Mr. Brack’s classes

Transcendentalism was a cultural movement, or new ideas in literature, religion, culture and philosophy that emerged in New England in the middle of the 19th century (roughly 1835-1860).

It began a new American culture, freed from European bondage, also a rebirth of an intellectual and artistic life that was bound up with the life of the individual spirit.

Another way to think about it is, have you ever experienced a moment when you

• stepped outside of yourself & daily life?
•  felt connected to something larger … the world, other souls, or God?
• enjoyed a moment fully, & turned off your talking, chatter, or thoughts?

    

   

   

   

  Click here for the first short poem from Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher.

  Click here for the readings from Henry David Thoreau.

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Today you will really use or interact with this blog for the first time. After each team presents its Jigsaw background related to The Crucible, I’d like you to:

Respond to each team’s presentation — which includes either a Publisher flier or PowerPoint — by answering these questions.

1. Describe one specific piece of new information you learned about their topic:
2. Summarize one of their main ideas, or points of information:
3. Give one constructive piece of advice — how could the presenter(s) improve?
4. Describe one part of the presentation — or how they did it — that went really well (Give them credit!!): 

Welcome to the early 1600s in Puritan New England!

To begin this unit you will read an early lyric poem by Anne Bradstreet, and a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Links to two related assignments are below.

First, Click on lovesong-ppt4 to download the Love Letters PowerPoint assignment. SAVE this as your NAME.Love in your classwork folder. The key objective is for you to compare-contrast and analyze Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” along with a modern love song you select.

The product is a 9-10 slide PowerPoint, which should be completed in class by Tues., Oct. 14. See the specs and rubrics on the assignment document. 

Second, in class Oct. 9-10, you will read and annotate “Young Goodman Brown”, a story about the Puritan world. The key objective is for you to understand how the story demonstrates Puritan moral values, superstition, and even hypocrisy. Click on hawthorneyounggoodmanbrown8 to download the story and save as NAME.GBrown in your classwork folder.  

This assignment begins in class Friday, Sept. 26. The objective is for you to write a persuasive letter in Business Letter format to convince one of the candidates for president, vice president, or President Bush, to take action on an issue of your choice.

Click presidential-letter for the steps and specifications.

After picking a topic and researching facts in class Friday, your weekend homework is to write a draft. The final typed letter is due Tues., Sept. 30 in class. 

To help you understand persuasive techniques in action, what follows are several well-known political speeches. As you listen, read and/or watch these, use the Persuasive Speech Table to organize your reaction and insights into the methods used.

1) First up is a famous speech delivered by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in April of 1968, the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Kennedy, the brother of JFK, the president who was assassinated in 1963, was running for president at the time. RFK had begun to embrace MLK’s dream of finding non-violent solutions to improve American society, especially to end racism and injustice.

As you read RFK’s speech, (or, try) Robert F. Kennedy speech reacting to MLK\’s death , look and listen and highlight for:

• What types of appeals does he use (to logic, emotions, or our good character)?
• What is his key message or statement?
• How does he address the “other side” — people who might react to MLK’s death with violent rage?
• What specific rhetorical techniques does he use (look closely at his language, such as diction (word choice), rhythm, repetition, imagery, etc.
• How does he sum it up, try to clinch it?
• What did you think — how would you react if you had been there 40 years ago?

Next are two modern political speeches — one from Barack Obama, the other by John McCain, the two leading candidates for president (as you know)!

Click on politicalspeeches for the Word document with both speeches printed. Follow the directions attached, first by saving the Word doc in your Classwork folder as your NAME.SPEECHES.

Good luck!

This creation myth is told by the Onondaga people of the Northeast Woodlands, which includes today’s upper New York state. It is on pages 16-18 in your literature book.

STEPS:

1) Read the background and stress from the word of the day to look for arechtypes, or symbolic figures that represent important cultural ideas or values. Then read the myth once as a whole class.

2) Short whole class discussion

3) Read the myth again individually.

