Ms. Moraites' Research

Hi everyone!

I am doing research on integrating pop culture in the classroom. I would like to involve you in my research and writing process! Please go to this website and post your answer to the following question:

(Click the link below and double click the wall.)

What is your favorite song, music artist, or music video of '08/'09? Of all time??
If you can't decide, what songs do you DISLIKE?
Don't like current music? What kind of music do you like?

Thank you!
Ms. Moraites

Week of 4/26 Listing

100 Things to Write a List of 100 About

1. 100 Things I’m Grateful For
2. 100 Ways I Could Nurture Myself
3. 100 Ways I Sabotage Myself
4. 100 Things I’m Good At
5. 100 Things I Like About Myself
6. 100 Questions I Want Answers
7. 100 Ways To Improve My Life
8. 100 Things I’ve Accomplished In My Life
9. 100 Things I’m Feeling Stressed About
10. 100 Things I’d Do If I Had Time
11. 100 Things I Need Or Want To Do
12. 100 Things I Want To Accomplish In The Next X Months
13. 100 Things To Do Before I Die
14. 100 Things That Are Going Right
15. 100 Things That Are Going Wrong
16. 100 Reasons I Want To Stay Married/Committed
17. 100 Reasons I Don’t Want To Stay Married/Committed
18. 100 Things I Want In A Partner/Relationship
19. 100 Things I Have To Offer To A Partner/Relationship
20. 100 Fears I Am Having Right Now
21. 100 Things That Once Scared Me But Don’t Anymore
22. 100 Reasons To Save Money
23. 100 Things I Miss
24. 100 Sacrifices I Have Made
25. 100 Marketing Ideas For My Business
26. 100 Ways I Can Make Money
27. 100 Ways To Make A Difference
28. 100 Jobs/Careers I’d Like To Have
29. 100 Fears About Being A Multimillionaire
30. 100 Things I Believe In
31. 100 Achievements (Qualities) I Am Proud Of
32. 100 Things I Value In Life
33. 100 Ways I Help Others
34. 100 Things That Turn Me On
35. 100 Things That Turn Me Off
36. 100 Judgments I Make
37. 100 Things I Find Hard To Share
38. 100 Things I’m Disappointed About
39. 100 Things I’m Angry About
40. 100 Things I’m Sad About
41. 100 Things [Peoples, Places] I Love
42. 100 Things To Do When I’m Depressed
43. 100 Things To Do When I’m Alone
44. 100 Rules I Have Broken
45. 100 Skills I Have
46. 100 Feelings I Am Having Right Now
47. 100 Childhood Memories
48. 100 Things My Parents Used To Say To Me
49. 100 Ways In Which I’m Generous
50. 100 Ways To Be More Productive
51. 100 Things I Hate
52. 100 Things I Want
53. 100 Places I’d Like To Visit
54. 100 Things I’d Like Someone To Tell Me
55. 100 Things I’d Like To Hear
56. 100 Things I’d Like To Tell My Child
57. 100 Things I Want My Child To Know About Me
58. 100 Reasons To Have A Baby
59. 100 Reasons Not To Have A Baby
60. 100 Adjectives Describing Myself
61. 100 Decisions Other Have Made For Me
62. 100 Decisions I Made That Turned Out Well
63. 100 Things I’d Do If I Had Six Months To Live
64. 100 Expectations Other Have Of Me
65. 100 Expectations I Have Of Myself
66. 100 Judgments I Haven’t Released
67. 100 Ways To Be More Creative
68. 100 Things I Could Carry In My Pocket
69. 100 Things I’d Save If My House Were On Fire
70. 100 Things I Want To Tell My Mother [Father]
71. 100 Things I’d Never Tell My Mother [Father]
72. 100 Financial Fears
73. 100 Excuses I Make For Myself
74. 100 Things I Need/Want To Control
75. 100 Fears I Have About Giving Up Control
76. 100 Answered Prayers
77. 100 People I’d Like To Meet
78. 100 Reasons Why I Get Jealous
79. 100 People I Admire
80. 100 Tasks I’ve Been Procrastinating
81. 100 Memories From My Past
82. 100 Things That Nourish Me
83. 100 Things I Haven’t Finished
84. 100 Things I’m Glad I’ve Done
85. 100 Things I’ll Never Do Again
86. 100 Ways To Generate Income
87. 100 Principles To Live By
88. 100 People I Want To Forgive
89. 100 People I Want To Forgive Me
90. 100 Things To Forgive Myself For
91. 100 Mistakes I Have Made
92. 100 Lessons I Have Learned
93. 100 Ways To Be Healthier
94. 100 Things That Make Me Cry
95. 100 Things That Make Me Laugh
96. 100 Things I’d Delegate
97. 100 Thing I Want For My Birthday
98. 100 Possessions I’m Tired Of Owning
99. 100 Responsibilities That I’d Like To Avoid
100. 100 Things To Write A List Of 100 About

