|
Hi Everyone-- Happy Friday. Hope yours is going well. I can’t be with you today because I’m teaching my seniors at BSU. Before I get to the assignment for today’s class, let me say that I was really delighted with your work on Wednesday. We got through all but two introductions. I was so impressed with your willingness to tell your own stories in your own words. You did good work. I look forward to finishing up on Monday and to starting our first formal assignment. To start that work, I would like to give you a short piece of reading. I’m attaching it to this email/blog post. I’m also giving it to Mr. Saurette and I’m also posting it on our class website (leetorda.com) in our class blog. It’s very short. It’ a beautiful piece of writing from The New Yorker magazine called “Alone at the Movies.” 
AS YOU READ: Pay attention to what going to this particular movie meant to the author, Johnathan Lethem. Why did he go to see Star Wars the various times that he went to the movies? If you can answer this, you sort of know what the thesis of this short essay is. Write about this on your own for two or three minutes once you are done reading.
IN GROUPS OF THREE OR FOUR: Talk about your answer to the above question. When you are ready, post 100-200 words on our class blog on my website. Only one answer per group. While you are there posting, make sure to read some of your classmates responses. ONCE YOU ARE DONE WITH THAT, POST AGAIN, AS A GROUP: This time, identify all the things we learn about Lethem’s memory of seeing the movie—both alone and with his mother. This is the detail, the evidence, that makes you believe what Lethem is saying. You can post this as a paragraph or a short list, whatever works for you and your group mates. And, again, while you are posting, make sure to read what some of your classmates wrote. FINALLY: Write this next thing on your own, either on your computer or on paper that you can later type up on a computer: Write about a movie memory you have. Who was there? Why was seeing that movie at that moment important to you? What was the movie (of course). It’s no big deal. Just a short piece of writing. You can email it to me at [email protected].
17 Comments
Jayden, Ashlee, Zaraq
3/22/2019 11:11:53 am
In Lethem’s short essay, “Alone at the movies”, we learn that he attends the movies numerously to watch Star Wars. Sometimes twice a day, or once three times a day. We learn also that his mother is dying from a brain tumor even after two surgeries to remove it. He copes with his mother diagnosis by attending the movie, to escape from the world around him from falling apart. He also focuses on pop culture with his grandmother, as another way to cope with the life that he’s about to lose. He visits the same movie theater, to watch the same movie because it gives him regulation during this difficult time. The movie also displays the future, in which he feels a connection with because his future is unknown without his mother.
LT
3/25/2019 07:01:38 am
Nice work here guys. This part is the most interesting to me. It's interesting analysis:
Ashlee, Jayden, Zaraq
3/22/2019 11:17:51 am
-with his mother, he realizes it might be there last time doing something together
Sara Pavao, Laura Andrade, Alexandra Franco
3/22/2019 11:22:46 am
Jonathan went to watch the movie Star Wars plenty of times because he was using that as a place to hide due to the events happening at home. He wanted to distract himself from the fact that his mom was dying, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he also wanted to distract his grandma from the coming loss of her only kid, instead of mourning the coming loss he would cover up the idea of losing his mom and her daughter with pop culture. The reason why he went to the movies so many times was because his mom taught him that it was fine to be late to a movie and watch it until the end, go through the inbetween break and watch the beginning of the movie, so basically it naturally lead him to watch a movie twice, his mom taught him that because she wanted him to leave the house so that he would not have to see the effects of what his parents were going through and it wouldn't have an affect on him.
Sara,Laura,Alexandra
3/22/2019 11:33:03 am
-Watched the movie 21 times.
LT
3/25/2019 07:04:12 am
I think this is an excellent list of the details that we learn from the short essay. And you've made a clear point about why he would do this--to escape from all of the sadness in his house. I think you also start to make a good point about how his mother/parents sort of made him the way he was so that this was the obvious way he would distract himself during this sad time.
