Contemporary Literature

Contemporary Literature Week 12 November 5-9, 2012

Monday, November 5, 2012 Due Today: Walk-IN: Take out The World According to Garp, sit with a partner, and open up to The World According to Garp section of your notebook. Learning Objective: • Students will collaborate with instructors, peers, and experts to discuss potential relationships between literary work(s) and selected critical lenses. • Students will assume responsibilities for effective dialogues by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; listening to a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarifying, verifying, or challenging ideas and conclusions; and promoting divergent and creative viewpoints. Agenda: • The World According to GarpDiscussion Day Homework: Read and prepare for Book Club # 3 on Tuesday (Page 157)

The World According to GarpRotating Discussion 1 You will take turns discussion different ideas and passages from The World According to Garp. You will alternate who speaks first according to where you are sitting. You will be asked to share out responses by paraphrasing what your partner said and then build off of this comment by sharing your response. When responding, consider the novel as a whole and other readings from this semester. Discussion 1: Discuss your impressions of Jenny Fields. • Possible areas of focus: her view of herself, her family, men/women, and her ultimate decision to start a family. • Passage # 1: pg 1: Bottom paragraph… “Jenny was twenty-two….insemination” through 1st paragraph on pg 2 • How does Jenny view herself? Why? How do expectations of men/women affect how she feels? • Passage # 2: pg. 13: “In this dirty-minded world. . .well shod” (pg 14) and pg. 15: “I wanted a job and I wanted to live alone. . .” • What were the things in Jenny Fields life that made her feel like a sexual suspect? Do you agree with Jenny that you get more respect from people by shocking them rather than live your life in privacy?

The World According to GarpRotating Discussion 2 You will take turns discussion different ideas and passages from The World According to Garp. You will alternate who speaks first according to where you are sitting. You will be asked to share out responses by paraphrasing what your partner said and then build off of this comment by sharing your response. When responding, consider the novel as a whole and other readings from this semester. • Discussion 2: Why do people resort to violence? • Passage # 1: pg 8-9. “When the soldier…but I missed” • What contributed to Jenny’s act of violence against the soldier? • Do you feel the soldier acted violently? Was Jenny’s response reasonable? What is another possible act of violence that Jenny resorts to?

The World According to GarpRotating Discussion 3 You will take turns discussion different ideas and passages from The World According to Garp. You will alternate who speaks first according to where you are sitting. You will be asked to share out responses by paraphrasing what your partner said and then build off of this comment by sharing your response. When responding, consider the novel as a whole and other readings from this semester. • Discussion 3: What makes or breaks a family? Discuss Jenny’s family and her decision to start a family. • Review what we learned about what makes or breaks a family. • Areas of focus—lack of escape, sacrifice, obligation, selflessness, purpose is to raise the next generation… • Passage # 1: pg 4-5 “She felt detached from her family…In fact, she had” • Respond to passage • Is this true about families? Is this a successful family? Why or why not? • Passgage # 2: pg 54 Top page “For what…forever on his mind” • Is Jenny a good parent? Do you think her and Garp’s family will be successful? What are some things that threaten to break it apart?

The World According to GarpRotating Discussion 4 You will take turns discussion different ideas and passages from The World According to Garp. You will alternate who speaks first according to where you are sitting. You will be asked to share out responses by paraphrasing what your partner said and then build off of this comment by sharing your response. When responding, consider the novel as a whole and other readings from this semester. • Discussion 4: What is the difference between love and lust? How does Jenny see them as two separate entities? Why? (return to somebody’s wife/whore) • Passage #1: Top of pg 89 to the bottom. “From the beginning. . . Helen knew how to get the words in” to “when he finally saw the real thing” AND pg 97 – 101: “Cushie Percy took Garp’s hand …” to pg 101 “ he was counting on Cushie for her experience” • Compare and contrast how Garp feels about Helen vs. Cushie? (Think again about Jenny Field’s assertion that “you are either somebody’s wife or somebody’s whore.”) • How does each woman see Garp? • How does seeing love and lust as two entirely different things pose problems for men/women? How does seeing love and lust as the same thing pose problems for men/women?

