Welcome 2nd Semester students! Question of the Week 1/28/11

Each Friday a question will be posted on the classroom blog. You will have until Tuesday, at the end of school, to post your thoughtful response and a reflection to a classmate's response to this question. Keep in mind that some weeks you will have your X-period to work on your blog responses, while other weeks you will be in class. The blog is timestamped and your complete response is worth a total of 20 points; 2 points will be deducted for each day blog responses are late and are considered a zero on the Friday of the following week when a new blog question is posted. Don't forget to post to the blog before this time, even if you are late it is much better to receive some points rather than no points at all. This is an easy way to earn points, but can be detrimental to your grade as the zeros add up. If you are FIRST to respond to the Question of the Week, you will not be required to respond to a classmate's response. Keep in mind that the blog is timestamped, so every minute counts. Click refresh on your browser to ensure that you are indeed first. Each complete blog response is worth 20 points unless otherwise stated.

The question of the week for this week 1/28/11 is as follows: 

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads:  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Read about First Principles of the First Amendment at:  

http://www.freedomforum.org/packages/first/Curricula/EducationforFreedom/FirstPrinciples.htm

After you have read about the First Principles and understand the rights guaranteed citizens of the U.S., define the word censorship and post your answer to this question on our classroom blog. 

What effect does book censorship have on an individual's ability to recognize the benefits of the First Amendment?

"Big Mac" Quote Sandwich Paragraph

Post your completed "Big Mac" quote sandwich here. Don't forget to bring your completed "Big Mac" Quote Sandwich worksheet to class, along with your VERY detailed outline. Enjoy your weekend.

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

Click on the link above (link= A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor) for the story to begin reading. After you have finished answering the following questions bring your answers to class.

1. What qualities of the grandmother do you like? What qualities do you dislike? How did you feel when The Misfit killed her? Why?
2. How would you characterize the other members of the family? What is the function of images like the following: the mother's "face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage and was tied around with a green head-kerchief that had two points on the top like a rabbit's ears" and the grandmother's "big black valise looked like the head of a hippopotamus"?
3. How does O'Connor foreshadow the encounter with The Misfit?
4. What does the grandmother mean by a "good man"? Whom does she consider good people? What are other possible meanings of "good"? Why does she tell The Misfit that he's a good man? Is there any sense in which he is?
5. What is the significance of the discussion of Jesus? Was he a good man?
6. What is the significance of the grandmother's saying, "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children"?
7. What is the significance of The Misfit's saying, "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life"?

There are, of course, no absolute answers to these questions; the story resists easy solutions, and, therefore, violates the reader's expectations. This is why O'Connor is a brilliant storyteller.