please email cake

Hey, would the groups who made cake this weekend (including that weird grave-looking thing) please send me their videos?

Also: who's making cake next week?  Please comment with your group/names.  First per period gets the nod.

an object lesson in open source learning

Imanie Tweeted (and maybe since deleted, since I don't see it anymore) to ask if I was challenging you by asking you to use a computer in class without providing one.  Here is the rest of the conversation:

Now, consider my last Tweet-- and this blog post.  By remixing our conversation in a medium that I could share with all students (I could've also included #dplitcomp in my Tweet), I'm sharing the benefit with everyone who needs this information but may not have seen Imanie's Tweets or my replies.

Apply this to the work you're doing today.  Lots of people (billions, including me) can't be in class to see your presentations.  So, the more you curate about them on your blog-- by writing and by including media such as video and pictures-- the more you bring your audience into your experience and your understanding.  Doing this creates value.  Put yourself in my sick shoes: being able to see and understand more about what happened in class makes me value your thinking, your authorship/blog, and your work product all the more.  Maybe I'll even learn a thing or two about Hamlet!

Hope the day goes well.
DP

a note about progress report grades

Due to rotten timing and a virus of the non-digital kind, we weren't able to have our grade conferences this week.  I will have to enter grades before I see you on Monday and I don't want anyone to worry unnecessarily.  So, if you have any specific questions or concerns, or if you need to share information with me, please email.  Mahalo.

yesterday's hamlet hack...

...is awesome. Way to go, p.4!

october 31

Happy Halloween, everyone.  Be safe out there.  Dr. Preston will be back Monday.

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Halloween traditions began as a way of "using humor and ridicule to confront the power of death."  Why do we make fun of things we fear?  How does this help us cope?  When is using humor to deal with serious issues a positive strategy, and when does it backfire?  Have you seen any evidence of humor as a coping strategy in Hamlet?  (*yes, you have :)  Was it effective for the characters and/or the audience?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Deliver your presentations on Acts I & II.  Use your school ID/password to log into the teacher computer-- the screen remote is in the top center drawer of the teacher's desk.  Please take notes on the presentations that summarize:

• Information that validates/confirms what you already thought you knew
• Information that challenges/contradicts what you already thought you knew
• Information that was brand new
• A presentation style (use of media, speaking tactic, classroom interaction) that helped you "get" something you hadn't previously gotten

HW:
1. Please finish posting these notes to your course blog
2. Please post your video recital of "To be or not to be..." (and be ready for random selections next week in class) 

this just in: college visit info from mrs. dirkes

october 30

This week I was asked to join other SMJUHSD administrators, faculty, counselors, and Santa Maria community leaders at an event promoting Cultural Proficiency at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.  The event was extremely well-done and I learned a lot-- I'll be posting more on it later.  We met Monday and Tuesday, and I hoped to be back in class Wednesday.  

Then I got sick.  You all know me as a positive person, and I am keenly aware of my responsibilities as a role model, so I'll choose my words carefully: Sick Sucks.  We have a lot going on, it's the end of the grading period, and I want to be in class with you.

However, after being called a hypocrite once already this year (for not getting enough sleep while telling students to get more sleep), I don't want to risk getting worse and missing more school, or--worse-- get any of you sick.  So, after an achy, fever-y, throat burning night, I decided to give this another day and I hope to be back tomorrow.

Since you have a soliloquy due today, please arrange yourselves in groups of 2-3 and ask one member to capture your recital on his/her phone.  Hopefully at least one of you will know how to get the video from your phone to your blog so you can post it by tomorrow.  If not, please collaborate with other groups or talk about this as a class so that everyone leaves with a solution-- even if that requires asking someone else to post it (did you know you can invite others to author to your blog?).

Some of you have asked for more time to work on your Act II presentations.  After you finish your journal and your soliloquy recital, take the opportunity.  I'll make a game-time decision tomorrow morning, hopefully I'll see you in 24 hours!

Have a great day,
Dr. Preston

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Now that you've mastered the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet, explain what it means.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Soliloquy videos
3. Act II presentation work (if necessary)

october 27-29

Happy Monday.

It looks like the link I posted on Friday to the forums was broken, so here it is again:

http://oslap2014.boards.net/thread/12/hamlet-remix

If the problem is a log-in thing, please register/log in and follow the threads so you can post your group's ideas.

I will be at a conference today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, so please feel free to use the time in class for your group project, for "To be..." & for Hamlet in general, for literature analysis work, and (lastly, after all that other stuff is done to your satisfaction) any other school/college stuff on your plate.  Wednesday Mrs. Dirkes will be in class to help with applications and admissions/scholarship questions.

