Cafe Project Assignment Sheet

Hi all!

Here's the completed assignment sheet for the 2014 MGC Cafe Project! It's long and complicated, so give it a good read to understand all of the moving pieces.

Cafe Project Assignment Sheet

Enjoy!

BoI and Vocab Documents

Hi everyone,

I'm attaching two documents to this post:

1. Vocab List #5
2. The Bastard of Istanbul Writing Assignment

Let me know if the links do not work.

!

BoI Thought Provoker #2

To all those who are hungry...

In preparation for your assignment due on Monday (see the syllabus), your thought provoker for tonight asks you to do a little preliminary research into the food of the novel.

Why are we focusing on food?

First of all, because food forms an important motif in the novel: from the chapter titles to the processed American foods in the Arizona supermarket to the pretentious haute cuisine that Armanoush eats on her date to the variety of ethnic delicacies on the tables of both the Kazanci and Tchakhmakhchian households, Elif Shafak ensures that the flavors of these worlds are embedded within the prose of her work.

Second of all, because later in the year, you're going to run Middle Eastern themed cafes where your intricate knowledge of Turkish and other Mediterranean cuisine will come in handy.

Third of all, because it gives you a chance to collaborate in a completely different context and with a completely different purpose.

And finally, because eating brings people together...as you have already seen in the novel. And we're going to begin class on Monday with a FEAST! Prepared by you!

SO...tonight, your thought provoker is as follows: find at least TWO (if not more) important dishes that Shafak describes in her novel; research the dish, and find a recipe for it online. Post the recipe in the comments section below.

Make sure that you read the posts that already exist, so that we have as much variety in our "menu" as possible. Also, try to find dishes that are radically different from one another: a sweet dish and a salty one; a meat dish and a vegetarian one; a Turkish dish and an Armenian one; etc.

Good luck!

BoI Thought Provoker #1

Hi all!

It's time to start thinking about the CULTURAL ALLUSIONS that Shafak uses all throughout her novel. Your job is to do a little preliminary research on five of them and offer a quick introductory explanation of who/what they are. You can also offer some brief thoughts about why Shafak might have alluded to each in the first place...as in, why THIS novel? Why THIS song?

By cultural allusions, I mean artists/paintings, authors/books, singers/songs, philosophers, etc that Shafak refers to in the novel. If there's a link you can post inside your response (or a youtube video), all the better!

Please make sure to look at the responses that have appeared already so that you don't overlap too much or at all.

Have fun!
Learn something!

(And here's something to get you started...)

The Bastard of Istanbul Syllabus

To all Steintraubian sophomores!

The links below include the syllabus for both D-Block and E-Block readings of The Bastard of Istanbul.

D-Block Syllabus

E-Block Syllabus

And for those of you who do have time, here's a video of a TED talk that Elif Shafak, the author of The Bastard of Istanbul, gave in the UK. It's well worth your time!

Things Fall Apart Thought Provoker #2

Hello!

Now that you've finished reading Part Two of Things Fall Apart, it's time to start grappling with one of the central thematic issues of the novel.

When the missionaries begin arriving in the land of the Ibo, the tribal society is thrown into turmoil because its belief system must now compete with that of another land.

In a short response, please answer these questions: what makes Ibo society particularly vulnerable to the English colonists' religion and rhetoric? And do you think that the missionaries are saving or savaging the Ibo? Why????

And also, what's your favorite kind of gum?

Happy thinking!

Things Fall Apart Thought Provoker #1

Hello!

Time to start moving past the obvious in our studies of Things Fall Apart.

Tonight, in addition to reading the assigned text, please answer the following question. It's based on a choice that Chinua Achebe makes in the composition of his novel: the choice to integrate many Ibo proverbs in his book.

PROMPT: Please find five proverbs scattered throughout the first 10 chapters of Things Fall Apart, and for each, explain what that proverb reveals about Ibo society (its values, its morals, its norms, its standards, etc.).

NOTE 1: Do not choose proverbs that your peers have already chosen. Make sure by looking at all of the existing responses so far.

NOTE 2: What's a proverb? Look it up!

Have fun!
Learn something!

Merchant Thought-Provoker #2

Time to get provocative!

In Act Two, Shakespeare gives us two soliloquies: one LONG (by Lancelet, at the start of 2.2) and one very SHORT (by Jessica, at the end of 2.3). Both of them deal with the same thing: abandoning Shylock and dealing with the consequences.

So, given our discussion on "complexity" in class on Friday, let's think about complexity in the characters of Shylock, Jessica and Lancelet: are we supposed to side with Jessica and Lancelet, or are we supposed to side with Shylock? Are we supposed to cheer on their efforts to emancipate themselves from the Jew, or are we supposed to feel for Shylock?

There are no right answers here, people, only provocations. But remember that if you want to be taken seriously, you've got to back up your points with textual evidence.

And here's a version of the Lancelet speech from the recent Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice. Watch it first!

Merchant Thought-Provoker #1

Hello!

