N. 29 DEC 9 PRIMO LEVI

COMMENT

Write the name of the publication and title of the review of Survival in Auschwitz (alternative title If this is a man).
Write a brief summary of the review.

SEPARATE PARAGRAPH
First read the 3 chapters assigned.
What is your raw reaction to the content of these chapters?

N. 28 Due Dec 5 Pinocchio

COMMENT

 

TWO SEPARATE PARAGRAPH

 

1)   Choose one episode (scene, accident) in the plot, starting from the very beginning of the book and describe it briefly.

 

Each student will read the previous episodes reported and will add a new one. The episodes must follow the order in which they appear in the book. You cannot go back to a previous episode / page.

For instance, if the sequence of comments arrived at the Red Lobster Inn, the next comment cannot go back to Mangiafuoco.

 

2) Pick what you consider a most disturbing scene in the book. Summarize it in one line and EXPLAIN why you chose this particular scene. Does it have to do with your fears as a child? Or your sensitivity to a particular situation (ex. you are scared of angry people; irresponsible people; cruelty; taking advantage of others...)

 

 

N. 27 Due Monday Dec 2 OPEN TOPIC

COMMENT:

 

Two separate paragraphs:

 

1) Looking back at all the materials we covered in class, is there any topic that you still find relevant in today's culture?

 

2) What is the single most intriguing small detail that made an impression and that probably only you noticed (both in lectures and course materials)?

 

DON'T forget to COMMENT on n. 26.

N. 25 - Due Nov. 25 -

Pick TWO issues we discussed in the lecture of Wed Nov. 20.

Summarize the issues, each in a separate paragraph, and add your comment. Make your comments personal and possibly interesting.

READ the comments written by your classmates and posted AFTER yours: pick one that was particularly well articulated and reply explaining what you liked it about it.

N. 24 - Due NOV 20 - MIRANDOLINA (La Locandiera)

We need volunteers to play the various characters in La Locandiera.

 

If you want, you can get together with a classmate and split the play by the act.

 

SO FAR we have

 

MIRANDOLINA , Maira

Conte di Albafiorita   Alex

 

Marquis of Forlimpopoli

Fabrizio

Barone di Ripafratta

Barone's Servant

 

LA LOCANDIERA ENGLISH TEXT

N. 23 - Due NOV 13 LEONARDO

COMMENT

Do you want to talk to the class about something specific you investigated and researched beyond the assignment?
LET ME KNOW HERE. BOOK YOUR SPEECH.

N. 22 - Due NOV 13 LEONARDO

COMMENT

 

The most impressive aspect of Leonardo's personality/work/ is......

(Check previous comments and try to come up with something original or with an original angle about the same aspect.)

 

REPLY

Reply to a comment posted after yours that focuses on something different from your pick.

N. 21: NOV 11 -- who wants to present one of Michelangelo's poems?

In COMMENT, indicate the poem you want to discuss in class.

Use the first line as title, and copy the entire poem.

N. 20 - Due Nov. 11 -- Sara explains the reasons behind her essay on sin in Dante, Pasolini and Boccaccio

PART 1

Scroll down to n. 16.

Read Sara's essay on sexuality and sin in the three authors.

READ the comments that have been posted, in particular Julia's comment: she reveals the sad truth that education discourages individual thinking and risk taking; indeed it encourages students to play it safe and wait to be told what to do.

At this point, write your COMMENT to the posting.

============================

PART 2
 

AFTER you left you comment for n. 16, read Sara's self reflections below and leave another COMMENT

"Hello everyone,
I wrote this essay/answer for the October 30 assignment. I was waiting for more comments before I expose myself. :D
This particular part was not the whole answer I wrote, this was a side note/extra thinking to the assignment itself. The only reason I wrote about the three authors is to understand what actually was going on in the 1300's. It was also because our theme in the class changed drastically from Inferno's punishments to taking sins 'normally' and I kind of wanted to understand that change.
I did the research on the work of both authors, Boccaccio and Dante and then just piled up my thoughts.
On an honest note, I didn't write this as a challenge or task to myself; I was just curious to understand the change in the theme of the class as well as the difference of thinking among the great philosophers of the 1300's. "

 

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REMINDER: MY EVIL TWIN WILL DELETE ALL LATE BLOG COMMENTS

N. 19 - Due November 11 -- Michelangelo's poetry

COMMENT

 Did you have any concept of who Michelangelo was as an artist and a person before reading his poetry?
What did you expect to find in his poems?
What aspect of his personality did you find in the poem of your choice?
How did it make you feel about him?

REPLY  Choose a comment that matches the same kind of responses you had when you read Michelangelo's poems. Explain what you have in common with your classmate in terms of emotional response.

N. 18 - Due Nov 11 Web search video MICHELANGELO

Web search: Find a substantial video (45 minutes and up) on Michelangelo's life or work or both. Don't just pick the first on the list - spend a couple of minutes looking for something with good production value and with credibility.

COMMENT:   This task is about the feeling of learning and knowing something new.

1) Copy the URL


2) Briefly explain what attracted you to this video as you were scrolling the list.

3) Summarize ONE piece of information you learned that you find valuable.

4) Who should watch this video? What kind of person would like to learn this material? Does it require some degree of previous knowledge to fully appreciate it?

KEEP THE 4 POINTS SEPARATE. No info-minestrone, please.


REPLY: Reply to any of the comments written AFTER yours. Pick the comment that makes the best sales pitch.

N. 17 - NOV 11 WARNING

Warning:

 

Henceforth late comments and replies will be deleted.

 

COMMENT

Confirm you read the announcement.

N. 17 -- NOV 6: Volunteers to introduce Boccaccio's short stories

In COMMENT book one of the short stories. You will give a very brief presentation in class. The presentation includes a summary of the plot but, most important, a critical analysis. 

