these can be found in the red anthology):

from "Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

from "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. When you are through reading, post a 1-2 paragraph response to each piece of writing to your blog. Be sure to concentrate more on what you thought of each piece of writing. Try to include at least one piece of direct evidence with each response (remember standard #1). This should be something that stuck out to you about the particular piece of writing.

6. Next, write explain how each piece is a good example of Transcendentalism by identifying the central themes I described earlier in the post. Use what you read above, and prove that each piece is a good example with a paragraph supported with direct evidence (one paragraph each).

NEXT . . .

Check this guy out. If you do not see the video here, you can find it in my assignments folder. I have called it Wilderness:

7. How can you apply Transcendental philosophy to the man in this video? I'm sure you could easily spend a couple paragraphs telling me how. I also know it would be easy for you to back up whatever you say with direct evidence from the texts you have already read. If you are really into it, you might read a little of Henry David Thoreau's Walden. Just choose a couple sections you think you would like.

CLOSING:

Revisit the response you made to the opening segment (#1).  Explain how you feel the work you have done addresses the Georgia Performance Standards for this unit.  You may also want to provide more specific answers to the essentail questions.

Self-Evaluate Your Work!!

Once you are finished, leave me a comment so I know to view your work.

Unit Four -- Autobiography and Speeches (The Age of Reason)

Opening: As usual, I would like you to take a moment to review the Georgia Performance Standards, Essential Questions, and Key Terms to get an idea of what this unit will address:

ELA11w2.2.k The student uses language, point of view, characterization, style, and related elements effectively for specific rhetorical and aesthetic purposes.

ELAALRL3.1.a.ii The student relates a literary work to the seminal ideas of the time in which it is set or the time of its composition.

Essential Questions:

• How do speakers and authors use reason as a persuasive tool? Can you think of any modern examples?
• What is the difference between emotion and reason?
• To what extent are we in controll of our own lives? 

Key Terms:

• The Age of Reason / Rationalism

On your Blog:
1. After reviewing the standards, essential questions, and key terms, what are your expectations for this unit?  You may also choose to respond by providing answers to the essential questions.  Most answers should provide some discussion about the differences between emotion and reason.


 Mini-Lesson:

Why did Ben Franklin fly a kite in a lightning storm? Because he wanted to have an explanation for what lightning was; he didn't accept the Puritan notion that God was responsible for everything, and people were not supposed to concern themselves with such things. This was the prevailing idea of the 18th century (the 1700s) in America, sometimes called the Age of Reason, or the Age of Rationalism.

This philosophy started in Europe almost one hundred years before it became popular in America. You probably recognize names like Sir Isaac Newton, who used science instead of religion to explain gravity. Like Newton, Rationalists in America wanted to achieve order and explaination of the natural through science. People sought to become more educated in Mathematics, Astronomy, Botany, and Biology. Collecting fossils and plants, and peering into microscopes and telescopes became much more popular than studying the scripture.

It was during this time that many people's notion of God changed from the vengeful God in Johnathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, to a more humanitarian God. A popular religious movement of the time was Deism, which was a body of ideas that did not revolve around a church itself. It was a faith based on science and mathematics. Deists believed in God, but not as a power that controlled everything. They believed that God created the universe, but left it up to the people to figure out how to work it, or to figure out the natural laws.

Rationalist Men and Women also believed that human society was run by natural law. If people were able to discover and understand these laws, they would be able to improve their lives. While improvement was important to the Puritans, they pleaded with God for it, and the rationalists believed they could take a scientific approach to self-imporvement.

A Rationalist would believe that anything could be understood through science. Puritans thought this to be an insult to God since they believed humans had no business deconstructing God’s work. Think of the on-going debate over the theory of evolution, and you will have a pretty good picture of how the Puritans and the Rationalists differed.

Many of the doucments upon which our country was founded were penned by Rationalists. For instance, The Declaration of Independence makes reference to certain unalienable rights that everyone had. Puritans would have believed that God decided who had certain rights, and that some people did not have as many as others. It is interesting to see what happened to the men who signed the declaration.

Work Period:

2. Briefly (one good paragraph) describe the differences between the Puritans and the Rationalists. Please be careful not to repeat the same words you have read in this entry. Where in today's society do you see some of the ideas you have read about here represented?.  (Hint -- check this out, especially the comments section.)