Please also write in your journal each day.  The topics are up to you, as long as they're interesting enough to require at least half a page.  If you have ideas for interesting topics that you'd like to offer others and/or discuss, please include them in a comment to this post.  If you get stuck (on anything) and/or need suggestions please email.

in local halloween news...

pulp iambic lebowski ain't easy

As by now you have no doubt discovered, writing in iambic pentameter presents opportunities and challenges not found in prose. Which makes the following examples all the more fun:

october 24

JOURNAL TOPIC: How would you remix Hamlet to tell a compelling story in today's media? (*No "Lion King" references :)

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Remixing Acts I & II
3. Collaboration & social production
4. Schedule
5. "To be..."

HW:
1. Finish "To be..." and post/be ready to recite on demand by Thursday 10.30
2. Upload the ideas from your group conversation to the forum here over the weekend
3. Plan and create Act I & II remix (due Thursday 10.30)

meet pete

This is Pete.  Pete is a student of Laura Ritchie's, one of the professors I've been collaborating with since I got back from England.  Pete is studying the language of music.  Please check out his video, have a look at the video he mentions re: Eminem (which includes a great introduction to rhyming schemes, below), and comment to this post if you're interested in Skyping and collaborating with Pete!  Mahalo.

october 23

JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "These Days" by the Foo Fighters; "Stubborn Love" by the Lumineers)

Make a meaningful connection between these songs and Hamlet (thanks for the tunes, Daniel!). If you need more structure: describe the role of integrity in Hamlet. Outwardly it seems that Polonius, Claudius, and even Hamlet craft strategies to create impressions and manipulate others to gain information. Privately, Hamlet agonizes over his inability to act on his obligation to his dead father--to be true to his purpose.  What do you think Shakespeare is trying to say about "to thine own self be true"?

 AGENDA:
1. Journal (it's deep, take your time)
2. Finish reading Act II w/ notes & Q&A
3. Preview of Coming Attractions

HW:
1. Work on "To be or not to be..."
2. Start thinking about collaborations for presentations on Acts I & II

october 22

JOURNAL TOPIC:
If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?  What's the stupidest college/scholarship interview question or essay prompt you've heard/seen so far?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. College/scholarship Application Day
3. There Will Be Cake

HW:
1. Spend some time with "To be or not to be..."

Thanks to Mrs. Dirkes for visiting, helping us, and being awesome in general so you'll never have to deal with the Reality portrayed after the Jump...

october 21

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Choose one of the quotes we've highlighted so far.  Who said it?  Why do you think it's important?  How does it symbolize/reflect the theme, tone, and plot of the play?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
[* Period 6 review Act I Scene iii]
2. Act II Scene i & (part of) Scene ii
3. "To Be..."
4. Prep for college application workshop tomorrow

HW:
1. Work on "To Be..."

october 20

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Ghost Radio" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra; "The Payback" by James Brown]

A close study of revenge quickly reveals two schools of thought: 1) Revenge is righteous and/or fulfilling, and 2) Revenge keeps wounds from healing and-- however appealing or even cathartic it may seem-- ultimately destroys every party to it. How do you see the concept of revenge? How do you see the effects of revenge played out in the world? What do you think Hamlet should do now that he knows Claudius poisoned his father?

AGENDA:
1. Act I Scene iv
2. Act I Scene v
4. Journal

HW:
1. Recite
2. "To
3. Be
4. Or
5. Not
6. To
7. Be" soliloquy
8. by Thursday, October 30
9.*Vocab this week will be taken from your suggestions in Hamlet; please post candidate words in comments to this post.
10. Start thinking of a story from your life that no one else (at least in this community) has heard.

let them eat cake (i)

Cake-makers for next Wednesday:

period 4
Mellany
Daniel
Noah
Alec

period 5
Jeff
Val
Will
Sean

period 6
Joey
Jacob
Kurt

Please bring plates, napkins, forks, and enough for the whole tribe.  Mahalo.

to be or (you know)

You're going to be seeing a lot of this, so here is a post you can bookmark for easy reference.

(From Hamlet Act III Scene i)

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

key elements of act i scene iii

(Hey period 6!) Keep track of:

1. The advice Laertes gives Ophelia;
2. The advice Polonius gives Laertes;
3. The tone Polonius shows toward Ophelia.

good thinking

Yesterday we had some very important conversations in class, and I'd like to build on them here.

