11/2: In class essay (see prompt on page 2). You can finish the essay over the weekend if you need to.
11/1: HOMEWORK: Continue to prepare for in class essay. Class work day in preparation for in class essay (tomorrow).
10/31: We wrote and talked about the end of the novel and about Elie Wiesel's speech. Unit assessment on Friday (in class): unit, I am going to ask you to write about an idea about war that you will take away from this study of war. It should be something that relates to our main focuses: how war changes the meaning of words we use to describe it, or something about your role as a citizen in war. You need to draw from two sources – one mustbe either the novel or the film, one could be the TED talk , or the Goya prints, Elie Wiesel’s speech, or poems we’ve looked at, etc. You’ll write in class on Friday and this will be the assessment for the unit. Bring notes.
10/29: I’ve posted a link to a series of prints made by Francisco Goya that art historians see as a rebuke of the violence in war. Susan Sontag called these the first art in the Western world to criticize rather than glorify war. If the link doesn't work, you can also find it by googling “Goya Disasters of War Richard Harris".
Please work in pairs or groups of three on this: Please take the time to look through these. There are a few that I think of every time I read chapter 10 in the novel (especially plate 39). I also think about these in connection to the Robin Coste Lewis quote. Goya’s captions are packed with irony, and I think that the print + its caption should help you to think more deeply about Lewis’ ideas. Choose 5 or so prints that help you (as a group) to understand what Lewis is saying and that give you insight into the ways in which language is weaponized and under threat in wartime (click and double click on the thumbnail prints to enlarge). Talk through what you see and what you understand and the connection you can make, then write down your best ideas in a google doc that you share with each other and with me (title it Goya thoughts and make sure to share it with me at this email address: cathy_nicastro@wrsd.net.
If there is time, continue to read. Finish the movel (all the way to the very last page) for Wednesday.
10/26: HOMEWORK: Finish the novel by Monday. In class, we revised the assessment a little, worked on it a little, then presented.
10/24: HOMEWORK: Finish the novel by Monday (read to the very last page). In class: working in pairs, develop an argument (based on the close reading from yesterday) about w word whose power before the war has changed because of war. Three minute oral pitch to the class making your argument. Assessment grade.
10/23: HOMEWORK: Read through chapter 10 for Wednesday. In class: Today, revisit Paul’s encounter with Gerard Duval . This is certainly one of the most important and most memorable parts of the novel, as Paul has to deal face to face with his own fear, with the idea of enemy and the idea of duty, etc. Please close read three of the following sections (you must close read the bolded section, then you can choose the other two). For each, make a list of the words and phrases that strike you (you can do that on the same sheet that you used for yesterday’s close read). Pay attention to sensory details, to patterns of words, to ideas that help you to think about fear, about enemy, about duty. THINK about what Paul’s thinking and how he is reacting, and what that tells you about the nature and costs of war. After you are done, pair up with someone next to you, share what you both saw in the close reads and make a list of important takeaways from this section about what the novel is saying about fear: its roots, its costs, its dangers, about enemy: its power and its weakness, and about duty: to whom, for whom and why it matters. 212-216, 216-218, 218-220, 220-223, 223-225 Please keep reading chapter 10+ when you finish.
10/22: HOMEWORK: Read through chapter 10 for Wednesday. In class: see here.
10/17: HOMEWORK: Read and watch TED talk (on resources page). Instructions here.
10/16: HOMEWORK: Read pages 154-172 and 179-end of chapter 7 for Thursday. In class: we worked in color coded groups to close read two sections of chapters 6-7.
10/15: In class, we spend 15 minutes reviewing the most recent 15 or so pages read, and on the front of a notecard: made a list of brutal images in the book.
10/12: HOMEWORK: Read chapter 5 for Monday and through chapter 7 for Thursday (pace here - 7 is about 50 pages).
In class, read and respond to Roger Ebert's review of Paths of Glory.
10/11: HOMEWORK: Read chapter 5 for Friday, through 6 for Monday and through 7 for Thursday (pace here - 7 is about 50 pages). In class, we finished Paths of Glory and on the back of yeterday's notecard, wrote about at least one way the film uses language as a weapon and/or shows that war weakens the language (Robin Coste Lewis' quote: Language is one the most powerful weapons of war. It is also one of its first victims."
10/9: HOMEWORK: Read through chapter 4 and respond. In class, we wrote some, talked some and watched some of the film.
10/5: HOMEWORK: If you have not read through chapter 3, please do so by Tuesday. In class, we close read sections of the novel (please complete page one and then one of the sections on page two) and we started to watch Paths of Glory.
10/4: HOMEWORK: Keep working on the projects. Due tomorrow. Bring in all components (close reads + final paper or storyboard).
We started by responding to war prompts
We started with this quote: Language is one the most powerful weapons of war. It is also one of its first victims." - Robin Coste Lewis We'll use the quote (and Remarque's epigraph) to frame our discussions.