3. Read this excerpt from The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin:

From The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin -- Arriving at Moral Perfection

Pay special attention to the efforts Franklin made to improve his life.  Once you are finished reading, repond to the following (about a paragraph):

Explain what Franklin's purpose in writng this must have been.  How is he using reason instead of emotion to meet his purpose?  You may want to take it a step further by comparing the way Franklin writes (reason) to some of the more emotional strategies in the last unit (Edwards and Equiano).  Show me some evidence to support what you claim.


4. If you were to make a list of thirteen virtues to improve upon in your life, what would they be? List them the way Franklin did. There are a couple more good examples here. Do you think you could reach moral perfection in this way? Explain how you feel. This should be a paragraph or two.

5. Read over this page that contains some of Benjamin Franklin's aphorisms (witty sayings that deliver some sort advice): http://www.notable-quotes.com/f/franklin_benjamin.html .  Copy one of these aphorisms, and then write a short response that exaplains why this one stuck out to you, and then explain how it illustrates rationalism (The Age of Reason).

6.

Read the Text to the "Speech to the Virginia Convention"

you can also choose to listen to the speech here:

http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm (The audio is at the bottom of the page. Choose "full speech", and be sure to read along as you listen).

When you are through with the speech, consider the following and then respond on your blog:

You should already know that Patrick Henry is using reason over emotion to persuade his audience to agree with him.  My questions are these:

• What is he attempting to pursuade his audience to do?
• What rational (based in fact) evidence does he provide to support his argument?
• example #1
• example #2
  

Closing:

Take a moment to evaluate your own work.  You should be able to identify the places where I am likely to send you back to improve areas of your work.  Review what you wrote for #1 in the opening, and then explain how you have addressed the standards for this unit.  You may also choose to provide answers to the essential questions if this unit has allowed you to formulate reponses to these.

Once you are comfortable with everything you have done here, leave me a comment so I can begin enjoying your work.

Unit Three -- Slave Narratives and The Puritans

Opening: Discussion of Standards

Before you begin this unit, you should review the Georgia Performance Standards it addresses. Please take a moment to read the standard below published by the Georgia Department of Education:

ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods.

ELAALRL3.1.a.iii The student identifies and analyzes elements of poetry from various periods of American literature and provides evidence from the text to support understanding;
iii. figurative language: personification, imagery, metaphor, conceit, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, symbolism, allusion 


Eseential Questions:
1. How do we use emotion as a pursuasive tool?
2. What is the difference between emotion and reason?

Key Terms:
Puritan
Original Sin

• 
  

Imagery
Similie
Metaphor


1. Before you begin this unit, I want you to have a clear understanding of what you should be learning. Take a moment to post to your blog what you think the standard above addresses, and why you think it is important for you to master. Show me what you have written before you show me the rest.


Mini-Lesson:

Go to my drop box, and click on the Assignments folder. Watch the video called "Puritans". You should take some notes of the things that stand out to you -- direct quotes from the sermon will be helpful later. You should also take specific notice of their core beliefs:

Total Depravity - through Adam and Eve's fall, every person is born sinful - concept of Original Sin.

Unconditional Election - God "saves" those he wishes - only a few are selected for salvation.

Limited Atonement - Jesus died for the chosen only, not for everyone. Irresistible Grace - God's grace is freely given, it cannot be earned or denied. Grace is defined as the saving and transfiguring power of God.

Perseverance of the "saints" - those elected by God have full power to interpret the will of God, and to live uprightly. If anyone rejects grace after feeling its power in his life, he will be going against the will of God - something impossible in Puritanism.

The Puritans and Johnathan Edward's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" from Dana Siegmund on Vimeo.


For some more real fun, check out some of these Puritan names.

Work Period:

2. Compare what your just heard to Native American examples from unit one. What are the differences in these two groups of people's cultures that stand out to you. How do their ideas of God differ? Do you see ways in which their cultures may clash? Post your thoughts to your blog. It should be at least a good paragraph with direct support from your example and the sermon in the video.

3. Does this sermon rely more on reason or emotion?  How do you know?  Provide evidence from the speech that supports your answer.

