Grade 8 Humanities ~ "We're All Mad Here!"

Julius Caesar Essay

2010-03-30T15:40:00.001+08:00

Upload a copy of your Julius Caesar essay to your blog. Provide an appropriate image to accompany your post.

Writing Reflection

2010-03-30T14:07:00.009+08:00

This year, as you crafted both the Alchemist essay and the Julius Caesar essay, you were asked to consider ideas and content and organization while writing. Both essay prompts asked you to examine the characterization of a main character and support your ideas with quotations from the story to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding. Further, you were expected to develop a clear thesis statement that firmly established the topic of your essay and directed your reader regarding the content of your essay. Please review both of these essays and discuss the progress you have made as a writer this year. On your blog, prepare a paragraph response for each of the following four subheadings.

Ideas and Content

In what ways does your writing demonstrate appropriate ideas and content? Provide examples.
In what ways could you improve your writing to better express your ideas and enhance content? Be specific.

Organization

In what ways does your writing demonstrate appropriate organization? Provide examples.
In what ways can you improve your writing to demonstrate superior organization? Be specific.

Personal Growth

Do you note any improvement between your Alchemist essay and your Julius Caesar essay? Why or why not?

SLR Reflection

Choose one SLR and discuss how you access this SLR when crafting an essay.

Upon completion, upload an interesting image that reflects the content of your post.

Collage Reflection

2010-03-26T09:17:00.007+08:00

Your reflection to your collage consists of 2 parts:

i) The i-movie of your collage with voice-over.
ii) The written reflection focusing on the School-wide Learning Results identified in the rubric for this task.

The Written Reflection:
Format your written response under the headings given below. There is a prompt that will help you write about each SLR. For each heading, you should write a paragraph response that includes explanation and thoughtful analysis.

Think Creatively!
Identify and discuss some of the creative elements of your collage.

Reason Critically!
How did you use the images and text that you selected to highlight your understanding of the Lost Boy’s situation?

Communicate Effectively!
Explain how your collage creates awareness for the Lost Boys’ plight.

Live Ethically!
Explain how you think your collage demonstrated empathy and might evoke an emotional response from your viewers and/or incite them to act.

Give your entry a suitable title and include a relevant image to support your reflection.

Migration DBQ Source Documents

2010-03-23T14:22:00.001+08:00

In order to prepare for the DBQ assessment on Thursday and Friday, we have posted the sources, so you may familiarize yourself with the contents of the documents. Please carefully read/listen/view each document prior to Thursday.

PART A: SOURCE ANALYSIS

This assessment is based on the accompanying documents. It is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. As you analyze the documents, take into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the documents.

Each document is followed by questions. Read each source carefully and write your answer to each question on the test answer sheet. You will do this on Thursday in class.

Following the source analysis, on Friday in class, you will discuss the following:

Discuss how the Lost Boys' past influences their story today.

Give a brief overview of the conflict in Sudan and their stepped migration.
Identify 2 problems (from the sources) the 'boys' have encountered in the US.
Make connections between their past experiences and their problems today.
Explain how some 'boys' have managed to overcome these problems and move forward.

SOURCE #1: News Article

"Sudan's 'lost boys' in America"
By Leslie Goffe
BBC, New York

Education

"I do not worry now about war," says Abraham, who was adopted by an American family and now lives in a suburb in Connecticut near New York, where he plays soccer and is a runner for his high school athletics team. Abraham has been luckier than other lost boys, many of whom have had difficulty adjusting to life in America.

All hoped they would get a high school and university education in the US and one day return to Sudan. But getting an education has turned out to be the lost boys biggest problem. Because neither the boys nor the re-settlement agencies knew their correct ages, caseworkers simply guessed.

The lucky ones were those judged to be below the age of 18. They were allowed to complete their secondary educations at high school and go onto junior colleges free of charge. The unlucky ones, those judged to be above 18, were too old for high school and so had to go to work. As they had no qualifications they were forced to take menial, low-paying jobs.

Work

This is what happened to Santino Majok Chuor who arrived in Houston, Texas aged 21 in 2001. "I did not manage to go to school," he says sadly, "because I could not find the time." Too old to attend high school, he works loading trucks for minimum wage. Santino tried working in the day and studying at night but found it impossible.

With much of his salary sent each month to his disabled brother and his brother's three children in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya and other family and friends demanding money, Santino can barely afford the apartment he shares with another lost boy in a tough section of Houston…"There's no way out," Santino says, "unless you get education."

