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.

Unit Two: The Medieval Period

Opening:
Please review the Georgia Performance Standards, Essential Questions, and Key Terms listed below:

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

ELABLRL3.1.b.ii: The student relates a literary work to the characteristics of the literary time period that it represents (the Medieval Period). 

ELABLRL1.1.a: The student locates and analyzes such elements as language and style, character development, point of view, irony, and structures (i.e., chronological, in medias res, flashback, epistolary narrative, frame narrative) in works of British and Commonwealth fiction from different time periods. 

Essential Questions:

1. You always hear people saying, "That's ironic", but what do they mean?
2. How does literature reflect what was really going on in the world?

Key Terms:
1. The Feudal System
2. Irony
3. Frame Narrative

On your Blog:
1. After reviewing the standards, key terms, and essential questions, take a moment to write a short paragraph (3-4 sentences) explaining what you think this unit will cover.  You may also choose to provide some answers to the essential questions or rewrite some of the standards in your own words.

Mini-Lesson:
1066 is one of the most important dates in English history. In October of this year, a daylong battle near Hastings, England changed the course of history. William of Normandy, a place in France just across the English Channel, conquered King Harold of England, who was the last remaining of the Anglo-Saxon Kings. William of Normandy would now forever be known as William the Conquerer, which is fortunate since he was previously known by a name that rhymes with Billiam the Wastard. This began what is known as the Norman Conquest, and it would eventually lead to England having a single ruler, and a single language that is closer than the Old English spoken by the Anglo-Saxons to the English we speak today.


England changed drastically under William. For instance, William was able to inventory nearly every piece of property in England. He called this the Doomsday Book, and it allowed a government to tax people according to what they owned for the first time European history. William remained a duke in Normandy, which made for a alliance between England and Normandy (what we call France today). This made England a European power for the first time.

Feudalism is another one of Williams innovations that would shape the future of England. Here is a very good chart that explains the Feudal system. It does well to show what each level gave and received from the others. Feudalism operated from the king all the way down to the serfs, who were peasants who were not permitted to leave the land where they worked. Some of the most familiar figures from the Middle Ages were knights who were loyal protectors of the king.

Knights strictly obeyed a code of conduct called chivalry, which included their oath of loyalty to their overlord, rules of warfare (like never striking an opponant who was unarmed), and the adoration of a particular lady which may not have been their wife. The adoration of the lady was meant as a means of self-imporvement for the knights, and they would spend their idle hours composing poetry and songs of praise. This gave birth to a new form of poetry: the romance. Though women where highly idealized in Medieval culture, they had very few rights.


The most well-known text from the Middle Ages is Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury tales. It is the original story with this format where several people from different backgrounds are forced to share the same area. In this story, the characters are going on a religious pilgrimage, and they have a storytelling contest to pass the time on the journey. The tales are often humorous, and Chaucer uses these tales to poke fun at all levels of society.

You will be reading "The Pardoner's Tale", told by a Pardoner, who is an official of the Church in charge of hearing confessions and absolving sins.  This particular pardoner has a pretty dirty way of going about his business in that he asks people for large sums of money to hear their confessions, and also sells counterfeit religious relics (the bones of saints, pieces of Jesus' cross, etc.).  The story he tells is one that warns of greed -- can you see the irony yet?

Work Period:

Read The Pardoner's Tale, paying special attention to the fact that this is a frame narrative that has a highly ironic ending:

Frame Narrative -- a story told within another story.
Irony -- When the outcome is much different that what was expected.  Many of our jokes are based in irony because we often find it humorous when we see results we did not expect. (Verbal Irony -- Sarcasm, saying the opposite of what you mean; Situational Irony -- when something you would not expect happens, like a fireman's house burning down; Dramatic Irony -- when the audience / readers know things the characters do not)

The Pardoner's Tale

On your Blog:
2. Provide a brief summary of the tale.  Be sure to point out aspects you liked as well as those you found challenging.  This summary should be at least two paragraphs long.

3. Write a paragraph or two in which you analyze the irony in "The Pardoner's Tale".  What makes the story, and especially the ending ironic?  What did you expect when you were reading the tale.  If you had a hard time identifying the irony, you may want to spend some more time with the story (or ask for help).

