An Unlikely Christ Figure

He's an amalgamation of the romanticized American Male Hero: part John Wayne/Errol Flynn the Cowboy Hero and part Wild Bill Hickok the Gambler. He's a little bit Captain Marvel with his Shazam! superhero power. But he's very, very, wild and unruly, on the wrong side of the law and "all that's decent" morality, too. Jumping from the secular to the spiritual, Kesey makes what seems to be an almost sacrilegious comparison to Jesus Christ: the "fisher of men" and "savior" remarks, the leading of the 12 men to the ocean to fish, the consorting with prostitutes, etc. Chief wanting to touch the sleeping McMurphy recalls the sick woman from Mark 5 who wants to touch Jesus. There will be MUCH, MUCH, MORE.

Here's the Chief in  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: He [McMurphy] didn’t say anything after that for so long I [Chief} thought he’d gone to sleep. I wished I’d told him good night. I looked over at him, and he was turned away from me. His arm wasn’t under the covers, and I could just make out the aces and eights tattooed there. It’s big, I thought, big as my arms used to be when I played football. I wanted to reach over and touch the place where he was tattooed, to see if he was still alive. He’s layin’ awful quiet, I told myself, I ought to touch him to see if he’s still alive. ... That’s a lie. I know he’s still alive. That ain’t the reason I want to touch him. I want to touch him because he’s a man.

Now the woman in Mark 5:25-29 (New International Version): A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,  because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers made a wonderful song called "Touch the Hem of His Garment" about the Bible passage. Listen to it here.

Don't be upset by all of the contradictions and complexities of how Kesey presents his Hero, who is not so heroic at times. Question the contradictions. After Kesey's McMurphy, it became a Sixties stock story to find "heroes in the seaweed" (from a Leonard Cohen song called Suzanne) and Christ figures in jail (movie called Cool Hand Luke). Modern counterculture-influenced musicals like Jesus Christ, Superstar and Godspell brought Christ to Broadway.

As likable as McMurphy may be, he's sometimes just as despicable. He is, after all, just a man, not God. In spite of this, don't underestimate his sacrifice.

The novel isn't as "easy" as the movie, which tends to go for the belly laughs at the expense of the patients. With McMurphy's flaws more pronounced in the book, Kesey challenges us to hate the sin but love the sinner, especially when the sinner protects, empowers, and sacrifices himself for the helpless. There are "heroes in the seaweed," indeed.

Week of 3-30: Sophs and Seniors

Sophs: Read the short story "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" for class on Tuesday. It's in your book, but also available online at this link. It's written by an American writer named Ambrose Bierce.
For Wednesday's class, you should hand in a notecard on which you write your choice of topic for your research paper.

Seniors: Complete reading part 3 of Cuckoo's Nest, which is pp. 225-258 in my book. Complete the reading questions posted at STUDYWIZ for class on Monday.

“That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.”                                                                       Walt Whitman, from  “O Me, O Life” NOTE: Inspired by the American poet Walt Whitman, sophomore students in Mr. Fiorelli’s American literature classes were asked to provide the verses that they would contribute to the world's "powerful play." Here is a poem that features some of their inspiring verses.

My verse will be a sunrise. It will beckon in a new age of peace and equality for all cultures.

I will be like the student in the “Learn’d Astronomer” and think “outside of the classroom.”

I will experience the world and nature first hand.

I will work hard to be successful.
I will not be afraid of failure.

I feel God's grace pushing me through.

I will give to the world what the world gave to me.

I will aid the sick in return for my health.

I will assist the elderly as gratitude for my youth.

I will guide the young in recognition of my maturity.

I will feed the poor with the understanding of my fortunes.

I can be great. I can make a difference.

I want to travel the world
Make a change
Find love
And prove to those who didn't believe in me that they were wrong.

I will leave my legacy with the innovations I will create.

I will help to shape the future of our world.

What am I but a man with a pen in my hand?

The world is my notepad.

I want to be remembered for my words, and the worlds I create.

I will overcome any debacle
I will continue at full speed
I will fight through every obstacle
I will aspire to succeed.

