what is a literary 3x3

Slide Notes

Literary 3x3.

Short theme based chapter summaries.

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Presentation outline, the literary 3x3 is a simple and ultra brief writing activity to prompt students to think outside the plot., the task: students summarize the novel/story they have read without using specific names or events the catch: they must create this summary using only 3 lines of 3 words each., consider these examples of “3x3”s for these popular animated movies – can you guess what they are, arrogance transforms handsomeness mistake creates captivity inner beauty conquers, curiosity seeks freedom silence creates confusion love breaks spells, innocence craves recognition guilt prompts desertion duty calls home, the 3x3 exercise forces students to think outside the “main character does this…then this…the end” type of formula., 3x3's will use:.

• Complete sentences.
• Effective word order.
• Strong words, especially verbs and adjectives.

3x3's MAY use:

• Abstract nouns
• Contractions using “is”

3x3's will NOT use:

• Proper nouns/names
• Repeated words
• “to be” verbs
• Cliches: "a, an, the"

Visual Element

• Include theme-based images that is not directly tied to the plot.
• Combine all the elements using a Web 2.0 tool such as: Animoto, Powtoon, Haiku Deck, Screen-Cast-o-matic, or Prezi.

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6 Techniques for Building Reading Skills—in Any Subject

Students need good reading skills not just in English but in all classes. Here are some ways you can help them develop those skills.

As avid lovers of literature, teachers often find themselves wanting to impart every bit of knowledge about a well-loved text to their students. And this is not just an ELA issue—other disciplines also often focus on the content of a text. However, teaching reading skills in English classes and across the disciplines is an almost guaranteed way to help students retain content. Unfortunately, the tendency to focus on the content is a real enemy to the ultimate goal of building reading skills.

Without a repertoire of reading strategies that can be applied to any text, students are being shortchanged in their education. In order to teach students to read effectively, teachers must be sure that they are not simply suppliers of information on a particular text but also instructors of techniques to build reading skills. Here are some ideas on how to incorporate reading skills lessons into a curriculum.

Teach Close Reading Skills

Guide students in annotation by directing them to do more than highlight or underline. Encourage students to have a conversation with the text by jotting notes on the text while reading—this keeps students engaged and often increases comprehension. Annotations can include:

• Defining new words
• Asking questions
• Coding recurring words and themes
• Making personal connections to the text
• Citing current events
• Highlighting heading and subheadings
• Summarizing paragraphs
• Categorizing information
• Numbering and ordering
• Drawing pictures

The list of possibilities is endless—the point is to have students form their own process when approaching a text. But don’t be afraid to give students specific annotation guidelines such as “annotate the writer’s characterization techniques” or “find examples of . . .” to help them focus. Annotations also help students identify which strategies work best for them as they try to process and understand information. The clip “ Girls Read Comic ” from The Big Bang Theory is a great way to introduce the concept of reading closely and its importance.

Appeal to the Senses

While reading is the work of the mind, incorporating the senses provides extra reinforcement for students who are still growing their skills. Reading passages aloud and verbalizing questions you would mentally ask while reading can be a great benefit to students. Students often have no idea how to ask questions, what type of questions to ask, or the frequency of questions, so modeling this skill is invaluable. This can be further reinforced especially for visual learners by using a document camera or overhead projector to write questions, mark key words and phrases, and interact with a text. And as always, encourage students to read with a pen or pencil in hand.

Guide Students in Setting Reading Goals

While writing goals are used regularly in the classroom, students do not assess personal reading skills on a regular basis. Begin the year by having students write a reader’s biography to gain insight into their reading habits, struggles, and successes; this serves as a foundation for discussions on setting reading goals. After reading a novel, nonfiction text, short story, or poetry unit, help students evaluate their reading skills: Did you feel confident reading the text? Why or why not? What parts of the text gave you trouble? Could you have used a different strategy to make reading the text easier? Students should evaluate goals on a regular basis and create new goals based on their needs and growth.

Vary Text Length

When approaching a particularly difficult text, break it up and offer it in shorter segments. Students often become discouraged with lengthy texts that require intense concentration. Giving smaller segments allows the students to digest chunks in pieces, acquire academic vocabulary, and build confidence.

Offer Opportunities for Choice Reading

Simply put, the best way to improve reading is to read, and students are more likely to read when they have a choice in the reading. Newsela and CommonLit offer a variety of nonfiction articles for choice (and CommonLit includes fiction as well); both sites include articles with various grade levels and across multiple disciplines. Classroom libraries built from donations, garage sales, and thrift shops encourage students to take books for personal reading. Ask students about their interests and make recommendations. Reading for pleasure builds transferable skills for content reading and should be encouraged, including in class.

Assess Content and Skill

Students should be able to demonstrate their skills in assessment, whether it’s formal or informal, formative or summative. Recall and comprehension questions are a good way to check for basic understanding, but teachers should then move to the harder how and why questions. Choose activities that require students to dig deep into a text, such as:

• Facilitate a socratic discussion.
• Create a playlist for a character.
• Write a formal essay.
• Make a meme for a character.
• Present a mini-TED talk on research inspired by a text.
• Create a mind map, literary 3x3, or infographic.

Most teachers already incorporate skill building in their classes to some degree; however, taking time to discuss and actively engage students in the process will keep skill development at the forefront of learning. The result will be students who not only make gains in reading but also have an understanding of how to become better readers.

William Shakespeare

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's Hamlet . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Hamlet: Introduction

Hamlet: plot summary, hamlet: detailed summary & analysis, hamlet: themes, hamlet: quotes, hamlet: characters, hamlet: symbols, hamlet: literary devices, hamlet: quizzes, hamlet: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of Hamlet

Other books related to hamlet.