The World According to GarpReflection Questions • How is language a powerful tool for understanding and expression? • How does a text affect my perspectives? How do my perspectives influence my understanding of a text? • What was the author trying to make us feel, see, and believe? • Why consider the viewpoints in a text? How does reading help me understand others’ experiences? • Why and how does reading change my thinking? • Why do readers make sense of texts in different ways? • How do authors create the aesthetics of a literary work? How does the aesthetics of a literary work affect the meaning of the text? • How does constructing a generalization affect my thinking? What and why do I need to generalize in order to draw a sound conclusion? • How do the generalizations and conclusions that I form and draw from various literary works stretch, compress, and focus my perspective?

Due Today: Book Club #3 Creative Job Tuesday, November 8, 2011 Walk-IN: Sit with your book club group and take out your book, book club jobs, and a new sheet of paper. Learning Objective: • Students will understand that the quality of group discussions is proportional to the individual preparation as well as the collaborative efforts of each participant. • Students will assume responsibilities for effective dialogues by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; listening to a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarifying, verifying, or challenging ideas and conclusions; and promoting divergent and creative viewpoints. • You will increase enjoyment and understanding of a novel by discussion questions, passages, characters, vocabulary, artistic interpretations, and areas of synthesis. Agenda: • Book Club # 3 Homework: Read and prepare for Book Cub # 4 (Page 212)

Book Club before discussion Set up header: Book Club #3 Name: Novel: Date: Collage or Annotations or Old Jobs: Pages Read: Summary Paragraph • Write a summary paragraph about what happened in your book so far. Include information about the setting, characters, conflict, and any other important ideas or events. When finished, discuss your summaries with your group.

Book Club Discussion • Even though you have creative freedom with how you prepare, you must complete each job AT LEAST ONCE DURING THIS BOOK CLUB. • Even though you do not have to take discussion notes the entire time, YOU MUST TAKE NOTES ON EACH JOB AT LEAST ONCE.

Book Club After discussion • Reflection Paragraph: Choose one of the following objectives and explain in a paragraph how you and your group met the objective. • Students will understand that the quality of group discussions is proportional to the individual preparation as well as the collaborative efforts of each participant. • Students will assume responsibilities for effective dialogues by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; listening to a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarifying, verifying, or challenging ideas and conclusions; and promoting divergent and creative viewpoints. • You will increase enjoyment and understanding of a novel by discussion questions, passages, characters, vocabulary, artistic interpretations, and areas of synthesis.

Due Today: Wed/Thurs November 7-8, 2012 Walk-IN: Pick up a white binder, and open up to your critical lens synthesis writing notes. Learning Objective: • Students will reread and reflect on a variety of texts to locate examples in order to support conclusions or messages based on their synthesis of a variety of texts. • Students will use meta-cognitive reading strategies to improve reading stamina and engagement in a new and challenging text. Agenda: • Synthesis Essay Work Time • The World According to GarpReading and Prep Time • Silent Reading Expectations • Book Club Preparation Homework: Read and prepare for Book Club # 4 (Page 212)

New Historicism Critical Lens • New Historicism • In other words, history here is not a mere chronicle of facts and events, but rather a complex description of human reality and evolution of preconceived notions. • Literary works may or may not tell us about various factual aspects of the world from which they emerge, but they will tell us about prevailing ways of thinking at the time: ideas of social organization, prejudices, taboos, etc. They raise questions of interest to anthropologists and sociologists.

Critical Lens Synthesis Essay Assignment Overview: Over the course of this semester, we have explored both fiction and non-fiction texts to build critical lenses about three issues in contemporary American society: family, violence, and love. Now it is time for you to look at the semester through a critical lens, and synthesize ideas and examples from multiple sources we’ve looked at this semester to express and support an Emerging Message about an issue. Incorporate as many sources as possible to address ONE of the contemporary issues in our society in a multi-paragraph synthesis essay. Synthesize evidence from the following sources: Book Club novel Class texts (articles, essays, short stories, movie clips, The World According to Garp) Independent research Scientific information Critical essays about your book club book or Garp Non-fiction articles and essays about your issue Sources from other classes (i.e. Psychology, Sociology, etc.) Sources from your own life (i.e. movies, books, people you know, your own life experiences, etc.)

