English 11

Monday Today we watched the rest (almost) of Memento.

Friday Today we started with a discussion of a quote from Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian media philosopher:  We look at the present through a rearview mirror; we walk backwards into the future.  We then watched the first half of the film Memento. Thursday Once the journals were done, we listened to two more debates today. I discussed the possibility of doing a film study for the remaining classes and showed the trailer for The Crucible. Unfortunately, half a dozen of you have already seen it, so I will see what else I can come up with. Wednesday I was time for debating today. We listened to two debates. I am looking forward to hearing the rest tomorrow! Tuesday Please be advised that a novel autograph (about the non-fiction book from this term) will be due on Friday, June 12. This will be the last opportunity to hand in any late work from term 4 before report cards. I was away today unexpectedly. As a result, I asked that the TOC give the class a debating task...

Friday "O ur compulsion to document our lives is replacing our desire to participate in it." I am unable to find the exact source for the above quote. It was a comment made in an article in the Huffington Post about a British TV series called Black Mirror made by a man named Charlie Brooker. The reaction of the class to viewing the White Bear episode was surprising. As I watched the class watch, everyone appeared very engaged. The comments after the viewing did catch me off guard. Some people liked it, other disliked it strongly (not that surprising); others found it very disturbing and still others did not understand it. Regardless, I thought the conversation that the episode prompted afterward was very interesting. It is important to remember what satire is when viewing this series. Satire is about pointing out issues or problems in society and has at its goal the intention to bring about change. The White Bear episode is intentionally far-fetched, disturbing and ridicu...