Week #2 Vocabulary Fahrenheit 451 and The Fireman

Fahrenheit 451 Pages 25-68

1.    erected: something that has been built

2.      proclivities: things that you are naturally inclined to do

3.      odious: evil or malevolent

4.      ravenous: very hungry

5.      pratfall: joke that involves slapstick or violence

6.      dictum: a declaration from someone with authority. 

7.      noncombustible: does not easily explode.


The Fireman pages 271-291

1.      obscured (271): to be hard to see or covered by something

2.      radiance (272): A warm and glowing light or feeling

3.      idle (277): to not be working or moving

4.      cataract (278): a blockage of the lens that keeps people from seeing.

5.      radical (280): someone who believes in ideas people think are extreme.

6.      rational (281): something that makes sense and is logical. 

7.      serenity (287): a way of being that is calm and relaxed.

The keys on my bed were obscured by the blankets that were covering them. (271)

The radiance of the woman was clear from the way she smiled warmly and said hello.

The car was sitting idle because it had run out of gas.

Once my grandma had the cataract removed from her eye, she could see clearly again.

They called him a radical because he discussed ideas that people thought were extreme.

I explained my argument in a rational and logical way so everyone could understand.

After I had my bath and had a cup of tea, I felt a feeling of deep serenity.

Week #1 Fahrenheit Vocabulary

Here are definitions for this week's vocabulary in Fahrenheit 451. Enter them into your vocabulary journal

Fahrenheit 451 Pages #1-24

 

1. Stolid: calm, showing very little emotion.
2. refracted: to change the course of light in the way a prism would
3. imperceptibly: a change so small it can hardly be noticed
4. pulverized: to break something down into its smallest parts
5. melancholy: a sad feeling
6. capillary: a thin blood vessel
7. multifaceted: having a lot of different talents or sometimes having a lot of different sides (similar to a cut gem)
8. ballistics: the study of how bullets and missles move through the air.

Ray Bradbury Links

Ray Bradbury has been called a "literary prognosticator," meaning that he is able to look into the future and see where society is headed. As you have seen in The Pedestrian and The Veldt, Bradbury has a unique way of seeing how technology might impact our world.

Examine at least two of the following links to learn more about Bradbury and about the ways that technology is changing the way we relate to the world and each other. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Meet Ray Bradbury
The National Endowment of the Arts has a nice video profiling Ray Bradbury and his work. 

Ray Bradbury fights for libraries!

Ray Bradbury speaks out to save libraries from closing.  

Ray Bradbury doesn't let a stroke get him down

This profile talks about the writer's life and politics. 

Duh, It's not about censorship

Ray Bradbury says Fahrenheit 451 is NOT about censorship.

The Danger in Books

What is this unit about?

Books deliver stories. Stories deliver ideas. Ideas deliver power.

What question will we answer?

• What is the danger in books?
• How can reading and writing fuel rebellion?
• How does a story argue?
• What is the danger in your art?

Why are we doing this?

For centuries, books have been the most effective information technology humans have. Stories and ideas from the past are able to shape the thinking of those living in the present. Within the pages of books, many have found the fuel for revolutionary change and transformation.

Because of this, the powerful have often attempted to control and censor books. They think that if you control the ideas and stories a person has access to, you can more easily control and predict their behavior. Chimamanda Adichie described this in her essay The Danger of a Single Story.

Now that books are no longer the dominate information technology, the question is how will you tell your story? How will those in power attempt to control and censor your story? And what can you do about it?

This unit has a variety of reading, writing, and thinking tasks to sharpen our critical faculties. Not only will this help us think about our creative work in a new way, it will help you prepare for the EXPLORE test.

Where did the ghetto come from?

We're reading stories about young people growing up in neighborhoods ravaged by poverty. Although poor neighborhoods may seem like they have always been poor, that's not necessarily true. Here are some links to help give you a historical context to the issue of poverty.

• Did you know that Martin Luther King, Jr. used to have an apartment on the west side of Chicago? Strange, but true. King came to Chicago hoping to help end poverty and housing discrimination. The Chicago Tribune produced a short documentary about King's work in Chicago. You can find it here.  

• Chicago is considered by many to be one of the most segregated cities in the United States. There's a NY Times story that talks about how the city's history of segregation played a part in the latest mayoral election. You can find it here.

• Segregation doesn't happen by accident. Historian Beryl Satter wrote an excellent book called "Family Properties" that discusses how African-Americans were kept from buying properties in White neighborhoods. You can find an article that describes the techniques real estate agents and home sellers used to enforce segregation. You can find it here.  

• The excellent documentary, Race the Power of an Illusion, has a segment dedicated specifically to the history of segregation in the United States. We are going to watch a clip of this in class, but you can check it out here. 

Visit at least one of the following links and answer the following in the comments below, or email it.

What are the three most important things you learned?
What is the main idea?
What questions does this article make you think of?
What did you think of what you read?

