Thursday, October 25, 2007


Finish Part III of Fahrenheit 451 for Monday. Remember to write your third pre-discussion reflection (20 sentence minimum) and bring a question for us to discuss at the table.

Your corrections of your personal narrative are also due on Monday.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007



Some of you have asked for the link to the video we saw and discussed in class today, EPIC 2014. This is posted above. In searching for this video, I discovered that there is an updated version, EPIC 2015, posted below.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Read Part II in Fahrenheit 451 for Thursday. Write a (minimum) 20 sentence reflection in your Nexus. Prepare a question for Thursday's table.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Finish reading Part I of Fahrenheit 451. Remember to interact with the text by:
• Underlining lines from the text that you find particularly interesting, relevant, meaningful, puzzling, provocative, compelling…..
• Underlining parts/ words you do not understand. Put a question mark next to these parts/ words.
• Writing notes/ questions in the margins where you record your thoughts/ reactions to the parts of the story. (ie, What do you think of the characters? Of their behavior? Of the society in which they are living?)
• Marking any “brushstrokes” or other stylistic devices you find.

In your Nexus, make a journal entry after you complete this reading. The response can be typed and placed in an envelope pocket in your Nexus or simply written in the Nexus. Focus on interesting metaphors or symbols, the way the characters are portrayed, the themes of the book, and/or techniques Bradbury used to achieve his “so what.” Explore ideas and the craft of writing. This reflection should be a minimum of 20 sentences and needs to be completed before the “Around Table” discussion tomorrow.

Monday, October 15, 2007

If this all works, by clicking on the link Personal Narrative Rubric, you will be able to access the document that all of you created (and that I passed out in class today). You should be able to print it easily as well. Let me know if this works. (By the way, thanks Jeremy, for showing me how to do this.)

Friday, October 12, 2007

Your personal narrative is due on Wednesday. Your Memory Bank, your Self-Portrait Box, your personal Timeline all contain wonderful possibilities for your narrative. Be deliberate in the "memory" you choose. If the memory is significant to you, you can make it significant to your audience. Family stories are also possibilities, because they are part of your cultural and familial experience as well. Remember to start your story "in medias res." It should be a minimum of 3 pages, 12pt type, double-spaced.

After you have written a draft and before its due date on Wednesday, look for places where you can employ "brushstrokes." Do not "force" them or use too many, but look for places where combining sentences will add variety to the flavor of your writing.

If you have not yet posted a comment for Wednesday's (Oct. 10th) blog, please do so at the end of Wednesday's blog. Read everyone's posting before posting your own.

Here's a link to Mychall Bell update. He's back in jail again!


Wednesday, October 10, 2007


Mellencamp song about Jena, La. gets mayor upset; calls song's video inflammatory

Click on the above to read an article from the Associated Press.

And an article on a "spate of noose incidents."

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Thurgood Marshall at the Supreme Court.

Finish Warriors Don't Cry for Monday as well as the corrections of your timeline.

You will have a test on Wednesday. We will review for the test in class on Monday and Tuesday.

Keywords

A good way to start preparing for the test on Wednesday is to review the keywords. Most of the definitions/ explanations for these words is located in The Words We Live By (Article VI 118-120, Amendment X 194, 196-198, Amendment XIV 212-214, 219-222).

Keywords:

Naturalized
Jurisdiction
Abridge
Immunities
"Equal Protection Clause"
Jim Crow Laws
Fourteenth Amendment
Plessy v Ferguson 1896
Justice John Marshall Harlan
NAACP
Brown v Board of Education (1954)
Chief Justice Warren
Brown II (1955)
Federalism
States' Rights
Nationalism
Soverignty
President Eisenhower
Governor Faubus
President Kennedy
Thurgood Marshall
"Supremacy Clause"
James Meredith
Governor Barnett
Interposition
Nullification
Tenth Amendment
Article VI
Legacy

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Listen to Dwight D. Eisenhower deliver his speech to the American people about why he sent in troops to Little Rock, Arkansas. (Click on the word "listen" at the beginning of the previous sentence. At the website this link takes you to, scroll down to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Click on Eisenhower's second audio.)

Governor Faubus of Arkansas responding to Eisenhower's enforcement of Federal Law.

Read to page 276 in Warriors Don' Cry.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007


"Thou shall not be a perpetrator; thou shall not be a victim; and thou shall never be a bystander. "
-Yehuda Bauer

Read to page 230 in Warriors Don't Cry.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007



Read to page 188 in Warriors Don't Cry.

Define the following terms in your Nexus:

Article VI
Supremacy Clause

Interposition/ Nullification
Sovereignty

In Medias Res

Monday, October 01, 2007

Read to page 145 in Warriors Don't Cry. Your timeline is due tomorrow! Remember to be deliberate in your choices of historic events. I look forward to seeing how you respond to this assignment.

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