And so it begins...

With the starts of the "global" era in my classroom, I thought it was time that I put myself out there as well. As my students come to post their own blogs, stories, and learning-branches, I will also be responding and commenting on their work; as they will be commenting on mine.

Submissive Shrew

Belive it or not, The Taming of the Shrew is my favourite play by William Shakespeare. As controversial as it can be with a feminists and modernists alike, I have a different interpretation. I believe that Petruchio does come to love Katherina and, more shockingly, that she too comes to not only appreciate, but also love him.

Shakespeare's comedy is about submission: getting Kate to submit to the will of her husband; to make her heel to her husband. If we take the play purely on that level, then we lose the complexity that is provided. Such a reductionist view that ignores character development could be applied to any of his plays: Romeo and Juliet is about horny teenagers; Macbeth is about a ambitious jerk; and Hamlet is about a whiny spoiled brat.

Instead, we should see Petruchio as the man who does set out to dominate a woman who is behaving in a way that is unbecoming the time. However, he discovers a woman who is his equal and worthy of his love. Kate too discovers a man who is not merely her equal, but who also cares enough to show her the happiness that she is missing by playing the part of the shrew.

In the end, Kate and Petruchio are the happier couple; not due to submission to one another's will, but because of the realization that love is not about getting what you want, but getting what you need.

Inability to Create

I was shocked today when I asked my students to create their first blogs and how many of them were stuck with an inability to be creative. Each student was given the option to choose their own names for their blogs, and then write three entries: a general introduction, a reflection on their banned book, and a reflection on the play Macbeth. If I hear one more student ask "how long does it have to be?" or "what should I write about?" I'm going to scream.

Banning the Magic

With the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series to be published in a few months, I am already looking ahead to the secular and religious outcry that will happen. It will not be the various murders and deaths in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that will raise the ire of these groups (amidst the almost certain death of the evil wizard antagonist and distinct possibility of the death of the protagonist); it will instead be the mere existence of the magical world in which they live and exist. It seems amazing, but this series of books has been one of the most challenged and banned books of this decade due largely to the glorification of the magic and wizardry.

Most recently in Atlanta, Georgia, "Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday that the popular fiction series is an 'evil' attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion." (Associate Press: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15127464/%22 ). Thankfully, the school board's response noted that if all books that mentioned witchcraft and magic were banned, then so too would be Cinderella, Snow White, and Macbeth.

The Harry Potter book series has less to do about the religion Wicca (which is less about witchcraft and magic and more about herbology and homeopathy) and more about the traditional developing hero story. J.K. Rawling's plot and characters are accessible to all ages: children, teenagers, and adults. It is ironic that the last such series that gained such critical and popular appeal was The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

There are many good reasons why the Harry Potter series could be deemed inappropriate for younger children (assassinated parents, carnivorous spiders and serpents, a maniacal and homicidal evil wizard antagonist, and magically murdered characters), yet these are not presented as the reasons. Instead, magic is to blame. It is to the shame of these groups that they cannot see, as the cliche goes, the forest for the trees; they missed the hope, strength, friendship, self-reliance, and love that forms the foundation for the story.

A story that focuses on a protagonist who is born to a prophesied destiny and who must survive an obsessive madman's desire to have him killed in order to achieve the salvation of the his world is worthy of reading. There is much to be gained from reading such stories: whether it is this story of Jesus Christ or that of Harry Potter, there is much magic to be gained by the reader by sharing the journey.

The metaphor of the superhero...

Every superhero has a weakness; an Achilles heel that can lead to his downfall.

Yet, what is also interesting about most superheroes, and that they are only "super" in certain places: Superman is only "super" when he is under a yellow sun; Aquaman is like everyone else in his realm of Atlantis and is only "amazing" when he is away from there; Wonder Woman is like all the Amazons, but only away from there is she so special.

We are all heroes in our own way and in our own special places. To feel amazing, we merely need to find the places where we are special and where those around us raise us up and herald our successes. It could be at home, at school, on a team, at work; it can be with a spouse, a lover, a good friend, a parent, a total stranger.

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Banned to the bone....

A virus (Latin for poison) is a microscopic particle that can infect the cells of the human body. The immune system detects, and often eliminates, the invader before it is able to reproduce. A virus that evades the innate immune cells faces the adaptive immune system response that has the ability to recognize a virus and to mount stronger attacks each time that pathogen is encountered. (source: Wikipedia)

The more exposure you have to a virus, the better your body is able to defend against it the next time; vaccinations are used to provide an exposure and help the body “learn” the cure.

Sometimes in order to protect someone, she is restricted from doing something that might be unsafe or too dangerous. Parents do this all the time with children as a way to safeguard them from harm.

Think about times when a parent or adult would not allow you to do something because you were too young or it was unsafe. Was this a reasonable thing for the parent to do? How did you feel about it?

Groups, schools, and even governments have often chosen to restrict younger people from ideas presented in books or other materials for the very same reason that parents protect their children from certain activities; sometimes these restrictions serve the best interest of the protected, while sometimes these restrictions only serve the best interest of the protectors.

As students in my class, you have all chosen and read a banned book. Using your blog, write your thoughts about your banned book. Did you like your book? Was it a good book? Can you empathize or sympathize with those people who have or wish to ban your book? If you were a parent would you let your child read your book?