• Full Title: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
• When Written: Likely between 1599 and 1602
• Where Written: Stratford-upon-Avon or London, England
• When Published: First Quarto printed 1603; Second Quarto printed 1604; First Folio printed 1623
• Literary Period: Renaissance
• Genre: Tragic play; revenge play
• Setting: Elsinore Castle, Denmark, during the late Middle Ages
• Climax: After seeing Claudius’s emotional reaction to a play Hamlet has had staged in order to make Claudius face a fictionalized version of his own murder plot against the former king, Hamlet resolves to kill the Claudius without guilt.
• Antagonist: Claudius
• Point of View: Dramatic

Extra Credit for Hamlet

The Role of a Lifetime. The role of Hamlet is often considered one of the most challenging theatrical roles ever written, and has been widely interpreted on stage and screen by famous actors throughout history. Shakespeare is rumored to have originally written the role for John Burbage, one of the most well-known actors of the Elizabethan era. Since Shakespeare’s time, actors John Barrymore, Laurence Olivier, Ian McKellen, Jude Law, Kenneth Branagh, and Ethan Hawke are just a few actors who have tried their hand at playing the Dane. When Daniel Day-Lewis took to the stage as Hamlet in London in 1989, he left the stage mid-performance one night after reportedly seeing the ghost of his real father, the poet Cecil Day-Lewis, and has not acted in a single live theater production since.

Shakespeare or Not?  There are some who believe Shakespeare did not actually write many—or any—of the plays attributed to him. The most common “Anti-Stratfordian” theory is that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and used Shakespeare as a front man, as aristocrats were not supposed to write plays. Others claim Shakespeare’s contemporaries such as Thomas Kyd or Christopher Marlowe may have authored his works. Most contemporary scholarship, however, supports the idea that the Bard really did compose the numerous plays and poems which have established him, in the eyes of many, as the greatest writer in history.

huffenglish.com

Monthly archives: march 2016, distillation.

In my classes this week I tried out two ways of distilling the text. The first is what’s known as a Literary 3X3, which is a technique I hadn’t heard of until a few weeks ago. The Literary 3X3 asks students to write three sentences of three words each that capture the essence of a text. There are rules. Students should try to use abstract nouns, no proper nouns, no “to be” verbs, no articles, no repeated words, no pronouns, no cliches.

We wrote one about Septimus Warren Smith’s story in Mrs. Dalloway .

Isn’t it great? They wrote the second line first, then the last line. I suggested they back up and write about what came before the other two lines and write a first line. They were so happy with their first line they clapped after they were finished.

One student said, “It’s like a poem!” Another added, “Yeah, like a haiku, but… not.” Man, my students make me laugh.

Another way we distilled a text this week was an adaptation of a Text Rendering Protocol .  We had read Margaret Atwood’s poem “ Half-Hanged Mary ” after finishing The Crucible . Students shared the line that they felt captured something essential about the poem. Then I asked each student to give me one word from the poem that captured something essential. As they shared, I typed their responses into Wordle . Here is what my D period American Lit came up with:

Here is what my F period American Lit class (smaller group) came up with:

What I love about these activities is that it’s actually quite hard to reduce a text down to three sentences or down to a single word, and yet, the results were great.

As my D period students were filing out the door, one of them asked me about the Wordle: “Did you PLAN that?”

I loved that question. I had to admit truthfully that they could have said different words, but that yes, the idea is that these sorts of activities will yield results like this. Still, I love it that he has an idea I’m totally messing with their minds.

Spring break starts. Exhausted teacher relaxes. June watches nearby.

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Happy birthday, maggie.

The first things we noticed about Maggie were her shock of red hair, dimpled chin, and one pointed ear (either a Vulcan ear or elf ear, depending on which family member you ask). She was just about born talking, and she was the kind of kid who was so interested in what was going on that she quit taking naps at 18 months.

As you can probably tell from the picture, she’s an artist. In fact, she would like to go into animation. Check out this self-portrait she had in an art show in 8th grade.

She is a genuinely funny person. And she has my number. Not too long ago, she was making her lunch for school, and she was taking her sweet time about it. I made a remark to the effect that she was not making her lunch very fast, and she said, “You don’t do anything very fast.” If you ask around, you will find that’s a pretty accurate assessment of me. I couldn’t even be mad.

Maggie has very strong opinions. She’s willing to listen to reason, but don’t get her going on things like Minions, Donald Trump, or most modern popular music. She is definitely the kind of person you want to have in your corner, but you don’t want to cross her.

She’s a loving child, and she’s kind to her little brother. Since he started middle school, they’ve been riding the same bus in the morning, and she looks out for him while keeping her distance. Lately, the two of them have been having lots of discussions about the presidential race.

I feel very lucky to be her mom. Happy birthday, Maggie!

What I Make

Over time, I learned to develop my own recipes for soaps, and I’ve learned my own techniques for design. It has become a creative outlet—a form of art. It’s conveniently a useful art, as well, but not any less creative for all of that.

In the years since I started making soap, I have had some spectacular failures. The first time I made soap using coffee, I forgot one of my oils, so my soap had too much lye in it, and it was not usable. There are ways you can salvage batches like that, but I didn’t want to because my design had been ruined. The first time I used honey and goat milk together in soap, my soap overheated and had very interesting-looking caves running through it.

I have only had soap batches “seize” on me a few times, and it’s always been because the fragrance caused it. Seized soap starts to solidify before you can even get it into a mold, and it often heats up at the same time. If a fragrance causes my soap to seize, I just don’t use it ever again because you can’t really work around that issue. The best you can do is glop the soap in a mold and hope it doesn’t look too terrible, but it nearly always does.

I have developed a favorite recipe that makes a really nice lather. It’s a go-to recipe for me, but I still try different combinations of oils sometimes. The fun, for me, is discovering something new—a design technique I have never tried, or a color combination that looks gorgeous. I have learned a great deal about art through making soap.

