Hello world!

Greetings world! Actually, let me rephrase that…Greetings to the Class of 2009 at PACE High school, as they are the only people I’m interested in communicating with through this blog. It’s not that I lack love for others, it’s just that the purpose of this blog is for me to communicate with my students and for them to do the same with me. I’ll allow other students at our school to peek in at our conversations…and I’ll even okay a teacher or two, but let it be known from this point forward that comments from anyone not affiliated with PACE High School will not be permitted. This isn’t to suggest that other bloggers aren’t brilliant enough for our blog, it’s simply to protect my students’ privacy.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let the games begin!

Getting Started

**STUDENTS: Read this entry and leave your first comment — you will not be graded for grammar or content…this time.

Alright everyone, here we go.

We’ll be using this blog a lot through the year, but for now I want to get you used to the look and feel of it, then get you started using it.

Do you remember agora from your Global Studies class? How about the Roman forum? These are the words the ancients used to call their public meeting places where people would gather to gossip about their neighbors and the proper way to sacrifice a goat, to buy and sell wares, or to have loftier ideas about philosophy, the meanings of life, what makes a man a Man, and so forth. All the ancient cities worth their Dead Sea salt had an agora (or forum), and since we are just as prone to gossip, trade or talk philosophy today, we too have our agorae (more than one agora). We call them parks, barber shops, Gristedes — and more and more these days we call them blogs.

Ruins of the agora in Jerusalem

This blog is our agora. I will post all your assignments on here — you can ask for clarification on them or share your thoughts. You will be given weekly prompts based on the books we read together as a class, or sometimes just prompts about life, school, relationships, what have you. Your responses will be anonymous and will stay that way unless you out yourself.

For this blog to be useful to you, you’ll need to read (and reread) the rules on the sidebar to the right, and you’ll need to know how to start. Here’s how.

1) The fact that you’re even reading this now means I’ve come to your class, you’ve written down your email address for me and I sent you a link. What you need to do now is respond to my email with a name that you’ll use to comment on this entry.

2) So do that. And remember something: I’m a pretty cool guy, but I’m still your teacher, so don’t tell me you’re name on here is going to be mad$exiBoricuaMaMa, or talk2meShawty, or BKG4NG$T4. In fact, try to impress me with your literary knowledge — pick a name that’s a reference to something you’ve read. Be Hucksraft, Hester’s Red A, or JGat$by…something beyond the usual. Or anything as long as it isn’t suggestive of things a person your age ought not to be doing, or just plain tacky.

3) After you’ve chosen your name and have emailed me to let me know what it is, you can return to the blog and leave a comment on this entry just to say, “Hey! I’m here!” Be warned: If I think the name you’ve chosen is inappropriate based on the requirements above, I will ask you to change it and expect you to do so quickly. You should also know that every time you leave a comment the comment is sent to my email address, so it’s easy for me track how often you’re responding…and I will.

4) Now it’s time for you to begin reading your summer reading texts. Every student will read James McBride’s profound memoir The Color of Water, which should have been distributed to you already. There will be a blog entry added soon with writing prompts. Respond to these prompts in your comments.

5) Once you’ve finished The Color of Water it’s time to begin your second text, and this one you’ll have to find on your own, either by going to the library or to your local bookstore. The first option is cheaper, the second option is preferred if you (like me) prefer to keep books you’ve read so that you can a) reread them later, and b) look really smart by having a large personal library. Your options for book #2 are:

Riding the Bus with my Sister by Rachel Simon
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me. I will respond promptly.

I’d be lying if I weren’t to tell you how excited I am to work with you all! I started planning a month ago for the 2008-2009 school year, so there will be some really great things awaiting you in English in September. Until then there’s the summer and our own little blog-agora where I hope to get to know a little about each of you, how you write, how you think, et cetera. It will be as good as you make it, so make it great!

