5/20/14
In Class:
Journal-- Reflect on Gandhi's Paradox, particularly as it applies to social injustice: 'Nothing that we do as individuals matters, but it's vitally important we do it anyway.'
Discussed the responsibilities and processes of deconstructing systems of privilege as presented in Privilege, Power, and Difference, 2nd. ed., by Allan G. Johnson.
Students used the remainder of class time for the following tasks:
* Finish The Tortilla Curtain.
* Work on your final project.
* Catch up on any missing work and journal entries.
* Turn in your A Better Life worksheet.
Exit ticket: Indicate the progress you made during class today.
Homework:
Finish The Tortilla Curtain.
Finish your final project by Thursday at 1:00 PM.
Catch up on any missing work and journal entries.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
May 15th, 2014
5/15/14
In Class:
Journal-- How does Delaney's attitude toward Mexican people change over the course of the novel?
Finished A Better Life (2011) -- 43:00-end.
Introduced and reviewed final project and expectations.
Students used the remainder of class time to read The Tortilla Curtain, work on the A Better Life worksheet, and start their final projects.
Exit ticket: Set one personal and one academic goal for yourself for the next week.
Homework:
Read through ch. 6, part 3 of TC.
Start the final project.
A Better Life worksheet due Tuesday.
Catch up on any missing work/journals.
In Class:
Journal-- How does Delaney's attitude toward Mexican people change over the course of the novel?
Finished A Better Life (2011) -- 43:00-end.
Introduced and reviewed final project and expectations.
Students used the remainder of class time to read The Tortilla Curtain, work on the A Better Life worksheet, and start their final projects.
Exit ticket: Set one personal and one academic goal for yourself for the next week.
Homework:
Read through ch. 6, part 3 of TC.
Start the final project.
A Better Life worksheet due Tuesday.
Catch up on any missing work/journals.
Final Project -- Modern Literature: Privilege and Society
Modern
& Contemporary Literature: Privilege and Society
Final
Project
To demonstrate your engagement with our reading,
discussion, and topics of study thus far, please respond to two of the
following three prompts and questions on a separate sheet of paper. This exam
is worth 300 pts. of your total grade.
1) Using at least 4 direct
quotes from the book, describe and analyze various characters’ responses to the
heat wave, fire, flood, and mudslide. What do their reactions, behaviors, and
words tell us about their worldviews, status, and privilege?
2) Using one of the
passages excerpted on the attached page, reflect on the use of gates and walls
in Arroyo Blanco in a ‘close reading analysis’ (~3-5 paragraphs—think golden lines and part-to-whole).
3) Create an
artistic/creative representation of one more of the following themes as they
are portrayed in The Tortilla Curtain:
- imprisonment -
the dominance of Nature - male
privilege/misogyny
- safety & security -
commodity fetishism & reification -
fear of the unknown
- racism & ethnic prejudice - healthy families & relationships - mortality
You will be graded based
on the content of your responses, particularly in your abilities to demonstrate
understanding of the text, to interpret & analyze the material, and to
synthesize the concepts of presented in this course (e.g., privilege, Marxism,
Maslow’s hierarchy, etc.).
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
May 13th, 2014
5/13/14
In Class:
Journal-- Identify and reflect on at least one golden line from your most recent reading of The Tortilla Curtain.
As a class, we read and discussed "Proofs" by Richard Rodriguez, focusing on how traveling North can be a rite of passage.
Distributed missing work reports.
Screened 00:00 through 43:00 of A Better Life (2011).
Exit ticket: What page of The Tortilla Curtain are you on?
Homework:
Read through chapter 4, part 3 of The Tortilla Curtain.
In Class:
Journal-- Identify and reflect on at least one golden line from your most recent reading of The Tortilla Curtain.
As a class, we read and discussed "Proofs" by Richard Rodriguez, focusing on how traveling North can be a rite of passage.
Distributed missing work reports.
Screened 00:00 through 43:00 of A Better Life (2011).
Exit ticket: What page of The Tortilla Curtain are you on?
Homework:
Read through chapter 4, part 3 of The Tortilla Curtain.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
May 8th, 2014
5/8/14
In Class:
Journal-- After hunting and cooking some small, wild birds, Cándido eats them: "The very taste on his lips was the taste of desperation" (Boyle 203). Reflect on this quote.
As a class, we discussed the notion of safety & security through the recent events of The Tortilla Curtain, specifically focusing on:
* How do gates, fences, and walls provide a false sense of security?
* How can fear be used to manipulate people?
* Why is it unjust and irrational to create exclusivity to promote security?
* How do different characters respond to unsafe situations? What degree of safety does each character pursue? Why?
Students used remaining class time to read. Starting next class, we will be screening A Better Life.
Exit ticket: What is one place where you feel safe?
Homework:
Read through Ch. 2, Pt. 3 of TC.
In Class:
Journal-- After hunting and cooking some small, wild birds, Cándido eats them: "The very taste on his lips was the taste of desperation" (Boyle 203). Reflect on this quote.
As a class, we discussed the notion of safety & security through the recent events of The Tortilla Curtain, specifically focusing on:
* How do gates, fences, and walls provide a false sense of security?
* How can fear be used to manipulate people?
* Why is it unjust and irrational to create exclusivity to promote security?