A few of the lost boys, like Samuel Garang, 23, who lives in California, somehow managed to work in the day and attend school at night. "America wasn't paradise and it wasn't as easy as they told you in the camps," says Samuel, who has done the rounds of menial jobs: he's been a security guard and is now a bagger, someone who puts shoppers' groceries in their bags at supermarkets. He won't be a bagger much longer. Samuel completed his high school diploma, went on to junior college and did well enough to be accepted at one of America's most prestigious universities, Stanford, in California in September.

"It was easier for me," says Samuel. "I didn't have a wife in the camp or people wanting money. I could study.

Back in Africa they do not know how hard it can be here for us."

SOURCE #2: Radio Interview with Lost Boy

“Revisiting Sudan’s Haunted ‘Lost Boys”
By Steve Goldstein

Click on the link and listen to the story titled, “Revisiting Sudan’s Haunted ‘Lost Boys'"

SOURCE #3: News Article

“Stolen moments: For some refugees living in Louisville, a South End soccer field is a good place to forget their tormented past”
scwade@netzero.net
December 11, 2007

“It’s a late October afternoon when the heavens begin to rumble and stir. Dense clouds boil into a threatening mass and block the sun, leaving on the edge a brilliant silver lining. But the brewing tempest above scarcely slows the pick-up soccer match unfolding beneath. The players remain oblivious, focused on the game, even when a Zeus-like lightning bolt pierces the blue-gray cloudbank, followed by a nearly simultaneous thunder crack. Then another sound, a tornado warning siren wails from a speaker nearby. Children cover their ears and look up. The players look skyward briefly, then resume, unfazed, even while most everyone else around the Metro is heading for a basement……….

………The men and boys who regularly visit this South Louisville lot to play soccer bring an obvious international flavor. They come from Bosnia, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq. In their previous lives, they’ve experienced the savagery of war and unfathomable brutality — mortars, machine guns, machetes, burning villages, tanks and bombs. They’ve cried over slain fathers, buried sisters. Some carry bullet wounds and have the scars to prove it. A tornado warning? Game on……….

…….These men and boys, who feel powerless and homesick in their new homeland, get some measure of relief when they gather to play a game they find familiar and comforting. Soccer, with no holds barred. Dust stirring, legs churning, eyes wide- soccer. Attack. Defend. Collide. Attack. I’m open! Pass. Stop him! Score!.......

…….It is a field where men who carry constant nightmares can smile, play hard, speak the language of the sport they love and, for a stolen moment or two, forget the torment and turmoil of their past……..‘It’s a passion’ When people flee war and seek solace and support, thousands are sent from refugee camps around the globe to their new home, Louisville’s South End. Once moved in, they look for the familiar, something they understand in their strange surroundings. It doesn’t take long to find that familiar thing — soccer — and then it becomes the part of their life that transports them back to good memories, before their lives got hijacked.

SOURCE #4: Art Work by Lost Boy James Aguer Tungadiit

Lost boy artist, James Aguer Tungadiit’s, painting symbolizes the conflicts he faced while living in Sudan as well as the conflicts he faces assimilating into a new culture. When studying the painting, it is evident that the mental and emotional stress caused by the atrocities he experienced in Sudan lingers on whilst trying to adjust to life in America. This ‘post-traumatic stress’ impacts his assimilation into American culture.

War Victim Recalling in Exile by James Aguer Tungadiit

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aguer Tungadiit, James. "Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studirs." University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. 29 July 2008. Regents of the University of Minnesota. 21 May 2008. http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/exhibitions/lostBoys/noWayBack.html.

Goffe, Lelie. "BBC World News." Sudan's 'lost boys' in America. Tuesday, 31 August 2004. BBC. 21 May 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3602724.stm.

Goldstein, Steve. "Revisiting Sudan's Haunted 'Lost Boys' ." National Public Radio. September 26, 2005. NPR. 21 May 2009. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4864218.

Wade, S. C.. "“Stolen moments: For some refugees living in Louisville, a South End soccer field is a good place to forget their tormented past”." Leo Weekly. December 11 2007. Louisville Eccentric Observer. 23 May 2009. http://www.leoweekly.com/
news-features/major-stories/features/stolen-moments-for-some-refugees-living-
louisville-a-south-end.

"Listen to the Cry"

2010-03-16T16:56:00.011+08:00

For those of you who connect with history through personal narratives, the following poems are written by Sudanese survivors. Both poems paint clear pictures of the plight of the Lost Boys. They are excellent examples of how voice and word choice evoke empathy in the reader and connect them to the topic and the author's purpose.

"Cast Out"

Sometimes I think it would have been
easier for me to die
together with my parents than
to have been surrendered by
them to survive alone...