Oh yeah, and have a fantastic summer! Best wishes, Mr. Weber

Summer Reading: The Color of Water

I first read this book in college — not for a class, just for fun because it was in the bookstore and it had a compelling title. Ten years later I’m even more impressed by what this story has to say about humanity and our abilities to bury the negative experiences of our past, to persevere despite incredible obstacles, and to forgive those who hurt us.

From the back of the book:

As a boy in Brooklyn’s Red Hook projects, James McBride knew his mother was different. But when he asked about it, she’d simply say, “I’m light-skinned.” Later he wondered if he was different, too, and asked his mother if he was black or white. “You’re a human being,” she snapped. “Educate yourself or you’ll be a nobody!” And when James asked what color God was, she said, “God is the color of water.”…As an adult, McBride finally persuade his mother to tell her story — the story of a rabbi’s daughter, born in Poland and raised in the South, who fled to Harlem, married a black man, founded a Baptist church, and put twelve children through college. The Color of Water is James McBride’s tribute to his remarkable, eccentric, determined mother — and an eloquent exploration of what family really means.

Here’s what you need to do. First, just read the book. Then…

During Reading
As you read be sure to visit the blog on occasion to leave comments with your thoughts. You must comment five times while you read, and in those comments you must respond to a quotation of your choice from the book. I’ll leave my own quotation comment for you as an example.

As you’re writing your own comments, be sure to read other students’ comments as well. You’ll need to respond to two of your peers comments as well. Again, check out the comments I’ve left for an example.

When you finish the book
Once you’ve finished the entire book, leave two comments where you respond to two of the following writing prompts (from Penquin Reading Guides):

1. Discuss Ruth McBride’s refusal to reveal her past and how that influenced her children’s sense of themselves and their place in the world. How has your knowledge—or lack thereof—about your family background shaped your own self-image?

2. “Mommy’s contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island. White folks, she felt, were implicitly evil toward blacks, yet she forced us to go to white schools to get the best education. Blacks could be trusted more, but anything involving blacks was probably substandard… She was against welfare and never applied for it despite our need, but championed those who availed themselves of it.” Do you think these contradictions served to confuse Ruth’s children further, or did they somehow contribute to the balanced view of humanity that James McBride possesses?

3. While reading the book, were you curious about how Ruth McBride Jordan’s remarkable faith had translated into the adult lives of her children? Do you think that faith is something that can be passed on from one generation to the next or do you think that faith that is instilled too strongly in children eventually causes them to turn away from it?

4. Do you think it would be possible to achieve what Ruth McBride has achieved in today’s society?

And that’s it…for The Color of Water.

Summer Reading: Riding the Bus with my Sister

by Rachel Simon

I read this book at the insistence of one of my mentors, and she was right to insist. Here’s what the back of the book has to say:

Beth is a spirited woman with mental retardation who spends nearly every day riding the buses in her Pennsylvania city. The drivers, a lively group, are her mentors; her fellow passengers are her community. Beth, who lives independently and has a boyfriend, is a joyful, endearing, and feisty individual. Her single sister, Rachel, a writer and professor, masks her emotional isolation and loneliness behind her hyperbusy schedule. When Beth asks Rachel to accompany her on the buses for one year, they take a transcendent journey that changes Rachel’s life in incredible ways, leads her to accept her sister at long last — and teaches her to slow down and enjoy the ride.

It’s a true story, and it shows the reader, among other things, how important it is for each of us to reflect on our own lives, to decide if we’re truly happy with the way we’re living, and to make a change if a change needs to be made.

During Reading
As you read be sure to visit the blog on occasion to leave comments with your thoughts. You must comment five times while you read, and in those comments you must respond to a quotation of your choice from the book. I’ll leave my own quotation comment for you as an example.

As you’re writing your own comments, be sure to read other students’ comments as well. You’ll need to respond to two of your peers comments as well. Again, check out the comments I’ve left for an example.

