After watching the film "Dead Poets' Society," we listed many reasons for liking/enjoying the film; however, we also read Roger Eberts' review that made many complaints against the film. So what do we think? Is it a good film or a bad film?

Let's have a debate!

DPS Argument: "Is "The Dead Poets' Society" a good film?
Proposition (yes it is a good film)
Opposition (no it is not a good film.
Judge - record arguments
- document BEST arguments here
- Choose a winner based on the strongest argument


Vocabulary for MBFGW
While we watch the film, I would like us to use TodaysMeet to have back channel discussions.

Wednesday 9/9

Today we talked about Participation (using Amy Cuddy's TEDTalk--see the link to the right).
We also discussed WYR, sorting your arguments into Logos, Ethos and Pathos.

The majority of the class we used to talk about Barthelme's "The School." Here the questions we used for group discussion.

1)         List all the creatures that die in/around the school. Do you notice any pattern?

2)         How do you react when you arrive at the line “We weren’t even supposed to have a puppy”? What expectations has Barthelme established by this point?

3)         What kind of relationship does the narrator/teacher have with his students? How do you know this?

4)         Barthelme uses some strange language, often repeating words and phrases. What effect does this have? What kind of narrator are we dealing with? 
(Clue: look at the beginning of the story. Edgar might say "We wanted the students to understand how root systems of trees work, so we had them plant trees." But he says it in a very different way. What is different about the way he "speaks"? Why do you think Barthelme chooses this language?)

5)         At the end of the story, when the students seek affirmation from Edgar, how does Edgar respond? Is he able to comfort them?

6)         Why do the students ask Edgar to make love to Helen?

7)         The text closes with the lines “the gerbil walked in.” But gerbils don’t “walk” (they crawl or scurry). It is usually only humans that walk. Why do you think the gerbil is given this human characteristic?

8)         Why do you think the students cheer when they see the gerbil “walk” in at the end of the story?

9)         Edgar tells the students “life is that which affirms life.” Why do you think he says this?

Tuesday, 9/8

Today, we reviewed the film "The Dead Poets' Society."
Mostly, we liked the film. Here is a list of things we like about it:
- It is moving
- It promotes the following values: freedom, rebellion, loyalty
- it is an Underdog narrative

As I said yesterday, the purpose of Art (meaning literature, film, painting, etc.) is to make us think. It is to its benefit that the film raises these questions:
- What is "success"?
- What is a good use of time?
- At what point should we break the rules?
- Is life without a dream worthwhile?
- What is the best kind of education?

Then we looked at Roger Eberts' review of the film (see the link to the right). Ebert does not like the film and we examined his reasons for this.
* While we ran out of time to finish this discussion, we will return to this on Wednesday. Be ready.

After lunch, we worked on and performed our skits that we started yesterday based on Siddhartha characters and plot structure.

Assignment:
Class Reflection #5 (on Figment).
Reading Resposne (on Figment): please find a section (2-5 sentences) from Barthelme's "The School" that you find meaningful. Explain why it you find it meaningful.

Monday 9/7

Today we talked about the structure of Siddhartha:
1) Identify goal. Begin quest for goal. [Enlightenment]
2) Strategy 1[denial of worldly experience]
3) Realization that strategy 1 fails
4) Strategy 2 [indulgence]
5) Realization that Strategy 2 fails
6) Strategy 3 [moderation]
7) Success [acheives enlightenment]

We used this prezi to talk about the characters in Siddhartha.

We talked about the characters in Siddhartha:
- Govinda (Siddhartha's helper/measures Siddhartha's success)
                    also represents failed Strategy 1
- Gotama (also Gautama and the Buddha) - Realization that Strategy 1 will not work
- Kamala - Represents failed strategy 2: indulegence/pleasure
- the ferryman - Represents successful strategy 3: moderation
- Siddhartha's son - rejects Siddhartha. Siddhartha accepts rejection.


Assignment:
Complete DPS
Write (on Figment): Reading Response #4
Class Reflection #4 (on Figment)

Friday, 9/4

Today, we reviewed Siddhartha's philosophy toward education, prioritizing self-teaching through experience rather than passive learning.
We also talked about the different genres of biography, philosophical doctrine, and quest narrative (see the prezi), and decided that Siddhartha could easily be all three types of stories (and perhaps more).
We then watched the first half of "The Dead Poet's Society" using TodaysMeet and I asked you to think about how education works in that film. Is it like Siddhartha's idea of education?
I also asked you to think about who wanted things that were against the rules.
- we said that Neil wants to be an actor, against the rule of his father
- Knox wants Chris, against the rule of her current, boorish boyfriend
- who else wants things that are against the rules.
Think about this over the weekend.
Assignment:
While we will not be reading all of Siddhartha, it is important to understand the whole plot. So please read the plot summary here and write your reading response on Figment.
Also give me a class reflection of Figment.And have a great weekend!

Vocabulary words for Barthelme's "The School"

Euphemism for death

            “kicked off”

            “belly-up”

Explicable - explainable, able to be explained

Conscientious - with care and awareness

Sabotage - to purposefully destroy or disrupt

Direct/directly - immediate

Extraordinary - above the ordinary, or wonderufl

Mortality - the ability to die

Excavate/excavating

Fatal/fatally - relating to death 

Grapple/grappled - struggle

Intrude/intruder - invade

Fundamental - necessary 

Datum - data point

Taken-for-granted - unappreciated

Mundane/mundanity - dull, ordinary

Transcend/transcended - to rise above

Some Notes that Might be Helpful with your reading

Siddhartha – the protagonist who seeks Enlightenment

Govinda – Siddhartha’s friend/sidekick, also seeking enlightenment

Gautama – (the Buddha, The Sublime One, the Venerable One) a revered leader who has achieved enlightenment and helps others who seek it

Samanas--an order of monks, seeking enlightenment

This story takes place in India, a nation that follows Hinduism

Consider this question: what is the difference beween Teaching and Knowledge?

Writing Response #1

Read the chapter "Gautama" in Siddartha (pp. 25-34).

What is your response to this reading? And why? Use specific moments/passages from the text to support your answer.

(The response "I liked it." is too simple. Please explain--in detail--why you liked it. It is ok to have a negative response, as long as you can explain why you had it.)

Email your response to me: jmarquar@kean.edu by 9am
Include your name
Subject heading: Reading Response 1

Reflection #1

How did you feel about class today? Please identify your response.
Explain your response IN DETAIL. Why did you feel that way? What specific moment/detail informed this feeling?

(Similar to your reading response, the reflection "I liked it." is too simple. Please explain--in detail--why you liked it. It is also ok to have a negative response such as confusion or boredom, as long as you can explain why you had it.)

Email your response to me: jmarquar@kean.edu by 9am tomorrow
Include your name
Subject heading: Reflection 1

Welcome

Welcome to ESL 0205, your first class at Wenzhou-Kean University.
We will do a lot of work in this course, and this site is the place where I will post information pertinent to our work. So please bookmark this site so that it is available to you (you will need a VPN to access).

On the first day, we will:
1) have an in-class writing session
2) set expectations for the course
- review the syllabus (see the link to the right)
- review the roles of student and teacher (see handout)
3) prepare for the reading

We will also view Amy Cuddy's TEDTalk about body language and participation.