snowflakes

Who’s the last person you had a really great conversation with?

You just acquired a magic wand. What will you use it for?

Have you ever felt that everyone you know has turned against you? What were the circumstances? How did you deal with the situation?

What do you do to stay healthy?

Write an essay about some particular aspect of Globalization.

Search the net for a few quotes about the human condition. Recall these focus questions to help you in your search.

Collect a handful of phrases that give you pause to think. Avoid anonymous quotes, note the author. (Keep the unharmed list safe in your notes somewhere.)

Go to wordle.net and and blast one, or some, or a whole pile into your own “wordle”. Try several attempts till you have something rich in thought, an inspiration to a deep thinker like yourself.

When you have a “wordle” you like, take a screen capture of it (Mac: command+shift+4 or Windows: Print Screen key) and upload the “png” to your blog and ….

Write a creative narrative (a short short story of about 500-1000 words) that develops an idea about the human condition inspired from your “wordle“.

Warning: These example short short stories from the net are certainly not inspired by this activity, but they are playful in form and have a certain lexical density.

Dinosaur

Periwinkles

Extract from a Novel

Warning: the ideas you spawn from generators like these should be used with caution, seriously.

Story Idea Generator

Story Idea Generator (tv tropes)

How to Write a Short Story

Here’s $1000. Spend it in the next hour or lose it. No online shopping allowed.

Write an essay about a current human rights issue. It could be a world-wide concern or one with a Canadian focus.

When are you happiest?

Name the most recent movie that disappointed you.

How many movies and television shows can you name in which the central issue is “love at first sight?” Why are such shows so popular? How often does love at first sight happen in real life?

Identify a group that you believe has been poorly treated by Canadian society (for example the handicapped or disabled, the elderly, native peoples, farmers, immigrants, refugees, single parents, etc.).

Take notes, then write an inductive argument in which you present the evidence that led to your belief.

In your next draft revise to seek an effective balance of argumentation and persuasion.

Now share this draft and apply your classmates’ best advice.

At home, read aloud to detect wordiness and awkwardness. Edit.

Finally, read your good version to the whole class and be prepared to answer questions.

Invent a course that every high school student should have to take.

Prepare:

• Create a new Word processing document at the google docs. Follow link “Document” when in your STJ email account:
• Table->Insert Table a 5×6 table.
• Label the top B I N G O, centre justified
• Into the remaining 25 squares insert a hyperlink and a brief description to a selected tv trope from Iron Giant.
• Print your Iron Giant TV Trope BINGO card.

Your Task:
Watch the film, record the DVD time and a brief description of the film trope in each square as you discover them.

Maybe we’ll give away treats for any BINGO – a line(horizontal/vertical), a diagonal, an “X”, and of course, the full blackout.

Links:
Google doc of this assignment
Tropes in The Iron Giant
What is a trope?
The Iron Giant at imdb
The Iron Giant wikipedia.org
The Iron Giant at Rotten Tomatoes
STJ Google Docs
STJ Email

Writing assignments on The Iron Giant

Your “I can … ” outcomes:

• “I can … Experiment with language and forms“
• “I can .. examine and re-examine ideas, information and experiences from different points of view to find patterns and see relationships“
• “I can … use knowledge of visual and textual cues and structural features when skimming and scanning various print and other media texts to locate relevant information effectively and efficiently.“
• “I can … identify and discuss how timeless themes are developed in a film.”
• “I can … recognize how imagery and figurative language, such as a trope, create a dominant impression, mood and tone.“
• “I can … focus my attention to synthesize ideas and information from a variety of sources to develop own opinions, points of view and general impressions.“
• “I can … relate tropes from the film to culture and analyze how the film reflect the traditions, beliefs and technologies of different cultures, communities or periods in history.“

What’s the perfect age to retire? How will you know you’re ready?

How do you think modern political leaders in Canada make their government-related decisions? Who are some of the people they might consult? If you were leader of a Canadian political party, whose counsel would you seek before making a decision that might affect the social and economic welfare of the people?

What was the worst pick-up line you’ve heard (or tried)?

In what ways do having goals and dreams, even if the appear to be unrealistic, contribute to the success of an individual?

All of us have had arguments with our parents that we couldn’t win. How have you reacted when this happened to you? Occasionally, parents become upset and annoyed when they feel they are not communicating with a teenager. What kinds of things do parents say under these circumstances?

Is chivalry dead?

What kinds of problems or situations can develop between close friends to strain their relationship? Why does a true friendship usually survive the difficulties that may threaten it?

If you could say anything to anyone without consequence, what would you say, and to whom?

How do you stay focused?

Create your own photo essay about a Canadian you admire – living or dead, famous or not. Use photos you take, or photos collected from print or digital sources. Choose shots that help convey the character of the person.

Alternatively, create a photo essay that pays tribute to your own life so far.

Example: What the World Eats, Part 1

What do you miss most about childhood?

Choose one high-tech invention that you have used, and write an inductive essay that praises or condemns it.

First freewrite on your subject for at least five minutes – automatically, never letting your pencil or keyboard stop – then look over what you have produced in order to learn your point of view.

Now, take more notes, gathering examples. Arrange these in order from least to most important, and from this rough outline write a draft.

In the second draft adjust your tone: Is your whole argument serious or objective? Is it argumentative? Or is it more humorous, subjective, and therefore persuasive? Whichever it is, be consistent.

Now read your argument aloud to family members or classmates, revise any part that fails to work on your audience, then write the final version.

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day?

What does your fitness routine consist of?

What issues do you enjoy debating?

If there were no consequences, what’s the most evil thing you would do?

Can you play any musical instruments?

Take this opportunity to portray, in writing, a special memory from your own life. Use vivid, descriptive language to capture the details of your experience, and include personal reflections that explain why that particular memory is significant to you.

If you could learn one extreme sport for free, what would it be?

Share something you wish you had done differently.

Interview an older relative or friend about the changes that have occurred in his or her lifetime. Consider going to a senior citizen’s home and asking if any of the people there would like to share their stories with you. Prepare your questions ahead of time.

Ask open-ended questions such as:

• What changes have occured in modes of transportation in your lifetime? How do you feel about these changes?
• What was your daily routine like when you were my age?
• What has remained constant throughout your life?
• Do you have any advice to share about adapting to a changing world?

In your report on your interview(s) discuss which responses were most interesting. Were you surprised by any of the changes described? Why or why not?

Suppose you have a brother named Jimmy whom you love very much. One day, a crazy magician kills Jimmy, but then instantly replaces him with an exact copy. This copy is the same as Jimmy in every way, including implanted memories of the past. Would you still cry over Jimmy’s death?

According to Plato, you need not, because the copy reflects the form of beauty in the same way. Would you accept the substitute and love it just as you would the original? According to Plato, you should love them equally well. Many find this answer strange and therefore reject Plato’s theory.

It has been said that society has to adjust to its geniuses rather than geniuses adjusting to society. This means that special individuals (the world’s geniuses) have the effect of changing society. Agree or disagree with this observation. Support or reject it.

Describe a change you have noticed in yourself lately. Do you think you discovered it buried deep in you all along or do you think you invented it? How could you prove it?

What’s the most romantic thing someone has done for you?

Write an essay on one of the Group of Seven.

• Franklin Carmichael
• Lawren Harris
• A. Y. Jackson
• Frank Johnston
• A. J. Casson
• Arthur Lismer
• J. E. H. MacDonald
• Frederick Varley.

Find out what influenced the artist, and the effect his/her work has had on others. Include an assessment of one piece of his/her art.