So...this is the last and final post...The reason that I started this blog was to get you to think critically about your reading practices and to not only think about what you think, but to listen to others, and respond to what others said. I think that you have done an excellent job and I thank you for your participation.. I am very impressed with your responses.
For the final post, I want you to reflect on the IB works that we have studied this year and respond in terms of your favourites and /or not so favourite and articulate your reasons.
FIRSTFIRSTFIRST for the last time :(
ReplyDeleteFavourite:
Hmm, I'd say it's a toss up between Alden Nowlan's collection of poetry and Night. I think the only reason I liked Nowlan's poems is because they were much easier to comprehend compared to Frost. Plus, he's a Maritimer! My favourite Nowlan poem would have to be "Unfinished Poem" because I was so excited when I found umpteen literary techniques in a 4 line poem (Look what IB has made of me!). The style of the author's writing also allowed me to reflect on the poems and draw connections to my personal life.
I also enjoyed Night, as I have always been interested in the Holocaust and its effects on the citizens of Europe before, during and after its termination. I enjoyed reading about a new culture and religion that I probably would not have been previously exposed to. Furthermore, the novel was a memoir which made me very emotional thinking that such a horror could occur in our world.
Least Favourite.. DUH DUH DUH:
Gonna go out on a limb here and say that the rest of the class will agree - Maya Angelou SUCKED.
Well, she didn't actually suck, I just thought her essays left a lot to be desired. While some were cleverly crafted, I found as if they were not relevant to my life, making it hard to form connections , which I often look for when reading. While I appreciated the short and brief writings compared to the lengthy words of my main man Martin (Alliteration!), I found myself losing interest quickly.
So I guess this is just about it for year 1 of IB... It's been a ride grade 12's, 10's, 13's, PEOPLE!!
ps. Captain Hanley, your cabin crew will miss you dearly when you depart the dock to make waves overseas. You are without a doubt my favourite, if not most memorable, teacher in high school :)
Favorite: Personally, my favorite to date would have to be a raisin in the sun. This piece was my favorite because the characters were easily identifiable, and I could easily make a connect with them, probably because our cultures have the most in common, compared to those within God's Bits of Wood, Night, The Constant Gardener and Midaq alley. I know some of you will say that our cultures are comparable to Night, The Constant Gardener but I could not connect with those characters because we had different views on morals.
ReplyDeleteHated: I pretty much hated every book. My least favorites are in this order with 1 being the worst:
1. The Constant Gardener
2. Midaq Alley
3. Macbeth
4. Night
The constant Gardener I found to be dragged out, the story was too long for the conflicts within it.
Midaq Alley there was WAY too many characters to remember.
Macbeth was hard to understand because of the lyrical language used by the author.
Finally, Night was not that bad, except for the fact that it gave me nightmares, which is the only reason why I do not like it, although I appreciate it.
Have a great summer :)
Dear Captain and Class,
ReplyDeleteI liked Night the most. I felt the storyline was hard to read at times with the vivid imagery of the holocaust, but I felt it was true to what I would expect of a survivor’s memoir, and for this reason, Night is my favorite. As Holly said before,I am also interested in reading about the holocaust and its effects on the citizens of Europe before, during and after its termination
I thought Midaq Alley was my second personal favorite. The characters were the most interesting with many different personalities that conflicted. However, I felt the ending just ended abruptly without giving a detailed description that would have been helpful in understanding the story. For example, Abbas died in the second last chapter and he was one of the main characters, I would have liked to have read more about his death…
I enjoyed the poems by Alden and Frost, I liked how the poems were able to say a message in very few words and they also had lots of imagery which was good too.
In Macbeth I liked the story, but hated reading the manuscript. Plays are meant to be acted on a stage by actors who know the script, with costumes, props, lighting, (not saying we didn’t do a good job though) to fully be enjoyed by the audience and understand the author’s intended message. Even with the movies, the play wasn’t enjoyable.
Martin Luther King’s essays were too long (“I Have Dream” was good though). Constant Gardener was also too long, good story said in too many words. Maya Angelou’s essays were terrible, no explanation needed…I think you all know…
I hope everyone has a good summer, ONLY 12 DAYS LEFT!!
