Part of the same Continent - John Donne Med. 17 - Group Work

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."

Part of the Same Continent - John Donne Meditation 17 Group Work: There are many reasons for doing Group Work (see my page on Group Work), but in this case - it just works best logistically, given the material and its consideration that I want the students to do. This group work, is - if I may say so - one of my best. The critical thinking questions that it asks are dependent on Donne's text - but they are also dependent on what has come before in the class (all year up to that point) as well as what the students will listen to (a new story about the death of an Ebola doctor in Uganda) and do (come up with the name of some who has died - and who has made the world a better place for having lived in it). After the students give the names of these people who have improved the world - the teacher adds pictures of these individuals to an ever-growing data base. That data base is then used to create a mosaic photographic rendering of that Ebola doctor from Uganda (Dr. Matthew Lukwiya) - helping them fully undertand this idea that "we are all part of the same continent" and that one of us passes - we are all reduced by that loss.

Lesson Overview

Intro

The quiz for the reading is given in the previous lesson (on "Song" and "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" and covers "Meditation 17". This group work is quite different than what has preceded it. Students - in addition to answering the usual critical thinking questions will also listen to a new story on the death of Matthew Lukwiya - an Ebola doctor in Uganda and provide the name of someone who has died (either famous - or a friend or relative), who made the world a better place for having lived in it.

Group Work Questions

First the students are confronted with the common misconception of the most famous quote from "Meditation 17" - "Do not ask for whom the bells tolls - it tolls for thee". Most people misunderstand this to mean - "Don't ask when you are going to die - every bell tolls your own death", or something thereabouts. However - John Donne clearly (hopefully it will be clear to the students by the end of the period) means that when someone dies - we ALL are at a loss. The bell is literally tolling for us - as much as for the person who died.
Next, students are asked to do some textual analysis on Donne's extended metaphor - his conceit about the Church and we as members of that church.
The next question (#3) looks at a second conceit that Donne uses - comparing our lives to pages in a book.
Questions 4 -6 look at that tolling of the bell metaphor - both literally and figuratively.
Question 7 - looks at another metaphor - all of us as parts of the same continent. How does Donne juggle all of these so incredibly well?

Doctor Matthew Lukwiya

Now the students will listen to a news story on the death of Dr. Matthew Lukwiya. A noble Ugandan who fought the Ebola virus - saving hundreds of patients - but in the end succumbing to the disease himself. I never fully felt the weight of "Meditation 17" myself - until I heard this news story in the car one day, driving in to work. The students - while they listen have their handouts of "Meditation 17" out and take notes.

A List of those people who have made the world a better place

As the students are working on the Group Work - a list is circulating which asks them for the name of someone who has died and has in having lived - made the world a better place. These can be famous poeple (or people you may have to look up). They can also be relatives or friends of the student - in which case they can email a picture of that person to you.

After having done this for a number of years, the students are also asked NOT to name the people on the back of the handout whose names and pictures are already included in the database, multiple times. These include people like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, FDR, Florence Nightingale and about 50 others (you want the database to expand - and the first few years you do this assignment you should NOT include this list - and thereafter you will need to make your own list.

Here are the instructions for the students:

Write down the name of a person who has died whom you believe has made a difference in the world – made it a better place. It must be a person – who is, at least somewhat public, though they don’t need to be incredibly famous (they need to be at least well known enough that their picture can be found on the Internet. They can be a political leader, religious leader, scientist, doctor – they just need to have made a difference. Give special consideration if they died in service of their beliefs. SEE the BACK for names not to use.

The Mosaic Photo of Dr. Lukwiya

As the students work on the group work - search for photos of the people they name and save those pictures (jpgs or pngs) in a separate folder. I used to just use Google Images - find the picture, right click on the picture and then use Save As, to save the picture.

You will then use a Computer Program - I used AndreaMosaic to create the photo mosaic. The software was free (though I also made a donation - it's really good software). In the program you start with the picture you want to make a mosaic of (in this case Doctor Lukwiya - which I've included below) and then point to the folder with the pictures that will be compositing your mosaic.

The end result is a picture of Doctor Lukwiya made up the pictures of the people whose names your students have submitted as people who made the world a better place. Like the pictures making up the bigger picture of the Doctor - our world - our continent is made up of those who have lived and contributed to our better being.

