III Media - Jim Crow Personal Narratives

Hi Class!

I really appreciated your attention and participation during yesterday's lesson.

For homework, I would like you to choose a personal narrative from the Jim Crow era, read it carefully, define any words you do not know and write a seven sentence summary of the person's experience.

Please do this for next Wednesday.

Thanks!

Prof. Aldigé

II Liceo - Exam Preparation

In preparation for your exam tomorrow, I've posted some links to the videos we watched (or that you watched for homework) over the course of our unit.

• Here's John Green's explanation of the conflict in Ukraine.
• Here's John Green's crash course on The Cold War.
• Here's the documentary we watched on the Afghanistan War. 

II Liceo - Israeli Palestinian Conflict Reading

Here are some articles that will be helpful in understanding a bit of the history and context of this ongoing conflict.

BBC Israel Profile
BBC Palestinian Territories Profile
BBC Hamas Palestinian Movement Profile

II Liceo - Grammar HW

For tomorrow, please complete 2-5 for homework.

II Liceo - FCE resource

Here's a great list of phrases you can use for the report section of your FCE exam.

III Media - Invictus Discussion guide

1. What did Nelson Mandela risk by promoting reconciliation (forgiveness) between black and white South Africans after he was elected president?

2. How would you describe the relationships among Mandela’s security guards as the story progresses?

3. Why did Mandela take risks to bring all the citizens of South Africa together?

4. Describe the relationship between Mandela and Pienaar?

5. Do both characters gain from this relationship?

6. Matt Damon’s character, Francois Pienaar, took many of his own risks after first meeting Mandela. What were they and what was his motivation?

7. What scenes stand out as pivotal to the development of Pienaar as he struggles with the many challenges he faces? What is revealed about Pienaar through these scenes?

8. How do different groups in South Africa begin to come together as the movie proceeds?

9. See the poem “Invictus” on page 2.  How does this poem relate to the movie? Why do you think it was used as the title for the movie?

10. The poem talks about an individual facing challenges, and yet the movie is about individuals working together, eventually in solidarity. Is there a contradiction between individualism and the common good?

11. Fifteen years after the events in this film, South Africa faces many problems, including great poverty; centuries of injustices have left their mark on this nation. Is there a value of celebrating the potential of South Africa through a film such as Invictus at this later date, with so many challenges remaining for this African nation?

12. Do you believe that art, such as poetry and film, and sport, such as rugby and soccer, can have a role in the ongoing work of justice and peace?  Why or why not?

13. Mandela says: If we remove the rugby team, “we prove that we are who they feared we would be.”  What does he mean in this statement?

 
 

14. What was the point of the team’s trip to Robben Island to see the prison where Mandela was held?

15. In 1969, three years after arriving on Robben Island to serve a life sentence for sabotage, Nelson Mandela’s eldest son, died in a car crash. Prison authorities refused to allow Mandela to attend the funeral. After 27 years in prison, how is it possible to not only forgive your captors, but to seek reconciliation with the white population and the apartheid leaders?

16.  What did François Pienaar, the captain of the Springboks rugby team, learn from Nelson Mandela?

17.  What was the significance of Mandela wearing the green and gold jersey and matching cap of the Springbok rugby at the end of the film? Why was it so important to his strategy?

18.  In what ways did watching the movie Invictus impact you as a person?   

           

III Liceo - Merchant of Venice Spring Break Project

Project for Merchant of Venice

Choose one of the following options.  Complete your project for Wednesday, April 30th. 

 

1.      Using lines from the play to “hook” a potential audience, create a film trailer for a new film adaptation of The Merchant of Venice.

a.       Your video must be 3-5 minutes.  Try to include as much imagery as possible.

b.      You are free to be creative with this.  Either you, yourself (or your friends) can interpret the characters, or you can use images/video from the web to create your trailer.

c.       You must choose music you feel is appropriate to the tone and theme of your trailer.

 

 

2.      Create a casting director’s book. For each of the characters in The Merchant of Venice, develop a description of each character, qualities an actor needs to portray that character, and potential actors for the role and their acting credits. For each of the potential actors, write a rationale citing reasons that actor would be the best for that role.

a.       Please create a mini-book in which you dedicate a single page to each character.  The page must contain the following.

                                                              i.      An image of the actor.

                                                            ii.      Their acting credits (most important films they have been in, 2-3)

                                                          iii.      A brief description (2-3 sentences) of the character they are assigned for the play.

                                                          iv.      Your rationale for why you, as the director, feel these actors would be best for the roles. (4-5 sentences for each character/actor)

 

*You must prepare a 5-7 minute presentation that introduces your project and explains it.

*Imagery counts a great deal for this project, so try to make your projects as visually engaging and organized as possible.