Sometimes I feel I am a ghost
adrift without identity
what as a child I valued most
forever has escaped from me
I have been cast out and am lost.

From We Came as Children: A Collective Autobiography

"The Lost Boys' Cry"

Listen to the voice of despair
Listen to the Lost Boys' cry
You, the world
Hell and despair are upon me
Crack and again crack
The blood that oozes out of my skin
I fall on the sand and stones
In the driest part of the third world country
I saw the hand stretched from the west
Dropping liquid and food into my mouth
I don't care to what they are putting
Into my mouth; what I need is to survive

Listen to the voice of the Lost Boy
Listen to the voice of despair
Agonies are one of my changes of garments
Living in a thatched house
That gives room to the raining rain
Afterward I look like a cock sheltered in the rain
I was expelled from my rich country
With black soil and beauty
Full of happiness, laughter
And sociality in that nomadic life
At last I found myself in semi arid area
Borders of countries
I am like channeled water that flows anywhere
The day before yesterday I was in Sudan
Yesterday in Ethiopia
Today in Kenya
Tomorrow I don't know
Where will I be?

Listen to the voice of despair
Listen to the Lost Boys' cry
The world,
Some look at me with sad eyes
That symbolizes sympathy
I am sitting in this hot sunny area
Thinking of the day when the enemy's
Helicopters, gun ships and antinove
[a type of unseen aircraft with bombs]
Came dropping bombs in series
Killing the people, tiny creatures
And livestock
The smoke shook the sky
The army in khaki
Invaded the region
Applying the scorched earth policy
Attacking with cannons
Mortars, chemical weapons
That leaves every creature
To suffocate to death

Listen to the voice of despair
Listen to the lost boy's cry
Again to my listening ears
The cannons responsive
I realized life would never be the same again
For the southerner
Living people in orphanage
Insecurity, rape, massacres
And murdering of the innocent people
Many cases of the lost boys
Who found themselves
In the neighboring countries
Sudan will never be the same again
For black people
Remembering the Friday night
When the army siege
The bent (oil field) region
Collecting everybody
Even the ones who
Are still sucking from their mother's breast
Putting them in enclosed metal fence
Spraying them with paraffin
At eleven o'clock
Began the burning of their bodies
That's the take of massacre

World,
Listen to the voice of despair
Listen to the Lost Boys' cry
Come dad, come mom
Brothers and sisters
I am requesting the east and the west
North and south
Of you who can give a hand
To the burning land
Full of evil deed
Segregation in the line of religion
Color segregation
Imposing of Sharia law
Come and call us
To sit in the table of diplomacy
Reconciliation in the top
Of the agenda
Let there be walking and drinking together
Let doves fly over the land
To the gigantic land of Sudan
This productive
Land of economy
At Last,
Let me see the black Sudanese
Come back from the Four Corners
Of the world
Bringing in the foreign culture
To fertilize Sudan
May the dream
Become true
In order to avoid
And overcome
The burden of tomorrow
Amen

~ Kim Simon Jial

Sudan: A Country in Crisis

2010-03-10T11:06:00.005+08:00

Sudan’s History: In Brief!

The situation in Sudan is EXTREMELY complicated and this is only a brief outline of the historic background.

Colonization

Until 1946 ~ The British empire governed south Sudan and north Sudan as separate regions.

1953 ~ An agreement was made by the United Kingdom and Egypt to grant independence to Sudan. Matters reached a head as the 1 January 1956 independence day approached, as it appeared that northern leaders were backing away from commitments to grant the south autonomy.

Sudan’s First Civil War (1953 ~ 1972)

After independence was granted, northern leaders of Sudan backed away from commitments to create a federal government that would give the south autonomy. Tensions rise as a result and fighting breaks out between the north and south.

Five hundred thousand people, of which only one in five was considered an armed combatant, were killed in the seventeen year war and hundreds of thousands more were forced to leave their homes.

1972 ~ The agreement that ended the fighting in 1972 failed to completely end the tensions that had originally caused the civil war, eventually leading to the second civil war.

Sudan’s Second Civil War (1983 ~ 2005)

1983 ~ Civil war breaks out again in the south involving government forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/SPLA).

1983 ~ President Numayri declares the introduction of Shari’a (Islamic law).

1985 ~ After widespread popular unrest Numayri is removed from office by a group of officers and Transitional Military Council is set up to rule the country.

1999 ~ President Bashir declares a state of emergency.

2005 January ~ Government and southern rebels sign a peace deal. The agreement includes a permanent ceasefire and accords on wealth and power sharing.