I’ve also learned resilience in the face of failure. It took me several tries to make a good goat milk soap. Working with milk in soap is hard for beginners. It also took me several tries to learn how to make swirls in my soap. This was my first successful swirl.

I’ve learned a great deal about chemistry, too. I never took organic chemistry, and I had a great deal of trouble with chemistry in high school. I understand a lot more at least about the kind of chemistry involved in making soap, and it is fascinating to learn about. One of the reasons I took up this hobby in the first place is that I love to learn. I have tried my hand at many crafts over the years—making candles, cross stitching, crocheting, knitting (still learning that one), scrapbooking—and none of them has captured my imagination or given me the same kind of artistic gratification that making soap has done. I’ve also made friends that only know me through my love of this hobby—most of them fellow soapmakers.

We should all find some artistic outlet that fulfills us, teaches us, and allows us opportunities for expressing ourselves.

Five Question Challenge

The other day, I saw this challenge posted on Sally’s blog . It looked like fun.

• What has been your one biggest struggle this year? My absolute biggest struggle this year is not one I feel comfortable airing in public, but suffice it to say it’s a personnel issue.
• Share two accomplishments you are proud of this school year. I am really excited and happy that my department is beginning to plan a humanities curriculum with the history department. They are a fantastic bunch of teachers, and they have some great ideas. I’m also really excited that our department will be featured in an upcoming alumni magazine as part of an issue devoted to the school’s writing program.
• What are three things you wish to accomplish before the end of the school year? I want to figure out a way to become more involved with our local NCTE affiliate, NEATE. In fact, I’ve already reached out to my friend Kim, the NEATE President, and we have begun that conversation. I want to buy a new car. We are overdue, and I’ve written about the issue before . We are close. Actually, we could probably do it right now, but we are trying to preserve some savings. Finally, I would like to help my daughter find a book . My son, thankfully, has discovered Lloyd Alexander. After he finishes Time Cat , he is planning to read The Book of Three.
• Give four reasons you stay in education today despite the current rough culture. The students are always the main reason. My job is never boring, and they are the most important part of everything I do. I also enjoy the mental stimulation. I never really do the same thing every year, and thinking of new ways to teach material is a challenge. I think it’s an important job, too. Helping students learn to understand their world through literature and to communicate well will take them far, and I take my job very seriously. Finally, I have had the pleasure to work with some great people in my career, and I have made many other friends through teaching. It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience, even with the hardships.
• Which five people do you hope will take this challenge? This might be a cop-out, but I am just hoping anyone who needs the inspiration some day during the Slice of Life Challenge will take up this challenge.

Why I Love Wuthering Heights

Most people don’t have to defend their favorite books. At least, that’s my perception. Most people name their favorite books, and in reply, they might receive a sage nod. As in, “Yes, I could see that. I understand why that book might be someone’s favorite.” Or they might receive enthusiastic support. “Oh, I love that book!” When I name my favorite book, I usually get some variation on the question, “Why?” As in, “Why on Earth , would that book be your favorite?” I wrote the other day about how much I love the Harry Potter books, and I could make a strong case for their being my favorite books, but I find it hard to separate them. They tell one larger story, and they tell that story over seven volumes. If I am pressed to pick one book, however, I usually say my favorite book is Wuthering Heights .

I can hear you asking the question as you read this. I can see the look on your face. I can’t tell if you’re confused or disgusted, though. Believe it or not, I have met other people who love this book, too, and it is recognized as a classic—I think we can agree books don’t stand the test of time for absolutely no reason, right?

One question that usually follows my declaration of love for this book is how I can like the characters. They’re all horrible! Yes, I agree. They are. I have actually come to wonder if Nelly Dean might not be the most villainous character of them all. Lockwood seems bumbling and clueless with very little self-awareness. Heathcliff and Catherine are awful. Hindley is awful. Even Hareton and young Cathy can be pretty awful until the end. The minor characters, too, are unsympathetic at best and horrible at worst. So yes, I agree with folks who have trouble enjoying the book because of the characters. In spite of the fact that I don’t think I’d want to hang out at either Thrushcross Grange or Wuthering Heights, I do find the closeness with which the characters live to be intriguing. What I mean by “closeness” is that they seem to be existing right at the elemental level. They are all passion. I am not saying I hold with those who see Heathcliff as a romantic lead. I think anyone who views Heathcliff as some ideal boyfriend probably hasn’t read the book. He’s tormented, obsessive, controlling, and just plain mean. Why would you want to date that? Still, a book with characters who are absolutely impossible to connect to makes for a hard slog, so as horrible as they are, I supposed I see something intriguing in those characters.

So if even I don’t find the characters all that likable, what do I like about the book? Actually, I find the setting entrancing. I absolutely love the descriptions of the two houses and the moors over which Heathcliff and Catherine run. I have a clear picture in mind of this place. It’s forbidding, windy, mostly barren. It’s as if nature itself wants to break the people who live on this land. And they fight against it, yes, they do, but in the end, they aren’t broken. There is something of the indomitable spirit about the people who live in Gimmerton. Even old Joseph has it—tough, craggy, mean-spirited Joseph. This book uncovers something uncomfortable about human nature: that its possible to love what you hate and hate what you love.

Ultimately, I don’t really know why I love this book. I think about the answer to that question a lot, and the best conclusion I can draw is that the writing draws me in, though the world I inhabit while I’m in the pages of the book may be “a mighty stranger.” Wuthering Heights as it exists today is probably a ruin, much like Top Withens , which may have inspired it. Thrushcross Grange probably no longer exists. If you look closely, though, I’ll bet you can see the ghosts of those people who lived there, and something is alive in the crumbling brick of Wuthering Heights, just waiting to be uncovered. And somehow, each time I open that book to read it again, that whole world comes back to life, stark, beautiful, and turbulent as ever. The book surprises me all over again each time I read it.

