Geopoliticus Seminar Reflection

Starter 18

1. How have you improved during our last 4 weeks of seminar?
2. What was your favorite seminar?  Why?
3. What was your favorite seminar format (talkers vs. quiet, random groups, whole class...)?  Why? Suggestions for future seminars?

Dali Seminar Reflection

1. Poetry or prose
2. 1-2 pages, single spaced if it's prose.  If it's a poem, these guidelines are flexible.
3. Use any technique, surrealist or otherwise
4. Play with tone, setting, literary devices, techniques
5. This piece could do any of the following:
• React to the painting
• Expand on any of the themes of the painting
• Address what happened right before or after the moment in the painting
• Translate the images into words
• Take the perspective of one or more of the figures in the painting
• Other creative ideas?

IF YOU WERE ABSENT: SEMINAR MAKE UP

1 paragraph per question

Be sure to use specific details and symbols from the painting to support your answer!

1.      What is this painting saying about the world?

2.      Is Dali portraying this birth as a positive or negative thing?

3.      If Dali could repaint this today, what would the painting look like?  How would the symbolism and figures change?

4.      What about this painting do you most enjoy?  Why?

Genocide Project Clean Up

Take them home, dismantle them, or throw them away.  They can't stay here!

DP Update

For each seminar, you need an image and your seminar reflection.

1. Jihad vs. McWorld (use your poster as the image)
2. Being Peace (find an image)
3. The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas (find an image)
4. Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth Of A New Man (use the painting as the image)

HWK: Finish and print your seminar reflection.  Due Friday, start of class.  If you will be gone on Friday, email it to Lori.  If you were absent, same thing applies for the seminar make up.

Dali Seminar

Starter 17

1. Based on what you've read and learned this week, how would you describe Surrealism?
2. What makes this art form unique?
3. What new things does Surrealism offer to the world?  Why do you think people like this kind of art (even if you don't!)?

When You're Not in Seminar:

1. Do the starter
2. Do Surrealism Activity #3 (the one with the quotes)
3. Finish your Surrealist Poem from yesterday.  Type it, print it, get it ready to hang up.  Make sure to include a title and your name.
4. If you finish all this, create a new surrealist poem or art piece!

Dali Seminar

HWK: None

Surrealist Film and Writing

Starter 16: Look at another student's piece of surrealist art from yesterday.  What techniques/style aspects do you notice?  What's the mood?  How does the artist create it?

Surrealist Video

1. Watch the video above, and take notes
2. What do you notice about how this film is made (think about camera angles, lighting, style, music, storytelling, color scheme, etc.)?
3. What are some recurring themes in this film?
4. What is the mood of this piece?

Surrealist Writing

Write a poem using a surrealist writing technique (cut up poems, callegrams, echo poems, or automatic writing).  Hold on to these- we will come back to them tomorrow!

Dali Seminar Preparation

Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of A New Man  (Salvador Dali, 1940)

1. Trace the major elements of the painting
2. Annotation your traced drawing.  You need at least 4 annotations (questions, reactions, connections, comments, etc.)
3. Seminar Prewrite (1 paragraph): What do you think the message of this painting is?  How do the symbols and techniques connect to that meaning?
4. Write 3 questions you have about this painting

HWK: Finish seminar prewrite and questions.  Can be typed or handwritten.  Due Wednesday, 2/22, start of class.

Surrealism Introduction

Starter 15
The Persistence of Memory
What do you notice about this artist's style, about how they paint?  What do you think the artist is trying to communicate in this painting?  This could be a theory, feeling, message, or emotion.

Surrealism Notes
Influential Theories: Freud (subconscious, dream analysis), Trotsky and Marx (Communism, changing the world), and Anarchism.


Surrealism: Basic Techniques/Theories

1. Dream logic/channeling the subconscious
2. Unusual juxtapositions and combinations of images/words
3. Automatism, the idea that you create without engaging in thinking or planning
4. Trying to free people from false rationality, restrictive customs

Surrealism Activities

1. Analyze 4 of the following images, discussing first what you notice about the artist's techniques and styles, then writing what you think the artist is trying to communicate in the image.  Choices of images are below.

Birthday

Marc Chagall

1915

Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Salvador Dali

1937

The Hat Makes the Man

Max Ernst

1920

Writing on painting (translated):

seed-covered stacked-up man seedless waterformer well fitting nervous system also tightly fitting nerves! (the hat makes the man) (style is the tailor).

