Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

I was a little confused with why we were reading graphic novels in my multi-modal literacies class. But after reading Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, I am leaning towards teaching a graphic novel in my future English classes. I liked this graphic novel because it delved into themes that are appropriate for adolescents, such as coming of age, oppression, censorship and love. These themes are often found in traditional novels, so reading Persepolis would give students the chance to experience a different media form in the classroom.

A movie based on the graphic novel has also been released. Although I haven't seen it yet, I think that it would be useful to show clips of the film when reading the graphic novel. Students can compare and contrast the different media forms and talk about the different artistic components of each. I also think that this novel would go well in a feminist literature unit. Many of the themes in Persepolis are also discussed in traditional novels like The Awakening.

My First Exposure to Of Mice and Men

I had some extra time over the past weekend to unwind and read something for fun. I went to my bookshelf, and I wanted to read something that would be quick, so I picked up Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I had never read anything by Steinbeck before, much less the novel, so I was really excited to delve into this new author and explore his writing style.

As it turns out, I couldn't put the book down because I was so engaged with his writing. His clear, concise, and straightforward style was perfect for a quick read. I was also amazed that he fit so much into a little over 100 pages. After reading Of Mice and Men, I can't wait until the summer when I can delve into some of his longer novels, such as The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden.

Another reason why I decided to read Of Mice and Men is because many high school students usually read the novel in the ninth or tenth grade. I wanted to make sure that I have read the novel before I have to plan a unit for it. After reading the book, I spent some time looking at Amanda's Of Mice and Men Wikipage. I really liked the activity with the Robert Burns' poem, "To a Mouse," and the PowerPoint presentation that centers on the "American Dream" theme in the novel. With these resources, I think Of Mice and Men would be a great novel to teach to students using new literacies.

New Literacies in Action: Chapter 8

I recently read Chapter 8 “Final Thoughts: ‘My Grandchildren’s Time Zone’” from Dr. William Kist’s book New Literacies in Action. I found it interesting to read the different examples of high school teachers that have been using these new literacies in their classrooms. From the reading, it is easy to see that many teachers have been using these new literacies in various ways with different results.

One part of the chapter that I found interesting was that students often thought the new literacies projects were “an easy A” (Kist 135). In fact, many of the students did not know whether the class was “easy” or “hard” because they had never been exposed to a multimedia class and had no previous standard. I think the student statements help prove that modern classrooms are too homogenous and do not provide students with stimulating alternatives to the commonplace lecture. By giving students different ways to express themselves, besides written assessments, teachers may be able to engage them in content material.

The thing that made me question new literacies was when Dr. Kist talked about how much time students spent on their projects. While it’s great that students are engaged in and spend their time on a project or assignment, I wonder how much of that time is spent on figuring a piece of technology out? I think a student’s time is best spent interacting with the content material, not learning the nit-picky stuff that goes with a piece of technology. In the chapter, it sounded as if students spent more time figuring out how a piece of technology worked than thinking about the ideas they have to express through that technology.

Another part of the chapter that I enjoyed was the idea that new literacies did not have to deal with technology. Dr. Kist has been stressing this idea in class, but I did not realize that students working together and communicating count as a new literacy. When I think of myself as a learner, I find that I enjoy working by myself. But, I learn material better if I can bounce my ideas off of other people. So, apart from working in groups, I could have my students discuss material and course content in conversation pairs or groups, so they can talk through their ideas instead having them figure it out on their own.