Week 7

Day 2 03/22

Aim: What are some positive outcomes of uncertainty? What are some examples of social or scientific advances which were brought about by challenging an es-tablished “fact”?

Do Now:

  1. WOD
  2. gaucherie \goh-shuh-REE\ (noun) - 1 : A socially awkward or tactless act. 2 : Lack of tact; boorishness; awkwardness.

    "I went to our table, looking straight before me, and immediately paid the penalty of gaucherie by knocking over the vase of stiff anemones as I unfolded my napkin." -- Daphne Du Maurier, 'Rebecca'

    Gaucherie comes from the French, from gauche, "lefthanded; awkward," from Old French, from gauchir, "to turn aside, to swerve, to walk clumsily."
  3. Writing Prompt #24: If you could morph into anyone (alive, dead, fictional, etc.), who would it be and why?  

    Procedure:

A. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements. Provide examples of people, organiza-tions, or programs in modern society which you think illustrate or refute each statement.
1) Discussion has given way to debate.
2) Communication has become a contest of wills.
3) Public talking has become obnoxious and insincere.
4)“Can you get comfortable with not knowing, with not being certain?”- by John Patrick Shanley. Name three things in your life that you are certain about. Why are you so certain about these things? What do you base your certainty on?

B. Respond to : “The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth.” by Pierre Abelard.

HW #22 Answer and respond all the 5 questions above.

Day 2 03/23

Aim: To review the previous two lessons

Do Now:

  1. WOD
  2. redivivus \red-uh-VY-vuhs; -VEE-\ (adjective) - Living again; brought back to life; revived; restored.

    "'He's Saint-Germain redivivus.' 'He can't be redivivus if he's never died,' Diotallevi said. 'Sure he's not Ahasuerus, the wandering Jew?'" -- Umberto Eco, 'Foucault's Pendulum'

    Redivivus comes from Latin, from the prefix red-, re-, "again" + vivus, "alive."
  3. Writing Prompt #25 Your neighbor has taken in an unusual pet and it does something unpleasant to your house/yard/apartment. Confront your neighbor.

Procedure:

  1. Church hierarchy can be confusing if you are unfamiliar with the terms. Think of the rankings within the Church as you would think of the rankings within a government: The Pope is the top authority, like a president or King, to whom everybody answers. He chooses Cardinals to assist him in specific areas, like the President appoints a Secretary of Education and a Secretary of Defense.
    Just like our country is divided into states which are run by governors, the Church is divided into dioceses which are controlled by bishops. Dioceses come in many different sizes; a single diocese may consist of several counties or an entire state. An especially large diocese is called an archdiocese, and is run by an archbishop.
    Each diocese is then divided up into parishes, which cover several neighborhoods. Each parish has a parish church and a pastor, who is appointed by the bishop.
  2. Characters

HW#23 Respond to the question: Do you believe Sister Aloysius is justified in her actions? In her situation, what would you have done differently?
What, if anything, does Sister Aloysius have doubts about? By creating the character of Sister Aloysius, what is the author trying to say about the nature of doubt (or the danger of certainty)?

Day 3 03/24

Aim: What moral dilemmas do we face in modern society?(page 9 of the link)

Do Now:

  1. WOD
  2. alfresco \al-FRES-koh\ (adverb) - In the open air; outdoors.

    (adjective) - Taking place or located in the open air; outdoor.

    "All of his guests would be gathered at the river for her alfresco, at which time he could send a servant with his regrets that he had been called away and to proceed without him." -- Pamela Aidan, 'These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman'
  3. Writing Prompt #26 Your plane crashes on a deserted island. You and two other passengers survive. The only salvageable items from the plane are pair of scissors, a stopwatch and an electric keyboard. Use these items creatively to get off the island.

Procedure:

1.WHO SHE IS: A young nun in the Sisters of Charity, who teaches eighth grade at St. Nicholas. She spends much of the play trying to convince Sister Aloysius to give up her crusade against Father Flynn, saying that she is convinced of the priest's innocence. “You're not,” Sister Aloysius responds, “You just want things to be resolved so you can have simplicity back.”
THOUGHTS ON TEACHING: In the first scene featuring Sister James we learn that she is inexperienced, but believes herself capable of handling her students. She does not send students down to Sister Aloysius for discipline, preferring to “handle things herself.” Sister James disagrees with Sister Aloysius about a teacher's role in the classroom: “I want my students to feel like they can talk to me,” she says. She thinks that the best way to get students excited about learning is to be enthusiastic about the subjects you teach.

