Humanities

Humanities
Originally uploaded by quinn.anya

Hey kids -

Before I forget, I wanted to take a moment to talk to you about your senior year course schedule.

So many of my awesome students from last year have been dropping by my room this week to run poems by me that they've written about themselves for a class project. They are nervous about presenting in front of their peers but their nerves are secondary to the excitement they are feeling as they anticipate the moment this week when they will get up in front of a crowd and reveal their most sacred thoughts - some kids for the first time EVER ! Many of those kids view this experience as one of the culminating moments of their entire high school experience!

Wow - that's intense and amazing and it's all because of a course called Humanities.

If you haven't already signed up to take Humanities your senior year, RUN to guidance ASAP and make sure it's on your schedule.

It's a great course taught by 3 awesome teachers (yeah, you heard me - three. That means you don't see the same ole face day after day for an entire year but instead rotate amongst three geniuses)!

The course examines ideas from different perspectives in order to encourage and foster a holistic approach to viewing the world around you; basically, it teaches you how to move away from a singular view by exposing that viewpoint to the a multitude of arenas such as art, philosophy, classics, history, current events, literature, poetry, culture, sociology. This in turn pumps up your jam, making you wiser and giving you lots of fodder for future late night dorm room discussions.

I heart Humanities and I heart its instructors just as much so get it on your 2009-2010 schedule! NOW!

Modernism

Modernism
Originally uploaded by Marcos Dopico

Characteristics of Modernism

•Loss is a major theme in modernist works.
•The “truth” is questionable, as a common theme, and many narrators are unreliable, whereas in traditional literature it is the narrator’s job to further understanding. Also, there may be more than one narrator, showing the diversity of truth.
•More use of the first person narrative, reflecting the lack of universal truth, i.e. there are only individual truths.
•The destruction of the family unit.
•Characters may be given little or no physical description, and one or more characters is usually an "outcast."
•Authority figures are often untrustworthy, reflecting the question of truth.
•Movement away from religion.
•The reversal of traditional roles
•Ambiguous endings
•Often setting is more than just the setting (i.e. more meaning to it than just where the story takes place), or, maybe there is no setting at all
•The use of improper grammar to reflect dialect.
•Fragmentation – in plot, characters, theme, images, and overall storyline. Thus, for instance, many modernist works are not in the typical linear sequence.

In Poetry:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5664

In Prose:

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/943010

In Art:

http://www.arteducation.com.au/art-movements/modernism.php

In Film:

http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0092.html