4. Johnathan Edwards relies on imagery, metaphos, and similies in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God".  How well can you identify them?  Provide one example of each:

Guide:

Similie / Metaphor example:

Imagery Example:

5. Read this chapter from:

 The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African

Once you have completed reading this chapter, post a short summary (one paragraph), and then in a second paragraph explain how Equiano uses emotion as a persuasive tool.  How did he make you feel?  What was his purpose in writing this narrative in the way he did?

6. Please read the following:

"To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet

Before you begin to respond to the questions below, you may want to review the Puritans' beliefs at the beginning of this post, or by watching the beginning of the video.

Can you summarize the thoughts in the poem?  What tone does she take as she writes? 

That should have been easy.

Now can you show me how this example illustrates what the Puritans believed?  Provide a line or two as evidence to support what you say.

Closing:

Spend a few moments evaluating your work.  Then once you are comfortable with what you have produced, review your repsonse to #1 in the opening, and then explain how you have addressed the Georgia Performance Standards or the essential questions.  Better responses will include direct evidence from your work.

Once you have completed everything above, leave me a comment to let me know it is time to check your work.

Unit Five -- The Restoration and Enlightenment

 Opening:  
Please take a moment to review the Georgia Performance Standards, Essential Questions, and Key Terms:


Georgia Performance Standards:

ELABLRL1.1.f: The student races the development of British fiction through various literary periods (i.e., Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, Renaissance, Romantic, etc.)

ELABLRL3.1.b.iv The student relates a literary work to the characteristics of the literary time period that it represents -- 18th Century/Restoration/Neo-Classical Period

Essential Questions: 

1. In what ways does the literature of the Restoration and the Enlightenment reflect the shift in what people felt was important?

2. Why is this era sometimes called "The Age of Reason"?

Key Terms:

Satire
Rationalism

Mini-Lesson:
The Renaissance was already over for the most part when King James I died in 1625, and his son Charles I took the throne. Charles was a terrible ruler, more like an invisible dictator than a king. By 1649, people were fed up with Charles, and during this year some the most powerful people in the kingdom had him beheaded. For the next eleven years England was ruled by the Parliment while the heir to the throne, Charles II was hiding in France.

In 1660, Charles II returned to the throne, which began a period of more normal and steady life for the English. In the time between the death of James I and the restoration of the crown, England was devistated by plague, damaged by a fire that left two thirds of London homeless, and had been in the grips of a civil war for twenty years. The country was exhausted. This new period which lasted until arounf 1800 is known as the Restoration -- a period when people continued their quest for higher learning, art and philosophy.

Many people call this period "The Age of Reason" because many people began to turn to science to explain the mysteries of the universe that were precviously explained through religion. For those of you who remember the Rationalists from American literature, these periods were very similiar. Instead of asking why things happend, people started investigating how they happened. This included everything from astronomy to biology to physics. A philosophy called Deism. in which people believed God built the universe and then left it alone for people to run became more popular.

English writing went through a transformation as well. Instead of the flowery poetry of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, English writers began to adopt prose (prose = not poetry), a much simpler and planer form that was accessable to more people. New forms of writing like diaries, journals, newspapers, magazines, and novels became much more popular.  This may also be due to the Puritans being successful in closing the theaters since they found them immoral.  English drama would never return to the status it held in Shakespeare's day.


Work Period:
Please post the following to your blog:


1. Research The Glorious Revolution (sometimes called the Bloodless Revolution) online or in one of the textbooks. Write a paragraph summarizing what happened, and then another that explains why you think the event was so important.

2. Define "satire". Don't just copy and paste a definition from another source. Read the definition, and then explain it in your own words. Once you have done that, provide a few modern-day examples of satire (television shows, movies, magazines, etc.).

3. Read "A Modest Proposal", which may be difficult at first, but if you stick with it, the message will become more clear. Once you are finished reading, you should write a short response to what you read (4-5 sentences), and explain how this is a work of satire.  Be sure you can identify the social problem he is addressing in the piece.

