Fantasy/Science Fiction

As we start reading Blake Crouch's Dark Matter, my students are going to be replying to the following questions, so I thought I would respond as well.

• Do you like to read fantasy or science fiction? Why or why not?
• What fantasy or science fiction location from a novel (or movie) is your favorite? Would you want to go there yourself? Why or why not?

I love to read fantasy. As a kid, I felt like reading was a great escape from everyday life. I appreciated the opportunity to leave the ordinary behind and experience life in someone else's shoes. It was even better if those shoes were worn by a hobbit trying to reclaim a mountain, a group of children getting lost in a wardrobe, or a neglected girl who discovers telekinetic abilities. If you're going to read and experience something new, why not make it amazing and extraordinary? Now, when I write, most of my ideas do involve some type of fantastical element because it lends more possibilities. Fantasy just has so much to offer!

If I could go anywhere, it would hands down have to be Hogwarts. I love the wizarding school, and I prayed for a letter of acceptance that never came on my eleventh birthday. As described by J.K. Rowling, the world of Hogwarts is an insanely cool building with magical rooms, magical creatures, and tons of mystery, history, and intrigue. Of course, it also helps that if I were to be there, I'd get to learn magic and charms. Who wants to walk across the room for food when you can summon it right over. Accio, Double Stuff!

Hogwarts seems to be an obvious choice, but I would like to share the possibility of a different location as well: Brakebills Academy. This is the setting for Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which is now a trilogy. Brakebills is a magical college that actually have applications and entrance tests. What's nice about this location instead of Hogwarts is the real life possibility. I have a much better chance of going here than Hogwarts. In order to be a magician in this series, one just needs to be super smart and open-minded. All of magic in their world can be learned through study and practice to unlock what the universe has to offer. Memorize some hand gestures, learn some gestures, and study some old books, and there you have it! Brakebills also has it's own fun magical elements from hidden passageways to live-action animal topiaries in the garden. If Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia had a baby and that baby went to college, you would get The Magicians. (Fun fact: It's also currently got four seasons of a SyFy show, and season five premieres this January.)

Infographic Debate - Voting Results 2019

Now that the infographics have been made, it's time to pick a winner for each debate!

Check out these debates below, review their arguments, and vote for the winner by commenting on the blog of your choice. (Example: "This one is the winner", or "I choose this one for my vote", etc.)

1. Should texting and driving be illegal?
        YES: Liam
        NO: Cooper
Click on their names to view their blog posts and infographics.

WINNER: Liam

2. Is national security more important than privacy?
        YES: Griffin
        NO: Nick
Click on their names to view their blog posts and infographics.

WINNER: Griffin

3. Is it offensive for sports teams to use Native American names and mascots?
        YES: Joseph
        NO: Michael
Click on their names to view their blog posts and infographics.

WINNER: Michael

Narrators - 2019

Today, I am asking my students to reflect on their favorite narration to help prepare for when we start to read Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain this weekend. It's a great family story, but it is unique in the sense that it is told from the point of view of the family dog. Their favorite narrator can be a first person narrator that is a character in the novel, or it can just be a novel whose third person perspective is unique or clever.

1. Who is your favorite narrator? What is your favorite narration?
2. Tell readers about the novel and the narration.
3. Why is this your favorite? Why might others appreciate it as well?

One of the best narrations comes from Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris. This novel is split between two characters. The first is Roy Straitley, a Classics teacher at the long-established British preparatory school St. Oswald's. Roy is a veteran teacher who has grown bitter in his old age, witnessing the constant changes the school has undertaken. Even more disturbing are the small events and acts of mischief that seem to be growing in nature. Will they eventually build up and lead to the downfall of St. Oswald's? That's what our second narrator hopes. The second narrator's identity is shrouded in mystery. All readers know is that the narrator is out to get revenge on the school for something that happened in the past. And this narrator will stop at nothing to bring down the school. Can Roy figure out who is behind it all? Read and find out!

I enjoy a good split narration novel because it makes the reading experience interesting. When Harris writes, she doesn't spill all of the details at once. Something might be hinted at by one narrator and then fully experienced by the next or vice versa. As each narrator only has a certain set of information, it is up to the reader to piece the story together and figure out the mystery. However, this is made more difficult (and enjoyable) when one of your narrators is purposefully keeping its cards close to its chest. Readers definitely won't figure this story out until the exact moment the narrator wants you to, and that's awesome to me. I think other readers would really appreciate this experience as well, especially students at U of D Jesuit who can relate to the all-male, private school environment.


Want some more interesting narrators?
Click HERE to read my post about Christopher Francis Boone from Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
Click HERE to read my post about John Dowell from Ford Maddox Ford's The Good Soldier.
Click HERE to read my post about Budo from Matthew Dick's Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend.

