Pleasure Reading

     I've been watching the NBA finals and so far have been greatly disappointed in most of the results.  For one two of my favorite teams didn't even make the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, both had really rough seasons plagued with multiple injuries.  The Cavs actually set a record this year for longest losing streak.  Then my favorite teams that did make the playoffs, Portland Trailblazers and New Orleans Hornets lost in the first round.  So I really don't have much to look forward to in the playoffs any more.  I just really don't want to see the Miami Heat win, as a team the lack focus and heart, they simply want to win to say we are the best and everyone else stinks.  Their game is full of flair and poor sportsmanship, which can really be said about any team with Eddie House on it.
 This little move cost him $25,000.
And to be completely honest I really don't want the Los Angeles Lakers to win again for the third time in a row.  They're a really good team don't get me wrong, but I feel like they are way to sure of themselves and need a reality check.
     The biggest surprise of the playoffs so far came in the form of the eighth seeded Memphis Grizzles who beat out the number one seeded San Antonio Spurs, no one saw that coming besides Charles Barkely apparently who knew it all along.

Graphic Novel Comparison

Text and Dialogue

Balloons - Pinocchio - plain round speech balloons
                Naruto - round for regular speech, and jagged for more emotional speaking
Caption - Pinocchio - used for some narration
                Naruto - used for chapter changes
Emanata - Pinocchio - used in vampire deaths
                Naruto - used frequently to represent action, such as in the fight scenes
Labels and Signs - Pinocchio - none
                             Naruto - very few
Lettering - Pinocchio - stays same throughout
                 Naruto - changes same as balloons, different for regular speech and excited speech
Sound Effects - Pinocchio - used in the fight scenes
                         Naruto - used throughout story for almost every action that takes place

Visual Effects


Characters - Pinocchio - lots of shadows with thick dark lines
                    Naruto - lightly drawn to give the idea of movements
Objects - Pinocchio - not much detail
                Naruto - very detailed much like the characters
Icons- Pinocchio - his nose
          Naruto - his headband
Scenery - Pinocchio - very dark
                Naruto - realistic and detailed
Depicted Action - Pinocchio - simple only one or two frames but still intricate
                            Naruto - more in-depth with close-ups and far shots
Borders - Pinocchio - thin and black, crooked
               Naruto - thin and black
Gutters - Pinocchio - black or white
              Naruto - white some narrow and some thick
Panels - Pinocchio - many different sizes
             Naruto - many different sizes
Open Panels - Pinocchio - mostly used in emotional scenes
                       Naruto - action scenes
Splash - Pinocchio - exciting scenes
              Naruto - epic battle scenes and title pages

Angles and Frames


Bleed - Pinocchio - only on full page splashes
            Naruto - done quite frequently
Close-up - Pinocchio - vampires dying
                  Naruto - fight scenes mostly
Headshot - Pinocchio - when one character is speaking
                  Naruto - when one character is speaking or to show emotion
Head-shoulder shot - Pinocchio - dialogue
                                 Naruto - dialogue and emotions
Full-figure shot - Pinocchio - more than one character in frame
                          Naruto - more than one character in frame
Long shot - Pinocchio - used to move story along
                   Naruto - display setting
Extreme long shot - Pinocchio - none
                              Naruto - used for exaggeration
Reverse - Pinocchio - tense scenes with high emotion
                Naruto - tense scenes with high emotion

Rhetorical Techniques Applied in Texts, Visuals, and Design


Exaggeration - Pinocchio - his emotions through shadows and heavy lines
                       Naruto - playfulness of Naruto and the fighting
Empathy/Identification - Pinocchio - loss of loved one
                                     Naruto - loneliness
Mood/Tone - Pinocchio - dark and tense
                      Naruto - light and fun
Simplicity/Complexity - Pinocchio - simple story line done in a complex way
                                    Naruto - complex, but maybe just because I found it difficult to read sometimes
Irony/Satire - Pinocchio - well-known children's character used in violent story
                     Naruto - he is looked down upon, but turns out to be great
Realism/Icons/Symbolism - Pinocchio - not very realistic although I consider Pinocchio to be kind of an icon
                                          Naruto - hardships of growing up realistic and symbolic
Order/Disorder - Pinocchio - seeks order through disorder
                           Naruto - seeks order through disorder
Juxtaposition - Pinocchio - good versus evil
                       Naruto - what people see in Naruto versus what he actually is
Relationships - Pinocchio - fighting for the relationship he lost
                       Naruto - feels the need to prove himself in order to gain relationships
Point of View - Pinocchio - 3rd person
                        Naruto - 3rd person

Graphic Novel Comparison

Text and Dialogue

Balloons - Pinocchio - plain round speech balloons
                Naruto - round for regular speech, and jagged for more emotional speaking
Caption - Pinocchio - used for some narration
                Naruto - used for chapter changes
Emanata - Pinocchio - used in vampire deaths
                Naruto - used frequently to represent action, such as in the fight scenes
Labels and Signs - Pinocchio - none
                             Naruto - very few
Lettering - Pinocchio - stays same throughout
                 Naruto - changes same as balloons, different for regular speech and excited speech
Sound Effects - Pinocchio - used in the fight scenes
                         Naruto - used throughout story for almost every action that takes place

