These past two classes we have discussed a few topics, first the Invisible Man chapters 11-15, then three readings from the Norton Reader, and lastly writing techniques to use within descriptive writing. Our first class discussions began with the Invisible Man, so we will start with that.
Starting off class, we discussed any concerns or comments that we had about the chapters -- questions, confusion, etc. A lot of the preliminary confusion surrounded how the man actual arrived in the hospital in chapter 11, which was first voiced by Sarah Jane. It was then clarified by Mr. Neal that it was a result of the explosion that occurred in the previous chapter, but we then went into further discussion surrounding the symbolism within that scene. Toast brought up some good points, namely that perhaps his "third eye" represented knowledge, or power in a spiritual sense, and that the repetition of grey was relating to the fact that the man was starting to see the world in different ways, rather than a convoluted black and white vision.
Next, Bruna brought up the idea of the "white man's burden" being portrayed through the Brotherhood. She noted that despite the fact the man was nowhere close to being an articulate speechmaker, it was interesting how they asked him to help them campaign. This then brought the class to the conclusion that they, in fact, just wanted to have a minority to help support their cause through the manipulation of marginalized minorities.
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Two days later, we are brought to the 14th and we start of class with a quiz on our personal vocabulary words. Right after this, we dive into the three Norton Reader essays; "He Said no to Internment," "Saved by Strangers," and "Chasing Evil."
We started our discussion with Mr. Neal asking which story did we enjoy the most and the response was varied. Karan and David expressed their like of "He Said no to Internment," because of the historical interest, after which Noah talked about why he liked "Chasing Evil," because it gave greater depth into a story he already knew about -- then Jordan described how much she enjoyed "Saved by Strangers," because of both the writing style and the humanity that was found within it. Overall, throughout the class there was what seemed to be an almost equal dispersion of who liked what.
After this, we broke up into small groups to discuss the writing styles and techniques within each of the essays. After regrouping as a class, we shared what we had come up with. Style choices that came up were: factual information that wasn't particularly descriptive, but informative, colorful language, and constructing sentences so that they weren't flowery, but still provided good descriptions.
Afterwards we worked on our own writing journals, which Toast shared with the class. It was a lovely story about the French countryside that compelled some people to tears, after which class ended.
The next scribe is . . . Sara Radin!
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