      

Book Reviews (Repeat)

[Full Disclosure: This is a repeat post from the previous school year.]

Having finished reading their first novel of the semester for this course, it is now time for the students to write their first book review. The students will review Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Each book review will start with a summary, include two parts of the novel to evaluate (not just analyze - evaluate), and finally give their overall recommendation. The evaluation part seems to be the hardest for my students because they are not used to using stuff like theme and characterization to express their opinion, only literary analysis. To help, I created one body paragraph that might serve as an example for my students. (FYI: I do not agree with this evaluation, but I thought it would be fun to branch outside of my comfort zone.)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone suffers because of its negative theme for children. When tracking down a rogue professor who means to steal a magical item that promises eternal life, the main characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger follow him down a trapdoor. This path leads them to a series of challenges that guard the stone. The first task is a strangling plant known as the Devil’s Snare. Harry and Ron are trapped, but Hermione is free to help. She remembers that this plant hates light, but she does not have the resources to start a fire. Ron shouts, “ARE YOU MAD? ... ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?”(278). Hermione remembers she has a magic wand, makes some fire and saves the day. The lesson here, obviously, is that no one needs hard work because magic will always be there to save the day. This is a horrible lesson to teach the youth of America because it will only create a generation of lazy individuals who wait around for a Hogwarts letter instead of actually trying in school and getting into a good college. Humans need to face their problems head on in this life, and thinking that there is a magical resource to come and save you is dangerous. Humans need to be in control of their own life and do what it takes to achieve goals in the real world. The unrealistic message of this book to its readers makes it a poor choice.

I used theme as one of my main topics to evaluate this novel. Yes, I had to analyze the theme and say what the author's main message was, but I continued to use that as an evaluation tool for whether the book is good or bad. This extra step is crucial in writing a book review. For more information, please check out the directions on Moodle and the grading rubric included in the directions.

[New Resources]

1. Good Book Review explanation
2. Bad Book Review explanation
3. Sample student book review on The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (36.5/40)

Getting Lost (This I Believe 2019)

Audio recording and upload >>

Riding a gondola in Venice, Italy

This summer, I went on the trip of a lifetime. What started as a random proposal between friends ("Let's go to Europe this summer") swiftly evolved into a full-fledged European escape. We booked our flights, and before we knew it, we had spots on a travel tour visiting five major cities in nine days. This dream was now a reality.

Eating a trdelnik in Prague, Czechia

An adventure such as this is outside my comfort zone. We were joining an unknown number of strangers for over a week, sharing long bus rides between cities, living together in tiny foreign hostels, and exploring new cities where I didn't speak the language. It was a risk, but deep down I knew facing the unfamiliar would be worth it in the end.

We arrived at the Venice hostel before the tour group. A popular location for tour groups, we watched each group enter the grounds, wondering if it would be ours and sometimes praying it wasn’t. In the end, our mostly Australian group of travel mates arrived, and they were so welcoming. Living together this week was going to be just fine.

Our first official day in Venice had a packed morning with a walking tour and gondola ride. In the afternoon, my friend and I branched off to cover our checklist of tourist sites. We ate pizza, climbed St. Mark’s bell tower for an epic view, skipped the line for St. Mark’s Basilica with our pre-bought scheduled tickets, witnessed the Bridge of Sighs, grabbed gelato on the way to a world-famous bookstore, and got a water taxi back to the hostel for the evening’s pool party. It was a wonderfully touristy day, successfully crossing off every item on our careful agenda.

Alexander at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany

We were only in Munich for a quick evening that included a pork knuckle and a pretzel at the original Hofbrauhaus. Then, we were off to Prague. We arrived in Prague late. Before dinner, we crammed in a rushed but fulfilling walking tour: crossing the Charles Bridge, checking out the Astronomical Clock, posing with the John Lennon graffiti wall. In one fell swoop, we had already hit the majority of the basic tourist recommendations for Prague. What on earth were we to do during our free day the next day?

Waking up early, I independently went to locate some caffeine. I effectively ordered a modified drink at a Czech Starbucks. The drink tasted disgusting, but I was still proud nonetheless. Catching up with my friend, we decided to just walk around the city. My phone with its lovely GPS was stowed safely in my pocket, and we steered ourselves based on which street looked the most inviting. It was awesome. We visited shops, stalls, and parks that were so far off the beaten path that we never would have come across them otherwise. Some of the best souvenirs – like soap made from Prague pilsner for my dad – came from these spots. This experience completely shaped the decisions we made the rest of the trip.