 The Treachery of Images
Rene Magritte
1928-1928

(This is not a pipe)

Destroyed Place

Paul Klee

1920

 Swans Reflecting Elephants
Salvador Dali
1937

Kissing
Joan Miro

The Tilled Field
Joan Miro
1923-1924

Son of Man
Rene Magritte
1964

Two Philosophers
Joan Miro
1936









Activity 2: You are a surrealist
Draw a surrealist drawing.  Play with the different elements (look back at your note!) don't plan too much, perhaps try to imitate the style of one of the artists you looked at.

Activity 3: Surrealist Quotes
Choose one of the quotes below.  For that quote, write a short paragraph about how that quote gives you insight into surrealist art.  You might start by describing what the quote means, the talk about how it connects to the paintings you have seen and the notes you took.  Second, create a quick 5 minute surrealist sketch that connects to the quote.

1. "There is only one difference between a madman and me.  I am not mad."  -Salvador Dali
2. "The simplest Surrealist act consists of dashing down into the street, pistol in hand, and firing blindly, as fast as you can pull the trigger, into the crowd."  -Andre Breton
3. "Surrealism is not a school of poetry but a movement of liberation...A way of rediscovering the language of innocence, a renewal of the primordial pact, poetry is the basic text, the foundation of the human order.  Surrealism is revolutionary because it is a return to the beginning of all beginnings."  -Octavio Paz
4. "The mind which plunges into Surrealism, relives with burning excitement the best part of childhood."  -Andre Breton
5. "(surrealism is) a juxtaposition of two more or less distant realities.  The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be--the greater its emotional power and poetic reality."  -Pierre Reverdy

HWK: None

Omelas Seminar Reflection

No Starter: Turn in Starters 9-14

Omelas Reflection

1. Reaction (1 paragraph).  Make sure you talk about the comment someone made, and then tell me what that made you think!  Don't just summarize what was said.
2. Connections (1 paragraph).  Make a connection to another topic, text, experience, movie, piece of art...whatever you can think of!
3. Detailed Response (2 paragraphs).  Choose one of the main seminar questions, and answer it in two paragraphs.  Make sure you use evidence from the text, set up your quotes correctly, and use the TEAEA paragraph format.  Main Seminar questions are:
• What role does the idea of happiness play in this story?
• Why does this author think we can't describe happiness in our society (line 37)?
• What role does the child in the closet play in their society?
• Is it more moral to stay in Omelas or to walk away?  Why?
• What's the difference between the people who walk away from Omelas and those who stay?
• Is this story a metaphor for our own society?  Does our society have its own (metaphorical) small child in a broom closet?  What is it?
4. Questions and Answer (3 questions, 1 short paragraph).  Write 3 questions you have about the topics, text, or author.  Then choose one question and try to answer it in a short paragraph.  Use internet research, discussion, or your own deep thoughts to formulate your answer.

Omelas Seminar Make Up: Do ONLY IF ABSENT OR UNHAPPY WITH SEMINAR GRADE!

1. Choose of the major seminar questions listed above.
2. Answer these questions in a typed document of at least two double-spaced pages.  
3. Make sure to quote evidence from the text, and to set up your quotes correctly.
4. If you are doing this in addition to the reflection, you must choose different questions than the one you addressed in your reflection.

HWK: Complete the Omelas Seminar Reflection if you were here.  If you were absent, complete the Omelas Seminar Make Up.  Both are due first thing on Monday, February 21.  PRINT BEFORE CLASS!

Omelas Seminar

Starter 14

1. In your writing, what literary device are you best at?  Write a 2-4 sentence example that shows your grasp of this device.
2. In your writing, what literary device do you need to work on most?  Why is this device difficult for you?

Creative Writing Exercise

1. Going to write 2-3 paragraphs
2. For each paragraph, spend about 15 minutes writing
3. Use a different picture/topic for inspiration in each one
4. Have a different tone and setting in each paragraph
5. Play with some literary devices (metaphor, simile, alliteration, climax, etc.), take some risks!
6. Email or turn into the mailbox when done

Omelas Seminar: Main Questions

1. What role does this idea of happiness play in this story?
2. Line 33: "The trouble is we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid."  Do you agree that we have this bad habit?  Why/why not?
3. Why does the author think we can't describe happiness in our society (line 37)?
4. What role does the child in the closet play in their society?
5. Is it more moral to stay in Omelas, or to walk away?  Why?
6. What's the difference between the people who walk away and the people who stay in Omelas?
7. Is this story a metaphor for our own society?  Does our culture have its own (metaphorical) small child in a broom closet?

