This Is The End...

Tomorrow, I will turn 40. So far, I feel no mid-life crisis emerging and hitting what some consider "middle age" hasn't made me depressed or scared or anxious or any of those things. I'm probably a bit more reflective this week than most and it is really true what they say about age sneaking up on you, but in the end I'm pretty satisfied with my life so crossing one more milestone is par for the course, I suppose.

Similarly, my British Literature students are entering into their final weeks of high school. From what I can tell, on the outside at least, they all seem to be managing fairly well but I'm sure, like me, they catch themselves in moments of reflection. This is a good place to be, in some ways, as we enter into Portfolio, their final one of their high school career.

So for this FINAL blog post of your high school career (!!!), let's have a little fun and a little reflection. I want you to post two pictures: one that was taken of you during 9th grade and one from this year. How have you changed, not just on the outside but on the inside too? What advice would 12th grade you give 9th grade you? This is it, folks, your last blog entry. Make it count! And because it's no fair to ask you to embarrass yourself if I'm not willing to participate, below you will find mine... no laughing, please.

Me, on the first day of 9th grade. Jealous of my Red Hot Chili Pepper's t-shirt?

This is me in the 12th grade at the "senior tables" with my best friend.

Since I get the benefit of being old, I'm going to send a message to both of these Greg's from the (almost) 40 year-old Greg. The first thing I will say is to ENJOY THAT HAIR because man do I miss it... Also, never stop wearing shirts featuring your favorite bands because music is still your escape even all these years later. I'd tell both of them to stop worrying so much about what other people think and stop trying to control the future because the best moments are the ones where you let it all go and just trust in yourself. I'd tell them to cut Mom and Dad a little bit of slack because what I now know is that they were just trying to do the right thing (as are most parents) but even they sometimes screw up from time to time and parenting is one of the hardest things you'll ever do. I would tell them to be a whole lot nicer to everyone and that the quirky, weird kids are the ones that end up growing up to be the most interesting so befriend them instead of the "cool" kids. Finally, I'd say travel more, worry less and never underestimate the redemptive power of a long run on a cool morning before the rest of the world wakes up.

The Clone Wars

In British Literature we are halfway through Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go. We would be remiss if, in discussing a book that is centered around notions related to human cloning, we did not address the moral, political and religious debate that often surrounds the notion of cloning.

For this week's blog post, I want students to read these two opposing views on human cloning and then offer their perspective. This first link supports the idea, while this second link is decidedly against the practice. (Note: In a world consumed currently by the idea of "alternative facts", I do want to note that neither of these websites seem to be trusted, verified scientific sources so I would view claims that both make with some level of suspicion. That being said, I do think both websites highlight the typical arguments made for and against cloning.)

So, students, give them both a read and then let your readers know how you feel about this issue. Be sure to include some discussion of what you have encountered in Never Let Me Go to support your argument.

Innocence Lost?

Last week we began reading Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go as our final text for British Literature this year. Much of the early part of the novel is set at Hailsham, a boarding school-like setting where the main characters spend their childhood and teenage years.

Within the first few pages of the novel, readers can tell that children like Kathy, Tommy and Ruth aren't entirely "normal" and that all at Hailsham might not be what it seems. In flashbacks, Kathy remembers her time at Hailsham and focuses, in Chapter Three, on one incident in particular when the children truly began to realize that they weren't like other children. After "swarming" Madame to see how she reacts to them, Kathy remembers realizing that they were different and seems to claim that, in many ways, this is a universal experience we all go through. She writes, "So you're waiting, even if you don't quite know it, waiting for the moment when you realize that you really are different to them; that there are people out there, like Madame, who don't hate you or wish you any harm, but who nevertheless shudder at the very thought of you-- of how you were brought into this world and why-- and who dread the idea of your hand brushing agains theirs. The first time you glimpse yourself through the eyes of a person like that, it's a cold moment."

Do you have your own "cold moment"? For this week's blog post, I would like for you to write about a time you can remember where a bit of innocence was lost; where you felt different for the first time and this caused you to reflect on who you were and what your place was in the world. This could be a small or big moment, one that changed your life dramatically or simply made you see the world in a slightly different light. Thank you, in advance, for sharing!

The Illusion of Life...

In The Painted Veil, after Walter's death, Kitty and Waddington make their way up to the village temple. While there, they ponder some pretty heavy questions related to faith and the purpose of life. Kitty wonders whether the nuns simply believe that life is an illusion they must proceed through to get to a heavenly eternity and then worries that if there is, in fact, no afterlife, then their life has been without purpose.

Waddington responds by saying, "I wonder if it matters that what they have aimed at is an illusion. Their lives are in themselves beautiful. I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art" (196). 

I want you to reflect on this passage for your blog post this week. What does Waddington mean here? How can relate this back to the title of the novel? In what ways might we see this idea apply to Kitty's experiences in China?

The Arrogant Imperialist

The Nigerian playwright and poet, Wole Soyinka, once said, "Colonialism bred an innate arrogance, but when you undertake that sort of imperial adventure, that arrogance gives way to a feeling of accommodativeness. You take pride in your openness."

As we continue our reading of W. Somerset Maugham's The Painted Veil, we watch our main characters travel from the relatively comfortable Westernized society of Imperial Hong Kong into the more rural interior of China's mainland. While much of the plot is driven around the drama of Walter and Kitty's marriage, we can't ignore that this novel is written from the colonial perspective of an "invader".

Does Soyinka's quote hold true for what you are seeing so far in the novel? Is Kitty moving from a place of arrogance to openness? Does the changing physical landscape have anything to do with this? So far, how do you see the setting of the novel impacting the plot?

The Painted Veil

This week in British Literature we are beginning W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel, The Painted Veil. The story of a British couple living in Hong Kong at the height of the cholera epidemic, Maugham's novel has much to say about sin, redemption, and the power of forgiveness. It is also a fascinating look inside a prominent British colony and the relationship between the colonists and those who have been colonized.

The title for the novel comes from the first line of a sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley. For this week's blog post, I want students to continue sharpening their poetry analysis skills by offering their own analysis of what this poem is about while also trying to see how they might already relate the content of the poem to what they have read of the novel so far. Below is the poem:

Lift not the painted veil which those who live

Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there,

And it but mimic all we would believe

With colours idly spread,--behind, lurk Fear

And Hope, twin Destinies; who ever weave

Their shadows, o'er the chasm, sightless and drear.

I knew one who had lifted it--he sought,

For his lost heart was tender, things to love,

But found them not, alas! nor was there aught

The world contains, the which he could approve.

Through the unheeding many he did move,

A splendour among shadows, a bright blot

Upon this gloomy scene, a Spirit that strove

For truth, and like the Preacher found it not.

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Quoting Wilde-ly...

It is often said that Oscar Wilde is one of the most quotable authors of all time. As we have seen from our reading of The Importance of Being Earnest, his witty epigrams and fanciful contradictions often cut straight to an insightful and honest understanding of the complexities of the human condition.

For this week's blog post, I want you to familiarize yourself with some of Wilde's quotes. Simply perform a Google image search of "Oscar Wilde quotes" and you will have plenty to choose from. Pick the quote that you find the most compelling and then a visual representation of it that speaks to you. Post the image on your blog and explain why you like the quote.

Additionally, I want you to listen to the first two segments of this episode of the podcast This American Life. The episode is called "Status Update" and first two segments are an interview with some teenage girls in which they discuss the rules and culture of Instagram. In your blog post, reflect on what they have to say and how it made you feel. I think this will also help you as you work on your Earnest writing project.