Seniors-- Thursday (11-18) lab exercise on The Portable Phonograph

Consider today's exercise a curious mixture of themes presented in the somber short story, The Portable Phonograph, and a movie called The Bucket List, a 2009 film in which two older men make a list of things they want to do before they die or "kick the bucket."

I'd like to know what you consider important.

Here's the dream scenario: before you meet your maker, you will be granted all of these last wishes.

Make your choices, and briefly explain in a sentence or two.

Think. Have some fun if you'd like. But remember that things are more humorous when there is at least a hint of truth in the humor.

Post before Saturday if you don't finish in class today.

1. final thing you'd like to read (OK, so even if you don't like to read, this is your final reading of anything, so with that in mind, seriously consider your decision)

2. final song that you'd like to hear

3. movie or tv show that you'll watch one last time

4. final website you'll visit (www.schoolsville.blogspot.com, of course!)

5. final meal

6. place you'd like to visit

7. you get instant knowledge on any one of life's great serious mysteries (try to make this one serious, saving the more clever responses to #8)

8. you get instant knowledge on any one of life's great head-scratchers (make this humorous, like why do people think The Office is funny?)

9. other than any of the above, one last activity you'd like to do

10. now this isn't a wish, but tell me a prized possession that you would literally guard with your life and maybe a "comfortable piece of lead pipe " like Dr. Jenkins in The Portable Phonograph

Seniors #1 Journal --In a Good Place

POST BEFORE TUESDAY NOVEMBER 23

I'm not always up to date on the most novel vernacular, teen or otherwise. By the time I start using some "new" expression, it's bottomed out to the level of drab cliche. So if you get a "you go, girl" or an "atta boy" from me, try not to gawk in amazement at me as if I'm some ancient mariner.

Within the last year, people my age and in my small circle of very cool friends have begun to use the phrase "in a good place," as in "his boss gave him a raise today, so he's in a good place" or he was able to watch football all Sunday afternoon, so he was "in his good place."

Which leads me to a somewhat personal question: Where's your "good place?"

You SHOULD answer VERY literally and specifically, sparing no expense of travel.

Maybe take me to some sunny exotic island in the Bahamas, send me schussing down the Rockies, or lead me to traverse your favorite hiking spot on the Appalachian Trail.

Or perhaps you're the more "stay at home" type, who like Henry David Thoreau, could make a full day out of bird watching, sitting in his cabin doorway. Then stay at home. Describe what it's like to be playing the guitar or "chewing the fat" with your friends. Take me on an easy five mile jog with your Ipod at full blast and with your eyes (and other senses) wide open.

This journal will be somewhat similar to your next creative writing assignment. You can use this assignment to stretch your writing muscles before running the real race.

However, one requirement of your post at Schoolsville is that your "good place" MUST be a "good place." Please, I want no glimpses into any personal mansions of doom and gloom. As I might have said once or twice in the 70s, "Don't be such a downer, man."

For Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, listening to the music of the "two Italian ladies" took his soul to heights that not even two weeks of prison lockup could destroy. Can our "good places" do the same?

Sophs--For "Help" With Friday's Class Assignment (see Soph Journal #2 for the writing prompt)

First listen to the video (linked here) with the sound muted. As each character appears, try to identify the teenage movie stock character. This won't be too difficult, despite the somewhat laughable fashions of the 80s. The sad truth is that everyday we will also stereotype so quickly, often just based on the way someone dresses, walks, or talks.

The Breakfast Club, a 1985 John Hughes written and directed film, first builds up its characters' stereotypes, only to shatter them to pieces. We, and the characters within the movie, see how all of these contrasting "types" are really more similar than they are different. Who would've thunk it (this expression is a cliche, the bad grammar completely necessary)? And it only took two hours of being locked into a room for a Saturday morning detention. Could life be so easy?

My capsule review of the movie? The critic in me, no longer a teen or even a young hip teacher, says that much of the movie dialogue today sounds so unreal, so exaggerated, so silly. And yes, the repeated use of the F word bothers me (I'll never get used to hearing teenagers curse). However, I have to admit that it (the dialogue) and the rest of the movie are never boring. Even in the preachy long monologues (and there are many), Hughes' characters make us care about them.

