Literary Blog 1 Literary Blog 1: The theme of choice This week’s selections include”“The Metamorphosis" by Kafka, “The Guest” by Camus, in Volume 2, “Requiem” by Akhmatova, and a selection from “Faust” by Goethe, in Volume 2. The Theme : The works studied this week examine the themes of powerlessness and choice: Camus’s “The Guest” and Akhmatova’s “Requiem” do it in a political context, and Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and Goethe’s Faust do it to some extent within the realm of the supernatural, however perhaps the best way to tackle this with young adolescent minds is to show that with action and determination there is always hope. As for themes the sense that with action and determination there is hope. Gregory was lazy, slovenly and just someone who accepted his fate without hope. Had he taken action things might have been very different, and his family might not have despised him. With Faust there is a choice, but still a sense of an inability to see the consequences of his actions. Additionally while there is a sense of resignation with Akhmatova, could this be built into the Russian psyche. The sense that they had to accept their lot in life and be grateful for the crumbs? Perhaps, but then how does that explain the Russian Revolution, and that fight for self-determination. In the end it’s all about choice and the personal credo that one lives by. Camu’s The Guest, perfectly illustrates this with the choice that was made to let the prisoner go and help him on his way toward success. So, the theme of action and determination creating hope, while it may not be universal would certainly be something that high school students would relate to. The Theme for high school students: For high school students a great way to use this theme would be with impending graduation. Could there be a more pivotal moment in the life of a child than graduating from high school, and while avoiding the universal themes of man’s inhumanity to man/himself/the environment/society, making these stories more relatable would be the theme of action and determination creating hope. Certainly students who very often go off to college with little or no idea about how to manage themselves, their finances or their own study habits, could benefit from this idea. That there is always hope – you just have to change what you do. Popular Culture and engaging the students: It would be tempting to look at suicide rates of freshmen college students. However, that would not be approved by any administration. Instead, I would look at the success rate of students. Having students research how many freshmen enter the university of their choice, and how many drop out after the first year because of bad choices. It would then be easy to direct the conversation towards action – study plans, finance plans, stress management, how to make good choices etc., and then look at determination. Some great sites to look at: There is a great Ted Talk about grit: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance This talks about how it is not intelligence that determines success, but rather determination and the ability to hang in there despite all the odds stacking up against you. This Ted Talk combined with the various selections we have looked at would certainly create a powerful classroom discussion, and also provide great help to students as they embark on their academic careers. 1 Unsatisfactory 0.00% 100.0 %Content 30.0 % Content The theme is not Requirements: The found in these post explores a assigned readings. theme found in this topic's assigned readings of multicultural literature. 2 Less than Satisfactory 65.00% 3 Satisfactory 75.00% The theme is a topic The theme is loosely connected to developed in one one or more of the or more of the assigned readings. assigned readings and relates to multicultural literature as a genre. The exploration considers how the theme is developed. 4 Good 85.00% 5 Excellent 100.00% The theme is The theme is a recurrent in one defining idea found or more of the in multiple assigned readings multicultural and relates to literature texts. The multicultural exploration literature as a evaluates how the genre. 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