Motivation

What motivates you? Do we all share the same motivation?

There is motivation to do good things and vice versa. At times it seems as though we are two different people.

Both stories from this week are unsettling to a very large degree and illustrate this. The theme I chose was how one self relates to the other. In Borowski's “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentleman,” he describes the horrifying nonchalance of Henri while going to the ramp to unload the trainloads of people. He reflects back to the camp rule, "...people going to their death must be deceived to the very end. This is the only permissible form of charity." He has lived in a state of horror that has become an ideal, staying at the camp, watching the others waste away, only to experience the atrocity of unloading the trains, stealing from the passengers, and sending them to a certain death. His own true reality is revealed even more when having to unload the stacks of "still steaming" dead bodies, and not all were dead yet. When comparing the camp to the ramp, his actual self collides with the self he has had to create to cope with his ultimately terminal state of being.

In Lispector's “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman”, her relation to her self borders on psychedelic. She muses, "She was no longer a lobster, but a harsher sign--that of the scorpion. After all, she had been born in November." She was so bored, unhappy, and angry with who she had become, her statement of herself bordered on ho-hum.

The two are different extremes of identity of self. Lispector's drunk is carelessly driving into a wall of self-destruction, while Borowski's concentration camp inmate is being relentlessly driven to the same catastrophe of someone else’s doing.

Celan's repetition and metaphor in "Deathfugue" reminded me of the unit on Native American literature. It seems to have a rhythm or chant-like quality. The fugue is a dance like a tango.  As I read it, I imagined it as such. There are many layers to his poetry; the lack of punctuation, the repetition, the use of the German language as the poem goes on. Celan uses these tools to create an experience. While it was mesmerizing, I was anxious to finish it because it was very disturbing.

Amichai's 'Jerusalem" required some background for me to appreciate. Jerusalem was divided by a wall and Amichai was painting a picture of what is was like to live that way. In the last stanza, he talks of flags:

"We have put up many flags,

they have put up many flags.

To make us think that they're happy.

To make them think that we're happy."

Echoes of each other in action and voice. To compare them is to consider them as vivid imagery, but Amichai's seem more current, while Celan's were poignant--almost a cry for help.

VIEW, READ & DISCUSS:

A Short Summary of the Holocaust

Holocaust Survivor Gives a Talk

APPLY:

Use these tips and ideas to discuss the different types of motivation. Why do we do what we do?

Top 10 Motivation Tips for the Classroom

Motivating the Unmotivated

What Motivates You?

Consequence & Responsibility

This week's reading was interesting, but not a genre I particularly enjoy.  The excerpt I chose from Garcia-Marquez's "Death Constant Beyond Love" was the following:

"What are you doing here?"

"My father sent me," she said.

The senator understood, He scrutinized the sleeping guards, then he scrutinized Laura Farina, 

whose unusual beauty was even more demanding than his pain, and he resolved then that death

 had made his decision for him.”

 In this piece, the author personifies Laura Farina's "beauty" because it "demanded" and also "death" by indicating it had made his decision for him -- both had acted in a humanistic manner giving them lives of their own

.

From Paz's work, "Central Park", I chose the following example:

"There are no entrances but everyone,

in the middle of a phrase dangling from the telephone,

from the top of the fountain of silence or laughter,

from the glass cage of the eye that watches us,

everyone, all of us are falling in the mirror.

Don't cross Central Park at night." 

This passage, for whatever reason, spoke to me. The imagery was very real. I could envision death as a mirrored building displaying us in various stages of living with God (the glass eye), and eventually we all succumb to the mirror (death). The ringing, repeated phrase of "Don't cross Central Park at night" as a warning to be care and not to take risks that are stupid or crazy.

Contrasting the two, I really did not care for Garcia-Marquez's work in this instance, although his imagery and message were potent. Paz's was more imaginative and mystical in my opinion.