I'll be a force to be reckoned with, a freight train moving fast towards success.  
Destination: Better Me                                                              

I will stand my ground
Have my head held high
Jump over obstacles
And reach for the sky.

I will live to see the jubilance on one’s face
To make cheeks hurt from joy and laughter.

I am who God put on this earth to be,
I will not falter in the face of adversity.
When everyone else cowers in fear,
I will shine and fight on.

In all of the imperfections, I will strive to find the beauty.
Of all the inequalities, the perception of women can be reshaped.

I will have a fire in my heart
Threatening to set the world ablaze
I know not where the flames will spread
But I know they’ll leave their mark.

I will be remembered. Not just another unnamed face in a sea of people.
What I've done will be shared throughout time.
Irrefutably important and acknowledged by all.

Whether I paint the achroous sky with parnassian flare, or I bring the selcouth fleer to the melancholy, I will be remembered.

A Lone Dutchman, to be remembered for the accomplishments that benefit all.

I won't blend in....
That's far too easy.

I want to be a memory, whether as a friend, student, teacher, lover, anything.
I won’t be forgotten like a picture gathering dust on a wall.

I want my verse to be sung on forever, but I want to help everyone write his or her own verse.  

I will leave the world in a better place than when I came into it.

9:15 p.m. Update on Cuckoo's Nest reading

Bring a copy of the book to use during class tomorrow. You will be given time for quiet reading of pages 206-225. Those pages will be discussed in class on Thursday. I have posted some pre-reading questions at Studywiz in case you decide to read some tonight .... unless you want to read more about Indian burial trees.

This reading section ends with "Laughing, he walked down the row of beds to the hall."

McMurphy compared to the dog

First passage: Something moved on the grounds down beneath my window ... I saw it was a dog, a young, gangly mongrel slipped off from home to find out about things went on after dark. He was sniffing digger squirrel holes, not with a notion to go digging after one but just to get an idea what they were up to at this hour. He’d run his muzzle down a hole, butt up in the air and tail going, then dash off to another....He sniffed all the holes over again one quick one, to get the smells down good, then suddenly froze still with one paw lifted and his head tilted, listening.


Second passage: I dropped back till I was walking beside McMurphy and I wanted to tell him not to fret about it [Billy Bibbitt breaking down emotionally],that nothing could be done, because I could see that there was some thought he was worrying over in his mind like a dog worries at a hole he don’t know what’s down, one voice saying, Dog, that hole is none of your affair—it’s too big and too black and there’s a spoor all over the place says bears or something just as bad. And some other voice coming like a sharp whisper out of way back in his breed, not a smart voice, nothing cagey about it, saying, Sic ‘im, dog, sic ‘im!

Sophs and Seniors: Blue Gold Week of 3-24

Sophs: Work on The Greatest Generation essay. It's due Thursday. If your class does not meet on Thursday, then you must drop it off to me in room 367. Also, there's a blog assignment posted (see below for Mark Twain due by 3-25) that is due before Tuesday's class. Bring your vocabulary books to class on Monday, too.

Seniors: Part 2 of Cuckoo's Nest and pre-reading questions are due Monday. I will collect your central ideas and thesis statements on Monday, too, for your research paper. Type and print them out. Also, see the blogs posted below (for your particular section color) to read the instructions to complete an assignment that is due before Tuesday's class. The Purple class signed up for topics on Friday; I have assigned topics for the Red class (since I forgot to pass around the sign-up sheet on Friday).

SENIORS PURPLE: Cuckoo's Nest Historical/Cultural Summaries

Write a short summary (on the topic that you have been given in class) to post at Schoolsville for your class section (do not copy and paste or plagiarize Wikipedia and other internet sources). Read from at least two sources. Then write a 5-8 sentence summary in your “own words.” Write the topic first—then the summary. 

Post before Tuesday's class. 

SENIORS RED: Cuckoo's Nest Historical/Cultural Summaries

Write a short summary (on the topic that you have been given below) to post at Schoolsville for your class section (do not copy and paste or plagiarize Wikipedia and other internet sources). Read from at least two sources. Then write a 5-8 sentence summary in your “own words.” Write the topic first—then the summary. 

Post before Tuesday's class. 

