April 12, 2012 • jld09d

CWR- Jessie’s

Creative Response 10

In Yeats poem “A Prayer for My Daughter” he talks about the kind of person he wishes his daughter to become when she is older. He mentions wanting her to be beautiful, but not too beautiful, as well as “chiefly learned” among other things. 

Think about what might change if Yeats had written this as “A Prayer for My Son”. What kind of attributes would be ideal for a male as he grows up? Write 1-2 stanzas of what you think this poem might look like, and write a short explanation for your choices.

___________________________________

A Prayer for My Son (Verses 2 and 4)

May he be granted status and yet not

Status to make a stranger’s eye distraught,
Or his before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made powerful overmuch,
Consider power a sufficient end,
Lose natural humility and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend

 In certainty I’d have him chiefly learned;
 Loyalties are not had as a gift but loyalties are earned
By those that are not entirely powerful;
Yet many that have played the fool
For power’s very self, has charm made wise,
And many a poor man that has roved,
Trusted and thought himself entrusted,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.

          I supposed that a man’s power and status was important in this time, so it would only make sense that that’s what a father would want for his son. The speaker, however, has his child’s best interest at heart, so he doesn’t want his son to be too powerful. With his status, he wants his son to remain humble, and to be smart in not too easily trusting others. People that may envy his power or seek him out just to benefit from his status might try to befriend him. In that sense, his father wants him to be cautious and aware, but still able to trust people. 


            I thought this was an awesome activity. It was something that I had considered myself, so I’m glad that my partner cam up with it. I appreciate that it makes you analyze the text. Then you have to synthesize your own work, based on the text, meaning you have to apply Yeats’ voice and style. It also has you look at gender roles in that historical context. This journal topic gets students to think on different levels, as well as allows for creativity. 


April 5, 2012 • 6 notes • shawtyandgarfuckel
Your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (via shawtyandgarfuckel)
April 5, 2012 • 1 note • mrsantelman
mrsantelman

mrsantelman

April 5, 2012 • 11 notes
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

I chose Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” 

     In the poem, Yeats describes his daughter as very young; I imagine just a baby.
                       ”Under this cradle-hood and coverlid My child sleeps on.” 
In the song, Wonder sings about a newborn daughter.
                          “Isn’t she lovely… Less than one minute old”
     So I made that connection, that the speakers are both new fathers. Also, this song came to mind because Wonder talks about how lovey his daughter is. Through the poem Yeats repeatedly speaks of his daughter’s appearance; how he hopes she’ll be beautiful.
                         ”May she be granted beauty”

Furthermore, stylistically, there is a lot of repetition in each work. Yeats uses the word “beauty” over and over again, and Wonder is consistent with the word “lovely.”

 I chose this song from the perspective of the father, referring back to their early relationship and what he first thought about her/wanted for her. Now, at her wedding, he recalls that initial prayer. As far as their relationship, who’s to say that  the daughter doesn’t appreciate what her dad wanted for her? Granted, his wishes may have been questionable, but perhaps she was raised believing they were good. So now, at her wedding, it’s almost sweet to reflect back on his hopes for her years ago. 

April 5, 2012

Creative Weekly

Now that you’ve read “A Prayer for my Daughter” by Yeats, your task is to post a father-daughter song (can be audio or video) that you imagine Yeats and his daughter would dance to at her wedding. 

Consider how his adult daughter would feel about him, based on his wishes for her in this poem. Would she appreciate him? Would she be offended? Etc. You can hypothesize any take you wish, as long as you can support it.

The song you choose can be from the point of view of the daughter, Yeats, or about their relationship.

Include a paragraph about why you chose this song, the message/attitude it conveys about their relationship, and what from the poem leads you to believe that. Cite both lines from the poem and lyrics of the song. 

Example

April 5, 2012 • 66 notes • creativecarmelina.blogspot.com

(via teachingliteracy)