Stuart Thompson
It's such a close call between Night and Midaq Alley, I can't really choose a favourite. However, I like them for completely different reasons. Night is extremely powerful because it is a memoir and I have always been both interested in and horrified by the Holocaust. I felt the imagery in Night was excellent. Being able to easily visualise the events caused me to be even more emotionally moved by the story.
ReplyDeleteMidaq Alley had less of an emotional impact on me, but it still has a very interesting plot. I particularly enjoyed the character of Hamida. Although I did not agree with many of her actions, I found it entertaining to try to see things the way she does.
As for the others, well... The Constant Gardener, in all honesty, was not that bad. Of course, it's very possible that I've forgotten some of its horror now that it's after the fact. I thought it was, as Stuart said, a good story told in too many words. Good story minus the ending, which was just... No. I felt that it made the entire story seem absolutely pointless, because the plot was centered around Justin carrying on with Tessa's work and trying to make a difference, and in the end he completely failed.
Macbeth I enjoyed, perhaps simply because of how much fun it was to do the dramatic readings in class.
A Raisin in the Sun was kind of "meh" to me. I didn't have strong feelings for or against it. I did, however, enjoy reading it out loud with my group in southern accents.
The essays of Martin Luther King Jr were far too long and boring, in my opinion. I honestly preferred Maya Angelou's work, although don't get me wrong: they weren't good either.
So, that's how I feel about the works we've studied this year.
EVERYONE, have a great summer!!!
I was about to say "I'm going to miss all of you next year!", but then I realised that I'm not going to have to miss any of you - except, of course, the captain D:
Dear Mrs. Hanley,
I hope you have a wonderful summer and enjoy Korea. I'm jealous of everyone who got to have you for two years! I think I can safely speak for the whole class in saying that you better get a blog up VERY SOON!
I will have to agree with those who said Night was the best novel we have read. I enjoyed seeing Elie Wiesel's point of view instead of the typical media point of view where much less emotion is apparent. I also enjoyed A Raisin in the Sun, it was almost as good as Night, with an inspiring message about following your dreams and not letting obstacles get in the way.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite work was the Robert Frost poetry. I do not like the way most of his poems were written and i felt as if those we hear about, such as Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening and Path Less Taken did not stand up to their reputation. I think the main reason I did not like his poetry was the expectations I had and the poems did not stand up to the expectations. With the rest of the works I did not know what to expect so they did not disappoint me the way Frosts' poetry did.
For Jennifer C.
ReplyDeleteHello Mrs Hanley,
I tryed to blog but it won't let me post it so here is my reponse.
Hope you have a great day!
I agree with everyone who said Night was one of the best novels. I enjoyed the story, even thought it was depressing and sad at times and made me cry. But yet it showed the horrors of the holocoust in a point of view you don't normally get to read from.
My other favorite was the poems because they were interesting to read and trying to slove the mystery of trying to decode them. My favorite poem was "Fire and Ice" by Robert frost becuase it talked about the good vs evil in the world.
My least favoite work was the constant gardener because I thought that the storyline was quite boring and it didn't catch my interest at all. Also it was to long and the plot was draged on for a long time which mad it even worse.
Even thought there were very interesating novels and boring ones, this year had many good times.
We will all miss you Hanley.
Hope everyone has a great summer!!!!
I feel like I always end up agreeing with most of the class. But, like everyone else said, my favorite was definitely Night. Not only was this my favorite book we read this year, I'd probably put it in my top five favorite books I've ever read. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I found myself up staying up until 4AM in July, finishing it in one day. Then, re-reading it in August and again while writing my IOP! Which, I have never done with a book before. Wiesel's loss in faith and his vivid retelling of his time in concentration camps was so intriguing to me that it honestly caused me to reflect upon my own beliefs and life. Furthermore, it brought me to tears each of the three times I read it. To me, these are signs of a fantastic piece of literature.
ReplyDeleteA Raisin in the Sun and Midaq Alley were on equal footing for me. Although I enjoyed both of them, I cannot imagine reading them again. Nor do I think I would have read them if it were not necessary for me to do so.
Reading A Raisin in the Sun as a group was an enjoyable experience and brought plenty of laughs. Furthermore, the theme and idea behind it was great. I even became attached to the characters, as they were fairly well developed. However, it failed to keep my interest for too long and sometimes the tone made it difficult for me to take it seriously. Therefore, the message was lost in me.