Also, how can you not love a book that inspired something like this:

Sunday Grading

I spent most of the early afternoon grading today. I am a bit mad at myself for forgetting my notes about my AP students’ poetry presentations at school. I would have liked to have graded those presentations as well. Perhaps it’s for the best, as one group still needs to present tomorrow, and it’s probably better to put in all those grades at the same time, though I’m not usually picky about that. I am really glad to be caught up otherwise because our mid-semester comments are due on Tuesday. I can usually write these comments fairly quickly because I leave comments on just about every assignment in the grade book as I go, so checking progress is not hard for me. We have an open grade book, and students and their parents and advisors can see the comments I leave on assignments as well as updates like mid-semester comments, so I think the communication is pretty clear. At any rate, I have never heard otherwise, and I was actually told by at least one parent that my comments were clear.

Over time, evaluation has become one of those things I can do fairly quickly and still point right to the heart of how and what the student is doing with an assignment. It is like anything else, I suppose. It takes practice. Would you believe, though, that I grow more and more frustrated by the fact that grades even exist? I was actually reading this article this morning (and tweeted it out). If grades are not really considered by graduate schools and employers (unless they are so low as to provoke alarm), then what are we doing here?

I allow my students to revise their work. I think it’s more important that they learn instead of that I am a hard-ass about a grade. I evolved into this belief. For one thing, my previous principal didn’t give me the kind of license to hold it, but for another, I had been conditioned to think grades were the only way to show what we’ve learned. Going back to school and getting my master’s really opened my eyes. I found that I, too, started to care more that I earned A’s than that I learned. In the end, I found the whole process of earning that degree frustrating, and I can’t say I feel like I learned a whole lot in that program. In some instances, I did, but overall, it was a waste of money that makes me angry all over again each month when I pay my student loan bill and wonder if I’ll ever pay it off. Did it open some doors? I guess you could say that it did, but I really wish I could also say that it was a valuable experience in the same way that my undergrad experience was. There was no emphasis on grades in my English education program. We did earn them, but the emphasis was on the learning, and that’s how I felt. B’s didn’t bother me. A’s were not all I was after trying to do in those classes. My motivation to learn was so much more intrinsic because I valued what I was learning. I was invested. I saw how it would fit with my chosen career. I can’t say that about most of my master’s classes.

So as I sat here grading my students’ work, I thought all these thoughts and felt all these feelings. I do want my students to see value in the work they do for my class. I want them to view it as more than a grade and be intrinsically motivated to learn. Grades stand in the way. I wonder if I am brave enough just not to assign grades. My school still gives grades, so it would be problematic. My students seem to appreciate the fact that they can revise writing, however. I am hoping they at least know that they don’t need to be satisfied with a grade. The learning is their own, and it decisions about what to do about their learning, when, and how should be in their own hands, too.

Harry Potter and Me

The Freeform Channel, formerly known as ABC Family, is running a Harry Potter movie marathon today. I had already been thinking a little bit about Harry Potter for some reason when I woke up. When I logged into Facebook, the newish feature that allows you to look back on posts made on the same day in previous years informed me that two years ago today,  I posted a link to an article written by a writer who suggested that if J. K. Rowling really cared about writing, she should stop doing it and make way for others who couldn’t compete with her. The author of the article also suggested that adults shouldn’t read Harry Potter because it doesn’t “stimulate their minds.” It still makes me roll my eyes. First of all, I disagree entirely that it doesn’t stimulate my mind to read Harry Potter. Setting that argument aside, however, stimulating your mind isn’t the only reason to read. Sometimes you just love a book.

It was almost as if the universe was giving me a little nudge for today’s Slice of Life. You see, I’m pretty much a ginormous Harry Potter fan, if you didn’t know that about me. It was a thing at my previous teaching job in Georgia, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. I haven’t publicized it as much in my current teaching position. There are a few reasons why, I guess, but none of them are that I’m embarrassed. I find those books to be a deep well that I can return to time again, like old friends.

I first encountered the books at a time in my life when I wasn’t very happy. I was having trouble finding a job, for one thing. I had recently had a baby and was struggling financially for the first time in my adult life. I picked up the first book in either August or September of 2001. I rapidly read through the other three books that were published at that time: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . The first movie had not yet been released (but would be later that fall). After I tore through those books, it would be almost two years before I could read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , but the movies served to fill the void a bit. I do like the movies, though not nearly as much as the books.

Some time after the release of The Order of the Phoenix , I started reading the books to my oldest daughter, Sarah. Sarah is now 22 and in college, but at this time, she was still in elementary school. We only had one car, and we had an awful commute–over 40 minutes one way. I felt like we spent barely any time at home, and as a result, the place we slept never really felt like home to me. After school let out, it was our routine to pick up Sarah’s younger brother and sister from daycare and get something to eat. We then drove to wait for my husband’s shift at cable broadcast facility to end. It was too impractical to drive home and have to drive back out to pick him up. The time and gas we would eat up wouldn’t make it worth it. Sometimes when I think back on the crazy couple of years we spent living this life, I can’t believe we did it. I have never had such a long commute since, and it’s my goal in life never to have another one like it again.

While we sat in the car in the parking lot underneath a streetlamp, Sarah and I would read. We read all five of the books in this way. I remember before the scene when the Death Eaters come at the newly regenerated Lord Voldemort’s call that I warned Sarah it was scary and made sure she felt ready for it. She was.

Even though this was a hard time, I almost felt like those books got Sarah and I through. It was something we shared. It was something we did together. I miss those times. Those books gave us something to hang on to when times were a bit hard for us. I might as well come out and share that I had some issues with depression, and these books somehow made it better, just for a little while. How can I not be grateful for that?

Sarah’s sister Maggie and I have also read the books together. My favorite thing about Harry Potter has been sharing it with my family. My father and mother eventually became fans, and we went together to the midnight releases for the last three books. It was something we shared. It brought us together. And how can I not be grateful for that?