The selection of reading for this question was very interesting.  "And of Clay We Are Created", by Isabel Allende was both poignant and frustrating. As a reader, I wanted to know Azucena was successfully rescued by Rolf Carle, but in a tragic twist of fate, it was she who rescued Rolf from the prison he himself had become mired in. I was fascinated by the way Allende used the imagery of the cables, cameras, tape, staff, supplies, auxiliary motors to run the equipment, yet no one had answered the call for a pump that could have saved the young girl's life. It brought to my mind the images of people with their cell phones recording events, but never stopping to assist the victim or halting the perpetrator. We have all become spectators at the mercy of our technology. Allende painted a very vivid picture while highlighting the tragedy. Where was the true courage?

In "The Garden of the Forking Paths", Borges tells of a Chinese spy during World War I, Yu Tsun, as he recounts the statement he has made before he is put to death. This short story uses the imagery of forked paths and correlates them to making choices. Even though the story was confusing for me, at times, I got the impression that is how the author wanted it perceived--as dizzying as the labyrinth discussed in the story when one is asking which way to go.

TEACHERS:

Review these ideas for insight into this theme from Richard Curwin.

How To Make Consequences Work

APPLY:

Choose one or two activities to promote effective decision making and understanding.

Responsibility

WATCH & DISCUSS:

My Story: Elizabeth Smart

Cultural Identity

The reading for the week is very interesting and loaded with imagery and symbolism.  The importance of names in this literature illustrate not just a name to be called on this Earth, but also to remember one's beginnings and purpose for existing. There is much to be said of the importance of a name. I related to the importance of the character's names in these pieces. The theme of identity is strong in these pieces. In Senghor's To New York, he refers to Black identity and remembering where they come from, tying them into the Dan dancers of the Ivory Coast. He desired Black Americans to know of the cultural and racial connection they share with Africa.

"Life immemorial in the streets

All the amphibious elements shining like suns.

Harlem, Harlem! Now I've seen Harlem, Harlem!

A green breeze of corn rising from the pavements

Plowed by the Dan dancers' bare feet..."

  

There is a passage in Chike's School Days where it mentions Chike was being taught in the ways of the white man which meant the opposite of traditional. Both authors were concerned with their people remembering where they came from and remembering their individual connections to their heritage, lest they be lost. Senghor expressed his in the following selection from To New York:

"Now the ancient age returns, unity is restored,

The reconciliation of Lion and Bull and Tree

Idea links to action, the ear to the heart, sign to meaning." 

The "Lion and Bull and Tree" are symbolic of lions as black people and bulls as white people, while the tree is a symbol of suffering, as in the Christian cross. Hope for unity in spite of the differences between the diverse cultures, so the blacks can reach back to the ancient age of their people and live harmoniously with the whites.

TEACHERS:

Engage your students with a variety of activities that can create and awareness of cultural identity, awareness and appreciation.

Multicultural Experiential Activities

WATCH:

Viewers will have a lot of information to discuss after hearing the stories shared by Ms. Hijazi. This Pakistani American describes how life changed for her and her family after the tragic events of 9/11.

The Modern Maze of Cultural Identity

APPLY:

The following video details the introduction of Sudan’s Lost Boys to American society. Discuss the surprises for the men in the video and how they may be coping with the merging of two cultural identities—Sudanese refugee and American citizen.

Sudan's Lost Boys

Tradition

View:

Tradition!

The opening sequence to the acclaimed and iconic musical “The Fiddler on the Roof” introduces the theme of tradition. In terms of “tradition”, the Jewish community is not far removed from the Navajo.

The Navajo are steeped in tradition from clothes, art, spiritual beliefs, and day to day living. The Night Chant is an example of a Navajo tradition performed only a few times per year for the purpose of healing. In the poem of the same name, the lines below were particularly expressive:

"Happily may fair white corn, to the ends of the earth,

come with you.

Happily may fair yellow corn, to the ends of the earth,

come with you.

Happily may fair blue corn, to the ends of the earth,

come with you.

Happily may fair corn of all kinds, to the ends of the earth,

come with you.

Happily may fair plants of all kinds, to the ends of the earth,

come with you.

