On Friday, Feb. 10th, you will have a substitute teacher. You will have SILENT reading time to read our final sci-fi short story, "Harrison Bergeron," by Kurt Vonnegut. Make sure you practice "CLOSE READING," asking yourselves questions as you go along. If you'd like to print out the story to annotate it, please feel free to do so in class or at home. Also, as stated Thursday in class, make sure you know all of our stories' (approximate) dates of publication, and important background information about the author of this piece and the others.
There will be a quiz on "Harrison Bergeron" on Tuesday, so make sure you are prepared (and review it over the long weekend). Also, make sure to review the other texts, as we are approaching a test on our SCI-FI UNIT soon!
And now, welcome to the strange world of:
"Harrison Bergeron"
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
"Nightfall" and "Harrison Bergeron"
You all did quite well on the corrections "regrade" from your "Primeval Night" quiz, and in the class discussion on Tuesday. Obviously, you can see the answers are in the text when you READ CLOSELY AND TAKE NOTES. Read for content, deeper meaning and to see what the author's intent is behind the piece, not just for plot.
We will discuss "Nightfall" on Thursday, as it is a more difficult text. Make sure you have finished reading it by the start of class on Thursday so you can participate in the discussion and see how much you personally understood in the text. Pay attention to the discussion and take notes.
We will NOT have a class discussion of "Harrison Bergeron," our final text, before you take a quiz on it. So, make sure you read "Harrison Bergeron" CLOSELY and analyze it as you go along. ASK QUESTIONS, just like you're doing in the blog for "Nightfall," and make sure you're able to answer those questions by the time you've finished analyzing the text.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF: Remember, we are looking at "technology" as we read our Science Fiction unit. Ask yourself how technology figures into these pieces. Is the author's comment that man's technological advances are beneficial to mankind? Harmful? Both? Also, as we did with the Poe unit, compare and contrast the stories. Which stories have similar themes and ideas? Which offer contrasting ideas and themes? Start to look at the pieces TOGETHER as a unit to examine what commentary Science Fiction makes about mankind as he advances into the future.
We will discuss "Nightfall" on Thursday, as it is a more difficult text. Make sure you have finished reading it by the start of class on Thursday so you can participate in the discussion and see how much you personally understood in the text. Pay attention to the discussion and take notes.
We will NOT have a class discussion of "Harrison Bergeron," our final text, before you take a quiz on it. So, make sure you read "Harrison Bergeron" CLOSELY and analyze it as you go along. ASK QUESTIONS, just like you're doing in the blog for "Nightfall," and make sure you're able to answer those questions by the time you've finished analyzing the text.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF: Remember, we are looking at "technology" as we read our Science Fiction unit. Ask yourself how technology figures into these pieces. Is the author's comment that man's technological advances are beneficial to mankind? Harmful? Both? Also, as we did with the Poe unit, compare and contrast the stories. Which stories have similar themes and ideas? Which offer contrasting ideas and themes? Start to look at the pieces TOGETHER as a unit to examine what commentary Science Fiction makes about mankind as he advances into the future.
Monday, February 6, 2012
"Nightfall" -- Required "comments"
For "Nightfall" comments, you need to write two things (two separate comments):
1.) Post a QUESTION about the story as you read. (Think along the lines of questions I might ask on a quiz about plot, characters, setting, theme ... use your literary terms!) NO ONE MAY REPEAT A QUESTION AFTER IT HAS BEEN POSTED. IF YOU REPEAT A QUESTION, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS REQUIRED BLOG COMMENT.
2.) Go back and post a comment to ANSWER someone else's question. I'm not sure if you can comment directly to someone else's comment. What you might need to do is, in your "answer" comment, write at the start: "Answer to David's (or whomever's) Question," and then write your answer. NO ONE MAY REPEAT AN ANSWER AFTER IT HAS BEEN POSTED. There should be one questions per student, and one answer for each question.
DEADLINES: Notice these have been changed slightly, since we discussed "Primeval Night" for most of the period on Tuesday:
QUESTIONS must be posted by the end of class Wednesday, February 8th.
ANSWERS must be posted (as homework) before 8 AM on Thursday. We will discuss "Nightfall" in class on Thursday, so answers posted after 8 AM WILL NOT COUNT FOR CREDIT.
1.) Post a QUESTION about the story as you read. (Think along the lines of questions I might ask on a quiz about plot, characters, setting, theme ... use your literary terms!) NO ONE MAY REPEAT A QUESTION AFTER IT HAS BEEN POSTED. IF YOU REPEAT A QUESTION, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS REQUIRED BLOG COMMENT.
2.) Go back and post a comment to ANSWER someone else's question. I'm not sure if you can comment directly to someone else's comment. What you might need to do is, in your "answer" comment, write at the start: "Answer to David's (or whomever's) Question," and then write your answer. NO ONE MAY REPEAT AN ANSWER AFTER IT HAS BEEN POSTED. There should be one questions per student, and one answer for each question.
DEADLINES: Notice these have been changed slightly, since we discussed "Primeval Night" for most of the period on Tuesday:
QUESTIONS must be posted by the end of class Wednesday, February 8th.
