Your first blog deadline is this Friday. This quarter you may choose any text(s) to read as long as you reach the goal of 325 pages. As per the 1st quarter outside reading handout, you should respond to your reading--on your blog--as follows:
Free Response
A thoughtful response—to whatever text you are currently reading outside of school—of approximately 250 words. You must cite the selection, author, and page you're referring to as well. Some possible ways to respond to texts include: pick a quote and comment on its significance, make connections to the book (self, text, world, media), analyze the protagonist, pretend you're writing a letter—or blog response—to the author or main character, identify the thesis and supporting evidence (of nonfiction) and discuss the arguments from your perspective, etc. There are many, many ways you can do this.
Just enjoy reading!
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For this blog entrance I just read a Native American myth. I read one about the origin of fire. In the myth it told us about how the clever fox was trying to figure out how to make fire for the world. He went to visit the Geese and they figure out a way to connect wings to the fox. He eventually got to a place where there were fire flies, and then the fox deviced a plan to steal some. I think that this shows us how they believe that the fox is clever, and they also believe that the the geese are powerful. The fire flies are also an important role in their community. This article makes me wonder if they honored the foxes stealing, or if they thought of it as bad. I found it weird that the fire flies swore to the fox that they would never learn how to use it, and then at the end they threw in that the humans learned how to use it. I have a weird relationship with fire myself, I find it something that I fear, yet something that fascinates me. Some of my friends joke with me about how i'm a pyro-phobia maniac. If that's possible, that's me! I think I saw a little bit of this idea in the story, because although the clever fox initially decieves the fire flies and then steals from them, they still mention how humankind uses fire to cook and to heat themselves in the winter with. (this is a trait of the story that you wouldn't hear as much if it were from a warmer climate, because they don't need to worry about being warmed in the winter, because it doesn't get cold, like it does in North America). Overall, I enjoyed this story, it was unique, and I enjoy learing about what different ancient cultures say about how the world came to be, and how certain elements came to be. I especially like Yoruba myths because I, myself, am half Nigerian (Yoruba) and so it makes me feel this sense of belonging.
I have read the book Pine Nuts for this blog. This past summer I went to a somewhat well known arts camp in Michigan. The book Pine Nuts was written by a former camper, who became a counselor. In the book he remincses on his times as a counselor. I found it so interesting how not much has changed since the era of the book (1970's). One thing the author wrote about which paralled my experiences was how high the competition was. As said in the book many of the people went on to be famous, and there work ethics mirrored there striving to be famous. There were many instances where the author would write about someone, and then say later they went on to be famous. It makes me think about my experiences and the people I met- and what they will accomplish in their futures. Another thing the author wrote about was the competition between all-state and the all summer long campers. The competition is still there today, which is another thing i compared to my experiences. On page 70 it says " One afternoon, Sheldon came into the cabin and said, ' Okay, listen up guys... I've got some really good news' ' Camp is discontinuing any form of sports and no longer putting saltpepper into our foods?' eric snorted." The camper Eric replies in hopes that they will no longer have to do sports. Since the camp is an arts camp, I just think it's funny how any form of sport is extraordinarily unwanted. Reading this book was lot’s of fun to see the story from a perspective of a counselor, and see how things really haven’t changed in around 30 years.
I read the first story of "When You are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris for this blog. This includes pages 1-10. This section starts off talking about germs, then goes on to talk about a fact that was thrown out during a discussion: every 5,000 children are startled to death. I don't think that it is important whether or not this fact is true, it leads to interesting thoughts. Everyone wants to avoid anything that could hurt them in this world, which is why we wash our hands, eat healthy, and don't try dangerous stunts. So if being startled to death was on the list of things that could kill us, would people try to avoid things that would startle them? In the book, David Sedaris raises the example "All right, now, Caitlin Two, when we get home a great many people are going to jump out from behind the furniture and yell 'Happy Birthday!' I'm telling you now because I don't want you to get too worked up about it" (10). While this example is somewhat a joke, I do wonder what the result of such a fear could be. Would people truly try to avoid surprise? Surprise is something so uncontrollable. With the exception of an occasional practical joke meant to create a feeling of surprise, surprise generally just happen, with humans having no say in the matter. What could humans do to avoid surprise? They would need to always be fully prepared for everything. Teacher would not be able to give pop quizzes. Would people go so far as to install motion detectors in rooms so that they would know when somebody entered? What about video cameras? I highly doubt that this will ever become an issue, yet it is still interesting to ponder, especially in light the humans’ track record for trying to keep themselves safe.
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