Sources

Wikipedia
BBC News
UNHCR: South Sudan Operation

Lost Boys of Sudan

The documentary, "Lost Boys of Sudan" relays the story of two Dinka boys who were forced to flee their country (forced migration) due to Sudan’s ruthless civil war; one that raged for over 20 years. While tending to their domestic responsibilities out in the pastures, villages were burned and family members killed or captured. Many young, Dinka boys arrived home only to discover they were orphaned. Boys that were nearby their village when the attacks hit, ran and hid to escape the assault. As they walked to seek help, they met up with thousands of other Dinka boys (some girls) who had experienced similar loss and destruction. This walk to safety marked the beginning of their migratory journey. These boys would spend years dodging bullets, wild animals, hunger, and insanity before finding safety in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.

Following years of living in the refugee camp in Kenya, some of the boys are chosen to migrate to America (stepped migration). Culture shock is inevitable, as the Dinka are required to assimilate to the American culture. “Their journey to America is one of good fortune but one also of cultural, spiritual and even physical vertigo. The distances traveled by the "lost boys" encompass a world of rapid movement and jarring contrasts, and reveal both great social divisions and remarkable human links in the 21st century global village (PBS).”

In your blog entry,

choose one of the "Lost Boys," Peter or Santino to write about...

Discuss the difficulties “Lost Boy,” Peter/Santino experienced while assimilating into the American culture?
Discuss how they dealt with their culture shock ~ what did they do to adjust to the cultural divisions?

You may choose to write in first person point-of-view or third person. Please remember to use an intriguing title that relates to the topic – grabbing the reader’s attention. Also, check the standard of your work against the Blog Rubric.

For this post, you need to include links that would deepen your reading audience's understanding of the plight of Sudanese refugees.

Solo/Duet Acting

2010-02-09T10:44:00.002+08:00

Shakespeare wrote his plays to be acted, not read. One of the assessments for our unit on Julius Caesar is for you to act out a significant passage from the play. You can choose a monologue or soliloquy or to act alongside a peer as a duet.

To do this, you need to decide on the passage and complete a post that answers the tasks outlined below.

1. Give the context of the passage.
2. Explain and reason why this passage is significant.
3. Identify where the passage is; Act, scene, lines.
4. Type the entire passage you intent to act.
5. If you are part of a duet, identify your partner.

This post is due by Friday 19th February.

Source Analysis - School of Athens

2009-11-17T15:09:00.005+08:00

The School of Athens by Raphael

The Renaissance was a time of change. Mankind was looking for answers through experimentation and discovery, at the same time as maintaining belief in God and religion. Many new ideas were based on thinking from the Ancient Roman and Greek times. The thinking was both abstract and concrete. The School of Athens is a fresco found in the Papal Palace in the Vatican. It shows a collection of sages from the ancient times; very few of whom even met each other. It is a depiction of all the smartest thinkers in one room.

Additional Sources

Raphael's School of Athens from Beth Harris on Vimeo.

Making reference to your notes, your learning, the video, additional sources and the painting itself, respond to the following question in paragraph format:

How can art be a mirror of society?

Putting yourself in the picture. Take a close look at the painting again. Where in this painting do you imagine yourself to be - you can be any part at all - living or inanimate. Decide which aspect you are.

Write a paragraph that identifies where you are in the painting and explains why you see yourself as that part.

Example

If I were part of the painting 'The School of Athens' I would be the statue of the goddess Athena. Athena was the favourite daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry and justice. In the painting she is looking down from her niche on the scientists 'of the day' who are discussing emerging ideas, experiments and thinking. She is a participant in the practical side of the painting which is resonant of what she represents. She is wise and likes to get things done. Like Athena I like to watch and listen to others. I am excited by new ideas and thinking and enjoy reflecting on what great minds can conjur. Her practical nature is another trait I feel is present in me. Although I enjoy thinking and discussing ideas in the abstract, being able to put them into action is where I am most drawn to. Also like Athene, justice in the world around me is important. Any injustice infruiates me; I would like to see myself as a crusader of rights, but unlike Athena, I hold no real special power. I will have to continue to find and promote justice on a smaller scale.

Blog Post #4: Da Vinci ~ A Renaissance Man?

2009-10-07T11:02:00.009+08:00

Respond to the following question in paragraph form:

How can Da Vinci be characterized as a true Renaissance Man?

1. Use your text and the knowledge you gained during the visit to the exhibition to support your assertions.

2. Provide an image to augment your posting.

Blog Post #3: What ideas and themes transcend time and culture?

