Visual Rhetoric Through the Years

This exercise gives students an introduction to some of the language and terminology of visual rhetoric in a brief teacher-guided discussion. Following the discussion, students, in small groups, will find both a vintage print advertisement and a current print ad within the same general category and examine how different forms of appeals have evolved through time, how ads now target their specific audiences, and, in general, how ads have changed, and why. Groups will present their findings to the class. Having the opportunity to see what in advertising has changed (as well as what has not changed) will allow students a hands-on introduction to the utilization and evolution of visual rhetoric

Developing a Thesis and Utilizing Supporting Evidence

Allow students more experience with formulating a thesis statement and drawing on specific textual evidence to support it. Students can utilize any reading they are familiar with—this familiarity allows them to already have knowledge of the piece’s content, and ability to use the most appropriate points as support. This activity assumes some prior exposure to and practice with thesis statements

“Twins in Blood Only: Zadie Smith\u27s White Teeth and the Failure of Foils”

My presentation is titled, “Twins in Blood Only: Zadie Smith’s White Teeth and the Failure of Foils”. I initially conceived of this to be a conference paper, but as I jumped into the novel with a class of high school juniors and seniors last spring, I realized that it was the germ of a conference paper, but also a truly dynamic teaching text. What follows is my experiences teaching the novel, as well as how my students and myself worked through some of the more complex and troubling aspects of the plot. I’m retaining my focus on the role of the twins in the novel, and I would also claim that Smith’s entire novel contains a multitude of colliding Third Spaces that form, intersect, interact, dissolve, and re-form as something new. This, as I will explain shortly, is an action that the students at my school also constantly engage in

Blurred Lines: Gender in Advertising

By the time they reach high school, students have been so deluged by both media and advertising messages that they may have become somewhat immune to them. Looking at ads under a focus of gender studies can illuminate the ways that many of the messages and themes challenge, support, or prolong certain established gender norms. Students will examine images from two ad campaigns, either from a 2014 Nine West campaign, or a 2011 Christian Louboutin campaign (both featuring women’s shoes), and discuss how the image contributes to, defies, or introduces new gender roles. Both of these ad campaigns feature themes and messages which were critically considered to be everything from humorous and tongue-in-cheek, to degrading and sexist. Students who are best equipped to undertake this lesson would have already spent time reading at least a few introductory texts on gender studies, so they would have some of the vocabulary at hand. This will also allow for a more sophisticated discussion. Because conversations dealing with gender can get both very heated and very personal, instructors may opt to introduce this lesson for upper-level students

Intro to Intros: Victorian Literature in Brief

Often, teachers struggle with a way to introduce students to a large canon (such as Victorian Literature) without overwhelming them with a heavy reading load. Many teachers can also not expect that students will read outside of class, and cannot devote great swaths of time to in-class reading. This lesson seeks to introduce students to some exemplary representational examples of Victorian literature by reading a portion of the novel’s first chapter, and allowing them to discuss what they have seen, analyze, make predictions, and draw conclusions, based on their reading. This lesson is most suitable for students who have already done some critical reading in their English courses, and are positioned to make predictions about characters, plot development, atmosphere, and literary styles

Revising Thesis Statements

Allows students to see the potential for revision in their own thesis statements. Encourages both revision and avoiding “falling in love” with the first draft of a thesis. Activity assumes some prior knowledge of good conventions for thesis statements

Acting Out the Old Sport

The purpose of this exercise is twofold: one, to have students make text-based interpretations in their discussion, planning, and eventual performance of scenes from The Great Gatsby; two, to have students see the crucial (albeit sometimes frustrating) role of Nick Carraway as the narrator of the novel. In their performance groups, one student will fill the role of “performing” (verbally) Carraway’s interior monologue as conceived by the group, so it will be necessary for students to make informed decisions on his mental commentary. In being tasked with bringing Fitzgerald’s text to life for their peers, students will also gain a deeper understanding of some of the fundamental aspects of fiction: scene, character development, plot, dialogue, and others

\u3cem\u3eArming Herself in Leaden Stupor: Janet\u27s Repentance\u3c/em\u3e and the Role of Female Alcoholism

George Eliot\u27s fiction contains a wealth of figures who are touched by intoxication: both through their own imbibing, and (sometimes literally) because of others\u27 drinking. As Kathleen McCormack1 has noted, the instances of drink are closely tied to the manifestoes of realism in the early fiction and that ...despite George Eliot\u27s reputation for earnestness, responsibility, and even ponderousness, a remarkable number of her characters stagger through the novels with their perceptions blurred and reason distorted by unwise consumption of brandy, wine, beer, ale, patent medicines, and opium (2, 40). In drawing freely upon this trait and using it frequently within her fiction, Eliot continued to firmly establish herself as an author of realism—undauntedly portraying all facets of true human existence. This extended to the presentation of a drunken female in her work Janet\u27s Repentance, contained within the collection of stories, Scenes of Clerical Life, written for and serialized in John Blackwood\u27s Blackwood\u27s Edinburgh Magazine, beginning in 1857. Within this novel is the title-character who, although mentioned by critics (McCormack among them) as perhaps Eliot\u27s most important treatment of intoxication still goes largely unexamined

Spread Newspapers Around: Students Acting! The Invaluable Role of Modern Theater Class in a STEM Environment

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. This line of William Shakespeare’s, itself often redrawn and refashioned to suit different intended purposes, perhaps never rings as poignantly as during high school. Students speak of trying on a particular personality or character, as they desperately seek for what TRUE player dwells behind the mask. The years between junior high and secondary education exist for many students as their own personal time of remaking. Students exit one wing in adolescence, rush behind the curtain as they take up or cast off whatever masks and accoutrements they desire, and emerge at the opposite side, maybe as an entirely new character. This paper seeks to explore the relationship between creativity in the Modern Theater classroom (as taught by myself at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy [IMSA]—a residential public high school for highly gifted STEM students) and its benefits to and creative application of the students across all their classes. And, naturally, I do not here intend to advocate for or claim the absence of such challenges to students in their STEM-focused coursework. Rather, I seek to show the highly beneficial and often unique challenges experienced by these students within a different type of class. As many schools move, or are forced to move away from the arts and humanities, my experiences with this course have solidified even more the understanding of just how crucial these types of classes can be

He, She, They, Them, Us: Teaching Gender Studies in a STEM Environment

In this session, we will share the importance of teaching Gender Studies as an English elective in a STEM school. We will introduce our curriculum, including biological and socially constructed theories of gender and how these inform gender-related legal and social challenges in our world. Areas of focus include the role of gender in: politics, sports, media, literature, and culture. Our aim is to share our experiences and course materials with other humanities teachers and discuss and strategize ways to eliminate gender bias in our own schools as well as prepare students for the post-secondary world