I would say Midaq Alley was of the same quality. From Chapter 19 on, it was a great read. However, the first half of the book was so dry and boring to me. I'm very thankful that my chapters were 19 and 20, meaning that I actually had to read that far to do my part of the assignment. If they had been earlier on in the book, it is likely that I would have grown bored and struggled to continue. However, like I said, chapter 19 and on were great. I think it was my powerful hate for Hamida that made it so great. As the book began to revolve around her, I hated her so much that I just couldn't stop reading about her. That probably makes absolutely no sense, but although I hated her, I found her actions incredibly interesting.
I don't have an awful lot to say about the Robert Frost poems, Alden Nowlan poems or MacBeth. I didn't overly enjoy any of them, but I can't say that I had passionate hate for them either. They were mediocre to me. However, I will give Robert Frost and Alden Nowlan some credit, select poems were very good. Canadian Love Song by Alden Nowlan remains a favorite poem of mine. The only truly memorable thing I can say I enjoyed from MacBeth was the quote, 'Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under'.
The Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King Jr essays were both just terrible to me. I can't even explain why. Perhaps I just went into them with a negative mindset. However, I found them all to be so dry and long that they were just difficult to read.
Finally, Constant Gardener. Although I idea behind the novel was great, I don't think it was delivered well at all. I would probably put it at the same level as the essays. Just, not an enjoyable read at all for me.
To conclude, I would definitely give Night a solid 5/5. Midaq Alley would be a 4.5/5 and A Raisin in the Sun would fall close behind with a 4. The Alden Nowlan and Robert frost poems, and MacBeth would land at a mediocre 3. The essays and The Constant Gardener would, sadly, receive 2/5.
I apologize that this is painfully long. Since this is the last blog post, I got really sad and didn't want to stop writing. It was great having you as a teacher this year, Mrs Hanley. You left a lasting impression on all of us and are certainly a favorite teacher of mine. I, like everyone else, will miss you very much next year. Have a great time in Korea, don't forget to start up a blog! Have a good summer everyone.
For Catherine
ReplyDeleteLearning about the Holocaust from the perspective of a survivor was quite fascinating to me, as I have a huge interest in the Second World War. As for Midaq Alley, I am not 100% sure why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Perhaps because it was pretty ridiculous...awful lot of drama for a little alley...I also don't think I have ever read anything based on Egyptian culture.
The Constant Gardener was also another enjoyable read, again not exactly certain why though. The conflict in the story was rather engaging, and I can relate some of it to geography!!!
I'm realizing now that I have many favourites...
Macbeth was fun to read since we acted out all the scenes (I make a wonderful Banquo). Shakespeare was a clever guy with his silly words which I found to be quite enchanting (I'm running out of adjectives). I'd like to read more Shakespeare in the future.
A Raisin in the Sun and Maya Angelou essays were both okay, nothing in particular stood out to me from these works.
Finally, the Martin Luther King Jr. essays/speeches were insightful and inspiring. I enjoyed King's style of writing.
Wow, nothing like a long and poorly organized post.
And that's the hawk squawk,
Catherine"
Hey all,
ReplyDeleteBecause I’m a generally negative person, I’m going to start with the works I disliked: Robert Frost, MLK, and Maya Angelou. I recognised Frost’s talent and did find some of his pieces to be enjoyable, but he was just too long winded and really over-used flowery language. Similarly, I appreciated King’s message, but found him as interesting as watching paint dry. Maya Angelou, on the other hand, was just awful; she had no message worth spreading, and did not have an interesting way of saying it. I wouldn’t wish that wretched collection of essays upon even my worst enemy.
Towards Macbeth and The Constant Gardner I was just indifferent. The Constant Gardener started out slow, got really good, and then the ending was just horrible. So over all indifferent. And Macbeth was just meh all around.
Alden Nowlan, Night, A Rasin in the Sun and Midaq Alley were all fabulous. Nowlan was eloquent, Night was thought provoking and a real page turner, Rasin was both beautiful and halirious, and Midaq Alley was great but I really have no idea why I liked it.
w00t! Way to end on a positive note!