HWK: None, unless you want to get a head start on your seminar reflection.  :)  Prompts are the same as last time.  Reaction, Detailed Response, Connection, and Questions.  

Omelas Coaching and Tone

Starter 12

1. Quote the passage from the story that most makes you think.
2. Freewrite on your thoughts about that line

Tone Notes and Activity

1. Tone = the mood of a piece of writing, how the author expresses their attitude, intonation.
2. How do we set tone?
• Sentence length and structure
• Actions portrayed
• Word choice
• Level of formality (contractions, slang, sentence length)
• Settings
• Types of comparisons (similes and metaphors)
• Imagery
3. Take list of different tones, choose one.
4. Write a 4-8 sentence paragraph about unicorns or monkeys in the tone you choose
5. Share writings with class, guess at tones, discuss methods and strategies

Omelas Coaching

1. Paragraph by paragraph
• Address group confusions
• Discuss vocab
• Identify and label tone shifts
2. Literary Devices
• Each person teaches group their literary device
• Show group members where it is in story
• Discuss why she would use those devices, how the combo of devices affects tone and meaning
3. Discuss the Following
• What does this story mean?  What's the message?
• Make a connection between this story and 2 other texts we've read
• Talk about anything else you need to talk about to be ready for seminar tomorrow!

Omelas Seminar Prewrite

These should be 3 short paragraphs.  Can be typed or handwritten.  You MUST have this with you to participate in seminar tomorrow.  No prewrite, no participation (which would mean an ugly zero!).

1. Why does the author think the readers don't believe her description of the city of Omelas?  (lines 40 and 95)
2. Choose two literary devices (could include setting and tone), and discuss how those literary devices affect you as a reader, and influence how you read the story.  Give at least one specific example.
3. Why do some people walk away?  Where do they go?  (You might take a close look at the last paragraph- it won't give you a definite answer, but it may give you clues to spark thought!)

HWK: Finish seminar prewrite

DUE: Literary devices poster, annotations

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Starter 12

1. Read the first paragraph of Omelas
2. What is the author doing to establish setting?  What techniques is she using, and how is she writing here?
3. Describe a time you were celebrating something, focusing on setting

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas: Story Text HERE

1. Read and annotate- at least 3 annotations per page
2. Make sure to circle and look up unfamiliar vocab words
3. Write two questions about ideas or parts of the story that are confusing to you (things you would like to address during coaching)

Omelas: Literary Devices and Terms

1. Choose one of the following: Allegory* (challenge option), Alliteration, Climax, Personification, Metaphor, Sensory Details/Imagery, Simile
2. Create a poster that contains the following elements:
1. Title (name of your device)
2. Definition of the device in your own words
3. Quote from the short story that uses your device, or for allegory and climax, a description of how and where the device applies
4. A few sentences about how the device adds to the experience of the story, what effect it has on the reader

HWK: Finish literary devices poster.  DUE: Wednesday, 2/16, start of class

DUE: Being Peace Seminar Reflection

Being Peace Seminar Reflection

No Starter 12


Being Peace Seminar Reflection
Write, write, and write some more!  Make sure you are setting up quotations correctly.

HWK: Finalize and print Being Peace Seminar Reflection.  Make sure you have it printed and in your hand when you walk into class!  Otherwise it is late.  DUE: Tuesday, 2/15

If you were absent, complete Being Peace Seminar Make Up.  Make sure you have it printed and in your hand when you walk into class!  Otherwise it is late.  DUE: Tuesday, 2/15

If you were unhappy with your seminar performance, complete the Being Peace Seminar Make Up in addition to the reflection.  Make sure you have it printed and in your hand when you walk into class!  Otherwise it is late.  DUE: Tuesday, 2/15  Please note that this is optional, NOT required!

Details for all homework are on yesterday's blog post.

Being Peace Seminar

Starter 11

1. What do you think Thich Nhat Hanh would be like in a seminar?
2. What's a goal you have for seminar today?  How will you make sure to achieve this goal?
3. How will you need to modify your behavior for a whole class seminar?

Being Peace Seminar: Major Questions

1. Could these mindfulness trainings help bring about peace?
2. How do the practices described here fit into American culture?
3. Why would it be so hard to get in touch with yourself?
4. Are there ever ideologies or doctrines worth killing or dying for?
5. How does this relate to your life if you are not Buddhist?
6. Which mindfulness training are you best at?  Which is most difficult for you?