4. Read either "from the Diary of Samuel Pepys" or "from A Journal of the Plague Year" by Daniel Defoe, both of which can be found in the purple anthology. Once you have finished reading, write a 1-2 paragraph response to what you have read. Please be sure to include some direct evidence from the text to help show what you are responding to.

Closing: 
Review the Georgia Performance Standards, Essential Questions, and Key Terms before moving onto the questions below.  It would also be helpful to review the responses you made to the opening question.
 
5. What do you think was most important to people living in this time? Write a 1-2 paragraph response to this question in which you use direct evidence from the texts you read to support whatever arguments you make.

6. Evaluate the work you have completed thus far.  Explain to me, using direct examples from your work, how you have addressed the Georgia Performance Standards posted above.  You may also choose to explain how you have acquired answers to the essential questions.

Once you have completed everything above, leave me a comment so I can check your work.

User Agreement

Using a weblog for our classwork will require some parameters for your safety and the quality of everyone's work. First, you should recognize that your work, as well as mine will be published for the entire on-line world to see. This will ultimately make us all responsible for better and more original output than ever before. By visiting other students' weblogs, you will be able to view all their work, and it will also make it easy for me to see who is not making an effort to submit work that is original.

Once you create your own weblog for this class, I will add it to the class blog roll so everyone's work can be accessed from this page. I encourage you to look at your peers' work for ideas or inspiration, but what you submit must be your own. Language Arts lends itself well to this format since you will be asked to respond to the literature and history we study with your own ideas and opinions. There are no right or wrong answers in a Language Arts class, so looking at other students' ideas can help you. It can also create problems if you choose to be lazy.

I will leave comments about your work. These comments will usually instruct you on how you can improve your work. Please make sure you check your comments and your e-mail regularly, and make sure you are finished with one assignment before moving to the next.

Since this weblog will be part of your education at Classic City High School, any activity on your weblog should be considered school activity, even if it is done outside of school. You should feel free to create posts that are not school related, but you should also be sure to refrain from anything that could be considered inappropriate. This includes, but is not limited to: references to alcohol or drugs, violence, or gang activity, foul language, nudity, threats, etc.

Plagiarism is submitting someone else's work as your own. This can be done in many ways: copying work from Wikipedia, classmates, Sparknotes, etc. If you plagiarize your work, you will receive a zero -- no questions asked.


THE USER AGREEMENT:

1. I agree to submit original work to my weblog. I realize I will have the opportunity to view my peers' work, and I will use this opportunity constructively. I understand that if I choose to plagiarize, I will receive a zero for the work in question with no option to redo the assignment in question.

2. I agree to keep my weblog appropriate for Classic City High School. I understand that if innapropriate material were to appear on my weblog, be it from myself or an outside comment, I will be asked to remove it. Failure to do so will result in my weblog being removed from the class roll. I also understand that refereneces to illegal or dangerous activities will be reported since it is the legal responsibility of my teacher.

Classroom Procedures and Expectations
Dana Siegmund
Classic City High School

NovaNet:
You are required to score at least an 80% on all post-tests.You should take notes on all your lessons to use when you take the post-test. Pasting screen shots onto Powerpoint is not taking notes.
I will check your notebook four times during the semester, and these grades will be factored into your total NovaNet score.I will not override prescriptions after your pretest, unless it is a special circumstance.If you score lower than a 70 on a post-test, I will reassign prescriptions

Leaving the Classroom:
Please let me know you need to leave before doing so.Once you leave, take care of your business and come right back. Do not disturb other classes.If you plan to purchase anything from Jittery Joe’s, you will need the pass.If your trip is not absolutely necessary, please do not be surprised if I say “no”.If you are gone for 15 minutes of any class period, I will mark you absent.

Administrative Absences:
If you did not come to school to work, I will mark you absent and ask you to leave.You shouldn’t take this personally.
There is a waiting list full of people waiting to be a student at Classic City High School PLC, and if you are not making the best use of your spot, it will soon be someone else’s.

Great Headphone Issue:
Some people work well with headphones and others do not.  If you choose to use headphones, you should have your own.  I have a couple sets that are reserved for projects that require them.  Students using headphones need to use them responsibly.  If your headphone use is disrupting yours or other students' work (completely at my discretion), your privileges will be suspended (see Internet Use as well).