The lesson is this. Stock characters are OK in literature and film, but stereotyping in real life is dead wrong, and probably responsible for creating every hateful -ism known to mankind. Watch the film to learn that a man (or woman) shouldn't be judged by his clothes or the company that he keeps.

Sophs #2 journal -Your Favorite Stock Character

POST BEFORE MONDAY MORNING, NOV. 22

A stock character is a character type, often a stereotyped character, used repeatedly in genre fiction (like horror, sci-fi, moral tales) and of course, movies and television shows that like to use these character types. Examples include the mad scientist, the blond airhead, the femme fatale (sure, look it up if you don't know what this means), the rags-to-riches hero, and the conniving villain.

In The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walker exemplified the stock character known as The Miser, one who would value money over everything. You should know the Greek tale of King Midas, a miser who learned, as many do, that wealth isn't everything. Go to this link to read the Midas tale. Tom Walker's wife was the stock Shrew, the nagging wife who browbeats her husband.

You've read enough (and seen enough tv and movies) to recognize stock characters, so tell me ...who is your favorite "stock" character?

Define the stock character type you choose and then give me some details about your specific character that proves that he or she is, indeed, stock. Of course, tell me why you enjoy your character. Choose a character from books, movies, short stories, and television shows.

I've provided an example for you, namely Ebenezer Scrooge.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly misanthrope (he's a miser--all about money--and he's a misanthrope--a "hater of mankind") in the Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. His love of money and disdain for Christmas characterizes the original Scrooge. Note that the word "scrooge" to denote characters like him is now regularly used in our vernacular. Scrooge overworks and underpays his loyal employee, Mr. Bob Cratchit. Cratchit, a good and holy family man, has bills to pay and a crippled son (Tiny Tim) to take care of, and he faces his trying responsibilities with Christian fortitude. He even refuses to admit to his poor family that Mr. Scrooge is a bad man. You might say that Cratchit is a stock character himself, the "poor but happy" fatherly figure whose diligence and Christian piety keep his family in food and clothes.

Back to Mr. Scrooge, who grudgingly allows poor Bob to stay home on Christmas Day, but orders him to arrive earlier the next. He greets holiday well wishers, like his kind nephew, with a "Bah, humbug" that of course, is now universally recognized as the reply of the Christmas Scrooge. Suddenly, however, his world is turned inside-out when he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his former business partner and a scrooge like himself. The forlorn ghost, who now does penance by walking the earth in heavy chains, money boxes, and keys, warns Scrooge to mend his ways, lest he suffer the same fate.

Scrooge is shaken, but falls asleep. During the rest of the well -known story, he is visited by three Christmas ghosts. He then undergoes a miraculous change. The new Christmas loving Scrooge sends a huge turkey to the Cratchit home, raises Bob's salary, and becomes a surrogate grandfather to Tiny Tim.

This Christmas tale is a story of faith, faith in humanity and the goodness that lies within us all. These qualities were once buried in Ebenezer Scrooge, but were unearthed in the joyful end of the novel.

If you need some more help, see the Schoolsville post entitled, Sophs--Breakfast, Anyone? More Stock Characters!

10-0, Here We Go!

Great win by the football team on Friday night.

Hope you were one of the 6,000 plus who attended the game.

Events like this make attending St. Mark's even more fun than hanging out at Schoolsville on a Friday night.

Make plans to cheer on the team on Friday night, November 26, at Baynard Stadium.

Schoolsville Party Tonight

Be there or be square. 7:30 p.m. Lots of fun reviewing for the test.

11-11 Veterans Day

Here is the History of Veterans Day taken from www.military.com.
(Click on the link to discover even more about the holiday).

Veterans Day was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor Armistice Day -- the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in 1938, November 11 was "dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day.'" As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.

In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress changed the name of the holiday to Veterans Day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Thank a veteran today, even if you're reading this someday after 11-11.

SOPHOMORE reading for Age of Reason test

Read over this to answer a question or two on the Age of Reason test on November 15.

No need to comment on the misspelled word in the title. If Chris Gardner wants to spell it this way, he gets a pass from us at Schoolsville. In 1981 Gardner lost his wife and lots of money when he invested the family nest egg in a invention bound for failure. Gardner, however, did not give up so easily. He worked his way up from the lowest rung of the social ladder by outworking his stock broker colleagues at Dean Witter and becoming a millionaire. His story was portrayed in a movie called, The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith played Gardner.

