ALL-CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD #6: Aristotle & Dante

TORDA'S SPRING 2021 TEACHING SITE

ALL-CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD #6: Aristotle & Dante

11/28/2017

This week is the first week we are reading something that is totally new to me. I look forward to thinking and writing about this new text with all of you.

This week: our classroom this week is close in age as our protagonists: a ninth grade class at Sharon High School. If you want to get a sense of the school and its students, you can check out the school’s site. You can check out the demographic stats for the school here as well as stuff about MCAS scores and other performance indicators. You can also check out this slideshow (why it’s a slideshow I have no idea) about summer reading. It’s sort of interesting because of the selections included. I think that Aristotle and Dante would not be out of place on this list.

As you respond, consider the following:

Is there media you might use in support of teaching this text? Is there media students might create?
Are there other texts you might pair with this text?
Are there more “canonical” or framework friendly texts you might teach that could be paired with it?

These are questions we’ve been thinking about all semester. But, in the interest of supporting your work in the final assignment, consider how writing would support the teaching of this text:

What sort of low stakes writing could you employ (writing to know)?
What sort of writing might you ask of your students as a summative assignment—a more high-stakes writing assignment (writing to show)?
Is there an opportunity for groupwork?
Is there an opportunity for student presentation?

27 Comments

Alexandra Krista Dewey

11/29/2017 10:40:57 am

After reading Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the Universe, I thought a lot of about the previous text I’ll Give You the Sun. Both of these novels can be taught together because they are both coming of age stories that focus on the hardships of growing up. They are easy texts and they both offer a lot of different scenarios that teenagers will be able to relate to. As for everyday assignments, I would want my students to take a few minutes and write journal entries from a given characters perspective. I think that by putting themselves into the characters shoes, they will be able to see things from their eyes and feel what they are feeling. As well as everyday journal entries, students can work together in groups to discuss character development. One group might focus on how Dante is coming into himself, whereas the other group would focus on Dante. At one point, they would switch characters so everyone in the class ends up working with each character on a more personal level. As a final assignment, I would ask each student to pick a character, either Aristotle or Dante, and write about how they relate to this chosen character. Who do they feel more connected to and why? Have they ever felt or gone through what their character has gone through? Many other questions will posed but these are just a few examples. By incorporating these assignments, students will be able to grow with their characters as well as experience what they feel. These are a few great simple ways to get the students involved with the texts, while helping them discover themselves as young adults.

Cristina Almeida

11/29/2017 05:41:04 pm

I like the idea of writing journal entries from different characters’ perspectives. Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s writing style allows the characters of Dante and Aristotle to have distinct voices in the novel which would make this a fun and interesting series of assignments for students. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a very personal and emotional text, so I can see why you would want your students to empathize with Dante and Aristotle through journal activities. Mapping out the development of these characters, as you suggested, is important too. There are so many subtle changes in Ari’s personality that it’s important to have students look closely at the development of his character throughout the course of the text. Overall, I think that having students relate their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences to this text, as you suggested, is a great way to motivate them.

Dan Chahine

11/29/2017 07:49:41 pm

I think focusing on character perspectives is a great way to go and would be a very great way to help the students understand the reasons why a character acted the way they did is very important. I also talked about how I think the best way to teach this novel is by having the students do creative writing assignments where they can put themselves in a character's shoes to help understand the significance of an important scene and take the most out of the text as possible. I really like the assignment where the students have to relate themselves to a character in the novel and is something that I think can work very well.

Gabrielle Rosson

12/2/2017 03:11:15 pm

I agree with you. I thought the books were very comparable. They both focus on that internal sense of isolation (which is so common in teens and is, perhaps, just part of growing up), but they also give a lot of weight to the dysfunctional family aspect. I feel like this is something that will resonate with a lot of kids and hopefully make them feel very normal, comparatively.

Cristina Almeida

11/29/2017 05:14:07 pm

Both I’ll Give You the Sun, as another young adult text, and Catcher in the Rye, as a framework friendly text, would be great to pair with Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. All three novels deal with the themes of loneliness and growing up through the use of concise, vivid, and emotional language. The unique writing styles of all three books would be helpful in introducing ninth grade students to the idea of how style impacts a literary work. Sáenz’s book would also be a great way to introduce students to a unit on poetry because of Ari’s poetic journal entries. If I were to focus on the poetic aspect or writing style of this book, I would pair it with other literary works of a similar style much like the ones available on websites like The Moth or Button Poetry. In terms of low stakes writing, I would have students write a biopoem in order to compare the main characters of these three books and relate their similarities and differences to these main themes. For a summative assignment, as I had mentioned in my reading journal, I would have students write their own Ari journal entry, using Saenz’s writing style, for a part of the book Ari does not write about. In terms of groupwork and presentations, students could work together to contextualize some aspect of the book most students might not be familiar with such as the aspects of Mexican culture and pieces of art, music, and literature mentioned in the book. Overall, these themes and this writing style would be exciting to teach. I am concerned with how to effectively contextualize the novel.

