Thursday, December 13, 2012

Extra-Credit Opportunity

From a friend of mine:

"My ten-year-old niece, Rosalind, has started a petition at Change.org to ask [The Big Bang Theory], who routinely has cameos from smart guys--scientists, astronomers, etc.--to bring on some smart women. To date, the lady cameos have all been mostly models (she tells me. I don't watch the show).

"Here's the link: The Big Bang Theory--Bring Women Scientists on the Show.

"Would you be kind enough to take about 30 seconds and sign the petition?  I know it's far from your agenda today, but it would make a  budding community organizer's holiday season. And maybe make TV a little more aspirational for our daughters/sisters/cousins...

"She needs 25 more signatures to get it to the next level on their site....

"I really appreciate it."


So, there you have it, true believers. Let's put it this way: it took a 10-year-old girl to point out what I should have recognized; I will be signing, and I hope you do, too.

IB Novels Into Film Project Redux

Remember that post a little while back, "IB: Classic Novels Made Into Films"?

Yes? Cool. It's been updated to reflect the novels that can be found in Woodrow's Library.

Reminder: I need to know what your novel and film will be by 4:30pm, December 21, 2012.

Yes, I know the world ends that day, but humor an old man and tell me which novel and film you would do if the world continued to whirl away into the cold, dark void that we call the Universe.

Thank you. Carry on with your end of the world preparations.


AP/IB: PSAT Scores

From Ms. Odeski:
 
PSAT scores from the October testing will be handed out at the Parent Meeting, Tuesday evening, 6:00-7:00pm in the Auditorium. This affects 9-11 grades.

At the meeting, the counselors will present information on how to use these scores for college match and selection. Financial aid for college will also be on the agenda.

For those who cannot attend the meeting, PSAT score reports will be handed out in the cafeteria during lunch on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 19 and 20.

There is a PSAT score report explanation on the www.woodrowwildcats.org website under Guidance and college tabs.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

IB Crime and Punishment Topics

  1. Which character(s) serve(s) as Raskolnikov's foil?
  2. What impact do the descriptions of the various apartments--including those of Raskolnikov, Alyona, Sonya, Luzhin, and Dunya and Pulcheria--have on the reader's understanding of the characters who inhabit them and the events that take place within them?
  3. What effect does having the murder occur at the very beginning have on the structure of the novel?
  4. What is the relation between transgression and redemption in Crime and Punishment?
  5. Discuss the role of suffering in the lives of Dostoevsky's characters. What, if anything, do tormented souls like Katerina Ivanovna and Sonya gain by enduring their pain?
  6. How should the reader reconcile Svidrigailov's charitable gestures at the end of the novel with his violent confrontation of Dunya during the same time frame, and does his eventual suicide affect the response?