Critical Lens Synthesis Essay Assignment Critical Lenses (possible questions to consider): Family: What is the purpose of family? What makes a family functional? What makes a family dysfunctional? What can make a family stronger? What can break a family apart? What problems do modern families face and how might they overcome them? Violence: Why do people resort to violence? What is the relationship between emotional violence and physical violence? What are the underlying reasons why people resort to violence? What are the short term and long term effects of emotional and/or physical violence on both the victim and the perpetrator? How does society view or react to violence and how does this influence the violence? Love: What is the difference between love and lust? What is the relationship between love and lust? What does each require of the individuals? What does each provide for the individuals? Mastery Develop and support an Emerging Message that synthesizes two, or even all three of our critical lenses.

Critical Lens Synthesis Essay Model Plan • Essay Planning: • General Topic: Family • Text 1: • 1. Title: “Where are You Going, Where have You Been?” Author: Joyce Carol Oates • 2. Genre: Fiction/Short Story • 3. Summary of the text: Connie is a fifteen year old girl who lives with her mother, father, and sister. Connie and her mother do not get along very well because Connie feels her mother is constantly picking on her. Connie’s father does not pay attention to the family. In fact both parents really don’t. They never ask her what she did last night or what she is planning on doing. Connie finds comfort with her friends and the pop-culture image. One Sunday when she does not go to a BBQ with the family Connie is approached by a man named Arnold Friend who pretends to be her age, and dresses like all of the “cool and popular” boys that Connie admires. Arnold friend knows that Connie is vulnerable by herself and he threatens, and eventually, convinces Connie to go with him and sacrifice her life. • 4. Quotes or paraphrases from the text that relates to your topic with page #: “Connie’s mother kept picking at her until Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over” (Oates). • 5. Explanation/Inference about what message the evidence has about your topic: Connie feels left out, ignored, and under attack from her mother, so she detaches herself from her family to the point where she wishes she or her mother no longer existed. Because she does not feel comfort at home, Connie searches for comfort from the outside world. • 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with at least two additional quotes from the source. • 7. Explanation of the societal ideas/values/reasons/motives that are represented in the text about your topic. It appears that Joyce sees the conventional family as successful only if they value the home and relationships that they share. When they do not, in a world that is saturated with pop-culture ideals, the members will begin to question their worth, their roles, and may seek comfort outside of the family instead of within. • 8. Overall Message: When a family is focused on their own selfish feelings, instead of the emotional well being of each other, it will cause the family to be vulnerable to the outside world.

Critical Lens Synthesis Essay Work Time • Essay Planning: • General Topic: (Family, Violence, or Love and Lust) • Text 1: • 1. Title: _____________ Author: __________________ • 2. Genre (non-fiction, fiction or article, short story, or novel) • 3. Summary of the text • 4. Quotes or paraphrases from the text that relates to your topic with page #. • 5. Explanation/Inference about what message the evidence has about your topic. • 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with at least two additional quotes from the source. • 7. Explanation of the societal ideas/values/reasons/motives/trends/beliefs that are represented in the text about your topic. • 8. Overall message

Critical Lens Synthesis Essay Work Time • Essay Planning: • General Topic: (Family, Violence, or Love and Lust) • Text 2: • 1. Title: _____________ Author: __________________ • 2. Genre (non-fiction, fiction or article, short story, or novel) • 3. Summary of the text • 4. Quotes or paraphrases from the text that relates to your topic with page #. • 5. Explanation/Inference about what message the evidence has about your topic. • 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with at least two additional quotes from the source. • 7. Explanation of the societal ideas/values/reasons/motives that are represented in the text about your topic. • 8. Overall message

Critical Lens Thesis • Looking back at your plan, it is now time to create a working thesis for your essay. Topic: ________ Text 1: ________ Message: ___________ Text 2: ________ Message: ___________ Text 3: ________ Message: ___________ Text 4: ________ Message: ___________ Text 5: ________ Message: ___________ Text 6: ________ Message: ___________ Add your messages together to create a cohesive message about your topic that can apply to humans or society in general. Look for a relationship to structure your thesis: Cause and Effect, Problem and Solution, etc This relationship will help you go back and decide what texts your are going to organize together in your body paragraphs. Thesis: _______________________________________________________________

