Oh, Oedipus...You So Tragic!

Your assignment: Find a parallel tragic hero in modern history, literature, movies, television,etc.

Complete a full, written sketch of your modern tragic hero. Follow Aristotle's definition. You have a chart(which we will discuss tomorrow) that very nicely illustrates these qualities. Use the chart!!!

Yeah, you can probably Google this. You can find millions of professor-given examples online. But c'mon, this isn't so hard. Utilize your interests to get this done. Me, I love celebrity gossip, so I'm likely to pick some sad starlet. Or Steve Jobs. Maybe.

Is anyone off-limits? Of course. Actual tragic heroes, from literature? Off-limits. And what constitutes modern, you may ask? For me, it should be a figure that existed or was created anywhere from 1900 to the present. That's a pretty big window.

This can't be emailed to me because I'd like it to be pretty. I'd like a picture of your hero, surrounded by their Aristotlian, (is that a word?) tragic qualities. You should be as specific as possible. If every hero needs a flaw, for example, you should name that flaw. Maybe even give an example of it in action. If I was doing Steve Jobs(ahem...this another no-no for you guys), then I may say his flaw was his ego. That ego was deadly, in fact, because it led to him believing he could cure his cancer without modern medicine, which, in turn, killed him. Tragic stuff.

Here's my pathetic example...here

I only completed one of the six characteristics, but I hope you get the point. Contact me at any point before the due date(January 2nd!) if you have a question.

Rock out.

The Day Room 230 Stood Still...

It was so empty today.

I did show up, three times, to teach my kids.  We read Oedipus for the second time, and I think it only gets better.  I had such a great time today in class; days like today remind me why I love my job so much.

If you weren't there, it was awesome and the story progressed a bit.  Oedipus talked to a prophet, Tiresius(who happens to be blind) and was incensed that Tiresius wouldn't tell him all he knew about the murderer in Thebes.  Tiresius and Oedipus insulted each other for pages until finally, Tiresius told Oeddy that he knew something about his family that would devastate him.  That's where we left off.

This weekend, read and annotate the following article.

Tragedy and the Common Man

If you can't print, please take notes instead of annotating.  We'll discuss the article AND continue reading on Monday.

I'll be posting a few other tidbits this weekend.  Until Monday, enjoy: )

Oh, What a Day!

Sorry 11th and 12th.  Rain did our period in.  The good news?  Tomorrow, we'll have regular class, just like period 4/5 did today!  Yay!

Period 4/5, on the side of your blog is a blank reading log, the literary terms packet, and a sample log.  Please take your song lyrics, mark the devices we found today, and put them into a blank log.  YOU DO NOT NEED TO FILL OUT THE COLUMN THAT SAYS 'TEXTUAL ANALYSIS.' We will do this all together next week.

Period 11 and 12, we will talk about all of this tomorrow and you will find the devices and fill out the log over the weekend.

All kids:  I won't be here on Monday.  I have a Professional Day going to a Shakespeare workshop.  Your assignment has to do with Great Expectations.  It's our last goodbye.  I will collect your books on Tuesday.

A word on grading.

I'm back.  Well, kinda.  I hardly feel like Emily Rock, but I think with my lack of sleep for the last four years, it's been about that long since I've really felt like myself.  But enough about me, let's talk speeches.

Tomorrow, I'll be going over odds and ends, setting up an order, and quelling any fears that may have developed since we saw each other on Wednesday! of last week.  We'll also make a vocab schedule and talk about what our next mountain/hill is to climb--and that, my friends, is the hill that begins with literary terms.

I'm leaving you a link to the rubric for our speeches.  It's a basic/stolen rubric from a well-respected rhetoric class.  The sections in red indicate where I'll be grading your written speech; the rest of the sections are the delivery itself.

Enjoy your Sunday.  Tomorrow we shall meet again.

Rubric

I hate being sick.

I do.  It's awful.

I woke up today coughing up blood, so Joe Rock commanded me to go to the doctor already.  I've been sick since the weekend before Halloween, so I listened.  Unfortunately, my infection and coughing have left me unable to come to work, and as I already said this week...I hate being absent.  You're becoming too accustomed to my being gone, I feel like we're falling behind and off track, and it stinks.  But I'll do what I can from my house.

I left the substitute your new vocabulary and instructions for you to continue to work on speeches.  I WILL be in school Monday, so let's sign up for our order then and you may ask any last minute questions.  I will post the rubric for grading speeches tomorrow and will give you some last minute pointers.

On Monday, we'll look at your editorials, sign up for who is going to speak when, and figure out the rest of our week, including when we're ever going to wrap up Great Expectations.(aka the book that won't go away).

I also pledge to you that after my three absences in December(all pre-planned and professional, I swear), I'll try to not get sick.  Ever.  Because I haven't felt this awful since high school and it stinks.

Journals will not be collected this week either.  We'll figure out a new schedule next week.

<3,

Me

Watch this stuff.

In a good news/bad news scenario, I always choose to hear the bad news first.  I just think this makes sense, because I expect bad news always, but also, it gives me something to look forward to.

Bad news?  I'll be back tomorrow.  I've served my duty: )

The good news?  I have a wonderful video for you to watch tonight.  It is our final homework installment in the "commencement address series" that has been our lives for the last week.  

Also, please, around 8pm tonight, check your Genesis account if you have one, see if there are any issues with your grade, and text me.  I've been given a slight extension due to being stuck in a technology-free courthouse, but not much.  If you don't have my number, text someone who does.

Enjoy the video!  Oh--watch it.  And be prepared to talk AND write about it tomorrow when I see your faces.

JURY DUTY!!!

I'm sad.  I'm mad.  I HATE missing school.

I'm sure you don't believe that.  I know you may not mind missing school, because somewhere, in the recesses of my memory, I remember that feeling.  That rush of joy at knowing it was true..."tomorrow, I don't have to go to that place!"

I, however, love that place.

And you.

So I'm sorry to miss you and your outlines.  They are STILL DUE!  I will be dropping by school after my "service" to collect them.  If I have to serve duty on Wednesday, I will leave them with the sub to be passed out, with comments.  I will expect you to follow my strict directions on the board.

Oh, and I expect you to miss me, too.

I'm leaving you another commencement speech, this time to read.  It's by a relatively unknown actor at a pretty large college in Wisconsin.  It's good, and I think you can learn a lot from it.  For homework, you're going to watch another speech on this page.  (I have it scheduled to post at 4PM).  Hopefully, I'll be there on Wednesday and we'll talk about them both AND talk about writing our own speeches.

Enjoy your day, nerds.