After you finish: Writing Prompts: Choose two (from rachelsimon.com)

1.  Consider and discuss Rachel and Beth’s father: his departure from the family soon after their move to Pennsylvania; his return when their mother kicks Laura, Rachel, and Max out of the house; and his tumultuous relationship with Beth, both before and after his remarriage. Compare his ability to come to terms with Beth’s disability when she was a child with his gradually becoming worn down by their relationship in her adolescence and twenties. Compare and contrast his actions with the actions of their mother. Are there ways in which either is more or less adept than the other? If you know other parents of children with special needs, how do their experiences compare with the experiences of Beth’s parents?

2.  Discuss the way that Rachel, Laura, and Max were affected by being the siblings of a person with special needs. How much of a role do you think Beth’s disability played in their growth as individuals? How did their parents’ feelings toward Beth affect the ability of the other siblings to accept her? Examine Simon’s approach to the times when she was not feeling positive about her sister. Discuss the device of the “dark voice.” Have you known other siblings of people with disabilities? How do their emotions and concerns mirror those of their parents, and how are they distinct or unique?

3.  Compare and contrast the different bus drivers with one another: Claude, Jacob, Happy Timmy, Rodolpho, Rick, Henry, Estella, Crazy Bailey, Jack, Bert, Cliff, and Melanie. Who are your favorites? Which personalities are more vivid than others? What does each contribute to Beth’s daily rides? Describe Beth’s “falling out” with men such as Claude, Henry, and Cliff. Do we see these men as sympathetic characters or slightly villainous for their lack of patience? Discuss how your perceptions of bus drivers were affected by the characters you “met” over the year. What do their experiences teach us?

4.  Discuss Beth’s romantic relationship with Jesse: How would you describe their dynamic? How does their relationship compare with what you know of Sam and Rachel’s relationship? Is mental disability portrayed as being a significant factor in Beth and Jesse’s compatibility? What did you think of the way Rachel’s family handled Beth’s burgeoning sexuality, and Beth’s annual reminder to Rachel: “Its TEn years since I cant Have a baBy?” Did learning about Beth and Jesse’s relationship affect the way you view adults with disabilities? How?

5.  Discuss the various explorations of language that occur throughout the book. What do you think about People First Language? The epithet that Rachel hears her classmates use in school? Did you find yourself questioning your own way of speaking, in the past or present? What is Beth’s definition of “cool”? Why does Simon elaborate on Beth’s three different meanings for “I don’t know”? How does all of this discussion of language expand the larger themes of Beth’s struggle for independence and Rachel’s struggle to accept Beth?

Summer Reading: Angela’s Ashes

During Reading
As you read be sure to visit the blog on occasion to leave comments with your thoughts. You must comment five times while you read, and in those comments you must respond to a quotation of your choice from the book. I’ll leave my own quotation comment for you as an example.

As you’re writing your own comments, be sure to read other students’ comments as well. You’ll need to respond to two of your peers comments as well. Again, check out the comments I’ve left for an example.

When you finish the book
Once you’ve finished the entire book, leave two comments where you respond to two of the following writing prompts (from readinggroupguides.com):

1. McCourt writes: “I think my father is like the Holy Trinity with three people in him, the one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the smell of whiskey and wants us to die for Ireland.” Was this your impression of Frank McCourt’s father? How can Frank write about his father without bitterness? What part did Malachy play in creating the person that Frank eventually became?

2. Women — in particular mothers — play a significant role in Angela’s Ashes. Recall the scenes between Angela and her children; the MacNamara sisters (Delia and Philomena) and Malachy; Aunt Aggie and young Frank; Angela and her own mother. In what ways do these interactions reflect the roles of women within their families? Discuss the ways in which Angela struggles to keep her family together in the most desperate of circumstances.

3. McCourt titles his memoir Angela’s Ashes, after his mother. What significance does the phrase “Angela’s Ashes” acquire by the end of the book?

4. Despite the McCourts’ horrid poverty, mind-numbing starvation, and devastating losses, Angela’s Ashes is not a tragic memoir. In fact, it is uplifting, triumphant even. How does McCourt accomplish this?

5. Irish songs and lyrics are prominently featured in Angela’s Ashes. How do these lyrics contribute to the unique voice of this memoir? How does music affect Frank’s experiences? How do you think it continues to influence his memories of his childhood?

