Strings Outline

Here's the outline so far.  If you have a brilliant idea, post it below.  We'll continue discussion tomorrow.

1. I. Peace

1. A. Characters Introduced

1. 1. Billy, the only one who has hair

2. 2. Otto, has a wrench

3. 3. Deric MacGrave, extremely thin

B. Talks about normal life

1. 1. Spend days playing in streets

2. 2. Rules/guiding strings

3. 3. School, self-writing blackboard

4. 4. Market

5. 5. Our songs

2. II. Rules for Breaking/Market Vandalized

1. A. Billy is guided by the Strings to vandalize the market (Couldn’t control himself, enjoyed destroying the market)

2. B. Wakes up next day and looks for Deric MacGrave, finds him on the street, broken, with X’d-out eyes. He had fallen

1. 1. 1st miss rule

3. III. Nothing test

1. A. Billy is terrified, decides to stay in bed all day.

2. B. Later, Otto comes in to find Billy. Billy is guided to yell at Otto.

1. 1. 2nd miss rule

3. C. Otto says he is going to tell the Blackboard. Leaves, Billy runs after him.

4. IV. Twisted School

1. A. Billy follows Otto out into the street

2. B. Otto trips and neck snaps on his own Strings. His eyes roll up to X’s.

3. C. Billy drags Otto to the school to see if he can help.

4. D. Writes Question on Blackboard.

5. E. The Board gives a Twisted Drawing in response.

6. F. Billy throws Otto’s body into Blackboard, breaking it. He finds a recording machine…

5. V. End of the Line

1. A. Billy decides to solve his own problems.

2. B. He climbs his Strings.

3. C. Finds nothing, just his Strings tied to a bar.

4. D. Realizes he had been controlling himself all along.

5. E. He has grown out of his strings.

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Third Hour Final Unit

During the last three weeks of this session we will be pulling from everything we've done before: critical analysis of texts, cultural analysis of works, integration and synthesis of works from different eras and cultures, and explication of literary devices.  "How will we do this?" you ask?  By answering an apparently simple question:

What do Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Wilfred Owen's "Dulce Et Decorum Est," H.G. Wells's The Time Machine (and The Days of the Comet, and The Island of Dr. Moreau, and Conrad's Heart of Darkness), the Danse Macabre, 1984, punk music (The Clash!), Twitter, Wikipedia, The Wisdom of Crowds, The Starfish and the Spider, DIY, Internet piracy, and podcasting have in common?

Our answer can be as simple and complex as we want, but it will take our understanding of all these cultural phenomena and works and the skills we've acquired this year to pull off a solid answer.

Now that's a cumulative test.

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A few of you have had questions

about the final paper tomorrow.  It must follow the guidelines we established at the beginning of the year.  I will not accept a paper that is not properly formatted.  These guidelines are as follows:

• 12 pt Times New Roman font
• Double-spaced with 1" margins
• Header (on the left) with your name, my name, the class name, and tomorrow's date
• A title in 12 pt Times New Roman font (do not use bold or italic font)
• Page numbers at the top right corner in this format: Last #
• At least three pages in length (your final paper should have a "4" at the top)
• No works cited is necessary for this paper unless you use outside information

This paper is your chance to show me what you can write, that you can apply what we've learned these past weeks.  Turning in a paper is not a guarantee that your grade will go up, but if you write an excellent paper that illustrates your understanding of the concepts we've covered, it can dramatically raise your grade.

If you have any questions, email me or comment below.

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Wrap up

If you were absent this Friday, your assignment is to choose a book and read it.  We will continue the journals through the end of this semester, but I'd like you to find something you're interested in and read it.  The type, genre, content, author, time period, and place of publication does not matter.

If you would like some suggestions, please comment below or check out the book widget on the side of the page.  I'm happy to help you narrow your search.  Happy reading—the weather's perfect for it.

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Discussion Worksheets

In case you lose your copy of one of the worksheets, here are the Word documents. If you want to download them and fill them in on the computer, you are welcome to do so.
Let me know if you have any questions. Read More......