Class+Journals+-+British+Lit

Each week - generally on a Friday - will be Current Events Friday, a day for critical thinking, critical writing, and open and spirited debate. Generally, you will be discussing and debating current(ish) issues in education, society, politics, culture, and entertainment. Occasionally, you will be discussing, debating, and reflecting on what's "current" in the class. Questions are designed to be open for debate with no "right" answers.

Instructions:
 * 1) Complete the assigned reading/text/whatever.
 * 2) Read the question or prompt.
 * 3)  Find your page below; t his is the page on which you will keep your class journals. R  espond to the week's assignment there.

These journals will be open to all members of the class for comment, other teachers, and administrators, so please keep in mind that what you write may be shared with a wider audience.


 * ~ #CurrentEventsFriday ||~  ||~   ||
 * = Week ||= Assignment ||= Prompt ||
 * = 1 || "In Toronto, the WiFi may come with a side of snooping"

Summary: a tech company has designed a method to collect information about customers from their smart phones. || Read and listen to the article from Public Radio International (PRI). How do you feel about the possibility of restaurants and other businesses having the ability to track your movements? Is this an invasion of privacy, or is it good marketing strategy?

Make sure to talk about what's going on (give some background info), make your claim, clearly, and support your claim with evidence that backs up your argument. ||
 * = 2 || [|"Google Glass & Now: Utopia or Dystopia"]

Summary: many of us use Google for nearly everything. Google Maps, Search, Mail, are all products I use nearly daily. So is Google Glass next? || Read the article and watch the presentations for Google Glass and Google Now. After reading both sides of the argument (one for "utopia" and one for "dystopia") consider - are you down for Google Glass or do you think this is just one more step towards Big Brother checking out our every move?

Make sure to talk about what's going on in the world of technology today (give some background info), and make your claim for whether or not Google Glass will be the undoing of society as we know it. Make your claim clearly and support it with evidence that backs up your argument. Refer back to the article to either build on or refute specific examples. ||
 * = 3 || The Goodman of Paris:

Summary: an older man writes a letter to his young wife explaining the way the institution of marriage should work. || The Wife of Bath's tale is perhaps one of the most memorable (at least for me) among all//The Canterbury Tales//. In this tale, Chaucer's character, well experienced in matters of marriage, talks about her perspective on marriage and argues with many of the church leaders regarding their interpretation of The Bible. Showing herself to be well read, well traveled, and in charge of what she wants, she provides an interesting contrast to established ideals about the institution of marriage in medieval times.


 * 1) Take a gander at The Goodman of Paris text (you should have a paper copy, but if you do not, one has been linked for you at the left) and compare the advice the older man gives his fifteen year old wife with Alisoun's (the Wife of Bath's) behavior during her marriages. Would the two of them have been a happy couple?
 * 2) Write a paragraph responding to the prompt. Make sure that the paragraph addresses the prompt and includes examples from both [|The Wife of Bath's Prologue and/or Tale]and [|The Goodman of Paris's letter].
 * 3) Post this paragraph to the wiki by clicking on your name (linked below) and then clicking on the edit button. Type in the space provided. Make sure to date the entry. (You must be signed in to do this.) ||
 * 4 || [|Electronic Cigarettes:]

Summary: Unregulated, e-cigarettes are replacing tobacco - and people wanna know if this is a good thing. || # Do you agree/disagree with the argument that e-cigs will lead to addictive use of regular cigarettes?
 * 1) Should e-cigs be regulated by the FDA in the same way that regular cigarettes are
 * 2) If it remains that the FDA does not regulate e-cigs, predict what effect it will have on our teens in 5-10 years. ||
 * 5 || On Satire

Read and "[|Open Letter: Kansas]" || Consider the definition of satire and the techniques employed in writing a good piece of satire.

Your journal today needs to include three distinct responses.
 * 1) Compare "A Modest Proposal" to the Flying Spaghetti Monster Letter - how do the two of them use exaggeration, incongruity, irony, and parody in the text?
 * 2) What points are each of them trying to make? Do you think that they werre they successful? Why or why not?
 * 3) Some think that these works cross a line - should any targets be "off limits" for satirists? Are there any jokes that just aren't funny, or is everything fair game? ||


 * ~ Student Journals ||
 * Dezshoun || BryBree || Todd || Nathalie || Kareem ||
 * Nathan || BryHen || Alejandro || Olivia || Chris ||
 * Arkell || Andre || Nina || Daniel ||  ||
 * Austin || Angel || Jackson || Jawad || John ||
 * Kaylee || Amirah || Michael ||  || AusMorg ||
 * PJ || lindsay || chet || Cassidy || Katarina ||