Thursday, September 30, 2010
“The Cool Crowd”
Note review from Wednesday 29
Keep a personality profile on characters: facts about the people -gender, age, attitude (positive or negative), physical features, names
Use the Writing Formula to respond to questions: statement->detailed explanation->supporting examples (use of quotes from the story as ‘backup’; text connections
Text Connections: text to text (comparing one story to another),
text to world (classroom, inside the school, home,
malls, anywhere outside the school)
text to self (where you see connections between your life experience and the experiences in the story
Figurative language= an explanation which is given but is not meant to be taken exactly as written
Literal language= what is written is meant to be taken exactly as stated “you mean exactly what you say”
Ex. “go jump off a bridge”
Points of View: 1st person point of view: the story is told through the main character(s)
3rd person point of view: the author is ‘telling’ the story
Always keep a list of ?’s as you read: look for the answers as you continue to read. If the answer is not in the story, then…
Thursday Sept. 30th 2010
“the cool crowd” notes
-Sabrina 15, made fun of her Bf, she enjoyed hangin’ with her BF, Is she being controlled by her group of friends? (as her friends make fun of her and her BF) Do I know any “Sabrinas” in my school life? Sabrina is over evaluating. These problems occur due to clique.
- the problem with Cliques is they become exclusive.
- Why do cliques exclude by nature? Because they do not want differences!!!!
- these crowds serve a purpose for the people in them.
-teens face many challenges; this is one of them, to feel as if they belong (the clique).
(Make a T chart of the story’s good and bad reasons for a clique)
Good Reasons / Bad Reasons-make people feel good about themselves / -they exclude or keep out (shun) people
-find people with the same interests / -make people feel bad about themselves
-they are controlling
-reinforces positive feelings
Cast of Characters
Sabrina 15, made fun of her BF, she enjoyed hangin’ with her BF, Is she being controlled by her group of friends? (as her friends make fun of her and her BF) Do I know any “Sabrinas” in my school life? Sabrina is over evaluating. These problems occur due to cliques.
Thea 13, has a ‘best friend’ whose name is Sarah; she has a new friend named Amanda. Thea is kind, she doesn’t want to lose Sarah’s friendship, but she also wants to be nice to Amanda. PROBLEM: Sarah does not like Amanda (based on jealously- she is attempting to control Thea) WHY: Sarah does not want Thea to have other friends. Perhaps the age factor is another reason for not liking Amanda.
Sarah: is possessive, she has a controlling nature, she tends to exclude people, she is also a bully. “Hey, you can’t sit here! This is our table, and we say who sits here and who doesn’t.” (p. 69)
Amanda: is excluded/shunned, seems to be shy, she is sensitive. “Amanda’s face fell.” (p.69)
Problems: Thea has to choose whether she wants to be friends with Sarah (she must reconsider whether Sarah really is her best friend)
Resolution: Thea actually stands up to Sarah and says that Amanda can sit at the table. Sarah must either accept the fact that Thea will not allow her to be controlled and go sit at another table.
Sarah again gives another order to Thea: she bullies her by telling her to go sit at another table.
Dilemma (problem): she has to decide whether to ‘pick” Amanda or Sarah.
Conflict Resolution: options are to have Sarah go away and Thea stay with Amanda, OR have a group discussion in which all people can voice their feelings/thoughts and hopefully reach a happy compromise. (It would seem doubtful that Sarah with her controlling nature, would agree to this solution)
Assignment: take the remaining subtopics: “Making Choices”; “Getting Shut Out”, “Turning Things Around”, How Cliques Tick”- make point form notes on what the purpose of each of these subtopics are. Pay attention to what the characters say and do. Figure out the author’s purpose in creating these subtopics
“Making Choices”
· While cliques may be a part of everyday life, it is our choice whether we want to follow the feelings of the group or follow our own feelings (this may cause the clique to reject us but if they do, they aren’t worth belonging to anyway) “how strong is our fear of rejection?”
· Sarah is insecure and feels a need to control/dominate others. This is why she puts Amanda ‘down’- it boosts her self-confidence. Sarah saw Thea’s friendship with Amanda as a threat to their friendship and ‘went on a power-trip’ (this makes Sarah feel powerful)
· Thea asserted herself and told Sarah to accept Amanda sitting at the table or go find another table. While Sarah and friends eventually did come back to the table with Thea and Amanda, I wonder if it was due to fear (she’s being rejected now or if she is maturing)
· In being politely assertive, Thea risked rejection, but ‘being her own person’ was more important to her: she actually gained new respect from Sarah and group
· Sabrina’s (15) problem was to decide if she had outgrown the immaturity of the clique. As she matures, she is more independent minded; she doesn’t need the permission of the group. It was time to find others who thought like she did (more independent, accepting and mature)
“Getting Shut Out”/ Turning Things Around”
· Depending on the type of person you are, group rejection can cause hurt feelings, lower self-esteem, anger, depression, resentment or vindictiveness (‘I’ll get back at you’). How a person reacts depends on how mature they are and how self confident they are of themselves. Will you let the clique control you? (your thoughts, feelings, actions)
· Owen’s problem is that he had outgrown the interests of the group he was in. He moved away from sports and into music. His ‘friends’ publically made fun of him for having different interests (mature of them?)
· Owen found new friends who were ‘sk8rs’, he felt better about himself, realized what was important to him mattered the most, and that unhappy periods in life don’t last- change happens. He was understanding himself better- with maturity comes more metcognitive thinking
· Owen realized that he had outgrown his friends: they were less mature and still thought as a group rather than as individuals in a group
“How Cliques Tick”
· “It’ a need to matter to others that makes cliques tick.” (p.71)
· Cliques tend to consist of large groups in early years and as people grow older, the size of the groups diminish, until pairs are more usual at the high school level
· Cliques are useful in helping kids feel a sense of belonging as well as learning social rules of behavior which are important when transitioning from a youth into an adult
· Cliques have leaders but as you grow up, you decide whether or not to ‘follow the leader’ or go your own way as you start to think for yourself.
· Cliques often have leadership problems when others try and take over
· People need to belong but is giving up your individuality to a group worth belonging?