The Boat - Alistair MacLeod (261 or so)
Apply an analysis structure to the short story - you will have created an analysis structure
digging deep - considering multiple layers of meaning
discuss symbolic elements - there are lots of them
find a way to discuss character and change (this may include POV)
consider your own experience and life - make the link TEXT TO SELF
examine multiple aspects of the story
e.g. plot, setting, character, theme, style/structure, context, author
2. Choose one aspect of the story analysis and break it out into some kind of presentation - audio, video, pictorial, Prezi, musical, artistic in some other way
Could focus on mood and tone, or information, or it could be a combination - it could answer a why, a how, or it could be a creative reaction to some aspect of the story
3. Group work - I mark group work like so: Group Mechanics, dynamics, group effort and collaboration, THEN it becomes an individual mark
there must be some independent submission of material.
Group analysis structure, broken into pieces and assigned to different group members
4. Evidence of your thinking -
in your answers or responses, you need to show me a line of reasoning and logic that led you to whatever you include as the answer
Mr. Lobb is bad teacher
He was mean to Laine - he pushed her and wouldn’t let her write.
How is that bad?
Explain.
The theory is THIS.
THIS is true because of a, b, c.
These things in combination creates a logical thesis.
The thesis is true.
Symbolism
deeper meaning behind something
ASSOCIATIONS!
the connotation’s attached to something
ie a swastika is not just a shape, but it’s now a representation of all the crap they did (metonomy)
there is some personal aspect to deciphering symbolic value
One thing may represent a larger idea and a more complex and multiple idea
That swastika can encapsulate an entire war and the genocide of the Nazis
Same as the SS
It’s encoded in our language and our way of thinking.
DOG - why does this = the animal?
CHIEN
NEIHC
GOD
Three boys play guns:
French - PAM!
English - BANG!
Chinese - INCHOW!
Your brain automatically builds a story and a structure around everything it “sees”
Your eye “sees” a tiny bit of data - a shoe, a boat, your mom’s face - the retina captures the light and transfers some electric signal through your optic nerve
Your brain, your sense of reality works, through symbolism.
Oh hey, there is no end to the symbolic value of things - 50% or more comes from YOUR OWN HEAD
Could a boat also then represent captivity?
It can be proven.
It can be a guess at first.
It may be and it may not be.
We seek associations - what is like what else?
We try to think about the small representing the large.
The simple may represent the huge and complex.
Finding symbolic value is an exercise is seeking context and considering maybes.
Continue your group work on The Boat in the same structure as we’ve already discussed.
Now, however, you need to more specifically implement your analysis plan, and I need to see that plan as a separate piece, then see exactly how it was applied.
Break the plan down into something I would be able to hand out to others.
ie questions and answers, comment and required response, etc
In your analysis, make sure that you’re hitting these key areas:
Symbolic Elements
Character Arc of the POV character
Character Analysis of the two parents
Use of imagery to create mood and atmosphere.
Your final analysis on The Boat will be submitted on Friday, but we’re already going to move on to poetry before then.
You will have only two more days of class time to finish this final summative for short story. Use your time wisely!
rl
No comments:
Post a Comment