Gina Mendes

11/29/2017 08:07:13 pm

I really like your idea for having students possibly get together and gather aspects of Mexican culture and pieces of art and music, because I feel like that will give them a better sense of how to connect with the characters when they are in search of cultural identity in the novel. I think that you do a good job of focusing on the theme of loneliness because students will be able to empathize with the characters who are feeling lonely in the novel, possibly reflecting on a time when they felt the same way. Your close analyzation of the author's personal writing style will prepare your students to understand how to correctly read the author's work. I would agree with your assessment that this author's writing style is closely related to the author of "I'll Give you the Sun." I would also be extremely excited to teach the themes of this novel because I feel like students will really be able to connect with identity crises, possibly sexuality crises, family expectations, societal expectations, and self expression. I think that poetry would be an interesting way to teach the students how to compare the similarities and differences of how each of the three texts portrays the same theme.

Dan Chahine

11/29/2017 07:40:57 pm

I really liked this text a lot but I am not too sure what texts I can implement along with this text. Honestly, the overall themes this novel portrays reminds me of a moth story and If possible I would definitely try to find a story on the moth that helps illustrate similar themes as Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe such as coming of age and I just feel like would really complement the themes in the novel. When it comes to what assignments I can come up with, I feel like focusing on creative writing is the best part of this paper. Allowing students to creatively write and express what they would have done in similar situations as Aristotle or Dante and truly understanding how they felt is what makes this novel so great and is what I heavily focused on in my book review. This was a very strange book but I did like it a lot and feel like it would be very informative and educational to a lot of students who are dealing with alienation or what to do with their homosexuality.

Laura Gittleman

11/30/2017 07:10:21 pm

Hi Dan, I was wondering if you had a specific Moth story in mind, like The Secret Letter, or a different story that might go along with the text. I definitely agree with you that creative writing assignments would go with it very well, I love how you talk about students putting themselves in Aristotle and Dante's shoes, because that makes the text that much more personal to them. I'm not entirely sure that I agree with your last statement, as we don't really see much of what Aristotle does with his sexual orientation, and we can't know the entirety of what Dante did with his homosexuality because the novel isn't told from his point of view, so we only really know what Ari knows. You've got some great ideas though, and I really enjoyed reading your post!

Herby Jolimeau

12/3/2017 10:24:56 am

The creative writing assignment is a great idea! You can develop a lot of topics, and ideas in regards to the book. I actually thought of one myself, because the names Dante and Aristotle are so unique it would be fun to have the class come up with stories of how their parents possibly came up with their respective names. Another one could be having the student describe a soothing activity they like to do similar to how Ari enjoys watching the stars in the desert. The possibilities are endless!

Gina Mendes

11/29/2017 08:58:47 pm

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz should without a doubt be brought into the classroom because of its ability to draw emotional connections out of readers and force them to make personal connections with Aristotle and Dante’s journeys of self-acceptance and identity. In our particular classroom of 9th grade students from Sharon High School, the students are probably going through a similar experience of the two boys in the story. At the beginning of high school, you are just learning how things work and learning the rules of the school, much like Aristotle and Dante are learning the rules of the world and how they are supposed to act according to societal expectations. Students will be able to connect to the way that the two boys feel lonely and draw their own experiences from it, making the text personally relevant to them. If the students understand the text on this level they are going to be more engaged with the reading and more likely to participate in a discussion about something they feel comfortable commenting on. In my classroom, I can bring in the stories from The Moth such as "The Secret Letter" by Paola Ayala, because she struggles with her homosexual identity and is afraid to come out to her mother and tell her that she is in a romantic relationship with a girl. Students can relate this to the uncomfortable situation that Aristotle and Dante find themselves in when trying to find a way to fit into society while being homosexual. Dante's fears of showing his true identity to his family are highlighted through Paola's Moth story. Pairing the Moth story and Ari and Dante together exposes students to multiple examples of young adults struggling with sexuality, giving students hope for the future if they find themselves in search of their own identities. One assignment I would be eager to have my students try would be to buy a sketchbook (or I would provide one for them depending on cost), so that they may draw or write whatever they are feeling immediately after doing the reading for that night. This allows the students to see how art can be used as a form of self-expression, and if the students choose to write in the sketchbook as opposed to creating figures, it still serves as a way for them to channel their emotions and release anxiety. I think this would be an interesting way to mix-up a low stakes writing assignment because it allows the students to really be creative and let their ideas shine, and it would force them to think about how Aristotle and Dante used these same methods of self-expression to find their true identities in the novel.

