BP #10 The rest of the first five stages

Each hero who goes on a journey experiences a call to adventure. This is the time when the herald approaches the hero and offers him or her an opportunity to leave the comfort and safety of his or her ordinary world and embark on an adventure into a new, unknown and challenging world: the special world. After the call to adventure comes, the hero has to make a decision, to refuse the call and return to his or her ordinary world, or seek out a mentor and cross the threshold into the special world.

Do any or all of these stages apply to the story you are currently reading? If so, focus your attention on one or all of these steps for the 'hero' of your novel. Take us through their decision making as they attempt to leave their ordinary world behind them.

Refer to your novel specifically with support from your novel: a direct quotation.

BP#9 The Ordinary World

Using a book you are currently reading (or have just finished), describe the protagonist's ordinary world.

The ordinary world is the place where he or she feels the most comfortable and safe. Identify and describe the protagonist and then describe the key elements in their ordinary world, including people and objects.

Once you have described the protagonist's ordinary world, select an appropriate image to help convey the character's feelings for the people and objects in their ordinary world , and a direct quotation from the book to help your classmates see how the protagonist reacts to and functions within his or her ordinary world.

Consider how you might answer the following prompts before you select and provide an explanation for the image and quotation:

What pressures exist for the character in his/her ordinary world?
Who creates conflict or peace here?
Which elements create the most or least comfort?
Why is the character reluctant or excited to leave this world behind? etc.....

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Make sure that you use the proper citations for this borrowed material (author, title page) for a direct quotation and MLA style bibliography for the image from the Internet (see in the 'Land O' Links': Easybib).

The MLA style Bibliographic entry for the image I selected for this page is:
"Up! House Image" KSL Radio. KSL.com, 29 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.

The proper MLA bibliographic format for citing websites is:

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

BP#8 Free Choice

We are in between units right now, so this is a perfect opportunity
for you to venture out on your own.

Consider the book you are reading right now as your subject.

What big questions do you have about it? Start your blog post with that question or questions, then proceed to investigate the thinking around it. Try to come up with an integrate question (relies on the text for its answer, but is not a locate or cycle question - the answer is not right there in the text).

Then, when you are done, try to add some visual appeal (pictures, videos etc...) to your post. The visual could be a video, a single picture or a collage Add a brief caption explaining why you have selected it.

Make sure you include the SOURCE information for the image (website) using a proper MLA style. Use the two websites in the "Land O' Links" list to help you format this correctly (MLA Guide and Easy Bib).

The proper MLA bibliographic format for citing websites is:

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

So, if I were to ask myself about the book I am currently reading, "Who is the real hero in my book and what qualities tell me this?", I might include one of the following images with the captions and the source information, properly formatted according to the MLA guide.

"The Kindness of Strangers". The Age - Business, World & Breaking News. Fairfax Media, 19 Feb. 2007. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.

This image is of a person feeding another who for whatever reason cannot help himself. I think a hero is someone who recognizes a person in need and extends their hand to help.

Pollack, Cat. "Luv Is A Verb." A Journey of Love. 6 Oct. 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.

I believe a hero is someone who is compassionate, and then acts on that compassion to help another in some way.

STOP AND CHECK

A couple of notes on your current blog posts: I have been reading your blogs and have a few suggestions for you as a class:

1. Consider how you organize your blog posts. You can do this through the title you select. Consider numbering each blog post to help your reader better understand what assignment you are writing about. You should also be rephrasing part of the question or assignment as your opening sentence.

2. You must punctuate your book titles properly: ITALICIZE book titles.

3. Identify the novel you are addressing by Title and Author at the start of every blog post. For example: Gravity Journal by Gail Sobat.

4. You must include a citation for your direct quotations. (Author, Title page#).

5. Be sure that you SPELL CHECK before you post your response. (Use the icon in your blog post toolbar : ABC and check mark) Mking splling errers or leevin in typos macks it hrd to reed yer wrk. it also mks it seam asthought u dnt really care abut yer wrk.