J. Ruth Gendler Book of Qualities

Handout: The Qualities

Using the examples from J. Ruth Gendler's Book of qualities, write two vignettes in that style for your own Book of Qualities.

J. Ruth Gendler

Janet Ruth Gendler wears orange socks, arranges her clothes by color in the closet, keeps the herbs in alphabetical order, and doesn't understand the separation between work and play. Gendler was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska and received B.A.'s in English and Communication from Stanford University in 1977. She has written articles on the arts, health, and education. She works in publishing and teaches intuitive art classes. Gendler currently lives in Berkeley, California.

The Book of Qualities
by J. Ruth Gendler

Excitement wears orange socks.
Despair papered her bathroom walls with newspaper articles about acid rain.
Joy drinks pure water.

The Book of Qualities presents 74 qualities--including Pleasure, Anger, Terror, Beauty, and Change as everyday characters who live among us. Both personal and impersonal, the Qualities convey a variety of human emotions in a simple and entertaining manner; readers are inspired to reflect on their own qualities and communicate their feelings with new clarity.



About the Qualities

When I was a little girl, I made up a story about the store where they sell Qualities. More like a trading post or library than a department store or supermarket, we could go to the store where they sell Qualities to taste, try on, and sample various qualities. From time to time as a teenager I made notes about the factory where they manufacture facts and the image warehouse where they store belief systems.

As I committed myself more seriously to writing Qualities, I began to consider the limits of emotional language. We often assume we know the dimensions of an emotional quality and whether it is good or bad without taking the time to see where the quality can take us and what it can teach us.

During the process of writing The Book of Qualities I felt like an explorer trying to penetrate underneath the layers and stereotypes to experience the Qualities more directly. I was turning my skills in investigation and observation inward, focusing on the textures and colors of the emotional landscape, calling on my training as both a journalist and an artist.

The Qualities seem to exist in a community of their own, apart from us, and simultaneously, they are very familiar, a part of our everyday world. I imagine that the Qualities live together in a town--Courage lives on the same block as Fear. Faith and Doubt are in the same apartment building; Despair hangs out in the basement. However, I don't want to emphasize the Town of Qualities too much because it implies that the Qualities are separate from us, and they seem to be both in and around us. Reading the Qualities aloud brings them to life; even the same Qualities change subtly in response to the moods and needs of the people listening.

The Qualities continue to open doors in several directions at once. I am interested in the difference between similar Qualities such as Joy and Ecstasy, Contentment and Pleasure and the relationships between seeming opposites like Certainty and Confusion, Beauty and Ugliness. What happens when Courage and Simplicity work on a project together, when Pleasure and Sufficiency take a walk? Somewhere around the New Year I choose a Quality for the year and then pick one out of a bowl of Qualities, walking between the one I choose and the one that chose me. Each Quality has its own challenges and gifts.

Publication Opportunities Online for Teens/Post a response

Period 1:
Visit this website and explore the various opportunities to publish your work.

http://www.teenink.com/Resources/PublishingR.html



Check out the side video bar




Period 2:

Prepare one of your pieces for publication (poetry or prose). Remember that it must be edited PERFECTLY if you are going to submit it for publication. Determine which online magazine you are going to submit to. Follow all the instructions for submissions.

Check with Ms. Gamzon before you submit your work.

