Over the course of this year in English, you will be required to select key quotations from each text you read and post them to The Moot Blog (commonplace blogspot). Identifying key quotations—quotations that strike you, confuse you, inspire you—will help you read more closely and remember the text more effectively. Keeping a record of your reflections and reactions to texts on the commonplace blog will also allow you to keep your own record of the “great conversation” between writers and thinkers over the past three thousand years of human literature. You will also be able to participate in the conversation by commenting and reflecting on each other's thoughts and ideas about literature.
When you are reading a text (for the course or otherwise) and you come across a great phrase, word, idea, etc., post it to the blog. As a community, we will see similar and different reactions to texts and ideas.
“Time was when readers kept commonplace books. Whenever they came across a pithy passage, they copied it into a notebook under an appropriate heading, adding observations made in the course of daily life. Erasmus instructed them how to do it… The practice spread everywhere in early modern England, among ordinary readers as well as famous writers like Francis Bacon, Ben Jonson, John Milton, and John Locke. It involved a special way of taking in the printed word. Unlike modern readers, who follow the flow of a narrative from beginning to end, early modern Englishmen read in fits and starts and jumped from book to book. They broke texts into fragments and assembled them into new patterns by transcribing them in different sections of their notebooks. Then they reread the copies and rearranged the patterns while adding more excerpts. Reading and writing were therefore inseparable activities. They belonged to a continuous effort to make sense of things, for the world was full of signs: you could read your way through it; and by keeping an account of your readings, you made a book of your own, one stamped with your personality. . . . The era of the commonplace book reached its peak in the late Renaissance, although commonplacing as a practice probably began in the twelfth century and remained widespread among the Victorians. It disappeared long before the advent of the sound bite.” —Robert Darnton, “Extraordinary Commonplaces” The New York Review of Books, December 21, 2000
“Once a day… call yourself to an account what new ideas, what new proposition or truth you have gained, what further confirmation of known truths, and what advances you have made in any part of knowledge.” —Isaac Watts, Improvement of the Mind. 1815
THE ASSIGNMENT:
- At various points in the year, you will have the opportunity to make "commonplace blog" entries.
- A commonplace blob is a record of our intellectual growth and changing perspectives over the course of the year
- When you are struck by a line, a phrase, a word, a paragraph while reading literature—whether course texts, independent texts, or random texts—post the quotation here, and comment on them: why did it strike you? why does it matter to you and to us?
- These blog posts are a personal project—you choose what goes in, and what connections matter to you most
- Your entries should reflect VARIETY—that is, a range of quotations at various levels of complexity and depth, from the mundane to the profound
- You may include visual/graphic texts, references to music clips, etc., in addition to textual quotations
- You should provide reflections, commentary, connections, synthesis and applications stemming from the passages and excerpts you have quoted.
- This project operates independently all year, with various pe-scheduled check points—stay tuned for details.
Although you will not be evaluated on spelling, grammar and punctuation, it is expected at the grade 12 level that you can demonstrate reasonable proficiency with the application of these conventions; this is also a public medium, so write for clarity and readability. Please do not use IM shorthand (e.g., LOL, BTW, etc.) or expletives.
ASSESSING the Commonplace Blogging:
- Evidence of continuous interaction with the course texts
- Students record a variety of personally selected quotations
- Entries should contain “substantial” reflection
HOW SHOULD I CHOOSE QUOTES FOR THE COMMONPLACE BLOG?*
- Find a line or passage that offers a powerful statement. You are allowed to define powerful in any way you wish. Sometimes a quotation is particularly persuasive, emotional, descriptive, or meaningful-but there are all kinds of other things that set one line apart from the rest. Decide for yourself what is powerful, and then think about what makes it powerful. Or
- Find a line or passage that helps you understand this text. Or
- Find a line or passage that confuses you. You find yourself wondering if you might understand the whole text better if you could make sense of this part Or
- Find a line or passage that reminds you of another text (or "voice") in the American conversation. (How is this similar to or different from the other, and how can that comparison or contrast contribute to our understanding of the conversation.) Or
- Find a line or passage that demonstrates a noteworthy way of connecting with and persuading the audience. Or
- Find a line or passage which made a strong impression on YOU. It could be something you seriously disagree with; if so, go ahead and counter the argument. On the other hand, if it's something you like, is this something you want to remember and/or live up to in your own life? Would your life be any different if you do?
