Meme TKAM

Meme Elements 
-a direct quote from To Kill a Mockingbird
-a phrase employing the argot of teenagers, or allusion to a meme
-an image from the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird 
-skillful composition of text and image

11/12 Can you read? Dual narrative voice & humor

Can you read?

Today's class asked this question of material previously "read" for homework. However, our struggle to even summarize two pages of To Kill A Mockingbird so challenged us that it seems that we can't read.

The good news: identifying dual narrative voice helps us understand our "job" as a reader

The bad news: reading is hard

Be honest with your reading. When you get to the bottom of a page, and you have not understood what was said, stop and go back. Break down sentences into meaning chunks; build from what you know, and ask strong questions when confused.

Be honest. You can't read.

11/7 child and adult world

Expanding our discussion of the dual narrative voice in To Kill a Mockingbird we are looking at how there are places where Scout and Jem struggle to understand adult topics:

• race separation
• class separation
• poverty
• education
• family
• religion

Often, it is Atticus or Miss Maudie who clues in the children on what is going on. We also notice that Jem is starting to understand more than Scout.

11/5 TKAM Thematic topics and Film reading

The first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird introduces us to how Harper Lee uses five thematic topics in the novel:

• decorum
• traumatic violence
• race & class separation
• dialect
• ancestry

In starting our reading of the film, we wondered how the film could adapt "dual narrative voice." While the book switches between older and younger Scout, the film focuses on younger Scout with a voice-over of older Scout.

10/23 (R)eader RASH on "Everyday Use" + instagram

Solid, solid, solid work with the critical reader passages today! Alice Walker's story is layered, and our RASHing unpacked lots of interesting and unexpected ideas. We introduced five Thematic Elements of Southern Literature (decorum, dialect, traumatic violence, ancestry, race+class separation) and will print images related to these topics for making posters tomorrow.

#nofilter
Here is my original photo of "The Museum of Bad Art" (visit as a Culture Vulture!)

and here is the photo "instagramed"

even without the filter, the image is "filtered" by my selecting what to put inside the frame

10/22 Everyday Use

After some weeks at sea, we head into the world of Southern Literature. Our introduction comes from Alice Walker in her story "Everyday Use." After a pop quiz, we started to RASH on the story to find connections between Walker's biography, historical context, and critical readings.

Sports Illustrated & Paradox of Memory

Here's the link to Thomas Lake's story of a high school football player killed in a play that brings up questions of sport violence and racial animosity.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/longform/speedy/

Give it a read, and let Thomas know what you think about his conclusions!