The entire plot of The Merchant of Venice kicks off because Antonio decides to say "yes" to Bassanio's request for a loan. But...here's the confusing thing: Bassanio clearly owes money all over town, and he isn't even shy about telling Antonio that he wasted all of his money on drinking and partying.

So, why does Antonio decide to lend Bassanio the money...or, even more, why does he decide to stake a pound of HIS OWN FLESH for the sake of this hard-partying, irresponsible guy?

Answer with:

a) quotations from the text
b) thoughts about Antonio's character
c) thoughts about Bassanio's character
d) thoughts about Antonio and Bassanio's relationship

Have fun!

Dystopian Movie Projects

Filmmakers and Families...

Here are the AMAZING works of dystopian cinema that you all produced these past weeks. Share them with everyone!

CAPITALISM:



COMMUNISM:



PATRIARCHY:



UTOPIANISM:



TOTALITARIANISM:



FEDERALISM:



NATIONALISM:



You have all done amazing collaborative work on this project, and should be very proud. It makes all of us here at Global excited to see what you do with this year's other group projects!

Vocab List 2a

Hi Everyone,

In case you did not receive it in class, below is a link to the Vocab List 2a. The quiz will be on Wednesday, 30 October. For Monday, please find the definition for all of the words.

Let me know if you have questions, and good luck!

Vocab List 2

Some 1984-Related Thoughts on Privacy

Here are two links that EVERYONE in class should read, even if you're not writing about the privacy issue.

The first is to a New York Times article describing the questions about technology and privacy that have been provoked by a new novel written by Dave Eggers, called The Circle. (Dave Eggers also wrote Zeitoun, the One School One Book choice three years ago.) The Circle is about a suspiciously Google-like company that monitors the online activities of its billion users.

The second is to an opinion article written by Joe Nocera about Orwell's 1984 and The Circle.

Read and be a part of the conversation!

Thought Provoker #3

The final "Thought Provoker" for 1984 asks you to do some supplementary reading first, and then respond.

KEY QUESTION: When people use the term "Orwellian" today, what do they mean?

YOUR JOB: Read the following New York Times cover story from this past Sunday (10/6/2013). Then, in the first part of a short response below, answer this: "How is this story 'Orwellian'?" Finally, in the second part of your short response, answer the "Key Question" above.

ARTICLE LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/technology/selling-secrets-of-phone-users-to-advertisers.html?hp

Have fun!
Learn something!

1984 Part Two Response

If you've finished reading Goldstein's Book, this one's for you....

BACKGROUND: After reading "The Book", Winston gains a sense of clarity that he never achieved before. In fact, he finishes reading it and then says the words "Sanity is not statistical". This prompt is designed to get you thinking about what that sentence means.

PROMPT: In a short response piece of no more than two pages, please explain what Orwell means by the sentence "Sanity is not statistical." In order to prove it, I'd like you to rely on evidence from both Part One of the novel, as well as from Goldstein's Book.

NB: Think about what "The Book" teaches Winston. Think about all the ideas that he had swirling around in his head in Part One that "The Book" confirms for him. Think about the way that certain passages from "The Book" echo passages from Part One. Think!

The same evaluation criteria and basic requirements from the Part One response still apply here.

Thought Provoker #2

What follows is a THOUGHT PROVOKING QUESTION that I would like you to address and debate online tonight. We will be talking in depth about this issue in class tomorrow, and this exercise will help clarify and deepen your own thoughts on the issue. You do not need to have read Goldstein's Book to answer or address this prompt.

So here goes.

Who is the better rebel: Winston or Julia?

[NOTE: Obviously, for this prompt to mean anything, you're going to have to think about what constitutes "better".]

Make an argument, back it up with text, think about how it relates to the bigger picture outside of Orwell's world. THINK!

Thought Provoker #1

TO those about to engage in thought-provoking online discussion, I salute you.

What follows is a THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTION about the first part of 1984. Please do your reading first, and then answer the question. This is not a piece of formal writing. This does not have to reference the text, although you can bring in evidence from it if you so desire. This assignment is only designed to get a conversation going.

Here's the prompt: At the beginning of chapter seven of Part One, Orwell describes a moment where Winston wanders into the "prole" quarters of London. There he experiences the following:

He had been walking down a crowded street when a tremendous shout of hundreds of voices--women's voices--had burst from a side street a little way ahead. It was a great formidable cry of anger and despair, a deep loud "Oh-o-o-o-oh!" that went humming on like the reverberation of a bell. His heart had leapt. It's started! he had thought. A riot! The proles are breaking loose at last! When he had reached the spot it was to see a mob of two or three hundred women crowding around the stalls of a street market, with faces as tragic as though they had been the doomed passengers on a sinking ship. But at this moment the general despair broke down into a multitude of individual quarrels. It appeared that one of the stalls had been selling tin saucepans. They were wretched, flimsy things, but cooking pots of any kind were always difficult to get. Now the supply had given out. The successful women, bumped and jostled by the rest, were trying to make off with their saucepans while dozens of others clamored round the stall, accusing the stallkeeper of favoritism and of having more saucepans somewhere in reserve. There was a fresh outburst of yells. Two bloated women, one of them with her hair coming down, had got hold of the same saucepan and were trying to tear it out of one another's hands. For a moment they were both tugging, and then the handle came off.

