Friday, February 26, 2016
Share Your Thoughts
A bit of a break this week. Tell me what you are considering for your literary specialist. It does not need to be long or drawn out, I just want to know what things you might be considering. By the end of next week, you need to know, at least loosely, what you might be considering.
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For my project, I think I want to do something with the effect of children's literature on their morals, values, and actions as they mature. The majority of the books I read growing up were those teenage girl books that had no point, and I feel like I have been robbed of five years of what could have been a pivotal learning advancement. I had strong enough morals to turn out okay, but if someone has no other spiritual background or good family atmosphere, I feel like books might be what forms their character.
ReplyDeleteI don't know which direction to take with this, if it will even be able to make a mature enough argument. I might incorporate a psychology or sociology piece to read because I cannot base my paper by solely reading children's books. Any other suggestions would be great! The children's literature appeals to me, but I am open to going many different directions. If this does not work out, I plan on doing something with music and literature if that is even possible.
Thanks for this simple blog! It came on the perfect weekend!
Grace, this sounds like a really cool concept to explore. I know that when I was little, I read a lot of fantasy books. I always related to the main character, and I believe this helped me develop my morality. The hero always does what is right, and is able to struggle through difficult times. My childish emulations of these kinds of people have helped me persevere in my own life. I would almost say that the books I read influenced my personality. Maybe you could take your project in that direction and determine how childhood books help shape a person's identity.
DeleteGrace, I know how you feel. I spent my early teenage years reading books like Diary of a Whimpy Kid. I mean, the books have absolutely no point. They were just so funny and I loved them because they were super easy to read. But then when it came time to read harder books, I struggled because I had read books that were super easy. So I think that your project sounds super interesting and I'm excited to hear what you have to say about the matter.
DeleteThis sounds like a really fun topic to explore. I love children's literature, and I think exploring how it affects the children reading it would be super cool. I know you're worried about not making a mature enough argument, but I don't think that's something you need to worry about. There are a lot of good themes in children's literature, and this is intentional. C.S. Lewis once said "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest." So there's some motivation to get you going. I can't wait to see where you take this.
DeleteI believe this will be very interesting, Grace! I can personally say I was influenced by the books I read as a kid. I distinctly remember reading the Clique series and then thinking my friend group was a clique. I tried to be like the characters in the book because I thought they were so fabulous.. Oh wow the embarrassment is real.
DeleteFor my project, I want to explore whether humanity is innately cruel or kind. I aim to use dystopian literature to explore this concept, as many of the rules that force people into behaving in specific ways are gone. I am thinking about using Lord of the Flies and A Clockwork Orange to argue my point. Both of these books show how violently cruel humans can be when the rules are discarded. However, I'd like to have another book that shows humanity is capable of being kind, even in such situations.
ReplyDeleteI still need to determine what I believe about human nature. My gut believes that humanity is innately cruel, and is stopped from committing violent acts only by societal rules. These rules can come in the form of laws or in the form of their own conscience. I'd consider the conscience to be a societal rule because it must be developed before it can help govern an individual.
Wow...your project is deep. I would love to think that humanity is innately is kind. But the more I think about it, the more I start to doubt my initial opinion. I would like to think that the people who are cruel were trained or raised to be cruel. If they were not in that environment, I wold liked to believe that they would be kind. But...I really don't know what to think about the matter. I'm very interested in hearing what you have to say about this particular topic, as I literally have no idea what to think.
DeleteIt seems as if your mindset has been predetermined and set on the dystopian society so the works to support that have been easily found. As much as we wish it could be ultimately good, it seems as if it is bad, or maybe that is what is highlighted through the news, gossip, etc. you do need works that oppose this for a counter argument, but I do not have any suggestions as of now. If I think of a good book I will let you know.
DeleteAshely, I think these are really great books to support your idea. The Clockwork aOrange really illustrates how ugly human nature can be. The book really disturbed me a lot. However, when you say you're looking for books that illustrate the goodness in human nature all I can think of is the quote "I believe deep down that people are really good." by Anne Frank.
