Beginning of the Year
"The beginning is the most important part of the work." Plato
"The beginning is the most important part of the work." Plato
This is the opening lesson for the year, for the course. It sets the tone - and it (and the ideas contained within) gets visited again and again.
The first reading - after the ooomph of the opening lesson is designed to set the tone: open minds, expectations, doing the reading, expect the impossible.
Getting students to continue their deep dive into text - and having them look at a story most of them read two years earlier. No River is ever the same - because the water is different; we are different.
A complex allegory that the students will solve for themselves - with the teacher acting as a "ringmaster" if you will, giving them the components they need - and the confidence.
The students first Group Work after reading a fairly complex but stimulating excerpt from Kafka's "The Metamorphosis". The work (and/or discussion) is designed to help see themselves in the text and engage them.
The students watch a film and answer questions that will help them look at the texts we've read and the discussions we've had - in a new light.