D.C.Williams (1899-1983) said that Blake was a romantic with a critical view on the world, he maintained that Blake’s Songs of Innocence were made as a view of an ideal, somewhat Utopian view whereas he used the Songs of Experience in order to show the suffering and loss posed by the nature of society and the world of his time. wikipedia: William Blake

Read several poems from Blake’s, Songs of Innocence and Experience.

In particular pay attention to the 2 poems titled, The Chimney Sweeper.

What idea(s) does Blake suggest to us about The Human Condition – In Search of Self?

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Check your email:

• manage your contacts
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Login (or register) to STJ Forums:

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Consider the “Equality–Pain and Pride” focus questions.

He drew a circle that shut me out —
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.
– Edwin Markham

We want to be judged by who we are–our words and actions–not by mere appearances or social standing. Yet our world is filled with inequalities. In this course, students examined the issues of equality and rights recognizing that, in our society, we need to balance personal needs with responsibilities and demands required of citizens. There is both pain and pride in being human.

Make connections in your discussion to a book(s) you have read this term, personal experiences, and/or current world events.

What ideas(s) does the author of your chosen text(s) reveal to you about the need to balance personal needs with responsibilities and demands required of citizens?

Pingback/comment your final post here.

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“Rocks are metaphors.” – D. Sader

“They are just piles of rocks.” – K. Lumayko

In ELA 10 we have been discussing gender inequality: particularly as inequalities are portrayed in advertisements.

We think it would be interesting to create our own TV advertisements. So here is what we are going to do:

• write a script and storyboard for a 30 second TV commercial (2 days)
• reinforce gender stereotypes, take advantage of bias to sell the product
• use iMovie and export to youtube and embed in a post (3-5 days)
• oh, the product is 500g of parking lot gravel

I have 5 digital video cameras, so a maximum of five groups makes sense.

Let me know what groups you’ve made in a comment below.

Post a link to your script/storyboard for approval before you begin filming.

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I have three boys aged 9, 7, and 4. It should be no surprise that we all like Star Wars. Well, we were all watching another episode of “Clone Wars” last week when all three of us reacted to a couple of toy commercials.

The first commercial we reacted to was for a Mommy Look I Can Swim Doll. The image of a 3-6 year old girl tossing a lifelike baby doll into the pool was horrifying to me. Doesn’t the product description at Amazon sound horrifying to you?

For ideal balance, the manufacturer recommends holding the doll underwater until all the air bubbles disappear through the holes in her back.

My boys and I struggled to make sense of why girls would want a swimming baby doll. Perhaps you can help abate my fears.

The second ad we reacted to was for a Barbie Totally Real House, complete with a toilet with “flush sounds” and a mechanical spinning washer and dryer. The commercial actually featured a barbie sitting on the toilet with a flush sound. The boys, and I, thought that was “totally” gross.

I asked the 4 year-old if Santa should bring him a Barbie for Christmas to which he replied, “Boys don’t play with dolls, Daddy.”

My boys didn’t detect the irony of the dozens of Star Wars Action Figures littering the living room floor.

At any rate, my boys are learning, defining, reinforcing gender roles from the advertisements on TV. Sigh.

What do boys learn about girls from watching the advertising aimed at girls? What are the girls learning about boys from products advertised to boys?

Your Task:

Consider the gender definitions portrayed in advertising directed at children. Pay particular attention to gender role reinforcement in children’s toys. Write a blog post in which you critically analyze 3-5 examples of toys (and their ads) directed at young children.

At the same time, discuss the “Gender Inequality in Children’s Toys/Ads” issue with your classmates in the STJ Forums.

Hint: Pay particular attention to your course focus questions as they relate to gender-based inequality.

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©2010 Pingo Lingo. All Rights Reserved.

Consider this article by Michael Kessler from the Washington Post.

It is the current trend to see anonymous comments attached to news stories at any popular news or sporting news site. Click on any hot topic and you’ll soon see the comments turn to ridicule and nonsense soon enough.

Michael Kessler in the Post article argues that intelligent, careful, and creative online writing is under assault by reckless commenters hostile to reason:

And then we watch helplessly while anonymous commenters hijack threads and launch screed upon hateful screed in every direction.

There’s nothing so deflating as to spend lots of time polishing off a thoughtful piece and then look at the comments to see lunatics ranting about Nostradamus-style end-times prophecy. Or conspiracy theories.

Worse are the haters and mockers who would disagree with even a simple hello. Worst are those who fail to read with any care, hurling canned insults at us, at each other, and at their political, religious, and moral opponents.

Michael Kessler cites a few examples of stories cursed by this affliction.

Can you find examples of “Anonymous Commenters Behaving Badly” in public stories at cbc.ca or tsn.ca (or some other news or sporting news site)?

Post a link to the story, state its main idea, then quote an example of the type of comment Michael Kessler cautions us about. What is your take on “The Problem with Anonymous Commenting”?

STJ School Forum : Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology : The Problem with Anonymous Commenting

The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
shmyshak, November 13, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
camyshak, November 4, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
krochford, November 4, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
dsader, November 4, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
klumayko, November 3, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
hcarlson, November 2, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
cdejong, November 2, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
apoliakiwski, November 2, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
jtimpano, November 2, 2009
The Problem with Anonymous Commenting in Staying Human in an Engineered Age : Test our relationship with technology
kmarsh, November 2, 2009

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