Write a short summary to post at Schoolsville for your class section (do not copy and paste or plagiarize Wikipedia and other internet sources). Read from at least two sources. Then write a 5-8 sentence summary in your “own words.” Write the topic first—then the summary.

Government sponsored LSD tests: Ashley Azato

The Merry Pranksters & “The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test”: Hannah Ciolek

The Columbia Gorge Indians in Oregon, especially their method of fishing: Michael Connor

The Dalles hydroelectric dam over Celio Falls: Claire Danberg

Captain Marvel (comic book hero): Devin Deturk

Cowboy entertainers in the 1940s-1950s (esp. Roy Rogers and Gene Autrey): John Esposito

The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (movie): Jenna Fannon

Military-industrial complex warning by Dwight D. Eisenhower: Cass Flanigan

Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis: Haley Frati

Red Scare and Blacklisting in the 1950s: Ally Fritzler

Big Brother and the novel 1984: Jen Gedz

Death of Emmett Till: Kim Henshaw

Levittown building development history: Aislinn Jubb

“Little Boxes” (song): Brighid Minemier

“Does Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?” (song): Kyle Moore

Thalidomide and side effects: Hunter O’Connell

Indian burial trees (and tree burial ritual): Alexis Paller

John F. Kennedy and PT 109: Carin Prechtl

Christ figure archetype: Jenna Prengle

Trickster archetype: Bridget Rocha

Mark 5: 25-29: Claudia Seemans

SOPHS: Mark Twain post by Tuesday 3-25

Follow this link to read "The Story of the Bad Little Boy," a Mark Twain parody of a Sunday school story.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Sunday School stories were moral tales written for the little boys and girls who learned the difference between right and wrong at their local churches in Sunday School.

These stories always ended with a good dose of poetic justice. The good boys and girls were rewarded; the not-so-good boys and girls were summarily punished, learned the error of their ways, and turned out to be model boys and girls themselves.

Mark Twain pokes fun at these stories in "The Story of the Bad Little Boy."

Assignment

Read the story and then answer these questions:

1. "The Story of the Bad Little Boy" is a parody of the stories in Sunday School books. Define a parody.  

2. What details contribute to the humor of The Story of the Bad Little Boy? List at least five. 

3. What storytelling "tricks" does Twain use to make the story entertaining, if not humorous? By tricks, I specifically mean his rhetoric (clever words and phrases, figures of speech, sound devices, or rhetorical structures). List at least five. 

4. How does the penultimate (better look up this word) paragraph contribute to the sarcasm of the story? 

5. For what serious reason did Twain write this story?

UPDATE ! Seniors & Sophs: Week of 3-17

Seniors: On Tuesday we'll finish going over some Cuckoo's Nest notes. For Wednesday's class, finish Part 1 of Cuckoo's Nest. It finishes with the words "they’d of thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons." I have posted some pre-reading questions on Studywiz for you to complete for class on Wednesay. Continue reading the novel and working on your research paper.

Sophs: On your BLOCK day, bring your vocabulary book to class. If you haven't done so already, go to Studywiz to find a handout on the poet Walt Whitman. Read the poem "O Captain, My Captain" for your next class. Check out the additional blog post below this one for some homework that will be due Thursday.

Sophs: The Powerful Play Goes On ... (Homework below)

“That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse ….”

Walt Whitman offered this as a reason why YOU are important to this world, even midst the foolish and the faithless. 

So tell me what “verse” you will contribute to the world, in three to four sentences OR lines of verse.

Do not include your name in YOUR VERSE (but of course, indicate who you, as always, when you post your comment). 

I intend to put all of your class’s responses together into one Song of the Sophs that we will set to music and sing at the next school-wide assembly.

(Only kidding about the music and singing part).

Due before class on Thursday. 

Seniors: Week of 3-10

Read up through p. 125 of Cuckoo's Nest for Thursday's class. This section ends with the paragraph that begins "And walks out and leaves those stained pieces of paper ...."

I will have some pre-reading questions ready for you either Monday or Tuesday (there is no school for seniors on Wednesday).