What is the moral of the story?

What does it say about human nature?

What kind of message does it communicate to the readers?

Is the message still valid today?

What does it say about THE SOCIAL VALUES (what was considered important and noble) of the Middle Ages?

N. 16 Due Nov 6: Dante Boccaccio Pasolini and the concept of sin

Here is the best essay I received for assignment Oct. 30.

 

You will notice that your classmate took the initiative to use the knowledge she (yes, she) had acquired during the course and bundle it together in a series of brilliant observations.

 

COMMENT:  Be honest: would you have been able to write something similar, had you come up with the idea of comparing the three authors?

 

In other words, this essays shows a two-step process: first, an idea sparked in her mind; second, she knew how to present this idea in an effective and crystal clear manner.

 

If you had gone as far as step one, would you have been able to pull off writing about it?

 

TO THE AUTHOR: if you want, please identify yourself. Please explain what made you think you could handle the task you gave yourself.

 

(...) I felt that there was some sort of drift in the concept/work done by Dante, Boccaccio, and Pasolini. Dante’s inferno had different circles in which he put people according to their sins. Lust of money, seducers, traitors like wife cheating husband, corrupted nuns, murdering sister’s lover, betraying the lady that she can become a horse and having sexual intercourse with her are all examples of sins in Boccaccio’s novel and then presented by Pasolini in the movie. Dante’s inferno was written in early 1300’s and the novel with these stories was written by Boccaccio in 1375. It is astonishing to see two different writers of the same time period indirectly opposing each other’s work. Boccaccio’s novel has many sins described in the inferno by Dante but the reaction to the sinners is completely different. 

In Decameron, sinners even after committing the sins are happy and there is no fear of the outcomes these sins will have in the afterlife. Dante’s inferno would have left the audience of that time to think about their deeds and afterlife. Whereas, Boccaccio’s novel seems to be making fun of the sins mentioned in inferno and portraying the sins as a ‘normal’ thing.

Personally, the reactions I had for Inferno and Decameron are completely different. Inferno left me with the fear/threat of what the afterlife could look like, but Decameron made me think nobody cares about what others are doing, everyone can do whatever they want to do. They have no fear of being caught or getting punished.

N 15 Due Oct 23 About weird ideas

COMMENT

An Italian political activist (a provocateur) launched the idea that older people, past a certain age, should lose the right to vote.
Aside from the details (what age etc.), what do you think about this idea? 

In favor or against? Or IGNAVO/IGNAVA.

And, most important, WHY?

REPLY
Reply to a comment that support the opposite position but that presents an original and smart argument.

N. 14 Due Oct 23 About cooperative tests

COMMENT

What is your opinion about the cooperative test you just took in the class?

Positive or negative?

 

Or are you IGNAVO/A  (Italian has two forms for adjectives: masculine [ignavo] and feminine [ignava].

 

Give a good argument for your case. Be original, come up with your own personal idea.

 

REPLY  to a student who posted a comment AFTER YOU (you will have to come back here later.)

Choose a comment that you consider better articulated and argued than yours, and explain the reasons of your choice.

 

N. 13 - More about sin and punishment

You should all read the comments and replies in n. 12. Some are a bit long, so here is a quicker way:

COMMENT  --  Break down your answer in two paragraphs, using 1) and 2) to clearly distinguish between the two.

1) Start naming the sin you chose for n. 12. Describe in a few words Dante's punishment and write the name of one of the sinners.

2) Describe the punishment you would like to inflict for this sin, trying to make the punishment fit the sin, as Dante does with his "contrappasso" logic (you can recycle what you wrote in n. 12, if it works.)  For contrappasso, click here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrapasso

N. 12 - What is your favorite sin and who is your favorite sinner?

Lecture 8

 

Look at the diagram of the Inferno, choose your favorite sin (THIS IS NOT A CONFESSION!!!) and search online the names of characters Dante places in the respective circle of Inferno.

 

COMMENT:

 

1) Check the comments before yours and pick a different sin (no repeats.)  Did you recognize the names of any of the characters? Who is your favorite (or most despised?) It can be a minor figure among the many Dante mentions.

SEPARATE PARAGRAPH

 

2) What kind of punishment would you inflict to the sinners? Creativity is a must.

 

REPLY: Wait until at least 10 comments have been posted.

 Read the comments and reply to the most intriguing punishment your classmates came up with.

N. 11 Your questions about aspects of the lecture OCT 7

Go over your notes. When/if you find aspects that you want clarified, write a question in the COMMENT section. I will try to answer to the best of my ability.

 

Make sure you also do basic research online on Wikipedia or other websites. If you formulate your questions correctly, you will find a lot of good answers.

10. "Best practice" example

Here is a model answer from one of you classmates, taken from the Sept 23 assignment.

 

" Jacopone’s lauda struck me as fascinating because, throughout the whole piece, I was waiting for the moment the poem would shift into a more positive note but I was actually pleased when it didn’t happen.

Jacopone used the cliché of anguish and penance in a new way, many poets that would write a poem like this would have to, before finalizing, turn it around somehow. Instead, this poet goes even farther, stating that the pains he mentions are not even enough as they are.

Another thing that amazed me about the poem was that, despite not many people being well-read in medicine or bodily ailments at the time, Jacopone is obviously not one of them. His expressiveness in coming up with more gradually worse sicknesses to be ravaged by actually shows this isn’t any literate man. This is a scholar with heavy martyr complex that knows how to make his work of torments elevate the reader to even empathize his reverence to God."

COMMENT:   Which aspect of this comment deals more directly with the READER'S RESPONSE? Which other aspects are "textual analysis?"

REPLY: find a comment you disagree with and give your reasons. The disagreement can be about a very subtle point. Indeed, the more subtle the better.