Here we go!
TOOLS
Evernote - a note-taking tool that is online and is a magical way to organize info
Dropbox - a cloud storage app and site - don’t lose your stuff
Pocket - a bookmarking app that archives web sites - research
Blogger - this is a personal blogging site - google - requires a gmail addy
@thelabcoatguy - Twitter
What do we do? WE MAKE YOU SMARTER FOR REAL
we put the responsibility on YOU - are you really trying to just pass?
2. we think about what we really want - do you want something out of this?
If you know what you want, then you WILL DO IT.
MINDSET is the key to success, to the right marks, to enjoyment, to everything
Your brain literally creates reality for you. There is no other reality.
Open-mindedness is the key to allowing that change.
The brain allows itself to be molded - the brain is plasticky - it can be changed.
Is there an advantage to all this? OBVIOUSLY
The key to getting what you want is to be aware of patterns and yourself.
In English class one of the key things we learn is ANALYSIS of text
This is also pattern based - once we start to learn the patterns, we can apply them to any text and get the proper results - it’s all about a kind of thinking
A pattern thinker can start there and then move on
DENOTATION - the actual, literal meaning of something
ie a chair is a chair and you sit on it
CONNOTATION - the figurative, symbolic, deeper or more layered meaning(s)
a cross is a pair of sticks in a cross pattern, but it is so much more
to decipher connotation requires a way of thinking - WHAT COULD THIS BE?
What patterns are there?
What are common patterns that have been used before? ie the cross, the swastika
The key here is evidence
We can use the lyrics of the song to help.
We can look at the characters
Maps = what does the title mean?
We have to break things down and find the details and see what they MIGHT mean.
In Glosoli - we had to look for clues in the video and find things that could be other things
Lobbster went to look at another video by the same band and director and saw a pattern.
this is finding CONTEXT
The new relationship we can find by looking at things in relation to other things tells us a great deal.
We’re trying to build some ways to analyze - a repeatable plan that we can ALWAYS go to, in any situation, that will help us to figure stuff out
When we know the context for the story-
for the writer
for the place it was written
the time it was written
the ideas of culture that were happening at that time
all these things affect the story
associations - building them, finding them, thinking about them, using them to generate meaning
these associations don’t have to be true in the artist’s mind to be valid
our interpretation is the part that is valid - your interaction with the art is your own and gives the meaning - it means that your explanation for your thinking is the whole key
using references and explanation how and why is the whole idea - this is the “right” answer
It is my job to teach you how to come up with an analysis structure that you can reproduce in any media, or any situation and find answers that work
Title
Denotation
in a story, the elements of denotation are:
plot
setting
character
A rudimentary (simplistic) answer in English is about these denotative things
Connotation
interpretation
associations
symbols
ideas that lead to other, bigger ideas
metaphors (controlling metaphors - ie the journey into the afterlife in Glosoli)
This stuff is harder to figure out properly - it takes work, and this is why we use a plan
Context is a great place to start
I want you to figure out the context for whatever it is that you’re doing.
The context reveals A TON of information that will help guide any thinking, study, work, confusion, further questions, etc that you have in any situation
the circumstances around something - the time, the place, the situational elements, the meaning, the before and after, the circumstances thereof, the stuff that sits around the thing
The poet?
The time period?
The names in the piece?
The place?
Any key movement or cultural event in that era?
etc
It might be useless, but it’s a GREAT place to start.
In many ways, intelligence, or the APPEARANCE of intelligence, is about context.
Gëstalt - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts
The total is MORE and even DIFFERENT than the sum of the parts.
Short Stories -
Plot
- conflict
- rising tension
- chronology
- causal relationship (cause + effect)
- the three act structure - setup, complications, resolution
Setting
- mood/atmosphere
- place and time
- the “rules”
- context - this era = these ideas, preconceptions, etc
Character
- protagonist/antagonist/secondaries
- characterization
- character arc (arc of change, character development)
- realism
- POV of a story
Theme
- moral (simplistic)
- universal communication - Big Ideas
- interpretation
- communication from artist to audience
Style/Structure (the form, the way it is done)
- grammar
- word choice (diction)
- devices
- approach of author
Read The Leap - p 190
1. Assess the author’s description of her mother - pull out some of the language that she uses - words and phrases - and tell me what you think is the effect of this very particular description
2. We agree that examining the title of a work can reveal or suggest something as to the meaning (or contribute to layers of meaning). Briefly evaluate the value of this title in such a way.
3. Why do you think the author chose to write this story in first-person? What does that add to it? What does it take away? - 1st person = a biased view
What if this woman’s perspective on her mother, is ALL biased, and in fact, that is what the story is about? What if the mother is a normal woman, but this story is about how we see our parents as amazing, just because of our connection to them?
This story could be a little bit about that filter with which we see the world.
4. Creative Piece - write a brief character sketch (obviously not an actual sketch…) of your own mother and put it on a blog post via Blogger.
Here is what I’m looking for in this piece:
good use of descriptive language
revealing character attributes of your mother
a rounded view of her - i.e. not focusing only on one aspect
well written in terms of style
use of first-person allows for your opinion and subjectivity
at least 200 words (about half a page)
Next week - characterization, Wing's Chips, etc
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