(3rd journal-3rd quarter) Parents Gone Too Far?

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter explored the danger to mankind of "science gone too far" in the character of the retired botanist who created an Edenic prison for his flower-child daughter by separating her (with poison) from the real world. Sound unlikely? Not if you understand the symbolism of the allegory.

Check out this link at Dr. Phil.com that contains three articles (and links to many others) that detail real examples of parents just as obsessive as Dr. Rappaccini. Do parents like these also imbue their children with "poison" that makes it impossible for them to live in the real world?

You can write about these examples or provide ones of your own to agree, disagree, or recommend caution with the actions of these pushy parents.

Yellow Class--vocab words from The Ministers Black Veil

Here is a list of vocabulary words from The Minister's Black Veil. You should print this out at home so you can study these words for a quiz next week. Write a sentence using the word that you've been assigned. As always, indicate who you are by with your initials.

Sexton—n- church official who maintains property or tolls bell

Semblance—n—an outward appearance

Clerical—adj—trained to handle official duties

Inanimate—adj—not animated or energetic

Perturbation---n—the state of being agitated or perturbed

Iniquity—n— a gross injustice

Unwonted—adj—not usual

Indecorous—adj—lacking propriety or good taste

Profane---adj—vulgar, sacrilegious ---v—to put to disgrace

Ostentatious—adj—showy display, pretentious

Sagacious---adj—acutely insightful and wise

Hoary—adj—gray and white with age

Vagary—n—an extravagant or erratic notion or action

Imbue—v- to inspire or influence thoroughly, to pervade

Averse---adj—having a feeling of opposition, distaste, or aversion

Remonstrance---n—an expression of protest

Expedient---adj—appropriate to a purpose

Deputation—n—delegation or group of delegates

Abash—v--- to make ashamed or uneasy

Plight—n—a situation or condition, esp. bad or unfortunate

Preternatural---adj—beyond the norm or natural

Antipathy—n—feeling of opposition

Irreproachable—adj—perfect or blameless in every respect

Mitigate—v—alleviate or lessen in intensity

Comely—adj—pleasure to look at

Torpor—n—state of mental or physical inactivity

Blue Class Vocab from The Minister's Black Veil

Here is a list of vocabulary words from The Minister's Black Veil. You should print this out at home so you can study these words for a quiz next week. Write a sentence using the word that you've been assigned. As always, indicate who you are by with your initials.

Sexton—n- church official who maintains property or tolls bell

Semblance—n—an outward appearance

Clerical—adj—trained to handle official duties

Inanimate—adj—not animated or energetic

Perturbation---n—the state of being agitated or perturbed

Iniquity—n— a gross injustice

Unwonted—adj—not usual

Indecorous—adj—lacking propriety or good taste

Profane---adj—vulgar, sacrilegious ---v—to put to disgrace

Ostentatious—adj—showy display, pretentious

Sagacious---adj—acutely insightful and wise

Hoary—adj—gray and white with age

Vagary—n—an extravagant or erratic notion or action

Imbue—v- to inspire or influence thoroughly, to pervade

Averse---adj—having a feeling of opposition, distaste, or aversion

Remonstrance---n—an expression of protest

Expedient---adj—appropriate to a purpose

Deputation—n—delegation or group of delegates

Abash—v--- to make ashamed or uneasy

Plight—n—a situation or condition, esp. bad or unfortunate

Preternatural---adj—beyond the norm or natural

Antipathy—n—feeling of opposition

Irreproachable—adj—perfect or blameless in every respect

Mitigate—v—alleviate or lessen in intensity

Comely—adj—pleasure to look at

Torpor—n—state of mental or physical inactivity

Red Class--Vocabulary words from The Minister's Black Veil

Here is a list of vocabulary words from The Minister's Black Veil. You should print this out at home so you can study these words for a quiz next week. Write a sentence using the word that you've been assigned. As always, indicate who you are by with your initials.

Sexton—n- church official who maintains property or tolls bell

Semblance—n—an outward appearance

Clerical—adj—trained to handle official duties

Inanimate—adj—not animated or energetic

Perturbation---n—the state of being agitated or perturbed

Iniquity—n— a gross injustice

Unwonted—adj—not usual

Indecorous—adj—lacking propriety or good taste

Profane---adj—vulgar, sacrilegious ---v—to put to disgrace

Ostentatious—adj—showy display, pretentious

Sagacious---adj—acutely insightful and wise

Hoary—adj—gray and white with age

Vagary—n—an extravagant or erratic notion or action

Imbue—v- to inspire or influence thoroughly, to pervade

Averse---adj—having a feeling of opposition, distaste, or aversion

Remonstrance---n—an expression of protest

Expedient---adj—appropriate to a purpose

Deputation—n—delegation or group of delegates

Abash—v--- to make ashamed or uneasy

Plight—n—a situation or condition, esp. bad or unfortunate

Preternatural---adj—beyond the norm or natural

Antipathy—n—feeling of opposition

Irreproachable—adj—perfect or blameless in every respect

Mitigate—v—alleviate or lessen in intensity

Comely—adj—pleasure to look at

Torpor—n—state of mental or physical inactivity

The Minister's Black Veil (text of the story)

