sticks and stones, and... words?

Thinking we may need to talk about this.  Please skim the article and come to class tomorrow prepared to tell us what you think.  Feel free to comment to this post in the meantime.

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february 13

[For your MOM: What does it mean to be "your own best friend"?  How can you be kind to yourself? Where does exercise, nutrition, rest, and mindfulness fit into this?]

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Money" by Pink Floyd; "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits]

Do you think money changes people?  Are people who are born into money different than people who aren't?  Are their lives really that different?  Why are we so curious about the extremes (like people who are super-rich or super-poor, for example)?  Is this why F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby instead of A Regular Gary?

-OR-

Now that we know Gatsby and Daisy were "a thing" back in the day, before he became great and she became Mrs. Tom Buchanan, make a prediction about where you think things are going to go from here.

AGENDA:
[MOM]
1. Journal
2. Finish reading Chapter 4
3. Choose three people and give them your test.  Walk up to them, have them find your blog post with your eight questions, and sit with them while they answer your questions online in a comment to your blog.  We will set this up in class together; I'm posting the general idea so that if anyone is not in class today, you can message three friends and have them do this today, so that you will not fall behind tomorrow.

POST:
1. Chapter 4 notes -- if you haven't already (title: GATSBY CHAPTER 4 NOTES)
2. Your test results.  Describe the process of selecting questions: how did the questions you chose reflect what you think is important to understand about the book?  Also describe what people got right and wrong, and how the conversations you had about this indicated whether they understand the book. (title: TESTING UNDERSTANDING FROM THE OTHER SIDE)

february 12

[Idea for your MOM: What is it about sitting still and quietly that seems like a challenge to some people?  What happens when I just, simply... relax?]

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Testify" by Rage Against the Machine; "Test for Echo" by Rush]
When does Nick feel tested (or at least uncomfortable) in the book?  When do you feel tested in life?

-OR-
In the process of selecting today's tunes, I geeked out and researched the etymology of the words test, testify, and testimony.  Turns out they're all related to determining correctness or vouching for the truth in some way.  Small wonder that the lyrics of both songs question what we're seeing.  If you prefer, you can write about how sometimes you receive messages that don't appear to align with reality.  How can you tell?  How do you respond?  Are you able to test the truth for yourself?  (Hmm, isn't that how the scientific method was developed?)


AGENDA:
*[MOM]
1. Journal
2. Cake Wednesday: (a) advice from a college finance pro; (b) write a poem that you can enter in that scholarship contest
3. Today we will finish reading Chapter 4 and reflect by challenging three friends (see below).  Write a test with at least two questions per chapter.

POST:
1. Chapter 4 notes (title: GATSBY CH 4 NOTES)
2. The questions (BUT NOT THE ANSWERS) on your blog (TITLE: GATSBY TEST CHAPTERS 1-4).  Get at least three friends to take the test by commenting to your post with their answers.  Grade them and report their grades with the correct answers in a second post (TITLE: GATSBY TEST GRADES).

***
Q: Dr. Preston, what if I can't get three friends to take my test?
A: Fine-tune your powers of persuasion and try harder.  This is all-or-nothing.

gatsby and the public domain

To better understand why people can't just go around sharing and remixing Gatsby-- but they WILL be able to in less than a year from now, read this article.

february 11

[MOM'S IDEA: "What do you need to figure this out?  You can do this."]

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Did it occur to you to read this weekend?  Why do you think this sort of idea comes naturally to some people, and not to others?  If this is something that you have to work at, what will you have to do in order to support this habit?

AGENDA:
1. MOM

2. Journal
3. Gatsby: your questions on Chapter 3 and begin reading Chapter 4

POST:
1. At the end of Chapter III Nick tells us of his "cardinal virtue" -- what is it?  How does this admission change the way we look at Nick?  Is his idea supported by the events we've read so far?  Do you think he is being humble or arrogant?  (title: NICK'S CARDINAL VIRTUE)

2. Gatsby reading notes on beginning of Chapter 4 (title: WHO ARE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD/ GATSBY CH 4 READING NOTES)

poetry for $

This just in:

gatsby chapter 3 questions for your post

Here are some questions you should be clear on.  Post the answers to your blog in sentence form.  You can introduce the post by writing something like, "I just read Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby, and here is what I got out of it."

What rumors about Gatsby did the two girls and Jordan talk about?  Why do you think Gatsby is so mysterious?

 

What does Nick call the man in Gatsby's library?

 

What does Nick initially imagine Gatsby to look like?

 

What does Nick find out about Jordan?

 

What do Gatsby and Nick plan to do on the next day?

 

At the end of the chapter, we learn that Nick's cardinal virtue is," I am one of the few ____ people that I have ever known."  Fill in the blank and explain why you think he mentions this at this point in the book.