Investigate, if you like, Gardner's amazing story at his Web site. Check out what Will Smith thinks of Gardner in this YouTube video. Smith says that Gardner "personified the American Dream."

This is a true story of the American Dream made a reality.

Yellow class vocab unit 5

Post this weekend before Monday morning!

Post five (5) sentences using your vocabulary words correctly, giving clues to the meanings of the words within your sentence.

SPECIAL DIRECTIONS:

IF YOU SIT IN ROWS 1-3, WRITE SENTENCES FROM WORDS 1-10 AS LISTED ON PAGES 35-36.

IF YOU SIT IN ROWS 4-6, WRITE SENTENCES FROM WORDS 11-20 AS LISTED ON PAGES 36-37.

Work by yourself on this assignment, please.

Save your sentences in a file in case you have problems posting.

Blue class vocab unit 5

Post this weekend before Monday morning!

Post five (5) sentences using your vocabulary words correctly, giving clues to the meanings of the words within your sentence.

SPECIAL DIRECTIONS:

IF YOU SIT IN ROWS 1-3, WRITE SENTENCES FROM WORDS 1-10 AS LISTED ON PAGES 35-36.

IF YOU SIT IN ROWS 4-6, WRITE SENTENCES FROM WORDS 11-20 AS LISTED ON PAGES 36-37.

Work by yourself on this assignment, please.

Save your sentences in a file in case you have problems posting.

Green class vocab unit 5

Post this weekend before Monday morning!

Post five (5) sentences using your vocabulary words correctly, giving clues to the meanings of the words within your sentence.

SPECIAL DIRECTIONS:

IF YOU SIT IN ROWS 1-3, WRITE SENTENCES FROM WORDS 1-10 AS LISTED ON PAGES 35-36.

IF YOU SIT IN ROWS 4-6, WRITE SENTENCES FROM WORDS 11-20 AS LISTED ON PAGES 36-37.

Work by yourself on this assignment, please.

Save your sentences in a file in case you have problems posting.

Sophs #1 Journal-- The American Dream

THIS IS THE FIRST JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT OF THE SECOND QUARTER.

COMPLETE AND POST COMMENT BEFORE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8.

You've studied the early colonists and then the early Americans. Both groups of people had visions of the greatness of America. The Puritans envisioned a religious "city upon a hill" nurtured and protected by their God. America's founding fathers constituted a democratic republic that would encourage other governments throughout the world to also engage in a social contract with its citizens, ensuring a protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America was created to be a model of government for the rest of the world.

A Frenchman, Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur, emigrated to the colonies in 1755. He married a American-born women, raised a family, and farmed in Orange County, NY. Life was going well until the Revolutionary War broke out. Unwilling to choose between the revolutionary and the Tory cause, de Crevecoeur fled to England, leaving his wife and children. When the war ended, he published a book in 1782, Letters From an American Farmer, adapting the pseudonym of an American farmer, James, and writing back in epistles to his brethren in England. The book told of the promise of the good life in America; it is one of the first written statements of the American Dream.

The notion of the American Dream (even today) represents a romanticized ideal of the hope and promise of America. For de Crevecoeur, the American Dream promised these new and exciting gifts to all who dared to call themselves, Americans:

1. America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden
2. The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe
3. The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.
4. The American is free to worship as he pleases, and religion demands little of him.
5. Americans are the western pilgrims, bringing the best of Europe to this new land, and making it better. Americans are looked upon as leaders of the world.

Throughout America's history, there is no doubt that the American Dream has been realized by millions of successful people. There is also little doubt that reality of America did not always live up to the Dream. Undoubtedly, millions of people experienced failures, too--nightmares, not dreams.

Look over the five aspects of deCrevecouer's Dream listed above.

Write about how any one of those ideas either rewarded OR failed an individual. Ideally, I'd like you to relate a personal story about a relative or someone you closely know. However, if you absolutely cannot think of someone, you are free to write about someone else. In that case, provide your information source at the end of your writing.

REMEMBER, WRITE A MINIMUM OF 25 BLOG LINES OR 200 WORDS.