Respond to :What makes a good teacher? Compare the teaching and disciplinary strategies of Sister Aloysius and Sister James. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each woman's philosophy?

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed just months before the events of the play. Prior to 1964, all public schools were segregated. The Act outlawed discrimination in public facilities, government and employment. Despite the laws protecting them, black students still faced ridicule and threats for years after school integration took place.
Some Catholic schools had outlawed segregation as early as 1940, but it was up to the Bishop of each diocese to decide whether or not to integrate the schools under his control. In the play, Sister Aloysius states that Donald is the first black student ever to attend her school.

3.Doubt is set in 1964, in the middle of a period of great change in the Catholic Church. In 1962, Pope John XXIII created something called the “Second Ecumenical Council”, also known as Vatican II, in order to bring the church up to date. He felt that religion had become a “fortress” and the church was failing to address the needs of society. As he put it, “I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.” Gathering all the world‟s bishops in Rome, as well as many religious experts and consultants, Pope John began a series of meetings to reform the Church for the modern age.
Vatican II was a huge undertaking. Over 2500 religious leaders spent four years discussing and writing reforms for a 2,000-year-old institution. The idea of the Council was not to rewrite the documents that the Church was based on, but to figure out how to present those documents in a new way. The changes made during Vatican II are too many to even summarize, but here is a general overview of the face of the church before and after the Council.

3.Read -BEFORE VATICAN II... AFTER VATICAN II...(page 6 of the link)

Respond to the changes in the Catholic Church.

HW#24 Write an story or record an incident where moral dilemmas were present.

Day 4 March 25, 2010

Aim: How is doubt a double-edged sword?

Do now:

  1. WOD
  2. lionize \LY-uh-nyz\ (transitive verb) - To treat or regard as an object of great interest or importance.

    "I had only met her once before, but she took it into her head to lionize me. I believe some picture of mine had made a great success at the time, a least had been chattered about in the penny newspapers, which is the nineteenth-century standard of immortality." -- Oscar Wilde, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'

    Lionize, comes from lion, in the sense of "a person of great interest or importance."
  3. Writing Prompt #27 Name three things in your life that you are certain about. Why are you certain about these things? What do you base your certainty on?

Procedure:

Discuss the following questions:

1. “The beginning of wis-dom is found in doubt-ing; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth.” Pierre Abelard
Think about some positive outcomes of uncertainty. What are some examples of social or scientific advances which were brought about by challenging an es-tablished “fact”?

2. “If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. You become a crotchety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the world. (There is, of course, much data to support you.) But every now and then, a new idea turns out to be on the mark, valid and won-derful. If you are too much in the habit of being skepti-cal about everything, you are going to miss or resent it, and either way you will be standing in the way of un-derstanding and progress.” - Carl Sagan
What is scientific skepticism? What is the role of doubt in scientific inquiry? In your opinion, do doubt and skepticism help or hinder the advance-ment of knowledge?

3. Read the two parables on page 10 of the link

HW#25 Create your own parable. Make sure it teaches a moral lesson.

For Per 6 only (JA Buisiness Plan )

Our mentors' email addresses: taylor.c.jones@aexp.com; adam.r.heller@aexp.com

Day Five 03/26/2010

Aim: How does Flynn's sermon reveal his character?

Do Now:

  1. WOD
  2. supplicate \SUP-luh-kayt\ (intransitive verb) - To make a humble and earnest petition; to pray humbly.

    (transitive verb) - 1 : To seek or ask for humbly and earnestly. 2 : To make a humble petition to; to beseech.

    "With this impression in your favour, it is my advice, that you endeavour to see and supplicate the Baron for your release from prison, and all the peril of his justice." -- Jane Austen, 'Mansfield Park'
  3. Writing Prompt#28 You're riding an elevator when the power goes out. The situation take a turn when the pregnant woman next to you goes into labor.

Procedures:

A. Respond to the following statements-

  1. The bad sleep well.
  2. In much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
  3. Everything that is hard to attain is easily assailed by the mob.

B. Characters