Thursday, the 4th of November, 2010

Letter to Veterans--As mentioned in class, ASB is sponsoring a letter-writing activitity through a national organization:  http://www.opgratitude.com/from_iraq.php.  You can consult that site for ideas, but know that for us, the letters showing thanks and appreciation will go ONLY to veterans (not currently deployed servicemen and women).  And for us, all letters go through the school.  Since I'm giving a few "written prep" points for this (10), they actually need to go through ME, then on to ASB. 

The letters must follow these guidelines:
1.Please make sure your letters will fit in a standard size envelope
2. Include your own name in the body of the letter
3. Do not write about politics, religion, death or killing
4. Please do not use glitter
5. This is strictly a letter-writing effort to thank Veterans; please do not send any care package items for Veterans
6. All letters will be screened
7. Hand written letters are recommended. 

Deadline:  your class time on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

TODAY IN CLASS

FOR TOMORROW
1.  Simply read and reflect on the following biography of Franz Kafka:
http://www.kafka-franz.com/kafka-Biography.htm

2.  Now turn to Kafka's Letter to His Father:
http://www.kafka-franz.com/KAFKA-letter.htm

Yes, it's hugely long.  Here are the instructions:

• SKIM it all, looking at paragraph starts and ends, trying to establish the overall content.  You will in no way be expected to read every word.
• But from skimming, settle on TWO sections of interest, 2-3 paragraphs each--whatever it takes in the letter to make the point at hand. 
• For each of those sections, do the following steps IN WRITING:  1) briefly describe or identify the subject matter, 2) explain Kafka's attitude toward his father conveyed at that point, and 3) make a connection to something that shows up in "The Metamorphosis."

HOW LONG?  The skimming shouldn't take more than 30-40 minutes; the write-ups shouldn't take more than 10-12 minutes each. For each of the two sections, you  probably need 10-12 sentences to respond well to all three steps.