Term 3 bellringers:
1. Throughout Jane Eyre, windows are frequently mentioned prior to big, life-changing events. What major events or important people tie back to the following mentions of windows? How do the descriptions of the windows reflect Jane’s feelings, thoughts, emotions, and/or circumstances? What could windows possibly symbolize, both in the story and your own life?
2. How does a birdcage represent the characteristics, personality, and/or circumstances of Jane Eyre throughout the novel?
3. What qualities does a person who is “fiery” have? What qualities does a person who is “icy” have? Out of the characters you’ve met in Jane Eyre, do any of them fall into either of those categories? Who could be considered fire and who could be considered ice? Defend your answer using examples from the book.
4.
5. Bildungsroman novels focus on the "coming of age" of a hero, meaning the hero's journey from childhood to adulthood. How does Jane transform over the course of the novel (physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. — give examples) and what other stories can you name that fit in this category? List some and explain.
6. All stories involve characters and settings, but which of the two is most important? Why? Is the right setting necessary for shaping the right characters, or can the right characters exist regardless of setting? Out of the stories you love most, how might they have benefited or suffered from changes to the settings and/or characters? If you had to change characters or settings in a story, which would have less of an impact overall?
7. What do you know about pitches? (Nope, not baseball pitches...) If you have a business idea, how do you make it a reality? If you want important folks to listen to your ideas, how do you make them listen? if you want your brilliant idea for an invention, a movie script, a novel, a car design, a roller coaster, a class project or anything else to be heard, realistically, what is the best way to make that happen?
8. Tell me about your new "Much Ado About Nothing"! Don't go into too much detail (plenty of time for that later), but start sorting out your thoughts. What setting are you thinking about? What updates will you give your characters? What will really make your retelling stand out?
9. Time to get serious with your pitch! Using bullet points or paragraphs, answer:
Term 1 bellringers:
August 25, 2015:
New set of bellringers:
September 23, 2015:
September 25, 2015:
September 29, 2015:
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!"
October 7, 2015:
1. Throughout Jane Eyre, windows are frequently mentioned prior to big, life-changing events. What major events or important people tie back to the following mentions of windows? How do the descriptions of the windows reflect Jane’s feelings, thoughts, emotions, and/or circumstances? What could windows possibly symbolize, both in the story and your own life?
2. How does a birdcage represent the characteristics, personality, and/or circumstances of Jane Eyre throughout the novel?
3. What qualities does a person who is “fiery” have? What qualities does a person who is “icy” have? Out of the characters you’ve met in Jane Eyre, do any of them fall into either of those categories? Who could be considered fire and who could be considered ice? Defend your answer using examples from the book.
4.
- If you were passionate about something (sports, movies, art, music, theater, etc.) would you be willing to marry someone who was not? Why or why not?
- If you graduated from college and/or thought education was critically important, would you marry someone who did not agree on its importance? Why or why not?
- If you believed in strict standards or morals (either religious standards or personal), would you marry someone who did not hold those same standards? Why or why not?
5. Bildungsroman novels focus on the "coming of age" of a hero, meaning the hero's journey from childhood to adulthood. How does Jane transform over the course of the novel (physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. — give examples) and what other stories can you name that fit in this category? List some and explain.
6. All stories involve characters and settings, but which of the two is most important? Why? Is the right setting necessary for shaping the right characters, or can the right characters exist regardless of setting? Out of the stories you love most, how might they have benefited or suffered from changes to the settings and/or characters? If you had to change characters or settings in a story, which would have less of an impact overall?
7. What do you know about pitches? (Nope, not baseball pitches...) If you have a business idea, how do you make it a reality? If you want important folks to listen to your ideas, how do you make them listen? if you want your brilliant idea for an invention, a movie script, a novel, a car design, a roller coaster, a class project or anything else to be heard, realistically, what is the best way to make that happen?
8. Tell me about your new "Much Ado About Nothing"! Don't go into too much detail (plenty of time for that later), but start sorting out your thoughts. What setting are you thinking about? What updates will you give your characters? What will really make your retelling stand out?
9. Time to get serious with your pitch! Using bullet points or paragraphs, answer:
- What makes your new "Much Ado" unique and better than the versions of the people around you?
- What movies or books have the same voice, tone, or feel as your new "Much Ado"? How so?
- What audience will it attract? (age, etc.)
- What are some possible taglines?
- Why should an investor trust you?
Term 1 bellringers:
August 25, 2015:
- Bellringer: Think of the statement: "Sometimes you have to hurt the people that you love in order to do the right thing." Do you think this is true? Can you think of an example in your own life or in literature that supports or disproves that statement?