ANSWERS must be posted (as homework) before 8 AM on Thursday. We will discuss "Nightfall" in class on Thursday, so answers posted after 8 AM WILL NOT COUNT FOR CREDIT.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
"Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov
The second short story we will be reading and discussing for our Sci-Fi unit is "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov, first published in 1941. (Remember that it was published 70 years ago as you read ... these ideas and images were very progressive back at that time!) Asimov is one of the most famous and prolific Sci-Fi writers of the 20th Century, and "Nightfall" is one of his most famous pieces, frequently referred to as his "best" story by Sci-Fi fans. In this post is the link to "Nightfall" and Other Stories, a collection of Asimov's work. "Nightfall" is the first story in the collection. This story is more complex than the excerpt we read from 2001: A Space Odyssey, so some may find it more difficult to follow. For that reason, you may want to print out the text and ANNOTATE it as you go along, taking notes on characters and plot, asking questions, etc.
In this pdf file, the individual pages are not numbered on the text, so you will need to write those in manually if you print it out. (You will need to print pages 1 - 19. Don't hit "print all" because it will print the entire book, which is over 200 pages!) If you read it online, it will show the page number at the bottom of the computer screen as you scroll along.
The Table of Contents on the first page is followed by Asimov's introduction to "Nightfall." Make sure you read that, too, to give you some background on the story. The story begins on page 2, where it says "Nightfall" in boldface. It ends on page 19 at the dash two-thirds of the way down the page. (Below the dash is the intro to the next story.)
And now, have fun reading
"Nightfall"
*Please note: If you research this story (and you probably should, as "close readers"), make sure you are looking up Asimov's short story version of "Nightfall" ... there is a longer, novelized version that Asimov worked on with Robert Silverberg years later.
In this pdf file, the individual pages are not numbered on the text, so you will need to write those in manually if you print it out. (You will need to print pages 1 - 19. Don't hit "print all" because it will print the entire book, which is over 200 pages!) If you read it online, it will show the page number at the bottom of the computer screen as you scroll along.
The Table of Contents on the first page is followed by Asimov's introduction to "Nightfall." Make sure you read that, too, to give you some background on the story. The story begins on page 2, where it says "Nightfall" in boldface. It ends on page 19 at the dash two-thirds of the way down the page. (Below the dash is the intro to the next story.)
And now, have fun reading
"Nightfall"
*Please note: If you research this story (and you probably should, as "close readers"), make sure you are looking up Asimov's short story version of "Nightfall" ... there is a longer, novelized version that Asimov worked on with Robert Silverberg years later.
"Primeval Night" Quizzes
First the bad news ... many people did very poorly on this quiz, and we will discuss it in class Monday when I hand them back. The good news is that you may redeem your grade by turning in this "Correction Assignment" attached to your old test Scantron. (You MUST attach Scantron with the new materials so I can verify which answers you missed, what your old grade was, etc.)
The "Correction Assignment" -- Basically, this requires you to review the text and find the correct answers, and cite the information/quotes that verify the correct answers.
1.) Write the number of the question you missed.
2.) Find the correct multiple choice letter by reading the text, and note the correct letter. (A, B, C, etc.)
3.) Cite the page(s) and quotes from the text to support the correct answers.
Example (made up):
4. (question missed) A. (correct letter answer) Page 13, "The monolith disappeared quietly in the night, as mysteriously as it appeared." (page and quote that supports correct answer)
Make sense? I'll explain it in class.
CORRECTIONS DUE: Wednesday, February 8th -- NO LATER!
This is a REQUIRED assignment/regrade if you received an 80% or below. If you received an 85% or higher, you MAY do this, but it is up to you. Remember, this was your first quiz/test grade of the new semester. You want a high grade to start the semester off right, so make sure you do this assignment! It is the ONLY time I will allow you a "regrade" on a test.
The "Correction Assignment" -- Basically, this requires you to review the text and find the correct answers, and cite the information/quotes that verify the correct answers.
1.) Write the number of the question you missed.
2.) Find the correct multiple choice letter by reading the text, and note the correct letter. (A, B, C, etc.)
3.) Cite the page(s) and quotes from the text to support the correct answers.
Example (made up):
4. (question missed) A. (correct letter answer) Page 13, "The monolith disappeared quietly in the night, as mysteriously as it appeared." (page and quote that supports correct answer)
Make sense? I'll explain it in class.
CORRECTIONS DUE: Wednesday, February 8th -- NO LATER!
This is a REQUIRED assignment/regrade if you received an 80% or below. If you received an 85% or higher, you MAY do this, but it is up to you. Remember, this was your first quiz/test grade of the new semester. You want a high grade to start the semester off right, so make sure you do this assignment! It is the ONLY time I will allow you a "regrade" on a test.
Monday, January 30, 2012
2001: A Space Odyssey
The first science fiction selection we will be reading is the opening (Part One) to Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. As you read, please stop and reflect often. As "close readers," you know you should ask yourself questions about the reading! As the class reads onward, Mr. Lyons will ask questions on this blog, and you will post your answers as "comments" to the site. MAKE SURE YOU READ EVERYONE'S COMMENTS! This is how we will communicate and have "classroom discussions" for our Sci-Fi mini-unit (and other units in the future). In lieu of turning in hard copies of homework assignments, YOU WILL POST ON THIS SITE AND RECEIVE GRADES FOR YOUR POSTS! Mr. Lyons will check your comments frequently.
And now, enjoy: 2001: A Space Odyssey
And now, enjoy: 2001: A Space Odyssey
January 30, 2012
In this science fiction unit we will be focusing on technology. In your own words, what is technology? Please answer in just a few sentences.
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