Week 3/30-4/3 Parody Newsletters

First go to website: http://www.learner.org/resources/series41.html#

Check out #13 Tools of the trade (you may have to sign up to access videos)

Continue working on parody newsletters.

5th Marking Period 3/24/09 Parody Newspaper

Please respond to Nicole Nabors visit yesterday by posting and sharing a response on the blog. What did you think about her message and her real life experience? How did it affect you? (If your response is too personal to post, type it up and leave it on my desk).

We're going to be working on a parody of a real newspaper this week. The best place to go is www.theonion.com/content/index.

Check out The Onion by reading some of the articles. Then in groups of 3-4, brainstorm an idea for a newsletter that is a parody of "real news." Each of you will contribute an article/articles and photos (visuals).

BE CREATIVE! The focus here is not to create a tabloid newspaper like the STAR or INQUIRER, but to actually work towards being humorous--to make people laugh like the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. Your parody needs an element of satire--you are making fun of something that actually is serious.

Use Microsoft Publisher to design your newsletter.

Check out the VIDEO BAR for The Onion video parodies.






Parody:


par⋅o⋅dy
   /ˈpærədi/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [par-uh-dee] Show IPA noun, plural -dies, verb, -died, -dy⋅ing.
–noun
1. a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing: his hilarious parody of Hamlet's soliloquy.
2. the genre of literary composition represented by such imitations.
3. a burlesque imitation of a musical composition.
4. any humorous, satirical, or burlesque imitation, as of a person, event, etc.
5. the use in the 16th century of borrowed material in a musical setting of the Mass (parody Mass).
6. a poor or feeble imitation or semblance; travesty: His acting is a parody of his past greatness.
–verb (used with object)
7. to imitate (a composition, author, etc.) for purposes of ridicule or satire.
8. to imitate poorly or feebly; travesty.
Origin:
1590–1600; < L parōdia a parody < Gk parōidía a burlesque song or poem. See par-, ode, -y 3

Week 3/9 Powerpoints/Catcher in the Rye

Keep working on powerpoints!! Presentation of powerpoints on Tuesday workshop.

With your team, work on Catcher in the Rye.

Powerpoint Poetry Projects

(from Teachers Network, Andrea Menotti)
HOW IT WORKS:
PowerPoint Poems is a way for students to play with poetry and learn multi-media design at the same time. The students select a poem of their own or a favorite published poem, and they make it into a dancing, singing work of art as a PowerPoint slide show. They use images, colors, sounds, and creatively positioned and choreographed text to create their displays. In doing this, they study a poem in depth, determine its meaning, and work towards conveying and enhancing that meaning with their design choices. This program has two instructional purposes. First, as a computer technology project, it teaches the use of multimedia design to convey meaning. Secondly, as a language arts project, it engages students in creative response to poetry. In choosing how a poem is displayed, the student demonstrates his/her understanding of its meaning, and contributes to the expression of this meaning with his or her own ideas. The students are also engaged in reflection and critique. They are asked during sharing sessions to explain certain design decisions. They then discuss and defend their choices. They gain a greater appreciation of poetry, a greater understanding of design principles, and more comfort and skills with computers. This also teaches them a program that they can later use for another class project (i.e., presenting a research project or report)

1. Select a poem from the web site Poetry 180. This will be the poem you will interpret by another poet.

2. A second powerpoint will be your own interpretation of one of your own poems.

3. Be sure to add notes to the powerpoint slides. This will help us appreciate
your rationale for design and interpretation.