March 28, 2012 • 2 notes • ericaloveseveryone
ericaloveseveryone: My face while reading Frakenstein. CRW-        This is such a striking and heartbreaking picture! Babies and little kids, man. I love them. This little girl is way more than upset. Which brings me to the question, what does this mean? I feel like there are two interpretations that I might readily assign to this image. One) Erica hates this book so freaking much that it’s making her cry in frustration. Or, Two) She feels such deep sympathy for a character (the monster, perhaps?) that it’s brought her to tears. Which of these shining revelations is the truth of the matter (if either) I do not know. All I can address is what I’d do in either situation. And so we have… The remedy—Option 1. If a student seems to completely abhor a book, your first step should be to find out why. The book might be too much for them in terms of understanding. They may not be able to get into the story at all. If the reading level is daunting, if the content is too complex to wrap their mind around, if the story just seems far too boring; there are things we can do as teachers to help soften these views. Scaffolding is important for a text like that. Discussion, reading strategies, and opportunities to reflect in the classroom would be good for a student struggling with those things. Possibility 2—Maybe she’s just very sympathetic and emotionally invested in the story or a character. That’s not bad at all. Nothing here really needs to be remedied. Unless of course it makes her unable to read and prevents her from participating in lessons or activities that relate to the book. Honestly, we never know how material is going to affect a student. We don’t know what they relate to in a story, or how they identify with something, it’s hard to predict what will resonate. If for any reason the student is having trouble with the novel for emotional reasons, this would be another cause to talk to them about it and figure out a solution. As a teacher, I like the idea of this activity. For one, the first part gives you so much insight into the students’ reader response. I like that it’s so open ended. This second part where students can select an image of their classmate’s and analyze it is awesome because you may get an interpretation that makes sense to another student, but may not occur to the teacher. It also allows them to relate to one another and foster communication between them. All of this makes for great discussion topics at a later time. 

ericaloveseveryone:

My face while reading Frakenstein.

CRW-

       This is such a striking and heartbreaking picture! Babies and little kids, man. I love them. This little girl is way more than upset. Which brings me to the question, what does this mean? I feel like there are two interpretations that I might readily assign to this image. One) Erica hates this book so freaking much that it’s making her cry in frustration. Or, Two) She feels such deep sympathy for a character (the monster, perhaps?) that it’s brought her to tears. Which of these shining revelations is the truth of the matter (if either) I do not know. All I can address is what I’d do in either situation. And so we have…

The remedy—Option 1. If a student seems to completely abhor a book, your first step should be to find out why. The book might be too much for them in terms of understanding. They may not be able to get into the story at all. If the reading level is daunting, if the content is too complex to wrap their mind around, if the story just seems far too boring; there are things we can do as teachers to help soften these views. Scaffolding is important for a text like that. Discussion, reading strategies, and opportunities to reflect in the classroom would be good for a student struggling with those things.

Possibility 2—Maybe she’s just very sympathetic and emotionally invested in the story or a character. That’s not bad at all. Nothing here really needs to be remedied. Unless of course it makes her unable to read and prevents her from participating in lessons or activities that relate to the book. Honestly, we never know how material is going to affect a student. We don’t know what they relate to in a story, or how they identify with something, it’s hard to predict what will resonate. If for any reason the student is having trouble with the novel for emotional reasons, this would be another cause to talk to them about it and figure out a solution.

As a teacher, I like the idea of this activity. For one, the first part gives you so much insight into the students’ reader response. I like that it’s so open ended. This second part where students can select an image of their classmate’s and analyze it is awesome because you may get an interpretation that makes sense to another student, but may not occur to the teacher. It also allows them to relate to one another and foster communication between them. All of this makes for great discussion topics at a later time. 

March 22, 2012 • 1 note
March 22, 2012 • 201 notes • bookporn
amandaonwriting: Collection of works by Jane Austen

amandaonwriting:

Collection of works by Jane Austen

(via teachingliteracy)

March 15, 2012

Socratic Seminar Reflection

            I feel like this first experience was successful overall. We covered a wide variety of topics and made some really interesting connections. I also liked having that sheet, because it helped us to know what was being looked for. As far as improvement, I just think that maybe next time we should try to implement one of the techniques we discussed that would allow everyone a chance to really speak. There are people that just end up being wall flowers, and it’s not their fault. It’s just difficult when you have strong personalities to converse with. Especially in the “super group;” it can be really overwhelming. I do believe this was helpful for several reasons. For one, it allowed you to see the text in so many different ways. Each participant’s perspective is included, so you may find yourself looking at parts of the text in ways you never would have thought to. The same goes for the connections and insights others may have. It just broadens your scope and gives you more to think about. Additionally, it helps you strengthen ideas you may have already had. Sometimes I have a thought about a detail of the novel, but it’s not quite formed into something I can talk about. But then someone says something that basically encapsulates that thought. That person was able to put it into words for me, so now I can build on it.  
            I agree with the need for more textual reference. If we were to write a paper, it would be really helpful to have those direct quotes or paragraphs to cite. I have mixed feelings about shooting people questions, though. Sometimes it makes that person uncomfortable because you’re putting them on the spot. I think with us, we know each other pretty well that we (or at least I) can tell when someone wants to say something. (Aside from people who raise their hands and stuff. I mean by the look on a person’s face, and more specifically, one of the quieter people.) Shooting questions kind of feels like being called out. I would suggest rather, asking if they had input/something to say/something to add. That way, they can talk about anything; reference a past topic that they may not have been able to jump in on, elaborate on what’s being said currently, or segue into something they may have wanted to talk about.