Here's a link to the text of the story, The Minister's Black Veil, in case you want to read it on line. Your homework (due Tuesday, February 19) is to read the story and come up with 5-10 good critical or analytical questions and comments. Bring these q and a's to class on Tuesday.

An Anti-Emily Dickinson Story (2nd journal- 3rd quarter)

Read this incredible true story about a high school senior, Kevin Hart of Fernley, Nevada, who faked a scholarship signing last week in front of cheering fans who gathered at his high school gym. The commentary is smartly written by Mitch Albom, the author of Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Agree or disagree with Albom's assertion that someone else deserves some of the shame and blame for the actions of this misguided teenager.

MITCH ALBOM: In this hoax, maybe the joke is on us

February 10, 2008

By MITCH ALBOM

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

On the tape, it looks like any other high school gymnasium. The stands are packed, a crowd of students, parents, cheerleaders. The beefy young football player addresses the assembly, a shirt and tie chosen for the momentous occasion. Into a microphone, he thanks his family and his school. He makes his big announcement.

"It was Oregon and Cal," says Kevin Hart, looking at the two caps on a table in front of him, "and I decided I'll be playing football at the University of California."

The crowd erupts in cheers and applause. Hart pulls the Cal cap on perfectly, a two-handed tug on the back, a quick yank on the front. He rises and waves at the adoring fans, as if he's done this a million times in his head.

And apparently he has.

Because the whole thing was a hoax.

In one of the most bizarre events ever in football recruiting, Hart, a high school offensive lineman from the small town of Fernley, Nev., made up his recruitment, made up his acceptance and participated in a bogus news conference in front of the whole school.

"I wanted to play D-I ball more than anything," he later admitted in a statement. "When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality."

And the really crazy thing?

No one stopped him.

So far under the radar

I don't know where this kid's coaches were, where his parents were or where any responsible adult in his life was. But to allow a high school senior to fake it all the way to a news conference is an amazing act of gullibility.

All the schools Hart claimed to have recruited him -- including Cal, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Oklahoma State -- never did. Most never heard of him.

You would think someone around him might have noticed that, or wanted to meet an actual coach, or heard an actual recruiting call.

You would think someone might have asked, "Kevin, how come you haven't gone on any recruiting trips?" Instead, the kid made it all the way to the microphone. Maybe the family wanted to believe. Maybe the school staff and the locals went along with it, because in Fernley, a farming community 30 miles outside Reno, the glory of being recruited was too seductive to question.

And therein lies the problem. We have turned college recruitment into an entertainment seduction. Why on Earth do we allow high school athletes to call news conferences to announce their college choices? Is that what the gym is for? Do we do the same for chemistry majors?

The high schools should say no. The media should say no. Instead, ESPN and CSTV televise National Signing Day, complete with highlights, analysts and rankings. Watching this last week was enough to make you ill. High school seniors being interviewed, adored, shuffling around in pre-produced video pieces in which they offer quick brags, like the kid who smiled and said, "I'm a clown" (as if he were video dating), but quickly added that when he tackled, "I'm gonna bring it."

Right. As if their egos aren't big enough.

The seedy side of college sports

No wonder Hart wanted a piece of this. He seemed to know the whole routine. How to build suspense, how to tug the cap, how to hug the coach. I promise you he didn't invent that stuff in his head: He watched it happen to others on TV and some twisted part of him said, "I have to have that."

If we didn't celebrate it, he wouldn't mimic it. Oh, Hart still might have a problem with the truth. But these are kids, remember, still eating lunch in cafeterias. What we're creating with all this scouting, rating and fawning over them is a new set of megalomaniacs who think the world will lay flat for them as long as they star in sports. Forget studying. Forget humility. With recruitment mania, we've created an express train of immediate gratification. Hart realized the train was leaving without him. He tried to fake a ticket.

"I made up what I wanted to be reality." What a sentence for today's world. When this fraud was revealed, the consensus was "it's a shame." And that's true.

But it's not just Kevin Hart who should be ashamed of himself.