Ethan, Dylan, Nate, Brayden
3/22/2019 11:36:28 am
He used ‘Star Wars’ as a coping mechanism and as an escape to avoid his life issues. He would sneak into the movies then see it twice and the last time he seen the movie with his mom, they showed up on time and her leaving the first screening of the movie was a way of her saying goodbye to each other. From that point forward, he stopped following what his mom always said to him and his brother. They used to go to the movies at any time and never thought it was “important” to see the screenings or not to watch it twice but her leaving early from something he loved very much was a symbol of her leaving his life earlier than expected. He no longer shows up to movies late and watches only once through in remembrance of his last memory there with his mom.
LT
3/25/2019 07:06:35 am
I think that you are right that the act of seeing the movie with his mom and her leaving and him staying is symbolic of how his life is going to be--I don't know if we know if he knew that at the time. But, as an adult, that's how he sees that moment, that's how he remembers it. What I'm less sure about is if he watches movies as an adult--from the beginning, straight through--is "in remembrance" of his mother. I'm not sure you have evidence in the text to prove that point.
Deirdre Duarte, Kayla Lafleur, Taylor Carvalo
3/22/2019 11:53:59 am
Throughout times of desperation, we tend to seek a way to ignore the world around us. For Jonathan Lethem, he escaped his poignant home life at the movie theatre. He originally got this idea from his mother, who told him that "it wasn't important to be on time for a movie" when you could "sit through the break" to review the film again. This habit became Lethem's way of hiding from his mother's brain tumor in the summer of 1977 when the first "Star Wars" entered theatres and Lethem saw it a record "twenty-one times," including the day he took his mother in hopes that she would be able to find peace alongside him. While she did not see his escapism as ideal -- calling it "just O.K. -- but it was something her son enjoyed.
LT
3/25/2019 07:09:47 am
I think that the strength of what you have to say here is in your description of how he watches the movie. You give a very detailed description of that experience. I really like what you have to say about how this is not about loneliness or a bad thing. That the author finds comfort in it and still enjoys parts of the experience (going alone to the movies). I also think you've hit on one of the "why" parts of the essay--he was using the movies as a distraction. I wonder what would happen if you connected the why part with how he watched the movie--do you think how he watched it is a result of why he watched it? I really am just asking. I'm just interested in what you noticed in particular about the essay.
Deirdre Duarte, Kayla Lafleur, Taylor Carvalo
3/22/2019 12:18:00 pm
We learn from Lethem's memory that....
Tyjaya, Barbara
3/23/2019 07:00:17 pm
After reading this excerpt, we concluded that the main reason why Jonathan watched "Star Wars" repeatedly, was to escape reality. Jonathan went through a lot this summer which included : the separation of his parents, to the loss of his mother, to even trying to distract his elderly grandmother from realizing the lost of her only child. Movies are a great way of taking your mind into an entire galaxy, so in .relation to Jonathan's issue we can see why he tried so hard to distract himself. Star Wars is a movie based upon heros and villains, but when correlating to Jonathans life when can say movies stopped him from reminiscing and the only villain in his life was a symbol of death.
Tyjaya, Barbara
3/23/2019 07:06:57 pm
-Saw " Star Wars" 21 times
LT
3/25/2019 07:12:10 am
I think you've done a good job of identifying the main details of the essay and have generally understood the thesis of the essay--that he is using the movies to escape from all the sadness that was a part of his life that summer. You've identified that well. I'm curious about how you say it "stopped him from reminiscing." I feel like the whole essay is him remembering this time, remembering how it felt to lose his mom and remembering how the movie (and movies in general) helped him to feel that way. 3/22/2024 10:15:24 am
This week's prompt, "Alone at the Movies," really sparked my imagination. I'm eager to explore the idea of being the only one in a vast theater. Will it be a lonely experience, or a chance for a unique connection with the film? I can't wait to dive in and see where the story takes me! Leave a Reply. |
DURFEE 101Use this space to post drafts, ideas, responses, questions, etc. Archives
May 2019
Categories |
||
RSS Feed