Critical Lens Thesis • Looking back at your plan, it is now time to create a working thesis for your essay. Topic: Violence Text 1: ViolenceMessage: Shame and lack of self respect are pre-existing emotions that cause people to resort to violence Text 2: “Emotional Violence” Message: emotional violence is the refusal to listen to or acknowledge feelings or disrespect Text 3: “Bullet in the Brain” Message: Lack of self respect causes people to resort to emotional violence which leads to physical violence Text 4: “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Message: Disrespect or abandonment from family causes a person to lose self respect Text 5: The World According to GarpMessage: Resort to physical violence to regain or assert power Text 6: ________ Message: ___________ Causes: Abandonment, shame, humiliation, plus emotional violence Effects: Desire to regain or assert power through physical violence Contemporary Values, trends: More emotional violence? Lack of respect? Thesis: In our contemporary society where a lack of respect for the well-being of others has become a common occurrence, people are becoming victims of emotional violence; this leaves them feeling alone, humiliated, ashamed, and with an overall lack of self-respect; unfortunately these emotions are precursors for physical violence, because people will resort to physical violence to regain respect, power, and control.

Sample Theses from last year • Family: • Although contemporary American beliefs may dictate that a family is comprised of a strict structure or dogma, family in its essence is not perfect; a family exists because they share a common purpose instead of a common structure. • Although there are many factors that threaten to break a family apart in our contemporary society, ultimately the main or primary reason a family breaks apart is unrealistic expectations, selfishness, and a lack of a common purpose. • Many people today in our contemporary society believe that families have become less successful because the family dynamic have changed, which is somewhat true; however the family dynamics have changed because the family has lost a common purpose.

Sample Theses from last year • Violence: • Extreme and unnecessary acts of violence have become more prominent in our contemporary society, because of the lack of respect people have for each others and themselves; when these conditions exist physical violence will increase. However, if this trend continues then violent acts will continue to increase because emotional violence and physical violence are a never-ending cycle. • In our contemporary society where a lack of respect for the well-being of others has become a common occurrence, people are becoming victims of emotional violence; this leaves them feeling alone, humiliated, ashamed, and with an overall lack of self-respect; unfortunately these emotions are precursors for physical violence, because people will resort to physical violence to regain respect, power, and control.

Sample Theses from last year • Love/Lust: • Although there are many reasons for failed relationships, the primary reason is a lack of balance between love and lust, and a lack of understanding the differences between these two emotions; therefore in order to create a relationship conducive to success, it is imperative for couples to determine and understand the necessary balance that is unique to each relationship. • In our contemporary society today, failed marriages are producing models for future generations, creating an imbalance between love and lust by valuing one’s own personal gratification over self-sacrifice and the gratification of others; until people become more patient and focus more on the love for one another and the sacrifices that they must make, families will continue to struggle.

Critical Lens Synthesis Outline • Thesis(this will go in your introduction): • Body Paragraph 1 • Main Idea that addresses one part of the thesis: • Evidence Source 1: • Analysis • Evidence Source 2: • Analysis • Mastery Evidence Source 3: • Analysis • Synthesis

Critical Lens Synthesis Outline • Thesis(This will go in your introduction): • Body Paragraph 2 • Main Idea that addresses one part of the thesis: • Evidence Source 1: • Analysis • Evidence Source 2: • Analysis • Mastery Evidence Source 3: • Analysis • Synthesis

Critical Lens Synthesis Outline • Thesis (This will go in your introduction): • Body Paragraph 3 • Main Idea that addresses one part of the thesis: • Evidence Source 1: • Analysis • Evidence Source 2: • Analysis • Mastery Evidence Source 3: • Analysis • Synthesis

Critical Lens Synthesis Outline • Thesis (This will go in your introduction): • Mastery Body Paragraph 4 • Main Idea that addresses one part of the thesis: • Evidence Source 1: • Analysis • Evidence Source 2: • Analysis • Mastery Evidence Source 3: • Analysis • Synthesis