4. When you finish one of the projects, save it in the Writing for Publication folder.

Catcher in the Rye Questions

Catcher in the Rye Study Guide Questions
Chapter 1
1. What does Holden mean when he says that his brother D.B. is out in Hollywood "being a prostitute"?
2. Where is Holden as the story begins?
3. Where and what is Pencey Prep?
4. How did Holden let the fencing team down?
5. Why was Holden being kicked out of Pencey Prep?
6. What kind of health does Holden appear to be in?
Chapter 2
1. Who is Mr. Spencer and why does Holden visit him?
2. What did Spencer do that particularly annoyed Holden?
3. What does Holden give us as the reason for "leaving" Elkton Hills?
Chapter 3
1. What does Holden mean, "I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot"? Give examples of what he reads.
2. Who is Ackley? Describe him.
3. What does Ackley do that annoys Holden?
Chapter 4
1. Who is Stradlater? Why does Holden refer to him as a "secret slob"? What does he look like?
2. What point does Holden try to make about people when he talks about Stradlater and the "commas" and
Ackley's description of the basketball player?
3. Why did it make Holden nervous that Stradlater was going out with Jane Gallagher?
Chapter 5
1. Who is Allie, and why is his baseball mitt so special to Holden?
2. Why did Holden's parents want to have him psychoanalyzed?
Chapter 6
1. What do Holden and Stradlater fight over?
2. Holden says that he is a "pacifist". What is that, and is he?
Chapter 7
1. Why does Holden suddenly decide to visit Ackley's room?
2. Where does Holden then decide to go?
3. What is his final good-bye to Pencey Prep?
4. Why do you think Holden was crying as he left?
Chapter 8
1. What does Holden mean when he says, "Mothers are all slightly insane"?
2. What are some of the lies Holden tells Mrs. Morrow? Do you think he's as sorry for them as he stated?
Chapter 9
1. Holden calls other people phony. In what way is he one?
Chapter 10
1. Who is Phoebe, and what is Holden's opinion of her?
2. What evidence is there that shows us that Holden probably doesn't look as old as he says he looks?
Chapter 11
1. What was the past relationship like between Holden and Jane?
Chapter 12
1. What do Holden and the cab driver talk about?
2. Why does Holden leave Ernie's?
Chapter 13
1. Previously Holden stated he was a "pacifist". Does his description of how he would deal with the "glove thief" support
this, or is he just "yellow"?
Chapter 14
1. Does Holden have any guilt feelings about Allie? Do you feel this is abnormal in any way, or normal?
2. What made Holden cry?
3. What evidence shows us that Holden might have made a good actor?
Chapter 15
1. What is the point that Holden tries to make about people when he elaborates about the suitcases of the nuns and of
his former roommate?
2. How does Holden treat the nuns?
3. Why does Holden think it spoils a conversation if someone asks what religion he is?
Chapter 16
1. Who does Holden make a date with? Why does he call her up if he thinks she's a phony?
2. How does Holden treat little kids? Give an example.
3. Does Holden know his way around the city? What does this tell us about him?
Chapter 17
1. How do Holden's feelings for women compare to his feelings for men?
2. How does Holden feel about actors? How does he feel about The Lunts?
3. What is Holden's point about the difference between men owning a car and men owning a horse?
4. How does Holden describe a boy's school when talking to Sally?
5. Why does Holden want to take off with Sally now instead of after college? What’s the difference in his eyes?
Chapter 18
1. What is Holden's opinion of the Christmas show at Radio City?
2. Why did Holden think the woman who cried through the movie was a phony?
Chapter 19
1. Why did Holden get mad at Luce for calling his (Luce's) old girlfriend the "Whore of New Hampshire"?
2. Who was Luce to Holden?
Chapter 20
1. How does Holden "act" again in this chapter?
2. What happens to Holden at the Wicker Bar?
3. What happens to Phoebe's record?
4. Where does Holden go right after he leaves the bar?
5. What information does Holden finally tell us about Allie's funeral?
6. What does Holden say about Allie that contradicts all his other statements about being an atheist?
7. After he leaves the park, where does Holden go?
Chapter 21
1. What does Holden find so intriguing about Phoebe's note- book?
Chapter 22
1. Why did it depress Holden when an "old guy" told him that his days at Pencey were the happiest days of his life?
2. What does it tell us about Holden when Phoebe states, "You don't like anything that's happening"?
3. Why does Holden think about James Castle when Phoebe asks him to name one thing that he likes a lot? Why does
he deny really knowing James? What does it tell us about Holden when he says, "Just because somebody's dead, you
don't just stop liking them, for God's sake---especially if they were a thousand times nicer than the people you know
that’re alive and all"?
4. What does Holden tell Phoebe he'd like to be?
Chapter 23
1. Who is Mr. Antolini?
2. How does Phoebe cover for Holden when their parents come home?
3. In talking with her parents how does Phoebe "sound" like Holden?
4. What does Phoebe do that makes Holden cry?
5. What does Holden give to Phoebe?
Chapter 24
1. Why did Holden fail his speech class?
2. How does Holden feel physically while he talks to Mr. Antolini?
3. What does Holden say about him hating people, such as Ackley and Stradlater?
4. What does Antolini's quote mean, "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the
mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one"?
5. How does Antolini upset and scare Holden?
Chapter 24
1. Later, after he has had time to think about it, what does Holden think about Antolini?
2. Why does the article on hormones upset Holden?
3. What strange feeling does Holden start to have when he steps off of curbs?
4. Why does he keep repeating, "Allie, don't let me disappear"?
5. What does Holden decide he must do next? Where does he first go?
6. With all the bad language that Holden uses, why was he so upset that curse words were written on a school wall?
7. How does Holden treat the two small boys in the museum?
8. Why is it so important to Holden that Phoebe not be mad at him? Relate this to his past, and Allie.
9. What does Holden mean when he states, "The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let
them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them"?
10. What is the carrousel symbolic of?
Chapter 25
1. At the conclusion, where is Holden?
2. What was the past relationship like between Holden and Jane?
Chapter 26
1. What does Holden mean when he says, “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”?