We've been talking this week in class about "methods of control", and even though we haven't yet finished our conversation, this passage seems to stand out. But this quotation seems to say something different about who has power and how the Party keeps people under control from what we've already said in class.

So...what is Orwell saying about how the Party keeps the Proles (and others) under control? And...and this is more important...is Orwell actually talking about us? How do you know?

Who's gonna get it started?

Your Personal Utopia and Dystopia

HW for Tuesday, 9/17:

In the COMMENT space below, please write a short response of no more than 500 words to the following questions:

1. If you could design a utopia to live in, what would it look like?
2. If you could design a dystopia (that you wouldn't ever want to live in), what would it look like?

Your response should be creative, descriptive, and as precise as possible. It's not enough to just say, "My dystopia would be a bad place to live." You need to explain WHAT EXACTLY is bad about it. Is there an oppressive government? Is there no freedom? Who has power? Who doesn't?

IMPORTANT POINT #1: In order to comment on this post, you need to have a Google ID. If I understand correctly, you already have a Google ID from the Newton Public Schools, but if you would like to use your personal Google ID (or create one), that would be fine as well. A Google ID is free and comes with no strings attached.

IMPORTANT POINT #2: if you can't see the COMMENT space, click on the Blog Title ("Your Personal Utopia and Dystopia") above and then scroll to the bottom.

Have fun!
Learn something!

1984 Essential Questions

On the UNIT SYLLABUS documents copied below, the "Essential Questions" box got formatted incorrectly.

Here are the Essential Questions for our unit on 1984!

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: Remember that great literature provokes us to think about great questions. In this box you will find the some of those provocative questions.

Essential Question: Do individuals have the power to change the society in which they live?

a)  Power: How does a single group of people gain such total power in society? What are the methods that people use to gain control over other people? Why do people submit to this power?

           i) Personal v. Principled Rebellion: What are the reasons why people might not submit to that  power? Is rebellion worth it?

b) Identity: How much of our identity should be kept private and how much should be made public? What happens to our identity when people in power take our privacy away?

c)    Interconnectedness: How does being shut off and disconnected from the rest of the world limit our abilities to understand ourselves and gain power over ourselves?

And some other fun ones, for good measure:

a) How can 2+2 equal 5?

b) What's in your Room 101?

1984 Unit Syllabus

Students and Parents:

Attached to this post, you can find the UNIT SYLLABUS for our unit on George Orwell's 1984. This syllabus contains all homework due between September 17th and October 23rd. Enjoy!

D-Block Syllabus

E-Block Syllabus

Please let me know if the links are not working!

Dystopian Film Trailers

In preparation for our unit on George Orwell's 1984, I've posted a number of movie trailers of films that classify in the Dystopian Sci-Fi genre. Seen any of them? (NOTE: it pays to watch all of these trailers because you're gonna notice some music and actors that reoccur! Is that just a coincidence?)

1. 1984 (1984, dir. Michael Radford): This is a staggeringly literal adaptation of Orwell's novel, but it's better than most "movies of the book" because of its bleak, washed out set design and color scheme.

2. Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang): The first truly original cinematic vision of the future, Metropolis came out before even Orwell was thinking about things to come. It's a masterful, tense, frightening, and hugely influential movie that launched an entire subgenre.

3. Blade Runner (1982, dir. Ridley Scott): Sentient robots (called Replicants) escape from their prison and go on a killing spree in futuristic cyberpunk Los Angeles. Harrison Ford's Deckard is the cop who must hunt them down, unless they get to him first. A dark, beautiful, and philosophical film.

4. Children of Men (2006, dir. Alfonso Cuaron): A global infertility epidemic threatens to destroy the human race...no baby has born in 18 years. Until now. Cuaron directed the third Harry Potter film, but this one is in another league: it forces us to see what we would become if all social order collapsed around us.

5. V for Vendetta (2005, dir. James McTeigue): In this truly Orwellian dystopia, an all-powerful government suppresses individuality and personal freedom, until a masked vigilante named V starts wreaking havoc and inspiring the masses.

6. Brazil (1985, dir. Terry Gilliam): The closest of the original films to Orwell's story, Brazil is like a Monty Python version of what Oceania would be like, which makes sense considering that Terry Gilliam was an original member of the Pythons. But this film, while darkly comic, is nowhere near as silly as any quests for Holy Grails or meanings of life.

7. WALL-E (2008, dir. Andrew Stanton): This Pixar classic is like two dystopias in one: first, the wrecked and abandoned planet earth, populated only by the titular robot; and second, the floating spaceship where humanity has resided in total luxury for hundreds of years, with frightening effects. A beautiful allegory and a charming love story. And you've probably seen it already!

8. The Hunger Games (2012, dir. Gary Ross): My sense is that you've all probably seen this one, too. But if you haven't, it's a story about a dystopia where an all-powerful government maintains control over their population through ritualistic contests where boys and girls are thrown into an arena and forced to fight to the death. And there'll be a sequel in a few months.