6. Some of you are behind. Get caught up! This is your homework for the weekend.

Before you continue with your comments on your peers' blogs, go back to the previous blog posts you have completed, check each carefully and correct any errors based on the suggestions above, and based upon the suggestions your peers have already given you.

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On your last blog post you looked at character archetypes.

Did you discover characters in any of your readings that have initially presented themselves as one thing only to later reveal themselves as something else?

They may be a shapeshifter!

Can you spot if a person is not being genuine with you?

Take the SPOT THE FAKE quiz in our 'Land o' Links' section
found in the side bar to the right.

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Continue to complete the comments on your peers' blogs.....

BP#7 Comment on a Peer's Blog

If your name is not listed under the CLASS BLOGS link list in the right sidebar - please see me with your blog's html address.

We have just gone over effective listening skills in class. Take the "are you a good listener?" quiz found in the links list to the right.

Each of you should have SIX blog posts complete as of today. If you do not have this done, it needs to become a priority over the weekend to get caught up!! ...... GET CAUGHT UP!!

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This week, instead of creating your own blog post, you will be writing comments on some of your peer's blogs.

Everyone will write three-four comments on THREE posts written by their classmates this week.

WHOSE BLOGS?: Select the blogs that belong to the three students whose names are listed BELOW your name on the CLASS BLOGS list found in the sidebar to your right.

For example, if you were Aidan you would write your comments on Anna, Bethany and Callum's blogs. If you were Anna you would comment on Bethany, Callum , and Cara's blogs.

HOW DO I DO THIS?: You need to comment on what the person has said in the blog post you have selected. Read the rules below before proceeding......

Do not be rude.
Do not be sarcastic.
Do not just tell the blogger they are awesome or that it is the best blog post you have ever read. Do not make an inside joke.
Do not insult or otherwise demean the writer.

DO. . .
Genuinely look at what they have said about their books and respond accordingly.

Make an intelligent comment on the book, the topic or the ideas presented by the blogger.

Extend the blogger's thinking by linking their ideas to something else (another text, your personal experiences or the world).

Ask the blogger a question about what they have read or what they have said.

Offer a suggestion for another book they might like based on what they have read and the themes and ideas presented in the blog post.

Give the blogger tips for improvement (using quotations; checking for punctuation, spelling or sentence structure; adding length through further description or support; organization of elements on the blog).

You may also comment on the style or form of the blog itself (the design of it; the visual elements: colour, organization, font style and size; use of gadgets; readability; title and description etc.).

BP#6 Character Archetypes

We have just gone over character archetypes in class.

You have spent time highlighting the main ideas in the descriptions, and found examples of the character archetypes in classic and contemporary texts. You have extended your ideas to create Tarot Cards, and you have begun to use your selected archetype in a fiction piece.

This week, I want you to examine the possible character archetypes you might have found in the novels you have been reading this year.

YOUR POST THIS WEEK: Select one of the characters you have met through your reading, and identify the archetype he or she is most like. Describe how he/she exemplifies the archetypal characteristics listed on your handout.

NOTE: Do not select THE HERO - we will be dealing with the hero later.

If you find that the character you select shares some qualities of an archetypal character, but generally is very different from the definition you have been given, you may also wish to discuss how the character is atypical of the archetypal characteristics.

PROVE IT: Incorporate at least one well chosen excerpt (direct quote) from the novel to help support the ideas in your comparison.

Remember to begin your post by introducing the book source and the author by title and name and properly citing this source following your direct quotation (Author, Title page).

BP#5 Popular?

Before you complete your next blog post, go back to the class WIKI and read through the comments made for task #4 and 5, where you discuss together what qualities are important for a story to be considered popular and whether POPULAR =GOOD.