Crumby Place

July 15, 1951
Aw, the World's a Crumby Place
By JAMES STERN

This girl Helga, she kills me. She reads just about everything I bring into the house, and a lot of crumby stuff besides. She's crazy about kids. I mean stories about kids.
But Hel, she says there's hardly a writer alive can write about children. Only these English guys Richard Hughes and Walter de la Mare, she says. The rest is all corny. It depresses her. That's another thing. She can sniff a corny guy or a phony book quick as a dog smells a rat. This phoniness, it gives old Hel a pain if you want to know the truth. That's why she came hollering to me one day, her hair falling over her face and all, and said I had to read some damn story in The New Yorker. Who's the author? I said. Salinger, She told me, J. D. Salinger. Who's he? I asked. How should I know, she said, just you read it.


Then Hel asked what this Holden's father was like, so I told her if she wanted to
know the truth Holden didn't want to go into all that David Copperfield-kind of
business. It bored him and anyway his "parents would have [had] about two
hemorrhages apiece if [he] told anything personal about them." You see, this Holden,
I said, he just can't find anybody decent in the lousy world and he's in some sort of crumby Californian home full of psychiatrists.

That damn near killed Hel. Psychiatrists, she howled. That's right, I said, this one
psychiatrist guy keeps asking Holden if he's going to apply himself when he goes
back to school. (He's already been kicked out of about six.) And Holden, he says
how the hell does he know. "I I am," he says, "but how do I know. I swear it's
a stupid question."

That's the way it sounds to me, Hel said, and away she went with this crazy book.
"The Catcher in the Rye." What did I tell ya, she said next day. This Salinger, he's a
short story guy. And he knows how to write about kids. This book though, it's too
long. Gets kind of monotonous. And he should've cut out a lot about these jerks and
all at that crumby school. They depress me. They really do. Salinger, he's best with
real children. I mean young ones like old Phoebe, his kid sister. She's a personality.
Holden and little old Phoeb, Hel said, they kill me. This last part about her and
Holden and this Mr. Antolini, the only guy Holden ever thought he could trust, who
ever took any interest in him, and who turned out queer--that's terrific. I swear it is.

You needn't swear, Hel, I said. Know what? This Holden, he's just like you. He finds
the whole world's full of people say one thing and mean another and he doesn't like
it; and he hates movies and phony slobs and snobs and crumby books and war. Boy,
how he hates war. Just like you, Hel, I said. But old Hel, she was already reading
this crazy "Catcher" book all over again. That's always a good sign with Hel.

Mr. Stern is the author of "The Man Who Was Loved," a recent collection of short
stories.