I agree with what everyone has said about why they liked Night, however, I do not agree that it was my favourite. I thought it was a very eye-opening and vivid read which has affected my perception of the events he wrote about, but it was not my favourite, probably due to the fact that it also disturbed me on some level.
ReplyDeleteI must say that my personal favourite was Macbeth. I thoroughly enjoyed acting it out in class and discussing the meanings of the lines. I found it can be difficult to understand because obviously it was written by Shakespeare in the early 1600’s, and we do not speak the same now as they did then, but to me that was the beauty of it. While reading it in class, we could try out different accents and when discussing the passages we talked about the words and language used. I also enjoyed working on the visual projects for Macbeth, because we had a chance to creatively represent of some aspect of it. I would like to see this play acted out on a stage, not just read in a classroom setting.
I agree with Kati that Midaq Alley and A Raisin in the Sun were equal to me, but I probably would not have read them had it not been required. They were slightly funny and Raisin was at times inspiring but in general they were not very interesting to me.
As for the others, I did not enjoy them at all. I found them boring and long.
- Anna
Hello class,
ReplyDeleteI agree with most people's opinions on each piece of literature we have encountered, but I'll pull a BODO and make a list+explanation. From most enjoyable to least enjoyable:
Macbeth
Night
A Raisin in the Sun
Midaq Alley
Robert Frost's poetry
Alden Nowlan's poetry
Maya Angelou's essays
MLK's essays.
The Constant Gardener
I left out God's Bits of Wood because I felt it was too early to pass judgment on it yet.
Alrighty. Explanations:
Macbeth was the most enjoyable for me because I've always enjoyed Shakespear. His numerous plot twists and ingenious use of literary techniques (for example: the foreshadowing when Macbeth sees the man and the tree). Also, it was a pleasure to read as a class, it made it easier to follow, and a very fun experience in general. Additionally, I enjoyed the challenge of interpreting the old English. Probably my favourite part of Macbeth was the drunk porter. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. :D
Night was also an enjoyable read, I feel, because it was true. Wiesel told a compelling story of the actual happenings of the Holocaust. Each horrifying deed done by the SS and other officers was even more incentive to turn the page.
A Raisin in the Sun was very enjoyable because of the layout (screenplay), and because we read it in a group and were able to interpret each line in our own way, later discovering the actual intent of the story after watching the two films.
What drew me to Midaq Alley were the controversial topics such as Kirsha's scandals, and Humida's love for different men. Each character was unique, and made the story enjoyable.
The reason I liked Robert Frost so much was because he had a mystery within each piece of literature. Reading it over again and again was like discovering clues to a puzzle. I enjoyed analyzing his poems.
Alden Nowlan's poems were an easy read. They had meaning behind each one of them, but they were presented (in my opinion) in an unattractive fashion.
The reason I enjoyed Maya Angelou's essays were because they were also an easy read. The underlying message was sometimes difficult to understand, and searching for literary techniques was no easy feat.
Martin Luther King Jr's essays were very dry and carried out for far too long. A powerful message can be lost in a plethora of words, in such works as Letters from Burningham Jail.
The Constant Gardener was horrible. It carried out for too long, gave too many unnecessary facts, and was not a topic that interested me.
Voila. My opinions on the literature of IB English 11.
i hope u all hav summrz tht flow gewdly.
for morgan
ReplyDeleteMy favourite piece this year I’d have to say, like many of the other people already have was Night. A huge part of my love for that novel came from the symbolism and the powerful imagery, the way Weisel described his experiences was flawless in my opinion. I think he achieved what he had set out to do; which was to inform people about the horrors of the holocaust, because there are pieces of that novel that will stay with me for a very long time.
Besides Night the other works I enjoyed a lot were Alden Nowlan and Robert Frost’s poetry, Midaq Alley, A Raisin in the Sun and yes even The Constant Gardener. I found that The Constant Gardener was unnecessarily long, but I loved the controversy of the topic and after the middle of the novel things really started to pick up. I liked watching Justin piece together the story of what happened to Tessa and I thought although the characters were very simple and realistic, they were interesting. As for the poetry I loved it because I love poems in general, the authors had interesting themes and unique ways of portraying their messages. Midaq Alley was just a taste of a different culture which, I think, is always captivating and A Raisin in the Sun had some scenes and memorable quotes that I still think about in some of my everyday activities.