Some specific student comments in response to the POPULAR = GOOD strand are found below:

J. J. : No, just because something is popular doesn't mean we're experiencing the best quality stories. Take the Twilight series movies for example, sure a lot of people read the books and were desperate to see their favourite story play out in front of them. But, I looked up the box office sales statistics and Twilight brought in $392,616,625 in theatres, which would have been those die-hard book fans. Then the second movie, New Moon, brought in $709,827,462! I'm sure this movie was more popular because girls saw the commercials, saw that Taylor Lautner takes off his shirt so the 'stupid vampire movie' was worth putting up with for that. The third movie, Eclipse, made $698,491,347 so, pretty much the same amount of sales. The few sales that were lost were probably those girls that couldn't stand sitting through the movie just to see the werewolf take off his shirt. I'm not saying that the Twilight series aren't good quality stories because I think they're amazing but for the movies, I think the second and third ones were so much more popular than the first only because a nice looking guy takes off his shirt a couple times, and not because it's a good quality story.

T.D: Negative publicity is necessary for popularity because even so it means that it is well known, and sometimes things are popular for being disliked, for instance Rebecca Black who is popular for creating an annoying song everyone hated so much they watched it to make fun of it. It ended up being mocked on Saturday Night Live which is, to a lot of people, the definition of well known. Negative popularity can sometimes hurt people. Rebecca was probably hurt by some of the comments her videos received, but again it probably made her much stronger. It really depends on your opinion of good and varies from case to case. Sometimes the things that should be popular aren't because they depict a message that is hard to hear, but one that also must be heard. For instance George Orwell's Animal Farm, which was rejected by dozens of publishing companies before it was finally accepted, has now become a classic. At the time it went unpublished because it said things that would offend people of power, but if it had been published it could have had a huge effect on people. It really can't be classified as either good or bad, because it varies from case to case and every person has a different opinion on what they think is well known.

(By the way Rebecca Black's "Friday" song (as of today) now has 4,371,406 hits,
the acoustic version has6,563,251 hits and
her "It's not the worst song in the world" interview posted by ABC has 4,552,218 hits.......)

POPULAR? ENDURING?

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The ultimate version of popularity for any story is to be considered a classic.

To be deemed a classic a story must withstand the test of time. Thus, its popularity is able to transcend time and impact many generations of people long after its original date of publication.

How about the novel you are reading right now or have just finished: Is it popular? Is it good? Could it be considered a classic to future generations?

THIS WEEK'S POST:

FIRST : Define CLASSIC.
(What qualities are necessary to ensure that a story endures? ) Make sure to record the source of your information if you borrow from another. (title, author page) or (link).)

THEN ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
How is the novel you are reading right now (or have just finished reading) a classic? or What qualities of a classic does your novel have? and Why should future generations of students read this book?

If you believe your story is not worthy to be called a classic, explain specifically what it is missing. Why will this book not live on to be read by future generations?

BP#4 This reminds me of....

Since the start of the year we have been examining different motifs and patterns developed in ancient stories and how these patterns are duplicated in our contemporary storytelling. These motifs and patterns help us to connect strongly to past and present stories. We have seen this week how J.K Rowling connects and synthesizes her knowledge of ancient stories and history with details from her own life to create the fictional world of Harry Potter. The 100+ million readers of the Harry Potter series have certainly shown us that this can be a powerful connection.

This week I want you to write a blog post where you discuss a part of your novel that reminds you of something else or connects in some way to a personal experience, what is going on in the world or another text (media, digital or written).

What I want you to do is make a personal, textual,

and/or worldly connection to the novel you are reading.

By discussing these connections you will be showing how you can synthesize (bring together unlike or like parts to make meaning) concepts and texts.

AS PROCESS:
If you are not familiar with the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, watch this movie trailer:

Then watch this interview with Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief. Listen carefully for insights into the connections he has made to the reality of his own life, and then presented as fiction in his award winning novel.

NOW COMPOSE YOUR POST:
To begin your entry, select a brief quotation (20-30 words) from the section of your book that connects you to some other experience. Be sure that you use "quotation marks" around the direct quotation, and that you provide a proper citation following the quote using the correct format (Author, Title Page) .

In the body of your entry make the connection you have made clear to your readers (max 100 words). Here you are to explain with specific details the type of connection you are making to your novel.