First: We will devote some time in class to college applications.  Like, actually doing them.  So bring your laptops/tablets/materials next Wednesday to start.

Second: We will dedicate some time in class to technology.  This was fairly broad, and I'm not exactly sure who needs what, so please comment to this post with your ideas about what we need to share information about (blogs, social media, photography/audio/video) and we'll build a schedule.

Third: When Marie Antoinette said it, she meant it dismissively.  When we say it, we mean it with love.  So, from now on, every Wednesday, "Let them eat cake."  You will collaborate with a team of 2-4 people, you will video the bake, you will curate the experience on your course blog, and you will raise each others' blood sugar for a few enjoyable moments while we wade through the rest of our experiences together.

october 17

JOURNAL TOPIC:
If Hamlet were living in 2014, would he post his feelings on Twitter?  Reddit?  Other social media?  Would you recommend he do this?  Why/why not?  What would he stand to gain or lose?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. [periods 4, 5] First edition of "Fridays with Friends" starring Ted Newcomb
3. [period 6] Catching up on Hamlet

***PLAN B***
Since the Google Hangout didn't work on the school computer, we will reconnect with Ted when I get my machine back next week.  Today we will revisit our conversations this week & have a look at Act I Scene iii.

HW:
1. Post Literature Analysis #2 if you haven't yet
2. Preview Act I Scene iii

join the course discussion forum

1. An Internet forum is a place where people can have discussions by topic;
2. We have a lot of topics to discuss (literature, college applications/scholarships, Big Questions/Masterpieces, etc.)
3. Joey has kindly set up a forum where we can all share and get the information we need.
4. Please click here and register to join.

and now for something completely different

For Tia & Jhaicelle:

hamlet act i scene ii vids

october 16

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Melancholy Mood" by Horace Silver; "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown]

Hamlet is confronted by a difficult situation.  What does it suggest about society's values at the time? Why does it challenge him so deeply?  How would your response-- as a reflection of both your personality/psychology and our society's values-- be similar or different?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Hamlet: review and discuss techniques in Act I Scenes i & ii
3. Vocab for tomorrow's quiz

HW:
1. Please read and comment on Hamlet's first big soliloquy 
2. Please read this article and post a response to your blog about it (title: LITERARY FICTION & EMPATHY).  How can reading fiction help you understand others?  Use Hamlet as an example to explore your own thinking process and reactions to a character's innermost thoughts/struggles.
3. Review vocab

hamlet's first big soliloquy

What does Hamlet mean by the following?  Please comment to this post with your interpretation.

O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two:
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him,
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month--
Let me not think on't--Frailty, thy name is woman!--
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she follow'd my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears:--why she, even she--
O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn'd longer--married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules: within a month:
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good:
But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.

october 15

CLOSING JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Indecision" by Eagle Eye Cherry; "King Without a Crown" by Matisyahu]

Hamlet wrestles with difficult decisions and problems by talking them through. Based on what (precious little) you've read so far, how do you think Hamlet will be influenced by such elements as his family, where he lives, emotion, and the differences between Hamlet's inner world of thoughts/feelings and the outer world that surrounds him? Feel free to apply your own experiences on these topics.

AGENDA:
1. Video replay: Hamlet Act I Scene i
2. Hamlet Act I Scene ii
3. Journal

HW:
1. Finish reading Hamlet Act I Scene ii and post reading notes on the first two scenes of the play to your blog (separate posts: "HAMLET ACT I SCENE I" & "HAMLET ACT I SCENE II").  Please list any questions you have about the play and bring them with you to discussion on Thursday.

frozen in time

Frozen as re-imagined from the neo-Golden era of gaming...

hamlet characters & act i scene i vid

You can see more (including the entire script of the play) on the Hamlet page. If you find more/better resources elsewhere, please share!

hamlet character map

period 6 please note

Yes, I know there is a College Fair today.  (I posted about it here.)

And yes, our study of Hamlet will begin as planned. 

If you are not in class today, please complete the homework as assigned and come back tomorrow (Wednesday) prepared to discuss.

Thank you.

october 14

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What does this video suggest about motivation and talent?  How can we meaningfully describe the passion and dedication with which this young man learns or his teachers teach?  Why is this video so moving in a world in which institutions breed cynics who come to believe there is nothing worthwhile about learning apart from the grade or the diploma?  Would you rather [hire/admit/reward] a lazy, articulate complainer with a 4.5 G.P.A. or Musharaf?




AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Intro to Hamlet: Act I Scene i

HW:
1. Post vocabulary definitions and sentences to your course blog.
2. Research Hamlet online and answer the following questions (with citations for any website you consult and/or quote) in comments to this post: 1)What is the play about? 2)Why is interpreting the play such a challenge? Why doesn't everyone agree on what the play "says" or  "means"?
3. Find at least three other learning communities that are studying Hamlet (in an AP class, a college/university course, or independently).  Introduce yourself and use the principles of "The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online" to do exactly that!  Report the experience(s) on your blog.

vocabulary: fall list 6

abase
abdicate
abomination
brusque
saboteur
debauchery
proliferate
anachronism
nomenclature
expurgate
bellicose
gauche
rapacious
paradox
conundrum
anomaly
ephemeral
rancorous
churlish
precipitous

october 13

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Using at least three allusions to song lyrics and/or last week's vocabulary words, describe how you approached this weekend's homework.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Blog audit
3. Vocabulary

HW:
1. Please post this week's vocabulary definitions and sentences
2. Preview Hamlet Act I Scene I

canterbury tales essay prompt

If you're doing option a) or b) this weekend, here is the prompt-- and thanks to Lupita for letting me know this hadn't posted!

How do Geoffrey Chaucer's inspirations and use of literary techniques 

in Canterbury Tales suggest the importance of both honoring and questioning 

literary and social traditions?

reminder: you have access to the best-informed thinkers of our time

Yesterday after we watched Kirby Ferguson's "Everything is a Remix" video I Tweeted about it and included Kirby's handle.  Kirby replied:

So now I remix the Tweet into a micro-lesson-via-blog-post to remind us all that the end-user network known as the Public Internet gives us direct access to the experts.  If you want to know something about creativity/originality as it relates to the art of the remix, don't be shy: Ask Kirby!  (And please remember to use the hashtags #phonar #dplitcomp #opnsl)

october 10

JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Genius" by Pitchshifter; "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo; "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby)

Where does genius come from?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Finish/discuss "Everything is a Remix"
3. Analyze/evaluate samples  from course blogs
4. Apply to Chaucer essay

HW:
You (always) have a choice.  You may either: a) retool your thesis/analysis to write a traditional essay in response to the prompt in the next post; or b) retool your thesis/analysis to create a transmedia remix/composition as a response to the prompt in the next post; or c) do the #phonar assignment in this link pictured below.

from the college office

october 9

JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Change Your Mind" by Neil Young; "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica)

Describe the greatest decision you never made.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Everything is a Remix
3. Composing your essay

HW:
1. Review "Everything is a Remix" & "To Curate or Not To Curate"
2. Create a transmedia draft of your essay. Include any mediated artistic elements you see fit, and describe what you wish you could include.

to curate or not to curate

When Hamlet says "To be or not to be" he gives the impression that he is making a conscious decision based on thoughtful analysis.  In a world where actions speak louder than words, however, he also has been interpreted as dithering.  In the beginning of the play Hamlet knows what he has to do, and he even seems to know what he WILL do, but bringing himself to act on this awareness is more complicated.

So it goes with your online identity.  However clear our own impressions of ourselves may be, it can be difficult to convey our inner selves and thoughts to an audience.  This is why Montaigne was such an important writer; his attempts to capture his real-time thinking on paper gave us the essay (which, contrary to popular belief, means "to try" and not "five paragraphs of suck.")  This is also why you are now such an important writer.  What you say, what you don't say, what you post, what you don't post-- it all adds up to an impression of who you are and how you think. 

How much of that impression is intentional?  When you write a blog post and click "Publish" are you imagining the effect your words and images will have on your audience?  When you read someone else's blog/site, what conclusions do you draw about the author?

Everything you see in a museum is there by design.  It is curated for a purpose.  Read this article on curation.  Then, reflect: How do the artifacts you wear, listen to, put on your bedroom wall etc. convey a sense of who you are and how you think?  How can you optimize your blog to help your audience understand the person who created it?

