Caged Bird and The Pedestrian

QBTs have been off to a fairly rough start so far.  We need to step up the preparation and deliver smooth presentations.  From this writing forward, all QBTs must be a minimum of 55 seconds long. A heavy penalty will be handed down to anyone not speaking for at least 55 seconds.  the structure should be pretty easy to follow otherwise:

Lead/Intro
Synopsis/Summary
Selling Point
Conclusion

Let's get them done well.

We looked deeper at "The Pedestrian" today in the honors classes.  We saw an important secondary meaning of the word "pedestrian".  We tried to decipher what Bradbury was trying to say and we made several connections to "Harrison Bergeron".  Those are all good.

Tonight I want you to think about the word individuality with regard to the two stories.

I also want you to read and annotate "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou.  Like the title of Bradbury's short story, there is more to this poem than just a caged bird.  Think outside the box and, of course, be thinking about how the poem connects to the Vonnegut and Bradbury stories.

Acuity testing in language arts will take place on Thursday.

In the standard class we just started reading "The Pedestrian".  You are to complete the reading for class tomorrow being sure to annotate it like we were doing in class.  You should also be considering the following questions as you read:

1) What is a pedestrian?

2) Describe the city.

3) Pay close attention to everything about the police car. What does it symbolize?

4) Towards the end of the story, Bradbury describes a house that is “brightly lit”. What does that house symbolize?

5) Is the reader left with a positive or negative feeling? Explain and defend your response.

6) What is Bradbury's purpose?

7) How is the story “The Pedestrian” similar to “Harrison Bergeron”?

You don't have to answer the questions yet but you should be prepared to discuss them tomorrow.

Until next time...