ideas for group presentation on mice and men

For Laura, Lexi, and my group presentation, on Mice and Men, our first thought for a writing assignment was to have students write an alternate ending to the book. This assignment would come at the end of the book after we had read the whole thing. This type of assignment would be fun for the students, would force them to be creative, but would also show us that they have a grasp on the book and storyline, and can make something unique from it. The ending would have to be realistic, and completely relate to the story. Nothing like...Lennie gets taken away by aliens haha.

As for a few other ideas, we were thinking of maybe doing something with the history that is taking place in the story and having the students do a writing assignment on that somehow. Ex: maybe showing them a poster or picture of 2 migrant workers back in the 1930s or 40s and having them write about what they think those workers' life was like based on the picture and their knowledge of George and Lennie's experiences.

We probably won't do this unless we can make it more of an assignment, but we were also thinking of having students write about one of their best friends who they are very different from, and explain how they became friends and how they remain friends even though they are very different. We would then have them relate that back to George and Lennie's friendship and see if there are any similarities. This would give the students a fun assignment to do, but they would still be analyzing the characters in the book and their relationship to one another.

Multigenre Paper Ideas

1) Name of topic: How to get students to enjoy reading, writing, and interpreting poetry.

2) I know a lot about poetry, literary terms, how to read and interpret poetry, etc. I also know that a lot of students don't enjoy poetry because they think it might be boring, stupid, or pointless. They don't see how it is actually in their everyday lives. I believe that a lot of students aren't taught poetry in a way that will make them enjoy it, and I want to change that.

3) I want to learn some helpful techniques or learning strategies that I could use to get students involved in poetry, and enjoying it. I have some ideas of my own already, but I would like to learn a few more.

4) I like poetry a lot now, ever since I took a class in it my sophomore year of college. However, I never really liked it in high school, partially because it wasn't taught very much, and when it was, it wasn't taught well. My teachers never made it fun, or related it to my life in any way. I think poetry is under appreciated, so I want to know more about it and I want to teach people more about it because I think a better understanding of it will lead to a better appreciation for it, and will get students to enjoy it more.

5) Questions about my topic:

-How can I get students to see the importance of poetry?

-What are all the different types and forms of poetry?

-How is poetry used in our everyday lives?

-Who are some of the most famous world-wide poets?

-How do I grade poetry if it is supposed to be creative and original?

-What do I do if students aren't buying into what I'm saying?

6) In class source: "Spoon River Anthology" - I will use the Spoon River Anthology of poems to show students a very unique and creative form of poetry, and how poetry can tell a story just like a novel or short story can.

Outside source: article on how music is related to poetry - Many students like music, but many of them don't see how it connects to (and actually is) poetry. I think making them see this will show them that poetry is actually more fun than they think.

Of Mice and Men

"Of Mice and Men," written by John Steinbeck, is really just a novel about two good friends who work together on a ranch. No, it's actually a novel about mental disabilities. Scratch that, this novel's true lens is the importance of friendship and how it is necessary to have a best friend to share your life with and help you through the tough times.

Above are only a few of the possible lenses that this book could be viewed through, though some are more realistic than others. The lens I believe that the book should be looked at through is the 3rd one that I said, about friendship. This book is centered around George and Lennie, two good friends who rely heavily on one another. They are very close and have a tight friendship. I really liked the first half of this book, though I read it back in High School, but there was a lot of details that I had forgotten that I was reminded of after reading it the 2nd time.

The students could relate to this book because of all the friendship that it focuses on. The friendship between Lennie and George is such a strong one that students will most likely think about their own friendships as they read the book, which will help them relate to it. The book is also realistic enough with enough description that students could even put themselves in the shoes of Lennie or George and imagine what it would be like to have their life.

OT Documentary

I thought that the documentary on Our Town and the students in California who put it on as a play was very interesting. It was good to see the lives of the students at the beginning and get a feel for how the school and town were. Then, going into the teacher's opinions and why they wanted to put on the play was good because it allowed us insight into their thoughts. I liked all the interviews and opinions that the film got from the students' perspective throughout the film because it was really helpful and interesting to see their thoughts on the whole thing. I also think it is great that the teachers decided to put this play on, and that the students actually cooperated. That may not always happen expecially in a "ghetto" school as they called themselves, so it was nice to see. I really liked how they added their own personal touch to the play, but still kept it realistic and original enough to make it worth while. It made me smile to see the students get so involved in it, and was definitely a good documentary to watch to get some ideas about how we can use plays in our future high school English classes as well!