2009-09-23T15:51:00.016+08:00

For this post, you will need to search outside the novel, The Alchemist. Think of a person, text, song, poem, or event that represents an idea or theme/value. Once you have made your choice, follow the steps listed below:

Upload information regarding your choice. Depending on what your choice is, you might upload a biography, novel summary, song lyrics, poem, or news article.
Craft a well-developed paragraph that explains the theme/value evident in your choice and describe what it reveals about the values of that time/culture. This paragraph is getting at the essential question:

“What ideas and themes transcend time and culture?”
Add an ARTISTIC image that illustrates the message of your paragraph.
Engage in final revisions and editing before publishing your post.
Add a creative title that represents the content of the post.

Use the following example to serve as a guide.

Resilience

I, Too
by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Langston Hughes' poem, "I, Too," depicts the resilience African Americans have had to parade in the face of oppression in order to survive. Prejudice at its worst: slavery, segregation, shame...this culture of people have had to withstand hatred, rise above it and fight for the rights many take for granted. The 'darker brother' that is denied admittance to the table, refuses to succumb to the humiliating ignorance of 'America' showing his resilience by enjoying life and growing stronger. This poem transcends time and speaks to all cultures about the importance of being proud of who you are... (Although incomplete, this provides you with an idea of how to write up your choice).

Blog Post #2: How does literature reveal the values of a given time or culture?

2009-09-22T22:47:00.029+08:00

Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist, revealed many thoughts regarding themes such as: destiny, love, faith, patience, dreams, hope... For this post, you need to:

Upload your personification poem regarding a theme in The Alchemist.
Craft a well-developed paragraph that identifies the theme, describes the message regarding the theme, and explains how the theme reveals the values of Santiago's culture and/or time period. Be sure to begin with a topic sentence and end with a conclusion. This paragraph is getting at the essential question:

How does literature reveal the values of a given time or culture?

Add an ARTISTIC image that illustrates the theme in your poem.
Engage in final revisions and editing before publishing your post.
Add a creative title that represents the theme.

Use the following example to serve as a guide.

Destiny Awaits

Gustav Klimt: Tree of Life

Destiny awaits you in the obscure regions of your heart.
Shrouded in blinding pessimism and doubt,
Revealing itself only to the observant and faithful.

In The Alchemist, Coelho reveals the value that to achieve one's destiny, you must listen to your heart and follow what it reveals no matter the doubt and fear it may produce. "No heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams" (Coelho 124). Many believe that there is no such thing as 'treasure;' that we don't deserve to realize our dreams. As a result, our hearts go quiet out of fear of disappointment. Coelho speaks to all cultures and across time periods through Santiago's heart, "Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him" (125). Like Santiago, we need to quiet ourselves and listen to what treasure our heart is trying to reveal to us. If we allow ourselves the luxury of listening, we will know its message and know how to cope with any discomfort we may experience in pursuing our dreams; "fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself." (124)

Blog Post #1: How are you a participant in your destiny?

2009-09-22T19:06:00.012+08:00

As readers of The Alchemist, we have observed Santiago struggle throughout his journey and analyzed the traits that allowed him to successfully participate in his destiny. Now it is time for you to reflect on a trait you possess that allows you to participate successfully in your destiny.

For your first posting, please complete the following steps:

Upload your essay on Santiago's Characterization.
Consider and choose one trait that you possess that allows you to participate in your destiny.
Craft a well-developed paragraph that describes the trait and offers evidence as to how it helps you participate in your destiny. Be sure to begin with a topic sentence and end with a concluding sentence.
Find an ARTISTIC image that reflects the characteristic you possess and upload the image to be displayed with your paragraph.
Make final revisions and editing before publishing your post.
Add a creative title that represents your trait.

Use the following example to serve as a guide.

Reflection: My Journey

Picasso: Woman Before a Mirror
With life, comes experience, and although late in life, I have learned to develop my reflective nature to benefit from these experiences. Like Santiago, reflection is a process that I have learned to engage in and embrace in order to fully participate in my destiny as an educator. It is reflection that allows me to develop a lesson, assess student learning, and engage in necessary revisions. Reflection enables me to step back and look at an experience from a distance; I can see what went well, what did not go well and what needs to be done to improve my instructional pedagogy. Engaging in dialogue with students as well as colleagues and seeking information from texts and classes are benefits I have gained from reflection. However, possessing a reflective nature is not always rewarding, it can also produce frustration. At times, the reward of attaining optimal growth supersedes the frustration that an end is always out of reach. Nevertheless, as Coelho relates in The Alchemist, it isn't about the outcome, it is about the journey and reflection allows me to participate in this journey.