Over time, I did think a lot about what the books had to say about education , and I pondered the merits (or lack) of Severus Snape (who actually is my favorite character). I named my cat Bellatrix. I joined Pottermore and was relieved when I was sorted into Ravenclaw. I was even interviewed about Professor Lupin on an Irish radio show . I wish they’d called me again to discuss Professor Umbridge when the fifth movie was released. I have a lot to say about her.

I tend to re-read the books at least every other year. At some point, every time I read the series, I am right back under that streetlight in the dark, sitting in the front seat of the car with Sarah, reading until her stepfather’s shift ends and we can slog home late in the evening to the place where we slept at night.

Time for Spring Break, Time to Write

I’m tired.

I think I’m ready for a break. Our spring break starts in a week. My students have been wonderful. Today, for instance, my AP Literature students presented poems through a variety of analytical lenses. They did a nice job, and in our debrief, they said that looking at the poems in this way was helpful in understanding them and also that it helped them think about others’ viewpoints and interpretations. Only one of my American Literature classes met today, but we read and discussed The Crucible . The students were particularly engaged today.

I am feeling tired, though. In some ways frustrated, too. I have a strong perfectionist streak, and as much as I wish I didn’t, I tend to internalize too many things that are out of my control. It would be nice if I were the type of person who could let that sort of thing go. Some people seem so supremely confident that they are absolutely right all the time, and I guess a lot of people would call that “arrogance.” I don’t really disagree. I think it is arrogant to feel like you are always right and others are always wrong and to refuse to see another person’s side. At the same time, sometimes I wish I had a little bit of arrogance.

In some ways, I feel very confident. In others, I second-guess myself in some pretty self-destructive ways. I’m not sure I’d be me if I didn’t have a generous helping of self-doubt, but I also admit I wish it were easier for me to set aside self-doubt when I know it’s not helping me. Sometimes, it actually does help me because I can catch myself before I make mistakes. It’s also part of being fairly reflective. I know I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. Most of the time, I think I do a pretty good job, and my intentions are certainly good. Today, though, was one of those days I allowed myself to be frustrated over a negative situation over which I don’t have a lot of control at the expense of celebrating the learning my students were displaying and some other pretty awesome things that are happening.

I’m about to say something that is probably obvious, but I actually feel a bit better getting this out. I have always thought through things on paper much better than through talking. Talking about this situation today really didn’t help and actually made me feel worse. Writing about it here helped me get some perspective. I can actually feel it leaving my shoulders.

I’ve been trying to keep a journal on mornings when I have time and space to write so that I can reflect on what I need to do and prepare for the day. I don’t write every day, and I decided I can’t give myself one more thing to be frustrated over, so I write when I feel like I can. This practice is actually helpful when I can do it, however, and perhaps what I really need to do is prioritize more time for writing so I can think. Perhaps it will help me with perspective.

Of course, yoga wouldn’t hurt either.

My Rock Stars: An Exhibit by Hassan Hajjaj

Today I accompanied Worcester Academy students and two of their teachers to the Worcester Arts Museum to see My Rock Stars, an experimental exhibit by Moroccan-born UK artist Hassan Hajjaj. The students are in our Postmodernism and the American Myth and 21st Century Identity: Race and Ethnicity courses offered by our English department.

The exhibit is completely immersive—everything from the wallpaper to the seating placed in various places around the exhibit. I have never seen anything quite like it. Photographs of Hajjaj’s subjects hang on the walls. Each photograph has a background with different patterned fabrics, and the colors are bright and beautiful.

Part of the exhibit is a video installation in which each of Hajjaj’s subjects perform a music piece while the other subjects appear to watch and enjoy the performances.

The exhibit even included an opportunity for students to color designs using ultra-bright colored pencils.

After students had an opportunity to explore the exhibit, their teachers, Dave Baillie and Cindy Sabik, gathered the group together to talk about what they saw.

National Geographic Proof has a great article about the exhibit . In the article, Dr. Linda Komaroff, Curator and Department Head of the Art of the Middle East Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, says, “if music videos existed in 15th century Morocco, this is what it would look like.”

I think my favorite performance in the video was violinist Marques Toliver, who performed his song “Charter Magic.” The video below is not the same performance in the video, but it is the same song.

I also really liked Nigerian musician Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor (who performs as the Venus Bushfires), who plays the Hang , an instrument I had never seen before. Here is the song she plays in the video exhibit (this is not the same video as the one in the exhibit):

I wound up going to this exhibit because Cindy, my friend and colleague, had a conflict and was not going to be able to transport the students to the museum, and not all the students would fit in one vehicle. I was initially going to spend the entire day planning curriculum with ninth grade English and history teachers. Our departments are working toward a collaborative humanities model, and as the English department chair, I’ve been collaborating with the teachers and overseeing the development of the curriculum. I ducked out of our planning session at about 10:00 and returned around 12:30 to find they had made quite a lot of progress. I wasn’t sure I wanted to have such a busy day, but I am glad I didn’t miss the Hajjaj exhibit before it closes on March 6.

I’ve lived in Worcester for almost four years now, but this was my first trip to the Worcester Art Museum, too. We didn’t have a lot of time to look around the museum because we were on a tight schedule, but this exhibit was definitely worth the trip and the minor inconveniences of transporting a group of students. All of the color brightened my day.

My (Non)Reader

One of my students is a big reader. Since we started our independent reading project in December, she has read seven books. The last book she read was All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. She said the book was so good she can’t even explain it. She comes in and chats about her books, and she loves the independent reading.

One of the things I enjoy most about independent reading is putting the right books in the hands of eager readers. Students are starting to swap their own recommendations, which is really amazing. I have tried to share a book with them each time class meets, and I received a very nice thank you from one of my students for sharing so many books with them.

