Alex's+Plan+for+Intertextual+Studies

=== I like the connections between your students and the narratives, so they relate to the journey on the psychic level. Since all of these readings are about adults, it might help to have a YA short story with a journey theme. Possibilities: Chris Crutcher's __Athletic Shorts__ or Judith Ortiz Cofer's __An Island Like You__ (short story collections).For writing, consider an "I am From . . ." poem. ( I have the assignment).20/20 ===
 * I like the summative assessment, but my one concern is how much time you will need to devote to //Candide//, considering it is an 18th century satire. **
 * I suppose you can teach excerpts, but I would be cautious with how much time you invest in it, since it is not the core text. **

**//Planning Intertextual Studies //**


 * Course: **English 11


 * Unit: ** The Personal Legend


 * Core Text: ** //The Alchemist// by Paulo Coelho


 * Supportive Texts: **
 * Excerpts from //Candide// by Voltaire
 * Narcissus (from Ovid’s //Metamorphoses//)
 * “The Ruined Man who Became Rich Again through a Dream” (from //One Thousand and One Nights)//
 * The Story of Joseph and the Pharaoh’s Dream (Genesis 41, 1-37)
 * Excerpts from The Book of Ecclesiastes


 * Form of Intertextual Study: ** Thematic


 * Purpose: **
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To discuss and discover our personal goals.
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To reflect on what motivates and inspires us toward those goals.
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To question to whom we are responsible and why.
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To promote tolerance of the many and various beliefs (religious and philosophical) in our world that comprise people’s identities.


 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Essential Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">What journey will I take to become my own hero?
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">What motivates and inspires me?
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Am I the master of my own fate?


 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unit Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">What significant insights into //The Alchemist// do the supportive texts provide?
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">What is //vanity//? How is it thematically related to the idea of the Personal Legend?
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why should we, like Santiago, value our dreams and attempt to interpret them?
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">How does Santiago’s self-concept change from the novel’s beginning to its end?
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">What role do women play in //The Alchemist//?
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">How do our prejudices enable or prevent us from realizing our dreams?
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">What is alchemy? How is it related to spirituality and religion?

//<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Summative: //
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Assessments: **
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Write a reflective essay about your lifetime goals. That is, describe how your goals have changed from childhood to the present, and how they might change from now and into the future. Discuss the challenges you expect to face, the people whom you will seek for guidance, and the rewards (personal or material) you stand to gain. Compare and contrast your own journey with Santiago’s, drawing support and evidence from the text and our discussions of it in class.
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">You will also design a plan for your own journey, your own Personal Legend. This can be serious or humorous, about yourself or a fictional self. You may use multiple medias and genres to represent your plan (Power Point, Move Maker, a series of musical compositions, string of lyrical ballads, flip book, etc.). Finally, you will present your project to the class.


 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Learning Activities: **
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Journal writing: Example: Describing the “signs” or “good omens” we either follow or ignore and the consequences of our decisions.
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Textual comparisons: Exploring supporting texts to enhance our reading of //The Alchemist// and its moral underpinnings. Example: Contrasting the philosophy of Voltaire’s //Candide// with that of the King of Salem’s in //The Alchemist//.
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Group research: Example: teaching one another the significance of the Philosopher’s Stone, the Elixir of Life, the Master Work, etc. in ancient alchemical practices.
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Visualizing: Example: Mapping Santiago’s journey from Spain through Africa.
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Agree-disagree: exploring our opinions of the story’s many bold statements (“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”).
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Post-it time line (see Burke, 2010): Re-tracing the narrative’s sequence of events.