To get you started, think about how you would finish this paragraph:

The (character, event, place) reminds me of (a place, a real event, another person/character, another text, a real world situation) in the following ways . . . .

Here is a student sample:

"Illegal Fireworks Suspected in Church Blaze Pastor Injured

Wrightsville Beach, NC - A fire destroyed historic First Baptist Church on New Year's Eve, and investigators suspect illegal fireworks." ..... (Sparks, The Last Song 3)

One of the main events that happens in this book is the fire that burns down the church. It connects many of the other things that happen in the novel. Two teenage boys used illegal fireworks and were responsible for the fire. This reminds me of a newspaper article I read about two men in east Texas who were charged with intentionally setting fire to a church and were suspected in a string of similar blazes. The outbreak started with a fire set New Year's Day, which is also similar to the book because the fire in the novel was set New Years' Eve. This is one of the text - to - world connections I made while reading The Last Song.

BP#3: Your Main Character

In this week's blog post you will concentrate on the protagonist (main character) in the novel you are currently reading. You will also learn how to embed a video from youtube into your blog post.

Remember to ALWAYS begin your blog post by identifying the text source of your post. You can do this by adding a visual (the book cover: we learned how to do this in the last blog post) or simply writing the book title (in italics) and author's name.

Your assignment for this week:
Write a brief description of the protagonist in your novel. Follow these three steps to complete your description:

a. Start by finding a direct quotation from your novel that you believe helps to reveal a significant character trait present in your main character. Include a proper citation following this quotation (Author, Title page#).

b. In approximately 50-60 words explain specifically what you have learned about the protagonist from this section of the story (relate specifically to the events presented in the selected quotation).

c. Now, based on what you know about your main character, make a prediction about the outcome for this character. What do you think will happen as the plot progresses? Do this in one or two sentences.

NOW....... add the video element.

a. FIND a video on youtube that you feel expresses or extends what you already know about protagonist - the video could represent the character's personality, mood, actions or key characteristics. The video could be a music video, a compilation video set to music, a film excerpt, a poem set to music etc...

b. INTRODUCE why you selected it in one-two sentences (connect in some way to the main character you have just described), then embed the video using the instructions below.

To embed this video into your blog post:
1. Once you have found the video - COPY the EMBED code (found below the video - you will have to click on SHARE and then EMBED to find the code) it will be long and complicated (it will start like this: < width = "480" height = "385"> param )

2. Go to blog post #3 on YOUR BLOG , click EDIT POST.

3. Click on EDIT HTML found in the top right corner of the blog post toolbar.

4. Go to the bottom of your blog post and PASTE the embed code into your post. Make sure that you hit the ENTER button after you have pasted the embed code.

5. To check to see if the video has been embedded, click on COMPOSE and then PREVIEW to see it before posting.

Good luck.... help each other, then ask me for help.

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A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES:

STUDENT ONE: Here is a video that I selected to represent the SADNESS felt by my protagonist, William Thornhill in The Secret River by Kate Grenville, when he and his family are forced out of London, England in 1806. They are sent to New South Wales, Australia because of a crime he commits. (He steals wood he is delivering to the mainland in his small boat to try and make enough money to feed his ever growing family.) He misses his friends and is separated from his wife and children while on the long, uncomfortable journey across the ocean.

STUDENT TWO: I am about 5 chapters into The Penelopaid by Maraget Atwood. "I was a kind girl- kinder than Helen, or so I thought. I knew I would have to have something to offer instead of beauty. I was clever, everyone said so- in fact they said it so much that I found it discouraging- but cleverness is a quality a man likes to have in his wife as long as she is some distance away from him. Up close, he'll take kindness any day of the week, if there's nothing more alluring to be had," (Atwood, M, The Penelopaid 29). I feel as though this describes Penelope very well. She is very aware that she isn't as beautiful and radiant as her cousin Helen, but she has much more inner beauty and she is aware of herself. She isn't self absorbed like her cousin.


This video is a poem about the connection found between Penelope and Odysseus when first they met.