Happily may fair goods of all kinds, to the ends of the earth,

come with you.

Happily may fair jewels of all kinds, to the ends of the earth,

come with you."

The purpose of the repetition is to maintain the rhythm and beat of the chant.  It is lyrical and hypnotic. Corn and its pollen are not only integral in Navajo culture as a food staple, but also in prayers, rituals and traditions. The pollen is only harvested by women of the tribes. One of the Navajo experts in the paper referenced below comments that scholars never completely understand the Navajo way, especially if they leave out the corn traditions. I enjoyed how the writer described that corn is more accurately described as "prayer". Also, for all of the rituals and ceremonies corn pollen is part of, there is one it is not associated with--death.

 Navajo woman collecting corn pollen

The connection between spirituality and the natural world is a theme in Native American literature. Select one passage from Silko’s story and discuss how the human relationship with nature influences spirituality in this passage. Then, explain how Silko builds on and/or changes the “The Night Chant’s” representation of spirituality and nature.

The Storyteller

Another Navajo tradition is teaching lessons in the form of a story. From Silko's "Yellow Woman" is the following:

"The river water tasted good, and I sat in the shade under a cluster of silvery willows. I thought about Silva, and I felt sad at leaving him; still, there was something strange about him, and I tried to figure it out all the way back home. I came back to the place on the river bank where he had been sitting the first time I saw him. The green willow leaves he had trimmed from the branch were still lying there, wilted in the sand. I saw the leaves and I wanted to go back to him--to kiss him and to touch him--but the mountains were too far away now. And I told myself, because I believe it, he will come back sometime and be waiting again by the river."

She wove the story of "Yellow Woman" into her reality as a way to cope with her situation--dealing with excitement of the forbidden romance while also dealing with the harsh reality that her lover was a thief and murderer. The images of fresh grasses and trees, until the situation heats up on their way to Marquez, where the scenery changes to a harsh setting. The woman heads for home, back to her family, and notices the leaves from the branches were wilted in the sand. The spirituality and nature in Yellow Woman is in no comparison to that of Night Chant. Night Chant represents healing and Yellow Woman represent cowardice and deceit, hence the name Yellow Woman.

WATCH:

Navajo Night Chant (audio only)

Navajo Indians Dancing

APPLY:

Choose activities for students to relate their family’s traditions and how they are similar to the Navajo tradition.

Family Traditons Activites

Perception

Confucian teachings teach about being perfect in all aspects of life. Based on those ideas, an image of the Chinese people emerged as being very strict, prim, and proper. Were they even human? In reading Sealed Off and Man of La Mancha, the reader is afforded a new viewpoint through the short story genre. Both stories present the ideal of how the principals should behave. They also show how human and very much like the rest of the world the people really are.  In Sealed Off, the quickly escalating flirtation between Cuiyuan and Zongzhen turned into an experience to pass the time while bored on a tram during an air raid. Man of La Mancha demonstrated how concerned he was with the esteem of others.  Polar opposite of Confucian teachings of selflessness by focusing so intently on oneself.

Diary of a Madman and Man of La Mancha and the short story genre seemed to give a voice to the common man in China. Although Diary of a Madman was anything but common, it signaled the influence of the world in their society and the ability to express feelings that had been expressed for years in other cultures. I imagine both of these stories caused quite a stir for those who always insisted on having their best foot forward and who perception is everything. I think it is especially important to have this genre because it allows more of the common man to share experiences and artistry with others. 

What do you see?

TEACHERS:

Print copies for students to color as they learn more about perception.

Elephant

*Was it difficult to color within the lines?

*What did this exercise teach you about perception?

WATCH:

“How do you live your life eyes wide open?” Isaac Lidsky poses this this question after illustrating how not everything is as we perceive it to be. Share this video for an eye-opening journey into the concept of perception.

What Reality Are You Creating For Yourself?

APPLY:

Things are not always as they seem. Share these commercials to illustrate how perception varies based on your viewpoint and possibly preconceived notions of the events.