* How do different characters respond to unsafe situations? What degree of safety does each character pursue? Why?
Students used remaining class time to read. Starting next class, we will be screening A Better Life.
Exit ticket: What is one place where you feel safe?
Homework:
Read through Ch. 2, Pt. 3 of TC.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
May 6th, 2014
5/6/14
In Class:
Journal-- What comes to your mind when you hear the term "human nature?"
Screened and discussed two stories from The Colbert Report: "Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Ban" and "The Ballad of Cliven Bundy." Today's racism is rarely as overt and violent as it was only fifty years ago; oftentimes, racism comes from 'good' intentions and ignorance. While this does not excuse prejudice, it explains how our society allows for implicit or subtle racism.
Today's overarching question: Is separatist behavior inherent in human nature?
Human Nature, according to Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, well-known 17th century philosophers:
Humans are flawed, capable of brutality, immorality, and general nastiness. But the question remains--does society corrupt man's natural goodness, or control man's natural badness?
This connects closely to a theory of literary criticism relevant to The Tortilla Curtain: Marxism.
Karl Marx's philosophy suggests that:
* All social change is driven by conflict--bourgeoisie v. proletariat.
* Capitalism is an artificial system that contradicts and bastardizes human nature through learned behaviors:
"Delaney was thinking about that as Kyra came to the end of her dissertation on Cynthia Sinclair: Kyra had cleaned up the corner of Shoup and Ventura, and Dominick Flood had cleaned up the labor exchange. All right. But where were these people supposed to go? Back to Mexico? Delaney doubted it, knowing what he did about migratory animal species and how one population responded to being displaced by another. It made for war, for violence and killing, until one group had decimated the other and reestablished its claim to the prime hunting, breeding or grazing grounds. It was a sad fact, but true" (Boyle 192-3/198).
* Capitalism, through the notion of competition, drives Delaney to dehumanize and fear the Mexican population; he sees them as a threat, like brutish animals, even though much of the brutality and hate comes from within his white community.
With remaining class time, students began the reading assignment for next class. In addition to reading, please complete two "golden lines" in the following format:
Exit ticket: Define proletariat.
Homework:
Read through the end of Pt. 2 of The Tortilla Curtain.
Identify two golden lines.
In Class:
Journal-- What comes to your mind when you hear the term "human nature?"
Screened and discussed two stories from The Colbert Report: "Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Ban" and "The Ballad of Cliven Bundy." Today's racism is rarely as overt and violent as it was only fifty years ago; oftentimes, racism comes from 'good' intentions and ignorance. While this does not excuse prejudice, it explains how our society allows for implicit or subtle racism.
Today's overarching question: Is separatist behavior inherent in human nature?
Human Nature, according to Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, well-known 17th century philosophers:
Humans are flawed, capable of brutality, immorality, and general nastiness. But the question remains--does society corrupt man's natural goodness, or control man's natural badness?
This connects closely to a theory of literary criticism relevant to The Tortilla Curtain: Marxism.
Karl Marx's philosophy suggests that:
* All social change is driven by conflict--bourgeoisie v. proletariat.
* Capitalism is an artificial system that contradicts and bastardizes human nature through learned behaviors:
- commodity: any good or service which can be traded for money or other commodities
- commodity fetishism: obsession with (even sexualization of) commodities, ownership, and wealth
- commodification: the transformation of abstract ideas like labor and time into commodities
- reification: the process by which people begin viewing fellow humans as commodities, modes of production, or objects.
"Delaney was thinking about that as Kyra came to the end of her dissertation on Cynthia Sinclair: Kyra had cleaned up the corner of Shoup and Ventura, and Dominick Flood had cleaned up the labor exchange. All right. But where were these people supposed to go? Back to Mexico? Delaney doubted it, knowing what he did about migratory animal species and how one population responded to being displaced by another. It made for war, for violence and killing, until one group had decimated the other and reestablished its claim to the prime hunting, breeding or grazing grounds. It was a sad fact, but true" (Boyle 192-3/198).
* Capitalism, through the notion of competition, drives Delaney to dehumanize and fear the Mexican population; he sees them as a threat, like brutish animals, even though much of the brutality and hate comes from within his white community.
With remaining class time, students began the reading assignment for next class. In addition to reading, please complete two "golden lines" in the following format:
Exit ticket: Define proletariat.
Homework:
Read through the end of Pt. 2 of The Tortilla Curtain.
Identify two golden lines.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
May 1st, 2014
5/1/14
In Class:
Journal-- Take an inventory of the social roles you play in your day-to-day life. Which of these roles are ascribed and which are achieved?
Discussed Früdelgorkins activity, particularly explaining material discrepancy, overcoming obstacles of privilege, and separation vs. collaboration.
Students spent the remainder of class catching up on reading.
Exit Ticket: Identify at least one time period this weekend that you will spend reading.
Homework:
Read through Pt. 2, Ch. 5 of TC.
In Class:
Journal-- Take an inventory of the social roles you play in your day-to-day life. Which of these roles are ascribed and which are achieved?
Discussed Früdelgorkins activity, particularly explaining material discrepancy, overcoming obstacles of privilege, and separation vs. collaboration.
Students spent the remainder of class catching up on reading.
Exit Ticket: Identify at least one time period this weekend that you will spend reading.
Homework:
Read through Pt. 2, Ch. 5 of TC.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)