Monday: continue going over the first 75 pages of Cuckoo's Nest
Tuesday: Cuckoo continued; pre-reading for Thursday; taking notes for your research paper
Wednesday: no class
Thursday: pp. 75-125 of Cuckoo's Nest
Friday: 40 note cards due--continue going over Cuckoo's Nest

Soph Jeopardy! Test Review

...has been posted at Studywiz!

Senior Essay Test Update

You may use copies of the stories and "your" personal notes (not borrowed from others) to use for the essay section of the test tomorrow.

You will have two options: one is solely on Where Are You Going ...?. The other option asks you to write about three of the four "first person" point of view stories.

Spread the news to your non-Schoolsville "checking" friends. 

Two Hours Late Senior Test Adjustment

You will take the objective section tomorrow, the writing part on Wednesday, which will take about 20 minutes. Cuckoo's Nest reading is still due on Thursday.

Remember to check review files on Studywiz. I placed an additional one there tonight.

Always check Schoolsville!

Common Wealth Writing Contest

Hannah Falchuk (right), St. Mark's Class of 2014, was a writing contest winner last year. She wrote an essay describing why she would like to meet famous writer, historian, narrator, and lecturer David McCullough.







The Common Wealth Awards Writing Contest is open to all Delaware high school students, grades 9 through 12. By submitting an essay or article you will be eligible to win an invitation to the April 21 Common Wealth Awards ceremony.

The 2014 Common Wealth Award winners are:

 Bob Costas, Emmy Award-winning journalist and eight-time National Sportscaster of the Year, for
Mass Communications

 Anjelica Huston, Academy Award-winning actress and director, for Dramatic Arts

 Mariano Rivera, future Hall of Fame baseball player, social activist and humanitarian, for Public Service

Rules and Criteria:

1. In 300 - 500 words explain which Common Wealth honoree you most want to meet and why. You may submit your work in any format including essay, news article, prose, poetry, etc.
2. On a separate page, please provide your name, home address, e-mail address, home telephone number, high school you attend and grade, and your date of birth. Include a brief description of your writing experience or other extra-curricular activities.
3. All entrants must be available to attend the awards ceremony on Saturday, April 5, 2014, beginning at 4 p.m.
4. Past contest winners are not eligible to participate.
5. There are no academic scholarships or financial rewards associated with participation in this contest.

Deadline: Entries must be submitted by midnight March 16, 2014 via e-mail or U.S. mail—one submission only.

Send to: The PNC Financial Services Group
Attn: Mary Elizabeth Biddle
300 Delaware Avenue
Wilmington, DE 19801
email - mary.biddle@pnc.com

Winners:
Essay winners and their parents or guardian will be invited to attend the April 5, 2014 Common Wealth Awards ceremony at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington where the honorees will be recognized for their lifetime achievements. Contest winners will be notified by March 24, 2014.

About the Common Wealth Awards: The Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service were created by the late Ralph Hayes, an influential business executive and philanthropist. Hayes conceived the awards to reward and encourage the best of human performance worldwide. He served on the board of directors of PNC Delaware’s predecessor banks for 30 years. Through the Common Wealth Awards, Hayes sought to recognize outstanding achievement in eight disciplines: dramatic arts, literature, science, invention, mass communications, public service, government and sociology.

Sophs and Seniors: Snow Schedule for the Week of 3-3

First the important stuff: no golf practice on Monday or Tuesday. "Maybe" a chalk-talk on Wednesday, but I'll let you know.

Seniors: Test on Tuesday (I hope we're in school)---Wednesday is more "intro" to Cuckoo's Nest---for Thursday's class, read the first 75 pages of Cuckoo's Nest and jot down bullet point answers for the questions on the handout that you were given in class on Friday (this handout can be found on Studywiz). You should begin researching your research topic. I will be checking note cards or electronic notes and sources soon.

Sophs: I will go over vocab unit 8 with the sections that I haven't reviewed it, yet. We will have a vocab quiz on Wednesday. Begin looking over your literature notes that go back to "everything" in the second semester (excluding vocab, The Greatest Generation, etc.). I still think that we can have a test real soon, like next Monday perhaps?

Sophs and Seniors: memorize the poem above to get extra credit for your next big literature test. It's a classic by Robert Frost called "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."