Old
School : Exploring
some of the Essential Questions
Directions: Select a significant and dense passage from chapters 4-6. Make sure that it is a passage that you can closely analyze. Consider its relevance to one of the essential questions listed below.
Essential question
#1: How is identity linked to
storytelling? If we are authors of our
own lives, how do the narratives we create about ourselves influence our
behavior, our attitudes, and our actions?
How do these stories help us to make meaning out of our experiences and to
make choices that steer the directions of our lives?
Essential question
#2: Evaluate the belief in
meritocracy. Do we totally earn our own
accomplishments and failures? How
responsible are we for the honors bestowed upon us? How much are we to blame for our
failures? Are we also responsible for
the happiness and success of others? If
we have experienced success, are we obligated to share that success with others
who have not earned it? Can a belief in
meritocracy coexist with a belief in the greater good?
Essential question
#3: How do we know if a piece of writing is good? What makes writing
powerful, effective, interesting, or worth reading? If the author intends one
meaning but the reader interprets the text to mean something very different, how
should we make sense of those discrepancies?
Essential question
#4: As different writers influence the narrator, how do his values and
his identity morph and change? Is that pliability a sign of a weak character?
What do you think of him along the way and why?
Essential question
#5: What impressions can you
draw about the characters and the professional writers from the glimpses into
their work that the narrator provides? How does their writing compare to the
details of their lives?
Essential question
#6: What does it mean to
discover one’s voice? How original are
our voices? How do we distinguish
between the people/texts/social roles that influence us and those aspects of
ourselves and our voices that are truly unique and individual? What is the difference between influence,
imitation, and plagiarism?
Essential question
#7: Notice continual references
to acting, role-playing, performance and theater. How does this motif help us understand the
characters, the school, and some larger themes in the book? To what extent does
this notion of performance become internalized? Is our identity simply an
internalization of the roles we play? Are we something more than that?
In your blog post be sure to do the following:
1.
Center your discussion around the ANALYSIS of
one particularly dense passage that you believe connects to one of the
questions above.
2.
Articulate a claim that clearly designates a
stance or an interpretation about the passage and the essential question.
3.
Closely analyze the passage. The majority of
your post should center on analysis and examining specific textual details that
contribute to the overall meaning of the passage. Consider diction, figurative
language, repetition, syntax or any other devices that apply.
4.
You can
make larger connections to other parts of the text. However, we want to see an
in-depth analysis of one passage. Doing this will help prepare you for your
paper when we come back from break.
5.
Write about 300 words and proofread.
6.
One you have finished writing your post, get
involved in at least two other online conversations. Be sure to use
respectful language! Here are some things you can write in your response:
a.
Agree or disagree and use something in the text
to develop your response.
b.
Comment on someone’s post that makes you notice
something that you didn’t think of before. Talk about what this person’s post
helped you to see.
c.
Make connections to other aspects of the text
that might develop someone else’s idea further.
d.
Offer an alternate way of interpreting the text
that someone discussed in his or her post.