BP#2 : Summary and Review

As your second blog post you will be writing two short concise paragraphs about what you have read, or are currently reading.

Start by finding, saving and uploading a picture of the cover of your book. I am currently reading a book called The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Sutterfield (pictured below).

NOTE: Once you have found a cover picture online, you will need to use the "SAVE AS" command to save the photo in your "PICTURE" folder of your "H drive" and then the "INSERT IMAGE" OR "ADD IMAGE" button on your "NEW POST" toolbar. Make sure you copy and paste the source for the cover art - we want to credit any work that is not our own. I got the original image of this cover from a book blog called "Violet Crush" - the link follows: http://violetcrush.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/the-thirteenth-tale/

(ANOTHER OPTION: I have also made the cover a link by clicking on it and using the link button (5th button from the left in your create new post section of the blog). Click on the cover and see where it takes you.)

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Once you have posted your picture you can begin Blog Post #2:

INTRODUCTION: In your first sentence identify the title and author of the book. Please note that you need to properly punctuate the title of your novel - use italics.

A SUMMARY: Your first paragraph should be a 50-60 word summary of the book. If you haven't finished reading your book yet, summarize what you have read so far. A summary is a brief description of the major events of the book. It is general and does not contain specific examples of any of the plot. (Look Here for some examples of concise and precise summaries).

A REVIEW: Your second paragraph should be a 50-60 word review of the book. I would suggest that you take a look at the format and style of some reviews before you begin to write. You only have 50-60 words, so use them wisely. Your main purpose is to explain, with specific reasons, your views of the book.

BP#1: Your First Assignment

Today we will begin blogging.
Please remember that all of your posts should go on your own blog rather than the class blog. The class blog will be used only for instructional purposes.

A few words about your blog posts. Because we are dealing with an online audience, your posts should be concise and relatively short (between 100-150 words). This will mean that you will have to be very precise in your writing. Get to your point quickly, adding only those details necessary to describe or explain the main focus for your entry. Before you begin writing, take a look at the following website which will link you to a number of blogs written by teens about books and reading (look in the sidebar for "Book Review Websites & Blogs for Teens").

NOW, find a quote on the internet that displays well your feelings about books, or your relationship with books. Once you have found a perfect quote, make it the subheading of your blog (give credit to the author of the quote as well).

NOTE: To do this you will need to go your dashboard where you will find your 'Settings' button. This will allow you to change your title and add the quote as your subheading.

THEN as your first blog post explain why you selected the quote you did. Make a personal connection to the quote and what it tells your readers about you and your relationship to reading. Be sure to include the quote itself as well as the author and a link to the source you borrowed it from.

an example of a level four response to this assignment:

"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you." -Mortimer Adler

I do not read books as if it's a competition to see who can get to the end the fastest. It doesn't even have to be books, they can be articles, myths anything writen. For you can read something quickly countless times but still know nothing of what it is saying. Instead why don't you take a few extra moments, read it slower, then you take in all of what the words are saying to you and then later you don't keep having to flip back to the text saying: I read this in this part, but what did it say? Then you have to spend more time on it. I know people who race through many books a week and enjoy them, but then you ask them what it meant, they don't know. Some people are okay with not knowing exactly what the book was trying to convey, but that's not me. I would rather read one book and take it apart word for word. If I don't do that, then I don't see a point. Books are writen to serve a purpose. If books don't tell you something or if they don't give you that feeling that hits you deep down, then it's not the author's fault, it's yours. So search for it. And let the meaning get through you .

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/22395.Mortimer_J_Adler

E. M. 2011

About the Home Page

This page will be where you will find the reading assignments you will complete this year.

The other pages listed in the side bar to the right (called "Get Your Blog On!") will provide you with introductory activities to get you ready to manage your own blog.

As your first task, click on the page entitled "Introduction to Blogging" to begin your journey into the weblog world. When you are done reading what is required on each page, follow the instructions at the bottom to complete your next assignment.

Good luck and have FUN!!!

Oh, and make sure you vote on this week's poll (found at the right hand side of the blog).