DeleteFor my literary specialist project, I wanted to analyze the James Bond novels by Ian Flemming and argue that Bond is a representation of global capitalism as a force for the West’s ever-increasing expansionist attitude and wasteful consumption. And then by default, SMERSH and SPECTRE are defective and thus economically useless, leading Bond and the West to become a force for modern global imperialism. I thought this was a pretty great idea, but then Mrs. Messineo shattered all of my hopes and dreams by saying that maybe this is not the case. So I was sad and now I don't really know what I am doing. But, I will have it all figured out by Monday, as a day of doing nothing but math can only be beneficial. I hope to use Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, and From Russia with Love. So that's it. Then for the project portion, Blade Solomon and I are already planning out our fun James Bond movie. It'll be epic.
ReplyDeleteYou always come up with the most unique topics and I never understand any of them! This topic is way over my head which just proves how wonderful these classes ar that low everyone individually to bend the project into what works for them. I cannot wait until we are done and you can explain this to all of us, as I am sure it cannot be boring. You are great at making movies and I agree with Mrs. Messineo, you should have done the play. It's not too late to sign up for the ensemble!!
DeleteGiz, I'm glad you found an idea that interests you. You always pick something political, which suits you. I myself do not really care for this subject, but I hope it works well for you. I'm excited to see your James Bond video, as your efforts are always amazing. I hope you smooth out the difficulties that you have. I'm sure you'll find a way to make it succeed.
DeleteI agree with Grace that your topics are always so over my head. But there's nothing wrong with that. I think people like me have a lot to learn from people like you. You have some pretty unique interests, and I think we could all benefit from learning a bit about your project. I'm just really happy that you're pursuing something that interests you. That's the most important thing. I think this is going to be really cool. I'm looking forward to seeing where you take this.
DeleteGizzy, I love this idea. I personally have an obsession with James Bond and I think the concepts covered in both the books and the movies are really interesting. They also are very pertinent to today's society. I think you could take the project in a variety of different directions.
DeleteI'm honestly not totally sure what I want to do for my project. I really like the idea of exploring romance in literature. I've always been a bit of a hopeless romantic, so I think that that would be a topic I would enjoy a lot. I feel as if it's going to be hard to pick a thesis until I actually read the books I'm thinking of including, because it's pretty difficult to pick out the themes and messages of a book until I read it. I know when Mrs. Messineo mentioned Pride and Prejudice, I really liked the idea of including that because I've always wanted to read that book. I'm also thinking about reading the book Wuthering Heights, because from what I've researched, that's a book with similar themes. There is a good chance, however, that I'm going to change my mind after reading the first book and taking note of the themes. It's going to be a process, but I think the hardest part about this project it going to be laying everything out: picking a thesis, picking literature to include, organizing an outline for the paper, considering a project, etc. Once everything is set, I think the project is going to be somewhat simple. (That's what I'm hoping for anyways.) I am a bit nervous about the paper - mostly its length. I just hope my thesis is broad enough to be expanded adequately. So that's where I'm at. This project is so daunting to me. I'm just trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteMary, I think romance in literature would be a very fun project. I just read part of Pride and Prejudice over the weekend, and I plan to finish it in my spare time coming up. I have yet to come into any very romantic segments, but hopefully I will soon!
DeleteFor my literary specialist project I am going to focus on Coming of Age stories and how they relate to gender stereotypes. For this I am going to be referencing The Outsiders, Catcher in the Rye, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, and A Separate Peace. I'm going to focus on the different coming of age stories these books hold and if the male gender expectations influence this. I don't have an exact plan as of right now but I am just going to use these guidelines and see what I find in these books. I just want to focus on coming of age and male gender expectations but I'm not sure how to combine the two yet.
ReplyDeleteMy literary specialist project is sort of still hazy to me, but I have been working on developing my central theme, and I think I am going to base it on how crime novels influence real crimes and how real crimes influence crime novels. I don't know if this will work, but I am hoping I can make a go at it. Some of my novels would be The Sound of Things Falling, Rage by Richard Bachman, and Cather in the Rye.
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