Journal Topics

December 2: When the teacher disciplines the boy for writing poetry (in the first song, as we saw in yesterday's video clip from "The Wall"), the boy's words are the lyrics for "Money" -- another Pink Floyd song.  As you listen to both tunes today, ask yourself what you and your classmates think about while you're supposed to be thinking about what the teacher tells you.  Why is money and a fantasy world of success more compelling to the boy in the song/movie than the area of an acre?  What elements of the life you imagine for yourself grab your attention, no matter what else is going on around you? 
Here's the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U

December 1: Your friends invite you to a fancy restaurant in San Francisco for your birthday-- all expenses paid!  The waiter brings you a soda, calls you "sir" or "miss" and hands you a menu.  With horror you discover that each dish consists of insects and road kill in various states of decay/disembowelment.  How will you handle the situation? (Careful: if your friends eat here, they must be zombies/foreign agents who are trained to deal with this sort of thing.  They may turn on you if they consider you rude.  You can't just leave.  If you don't eat you'll have to talk your way out of it in a way that doesn't raise suspicion.)

November 21: What is it about routine that makes our lives both easier (more efficient) and harder to change (put down that third bag of Hot Cheetos!)?  Describe a routine you want to start, describe a routine you want to stop, and describe a routine you want to continue.

November 20: As author Salman Rushdie put it, "A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep."  Write a poem about yesterday's events, or what you think it says about our culture and the people in it, or anything else that fulfills Rushdie's description of the poet's work.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179708

November 19: 1. Write a poem that no one will ever read.  Make it no shorter than a Haiku and no longer than "Dover Beach".
2. Write a poem that you would be willing, if not proud, to show someone.  Make it no shorter than a Haiku and no longer than 3 stanzas and/or 12 lines (total).
November 18: Make a prediction: How will you do on the test today?  Did you finish reading the book?  Did you understand it?  Did you review the literary terms?

November 17: Describe a time when you thought you did everything right and lost or got punished anyway.

November 14: Explain how you will go about researching and writing your essay.

November 7: Describe one interesting point from yesterday's class/Socratic seminar and comment on how it changed your mind and/or gave you an idea you didn't have before.

November 6: Montag feels pressured by the culture that surrounds him into taking drastic action.  What elements of his circumstances resonate with you, and what elements seem far-fetched and exaggerated?

November 5: Overheard in class on Tuesday: "Hey, fool!  It says it right there, dumbo!"  There are many ways to teach each other; when does it help to chide/shame/insult each other?  When can we laugh at our mistakes?

November 4: Today most Americans will continue to complain about our society and government, and they won't vote.  How will anything ever get better if we don't DO something about it?  For that matter, how will your education improve if you don't take charge of your own learning?

November 3: Over the weekend it rained for the first time in a long, long time.  How do authors use rain to establish setting and tone? 

October 31:Halloween traditions began as a way of "using humor and ridicule to confront the power of death."  Why do we make fun of things we fear?  How does this help us cope?  When is using humor to deal with serious issues a positive strategy, and when does it backfire?

October 30: Now that you've mastered "Dover Beach" explain what you think the poem means.  If you're not sure, try to guess why Bradbury had Montag recite this (out of the millions of poems he could have chosen).

October 27-29: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week you will work independently.  Each day's journal topic is up to you-- you may write about whatever you want, as long as you write at least half a page.
  Suggested Journal Topics:
1. In what ways are you like Guy Montag?  In what ways are you different?
2. In your experience, who's happier-- people who read or people who don't?  Why?
3. Next week there is an election.  Why don't more people care to research the issues/candidates and vote?  Is this a sign that we're becoming more like Mildred and her friends?


October 22: Why does Faber blame himself for being a coward?  Is he a coward, or is he smart to get things done without starting an obvious fight?  What happens when Montag confronts Mildred's friends?  Is this smart?  Will it make things easier or more difficult for Montag and Faber?