Monday, November 25

Monday November 25

27. Choose a specific literary element (e.g., theme, characterization, structure, point of view, etc.) or literary technique (e.g., symbolism, irony, figurative language, etc.) used by one of the authors F. Scott Fitzgerald. Using specific details from either Passage I (the biography excerpt) or Passage II (the poem),The Great Gatsby in a well-developed paragraph, show how the author uses that element or technique to develop the passage.

Possible Sentence Starter: —F. Scott Fitzgerald uses _________ as a symbol to show….

——HINT!  You may use the car accident on pages 54 and 55 in answering the question.!

Due November 18, 2013

Monday, November 18

Read the following excerpt from the Philadelphia Art Alliance's website and write a personal response to the exhibit.  You may use your own experience of viewing the exhibition to explain your response.

Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen: The Way of Chopsticks

-The Philadelphia Art Alliance (http://www.philartalliance.org/exhibition/song-dong-and-yin-xiuzhen-the-way-of-chopsticks/)

Created by two of China's most acclaimed contemporary artists, the Philadelphia Art Alliance's 2013 centerpiece exhibition will transform the historic Rittenhouse Square mansion into a three-story, multimedia installation that invites viewers to contemplate the similarities and differences between American and Chinese family life. The Way of Chopsticks is supported by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, The Mindspring Foundation, and The Asian Cultural Council.

Inspired by the PAA's history as a private residence, Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen have collaborated with their 11-year-old daughter, Song ErRui, on an installation that will turn the historic Wetherill mansion into a three-story multimedia exploration of modern family life in China. The exhibition traces the evolution of family dynamics from the 1960s and '70s China of the artists' youth, when large families were the norm, to the increasingly globalized present day where only children, like their own daughter, are fast becoming the majority.

“Early in their lives, the artists grew up largely disconnected from the West; in the China of their childhood, families were large, and individuality was suspect,” says PAA curator Sarah Archer. “Their daughter’s 21st-century Chinese girlhood is vastly different: Song ErRui is bilingual in English and Mandarin, an avid basketball fan, and, thanks to her parents’ occupation, a sophisticated world traveler. The Way of Chopsticksaddresses this fascinating generational divide with aplomb, referencing objects we encounter on the smallest cultural scale — the household — to explore a story that is shaping their entire nation.”

In addition to a free public opening reception (Thursday, September 12, 6-8 pm) and a series of artist talks, food tastings, gallery tours and family workshops (more details follow below), The Way of Chopsticks will be accompanied by a scholarly catalog including essays by Professor Eileen Boris, University of California–Santa Barbara; Professor Wu Hung, University of Chicago; Philip Tinari, Director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; and an interview with Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen by Philippe Vergne, Director of the Dia Art Foundation, New York.

About the Chopsticks Series

Since 2001, the Beijing-based artists have collaborated on a signature long-term conceptual art project that balances the importance of independence and partnership: they create singular large-scale chopstick sculptures, built according to certain agreed-upon parameters, but completed in isolation. Neither artist knows what the other will do until the final sculptures are revealed and joined together. The artists believe that chopsticks serve as an ideal metaphor for family: neither one can function, creatively or as parents, without the other.

About the Artists

Song Dong has been a prominent figure in the Chinese art world since the early 1990s when he first came to attention through performances such as Breathing. His practice embraces performance, installation, video and photography, but the references are always highly personal, based on his own life experience and that of his family. Recent important exhibitions include Waste Not (2009) based on his mother's possessions accumulated over a lifetime and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA); and The Wisdom of Poor People 2005-2011, exhibited at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, in 2011.

Yin Xiuzhen was one of China's first female artists to gain recognition in the early 1990s. Conceptually oriented and active in performance and installations throughout China and internationally, Yin Xiuzhen's work concerns family and daily life experience in Beijing. Although she works in many media, she is widely recognized for her use of textiles as in Collective Subconscious at MoMA, New York in 2010, and Portable Cities (2001-present). She also represented China at the Venice Biennale in 2007.

The Way of Chopsticks has been supported by Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Mindspring Foundation, and the Asian Cultural Council.

The Way of Chopsticks: Song Dong ＋Yin Xiuzhen is represented by Chambers Fine Art in New York City and Beijing.

Bessie Smith: Due 11/11

Bessie Smith: Due 11/11

Listen to the song "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" performed by Bessie Smith
by following the link, http://www.zapkolik.com/video/bessie-smith-nobody-knows-you-when-youre-down-and-out-576280 and answer the following prompt:

In a well-structured paragraph, discuss the extent to which the message of the song is true.  You may use any literature or articles you have read over the course of your high school career as evidence to support your position.

"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"
Bessie Smith
Once I lived the life of a millionaire,
Spent all my money, didn’t have any cares.
Took all my friends out for a mighty good time,
Bought bootleg liquor, champagne and wine.

Then I began to fall so low,
Lost all my good friends, had no nowhere to go.
I get my hands on a dollar again,
I’ll hang on to it till that eagle grins.

Because, nobody knows you
When you're down and out.
In your pocket, not one penny,
And as for friends, you don't have any.

When you get back up on your feet again,
Everybody wants to be your long-lost friend.
I Said it's strange, without any doubt,
Nobody knows you when you're down and out.

Ooooh, nobody knows you
When you're down and out.
In your pocket, not one penny,
And as for friends, you don't have any.

When you get back on your feet again,
Everybody wants to be your long-lost friend.
I Said it's strange, without any doubt
Nobody knows you,
Nobody knows you,
Nobody knows you when you're down and out.