The truth is, as much as the independent reading seems to be working well with my students, I can’t seem to figure out how to get my daughter to read. I have tried buying books I think she would like and recommending favorites. I stay up on what teenagers are reading and what they like to read. If anyone is poised to raise a reader, I should think it would be me. I did all the right things. I read to all my children. I model a love of reading for them. I made sure they grew up surrounded by books. I’m just flummoxed.

Several years ago, I recommended Twilight to a girl I was teaching. She wasn’t a reader, but I thought she’d enjoy it. She loved it, and she talked her mother into a late evening trip to Barnes & Noble to buy the next one. Her mother was in tears of gratitude at the next parent/teacher conference because her daughter was now a reader. By senior year, she showed me she was reading a fat Alison Weir biography of Henry VIII. It was her own choice. She wasn’t reading it for class.

The year before, a student in my class discovered a love of reading after we studied The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. In his senior year, he was reading Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil! , which inspired the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood . It was his own choice. He wasn’t reading it for class.

I’ve been successful convincing my students to give reading a chance. One of my most reluctant readers just finished his second book. He read Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild and just finished a Derek Jeter biography. He admitted at the beginning of the year that he really dislikes reading unless it’s a sports article or is on Twitter.  But now he’s read two full books of his own choosing.

I suppose partly it could be that teenagers will often listen to anyone except their parents. Perhaps my students’ parents tried to get them to read more and weren’t successful. I’m just not sure how to help my own daughter discover a love of reading, even after I’ve helped so many of my students discover the magic of books. What am I doing wrong?

Issues, ideas, and discussion in English Education and Technology

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Literary 3x3 The Literary 3x3 is a simple and ultra brief writing activity to prompt students to think outside the plot The task: students summarize the.

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To Kill a Mockingbird

Introduction to kill a mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a masterpiece written by Harper Lee . The novel was published in 1960 and became an instant hit. Since then, it has found inroads into schools, colleges, and libraries across the world. The novel presents the story of Lee’s hometown, Monroeville in Alabama, her family members, neighbors, and the events that took place in her life in fiction . The novel also deals with the issues of race and racial prejudice as well as racial segregation in the American South during the Great Depression.

Summary of To Kill a Mockingbird

The narrator of the novel is the six-year-old girl, Scout, who lives with her brother and father in Maycomb. Named as Scout Jean Louise Finch, the girl befriends Dill, a boy, who visits her town, Maycomb, each summer to pass his holidays with his aunt. Jem also joins them and the trio enjoy life but are terrified of the recluse, Arthur Radley, who lives in their neighborhood in Maycomb. Living in austerity, the recluse, termed Boo, in the neighborhood, who always stays away from the community . However, the children’s imaginations weave tales about the recluse, making him a butt of their rumors as well as tales. As the three enjoy each other for two summer breaks, they soon find out that somebody is leaving gifts for them in the tree outside the house of Radley, the recluse. Although he sometimes peeped through his door to have an affectionate look at the children, he never emerges out of his home, which terrifies them at first. Therefore, the speculations about him continue.

Meanwhile, an African-American man, Tom Robinson, is accused of committing the crime of molesting a white lady, Mayella Ewell, for which Atticus is appointed by the judge, Taylor, as a defense attorney. Despite disapproval from the Maycomb public about Tom’s defense, Atticus takes up the case and tries to protect Tom from the legal folly of sentencing a black without having committed a crime. It happens that his children Jem and Scout become the butt of jokes and taunts of the children of the town. They call their father, Atticus, as n**-lover, and so on. Even though Scout thinks of standing up to the bullies, her father does not allow it to her and pacifies her rather. When a group thinks of lynching Tom to death, Atticus confronts them. Scout, meanwhile, talks to the father of her friend in an unexpected manner, who happens to be present in this group of the people, and the situation is defused as the people disperse.

Despite his daughter’s fearless support, Atticus does not want his children to involve in the saga or join the trial . However, the Reverend Sykes takes Jem, Dill, and Scout to watch the trial and they see that Atticus confronts Bob and Mayella about their testimony, saying that they are entirely liars. It then becomes clear that the animosity of Mayella is on account of the rebuff she faced from Tom for her sexual encounters, while Bob is already nobody in the eyes of the public, for he is the least-trusted person in the city. Despite these two witnesses having the shady background, the jury sentences Tom which jolts the conscience of the children. However, Atticus’s optimism about the final justice led him to go for an appeal. Tom, in the meanwhile, tries to flee the jail and is shot dead as a result.

On the other hand, Atticus does his best to make the witnesses feel the guilt. He even plays havoc with Bob’s reputation that he has already lost, while he spits on him and tries to bully the judge as well as the widow of Tom, the poor victim. However, he rather takes a long route of avenging by attacking the children of Atticus when they are at the Halloween pageant. Jem’s arm is broken while Boo Radley, as it appears later, jumps in and rescues the children. In the meanwhile, the police arrive and discovers that Bob is dead through his own folly, or as it seems though Boo kills him with his knife. However, there is confusion about his killer as being Boo or Jem. The sheriff, though, decides to frame Bob for attacking them and falling on his how knife. Then Boo begs Scout to walk up to his home that she does, and then he disappears never to come back again.

