 Note: Thiis image was attached to the following question: Could the Tree of Knowledge be an ancient library? That's an interesting question to ponder. "Choose a book that you think would be appropriate for establishing common ground through discussion in our school or class. What issues would this book enable the community to explore? Why are those issues important to our school or community?" (Jago, et al. 8)
Champ forever
9/17/2018 06:00:37 pm
The book I choose is Acts of war because it discusses the issues we face in our school and society which is the knowledge. It is the most powerful weapon on the planet earth which can change the destiny of anything. We are talking how important it is and knowledge can be anything it's beyond our imagination. This book "acts of war" is about a general who gets a messege from the white house that there are some terrorists who are coming after their van now this van is a military vehicle used for classified missions it is equipped with the technology which can change anybody's life for the army it is used to help them find terrorists and do some geological research this vehicle is a diamond for a normal scientist but ofcourse it's a military vehicle which can only be used by the u.s. army. So what happened was that they get hijacked and the crew including general is thinking that if the terrorists get their hands on it that what it can do what they can do with the knowledge they are the next biggest and strongest army the world will witness. This novel tells is the same thing which the above picture is trying to tell us yeah knowledge is something that can change you 9/20/2018 09:41:14 am
I absolutely love it when a work of fiction (often derided by the science and math disciplines) is the very thing that encourages a student to become more interested in science or math. Reading The Martian by Andy Weir opened up the world of space travel to me. It allowed me, ignorant of the majority of astrophysical science, to see the possibilities of space exploration in reality. Science Fiction like this can cause many young minds to consider the world from different lenses. Without fiction, I fear that we lose a major tool for teaching. We are a storytelling species and taking away or minimizing the importance of fiction is both short-sighted and dangerous for a civilization. Just think of the many opportunities overlooked simply because a person never considered (IMAGINED!) the possibility!!
E.Dickinson
9/17/2018 07:39:38 pm
The book I chose was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The book is narrated by Death following the life of young Leisel Meminger as she goes through World War II. The book begins with a train ride with Leisel, her mother, and her brother. Before they arrive at their destination, her brother dies on the train. Leisel attends an impersonal and impromptu funeral from her brother, after which, she steals a book called The Grave Digger's Handbook that one of the gravediggers dropped in the snow. 9/20/2018 09:59:34 am
Your comment that book burning reminds you of people in power purposely hiding things or obfuscating information is intuitive. It is very much like that. As I write this comment to you, I'm listening to students in my freshman connections class tell each other how little they read, almost taking pride in that fact. It breaks my heart. Not just because I love to read, but I think about how much richness and exploration that they are actively shutting themselves away from... If they understood, really understood, the power in the written word, I think they would cry at the time that they have wasted NOT reading. Information is power and hiding it (either through book burning or mismanaging information) is criminal.
Pen
9/17/2018 08:58:46 pm
The book I chose was Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. In this novel, there are two narrators that are both named Will Grayson. The first Will Grayson practically hides in the shadow of his best friend, Tiny Cooper, and has issues in his social life. The second Will Grayson (written as “will grayson” in the novel) suffers from depression and struggles with coming into terms with his sexuality. Both Wills experiences some type of situation with unrequited loves in their lives; Will with his hidden love for Tiny’s friend, Jane, and will (Will #2) who has to deal with a girl, Maura, who loves and eventually catfishes him, even though he is gay. Eventually, the two Will Graysons meet and aid each other in sorting out their own problems. 9/20/2018 10:07:54 am
Reading a book to which you feel a deep and personal connection is divine! And if it helps to enlighten your personal experience or open you to a new perspective of others through a fictional narrative, even better! I think that a person can be told about a specific scenario and it just won't have the same impact as experiencing that scenario through story. Story (narrative writing) is the best illustration of the old maxim about not knowing a man until you walk a mile in his shoes. Story allows the reader to "live" in that world in a way that simply being told facts will not. Persuasion is much more successful when paired with the emotional connection found in narrative.
Name
9/17/2018 09:08:43 pm
The book I chose was Raisin in the Sun, a book about the Youngers, a working-class black family, struggling against economic hardship and racial prejudice.The book is essentially about dreams, as the main characters struggle to deal with the oppressive circumstances that rule their lives. The title of the play references a conjecture that Langston Hughes famously posed in a poem he wrote about dreams that were forgotten or put off.
name
9/17/2018 09:10:01 pm
word count: 254 9/20/2018 05:57:24 pm
Your comments are especially pertinent in light of the recent attacks by our current Secretary of Education on Public Education. It seems very easy to use phrases like "adult daycare" and ghetto" school for people who have never been in our buildings and have never seen the great things accomplished every single day by students like you. I struggle with the concept of "privatizing" public education... How does a company make a profit off students who all learn differently and leave here with different objectives.I do think it comes down to fear... People like the character, Karl Lindner, are afraid of what a good public school with a diverse population might do to their culturally exclusive neighborhoods. It seems shameful that A Raisin in the Sun was written 1959 and yet recent news events don't make it seem that we have grown very much since then.
