Goals & Guest Bloggers

It was my goal to write more on my blog this year...and my efforts have trailed off here at the end of the semester.  I also wanted my posts to have more substance--which is a goal I believe I have achieved.

Yet, as 2017 is nearly upon us, I'd like to make sure I post more often--and reach my goal of having more student participation on the blog.  This semester I taught a Studies in Literature and Film course, and I had hoped to have some student-written posts--or at least some reviews.  I didn't ever invite students to write, so that is something that I hope to accomplish next semester.

However, I have selected some student writing (reviews of the foreign language film Life is Beautiful) to share here.  I hope you have a wonderful winter break--one filled with constant reminders that Life is Beautiful.

Life is Beautiful gracefully tells a sentimental tale of love against adversity, and ultimately, human spirit. The film encompasses the Holocaust, but chooses not to embrace it with sheer negativity. Life is Beautiful is a fantastically endearing story, capturing the audience with its simplistic values of hope and familial love.

First introduced is Guido, the comically clumsy but quick-on-his feet protagonist. On numerous occasions, coincidentally and intentionally, Guido encounters a woman called Dora. Through these surprise meetings the two build a relationship and become a family with the addition of their son Joshua. The dynamic is always light and humorous, even as Nazis subtly invade their town in Italy. Guido and Joshua, Italian Jews, are sent to a concentration camp, so Guido creates an elaborate game to protect his son from the horrifying truth about the Holocaust.

Life is Beautiful is set in grim circumstance, but the inextinguishable optimism projected by Guido maintains the film’s theme of love and spirit. On some occasions, the harsh setting is utilized to shift the mood to a more uplifting one. An example of this is when Guido announces his love for “Princess Dora” through the camp loudspeaker, typically used to blare German orders. In other cases, the situation is crudely exposed with an opposite effect. As Guido carries his sleeping son through the camp, he wanders up to a shadowy mass, and the fog slips away to reveal a towering pile of bodies. This serves as a barbarous reminder, to Guido and to the audience, that the Holocaust is not a game, after all. Guido is protecting Joshua from unthinkably brutal truths that he will not realize until years later, but to everyone else, it is terrifying reality.

Strong character development enables Guido, Dora, and Joshua to overshadow the disturbing backdrop of their story. When Guido and Joshua are forced into a concentration camp, attention is directed to the construction of a mythical game, drawn up to distract the audience as much as Joshua from the horrors of war. Guido’s contagious energy and humor outweighs German oppression throughout the film, guiding the plot to the very end where innocent Joshua is reunited with Dora. Life is Beautiful thematically concentrates on familial love and sacrifice to combat cruel injustice and shield Joshua from the Holocaust.

Rating: ★★★★/5

            Foreign films never used to interest me; maybe it’s because I didn’t want to put in effort to read the subtitles and watch the cinematography at the same time. After watching Life is Beautiful, I kind of fell in love. Italian is such a beautiful language, and that’s part of the reason I loved watching this movie. I have never seen such a funny yet serious actor as Roberto Benigni. His personality just makes me want to find him and hug him! Life is Beautiful is now one of my favorite films.

Life is Beautiful is about an optimistic and lighthearted Italian-Jewish man and his family who are taken to a Concentration Camp during World War II. Their only child, Joshua, is too young to understand what is going on. Guido, played by Roberto Benigni, tries to protect his son from knowing creating games and making the most out of the situation.

This movie is definitely in my “Top 10 Films” list. I loved it so much, mainly due to the optimism and quirky personality of Guido. No matter what happened, he somehow made it positive. For example, when asked by Nazi Soldiers if anyone spoke German, Guido volunteered to translate into Italian, even though he had no idea what they were saying, all to protect his young son from knowing the real truth of where they went and why. Guido and Joshua played this game the whole time they were prisoners in the concentration camp, up to the day they were saved. Joshua found his father exhausted and carrying loads of iron up several flights of stairs. When asked what he was doing, Guido played it off and said he was helping make the first place prize for the winner of the game; a tank. Both of these examples, amongst plenty of others, help justify how great this movie and this actor is. Life is Beautiful was definitely a beautiful movie.

5/5 Stars

Annotating a Text (The Great Gatsby)

I still haven't found the best way to help students engage in a text through annotation--but I keep trying!

Every student has his own personal preference: some like to write directly in the book; some like to take notes in a notebook or reading journal; others still want to log those notes in digital format.  Personally, I want to write directly in my book.  The ability to have my note directly next to the text I'm pondering is a method that most makes sense for me.  However, our students don't currently have the ability to do this unless they purchase their own books.  This is a rare choice for my students.  Our school provides books from our textbook/novel library.  Books are checked out to students, and the books are expected to be returned in excellent condition.

You return your book in subprime condition (let alone with "Check marks, asterisks, and exclamations points rain[ing] down along the sidelines."  Thank you, Billy Collins) and the librarians be like:






So...students take to a variety of methods:







Given the situation, I would probably elect to do what the student above did: use post-it notes on the pages.

But--methods aside--let's talk about what students actually write.  Usually, I try to give them some sort of guide to focus their notes.  In this case, we focused on the following Learning Targets for the unit overall:

I can explain how an author's structure is important to the meaning of the text (through comparing the exposition and resolution of the story and other methods).

I can pick a specific paragraph and sentences and explain how that sets a mood for the paragraph.

I can identify the literary devices used to contribute to the overall meaning of the book.

I can identify the personality of the characters, explain the plot, the setting, and how the characters interact with each other—and provide textual support for my ideas.

Then, students were encouraged to focus their annotations on those topics.  Overall, I'd say their annotations and thinking about the text were excellent.  Students are writing their Literary Analysis essays today and tomorrow--so we'll see if that method of note taking & thinking paid off in their writing.