Internet Use
The Internet is an extremely useful educational tool, but it can also be misused.  If your Internet use becomes detrimental to your progress (including music), your Internet privileges will be blocked.  Students who attempt to circumnavigate this decision will receive an administrative absence. Food:Food is great. Pick up your trash.

Mobile Phones:
I will follow the mobile phone policy explained in the Classic City High School Handbook.The Classroom:Please leave it in the condition you found it.Push in your chairs.Put books away.Pick up after yourself. 


To agree, post a comment to this message like this:
I agree to Mr. Siegmund's Weblog User Agreement as well as his Classroom Procedures and Expectations.
I will not add your weblog to the class roll until I receive a comment from you like the example above.

Unit Two -- Journal Accounts and Historical Narratives

Opening:
Please review the Georgia Performance Standards, Essential Questions, and Key Terms listed below.
ELAALRL1.2.c The student analyzes, evaluates, and applies knowledge of the ways authors use language, style, syntax, and rhetorical strategies for specific purposes in nonfiction works.

ELAALRL1.2.a The student analyzes and explains the structures and elements of nonfiction works of American literature such as letters, journals and diaries, speeches, and essays. 

Essential Questions:

1. How does someone's point of view affect how they portray events in a story?
2. What are the advantages of primary sources?  The disadvantages?

Key Terms:

1. Primary Source
2. Objective vs. Subjective
3. Writer's Purpose

On Your Blog:
1. After reading the standards, essential questions, and key terms, write a breif paragraph describing what you feel you will address and learn in this unit.  You may choose to rewrite the standards in your own words, or provide answers to the essential questions.  However you choose to respond, it should be around 3-4 sentences.
Mini-Lesson:

The European explorers who led expeditions to the new world did a very good job of keeping track of their day-to-day activities in their journals.  This was necessary so to keep the kings and queens who hired them informed of their progress and discoveries.

If you were responsible for keeping track of how good a job you were doing (evaluating your work) how honest would you be?  I doubt you would flat out lie, but you would likely do what you could to make your accomplishments look better, right?  The point it that you would be more subjective (biased by feelings and emotion) than objective (completely unbiased and factual).

These explorer journals are great sources, called primary sources because they originate from the event itself rather than someone else who was not there explaining the facts, but they can also be unreliable because it is clear that the explorers tend to embellish and exaggerate.

It only took Pocahontas one look to know this European guy was the sexiest thing she had ever seen, so she takes it upon herself to save him from having his head bashed in.  Yeah, I'm buyin' it.

Work Period:
You will be reading excerpts of journals from two different explorers, Captain John Smith and Christopher Columbus.  As you read, be on the lookout for ways these accounts may suffer from subjectivity, but also for how they are able to give a perspective that only someone who saw these events with his own eyes can deliver.

From "The General Historie of Virginia" -- John Smith
(Get a Copy from Me)

From "Journal of the First Voyage of America" - Columbus

 

On Your Blog:

2. As was discussed earlier, these journals are primary sources that are very valuable in that they provide eyewitness accounts, but they can also be unreliable becuase the writers are a bit biased because they are writing about themselves.  Post some evidence from each of the writings that illustrates valable eyewitness accounts as well as some evidence that shows how subjective the writers can be.

 

Guide:

• From "The General Historie of Virginia"
• One quotation ( a sentence or two from the journal) that you think is valuable to histrory because only someone who was there at the time could decribe the event that way
• One quotation where you feel he is stretching the truth
• From "Journal of the First Voyage to America"
• One quotation that you think is valuable to history because only someone who was there at the time could decribe the event that way
• One quotation where you feel he is stretching the truth

3. Evaluate what you have read.  Do you think the fact that these writings are biased in nature take away from their historical importance, or do you feel that the historical importance outweighs the way they were written?  Exlpain WHY you feel this way.

Closing:

4. Review the Georgia Performance Standards, essential questions, and key terms from the opening.  Once you have done that, spend some time evaluating your work. 

• Does your work address the standards and essential questions? How?  Give examples.
• Can you provide answers to the essential questions as they relate to the texts you read for this unit?

Once you have completed all sections of this unit, evaluate your work once more. When you feel you are done, leave me a comment on this post so I will know to check your work.