Spoon River Anthology

After reading these Spoon River Anthology poems I found them to be quite interesting, and very unique compared to some of the poetry I have read before. Each poem tells its own story, but also relates to the other poems in the anthology to make one giant story. One thing I noticed about the poems are that many of them: are about death or graves, have questions posed in them, have repetition of some sort, and are about individual people.

This ties into "Our Town" in a way because Our Town had similar things in it. It was about individual people in a small town, told its own story of the town, and dealt a lot with death and dying, as the anthology does. If I were a teacher trying to use the Spoon River Anthology in a classroom where we read Our Town, I would probably stress the death aspect and have the students talk about how the poems talk about death in a similar or different way than that of Our Town. I would also point out how the anthology of poems have different people's names as their titles, and have the students explain to me the meaning behind this, what it adds to the poems, and if it makes them feel like the person in the poem is important because the whole individual poem is focused on them. Then I would have the students tell me if they think that each character in Our Town was important, and why or why not. I would end by asking them which form they liked better as a story telling method - the play or the anthology of poems - and why.

Our Town

After reading the first act of Our Town and discussing it with my fellow classmates, some thoughts came to mind. One was that the play seemed a bit plain and boring in a sense. It didn't seem to be about much other than some random people's lives. Now maybe it was written that way and is meant to be like that, but it's hard to tell. In a way that does allow readers to put themselves in the position of the characters and think about what it would be like to be those people. But sometimes it just seems like the story isn't going anywhere important. But I suppose we'll find out. I did like how the details of the town were introduced. Instead of a typical narrator just explaining how the town is, they have Mr. Webb explain it through questions from the townspeople and such. This was a unique introduction and made the story seem more realistic and showed the people's involvement with one another. I'm sure this play does have deeper and more important meaning behind it though, so hopefully those will become more clear once I read Act 2 and 3 tonight and tomorrow.

Our Town Act 1

In the first act of "Our Town," the town of Grover's Corners seems to be a normal and average town in America. The way it is portrayed and the way that the characters are described and act, this seems similar to the way that many average Americans are. I found it interesting that the birth and death rates seem to stay consistent in this town from year to year. Also the fact that there is a minimum amount of drinking that goes on in Grover's Corners is somewhat surprising.

Some of the repetition that is seen in this act is the amount of gossip that goes on between characters. For example, Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb gossip about Mrs. Gibbs' money offer from the furniture salesman, Dr. Gibbs and the paperboy gossip about the local schoolteacher's marriage, and the children have their own gossiping conversations.

Night of the Hunter Film Viewing in regards to Huck Finn

In this blog I am responding to questions #4 and #6 that you had on our handout....

#4 response

Reading Huck Finn before watching this film changed my viewing experience of the film because I was constantly thinking about Huck Finn while watching the movie. Through the movie I would be watching it, and when something happened that was similar to something from Huck Finn, it caught my attention. Basically I viewed the film in relation to Huck Finn and tried to find all the ways that it was similar to Huck. I also focused on details of the film such as how the boy in the film reacted to certain situations, and how he grew up through the story. If I had just watched this film on my own I might not have focused as much attention on the boy or the step father, but after reading Huck, I paid more attention to these things. Also, all the similarities between the novel and movie allowed me to compare them more and do more thinking and analyzing of the movie, instead of just watching it with no purpose.

#6 response

Yes, I would possibly teach this film with a Huck Finn lesson. There are many similarities between the two stories such as: the boys growing up and maturing quickly; having an abusive father or step-father; running away down a river; having a theme of money; and more. Therefore, if I taught this movie in a Huck Finn lesson I would emphasize the similarities and differences between the two, and have the students analyze the stories in relation to one another. I would have the students give me their reactions to each of the stories and what they think they would have done in each situation. Or I would have them tell me which situation they would have liked to me in more. I would not necessarily use this every time I taught Huck Finn, but I might in certain situations based on the age group and whatnot of my students.

In the email you asked us to reflect on why Twain did not make Jim's escape a straightforward escape. This reason is because nothing about being an African American in the south at that time was straight forward. Everything is complicated and the African Americans are always dealing with hardships and difficult situations. Nothing is easy or simple or common, therefore Jim's escape couldn't be either. The baking of the "witch pie" is also a reference to all of Jim's witch talk throughout the novel.

