Images and Sentiments

Dear 304 and 310,

Please go to this link, http://voicethread.com/share/1230848/ and do the following:

Select 5 or 6 photographs that speak the most to you.
They should be the most powerful photographs to you, the most poignant images, snapshots that evoke the most sentiment in you.
After you have made your selection of 5 or 6, roughly pen down words, phrases or sentences that come to mind when you view the photograph.
This is an exercise in raw writing so just write what you feel sans editing.

P.s. write down using the comment button and feel for the photographs.

Mirror, by Sylvia Plath

Post your comments here.

(A) Examine the NATURE OF THE MIRROR as conveyed in the poem.
(B) Explore the RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MIRROR AND THE WOMAN. In your answer, say what COMMENTS/CRITICISMS you think the poet is making about SOCIETY.

Mirror
by Sylvia Plath

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike
I am not cruel, only truthful –
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me.
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

Help with Unseen Poetry

A poem is NOT lots of bits.

1. Each poem should be read a few (or even several) times (preferably aloud). Even during a test :) !
2. Have a general idea, after reading, about what the poem is about. Talk aloud, talk to yourself, reason it out, try to paraphrase what the poem is trying to say! It helps! :)
3. Your general idea(s) should be based on what you see in the poem so try to locate and identify parts of the poem that confirm your guesses.
4. Mark out bits that puzzle you--you can't quite figure out. Use the parts that you DO understand, to inform the parts that you don't understand. 

Decoding a poem is a lot like doing a jigsaw puzzle. Just like we look for the edges and corners to get started on a puzzle, we look for parts that we do understand in a poem, before we look at parts that we don't understand. We try to "fit" in the bits that we don't understand within a context--our guesses about the subject, the purpose/message, the emotional undercurrents. Words are always intentionally selected for a purpose--to evoke feelings and thoughts in the reader. Think about how the different elements in the poem (SLIMS) enact the poem's meaning and impact, how they serve to convey the poet's message.

We Are The World 25 For Haiti - Official Video

Songs, like movies, are powerful mediums to convey messages, social commentaries about the state of the world. Like good poets, songwriters say their piece about society and humanity, through verses, lyrics, music. Think about the speech you wish to craft--in many ways, speech-writing is a lot like music-writing. Remember to think about the oral delivery of your speech when you're crafting your speech.

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ALL STAR - What's Going On [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

How are songs and speeches similar?

CNN - Ex-President George W. Bush's Post 9/11 Speech

Okay. The Bushes--Junior and Senior--get a lot of flak for the things they say and the way they speak. Let's just try to suspend our pre-conceived notions about them, more specifically G.B. Jr., and evaluate this speech on its own, as objectively as possible. Does George Bush Jr. convey his message well? Are you moved, convinced, touched in any way? What rhetorical devices, language features does he use to convey his message? What could he have done better, in your opinion?

Pronunciation Aid

Macmillan Dictionary is an excellent dictionary for checking word meaning, pronunciation, grammar and synonyms.

Political Rhetoric: President Obama: Great Orator or Not?

Dear Ladies of 304 and 310,

Have a look at these three links (especially the 2nd and 3rd links):

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R83xMWtEp7k&feature=related 
2. "Words Don't Matter" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6NS9unm-OQ&feature=related
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB1RJBuWYbA&feature=related

Do you think Obama is a good speaker? If yes, why so? If no, why not?
What do you think about political rhetoric and orators?

Motivational and Inspirational Speeches from Popular Culture I

Movies are powerful mediums to convey messages. Actors, especially, are particularly gifted in emoting words--giving speeches their intended meaning and spirit. Have a look at the following speeches by Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday, and Bill Pullman in Independence Day. Study their body language and facial expressions and note that the background music plays an integral role in creating that "atmosphere" necessary to achieve the desired audience emotional response.

Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in this history of mankind.
Mankind -- that word should have new meaning for all of us today.
We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore.
We will be united in our common interests.
Perhaps its fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom, not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution -- but from annihilation.
We're fighting for our right to live, to exist.
And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice:
"We will not go quietly into the night!
We will not vanish without a fight!
We're going to live on!
We're going to survive!"
Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!

Motivational and Inspirational Speeches from Popular Culture II

Caution: video contains some expletives.

Inches
Al Pacino in the movie Any Given Sunday

I don’t know what to say really… Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives… It all comes down to today.

Now either we heal as a team, or we’re gonna crumble. Inch by inch, play by play, ‘til we’re finished.
We’re in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And we can stay here, get everything kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell, one inch at a time.

Now I can’t do it for you. I’m too old. I look around, I see these young faces and I think, I mean, I made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I ah… I wasted away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who has ever loved me. And lately, I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror.

You know, when you get old in life, things get taken from you, I mean, that’s part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out life’s this game of inches, it’s always football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early, and you don’t quite make it; one half second too slow or too fast, you don’t quite catch it; the inches we need are everywhere around us! They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second! On this team, we fight for that inch! On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces, for that inch! We claw with our fingernails for that inch! Because we know, when we add up all those inches, that’s gonna make the difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying!!!

I’ll tell you this, in any fight, it’s the guy who’s willing to die, who’s gonna win that inch. And I know, if I’m gonna have any life anymore, it’s because I’m still willing to fight and die for that inch! Because that’s what living is! The six inches in front of your face!

Now I can’t make you do it! You’ve gotta look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes! Now I think you’re gonna see a guy who will go that inch with you. You’re gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you’re gonna do the same for him. That’s a team gentlemen! And either we heal now as a team, or we will die as individuals. That’s football guys, that’s all it is. Now, what are you gonna do?

Greatest Speeches of the 20th Century

Check out this video that briefly introduces us to some of the most inspiring speeches of the 20th Century.

Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids | Video on TED.com

Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids Video on TED.com

Dear 304 and 310 (2010),

Please view the video of child prodigy Adora Svitak and post a comment below (here, not on the TEDtalks page). Your comment should comprise of your opinion on whether Adora conveys her message well, with reference to the way she crafts her argument, her manner of delivery, the way in which she speaks. Please feel free to express other thoughts--if you need subtitles, there is a button below the video screen and there is an interactive transcript to open on the right hand side. Please do check out her writing--she's not bad at all :)

Love,
Miss C.