Back to the good work.
In Lit & Language 11, we finished Fahrenheit 451. Though we didn’t discuss it as much as I would have liked, I did have the students do a lot of writing about it, and I can’t wait to see what they have to say.
To finish the unit, we are going to watch the sci-fi film “The Island.”
Today, I put up a list of the things we have read so far in class –
The Crucible
“The Lottery”
“Young Goodman Brown”
“The Yellow Wallpaper”
The Village
Fahrenheit 451
The Island
One student said, “Hey, they’re all the same.”
This is true. They all share themes of censorship, conformity, good vs. evil, appearance vs. reality, and so on.
I was surprised at just how much the student remembered about “The Crucible” and “The Lottery,” both of which were read quite awhile ago.
I think all the connections we have been making to each story, our culture, and their lives is making an impact after all.
Students talked about the injustice of the girls accusing innocent people in The Crucible. This was then connected to the ritual sacrifices in “The Lottery.” Then someone called out that they were just blindly following along, just like many in The Crucible.
“What happens when you stand up and don’t blindly follow along?” I asked.
“Well, you end you like what’s his name in The Crucible,” a student said.
“Proctor. That was his name,” another said.
“Yes, he died for his good name,” I said.
“Okay, the girls and the court are in control in the play. Whose in control in ‘The Lottery’?” I asked.
“That black box!”
“Yes. What’s that a symbol for?” I asked.
“Tradition.”
“Evil.”
“Control.”
“Following along.”
“So?” I asked.
“Look at the lady in ‘The Lottery.’ Well, she didn’t die for her good name but she did resent the lottery,” a student added.
“Okay. No one questioned the girls in the play and no one questioned tradition in ‘The Lottery,’” I said. “What about the other things up here?”
“Well,” a student said, “the characters in The Village are controlled by the lies they are told about the monsters in the woods.’”
“So?”
“So they are kind of like the crazy lady in “The Yellow Wallpaper” who was locked in that room and controlled by her husband.”
“So?”
“Yeah. That’s like in 451. Books are illegal to keep the people under control. They lie to everyone in all of these.”
“So?”
“They are all the same! I told you,” concluded the first student who had sparked our little discussion.
Next up –
To Kill a Mockingbird.
3 comments:
I do think it is kind of funny how you are willing to rip on a number of staff, the school board, superintendent and administration concerning the book issue. You lowered yourself. There aren't great problems in the school system in TRF, so when something like this comes up, it is hard to make sure all bases are covered. Instead of saying I hope these people take all information in and make a decision, you chose to use sarcasm to make a point, instead of trusting people to make the right decision. You tend to rip on the TRF School system which is your place of employment. It would be interesting to see for yourself if it is better somewhere else. You have great resources, teach high level classes and basically people stay out of your way. I think it is interesting how you can sort of backstab people when you are you are blogging, but yet don't go face to face in talking about your concerns about lack of support etc.
Fair criticism.
But that's the fun of having a blog. I can put my thoughts and feelings down here. So what?
I'll stand behind my comments on how administration handled things 100 percent. If you think I'm afraid of stating those concerns, talk to the people who toned down my letter to the entire staff about this censorship issue.
"Great problems" is open to debate. I dare you to ask that same question to the teachers who had their book yanked and their names and reputations slandered on the radio. You'd get quite a different opinion.
There are problems here. Are they "great"? I don't know.
Do we have kids toting weapons or pushing drugs? No. Does that mean we should turn a blind eye to the 'minor' problems that we do have? Just really listen to the staff and you'll hear the problems alright. Just sit down at a common prep some time (I can think of two sessions in the past year when others went off and all I did was scrawl notes. One time I turned those notes in as part of a common prep discussion. That was the last time teachers were ever free to choose their own topics to discuss during common prep. The second time was two Wednesdays ago when I tried to give my common prep presentation, but time and again, this issue - all those other issues that helped lead up to it - took center stage. And I never had to say a word once to get the complaints rolling.
Have I thought about switching jobs? Yeah. Who hasn't? But I told my wife when she was going through trouble at her job that I was blessed to have a job that I love going to everyday. But it's not like that tired old bumper sticker "America, love it or leave it." The whole point is to voice your concerns and you can stay and try to make it better.
I thought that was one of the cool things about last night's meeting. We voiced our concerns in a mostly calm and rational manner.
I admit I use sarcasm. Sometimes it goes too far and I pay the price. Often I delete posts after ranting. But it helps keep me sane.
Am I not free to criticize my place of employment? I care about my kids and my classes and my school. That doesn't mean I have to do like some and adorn rose colored glasses and just blithely state how wonderful things are when they are not.
I also recall two letters appearing in the paper. One was mine. I spoke at the meeting. I defended the teachers and our curriculum on the radio. I chose to run for union president. What else can I do?
Yeah, we do great things here. Scroll back aways and you'll find a video I posted bragging on the choir department. Scroll back and you'll find me praising our football program. Scroll back and you'll find me bragging on talking shop with my colleagues at lunch and during our preps.
I also realize that the book controversy has eaten up a lot of space on here and stirred some strong emotions.
Fair criticism. I thank you for that. I hope you keep reading and commenting.
Dear Anonymous:
How can you call Teacherscribe a backstabber and basically a coward by not confronting people when you, who most likely works in the TRF school system and knows Teacherscribe's identity, choose to leave an anonymous comment on his blog rather than talk to him "face to face."
As Alanis Morisette sung, "Isn't it ironic."
If you're so righteous identify yourself next time you want to criticize or if you're not brave enough at least choose an appropriate identity..hmmm..let's see..how about "Hypocritical"!
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