Scholar Questions for Our America

In class we considered our perceptions of "Ghetto" versus "Neighborhood". Out of that discussion we came up with bazillion questions. Below are some that might be good to use for your reading responses.

About Our America the book...

• What do they mean when they say "Our America"?
• How does Our America relate to Single Stories?
• What is daily life like in this neighborhood?
• Why are people scared of a ghetto when a neighborhood comes close to the same thing?

About our perceptions of "the ghetto...

• Why did we describe the ghetto so badly?
• How is our perspctive "fixed" when we are young?
• How many times do people make single stories and not realize it?
• Why is examining this going to be helpful to us later on?
• Are we the stereotypes we come up with?
• How would I be viewed if I told people I lived in "the ghetto" as opposed to a "neighborhood"?
• Why do people create single stories to take away or dispossess other people?
• So how should we really think of the ghetto, outside of what we've seen?
• Are some parts of the ghetto safer than some "neighborhoods"?
• Are white neighborhoods really problem free? Do they have similar problems?
• Why do we think of the word "neighborhood" so positively if a ghetto is a neighborhood?
• Why do people automatically assume the ghetto is bad?
• Is this book about "ghetto" people?
• How is this similar to the Europe vs. Africa assignment we did?
• Would Adichie see the ghetto as a good thing?

About the Ghetto...

• How will this help us in the long run?
• Why do people move to the ghetto?
• Why do people make single stories?
• Who controls the ghetto?
• Why are Blacks pushed towards ghettos?
• What is the definition of "ghetto"?
• Where did the word "ghetto" come from?
• Who made "the ghetto"?
• Where were the first ghettos?
• How does where you live influence how you live?

 

Words to add to vocabulary log from Adichie article/speech

Empower: being given the power to do something

Incomprehensible: something that cannot be understood

Dignity: having pride in oneself

Perspectives: different ways of looking at something

Dispossess: To deprive someone of something important that they own. 

Malign: To speak of someone badly.

Single Stories: a single view of a person or place

Definitive: The only one, the main one

Unaware: Not knowing

Stereotype: an oversimplified image of someone or thing

Commonalities: Things that people have in common

Humanize: To make someone seem more human.

Our America

In College Prep class we've begun reading Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago. Here are a couple of helpful links to check out:

Although the Ida B. Wells projects ended up in pretty poor shape by the time Eric Morse was killed, it wasn't always that way. The CSPAN program Book Notes did an interview with one of the authors of the book. Find it here.

There is a movie based on the book. You can watch it for free on YouTube. Part I is here.

Danger of a Single Story

Chimamnda Adichie speaks about the power stories have to shape the way we see our lives and the world around us. 

Identify all the formatting errors you can find in the paper below

Abdel 

9.25.2013

Into the Lion’s Den

The first time I walked into Shelly Atkins’ graduate writing workshop ten minutes late, I knew there was going to be trouble. Before the semester started, the students who took her class before had scared us. She was intense, harsh, demanding, and brilliant, they said. Not only was she an acclaimed novelist and scholar, she also had a part-time law practice where she took on animal rights cases. In the words of my students, “she did too much.”

So, it really wasn’t a good look when I showed up late. I opened the door and everyone was gathered around a long table, with Shelly at the end. The conversation paused and she looked up. She had on a black leather jacket and a mane of frizzy blonde hair with a huge black burette. The hair made Shelly look like a lion. She flashed me a tight smile and I tried to find a seat as quietly as I could.

My classmates had taken strategic positions in the chairs away from Shelly. I took one of the empty seats near her. The heavy chair groaned across the floor as I sat. The seat was hard and cold. My roommate Dennis grinned, enjoying my agony.

“Are you Abdel?” she said.

“Yes, that’s me. I’m sorry for being late.”

“We were just discussing the syllabus,” she said. She laid the syllabus down with a smack and slid it across the table. I glanced at it and tried not to show surprise at its thickness. This was going to be the most challenging class I ever took.

Besides having to read my classmates work, we also had to read complex critical theory, and challenging fiction. All of us taught undergraduate creative writing classes as well. On top of that there was the work that was most important: writing our own stories. 

Mastering Your Own Fate

Although William Ernest Henley lost his leg at a young age, he never lost his will to master his own fate. You can find out more about him here. His poem is below. 

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,                                            

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,  

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

 It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

ChiArts Writing Tutors

Did you know that there ChiArts has writing tutors? It's true. If you're having difficulty with writing and you need someone to work with you one-on-one or even just look over a paper for you, you can email them at writingtutor [at] chiarts.org. They are available for consultation during study hall and by appointment. Ask Mr. Shakur for more details.