Synthesis Paragraph Rough Draft • In our contemporary society there are more temptations and distractions than ever before which threaten to tear families apart; and when a family is focused on their own selfish feelings, instead of the emotional well being of each other, it will cause the family to be vulnerable to the cruelties of the world. In the article from Time magazine it states that, “a lasting covenant…can be a vehicle for the nurture and protection of each other, the one reliable shelter in an uncaring world—or it can be a matchless tool for the infliction of suffering on the people you supposedly love above all others, most of all your children” (Flanagan). Many people feel that the purpose of a family is to make them more content with life than they already are; this is a fallacy. If a family is to be successful, a sense of obligation, self-sacrifice, and caring is necessary. In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Connie and her mother have a selfish and volatile relationship. Her mother, embarrassed by what she has become, takes her own anger out on her daughter; this causes Connie to hide her true self from her parents and escape into a world filled with dangers because “Connie’s mother kept picking at her until Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over” (Oates ). This family has become as Flanagan says “a matchless tool for the infliction of suffering, on the people [they] supposedly love above all others,” and it ends up costing Connie her life. When Connie, once again, avoids and escapes from her family obligations, she is left at home to become lost in her thoughts, a pop-culture safe-haven. When an older man, who has been following her, shows up at her house he is able to see the vulnerability in Connie. Literally she is alone because her family is at a barbecue, but she is also alone and hollow on the inside because of the lack of support and love from her family. Arnold Friend, a serial killer, notices this and emotionally breaks her down in order to manipulate her. He says, “This place you are now—inside your daddy’s house—is nothing but a cardboard box I can knock down any time. You know that and always did know it” (Oates). Connie is defenseless, she is lost, without any strength to resist the dangers that await her where she is going, which is why she allows Arnold Friend to convince her to give up her family, her self, and her life and go with him to her death. If Connie and her family had been focused on the obligation to each other, the emotional wellbeing of each other, and the happiness of each other, instead of their own feelings and needs, then she would have been able to avoid the perils that lurk in the world’s harsh reality.

The World According To Garp: Reading and Preparation Day • While reading be conscious or aware of the strategies you use to improve your stamina and engagement while reading (these are most likely similar to strategies you use to stay involved in the moment in anything new you are learning). • Be aware of the things that distract you. • Keep in mind the creative ways in which you may want to represent you learning, analysis, and reaction to the novel for your Book Club Preparation. • Begin creating your preparation:

The World According to GarpBook Club • Book Club Job Expectations • Creative Freedom for Jobs: collage approach to Book Club Jobs. • Students will need to collage or piece together 4 aspects of the previous six jobs. This may include one passage, a smaller detailed drawing, two level 3 questions, 3 vocabulary words, a character chart on one person, or a smaller synthesis chart. Your choice, just chose 4 of the above and have fun and be creative.

Due Today: Book Club #4 Creative Job Friday, November 9, 2012 Walk-IN: Sit with your book club group and take out your book, book club jobs, and a new sheet of paper. Then, take out a half sheet of paper. Learning Objective: • Students will understand that the quality of group discussions is proportional to the individual preparation as well as the collaborative efforts of each participant. • Students will assume responsibilities for effective dialogues by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; listening to a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarifying, verifying, or challenging ideas and conclusions; and promoting divergent and creative viewpoints. • You will increase enjoyment and understanding of a novel by discussion questions, passages, characters, vocabulary, artistic interpretations, and areas of synthesis. Agenda: • Book Club # 4 Homework: Read and prepare for Book Cub # 5 (Page 277)

Reading Check • Finish the sentence. • “Garp didn’t want a daughter because of ______. Because of bad ______; but even, he thought, because of ________. • What are three things that happen in this chapter that make him feel this way?

Book Club before discussion Set up header: Book Club #4 Name: Novel: Date: Collage of Jobs: Pages Read: Summary Paragraph • Write a summary paragraph about what happened in your book so far. Include information about the setting, characters, conflict, and any other important ideas or events. When finished, discuss your summaries with your group.

Book Club Discussion • Even though you have creative freedom with how you prepare, you must complete each job AT LEAST ONCE DURING THIS BOOK CLUB. • Even though you do not have to take discussion notes the entire time, YOU MUST TAKE NOTES ON EACH JOB AT LEAST ONCE.

Book Club After discussion • Reflection Paragraph: Choose one of the following objectives and explain in a paragraph how you and your group met the objective. • Students will understand that the quality of group discussions is proportional to the individual preparation as well as the collaborative efforts of each participant. • Students will assume responsibilities for effective dialogues by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; listening to a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarifying, verifying, or challenging ideas and conclusions; and promoting divergent and creative viewpoints. • You will increase enjoyment and understanding of a novel by discussion questions, passages, characters, vocabulary, artistic interpretations, and areas of synthesis.

Contemporary Literature