Compare Holden to Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby,  Willy or Biff Loman and yourself. 

3* The Barefoot Bandit

1. Can rebellion be stopped?

2. Are people born evil or innocent? Or do people do evil things due to things in their lives?

3. Like Holden do you think the Barefoot Bandit did these crimes for attention?

4. What drives people to do these crazy things in life?

New: Do you think that the Bandit regrets what he did after he was caught or enjoys the attention?

1* Kim Jung-un

What do you believe are the necessary steps and/or traits to pull people like Holden and Kim Jung-un out of isolation?

3*  - Friday Seminar

 

Boston bombing

1. In the novel, do you think Willy can be seen as detrimental/beneficial to his kids?Do you think Willy wants the best for his kids?

2. Are Willy's intentions good or evil?

3. Is man's nature inherently good or evil?

4. Are Biff and Happy defined by their father?

new;

Could there be good without evil or vice versa? Why do you think people like the people who blew up the bombs in Boston do what they do?

1* Prince William and Harry

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266017/Prince-Harry-Prince-William-Sibling-rivalry-royal-brothers-revealed.html

1. How is Prince William similar to Biff? How is Prince Harry similar to Happy?

2. Both Harry and Happy act out, what do you think motivates both of them to do that?

3. Prince William is envious of Harry, do you believe that Biff is envious of Happy's position in the family?

Blog Question:

Do you have siblings? If you do then do you feel pressured in any way? Are you pressured the same amount as your siblings? Do you share the expectations? Why do you think this?

If you don't have siblings then how do you imagine it being if you did have siblings?

3* North Korea Propaganda - Perception v. Reality

Gatsby has two sides: how he and those close to hime perceive him and how everyone else perceives him.
Those in North Korea see themselves and the world differently than we do.

1. How do we see North Korea as a potential threat?  Is there anything to worry about?  In the novel, do the people that know Gatsby only by rumors see him as a potential threat?

2. Does the way others perceive you change the way you perceive yourself?

3. Will people only do things because it will make them look a certain way?  Or would they still do it even if no one was watching?

4.  Like the people in N. Korea is Gatsby himself also ignorant to the way he or others perceive him?

5.  Are there things in our lives that we're ignorant to or won't admit?  Do we do things that we wouldn't do otherwise if no one was watching?

1*- Parental Choices Gone too Far?

Gatsby: disregard for legality/morality.  Where do you draw the line?
questions from seminar

questions

1. Should this mother be allowed to give her child pot?

2. If we legalize, what should age restrictions be?

3.If we legalize how would we enforce the punishments of abuse/underage?

4.If legalized , would it really help the economy?

5. If weed is legalized do you think other drugs will become legalized as well? which ones?

6.If legalized, would more people use weed? would the people who smoke weed use it less , like with alcohol after the prohibition?

7. If you had your say , would you legalize weed? nationally? or state by state?

8.If weed was at parties in the 1920s do you think people would have smoked it?

9. If weed is legalized does the appeal of it drop?

 blog question

1. How much influence should citizens have on making laws?

2. How much government should be used to enforce laws?

 

Spring Break Reading

Provide literary devices, themes, style observations or responses, thoughts, ideas and/or predictions

Look at all these Rumors -#*

1. Why do people choose to believe rumors that do not have any evidence?

2. Does the author want the reader to believe these rumors about Gatsby?

3. Do people actually care about what is going on in a rumor or do people just get sucked into them because of amusement.

 

Which is more powerful? The perceptions people associate with each other, or a person's true identity? How does this relate to Gatsby and are there any consequences? 

Party gone Awry-1*

Why do you think teenagers party recklessly today?

 

How does it compare to the parties at Gatsby's house?

 

Would what you have done if you had been at this party?

 

What do you think Nick Carraway would have done if he were in this same situation?

1st Grader- Fitting in to societal roles

1.  What do you think the school should do to/for the little girl?

2.  What do you think all of a sudden caused the school to change its mind about letting her use the women's facilities?

3.  How will this impact her in her future life?

New:  How is Alexandra prevented from doing everything she could've done if she were a man in that time period

Olympic Murder?

Blog Question: Can murder ever be justified? Would you be able to forgive someone for murdering a family member of loved one?

3* Alexandra: Women in Charge

BBC.co.uk/news/business-11606229

1.      If more women were like Alexandra and worked hard for what they want, would there be more women in the workforce and higher positions?

2.      Why do you think there is such a divide between men and women in the workforce?

3.      Do you think the divide will lesson or disappear in the future?

New: Should big governments use taxes and/or laws to lower the gender gap in the workforce instead of creating a free market where the person best equipped for the job receives it

1* Immigrants

1.  Is our country too accepting of immigrants?
2.  What is the motivation of immigrants?
3.  Do immigrants appreciate the American Dream?

New Question:  In your opinion, do immigrants have a positive or negative effect on our country?

1* Bratz- Censorship

Our question for the blog is, "Do you believe it is necessary to "censor" young children from some things until they get older?"

3* Censorship- Here and China

Do you think if our government started censoring work like the Chinese government does now the product would be civilized and orderly people, or spark a revolution because it angered people? What do you think the role of government should be when it comes to censorship?

Huckleberry Finn ("Quiz")

Realism.  Huck Finn is considered a noble savage.  How does this apply? Is he a realistic character?  How does Twain use realism throughout the novel? Does the novel end realistically?  What message does he achieve by the methods of realism you mentioned?  How is it relevant?