September
9/17/2018 09:28:53 pm
A good book that should be used in the school and community to help create common ground is a book of poetry by Nikki Giovanni called A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter. In this book, Giovanni discusses the challenges of growing up as a southern black women through the use of free verse and prose. Giovanni discusses issues of poverty, racism, and social injustice. These are very important issues to be discussed, especially in East Hartford High School were some people have had at least some association with these issues, whether they have faced these issues, personally, or know someone who has been affected by these issues. Through discussion of these issues, common ground can be created by sharing experiences and informing others of the effects of these issues. Discussing these challenges help to raise awareness of these issues and bring people’s attention to how their thoughts and actions affect others, even if they don’t notice it. If this book is discussed through classes, over the years these issues presented in A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter may not be as present as they still are. Hopefully, over the years as people become aware of the effects of their actions and how their thoughts can become harmful, less adversity, caused by people’s fears, will be present. 9/21/2018 08:48:25 am
Well, as you've probably surmised by now, I love poetry. I would never call myself a poet, but I so love exploring verse! Giovanni has always held a strong appeal for me and I am so glad that you picked her collection as your "common ground" example. I agree; I think this collection would most certainly be an important choice for our school. I'd love to have a poem-a-day activity and use Giovanni's poems as the anchor text. There is a poplar sentiment that poetry speaks to us through emotion and, as we know, that may be the fastest way to create empathy. What a great way to show students that your voice is important!
tucker
9/17/2018 10:21:05 pm
Lois Lowry’s The Giver takes place in a dystopian setting where only one person (sometimes two) in the entire community knows the history of the world. It repeats as a cycle where one person, The Giver, teaches the other, The Receiver, but once The Receiver is fully educated, The Giver dies. These people who know this information are not allowed, under any circumstance, to share what they have learned with anyone outside of each other. Their society does not want anyone to know about the past because they are afraid of the community gaining prior knowledge. This connects to our world today in that on social platforms, everything is twisted or misconstrued. For example, so many things are made up about anyone famous. Paparazzi and TMZ are constantly making up false stories and headlines just for attention. The same thing goes for Youtubers -- “clickbait,” or an attention-grabbing but inaccurate title, is extremely common. Also, in politics, it is difficult to believe much of anything. It seems like everyone has something to say but each story is different. 9/21/2018 08:58:13 am
The Giver is one of those novels that speaks to so many different ages in so many ways. Your connections to social media were interesting, especially as I see that today's general " public information gathering" is through sources that are, by nature, completely opinion-based, usually biased, and filled with false logic arguments. It is unbelievably saddening to me that true journalism has been overshadowed by the "fake news" of the social media.It creates a shadow on honest reporting and endangers the freedom of information that we must have in order to make informed decisions. The Giver is a dystopian look at a society's reaction to this. How terrifying that I can see the same sentiment being touted now!
blues clues
9/17/2018 11:30:40 pm
“Far from the Tree” by Robin Benway is a perfect book to help reach a common ground because it shows the issues of growing up without your biological parents that unfortunately many kids go through in today's society. The book is told through three different perspectives of the main character and her siblings that were all separated from being put up for adoption and foster homes. This is a problem in our society because there is lots of woman that get pregnant and end up putting their baby up for adoption.That leaves those babies wondering where they came from and question why they are the way they are and look for answers just like the main character Grace did when she tried to find her mom. Many people that i personally know and heard of are adopted or are in foster homes due to the fact that their parents couldn't take care of them when they were babies or just didn't want them. 9/21/2018 09:24:19 am
I really loved this novel. I think that is so important to acknowledge the importance of belonging and, with so many children entering the foster system, we must address this issue. Even though this is a fictional work, I could see the truth behind this need to belong and to discover your past. I think that, as a common ground novel, this book could really inspire some great conversations about the need to belong to a "family" unit even if it's a non-traditional family. In life, we belong to see many "families": work families, biological families, friend families, community families, etc. Thematically, this could be stretched to encompass the world as a whole!
blues clues
9/17/2018 11:31:39 pm
(word count 221)
Phantom
9/18/2018 12:14:57 am
John Green's Turtles All The Way Down is an intriguing book about Aza who works on trying to maintain a perfect image while having Obsessive Compulsive disorder causing her to have millions of thoughts fly around inside her mind. When the main protagonist has this disorder, the thoughts that are described seem foreign, yet people come closer to understanding. Stories like Turtles All The Way Down are important to the community because they give insight to people with different mindsets and readers have the ability to be more empathetic or at least sympathetic to those thoughts.
Edgar Wright
9/23/2018 11:35:18 am
Fiction Literature has always been underappreciated as harmful stories with no real world importance. Though, writers have learn to take full advantage of the medium to make huge statements and raise questions that make readers indulge in profound conversations. Far from the Tree, written by Robin Benway, tells a gripping story about three orphans trying to find where they belong. This book shows us the full, uncensored version of how an orphan would live their life. Constantly switching from family to family with no one to really trust. Orphan characters in media prior to Far from the tree had never been portrayed so realistically and without restraint. This book opened my eyes to how bizarre it could be to live as an orphan. While at the same time touching subjects i would never converse with my parents about.They explore themes of teen pregnancy, drug abuse, social norms. All of these are still relevant to this day and are crucial for teens to consider and talk about at their age. The book can be very melodramatic and a little corny, the underlying themes and lessons it teaches us should not go undervalued. Teens can relate to the situations in this book and even learn more about themselves. Books like these show that while Fiction is all made up stories, the way we interpret them shows how true to contemporary life the story could be. At the end of the day, i left this book knowing more about society, and myself. Comments are closed.
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