Romeo and Juliet Connections

One of the reasons why Shakespeare's plays are so famous is because the audience can connect to them on so many different levels. In Romeo and Juliet, for example, readers might identify with either major character who is torn between parental expectations and personal desires. Readers might also connect with situations where a fight gets out of control or people hurt each other unintentionally. Take some time to ponder personal connections, literary connections, historical connections, or other connections that you can make to this famous tragedy. Share your connection on this post.

Questioning House on Mango Street

Before our next Socratic Discussion, each of you must prepare questions about the text to stimulate a scintillating discussion. Looking back through the text and your compostion notebook, what are three "higher-level" questions you have about House on Mango Street so far?

After you post three questions (please number them), add another comment by answering one of the questions posted by another class member. If you are the first person to comment, simply wait until you see another comment. Do not answer a question if another classmate has already responded to that question.

Chapters 8 and 9 Discussion of Anthem

Within your assigned group, discuss your chapter 8-9 summaries of Anthem. After sharing your ideas and discussing these chapters, each of you needs to blog about an important idea generated by your group discussion. Now it's time to share with the entire class, so read the following questions and leave at least one comment on our class blog site. Questions: Decide who created the best title for each chapter and why. Who raised an important question you would like to share with the class? How did your group answer the question? Who found an important literary device that added to your understanding of the story? Explain. Who shared a passage showing an important character change? Describe. Did your group reach a consensus on the most important passage from each novel? Share! Describe a drawing someone from your group created that highlighted an important idea from the chapter.

Haunting Connections to Ayn Rand's Anthem

After creating and discussing the frightening picture of society Ayn Rand creates in her novel, Anthem, explain to what extent our society today reflects similar "haunting" realities. For example, have you experienced oppressive rules personally, or do you see conformist behavior at school, in our country, or in the world at large? Write a meaningful paragraph explaining similarites or differences to the dystopian society in Anthem.

Breaking the Frozen Sea

According to Franz Kafka, “a book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.” What you think this quotation means? Which short story or personal essay (“Lamb to the Slaughter,” "Born of Man and Woman," "The Lady or the Tiger," "The Utterly Perfect Murder," "Fish Eyes," "The Scarlet Ibis") has broken the most “frozen sea” inside of you? Please explain with one short passage from the story.

Summer Reading

Over the summer, you were asked to read at least two novels of your choice.
1) Briefly tell me what you read, including the titles and authors.
2) I want to know what you liked about the books, what you learned and, more importantly, what matters to you about the book's content.

*Make sure to adhere to proper conventions and proofread your response. If, for some reason, you did not read two novels, tell me about two novels you have read and answer the above.