How could This Be Happening

How could this be happening?  This is a question asked at various historical (and usually violent) societal points of inflection.  The recent rash of mass homicides in the US, and the rise of aggressive protest have something in common, (though I am not comparing the protesters to killers) – the ‘i- Everything’ phenomenon. 

The shooters in the San Bernadino massacre believed they were Muslims, the shooter in Colorado Springs believes he is a Christian.  That both religions’ adherents recoil at what these individuals did was unimportant.  What is important is that these individuals believed they knew the truth, and that society did not.  We have replaced a level of moral confidence that caused men to storm Normandy, to a moral certitude that  mine is the only opinion that counts, because mine is the truth, and any disagreement is not just incorrect, it is bad, as is whoever holds that opinion. 

When the Germanwing’s co-pilot flew an airliner into the Alps, he committed suicide; that he took 150 others with him reflects the same belief that my opinions, feelings, etc. are all that matters.  This used to be the province of psychopaths, but now it is ubiquitous.    We have fallen for the siren song of fifteen seconds of fame, of instant approval (though it’s conditional) and we cannot get another fix fast enough.  

We cannot stop the orgy of compliment angling known as ‘social media’.  Perhaps we could take two days, let’s say, the week before Christmas, to shut off our social media gavage and visit an elderly person, a shut in, a prisoner - and actually listen.  Perhaps amid the eye wateringly mundane stories will come a pearl of wisdom that will help turn you from worshipping the media fun house mirror of the soul, and for a brief moment, feel the odd exhilaration of actually caring for another human being who is different, and has a different view of the world.  

I have been brainstorming ways to help my AP kids grasp poetry here are a few questions they can ask of any poem...


10 Questions to ask a poem
1. How does this poem make you feel?
2. Why is the title significant - even if it seems silly?
3. How does the prosody (rhythm) affect the 'feel' of the poem?
4. How does the rhyme scheme affect the 'feel' of the poem?
5. What words or phrases catch your mind's eye?
6. Which words or phrases gave you trouble? (hint- it's never all of them- you must have given up after the first or second frustration)
7. After you have finished your internal tantrum, what was it you did not know - a word, a metaphor?
8. What is the message the author is trying to convey (if poetry is condensed prose thought, theme is condensed poetic thought...deep huh)?
9. What is a cool feature you could show off next year to a beautiful or handsome English major that would amaze, rather than amuse?
10. How do you feel now that you understand the poem?


Anyone have any other ideas?

First entry

I'm new to blogging, and I'm of the generation that graduated high school with Homer Simpson. I would like to make this some sort of resource for students and teachers to use in exploring literature and poetry.

I teach AP Literature and Composition here in sunny So. Cal. It is June, shool is out, and life is good. I am struggling with how to teach 17 year olds who have cheated and Spark Noted their way through the Honors and AP programs how to read and understand poetry. These kids are marginally literate, with a vocabulary that last year prompted a question rejoined by several other students: "What does this word mean?" The word - no kidding- was 'adversity'. What a wonderful example of a single word symbolizing volumes on what has happened in our educational system.



Now that I have that out of my system, I would like to offer some ideas I have either lifted, grafted or invented for helping kids do the hard work of actually learning.



1. I number essays - at the time I assign an essay, I pass around a sheet with numbers for each period. The list starts with say 4001 through 4041; this would be for fourth period. Each kid takes a number out of sequence (the first kid might take 4027, the next 4004, etc. When the kids turn in essays, the essays are labeled with only the number, no identifying info. This removes politics (psycho moms, my expectations, etc.). This also helps me saw through the 100+ AP essays I collect each time. I use a seven domain rubric that has thusfar eliminated the accusations of unfair grading.