AP students did the following today:
- Asked questions about the vocabulary assignment, which is due TOMORROW;
- Discussed President Obama's speech;
- Wrote a page about courage in response to the warm-up, which is copied below; and
- Read, discussed, and analyzed Leonard Pitts's article "We'll go forward from this moment," a link to which appears below.
Warm-up 9-11-14
“[C]ivilization has absolutely no need of nobility or
heroism. These things are symptoms of
political inefficiency. In a properly
organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or
heroic. Conditions have got to become
thoroughly unstable before the occasion can arise. When there are wars, … where there are
temptations to be resisted, objects of love to be fought for or defended –
there, obviously, nobility and heroism have some sense. But there aren’t any wars nowadays. The greatest care is taken to prevent you from
loving any one too much” (Brave New World
237).
“I wanted you to
see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man
with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but
you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but
sometimes you do” (To Kill a Mockingbird).
On this day, examples of courage
abound. A man runs upstairs in the burning
World Trade Center to render aid, knowing full well that he will likely never
descend those stairs. A passenger on a
hijacked flight over Shanksville, Pennsylvania yells, “It’s go time,” and
attempts to ambush the hijackers, knowing full well that he will die on that
plane.
We all witness less-blatant
moments of courage on a daily basis, from the girl who refuses to gossip along
with her “friends,” to the young man who stands up to bullying, to racism, to
homophobia. On this day when we are
reminded of the heroes once among us and always with us, please write a page on
courage – what it means to you and when and how you have experienced it.
Honor our heroes by composing your
very best piece.
Link to the Pitts's article:http://www.miamiherald.com/2001/09/12/374188/sept-12-2001-well-go-forward-from.html
Enjoy!
Seventh period took a vocabulary test today. From what I can tell, pretty much everyone aced it - well done!
Have a good night!
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