Being Peace: Seminar Reflection

The seminar reflection should be at least 2 pages, typed, double-spaced.  Answer the following questions in complete paragraphs.  The reflections will be assessed on their organization, development, evidence, sentence craft, and proofreading.  DUE: Tuesday, 2/15, printed at the start of class.

• Reactions: Write a paragraph about what other people said in seminar and your reaction to their comments/questions.  

• Questions: List questions you still have about this topic or text (at least 3), and identify possible ways you might seek answers for them. (Challenge: try to answer one of your questions through research or discussion)

• Connections: Identify and explain a connection to one of the following...

1. Other topics and texts you’ve studied (this year or last)
2. News article or current event
3. Historical event or figure
4. Movie, tv show, or song
5. Work of art
6. Personal experience you’ve had

• Detailed Response: Choose one of the major questions from the seminar to write about (if you are also doing the seminar make up, choose a different question than the ones you respond to in the make up).  Major questions are listed above.  Write two solid paragraphs in response to the question.  You should definitely be quoting the text, and setting up your quotes correctly! (Challenge: do a little outside research to further your understanding.)

Seminar Make Up (if you were absent, OR if you didn't meet your expectations for the seminar)

This should be at least two pages, typed, and double-spaced.  Choose two of seminar questions listed above to discuss in detailed and well-organized paragraphs.  Refer to the text, explain ideas thoroughly, and think carefully about your answers.  DUE: Tuesday, 2/15, printed at the start of class.

HWK: None.  You will get class time on Friday to work on your seminar reflections.

DUE: Seminar prewrite

Being Peace: Seminar Coaching

Starter 10

1. What is the purpose of coaching a text before seminar?
2. What could you do individually to make coaching more effective for you AND for the other people in your group?  Be specific!
3. What does an "A" student do in coaching?  What do they look and sound like?

Coaching Rubric Creation

1. Each group creates a rubric
2. Rubric should have 3-5 categories for assessment, with a brief description of what a good performance in that category looks like
3. Share rubric categories, combine into final class rubric
4. I will use these rubrics to assess you during coaching for the next few weeks

Being Peace Coaching

Go through text page by page, doing the following steps for each page:

1. Summarize the main idea of that page
2. Answer questions/address confusions
3. Make connections to other texts/topics
4. At end, choose best 3 discussion questions from group, give to Lori on an index card

Being Peace Seminar Prewrite

This is your ticket into the seminar tomorrow.  It can be typed or handwritten.  Answer the following three questions:

1.  Page 87: “In modern society most of us don’t want to be in touch with ourselves.”  A/D?  Why?  What does this mean? 
2. Page 91: “Human life is more precious than any ideology or doctrine.”  A/D?  Why?
3. There are 14 Mindfulness Trainings.  Of those 14:
• Which one do you think you are currently practicing the most?  Why?  Give an example. 
• Which one do you think you are currently practicing the least?  Why?  Give an example.

HWK: Finish seminar prewrite (see instructions above).  Due: Thursday, start of class.

DUE: Being Peace annotations and discussion questions

Buddhism 101

Starter 9

1. What does it mean to be "happy"?
2. Is happiness different from pleasure?  Explain your answer.
3. How can you attain happiness?

Buddhism 101

Need to understand the main tenets, before we can really comprehend the reading.  Lecture and notes on the following topics.

1. Basic Facts
2. Focii
3. 3 Jewels
4. 4 Noble Truths
5. Eightfold Path
6. Nirvana

TED Talk: Happiness

1. Take notes on at least two phrases/ideas that stand out to you.
2. What is the thesis (main idea) of this talk?
3. Do you agree or disagree?  Why?
4. Why do you think more people don't follow his recommendations for mind-training?

Being Peace

1. Finish reading and annotating (at least 3 annotations/page, highlighting and underlining does not count as annotation)
2. Write 3 discussion questions at the end of the text

HWK: Finish reading and annotating Being Peace, write 3 discussion questions at end of text.  Due Wednesday, Feb. 8.

DUE: Jihad vs. McWorld Seminar paragraph

Jihad vs. McWorld Seminar (finally!)

Starter 8: What is the message of this piece, and how can you tell?  How does this connect to other class concepts, text, and/or activities?

