Instructions: Your group of three or four will complete a half-human, half-insect large drawing of Gregor Samsa. Split Gregor vertically down the center with half of him resembling what his human side would likely look like (infer from text) and the other half resembling what his insect side looks like (using quotes from text). On the human side, write five quotes from the text that show his human qualities. On his bug side, write five quotes from the text that show his insect qualities. On each side of Gregor, you should also draw three symbols that seem to best represent each side of him and explanations of what that symbol likely represents. Example: Draw the magazine cutout of the girl in the frame. Explain that the girl is not someone he really knows symbolizing Gregor’s inability to get close to people (total of six symbols). Underneath your drawing, write a paragraph explaining why you believe Gregor is either more insect or more human (for whichever side you found the most support from the text). Be sure to connect your reasons in the paragraph to Modernism and the “Kafkaesque” qualities of the story. Your individual grade will receive a significant reduction in points from the rest of your group if you are not consistently working and contributing to the project.
much ado about nothing
Students in 7th grade ELA read Much Ado About Nothing and then had a choice project: there were nine options, and student chose three.
One option was for students to interview a character to get to know them and their reasoning better. Below is an excerpt from one student's interview with Claudio: I= My first question for you is: Why were you easily convinced of Hero’s disloyalty? What do you think made your relationship easy to break?
C= I was easily convinced because (pause), because I had not been with Hero for long enough to get to know her very well. I had only been with her for a week after I came back from the war, so I had not built enough trust.
Also, I fully believed Don John. I didn’t expect him to try to savagely destroy my wedding. I didn’t expect him to manipulate me… So that was also a cause. And, I was a bit rash as well… I should have suspected it could have been someone else, like Margeret, who was at the window…
I= That's understandable… But I thought you had met Hero before you went to war… So when did you first meet Hero?
C= I didn’t exactly meet Hero… But I did come across her when going to war with the Prince of Aragon… I stopped by Messina before. Leonato is a very kind governor, so before we went to war we stayed at Messina. There I saw Hero, but I didn’t talk with her much at all because I was getting ready for war.
I= What were the reasons you didn’t think of Hero at war? What did you think made it wise not to think of love?
C= At war, you can’t be distracted. If I let myself think of love, I might get depressed feeling sorry for myself, because I might die and never get to love. Also, I didn’t have time to feel love either. I only had to spend time with my own friends, so love never came up.
After the war, there was plenty of time.
Maus and night in conversation
Students in World Literature were offered an opportunity to design their own extra credit assignment. First, they read the graphic novel Maus (we read Night as a class). Next they chose artistic, written, or combination projects. Here are some of the great pieces students created.
A group of three students decided to work together to take two scenes from Night and convert them into graphic novel format, similar to that of Maus. They are incredibly talented!
Another student chose to write an imagined conversation between Elie, the narrator/ author of Night, and Vladek, the author of Maus's father. Here is an excerpt: When I met Mr. Vladek in Buchenwald, I would have never guessed he came from a rich family. He wore tattered clothes, the same as me. We were very much alike, all of us in the camp: thin arms, like twigs ready to snap; dirty faces caked in mud and snow; and a deep ache nestled in our bones. This last bit did not apply to Mr. Vladek. His eyes were full of want.
“I am going to see my wife and child again, I know I will.” Something about his voice told me that he was speaking more for himself.
Most of me was apathetic, even humored by his claims. Hope? Here? In this hell? Wake up already. Life isn’t even worth it.
Even more of me was enraged. How could you dare to dream about your family? When we were already dying?
The last part of me was horrified. How could I think such awful things? I voiced none of this, opting to swallow my soup instead. It tasted like death.
He always sat across from me at mealtime, recounting his days before the camps. Perhaps I reminded him of his son. He did not remind me of my father. My father was a pious man so devoted to his God he forgot he had a family. Mr. Vladek was a rich military man, who even traveled with his wife to a fancy hospital.
“Your father was part of the Jewish council?” He asked, sounding incredulous when I finally gave into his prodding about my life. “That’s amazing. They held the Germans off for so long.”
I don’t know what my father did to protect us. Apparently, Mr. Vladek got by through bribing officers and asking the council for favors. I guess money doesn’t matter in the end. Mr. Vladek still ended up here, despite his riches.
Though, we did share a few things in common. We were both forced into ghettos, living in the ghosts of another family. We both hid in dirty cellars, clinging to a false shred of hope we wouldn’t be discovered. We both watched our grandparents carted away by the Germans, never to be seen again.
And, well, neither of us had much faith in God anymore.