Summer Reading: The Secret Life of Bees

During Reading
As you read be sure to visit the blog on occasion to leave comments with your thoughts. You must comment five times while you read, and in those comments you must respond to a quotation of your choice from the book. I’ll leave my own quotation comment for you as an example.

As you’re writing your own comments, be sure to read other students’ comments as well. You’ll need to respond to two of your peers comments as well. Again, check out the comments I’ve left for an example.

After you finish: Writing Prompts: Choose two (from Penguin Reading Guides)

1. Had you ever heard of “kneeling on grits”? What qualities did Lily have that allowed her to survive, endure, and eventually thrive, despite T. Ray?

2. Who is the queen bee in this story? What qualities make her so?

3. Lily’s relationship to her dead mother was complex, ranging from guilt to idealization, to hatred, to acceptance. What happens to a daughter when she discovers her mother once abandoned her? Is Lily right—would people generally rather die than forgive? Was it harder for Lily to forgive her mother or herself?

4. Lily grew up without her mother, but in the end she finds a house full of them. Have you ever had a mother figure in your life who wasn’t your true mother? Who? Have you ever had to leave home to find home? Where did you go and what did you learn?

5. May built a wailing wall to help her come to terms with the pain she felt. Even though we don’t have May’s condition, do we also need “rituals,” like wailing walls, to help us deal with our grief and suffering? What are some of your own rituals? In what ways do you tend to deal with emotional pain?

6. Project into the future. Does Lily ever see her father again? Does she become a beekeeper? A writer? What happens to Rosaleen? What happens to Lily and Zach? Who would Zach be today? Be creative, but provide details from the story to support your vision. (ex: Don’t tell me Lily ran off to Osaka, Japan to learn the ways of the ninja — that would be a ridiculous response…)

Summer Reading: The Kite Runner

From The New York Times:

This powerful first novel…tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseini’s privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his country’s revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence — forces that continue to threaten them even today.

This book will anger you, trouble you while you sleep, and move you to tears, all the while presenting you with an image of Afghanistan that you’ll never get if you only watch the news.

A kite runner in Kabul

During Reading
As you read be sure to visit the blog on occasion to leave comments with your thoughts. You must comment five times while you read, and in those comments you must respond to a quotation of your choice from the book. I’ll leave my own quotation comment for you as an example.

As you’re writing your own comments, be sure to read other students’ comments as well. You’ll need to respond to two of your peers comments. Again, check out the comments I’ve left for an example.

After you finish — Writing Prompts: Choose two (from the back section of the book)

1. The strong underlying force of this novel is the relationship between Amir and Hassan. Discuss their friendship. Why is Amir afraid to be Hassan’s true friend? Why does Amir constantly test Hassan’s loyalty? Why does he resent Hassan? After the kite running tournament, why does Amir no longer want to be Hassan’s friend?

2. We begin to understand early in the ovel that Amir is constantly vying for Baba’s attention and often feels like an outsider in his father’s life, as seen in the following passage: “He’d close the door, leave me to wonder why it was always grown-ups time with him. I’d sit by the door, knees drawn to my chest. Sometimes I stay there for an hour, sometimes two, listening to their laughter, their chatter.” Discuss Amir’s relationship with Baba.

3. Compare and contrast the relationships of Soraya and Amir and their fathers. How have their upbringings contributed to these relationships?

4. Throughout the story, Baba worries because Amir never stands up for himself. When does this change?

5. Amir’s confrontation with Assef in Wazir Akbar Khan marks an important turning point in te novel. Why does the author have Amir, Assef, and Sohrab all come together in this way? What is the significance of the scar that Amir develops as a result of the confrontation? Why is it important in Amir’s journey toward forgiveness and acceptance?

6. When Amir and Baba move to the States their relationship changes, and Amir begins to view his father as a more complex man. Discuss the changes in their relationship. Do you see the changes in Baba as tragic or positive?