Also, I found Macbeth very enjoyable to read, and will forever remember the scene with the porter, and that strange movie we watched as a follow up on the scenes (the transition music still gets stuck in my head).
The works that I did not enjoy were the essays of both Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King Jr. I found it hard to find a purpose in the essays of Maya Angelou and in the works of Martin Luther King Jr., although there was some interesting symbolism and metaphors, there was way too much flowery language.
-- Morgan
P.S As this is the last post. I want to say thank you Captain Hanley for everything you did for us this year. I can't believe it's almost over. Have a great summer everyone :)
for Laura May
ReplyDeleteHello,
This is my fifth post.
The computer won't let me post it or attach the file so here it is.
Night was my absolute favourite. The other IB works that we studied did not even compare. The Constant Gardener was bearable the second time that I read it and Midaq Alley had some interesting twists that kept it alive, but the raw power of Wiesel’s Night left the other uninteresting novels in the dust.
Ranking Order: first (best) and why I chose the particular order
Night; because it was personal and horrific and true
Midaq Alley; because it had some odd characters that kept it interesting
Alden Nowlan’s Poetry; because it was not boring and had a Nova Scotia feel to it
The Constant Gardener; because it was too detailed, but still had a colourful plot
Martin Luther King Junior’s collection of Essays; because it was too long, but still held truth and he is a great writer
“Macbeth”; because I loved Mrs. Hanley’s enthusiasm, but I found the play predictable
“A Raisin in the Sun”; because I loved the accents, but didn’t like that the plot was so simple and it seemed incomplete
Robert Frost’s Poetry; because it all the poems seemed dark and depressing as if he was trying to be ‘deep’
Maya Angelou’s Essays; because essays did not encourage any deep thoughts and they were poorly written and were hubris
And God’s Bits of Wood doesn’t have a position yet because I still do not understand the purpose of the novel, but so far it ranks between The Constant Gardener and Martin Luther King Junior’s Essays.
Thanks,
Laura May
for Sara
ReplyDeleteMy favourite IB works that we have studied this year is the poems of Alden Nowlan. I felt as though Nowlan's poems were both engaging to the reader and easily relatable. Since Nowlan grew up in our region, it was easier to understand some of his poems which referred to areas in Cape Breton and Nova Scotia. I also felt as though he used a perfect blend of figurative and literal language, and were more about emotions than actual actions. Nowlan's poems did not have the same overpowering rhyme scheme which was found in many of Frost's poems, and for this reason I found it easier to read and enjoy Nowlan's works.
My least favourite text we have studied this year is that of Maya Angelou. Her essays were very personal to her and I found almost no connection between her life and my own, and thus found it extremely difficult to understand many of her essays. Angelou's style of writing was much too blunt and lacked symbolism, which rendered her essays quite dull.
I also enjoyed reading MacBeth for a number of reasons. First and foremost, acting out the play with the class was both fun and helped me understand the language of the play more than I would have by just reading it. As well, I found the play to be much more entertaining and fast-paced than several of the other works we have studied.
Hi Mrs. Hanley and class,
ReplyDeleteI have returned from Ontario (finally) and I'm sorry that my post is so late, but I had a lot to catch up on.
My favourite works this year would have to be either the summer novel we were assigned, The Constant Gardener (am I the only one who liked this book?) or Alden Nowlan's poems. However because these two fall into such diverse genres I don't think they can really be compared.
I've always been intrigued by conspiracies and I really enjoyed the way John le Carre portrayed the intensity and seriousness of the conflict within the pharmaceutical companies. His epilogue about how the companies he encountered in his research were much more corrupt than the ones he discussed was truly an eye-opener for me.
Alden Nowlan's poetry is simple yet powerful. It allows for the reader's interpretation but mostly always hints towards an important or lingering theme. It often speaks of his alienation from society or of the true canadian lifestyle during his time. I appreciated his poems as being patriotic and potent. He did not shy away from metre or rhyme and I enjoyed the maritime behaviours and undeniable canadian settings.
My least favourite would be A Raisin in the Sun. Although I can understand why this was a powerful piece of literature and a record-breaker in terms of African American screenplays, I cannot say I enjoyed Hansberry's writing style, however appropriate it was to the time period. I thought her story was simply a good idea and not a masterpiece.