Catcher in the Rye

Read to Chapter 14 over the break

The Catcher in the Rye | Introduction



Although The Catcher in the Rye caused considerable controversy when it was first published in 1951, the book—the account of three disoriented days in the life of a troubled sixteen-year-old boy—was an instant hit. Within two weeks after its release, it was listed number one on The New York Times best-seller list, and it stayed there for thirty weeks. It remained immensely popular for many years, especially among teenagers and young adults, largely because of its fresh, brash style and anti-establishment attitudes—typical attributes of many people emerging from the physical and psychological turmoil of adolescence.

It also was the bane of many parents, who objected to the main character's obscene language, erratic behavior, and antisocial attitudes. Responding to the irate protests, numerous school and public libraries and bookstores removed the book from their shelves. Holden simply was not a good role model for the youth of the 1950s, in the view of many conservative adults. Said J.D. Salinger himself, in a rare published comment, "I'm aware that many of my friends will be saddened and shocked, or shock-saddened, over some of the chapters in The Catcher in the Rye. Some of my best friends are children. In fact, all my best friends are children. It's almost unbearable for me to realize that my book will be kept on a shelf out of their reach." The clamor over the book undoubtedly contributed to its popularity among the young: It became the forbidden fruit in the garden of literature. For some reason—perhaps because of the swirling controversies over his written works—Salinger retreated from the New York literary scene in the 1960s to a bucolic New Hampshire community called Cornish, where he has lived a very private life and avidly avoided the press. Despite the fact that he has granted few interviews, there is a substantial body of critical and biographical works about Salinger and his all-too-brief list of literary creations.

2/10 Write, write, write

Get Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger


Work on Book report!!!!

Read

Writing Projects for Shadow Baby 2/6

The Book Report

1. You will be writing a book report about your book, but first you must create the book you will be writing about.

Step 1: Create a pseudonym for yourself. You are the author of the book.

Step 2: Write a brief plot summary describing the characters, setting and plot of your imagined book. You can fill in more details as you go, but think about an imaginary novel you would like to write (if you could).

Step 3: Write a book report about the book--essentially use your plot summary, descriptions of the characters and themes, a bit of background about the author, the genre the book belongs in (if appropriate) and whether or not you would recommend the book to others.

BE IMAGINATIVE AND CREATIVE!

Feb. 2 Test Review and Shadow Baby

1. Review grammar and style test

2. Shadow Baby: Discussion questions (See previous posting): In groups discuss and report back to class

Monday, Jan. 26 Last day of marking period

1. Please go over the list of the American Heritage 100 Words High School Students and Their Parents Should Know.

2. Find at least five words that interest you and that you are unfamiliar with.

3. Find the definitions of the words.

4. See if you can use these words in a poem or short story. Post your short stories or poems

5. Last call for Sokol entries!!!! The contest was extended until Friday.

6. Good luck on your midterms. Finish reading Shadow Baby for Monday, Feb. 2

www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/100words/#words

Directions Creative Grammar and Style Final Exam


Part I


1. Log on to your computer

2. When instructed, go to: http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/grammar_mastery.asp

3. When instructed, begin Grammar Mastery Test (Part I)

4. When you have completed the test, raise your hand.
Ms. Gamzon will give you permission to SUBMIT. When you have submitted successfully, print your results.

5. Turn off your monitor and get your printed results. Sign your
answer sheet.

6. Return to your seat and begin Part II.


Part II

1. Put your name on the answer sheet. Answer the first 25 questions on the answer sheet.

2. FOR EXTRA CREDIT!!!!: Answer up to any 10 questions from 26-44. (Please do this if time permits!)

3. Pass in your answer sheets.

tuesday, January 20 Inauguration Day

1. Study for FINAL ON THURSDAY (practice at Newsroom 101 Grammar exercises).

2. Read to page 110 in Shadow Baby (Ch. 6 and 7).

3. Work on Sokol entries (a poem and/or short story).

4. Look up Elizabeth Alexander. She will deliver the Inauguration poem. Go to: www.poets.org

Final Exam Grammar/Style

Your final exam is Thursday, 1/22:

You should know parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns

VERBALS: INFINITIVES, GERUNDS, PARTICIPLES

PARTS OF SENTENCES: SUBJECT, VERB, DIRECT OBJECT, INDIRECT OBJECT

PHRASES AND CLAUSE: Independent, dependent

Complete Sentences, Run-ons, comma splices, fragments

Verb usage: Past, present, future tense

Agreement of subject and verb

Pronoun usage

Adjective and adverb usage

THE RIGHT WORD--Common word mistakes

PUNCTUATION: Comma, semi-colon, period, quotation marks, etc.