Major Themes in To Kill a Mockingbird

• Conflict between Good and Evil: To Kill a Mockingbird shows the conflict between good and evil through the characters of Scout, Jem, Atticus, and Tom. Whereas Atticus tries to save Tom, it becomes clear that the witnesses are hell-bent on getting him awarded a sentence or even lynched to death. Scout appears at that moment to save him as well as her father to show that goodness wins by the end.
• Ambition: The theme of ambition in the novel has been shown through the legal commitment of Atticus Finch who is determined on saving the poor man, Tom Robinson. On the other hand, the society of Maycomb is entirely against this new custom that Atticus is going to impose upon them through legal means. Therefore, the novel shows his ambition of equality in the society that the society refuses.
• Education: Education is another important theme in that it is Atticus who instills this education in his children that they should be just and fair in their dealings come what may . The positive thinking and unbiased approach are the hallmarks of this new system instilled by the parents into the minds of their such as Atticus.
• Prejudice: Prejudice has been shown in the novel through the character of witnesses as well as the entire Maycomb . It has been proved through the false statements of witnesses that Tom is innocent, yet the jury reaches the verdict of incarcerating him merely due to the innate prejudice. Aunt Alexandra’s suggestion of teaching children the significance of class is the worst type of prejudice shown in the novel.
• Moral Complexity: Moral complexity is another theme shown through the character of Scout and Jem who thinks that there is no standardized yardstick to measure good and bad acts. They think that human beings are innocent but then Tom’s trial makes them aware of this flawed notion. Finally, when the Maycomb community reacts to the just and unjust through the racial prism, they see that it is a very complex thing to see morality from a single perspective .
• Innocence: The theme of innocence has been demonstrated through the character of Scout and Jem who see that Tom is being tried for none of his crimes, while their father has been demonized merely because he is helping an innocent person. Another theme of innocence is depicted through the character of Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley.
• Racism: The theme of racism has been shown through the prejudicial view of Tom’s crime and Atticus’ assistance. Scout and Jem, too, face difficulties at school merely because their father is helping the poor young man, a fact which emerges from this racial prejudice.
• Laws and Codes: The novel shows that a society must have a good legal code to punish the criminals. However, it dawns upon the people that even a system must have good upholders, too, for, despite the credibility of the witnesses, an innocent person is punished for none of his crimes.
• Knowledge: The theme of knowledge emerges through the character of Scout and Jem, who come to know that even if they help an innocent person, the community could become their enemy on account of race and gender.

Major Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird

• Scout Finch: Daughter of a successful lawyer, Atticus. Scout is portrayed as a tomboyish type of girl who stays a symbol of purity and innocence in the society of Maycomb. When she faces racial slurs on account of her father’s legal assistance to Tom, she bears these insults with a heavy heart and comes to know the toxicity of the racial hatred. She even rebuffs the mob by identifying the father of her friend when they are fixed on lynching Tom.
• Atticus: A lawyer and good-hearted person, Atticus is also the father of Jem and Scout, two very good children. Leading a successful life in Maycomb, he invites social prejudice and hatred by deciding to help Tom Robinson, a black accused of a crime on false grounds. Despite dangers and insults being hurled at his children, he does not budge from the stand that wins him the respect of his children.
• Jem Finch: He is the old brother of Scout and son of Atticus. He makes the trio with Dill and Scout who get gifts from Radley. He knows that his father is helping a black, the reason that the children are teasing them as a “n*** helper.” However, he shows this sense through his courage to stand up to these insults.
• Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley: A recluse, Boo, has been portrayed as the mockingbird who is rumored about his reclusive life. He seems quite mysterious who does not stay in the public and yet has the gift to change public thinking. When Tom is redeemed by the end due to Atticus’ determination, Radley, too, seems redeemed for his reclusive lifestyle.
• Dill: Dill is a curious friend of Jem and Scout who questions the Maycomb public’s racial prejudice present even in its justice system. A very sensitive child, he lies about his father and tries to get Boo out of his house to enjoy him in the public.
• Miss Maudie Atkinson: The old widow stays busy in her yard, tending her garden but stays indifferent to the general public behavior. Despite this indifference, she is optimistic about the public.
• Calpurnia: The Atticus caretaker, Calpurnia, brings up Scout and Jem in proper values. She is very kind and generous even to animals and ensures that the children are understanding and caring for others.
• Tom Robinson: A honest and hardworking African American, Tom becomes the victim of racial prejudice and is discriminated against even in the judicial system on account of the color of his skin. Despite the flaws in the witnesses’ accounts, he is thrown behind the bars to be hanged.
• Myella Ewell: She is a witness who accuses Tom of rape and yet could not conclusively prove it. Although she does not have any witness, she easily uses mob psychology and turns the entire community against Tom. Hers is an opportunistic nature.
• Aunt Alexandra: As the aunt of Scout and Jem, Alexandra is the sister of the lawyer, Atticus. Although she resents Scout’s Tomboy attitude , she tries to educate Calpurnia about treating and bringing the children in a proper manner.  

Writing Style of To Kill a Mocking Bird

Although most of the novel is written in conversation, it sometimes takes a humorous turn according to the characters. The direct and straightforward approach of Harper Lee in telling a story that seems suavely deceptive. The story, at times, uses very complex and higher-level language to engage its readers. However, once the narrator sets the stage, she starts using a childlike narrative style . All the characters use the language that suits them such as Scout misuses it to pretend that they are guessing its true meanings, while Miss Maudie turns to the elegance of the sentences. This style also shows how Atticus and Tom are different in their language and style and how Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra are different in their conversation.

Analysis of Literary Devices To Kill a Mockingbird

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the children’s fascination with Boo Radley, Tom’s trial, and his final exoneration. However, the rising action is the fascination of the children, Jem, Dill, and Scout of Boo Radley. The falling action is of Bob Ewell’s threats to Atticus for supporting Tom, while Boo, the recluse, saves the children from Bob in his final action.
• Allegory : To Kill a Mockingbird shows the use of allegorical points as Tim Johnson has been shown as the bird dog of the Maycomb public, Boo is shown as a recluse who shuns society, while Tom is shown as a person who is to sacrifice himself to remove the prejudice prevalent in the society.
• Antagonist : Bob Ewell accuses Tom Robinson of raping his daughter, although he has been drunk at the time when, it is stated, the act has taken place. However, the primary conflict is that Tom is an African American and can be easily accused of a crime that he has never committed. As Bob accuses him falsely and frames him in the rape, he is the main antagonist of the story.
• Allusion : There are various examples of allusions given in the novel. Thus, we came to know Dill as a pocket Merlin, whose head teemed with eccentric plans, strange longings, and quaint fantasies . (Chapter-1) Hours of winter -time had found me in the treehouse, looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children through a two- power telescope Jem had given me, learning their games. (Chapter-2) Miss Maudie’s face likened such an occurrence unto an Old Testament pestilence. (Chapter-6)The first example shows the use of the allusion of Merlin, the legendary King Arthur’s adviser as well as a magician. The second is an allusion to “Blind Man’s Bluff” a sort of game of children. The third reference alludes to the Plague of Egypt that has been referred to in the Bible.
• Conflict : There are two types of conflicts in To Kill a Mockingbird. The first one is the central conflict that is going on between the African American and the white of Maycomb. The second conflict is going on between the white who wants their children to treat all people equal sans the color of their skin such as Atticus. The others are the people who think that Atticus is leaving his section of the white people and joining the African American (black). Therefore, he should be taught a lesson to stay within the social limits.
• Characters: To Kill a Mockingbird presents both flat as well as round characters. Atticus is a round character who shows various aspects of his individuality during his drive to save Tom’s skin. Scout and her brother, too, are round characters. However, Bob and Mayella Ewell are both flat characters , as they do not change, neither they want to change themselves even by the end of the novel. They are as prejudicial and unforgiving in the end as they are in the beginning.
• Climax : The climax in To Kill a Mockingbird arrives when all the conflicts reach the final moment. Bob Ewell attacks Scout and Jem and breaks the arm of Jem when Boo appears and saves the children. This is the moment when finally Scout finds Radley to speak to him, who has been a mysterious figure for the children for so long. The moment of an anticlimax, however, arrives, when the rumor spreads around that Tom is shot down when fleeing from the prison. Also, Bob tries to intimidate Atticus who does not seem to accept his threats.

“Cry about what, Mr. Raymond?” Dill’s maleness was beginning to assert itself. “Cry about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too.” “Atticus says cheatin‘ a colored man is ten times worse than cheatin’ a white man,” I muttered. “Says it’s the worst thing you can do.” (Chapter-20)

This is the example of dialogue between Raymond and Dill in the 20 th chapter of the novel. They are talking about

I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Atticus . . . His kind’d do anything to pay off a grudge. You know how those people are. (Chapter-23). “ Ruth Jones, the welfare lady, said Mr. Ewell openly accused Atticus of getting his job. She was upset enough to walk down to Atticus’s office and tell him about it. (Chapter-27) High above us in the darkness a solitary mocker poured out his repertoire in blissful unawareness of whose tree he sat in, plunging from the shrill kee, kee of the sunflower bird to the irascible qua-ack of a bluejay, to the sad lament of Poor Will, Poor Will, Poor Will. (Chapter-28)

The first example of foreshadowing shows that Alexandra warns the lawyer, Atticus, that Bob is a revengeful person and will always try to avenge his insult. It proves that she is true. The second example occurs in the 27 th chapter where Scout thinks that these three ordinary things have something special in it that Bob is revengeful. The third example occurs in the 28 th chapter, where Scout again tells that Boo is the mockingbird.

• Hero : Although Boo and Scout seem, protagonists of the scenes where they appear, Atticus Finch is the real hero who fights for Tom to end racial prejudice.

A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. (Chapter-1)

It is hyperbole in that a day cannot be longer than 24 hours. Yet it seems that the author wants to stress upon the fact that it could be otherwise in Maycomb.

• Irony : Irony in the novel occurs when Scout and Jem try to bring mysterious Boo Radley out of his hiding and another irony is about Bob that he tries to exonerate himself but is killed in his own action.

Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view -“ “Sir?” “- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. One time (Atticus) said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.

These beautiful metaphors show the comparisons ; first of Maycomb to an old town, of a person to another person, and then the same again.

• Mood : The novel uses a serious mood in the beginning when Jem is shown through the narrative of Scout. Then it becomes light and humorous but very profound and somber at times when incidents of racial prejudice, hatred, and discrimination take a serious turn.
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel, including the character of Boo Radley, the darkness that is quite real, night , and gothic jail.
• Narrator : The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, has been narrated by a first-person narrator. It happens to be the hero as well, for it is the girl Jean Louise Scout Finch who narrates the story from her own perspective and tries to eliminate the wall of the racial hatred.
• Protagonist : Scout Finch is the main protagonist of the story, as it is she from whose point the story has been narrated. However, Boo Radley is also the protagonist, as he saves the children from Bob by the end of the story.
• Paradox : To Kill a Mockingbird shows that justice is a paradox in the regions where white and black people try to come to terms with each other through the rule of law.
• Resolution : The conflict of To Kill a Mockingbird, seems to resolve when Boo Radley becomes a hero by saving Scout Finch and Jem. Earlier, he seems to be a mystery for the children.

What was the evidence of her offense? What did she do? What did her father do?

These examples show the use of rhetorical questions mostly used by Atticus to make the jury aware that actually there is no such case for want of evidence of the offense against Tom Robinson.

• Theme: It is a central idea that the novelist or the writer wants to stress upon. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird’s core themes are good versus evil, racial discrimination, injustice, class difference, racism, bravery, etc.
• Setting : The setting of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a fictional town of Maycomb in Alabama in the United States.

He was as good as his worst performance. (Chapter 4). The tire bumped on gravel, skeetered… and popped me like a cork onto pavement. (Chapter-4)

The first simile compares Dill to his worst performance and the speaker to a cork.

• Symbol: The mockingbird is a symbol of innocence and vulnerability, Atticus is a symbol of justice and fair play, while Boo Radley is a symbol of loyalty and love.

Related posts:

• To Kill a Mockingbird Themes
• To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes
• To Kill a Mockingbird Characters
• To Kill a Mockingbird Racism
• Nelle Harper Lee 

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