Trying on wooden shoes in Amsterdam, Netherlands

In Berlin, we participated in the Third Reich history tour and in Amsterdam we attended demonstrations on how to make cheese and wooden shoes, but we also decided to “pull a Prague” and just get lost during our free time. Around a random corner in Berlin, we discovered the world’s smallest disco in a refurbished phone booth and rocked out to “Dancing Queen.” In a basement restaurant off a canal street in Amsterdam, we encountered one of the best breakfasts of our trip, having previously lived on only meager hostel continental buffets.

I believe in getting lost. There is no way I could have completely pre-planned a trip like this one. I crossed off awesome foreign bucket list items during my getaway, but some of the best adventures were also when we decided to put away the map and just live in the moment, experiencing new cultures and new cities firsthand. It is that spirit that I hope to bring back with me now I am home. Yes, there are things you hope for in life and try to plan, but sometimes it’s best to get lost and stumble upon life’s other wonders waiting for you to discover them along the way. Whether it’s people, places, or experiences, you might enjoy what you find.

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For other examples of "This I Believe" blog posts, check out these links to some past favorites:

1. Unmade Beds (Mr. Davidson, 2017)

2. Millennials (Mr. Davidson, 2016)
3. Rock and Roll (Evan, 2015)
4. Filling Water Bottles (Peter, 2017)
5. Detroit (Ryan, 2015)
6. Naps (John, 2017)
You can also check out even more examples at the official website for the program: thisibelieve.org

Literacy Project Examples for 2019 Students

Today, I am assigning the literacy program project. This project's goal is to help inspire reading, either through a poster campaign, a twitter campaign, or a video commercial. However, before students can begin their projects, they must write a proposal and get them approved, just like in a real job.

The proposals should answer questions like:

• Video commercial: Why have you chosen this option for yourself? Why is this a good way to reach the students? What will the video be of? What will happen? What will it look like? What type of information will it include? Are there characters? Will there be text? Do you have a special plan for colors? For sounds? For editing techniques? How and where will this video be seen?
•  Poster campaign: Why have you chosen this option for yourself? Why is this a good way to reach the students? What will your posters look like? Will they all be the same or will it be a series of posters? What information will the posters include? Will it have images? Text? How many posters will be made? Where will they be posted? Will they all appear at the same time?
• Twitter campaign: Why have you chosen this option for yourself? Why is this a good way to reach the students? How many tweets will there be? What will the tweets say? Will there be a hash tag (and what will it be and why)? Will there be any links to images, websites or videos? Why those sources? When will these tweets be posted and why at those days and times?

Here are some examples of finished projects and their owner's proposals. Not every student got 100%, but it might be helpful to get you started.

RYAN: Poster Campaign

Ryan's Proposal: Click Here

ALEX: Twitter Campaign

Reading is cool! Retweet if you agree! Don't believe me? Take a look at some of these really life celebrities enjoying books! #ReadingIsCool

— Alex Toma (@alextoma1234) September 14, 2015

Alex's Proposal: Click Here

TEDDY: Video Commercial


Teddy's Proposal: Click Here

I can't wait to read all of this year's proposals on the student blogs on Thursday!

High Five

I am excited to be teaching my fifth semester of the Contemporary Literature elective here at U of D Jesuit High School for the 2019-2020 academic school year. To start off the first unit on Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Robin Sloane), I am asking my students to reflect on the following questions below. It's only fair that I answer them, too, right?

1. What have your previous experiences with English classes been like?
2. Do you like to read? Why or why not?
3. What do you hope to get out of this Contemporary Literature class?

I have always loved my English classes. Sure, there have been some anomalies that stood out, but overall each English class was a positive experience that led me to some title or other that was special to me. I remember My Father's Dragon with Mrs. Carolin, Great Expectations with Mrs. Carapellotti, and The Sun Also Rises (my favorite) in both high school and college. I love English classes because it is a group of readers being able to discuss books. What's not to love about that?

I love reading. Ever since my mother started reading to us when we were little, reading has been one of my favorite activities. I always found reading to be a wonderful escape. I love this quote: "Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere." In each book, there is a world to explore: Camelot in King Arthur, Westeros in Game of Thrones, Hogwarts in Harry Potter, and more! I love to read because I am a collector of stories. I love to open myself to new experiences, and reading allows me to do that without leaving the comfort of my own home (or corner Starbucks table).

I try my hardest not to play favorites, but no matter how hard I try Contemporary Literature ends up being my favorite part of my day. I'm hoping that this group of eight students will be as strong of a community as years past. Eventually, we become a tight-knit book club, and my goal is to ensure that these relationships based on books and reading continue during this semester. I look forward to working with this great group of students and having an awesome semester.