Bully, the movie (Extra Credit)

The link here is to a New York Times article and blog about the soon-to-be-released documentary BULLY being given an R rating.  I encourage you to go to the link and write something there, but I also ask that you cut-and-paste your thoughts into our blog so that it's shared locally, in case others don't want to read through the whole New York Times blog.

This link is to a page from National Public Radio, including interviews with Johnny Depp and a segment of All Things Considered with the movie's director.

This link is about the trial of a bullied, gay student who killed himself.

This link is to the movie's website.

Right Before the Civil War

EXTRA CREDIT:  Here's an interview with an historian who wrote a book about life in everyday America, just before the Civil War started.  Please listen to the interview and react to it and/or discuss the context it gives to Beat! Beat! Drums! or Paul Revere's Ride, both of which have to do with the same topic. 

Our Place in the Universe

EXTRA CREDIT:  Watch the video I've linked HERE and write about your connections to it and /or between it and OUR TOWN. 

Our "gilded" America - Extra Credit

I can't put my finger on an example at the moment, but I know that writers have been comparing modern America to the late 1800s, especially with regards to our economy and its effects on different groups of people.  See if you can find an article, reference or direct comparison.   Tell us about its thesis and supporting evidence.  If possible, please provide a link to the source itself. 

Walmart and Place in OUR TOWN

On Thursday and part of Friday, you watched a documentary about two women who live in Damariscotta, Maine.  It, like the play we’re going to read, was called Our Town.  

Please think about as many of these prompts as possible while writing for this one:

                            

1.    How is the town of Damariscotta “characterized”?

2.    How is Walmart characterized?

3.    You’ve probably never been to Damariscotta (If you ever want, the mussels – seafood – from the river are amazing), but it’s not all that different from Bedford in a lot of ways.  What would feel about Walmart opening up a super center in town?

4.    Regardless of how you feel, how do you think the town would change as a result of its coming in?

5.    If asked to sign either a “for” or an “against” Walmart coming to town petition, which would you choose and why?

A Sense of Place

Now that you've read the class assignment from Wednesday, 1/24  (New York Times article by Tina Kelley and the two poems about "place" - "The Golden Years," Billy Collins and "A Sense of Place," Steven Curtis Lance) I'd like you to explore your understanding of them, your own notion of "place" and ways that you might characterize a place in your life.  Please use this blog for a discussion around any or all of the following prompts.  Remember that when it's going well, each of you will be using specific, detailed information to respond and react to other people's thinking and add in ideas and observations of your own.  I'll be checking in periodically, but I'm expecting you to be on here at least once before Friday night, when you'll have another blog to work on.

                                  i.    What is meant by “the heartbeat of here”?

                                 ii.    What are Collins and Lance, the authors of the two poems saying about Westchester, where Collins lived, and N. Cleveland St.?

                                iii.    Think about either the area where you live and/or Fox Lane High School and “characterize” it, briefly. 

This Day in History - Women's Voting Rights

This link will take you to resources about the battle over women's suffrage.  Hopefully, you can make connections to any of our readings.

Extra Credit - The GOP Iowa Caucus

Tonight is when the political year is going to start.  Please follow the following link to a NY Times activity page that's geared towards tonight's vote in Iowa, at the bottom of which is a 15-question "scavenger hunt."  If you're interested, please answer questions 1, 4, 5 and any 3 others of your choosing.