Happy Halloween

TODAY IN CLASS
A quick-write:  Why does Gregor turn into a bug? (a hand-written page or so)

Then things varied a bit:  1st period worked in groups and began presentations.
Third and sixth need to prepare their topic individually (for the group, not to hand in); on Monday you will have 8 minutes or less to confer before proceeding with some class presentations. We went over the topics briefly in class, but if you were absent (or neglected to write yours down because you had faith in a week-end blog post), they are listed below.

FOR MONDAY

For all groups--Base your work on Part I only.

A—Trace the stages/steps in Gregor’s perception of the world around him (think the five senses and the degree to which he is at ease in/with his own body) as well as his perception of himself. 

B—Very specifically:  Gregor’s ability to communicate (what he thinks/what actually happens)

C—Focus on the father’s responses to Gregor; nature of their relationship

D—Focus on the mother’s responses to Gregor; nature of their relationship

E—Focus on the sister’s responses to Gregor; nature of their relationship

F—Focus on Gregor’s life UP UNTIL the morning that the story opens.  What do we know?  What are the clues?

Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010

TODAY IN CLASS
What produces humor? What is the source of comedy?  We kicked this around for awhile and then pulled elements from the first part of Metamorphosis to account for why at least some readers really do see some humor in Kafka's description of Gregor's situation.

In 1st, we looked closely at the details of Gregor's room, and less so in 3rd; alas, we didn't make it to that point in 6th. 

FOR TOMORROW
Assignment is just to read:  finish the story (Parts II and III). In no way will this quick read be sufficient; you're advised to re-read each part over the next few days.  So why finish it for Friday?  Because we need to have an eye on WHERE Kafka is headed with this story to appreciated the value of how he gets us there.

Wednesday, Oct. 27

Abbreviated post: 
Homework--Read Part I of Metamorphosis for Thursday; ALL of it by Friday.

If you are in 6th, the online acccess is here:

https://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/stories/kafka-e.htm

or

http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Kafka/00000011.htm

Treading Water

TODAY IN CLASS
1st and 3rd:  focussed on character
6th:  focussed on symbol
We'll switch and move on briefly tomorrow.  Wednesday will be the last day on Baldwin's story.

FOR TOMORROW
Problem:  you need to be starting "Metamorphosis"--but I was unable to schedule a check-out for today.
BE SURE to have your ID tomorrow, and also--if you have access to an old book--we need to have you use that instead.

Suggestion:  Do what you can to work ahead in other classes tonight and save some extra reading time for Wed/Thurs. if you can.

New York, New York

MISCELLANEOUS
First, I had trouble with these links--but maybe they will work for you.  I was hoping you could hear a bit of Louis Armstrong as well as Charlie "Yardbird" Parker, since both were mentioned in the story.
http://cai.ucdavis.edu/uccp/previewquestionsanswered.html

Also, we didn't get to the satellite image some of you were begging for in 1st and 3rd;  here ya' go:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=manhattan+New+York&safe=active&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Manhattan,+New+York,+NY&gl=us&ei=huTFTJ-LKImWsgORg7WlDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ8gEwAA

And some necessary corrections to the Monday a.m. Still-Asleep-Syndrome:
Correction to 1st:  Sonny--not the narrator--was 15 when their father died (so narrator was 22)
Correction to 1st and 3rd:  The Staten Island ferry goes from Battery Park (lower tip of Manhattan, between the financial district and the water) to the island where the Statue of Liberty is (called Liberty Island), Ellis Island, and finally Staten Island itself, which is actually across New York Bay from Manhattan.  (It's much closer to New Jersey--separated only by two river-like bodies of water called "kills" [from Dutch].)

TODAY IN CLASS
Setting:  Time and Place.  Getting the geography down for "Sonny's Blues." Haarlem--oh, wait, that's the Dutch spelling--Harlem is oh, so close--but most definitely far away from the mainstream possibilities of life for America in the burgeoning late 40's and 50's.  In fact, many would say that New York City was at its peak of power, influence, and romance at this time--but none of the positive mystique was available to people stuck in Harlem.  And by setting up the time line of ALL the action, we were able to look briefly at the South when the KKK was largely unchecked. Alhough what happened to the uncle was not a deliberate clan action, it clearly represents a time and place when human life was not valued so highly if the skin was black.  That background becomes part of the suffering--of the blues--represented throughout the story.

TOMORROW
Prepare by looking more closely at POV and Characterization (for those who did not already do one of these).  No formal written work to hand in, but I strongly suggest notes or some annotating.  We want to focus on the connections, the significance here--not the obvious.  Who, by the way, is the protagonist of the story??

Post for Friday, Oct. 22

IN CLASS ON FRIDAY
Students turned in all three of the short papers.  We went through a process of sorts, however, that actually consumed most of the class period. For the first two papers, students were given time to mark the thesis and to proofread carefully.  If you were absent or did not have a paper on Friday, do two things:

• Mark ABSENT and the date at the top if you were absent; otherwise, mark it LATE
• On the first two papers, highlight the THESIS.  If you do not have your own highlighter, draw square brackets around the thesis.  
• I'm assuming you've proofread--no class time is allotted for this today.

For the thought paper, students were given time to read all the others on their topic and to mark the three best (most interesting/intriguing/insightful, etc.) ideas from the set.  No way to make that up today . . . just turn yours in.

FOR MONDAY

No specific homework.  In-class focus Monday/Tuesday will be "Sonny's Blues."

Upcoming:  

"Metamorphosis"--books intended to be provided, but only 73 arrived (others are back-ordered).  Stay tuned for the plan for dealing with this.

And then--Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.  This is widely available cheap, and many of your friends probably still have it.  We will have NO time for you to be claiming yours is "on order."  You should have it now.  We will be working with this by the first week in November.  Probably not that Monday--but probably by Tuesday.

Three Short Papers Due on Friday

TODAY IN CLASS
Strictly a work period.  Everyone used time wisely.

FOR TOMORROW
Finish the papers.  If you have misplaced your hand-out, remember that the complete instructions are linked on Google.docs (see yesterday's post).