Closing:
Review the Georgia Performance Standards above.  It may also help to review your interpretation of them you created in the opening.

Review your work, and explain how you have addressed these standards.  If you find that your work does not address these standards, you may need to make improvements.  Have you grasped an understanding of the key vocabulary?  Have you formulated answers to the essential questions.

Please make specific references to your work when answering these closing questions.  For instance, you should tell me exactly where in your posts I would find these things.

Self evaluate your work, and when you feel as though you have completed this work, leave me a comment on this post so I know it is time to view your work.

Unit One: Origin Myths and Oral Tradition

Opening:

Please spend a moment or two reviewing the following Georgia Performance Standards and essential questions.  The unit you are about to begin will be centered around these items:

ELAALRL1.1.e: The student analyzes the influence of mythic, traditional, or classical literature on American literature.

ELAALRL1.1.f: The student traces the history of the development of American fiction.

ELAALRL1.3.c: The student traces the historical development of poetic styles and forms in American literature.


Essential Questions:

1. How can we use oral stories from ancient cultures to discover what was important to them?
2. What oral traditions do we use, and what does it reflect about our culture?

Key Terms:

Oral Tradition
Creation Myths

On your blog:

1. After reviewing the standards, key terms, and essential questions, take a moment to write a short paragraph (3-4 sentences) explaining what you think this unit will cover.  You may also choose to provide some answers to the essential questions or rewrite some of the standards in your own words.

Mini-Lesson:

Many people would like to believe North America was an empty place with no people or cultures when the Europeans started arriving in the "New World", but this is not so.  Native Americans were living in very diverse societies and had very developed cultures before the explorers arrived.

When studying the folktales and myths of the Native Americans, it is important to remember that most of these cultures did not have a written language, so every bit of their culture had to be delivered orally.

Oral Tradition: The act of delivering important cultural information (myths, customs, history, etc.) by word of mouth.

One of the most common folktales we see in many cultures is the creation myth.  Creation myths are the type of  tale that explains something that cannot be completely understood.  In this case, they explain how the world was created.  Do we use any creation myths in our culture?  Do we use other myths to explain things that may not be understood (think about Santa Claus, or telling a child where babies come from).

Creation Myth: A folktale that explains how the world was created.  These vary from culture to culture, and can be a good way to understand what they felt was important.

Work Period:

On your blog:

2.Since we are starting at the beginning of American literature, we should start at a time before where we live was called America. Use your favorite search engine to find an example of Native American Literature (a poem, short folktale, or a prayer will work best). Read a few before you choose one. You need to be familiar with the example you choose because you will need to answer some questions about it. Copy and paste the example into your blog post.

3. What do you think of your example? What is it about? Write a 2-3 sentence response to what you chose.

4. Read the following creation myth and then post responses to my questions on your blog.  Your response should be at least one short paragraph.

The Earth on the Turtle's Back

We can use the myths a culture tells to discover what was important to them.  Can you tell what was important to the Onandaga people (the culture who told this story)?  How can you tell?  Paste a line from the story that proves what you say.

5. Choose one myth from this site to read and then respond to my questions on your blog.  Your response should be at least two short paragraphs.

http://www.crystalinks.com/nativeamcreation.html

Briefly summarize the myth you read and identify the culture from which it came (one paragraph).
What was important to the culture who created the tale you chose?  Provide evidence from the story to support what you claim.  Do you see any similarities between the myths you have read in this unit?  Are there any similarities to our culture? (another paragraph)

Closing:
Review the Georgia Performance Standards above.  It may also help to review your interpretation of them you created in the opening.

Review your work, and explain how you have addressed these standards.  If you find that your work does not address these standards, you may need to make improvements.  Have you grasped an understanding of the key vocabulary?  Have you formulated answers to the essential questions.

Please make specific references to your work when answering these closing questions.  For instance, you should tell me exactly where in your posts I would find these things.

Self evaluate your work, and when you feel as though you have completed this work, leave me a comment on this post so I know it is time to view your work.