Handout - Meditation 17

Meditation 17 by John Donne: Docx PDF

As with most of my handouts of the actual texts being covered - there is plenty of room left for notes. It's important to have students close their books and get away from all the marginalia and footnotes. They need to - and they can - figure this text out on their own. Please make sure there text books are put away when they begin this Group Work.

Handout - Group Work

No Man is an Island Group Work - John Donne Med. 17 : Docx PDF

Please see the Lesson Overview above for very detailed information on the Group Work itself (and the actual Group Work of course is the best source). The students will need to follow the directions so that they have time to both listen to a 5 minute audio (on Dr. Matthew Lukwiya - found below) and respond to it. As the Group Work is being worked on - a list should circulate around the classroom (that handout is directly below) asking students to name someone who has lived on our planet (and died) and has made the world a better place for having been here.

Handout - Student list of notables

Student List of notables who've made the world better: Docx PDF

Please see the Lesson Overview above for very detailed information on this handout. The front of this handout (which you only need to make a couple of copies for each class) is for students to write down the name of someone who has made the world a better place for having lived (and died) in it. Note: students may give the name of a friend or relative who they feel has made the world a better place - and email you the picture directly.

The back includes names of people they shouldn't write down - as those names have been given so often and are already overrepresented in the picture database. Of course, as you build your own database - you should NOT include this list - and when you do, it should be the names that you already have put many pictures of into your own database.

eboladoctornpr.mp3

Shining Star - An NPR Story on the death of Dr. Lukwiya

This is the news story that is used in the Group Work for question 7. Here are those directions: With 15 minutes left in the class, the teacher will play a news story about a Doctor fighting Ebola in Uganda, as you listen, have your copies of Meditation 17 out. Each group member should write down at least 1 or 2 sentences linking this man’s life to the meditation.

Andrea Mosaic Software

There are many mosaic software tools out there - this is the one that I used. it is free (though you can donate to the author - and I did). Remember to take care when downloading software from any site. Here is the message on their Homepage: Welcome to the official page of AndreaMosaic, a free project to create digital art using images and computer software. With AndreaMosaic you can create your own photographic mosaics made with your own pictures. A photo mosaic is an image composed of many tiled photos. Enjoy the artwork and feel free to contact the author.

An Example of a Mosaic made by my students

Doctor Matthew Lukwiya Mosaic - composed of student-given names

This is a recent mosaic that was made using the name students gave that year and in previous years. Again, the software that I used was AndreaMosaic - and the website to get it can be found here (please remember to evaluate any software you download for yourself before loading it onto your computer). The image is high enough resolution that you can make out the smaller pictures.

A Portrait of Dr. Matthew Lukwiya

Doctor Matthew Lukwiya Portrait

When you create a photo mosaic, you need a starting point: a picture that will be comprised of the many smaller pictures that composit it. In this case - if you are using Dr. Matthew Lukwiya (see the NPR story and the Lesson Overview above), this is the initial portrait that I used for the mosaic.

Remote Enhancements

This can all be done remotely of course - I've actually had great success with Group Work remotely - it does take some planning though - but you can also have a central location for everyone to send their names (and/or pictures).

What's Next & Unit Home Page

New Shadows Make - Four Elizabethan Poems of Love:

One last look at the Renaissance/Elizabethan era. What better way to do it than a cold reading (the students didn't - and yes, in my class that is very rare - read these poems for homework the night before. For the first, we will do our usual close reading - putting lines up on the screen for the students to respond to. For the second Donne poem, I created an Illuminated Text to watch (and given the scope of the lesson, there isn't time to do much more than watch the video). Next, there is an excellent poem by Christopher Marlowe. His poem also gives a great opportunity to show the importance of knowing every word. Finishing it off is "Sonnet 44" by Shakespeare.

WHAT CAME BEFORE:

John Donne - Two Poems ("Song" & "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning"):

Thoughts on the Lesson

A very powerful lesson - especially when - a few days after the students have completed I would put up a poster of Matthew Lukwiya based on the pictures of the names that they provided. That poster was left up for the rest of the year - reminding them of that idea that we are all part of the same continent.

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