Shadow Baby Discussion questions Publisher's Guide

Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions from Publisher's Reading Guide:

1. One of the underlying themes in Shadow Baby is art, what it is, the people who make it, the people who appreciate it. (Think about, for example, Clara's soliloquy on book reports vs. actual books.) Clara believes that the old man has taught her the "art of possibility, and the possibility of beauty." What do you think the book is saying about the process of creating art? What are your own feelings on that subject?

2. In many ways the novel is a study in opposites. For example, Clara lives for words, while the old man is illiterate. In what ways do such contrasts serve to illuminate and deepen Clara's understanding of life?

3. In what ways do Clara's fake book reports mirror her world? In what ways do they represent her inner psyche? Why does she burn them all up in the end?

4. Shadow Baby opens with this line, "Now that the old man is gone, I think about him much of the time." Clara is twelve years old as she narrates the book, looking back on the past year of her life. Because she is still very young, she is not capable of having a long perspective of time, yet the book ends with this line, "But I was a child then." Think about other fictional child narrators, e.g., Holden Caulfield in A Catcher in the Rye and Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House books, and discuss the events behind their transition into adulthood. Compare and contrast to Clara's.

5. Clara's mother Tamar practices weekly in a church choir. Yet Tamar never attends church, nor do the old man or Clara. Is there nonetheless some religious significance in the book?

6. What is the significance of the title?

7. While it is true that the mother-daughter relationship in the novel is difficult, did you find it believable and real? Why does Tamar refuse to answer Clara's questions?

8. To Clara, "real life" is often indistinguishable from her fantasy life. What purpose does her wild imagination serve?

9. The story of Clara's relationship with CJ Wilson is intertwined with the story of her chickens. How do the two stories both reflect and enlarge each other?

10. In the book, one person looks at a dented tin can and sees garbage, another looks at the same can and sees the possibility of beauty in the form of a lantern or cookie cutters. How does the book play with ideas of how individual ways of seeing influence one's experience of the world?

11. Clara is obsessed with pioneers, their stories of incredible hardship and triumph over adversity. Can the book in some ways be viewed as a metaphor (or possibly an anti-metaphor) for the traditional American mythology surrounding its immigrant past?

12. Think about the opening scene of the book, in which Clara glimpses the old man hanging lanterns in the woods. Think about the ending scene, in which she is burning her fake book reports in the snow. How do these two scenes, which 'bookend' the novel, mirror each other? What do they tell us about how Clara has changed in the interim?

10. In the book, one person looks at a dented tin can and sees garbage, another looks at the same can and sees the possibility of beauty in the form of a lantern or cookie cutters. How does the book play with ideas of how individual ways of seeing influence one's experience of the world?

11. Clara is obsessed with pioneers, their stories of incredible hardship and triumph over adversity. Can the book in some ways be viewed as a metaphor (or possibly an anti-metaphor) for the traditional American mythology surrounding its immigrant past?

12. Think about the opening scene of the book, in which Clara glimpses the old man hanging lanterns in the woods. Think about the ending scene, in which she is burning her fake book reports in the snow. How do these two scenes, which 'bookend' the novel, mirror each other? What do they tell us about how Clara has changed in the interim?

Tuesday 1/13 Shadow Baby discussion on line

Post 3 Questions and 3 observations (McGhee's style of writing, a favorite passage, something you can relate to in the character, foreshadowing, etc.)

Participate in doing this for the first period and you will not have a test on these early chapters.

Then respond to each other's comments.

Shadow Baby

Alison McGhee's website.

Read article together.

HMWK: Read to page 76 for Tuesday Ch. 1-5