This entire book is about adventure, as the name implies. Between Huck's adventures and Jim's and Tom's, adventure spans throughout the book. What also spans through the book is lying and sneakiness. Therefore, Jim's escape without those things. It couldn't be a simple easy escape where they just go in and take him. Twain had to make it adventurous and sneaky and sly, because that is what the novel is all about. Therefore, that's how it had to conclude.

Teaching Huck Finn

As a teacher, I would teach Huck Finn as a novel about coming of age and maturing into teenage years. Throughout the novel we see this in Huck, and I believe it is a big part of the novel. As the teacher, I would have the students start with a free-write about their own experiences as a teenager growing up to whatever point they are (ex: they may only be sophomores in HS but I would have them write about their experiences up till that point). I would have them write about any experiences that they felt made them feel older or more mature. Are they at the point yet where they no longer feel like a child, but more like an adult? I would let them take the exercise in any direction they wanted as long as they kept it related to the task.

I would also ask my students to brainstorm how their personality and life would be different if they had different parents, lived in a different country, in a different time period, etc. This would get them thinking about the various paths that a person's life can take from childhood to adolescence to adulthood based on their surrounding environment. I feel this would be a great way to get the kids started on Huck Finn and thinking about it in terms of a coming of age book.

As we dove more into Huck Finn I would create different exercises, but that is how I would start the kids off with Huck Finn.

Huck Finn passage

In Chapter 16 of Huck Finn, there is a part where Jim tells Huck that he is Jim's only friend, and the only person who ever kept their promise to Jim. This comes after Huck had decided he was going to turn Jim in, so it ends up having a strong effect on Huck. The fact that Huck decides not turn Jim in shows his maturity and coming of age, which was my goggle lens. I found this interesting that Huck decided not to turn Jim in because Huck felt guilty about wronging Jim. Huck's actions were the exact opposite of what most people in Huck's time would have done. They all thought of Jim as a slave, a lesser person, and someone who didn't deserve any respect or care. However, Huck viewed Jim as more of a friend, and did not feel right turning him in. He cared about Jim's feelings and he cared about Jim being stuck in a terrible life. This shows Huck's uniqueness and maturity in the racist world he's living in.

Free Write Response Huck Finn

I thought it was a really good idea for us to partner up and for each of us to have a different lens to view the book through. It made reading the book unique and it made class discussion interesting. Listening to each person's views based on their "goggle lens" helped us see the book through different views, but we were still able to have our own position.

The lens that Dan and I had was a coming of age. I was glad to have this lens because when I read Huck Finn the first time, this was the theme that I found to be the largest and most important. Therefore, having to argue/support this theme in class was easy because it was what I believed. But, it was still helpful to see the different readings of the story through the various lenses. For example, I had never realized how superstition was a such a large part of this book until it was pointed out in class and we discussed the various examples of it. I thought the class discussion was very helpful and allowed everyone to gain more insight into the various aspects of this story.

Informal Huck Finn research response

In the article written by National Public Radio, it talks about how in the new versions of Huckleberry Finn, the "N" word is eliminated, and any negative references to Native Americans are also done away with. It goes on to give a few people's opinions on this action, and why the publishing companies are deciding to do this.

I found this aspect of the Huck Finn book to be a very interesting one. It's funny that I found this article too, because just the other day I was talking to one of my aunts (a former teacher) about how we're reading Huck Finn in class and her first question to me was..."are you reading the real version with the "n" word?...because that's how it was back then." Her comment at the time made me think about the disagreement that people have about whether or not children should be reading the version with the "n" word. Then, finding this article just made me think about it even more.

I am somewhat torn on the subject. Honestly, I think that using the word really adds to the legitimacy of the story, because it really does show how harsh and tough things were for African Americans back then. It is a strong reminder about the past of this country; one which we should never forget. On the other hand, however, I understand why people don't want kids reading it. First of all, we don't want kids thinking they can say it since it is written in their book. Also, for those who are African American, we don't want to offend them in any way. This is a very delicate subject, and one that has legitimate arguments for both sides. But now, at least having both versions allows the schools and teachers to determine which version they would like to teach.

Link to article:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/01/04/132652272/new-edition-of-huckleberry-finn-will-eliminate-offensive-words

Anticipation of Huck Finn

I have actually read Huck Finn before, but it was in high school so I have forgotten many of the details. I still remember the main plot but some of the details are a bit fuzzy. However, this was one of the books that I liked the most in high school. Out of all the books I read in HS, Huck Finn was in my top 3. Therefore, I am pretty happy to be reading it again, and using it in class in a different way than I did in high school. I know we went over many of the themes of this book in class, and I think we covered most of the main ones that I could remember...child abuse, coming of age, racism, and Christianity. I think it will be interesting reading Huck Finn a second time and seeing how my interpretation may have changed, or just see how reading it a second time is different than it was the first time. I hope to get more out of it the 2nd time, and see how the work that we do with it will enhance my understanding of this novel.

