Agenda 9/29

Period 1: Work on short stories. Due Monday, Oct. 6.

Think about entering writing contests: Hollins, Bennington, Scholastic

Check out Hollins and Bennington websites.

Period 2: Continue reading Fugitive Pieces.
Post a response to 3 of the following questions:

10. What does Fugitive Pieces say about the condition of being an immigrant? Jakob never feels truly at home anywhere, even in Greece. Ben's parents feel that their toehold in their new home is infinitely precarious, an emotion that communicates itself to Ben. Does Michaels imply that real integration is impossible?

11. Can you explain the very different reactions Ben's parents have had to their experience in the Holocaust? What in their characters has determined the differing ways they respond to grief and loss?

12. The relationship between Ben and Naomi is a troubled one. Why is he angry at her for her closeness to his parents and her attention to their graves? Why does he reject her by leaving for Greece without her? How can you explain his intense desire for Petra--is his need purely physical? How do Petra and Naomi differ? What is the significance of their names?

13. Science has as important a role in the novel as poetry and music. Why is geology so important to Athos, meteorology to Ben? Does science represent a standard of disinterested truth, or does it merely symbolize the world's terrifying contingency?

14. Why might Jakob have named his collection of poems Groundwork, and in what way does that title relate to his life? Jakob calls his young self a "bog-boy" [5]. Why does Ben take such an interest in the preserved bog people he reads about [221]?

15. The last line of the novel is Ben's: "I see that I must give what I most need." What does he mean by this? What does he most need, what will he give, and to whom?

16. What is the significance of the novel's title? What do "pieces," or "fragments," mean within Michaels's scheme? Where in the novel can you find references to fragments?

Agenda 9/26

Double Period writing short stories.

Continue to read Fugitive Pieces. Finish Part II for Tuesday.

Coming Soon! Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching neck, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made...

Agenda 9/24

Discuss Part I Fugitive Pieces.
Work on stories.
For next Tues. 9/30---Finish Fugitive Pieces, go over the Reader's Guide questions.
Friday will be a writing day.

Quiz--Reading

A. Identify the following characters in Fugitive Pieces. In a few sentences, describe the role they play in Jakob's life and how they contribute to the narrative.

1. Athos
2. Bella
3. Alex
4. Michaela
5. Maurice and Irena
6. Kostas and Daphne

or

B. What has been Jakob's struggle as a boy and as an adult throughout Part I of the novel? How is it finally resolved? Explain the significance of the ending of Part I.

Naomi Shihab Nye/Go to link

Reading at Eisenhart Auditorium---Sunday, Sept. 28
www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/174

Reading Assignments

For Mon. 9/22/08

Finish Part I of Fugitive Pieces


Read to page 195. Read Chapters Phosphorus, Terra Nullius, the Gradual Instant.

Read this short article

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2007/09/07/tiff-fugitive-pieces-cast-submit-their-book-reports.aspx

Thursday 9/18 Discuss and respond

1. "I already knew the power of language to destroy, to omit, to obliterate," says Jakob. "But poetry, the power of language to restore: this was what both Athos and Kostas were trying to teach me" [79]. What instances does the novel give of the destructive power of language? In what ways does writing—both the writing of poetry and of translations—help to heal and restore Jakob? Does silence—the cessation of language—have its own function, and if so, what might it be?

2. "We were a vine and a fence. But who was the vine? We would both have answered differently" [108]. Here Jakob is speaking of his relationship with Athos; of what other relationships in the novel might this metaphor be used? Does Michaels imply that dependence is an integral part of love?

Quickwrite

For your first post, please respond to the following quote from p. 95, Fugitive Pieces:

"Language. The numb tongue attaches itself, orphan, to any sound it can: it sticks, tongue to cold metal. Then, finally, many years later, tears painfully away.
There's a heavy black outline around things separated from their names. My lame vocabulary consisted of the variety of staples--bread, cheese, table, coat, meat--as well as a more idiosyncratic store. From Athos I'd learned the words for rock strata, infinity, and evolution--but not for bank account or landlord. I could carry my own in a discussion of volcanoes, glaciers, or clouds in Greek or English, but didn't know what was ,eant by a "cocktail" or a 'Kleenex.'"

What words are "staples" in your vocabulary? What words are "special" in your vocabulary?
What words remain elusive for you? As a writer, what special significance does language have for you?

Fugitive Pieces Writing Assignment

A major writing assignment for this Marking Period is a short story utilizing some of the techniques you are exploring while reading Anne Michael's Fugitive Pieces.

Let's call this assignment "The Story in Fragments":

1. Your short story should be at least 5 pages long, double spaced, 12 point standard font.
2. Traditionally, it should have a central character (protagonist) dealing with some sort of conflict (self vs. self, self vs. other, self vs. society, self vs. nature, etc.).
3. Nontraditionally, the story should exhibit some of the storytelling devices we have been exploring: stream-of-consciousness, memory, poetic prose, flashback, flash forwards, nonlinear structure, excerpts from history, descriptive verbal photographs of people and places, songs, poems, etc.
4. Along the way, be prepared to share drafts and discuss your story with members of the class.

Due date: Week of Oct. 6 (for peer review)

Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces