5th hour fishbowl #3: p. 18--89

One of the many qualities that's awesome about you all is the way that you listen to and learn from your feedback. I began copying and pasting great comments and questions from last discussion and there were so many who did a great job I ran out of room to post them all.  Particularly, you did a great job developing and defending your ideas with textual evidence.

For today's discussions, work on proofreading your ideas as well as participating throughout the course of discussion.  Also, don't be afraid to throw your comprehension questions out there; I know this is a challenging text and this is a great text to use to sort through your level 1 questions.

1st spring fishbowl #3: Fahrenheit 451 (p. 18--p. 89)

We are getting much better at supporting our thinking.  Check out these examples of your classmates great, well-supported ideas from last discussion.

Victoria said...

When Clarisse and Montag are talking about history and how firemen used to put out fires on page 6, why does Montag just brush it off as a silly question? He didn’t seem to even really give it thought. Do you think that since there is no books, they didn’t bother to make a new resource for people to learn about history so that they know these?

And Tristan asked, 

On page 9, it says that there was a electrical murmur of a hidden wasp snug in its special pink warm nest. Also on page 16, after Guy realized that Mildred was gone, he sees her with two electronic bees humming in her ears. Are those "bees," headphones or those mental handicap radios from the reading, "Harrison Bergeron?"

Consider these questions and responses from your classmates last week, modeling your responses off theirs.  You'll notice each refers to a specific plot point or passage to introduce a question or defend a response.  Each is also carefully proofread and well-developed.  Use these model responses as well as feedback from last discussion to guide your postings today.

Be sure you are also participating throughout the course of discussion today and are proofreading your work.

5th hour spring fishbowl #2: Fahrenheit 451 (beginning-p. 18 "into the rain")

You guys are great with big picture ideas.   I want us to work on supporting those ideas with evidence from the text and also on vacillating between these text-to-world connections and analysis of the text; remember, this should be text-based discussion.

With each post today, provide evidence or context for your thinking with a quote or a plot point.  Here are a couple examples.  

Zach wrote: 

When Hazel says, "That's all right, he tried. That's the big thing. He tried to do the best he could with what God gave him. He should get a nice raise for trying so hard." do you wish the world was like that? I personally think it is rediculous that he should be rewarded for trying. He needs to earn his raise

And Austin posted:

"The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal."
-Kurt Vonnegut 

Is this showing that Vonnegut sees it as good the everyone is equal? 
Would you be happy if it was 2081 and you were equal to everyone?

 Be sure to also remember this is a formal writing assignment for class.  Be sure to proofread your response prior to posting.

Spring fishbowl #2: the opening of Fahrenheit 451

Much like with our verbal discussion, in our written discussion, we had many good ideas and questions, but often neglected to contextualize our thinking.

Consider these questions and responses from your classmates last week, modeling your responses off theirs.  You'll notice each refers to a specific plot point or passage to introduce a question or defend a response.  Each is also carefully proofread and well-developed.  Use these model responses as well as feedback from last discussion to guide your postings today.

Katharinef803January 16, 2014 at 8:02 AM

I think that equality is important to our society but there are limitations to how equal we are. In this story by Kurt Vonnegut equality was taken to extreme measures, this led to people not being able to express or think for themselves. "...another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts". This quote shows how when George starts to think about something deeper the government stops it with the radio. People in this society have no freedom to think or feel what they want.

FelipeJanuary 16, 2014 at 8:04 AM

I feel as if Harrison was a little more of a power hungry boy rather than a freedom fighter because he doesn't try to free the other people. Instead he was claiming that he is an emperor and he claimed to have an empress. It seemed like he was mostly focusing on himself and what he wanted, rather than what was best for the people.

NatalieB29January 16, 2014 at 8:00 AM

In the text, the Handicapper General seems to control all the people; stopping them from any advantages. George stated about the Handicapper General, "Good as anybody else." If everyone is equal in that society, then why does the General get to control everyone?

LaurenKJanuary 16, 2014 at 8:16 AM

I really like your question Natalie because it also brought up my thoughts from yesterday that wouldn't these transmitters still keep them from being unequal? In the story Hazel says "I don't care if you're not equal to me for awhile." So Hazel knows that George is smarter than her and she knows that because he has a handicapper to technically "dumb him down". So in a way these handicappers still make them unequal.

Christine E.January 16, 2014 at 8:15 AM

On the second page of Harrison Bergeron when George and Hazel were watching the ballerinas, George was white and trembling and there were tears in his eyes. Then the ballerinas suddenly collapse on the floor. Was it a coincidence that it happened in the same time?  

5th hour--Spring fishbowl #1: "Harrison Bergeron"

If you are choosing to participate via comments on our class blog today, be sure you adhere to the same discussion expectations you would if you were in the inner circle:  respectfully challenging your classmates' thinking, basing your assertions on textual evidence, etc.

There is not a finite number of times you need to contribute; rather, I will check to see that you are thoughtfully and consistently contributing.  If you wait to post until 20 minutes into our fishbowl or you post once and are dormant for 15 minutes, that indicates that you're not using your time thoughtfully. If this is because you're a slow typist or perhaps you struggle with the multi-tasking nature of this activity, choose another way to show your understanding . If lack of focus continues to be a problem, you will be asked to hand-write a response to our next fishbowl or to verbally participate only.

A couple of things to keep in mind :

• This is an academic assignment.  It should be properly written and proofread rather than assuming the appearance of a text message.
• If addressing one person's post, respond to that discussion thread.
• Support your thinking with evidence from the text
• Contextualize question in specific passages or plot points

Happy posting!

Spring fishbowl #1: "Harrison Bergeron"

If you are choosing to participate via comments on our class blog today, be sure you adhere to the same discussion expectations you would if you were in the inner circle:  respectfully challenging your classmates' thinking, basing your assertions on textual evidence, etc.

There is not a finite number of times you need to contribute; rather, I will check to see that you are thoughtfully and consistently contributing.  If you wait to post until 20 minutes into our fishbowl or you post once and are dormant for 15 minutes, that indicates that you're not using your time thoughtfully. If this is because you're a slow typist or perhaps you struggle with the multi-tasking nature of this activity, choose another way to show your understanding . If lack of focus continues to be a problem, you will be asked to hand-write a response to our next fishbowl or to verbally participate only.

A couple of things to keep in mind :

• This is an academic assignment.  It should be properly written and proofread rather than assuming the appearance of a text message.
• If addressing one person's post, respond to that discussion thread.
• Support your thinking with evidence from the text
• Contextualize question in specific passages or plot points

Happy posting!

Sacrifice: is it worth it?

Identify what/ who you gave up to begin exploring our unit guiding questions and why.  

Next, describe how this experience affected you.  To what extent did this assignment challenge you?  Was it worth it?  What did you learn from sacrificing it?  What would it take for you to give up something important to you?  How would you have to change as a person to want to make such a sacrifice?  

What might perpetuate that change?  Would the world have to look different?  How so?

Be sure to answer at least the first prompt as well as one or more of the following questions in each of the subsequent paragraphs.  Aim for a succinct, well-written paragraph.  This should not be an essay; remember, you want your classmates to read it.  

Be sure you read previous comments before responding, using this forum as a way to dialogue with one another, an opportunity simply turning in a piece of paper does not permit.