Sonrisas Poem Analysis

After reading "Sonrisas" by Pat Mora the first time, my understanding was at a 5 or 6. I have done a lot with poetry - reading it, writing it, and analyzing it - so this was not a new experience for me. As I read it the first time, I automatically started thinking about the literary techniques (or lack thereof) that were used in the poem. These included, alliteration, repetition, lack of set rhythm or rhyme, etc. I took notes on these things that I noticed. When I first read it though, I wasn't completely sure what was being compared in the poem, or what doorway the speaker was in between.

However, as I read it slower the 2nd time, much more jumped out at me. I started breaking down each word and it's relation to other words to figure out the meanings behind them. The more I did this, the better my understanding got. I still wasn't sure exactly what the "clicks" from lines 3 and 4 meant, but I had an idea or two of what they could be. But, by the time I was done reading the poem through the 2nd time I felt my understanding was at about an 8.

After reading it the 3rd and final time, I think I have a very valid interpretation of what the poem means. I don't know if I am 100% correct, but that is the beauty of poems - they can be interpreted in many ways and you never really know if you got it right. However, I feel that I have an interpretation that could definitely be correct.

I interpret this poem as one that is comparing Mexican women to American women, possibly American business women specifically, but I don't think so. The first stanza is talking about the American women with their "cups of black coffee" (3-4) and the "click click" (4) of what I am interpreting to be the women walking in their high heels. The speaker is talking about American women in "crisp beige suits" (6-7), which is why I think it might be referring to women in the business world more than average American women. But many women do wear suits, not only business women, so this could still be referring to all American working women in general. Also, it says "tenure" and "curriculum" (5) which makes me think of teachers as well, not business women. The last 2 lines of the first stanza mention the women not smiling, meaning the speaker views American working women as serious women.

The second stanza of this poem turns attention to Mexican women, or "senoras" (10), who are wearing their dresses and stirring their sweet milk coffee. Right there we have two specific comparisons - the women in the first stanza were wearing suits and drank black coffee, whereas the women in the second stanza wore dresses and drank sweet milk coffee. Also, the women being referred to in the 2nd stanza are laughing and smiling (12, 16) when the women in the first are not. Another difference is that the women being referred to in the 2nd stanza seem to be less active than those in the 1st stanza. It seems to me that the speaker in this poem is caught between these 2 worlds of American women and Mexican women, who have completely different lifestyles and ways of doing things. The speaker can't decide which world she likes or belongs in more, and this poem is a way for her to compare the 2 different worlds she is caught between.

This was my interpretation of Pat Mora's poem and I feel that, with this interpretation, my understanding of the poem is at a 9. However, I look forward to seeing how my peers have interpreted this poem, and maybe get a discussion going in class about it!

Thoreau Sentence Reading/Re-reading

"Sometimes we are inclined to class those who are once-and-a-half -witted with the half-witted, because we appreciate only a third of their wit." - Thoreau

The Thoreau sentence above that we read and re-read in class was quite a confusing one. When I first read the sentence, I had no idea what it meant. It didn't seem to make any sense, and with all the dashes and spelled out numbers it took some slow reading and thinking to even try to grasp what it meant. When I read the sentence the first time, my understanding was at about a 3, out of 10. I thought the quote was somewhat funny and it made me think about math with all the numbers references.

When I read it the 2nd time, I tried to put the sentence into simpler terms. I decided that "class" meant "group together" and that "witted" referred to the person's intelligence. I turned the long, dashed, wordy numbers into actual numbers... 1.5 and .5 and .333. Doing all of that made the sentence seem shorter and less complicated. After reading it the 2nd time I felt that I had gained a better understanding of what the sentence meant, and my understanding was at a 5.

Reading it the third time didn't seem to gain me too much more understanding than the 2nd time, but did help me think about a few different meanings the sentence could have.

Collaboration with other students definitely helped me see this sentence in a few different ways that I had not thought of. Doing this exercise was very interesting because it truly made us think. You were trying to show us the types of exercises that teachers can do with their students by actually doing one with us. For us, we were really doing some serious thinking and analyzing of a sentence that was not very simple. It was a fun exercise and was a good example of what, as teachers, we can do with our students in our English classes.