- Bellringer: Have you ever faced a situation where you felt like you had no control over your circumstances? What does powerlessness feel like? Is there such a thing, or do you always have some measure of control over what happens in your life?"
- Bellringer: William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is classified as a tragedy and Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" could fall in the same category. What makes a story tragic? Are stories tragic because of character choices or does the fault lie "in our stars"? How would you define the word "tragedy"?
- Do you have any big dreams? What are they? Tell me about some of your goals and/or aspirations. What are you doing to accomplish them? What sorts of challenges might get in the way, and what can be done to perhaps overcome them? Is it worth having big dreams even if achieving them may seem unrealistic?
- Could you argue that school is a dictatorship, and if so, does that make you feel powerless? Write about a time you felt like you had no control and had to obey someone else's orders (it doesn't have to be school related). How did you feel, and how do you think the person "in power" felt, or what do you think he/she was thinking?
- What do you think of graphic novels? Why?
- How would you define the word "bully"? What are the traits of a bully, in your opinion? Are bullies born or created, how does one recognize if he/she is a bully, and how does a person change his/her behavior?
- What kind of friend are you? If 10 is the best and 1 is the worst, rank yourself as a friend in the areas of honesty, loyalty, and trustworthiness. Why did you pick those numbers? How would your friends rank you? How would you rank Lennie and George as friends?
- What does hope mean to you? Is it important to have hope? Why? Are there any characters in "Of Mice and Men" who have hope? If so, who are they and what do they hope for?
- Using clues from what you know about the “Of Mice and Men” characters and story, predict the story’s possible ending. What do you think will happen to each of the characters? Will the story end happily? Why do you think that? If you know how the book ends, reflect on the story and see if you can find points where characters could have impacted its conclusion.
New set of bellringers:
September 23, 2015:
- If you could take abstract human characteristics like loyalty, innocence, trust, arrogance, and courage (etc.) and tie them to characters in "Of Mice and Men," which characters would link to what trait and why?
September 25, 2015:
- How would you define loneliness? Is there a difference between loneliness and solitude? Can you be surrounded by people and still be lonely? Have you ever experienced loneliness? In your opinion, are humans okay being lonely, or do we require companionship to be happy?
September 29, 2015:
- None! Too much to do!
- None! Too much to do!
- "The best laid schemes o' Mice and Men
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!"
- Why did Steinbeck use this portion of the Robert Burns poem as his book's title? What message — if any — do the two pieces of literature show? Do you agree with the message? Why or why not?
October 7, 2015:
- No bellringer! Character analysis essays!
- Have you ever studied short stories in school? If so, what are some of the short stories you've read? Were there ones you hated, or ones you really loved? List them and explain. If you've never read a short story, tell me about your favorite literary genre and explain why you love it.
- Either as class concludes or on your own, reflect on what you thought about or heard during class today (it was college and career day, led by the counselors). Where do you see yourself heading after 12th grade? What did you learn today that could help shape your future?
- Out of the short stories you read over Fall Break, which was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite and why? What must a story have, in your opinion, to be a good, interesting, or worthwhile read?
- What do you think about the idea of following the crowd? Is it a good thing or a bad thing, or both? Are there times in your life where you've followed the crowd for good? What about for bad? What leads a person to follow the crowd and how can one harness that power?
- “The human reality of what happens to millions is only for God to grasp; but what happens to individuals is another matter and within the range of mortal understanding. The Salem story has the virtue of being a highly individualized affair. Witches in the abstract were not hanged in Salem; but one by one were brought to the gallows such diverse personalities as a decent grandmother grown too hard of hearing to understand a crucial question from the jurors, a rakish, pipe-smoking female tramp, a plain farmer who thought only to save his wife from molestation, a lame old man whose toothless gums did not deny expression to a very salty vocabulary… And after you have studied their lives faithfully, a remarkable thing happens; you discover that if you really know the few, you are on your way to understanding the millions. By grasping the local, the parochial, even, it is possible to make a beginning at understanding the universal.”
- What do you think this quote is saying and do you agree or disagree with its claim? Either way, give me specific examples to support your position.
- In writing, does length = strength? How long must a story be to be good? Have you ever read a shorter story — or even a single scene — that is more powerful than the largest novel? If so, what makes the piece powerful? What's the shortest a story can be to still have an impact on its audience?
- We talked last time about motivations - everyone has them. What are some of the things motivating Parris, Abigail, Mr. Putnam, Mrs. Putnam, and the other characters in "The Crucible"? What things motivate you - for good or ill - in your own life? Are motivations a good thing or a bad thing, and can you give me examples of why and when your answer is true? Where do motivations come from? What creates them? What controls them?
- Physical bellringers — Why you no use capitalization?!?!?!