Your situation is both simpler than Hamlet's and more complicated.  You don't have to worry about "not to be"-- that's not an option in Open Source Learning.  No one gets to be invisible.  There is no back row on the Internet where you can hunch low and hope to remain unseen.  But Hamlet only had two options; once you decide To Be, the real question becomes, Who do you want to be?  To everyone who sees what you put online, your curation becomes the story of your learning life.  

fresh tracks with marcel

Head for the snow this winter, and head for Marcel's blog to find out how.

tweet your canterbury tale with #phonar

Please Tweet the link to the Canterbury Tale you wrote on your blog (the one about you!) and include the hashtags #phonar and either #dplitcomp or #opnsl.  This will put it in the feeds of our collaborators in the UK.  Thanks!

joey sez adjust your coggle box

Cogglers: please note that it will be easier to use the platform if you adjust the size of your text box before pasting in text.

october 8

(*Eyebrow of the Day: Alec)

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Listen to the ambient sounds in the room around you.  What story do they tell?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Table Tales

Guiding Questions:
1. What Tale did you choose?  Why?  What appealed to you?
2. Describe the main character.
3. How do Chaucer's choices in diction and syntax create the tone of this Tale?
4. How does Chaucer characterize the protagonist (both in content and technique)?
5. What storytelling genre does this Tale represent?  Why?
6. How do the characterizations and events in this Tale represent the larger theme/s &/or purpose/s of Canterbury Tales?
7. How would you change/improve the Tale if you could?
8. How would the Tale be different if the career, or SES, or gender of the title character were different?
9. As you analyze the Tale, what ideas or writing techniques make it especially effective in conveying its message?
10. How can you use any of the techniques you read to improve your own writing?

HW:
1. Use your notes from your table conversation to outline the body of your essay (based on your thesis statement from last night), entitled: CANTERBURY OUTLINE

october 7

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Who Are You" by Tom Waits--or "Who Are You" by The Who; "The Real Me" by Johnny Adams-- or "The Real Me" by The Who]

How does reading fictional characters help you understand yourself?  How does it help you understand and maybe even bridge the gap between who you are and who you want to be?  How does it help you understand other people?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Return & discuss midterms (delayed due to make-ups)
2a. Table Tales
3. A word (several, actually) about scholarships and Cracking the Code on College
4. Chaucer's dead... but we're alive!  (Coggle)
5. The art of the mix tape 2.0
6. This agenda is long
7. And tomorrow-ish we begin Hamlet

HW:
1. Write a thesis statement for an essay on Chaucer. Post to your blog under the title: THE POINT OF CANTERBURY TALES IS...
2. Answer these "Pre-Will"questions in a post on your blog (title: GREEN EGGS & HAMLET): a) What do you know about Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane"?  b) What do you know about Shakespeare?  c) Why do so many students involuntarily frown when they hear the name "Shakespeare"?  and d) What can we do to make studying this play an amazing experience we'll never forget?

watch this then go outside

october 6

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Flushed From the Bathroom Of Your Heart" by Johnny Cash; "Another Brick In The Wall (parts 1, 2, & 3)" by Pink Floyd]

Describe the use of metaphor in today's tunes.  What does the figurative language signify?  Is this more effective than simple, literal/denotative descriptions?  Why?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Coggleshop/discussion/publishing stories
3. Crowdsourcing vocabulary
4. Canterbury Tales & the week in preview

HW:
1. Post story to Coggle (or hassle Joey)
2. Study vocabulary: fall list 5
3. Reminder: Literature Analysis #2 due 10.17

vocabulary: fall list 5

shenanigans
ricochet
schism
eschew
plethora
ebullient
garrulous
harangue
interdependence
capricious
loquacious
ephemeral
inchoate
juxtapose
perspicacious
codswallop
mungo
sesquipedelian
wonky
diphthong

canterbury tale-esque narrative

Two weeks ago we began an exploration of story in a variety of media. Here is a recap of what we covered and a recipe for what to include in your narrative as we wrap up our study of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

On September 19 I asked you to review Jonathan Worth's phonar lecture for our discussion of how language and media have evolved and influenced the ways we think about and tell stories.  "Phonar" is short for "photography" and "narrative"-- as I mentioned the next day, our relationships with pictures and the stories of our lives have changed over the years.  Understanding how we once told the stories of our pictures (and how we've adapted so that our online pics tell the stories of us) can help us understand how authors like Chaucer felt about the limitations of language and the written word, and how they developed techniques to more effectively communicate their ideas.

In the two weeks since, we have combined a traditional reading-oriented study of Canterbury Tales with creative writing.  You should have summarized and analyzed at least one of Chaucer's tales and posted notes to your blog; this, along with Tuesday's lecture, should give you a solid foundation in understanding Chaucer's influences and strategies. Your practice with direct and indirect characterization, elements of the monomyth, and plot/tone will give you real-time experience to draw on as we go further in depth later in the semester.

