Friday, February 28, 2014

Mar. 3 - 7, 2014: Short Stories

UNIT QUIZ: Short Stories Mon. Mar. 10
DUE Wed. Mar. 5: Freedom to Read activity sheet. (25 marks)
Complete student information form (3 marks)

Fri. Mar. 7, 2014 - Interactive Short Story Unit Lab Review 
-Lab 120 is booked:
 - Review the Interactive Short Story Unit to prepare for the quiz on Monday. Be sure to cover the elements of the short story and the glossary. After reviewing the interactive short story unit, review both embedded slide presentations below.



 
Thurs. Mar. 6, 2014 - The Metaphor
"The Metaphor" is a short story written by Nova Scotian writer Budge Wilson. Wilson has been in the news for writing the prequel to Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. Before Green Gables  was published in February 2008. In a YouTube video, Wilson explains how it felt to take on such a formidable writing task.
Read this story and complete terminology notes according to the long sheet instructions.

Wed. Mar. 5 - Forgiveness in Families
- "Forgiveness in Families" was written by Canadian author Alice Munro. Munro is considered one of the world's best short story writers.
- Munro won the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2009. It is the biggest international award for short story writing. In 2013, Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize in Literature (only the 13th female winner).
- Read the story on p. 93 and complete notes on the terms from the  handout.

 

Tues. Mar. 4, 2014 - North End Faust 
Today, we're reading "North End Faust" by Ed Kleiman
The title of the short story "North End Faust" contains a double allusion. These two allusions relate to the main character's place of residence in Winnipeg and to his faustian behavior as a university psychology professor. See the definition of faustian.
- Read the story and complete the terminology notes according to the long sheet instructions.


Mon. Mar. 3, 2014  - House
- You'll be reading "House" (Inside Stories II p. 20), a story written by Jane Rule.
"House," the short story written by Jane Rule, is about a young couple with two children who live a little differently than other families in their community. The parents, Harry and Anna, decide to change their lifestyle, and finally buy a house.
- Read the story and complete terminology notes according to the long
sheet instructions.
- Stephen King discusses short story writing.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Feb. 24 - 28: Short Stories

Complete student information form (3 marks)
 

Fri. Feb. 28 -  Freedom to Read Week: Censorship and Journalism
- Part of this class will be spent with the librarian discussing information freedom issues.
- The lab is also booked in the library.
- In the lab: Complete the Freedom to Read activity sheet. This is out of 25 marks and will be collected at the end of class. Use the websites below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments
www.banned-books.info
 
When finished:
Review the Fundamental Freedoms (section 2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
Fundamental Freedoms
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
a) freedom of conscience and religion;
b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
d) freedom of association.

Freedom of the press is an important cornerstone of a democracy.

  1. Find out where Canada currently ranks on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. Where did Canada rank in 2002?
  2. Review yearly  Attacks on the Press
  3. Review statistics on journalists killed
Thurs. Feb. 27, 2014 - God Is Not A Fish Inspector
- You'll be reading "God is Not a Fish Inspector" (Inside Stories II p. 42)
- Read the story and complete the terminology notes according to the long sheet instructions. 

Wed. Feb. 26, 2014 - The Tell-Tale Heart 
- Use the first 25 min. to complete terminology notes for "Harrison Bergeron" and "Ashes for the Wind." If finished, enjoy reading a book or magazine of your choice.
- Today we're reading the classic gothic horror, The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe. Complete terminology notes for this story according to the long sheet instructions.

 

Tues. Feb. 25, 2014 - Ashes For the Wind
- Use the first 25 min. to complete terminology notes for "Harrison Bergeron."
- Read "Ashes for the Wind" and complete terminology notes according to the long sheet instructions.
"Ashes for the Wind" was written by Colombian journalist and author Hernando Téllez. Although Téllez wrote this story around 1945, the problems of Colombia's internally displaced persons (IDPs) persist today.
Current news connection: Canadian mining companies in Colombia 2013 article.
This Refugees International YouTube clip, produced in 2008, outlines the scope of the IDP problem in Colombia.
An April 2008 news agency report provides another view on Colombia's IDP crisis.
In 2009, LinkTV produced a documentary, Stories That Kill, about the state of journalism and freedom of expression in Colombia. 


Mon. Feb. 24, 2014 - Harrison Bergeron
- Complete paragraph composition responses to the following media topics (use your writing code as these will be peer-edited):
1. Is remixing content a legitimate form of creativity, or is it intellectual property theft?
2.  Write a narrative description of your Olympic media event audience experience - school hockey game viewing or another Olympic sport you've watched. (You can use the Olympic Audience Media Experience question sheet as an outline for your response).
- Start short story unit:
  Read Harrison Bergeron (see stories link). Complete terminology notes according to the long sheet instructions.
Harrison Bergeron was written by American author Kurt Vonnegut. In this YouTube clip, Vonnegut offers advice for short story writers. After reading "Harrison Bergeron," do you think that Vonnegut has followed his own advice?
- Vonnegut offers eight rules of short story writing.
  1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
  2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
  3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
  4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
  5. Start as close to the end as possible.
  6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
  7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
  8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Feb. 17 - 20: Media Literacy

DUE Mon. Feb. 17: Tale of Two Media Slide Projects
DUE Thurs. Feb. 20: Scams to Avoid crossword puzzle

Thurs. Feb. 20, 2014
- Finish the Scams to Avoid crossword puzzle
- We viewed Killing Us Softly 3, a critique of the portrayal of women in advertising.

Wed. Feb. 19, 2014
- we will participate as part of a 12 class media audience to experience a Canadian National Team Olympic media event in the KSS gym (hockey game).  You will complete the Olympic Audience Media Experience question sheet as an outline for a future in-class paragraph topic.

Tues. Feb. 18, 2014   Complete student information form (3 marks)
- 25 min. for work on the Scams to Avoid crossword puzzle  using the reference booklet.
- DVD Writing Effective Paragraphs (23 min.)
- Paragraph topic: Is remixing content a legitimate form of creativity or is it intellectual property theft?

Mon. Feb. 17, 2014
- 20 min. of self-directed silent reading (reading logs are overdue).
- DVD Media Literacy.
- Start work on the Scams to Avoid crossword puzzle  using the reference booklet.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Feb. 11 - 14: Media Literacy

Complete student information form (3 marks)

Tues. Feb. 11 - Fri. Feb. 14
- 20 min. for reading or essay completion
- Introduce A Tale of Two Media project
- Start work in the lab on A Tale of Two Media project
- View some example slides
- The project template can be selected and imported into your Google Docs account.
- Decide which two popular culture characters (human or cartoon) will be the stars of your side-by-side story of old and new media. Do a Google Images search to make sure you can find enough images of your characters.
- Come up with slide content ideas and sketch / write them on your planning sheet. (10 marks)
** If you don't have access to Google Docs, set up a GMail account to avoid having to verify your account through a cell phone number.

***Note - Canada's Copyright Modernization Act came into force on Nov. 7, 2012, which "enables the use of copyrighted materials provided the use is “fair.”  Previously, if you wanted to produce a satirical work and used third party copyrighted materials without permission, you could have been sued for copyright infringement. Now, under the expanded definition of “fair dealing” in the Act, creating a satire or parody using others’ materials, such as a third party logo, is no longer considered copyright infringement. To fall within the fair dealing exception the use must: (a) be “fair”; and (b) fall within one of the enumerated categories, which now includes education, parody and satire in addition to research, private study, criticism, review, and news reporting"(Source).