Survey of Literature Frequently Asked Questions

This year we're going to be exploring a lot of questions. Here are a few students posed to me about the class. If you've got more, post them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

Questions about Mr. Shakur

• Where did you teach before ChiArts? (1st) Before I came to Chicago, I taught Creative Writing and Introduction to Composition at Indiana University. After that, I taught for two years at the Academy of Communications and Technology Charter School.
• Where are you from? (1st) I grew up mostly in Oakland and Berkeley, California. However, I’ve lived in Minneapolis, MN; Baltimore, MD; and Bloomington, IN .
• What’s your favorite food? (5th) I’m fond of pizza
• Why did you want to be an English teacher? (5th)  I love to help people explore literature and ideas. I also like working with kids.
• Are you a strict teacher? (5th) I’ve been told that I am, but I don’t think of myself that way. I like class to be focused, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.
• Who’s your favorite musician? (5th) Stevie Wonder
• How old are you? (5th) 35
• Did you have a good first day of school? (5th) The first day is always a bit of a blur, but I did enjoy meeting all my students.
• Do you enjoy ChiArts as a teacher? (4th) The students are the best part of what I do. I think ChiArts students are some of the best in all of Chicago. They certainly work as hard as anyone.
• What are your expectations? (4th) I expect caring. I expect hard work. I expect integrity. I expect creativity. I expect these things from myself and my students.
• What is your motto for teaching? (5th) I don’t know if I have one, but I’ve posted some of my favorite quotes around class.
• What type of music do you listen to? (5th) A lot of different stuff. R&B, Classic rock, Hip-hop, Jazz, even some country. Pretty much anything that's funky.
• What was your favorite subject as a kid?(1st) Growing up, I had to say that English and Social Studies were my favs.

Questions about curriculum:

• Why is this class called Survey of Literature instead of English? (1st) A survey is designed to give you a wide range of something. Survey of Literature will expose you to a variety of forms of literature (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama)
• Will your class challenge us individually or the whole class holistically? (1st) Ideally, challenge will be designed for both class and individual.
• Are we going to be doing creative writing in this class? (2nd) If you’re talking about stories and poems, yes. Our current unit will culminate in a personal story from your life. We will actually have a poetry unit in the Spring.
• Will we take field trips? (2nd) I don’t have any planned right now. But, we’ll see. I am trying to get us a guest speaker for our 2nd unit.
• Do you have any fun activities planned? (2nd) Yes.
• Am I going to be challenged? (2nd) Yes.
• Is this class fun to learn in? (2nd) I guess it depends on what “fun” is for you.
• Will it be fun and educational? (4th) I think so.
• Are you going to always give lectures? (5th) No. I want to make learning more interactive for you and a lot of time lectures don’t do that well enough.
• Will we watch a movie after we read the book? (4th) Probably not. We might watch a few clips, but there’s not a lot of time to watch a movie.
• What books will we be reading? (5th) Our America, Night, Fahrenheit 451, Romeo and Juliet, and various short stories/poems.
• Do we get a lot of tests? (2nd) There will be a variety of assessments.
• How much homework do you think we get in a month? (2nd) I would plan on at least one hour a night.
• Will we get a lot of homework? Do you give out tons of homework every single class? (2nd)
• Will you have us stand up and read in front of class? (2nd) Public speaking is an essential part of being prepared for college, so there will be times where you’ll be expected to speak in front of class. I’m not a fan of putting people on the spot without preparing them, so we’ll work on it.
• What is the most common thing we’ll be learning in this class? (2nd) Although this is called Survey of Literature, I regard my class as mostly a thinking class. I will help you increase your ability to think critically.  

Questions about work:

• Will we have a lot of reading work to boost up our vocabulary and how much will you give? (4th) We will focus quite a bit on vocabulary this year. There will be work.
• Will we learn Greek and Latin roots? (1st) We will talk more about these.
• Is there going to be tons of reading we will have in this class? (4th) Depends on how you measure a “ton”.
• Do you give out extra-credit? (4th) I do. If a student wants to pursue studies above and beyond what’s expected, I’m willing to support that with extra-credit.
• How do you grade the homework? (4th)
• Homework counts for 15% of your final grade.
• How does late work operate? (5th)
• Do we get homework every day? (4th)
• Homework will be posted on the front board. You can count on getting some kind of work every class.
• What’s the final going to be like? (4th)
• The first semester final will be given in January and it will probably consist mostly of multiple choice and short answer responses.
• Why am I in this class? (5th)
• I hope, to learn.
• Should we expect the unexpected this year? (5th)
• Depends on what you’re expecting.
• Will we be writing in cursive? (5th)
• I don’t require it, but I do want writing to be legible.
• Are we going to be able to write articles about the things we read?(1st)
• I’m not sure what you mean by articles, but you will be responding in writing to much of what we read.
• Will we look at videos in Survey of Literature? (1st)
• Certainly. We don’t have a lot of class time to watch longer pieces, but we’ll be looking critically at some shorter videos in class.
• Will there be a lot of group projects? (1st)
• You will be asked to work in collaboration with classmates.
• Can I still get an A in this class even if I didn’t complete my homework once? (1st)
• Certainly. Remember that completing homework is an important part of learning the material, but a single homework assignment is just one small part of computing your overall grade.
• When you say double spaced for the essay, is that only for typing or do you want us to skip lines on paper? (1st) When I want assignments typed, I will be sure to specify.