Part of the reason for including Jonathan's lecture is that we will be collaborating with his photography students at (and Laura Ritchie's University of Chichester music students, and Mark Cabrinha's Cal Poly Architecture students, and others) to create multimedia narratives.  The first step in this process will be copying/pasting your narratives from your course blog to Coggle per Joey's invitation.

Here are the ingredients your narrative should include.  Please post to your course blog by Sunday (10.5) evening, and copy/paste to Coggle as soon as you receive the invitation.

• Use at least two moments of direct characterization and two moments of indirect characterization to describe yourself as the fictional protagonist of this story.
• The story itself is the story of your journey over the next year (this is part monomyth, part bildungsroman-- we'll be covering these in detail soon).  
• Exposition: the time is one year from now.  The place is the university of your choice.  (Note: this was originally intended as a "visioning" exercise-- if, however, you find that you simply cannot tolerate any more reality intruding on your creativity, and you really want to write this as an an exercise in fantasy/escapism, please feel free to do so.)  Describe your journey to this moment as a fictional retrospective. 
• The plot of your retrospective should include the following elements of the monomyth (a.k.a. the hero's journey).  The character has to be called to an adventure which s/he is not seeking.  The adventure must be thrilling/challenging but not necessarily desirable; 3. The character must prepare and leave home with what's on his/her back (which may include a bag of stuff); 4. The character's departure must be vividly described; and 5. The character must meet up with at least one other character from class and/or the characterization parody we watched in class.  Including a secondary character provides opportunity for interaction and dialogue.
• You may of course include and practice other literary techniques.  When you copy/paste your narrative to Coggle, place it where you think it makes sense.  Early editors will probably create threads and categories, these may change over time as more is added.  This part of the process will make more sense when everyone begins posting.

Please feel free to comment or email with questions.  Looking forward to reading y/our story?

world record rubik's cube solver

vocabulary midterm

adumbrate apotheosis ascetic bauble beguile burgeon complement contumacious curmudgeon didactic disingenuous exculpate faux pas fulminate fustian hauteur inhibit jeremiad opportunist unconscionable

accoutrements apogee apropos bicker coalesce contretemps convolution cull disparate dogmatic licentious mete noxious polemic populous probity repartee supervene truncate unimpeachable

accolade acerbity attrition bromide chauvinist chronic expound factionalism immaculate imprecation ineluctable mercurial palliate protocol resplendent stigmatize sub rosa vainglory vestige volition

obsequious beatitude bete noire bode dank ecumenical fervid fetid gargantuan heyday incubus infrastructure inveigle kudos lagniappe prolix protege prototype sycophant tautology truckle

joey buelow, cogglemaster

Thanks to Joey for introducing me to Coggle.  This is the platform we'll use to organize your Canterbury Tales-esque stories.  Joey will send out invitations to share/edit over the weekend.

october 3

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What's the value of learning vocabulary?  How are you using it?  How is it helping you?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Vocab midterm

HW:
1. Please follow the Canterbury Tales narrative recipe and post to your course blog (and copy/paste to Coggle per Joey's email invitation) by Monday.

october 2

See Lord of the Flies and October 1

law of unintended consequences (part II)

First: ARRRRGGHHH!

  

Second: In honor of the four-person discussion in period 4 today, today's agenda (Oct 1) will now be tomorrow's (October 2).  Today will be dedicated to the connections between Canterbury Tales, creative writing outcomes, Big Questions, and Masterpieces.

law of unintended consequences

As a result of well-intended efforts (the hillside lawn, College Boot Camp) Room 608 now has more flies than students.

october 1

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Let's Get Lost" by Chet Baker; "Dazed and Confused" by Led Zeppelin; "Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith]

Today one of your characters will get lost.  This will be disorienting and stressful, but in finding his/her way this character will discover something about him/herself.  Describe a time you got lost.  How did you respond?  Why is this such a disconcerting experience, and what can it teach us?  What did it teach you?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Didn't know which vocabulary list to study last night?  (Hint: Midterm October 3.  Answer: All of them.)
3. Get lost
4. Pick a Canterbury tale for your group to read and present tomorrow in class

HW:
1. Read the Canterbury tale your group chose and post a summary to your blog (title: TALE OF A CANTERBURY TALE).  In addition to summarizing, answer the following questions: 1. Explain the central character of the tale by analyzing five (5) examples of indirect characterization; 2. What is Chaucer's purpose in telling this character's tale?  Is he satirizing society, giving the voiceless a voice, or trying to accomplish a different goal?  [Support your argument with textual evidence.]
2. Study vocabulary (midterm Friday)
3. Work on literature analysis #2 and plan to finish by Friday, October 17