Commercial 1

Commercial 2

Respect

The poem “Quince” tells a beautiful tale of love and respect. The imagery within the poem piqued my imagination with the back and forth of fruits to jewels. The phrase, "...it is of no equal return, but by this love will last," was poignant and telling of the feelings that existed within the relationship. There is no comparison of the tokens that were exchanged, it is all about giving and contributing equally. Each person gave their best to the relationship. There were no comparisons of the gifts, they would not be equal. The beauty was in the giving and their love and respect for each other.

Zhen’s The Story of Yingying weaves bits of insight into the romance of Zhang and Cui giving examples of the strict rules Chinese society abided by at this time of history. For example, the use of a matchmaker to connect eligible men and women, the use of Cui's servant as a liaison, sending secret messages so their families were not dishonored. But, ultimately, because of their forbidden liaison, the relationship didn’t happen. When comparing and contrasting the relationships from Quince and The Story of Yingying, the couples treated each other very differently. Cui and Zhang were more of a situation of wanting each other regardless of who they may hurt. They respected no one, least of all each other.  

TASK:

Creating a Culture of Integrity in the Classroom

PLAY:

Games For Teens To Teach Respect

WATCH and DISCUSS:

Talking Politics: Valuing Different Perspectives

Choice

Have you ever had a difficult choice to make? Have you ever made a choice where you neglected to consider all of the consequences of the choice you made? What questions can you ask yourself now to prepare for the future?

Camus and Goethe examine choice in fascinatingly different circumstances. Camus' The Guest held my attention because of the interaction between Daru and the Arab. Balducci brought the Arab to Daru so he could deliver him to the authorities. Daru accepted the firearm from Balducci with a resigned attitude, even though it was apparent he had no intention of using it for its intended purpose. After Balducci departed, both the Arab and Daru settled into an uneasy camaraderie. The Arab had chances to escape but chose not take them, while Daru was hoping for the Arab to escape. When their journey commenced the following morning, Daru weighed the options for the prisoner, seemingly making a choice to give the Arab options--to live among the nomads or turn himself into the authorities. I believe he assumed the Arab would choose to live with the nomads to at least have the freedom that would offer.   Surprisingly to Daru, when he went back to see the path the Arab had chosen, the Arab had turned on the path that would lead to his physical captivity.

Daru, by making the choice to take the Arab to the authorities, after which he would be back to his chosen freedom of his life on the desolate plain found he had become a prisoner of sorts based on the threatening message left on his blackboard. He would be a slave to uncertainty until he was acted upon. Camus left the reader unfulfilled with both characters. Did the Arab make it to the authorities and turn himself in? Who left the message on the blackboard? With a little insight into Daru’s thinking, do you think he would have made the same choice if he had known he would be threatened?

Turning to Goethe's Faust, the same uncertainty is mirrored in this tale. Faust chooses to follow the Devil, entices Margaret, and she chooses to come with him. She is a good Christian girl whose desire for gratification was her downfall. Her lover, Faust murdered her brother to keep him from telling on him and Margaret. Because of her brother's open attack on her character as he is dying, Margaret kills her unborn child and goes insane. All the while, Faust is cavorting with the Devil. He is upset and tries to get Margaret to follow him, but she no longer remembers him and makes the choice to go with God.

The power of choice is an interesting theme throughout both of these works. The result of the character's choices in The Guest are vague, whereas Goethe's scenarios of choice ended in each character serving their chosen leader.

  

TEACHERS:

Display these images for the students, giving them time to consider each of them. Ask them to choose one of these images is most impactful to them in their life at this point and discuss it in a paragraph, collect them, and be prepared to share some thoughts with the class.

TASK:

Have the students answer at least twenty of the listed questions that apply to choices they are, or will be making in the near future. Then, view the video to enhance the class discussion.

100 Essential Questions

How To Make Hard Choices

WATCH and DISCUSS:

Old Navy Jeans Commercial

Using Popular Culture To Think Through the Power of Choice