Jihad vs. McWorld Seminar

Thich Nhat Hanh: "Being Peace"

1. Read and annotate pages 246-251 in your blue reader (to end of 6th Mindfulness Training)
2. Circle and check vocab AS YOU GO
3. If you finish early, read and annotate to the end
4. Need at least 3 annotations per page

HWK: Seminar Writing  (due Tuesday, Feb. 8, start of class)

Choose a topic or question from our seminar today, and write a paragraph explains your thoughts.  In this paragraph, please do one of the following:

1. Talk about how your thinking on this topic/question has been changed or expanded
2. Explain your conclusions on this topic/question
3. Explore further questions you have about this topic or idea
4. Make connections between this topic/idea and other things you've talked about, studied, or experienced.

Jihad vs. McWorld Demystified

Starter 6:

1. Other than the last 3 pages, what page or paragraph is most confusing for you?
2. Why is that part confusing?  Look carefully, and try to identify where your understanding breaks down, and why.
3. If you could have me answer one question about the text, what would it be?

Whole Class Coaching:

1. T-Chart: Contrast Jihad and McWorld, using adjectives, examples, and metaphors from the text.
2. Graphic Organizer: Pros and Cons of both Jihad and McWorld (look on pages 223-224)
3. Last 3 Pages: Paragraph by paragraph walk-through of the last 3 pages

HWK: None.  Maybe review any parts of the article that are still unclear in preparation for seminar tomorrow.

Work Through the Hard Stuff!

ATTN: The Socratic Seminar is going to be pushed back until Friday!  Cara said you all might need a little more coaching to be really ready for seminar, so we'll spend Thursday making sure you are all really solid, before moving on to seminar on Friday.

Starter 6: Watch video above.  What is your reaction?  What questions do you have?  Would this strategy work in the US?  Why/why not?

Seminar Coaching: Follow instructions on coaching handout.  Find the thesis first, then work through the article paragraph by paragraph, making sure you understand what the author is saying.

HWK: List 5 questions you still have about the text, or places you are confused about what the author is saying.  Have them ready to discuss for tomorrow.

DUE: Jihad vs. McWorld read and annotated

Capital Auction Debrief

Starter 4: Watch the video above.  What is your reaction to this video?  How does this connect to the simulation we did yesterday?  Would the solutions he proposes work?  Why/why not?

Transnational Capital Auction Debrief

Choose 3 of the following 6 questions to answer in well-organized typed paragraphs.  Be specific, make connections, and use examples to support your reasoning.

1. Look over your auction "bids" for the fifth and final round of the Transnational Capital Auction -- on minimum wage, child labor, worker organizing, taxation rates, and environmental laws. If Capital were to accept your "bid" and come to your country, what would be the real human and environmental consequences there? 
2.  Based on your experience with the auction, agree and/or disagree with the following statement, and back up your answer with evidence: Poor countries need investment, so it's a good thing when transnational companies invest there.  It’s okay to take a middle position here.
3. The global process that we simulated in class is sometimes called "downward leveling" or the "race to the bottom." What, if anything, could people in poor countries do to stop this race to the bottom?  What could wealthier countries do?
4. One company used to manufacture all its products in the United States, paying wages that averaged (with benefits) around $16 an hour. The investment director for this company now travels every month to places like Indonesia, El Salvador, and Nicaragua looking for sites to produce his company's products. He says that he would prefer to keep all production in the United States. Based on this simulation and what you know, why do you think this person's company feels forced to send production to countries that have a lot of "Friendly to Capital" points?
5. What impact does the race to the bottom have on workers in the USA? In what ways might it affect your lives?
6. CHALLENGE QUESTION: What would Marx say about the “race to the bottom?”  What would Galtung say?  Explain your answer carefully, drawing on your knowledge of their theories and critiques (for an extra challenge, try to work hegemony in there!).

Jihad vs. McWorld: Reading and Annotating

1. Read and annotate the rest of the article (to page 227 in reader)
2. Need at least 3 annotations per page (remember, underlining and highlighting DO NOT count as annotations!)
3. Write two possible seminar questions at the end of the article (try to think of juicy discussion questions)
4. Write down two areas of confusion, non-discussion questions

HWK:

1. Finish and PRINT the Transnational Capital Auction writing.  DUE: Wednesday, Feb. 2nd, start of class.
2. Finish reading and annotating Jihad vs. McWorld.  DUE: Wednesday, Feb. 2nd, start of class.

DUE: Jihad vs. McWorld, read and annotated to page 220, paragraph 2.