4)Think-Pair-Share questions:)

a) If you had been the Great Chief, would you have pulled up the Great Tree? Explain.

b) Recall: Describe the actions of the swans, the beaver and the duck.

c) Then analyze: How do these actions represent the best aspects of human behavior? What qualities do the animals show? 

d) Infer: Whom do the Onondaga credit with bringing Earth into existence?

Analyze: From this myth, what can you conclude about the relationship between the Onondaga and their natural environment, especially the water? Explain.

e) Generalize: Muskrat makes a risky and deseperate swim. How does society benefit from brave actions like his?

 … I’d like you to closely check out a few clips — audio and visual — from some very different men and women who each have shown perseverance and reached excellence or success in their lives:

• * John Lewis, a friend and colleague of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Civil Rights movement (shown at left). Lewis will tell you why Barack Obama’s campign for president continues the struggle for American freedom.
• * Barack Obama — on the night he was nominated by the Democratic Party as candidate for President, last Thursday, Aug. 28
  * Maya Angelou — a well known poet and author, who supported another historic candidate for president, Hilary Clinton, and will tell you about why she also believes in Obama.
• * Kevin Garnett — KG, on the night of the Celtics championship, last June! He screamed, “Anything is possible!”

First, here are 2 photos showing John Lewis — as a Congressman, then going back in time to 1965 and the Civil Rights movement.

In 1965 he helped organize a protest march in Selma, Alabama after high school students were being arrested for supporting black voter registration.

The older photo below shows Lewis helping to lead the Selma march, which was called “Bloody Sunday” because the police beat the marchers and attacked them with dogs.
 

 Click here to view historic slides about the Selma, Ala. march in 1965.

1) Listen to an interview with Rep. Lewis on the day before Obama was nominated as the first African-American candidate for president (Aug. 28)

Click here to listen and also read the printed interview copy.

Pair-Share questions: one partner write out response:

a) Why does Lewis say he feels blessed to see the day of Obama’s candidacy?
b) What does Lewis mean when he says, Obama  “should be free to liberate the rest of America, and maybe take a message to the rest of the world.”

Class discussion:

• Raise your hand if you watched or heard Obama’s speech live
• Stand up if you read about it in the newspaper or online
• Raise two hands if you or saw a report about it on TV
• At each table with one recorder, one manager: (4-5 minutes) — table discuss Obama’s speech or what you know about Obama or his opponent, John McCain, so far.
• Record at least 5 observations or opinions — one from each member
• Tables report in

3) Maya Angelou and Hilary Clinton

Next up is the well-known poet Maya Angelou, whose life and literary works embody the struggle against oppression and seeking freedom and meaning. It’s worth noting that she at first supported Hilary Clinton for president. Even though she did not win so far, Clinton is admired by many women especially for her tenacity near-successful bid to become the first female president. 

Before listening

The suffix “ism”

a) Doctrine, theory, system of principles (“pacifism” = belief in peaceful solutions to conflict)

b) An attitude of prejudice against a given group

Listen now to Angelou and pick out three things she says. 

4) Now, a different look at achieving success from someone very different — your Boston Celtics own KG!

Watch KG’s emotional reaction to winning the NBA championship last June. 

Now RESPOND in YOUR OWN WAY — Freewrite (individual)

• What comes into your mind when you watch him?
• How do you feel?
• Did you see this, were you shouting, excited … where were you?
• What do you take from this — who is he talking to, and what’s his gut feelings?
• DId you see that old guy he was hugging at the end? That’s Bill Russell, a Celtic great who paved the way for other athletes of color in the 1960s — and he won 9 championships, NINE rings. 
• LAST QUESTIONS — Please take some time, start on your own, and discuss with a classmate. Then answer in complete sentences:

  Analyze/Synthesize:
  

  A) What do you think the objective of this lesson is?

  B) Compare the speech and statements of Obama and Kevin Garnett, especially (or add in John Lewis and Maya Angelou) – what do they have in common, and what is different? What is each person mainly saying in her or his own way?