Visual Effects


Characters - Pinocchio - lots of shadows with thick dark lines
                    Naruto - lightly drawn to give the idea of movements
Objects - Pinocchio - not much detail
                Naruto - very detailed much like the characters
Icons- Pinocchio - his nose
          Naruto - his headband
Scenery - Pinocchio - very dark
                Naruto - realistic and detailed
Depicted Action - Pinocchio - simple only one or two frames but still intricate
                            Naruto - more in-depth with close-ups and far shots
Borders -

Pleasure Reading

     So I watch some of correspondents dinner the other night and can I just say that President Obama is hilarious.  The whole night comments were being made about Obama's birth certificate and he finally decided to release a video of his birth.  He said this all with a completely straight face so I had no idea what to expect and then he said that he was going to play it right now, and the next thing I know the intro to The Lion King is playing when Simba is born and it just might be one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  Seth Meyers, the head writer for Saturday Night Live and the anchor for Weekend Update on SNL, also spoke that evening.  He had a lot of great jokes at lots of people's expense and for the most part everyone had a pretty good sense of humor everyone that is except for Donald Trump.  Whenever someone started talking about Trump it would change to a shot of him in the audience and his expression never changed.  I think he only smiled once and that was when the President made a joke about Trump's television show Celebrity Apprentice.

     This was the first time I have ever watched the correspondents dinner, and much to my surprise I actually enjoyed it.  I really have no interest in politics whatsoever and am really bored by the idea of watching important people talk at a big, expensive fancy dinner, but it was pretty entertaining.

MMLit Final Reflection

     This semester is almost over and looking back on it makes it seem really short, as is the case with most things.  Before this class I new the importance of incorporating different technologies into the classroom, but I didn't really know how to do it.  This class gave me a new outlook on the class that allowed me to see how essential using multiple modalities is an how easily it can fit into just about any lesson.  The assignment that stands out the most to me from the semester would definitely have to be the multi-genre autobiography, it was a great way to start off the semester with something enjoyable and interesting.  We became closer as a class at the same time as learning how to work with certain online resources that we can use in the future.  I also really enjoyed everything we did in class that dealt with film.  I love film and whenever I think of a lesson I almost always try to think of how to incorporate a film into it and this class really allowed me to see the advantages in doing so.  The class also provided me with lots of great ideas on how to use film courtesy of Costanzo's textbook, Great Films and How to Teach Them.  I really liked this book, it offer an in-depth look into film and how they can be used as educational resources in a classroom.  I wrote my eleventh grade research paper on different films and if I had  had this book at the time it may have made things a little easier.
     I will be taking a lot of valuable lessons from this class that I will keep with me as I continue with my dream of one day becoming a teacher.  I also plan on attending as many film festivals as possible, after having a great experience at the Cleveland International Film Festival.

Final Reflection

     This semester has been an extremely difficult one.  I took five classes that interested me, but at the same time I found each of them to be challenging in their own way.  Teaching Literature in Secondary Schools was no exception, the only difference from it and my other classes was that a lot of the enjoyment I experienced in the class came from the challenges I had during it.
     Comparing this class to last semesters Teaching Reading with Literature I found them to be the perfect foil to one another.  One stressed the importance of young adult literature while the other showed how to use YA Lit in conjunction with canonical texts.  The main argument for canonical text coming from our text book Classics in the Classroom by Carol Jago.  Having just one of these classes without the other would have led to what I imagine as a pretty one sided curriculum, that might have stressed one over the other leaving students with a lopsided understanding of literature and its place in the world, past, present, and future.
     Our two main in-class assignment, facilitating classroom discussion and our expert group presentations, were two of the most helpful activities I've ever had the pleasure of participating in.  Obviously we were not in an actual classroom setting when performing these task, but I still think they served their purpose of preparing us for when we are in the actual situation.  When standing in front of the class I found a confidence that I never knew I had, sure I was nervous, but once I got going it seemed more natural.  I found this more in the discussion activity then the expert groups, but it was in both.  With the expert group I think I finally gained a level of comfort with writing lesson plans.  Lesson plans were something that used to make me very nervous, but after this activity I was able to see the amount of freedom you can have even when dealing with standards and bench marks.  I found the best thing is just not to allow yourself to become overwhelmed with everything you are trying to include, keep it simple and expand upon it if applicable.
     I really enjoyed this class and I think the knowledge I gained from it is pretty invaluable, I'm going to be holding on to the book for a while I now that much for sure and I also plan on buying Critical encounters.  Both books seem like they have a lot to offer teachers and I plan on getting a lot of use out of them both.  I wish this class didn't have to end I feel like as much as I have learned there is still so much more and I want the lessons to just keep coming, but I definitely look forward to using all that I learned in my very own classroom someday.

Jago Ch. 7

     A national assessment test sounds promising, but the path to get there is a long on to say the least.  I'm not sure how important it is to have similar standards as long as they all have something in common and that is that they are high.  We must hold students to a higher level, challenge them and help them to succeed in whatever the future holds for them.  As far as where literature comes into play in all of this I pretty much agree with Jago, in that classic literature is still a very important part of the curriculum.  Teaching a student how to analyze a piece of writing well is necessary since this bit of knowledge can be used in almost every aspect of the students every day life.  Learning how to deal with certain situations and sympathizing with those who can't.  I don't know if a student should not be able to graduate if they don't know how to analyze something and express there own opinion in a productive way, but I do know that teachers need to impart as much as possible onto each student who passes through their room, because not all states do have a final graduation exam, so it's up to us to determine if they are ready or not and then to hope that we are right.