Kasey Pelletier

11/30/2017 04:01:00 pm

Hi Gina!
I absolutely love your ideas. I certainly see your point about the importance of societal expectations and it is something that I also touched upon too. The two boys are trying to figure things out within themselves while trying to conform to their environment, clearly proving tricky for them. I think your assignment ideas are not only fun, but can help students better understand the text. I like how you give the option for numerous kinds of reflection, both artistic like Dante and writing-based like Ari. I sometimes stick to the journaling technique which is not the only way to help students understand, some certainly do better by embracing a more artistic side. I think that having them do this can certainly help them understand the characters in a less conventional way. Also, pairing with that moth piece would be a great idea that has strong connections to the text!

Amy Keith

11/30/2017 12:26:56 pm

Teaching Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe at Sharon High School would be an interesting experience. I live in the town that borders Sharon and my cousins whom I'm very close with live in Sharon so I know the atmosphere of the town well. Online Sharon is praised for being diverse and has been named one of the best towns to live in across the country. While I see the merits of this, from my personal experience with the town I find it to be a predominately white wealthy Jewish town where the student body is very cliquey and does not respond well to differences. Teaching Aristotle and Dante in this environment would be beneficial, however I do not know how well the population would respond to it. There would be the silent group that relates to Ari's personal feelings of doubt, while others may reject any relation to the text.

I think it would be interesting to read this book with A Separate Peace by John Knowles. Both texts explore the special connection and bond between two young men, and students would be able to find many similarities and possible discover new things in both texts through the analysis of them.

I'd definitely incorporate some informal class writing about this text. Each day asking a new question that would allow them to reflect on what they read, as well as relate it to their personal life. This would allow me to get to know my students and see how they respond to the text in an informal manner. For a more high-stakes assignment, I'd encourage the students to do a 3-5 page literary analysis of the text and analyze the text in a formal, academic manner. After this, I'd have the students present their understanding to the class to show how although they all read the same text, their interpretations all differ. This would also allow me as a teacher to see which aspects are important to each student.

Cayla Marks

11/30/2017 01:04:35 pm

Hi, Amy!
I think you bring up a great point about the trouble with students connecting to this text. I think the unfortunate reality of sexual orientation is that not everyone is accepting of these things. As someone who accepts all people it is sometimes easy for me to overlook the fact that there is unaccepting people in the world because I live my life a certain way. I fear a rejection to the text for this reason; I do, though, think it is very important to teach perspective and empathy with English. We empathize with characters in a text daily, to where it is second nature for us after doing it for 4 years. Perhaps an interdisciplinary lesson on Civil Rights and the history of the LGBTQ community may be appropriate for your group to really humble some students and give solid perspective to them.

Cayla Marks

11/30/2017 01:00:24 pm

Aristotle and Dante is a novel that would certainly fit on the summer reading list for Sharon High School, although the topic of sexuality wasn’t apparent in the other selections on the list. I do think Ari and Dante’s story is very similar to I’ll Give You the Sun, so perhaps I’d add both novels to the list in all honesty. I do, however, struggle with pairing it with a canonical text. This is certainly a coming-of-age novel, but somehow the difference in tone or perhaps mood between this and Catcher in the Rye prohibits me from wanting to pair them. I do think the concept of expression and coping are important for reading this novel. Ari deals with some complex ideas like aggression, anger, murder, and violence, particularly in the case of sexual orientation and gender. These are extreme topics. I think because of this, Aristotle and Dante should be saved for an 11th or 12th grade class. I think having basic foundations in psychology would help this novel, and looking at it from a psychoanalytical lens would be beneficial. Perhaps I would introduce the concept of psychoanalytical readings to the class and for a formative assessment as students to write an analysis of the novel from this perspective. With that being said, this may pair nicely with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I have not read this novel, but from others’ opinions the discussion of psychology may prove useful for the formative assessment, as well as I think psychology is a large area of interest for many students. This novel may be too advanced, though. I’d need to read it first. Another text I think of is a short story I read in Survey of American Literature with Dr. Somers. I cannot remember the name of it, but it was about teenage boys who were friends, but they experience an interesting dynamic about what it means to be a man in the culture they live in. They also share an intimate moment which strikes the narrator as dangerous and wrong, and he decides to break off the relationship with his friend over the fear of it (at least that was my interpretation). I wish I could remember the name but I would absolutely use that text with this novel. A main theme of this short story is masculinity and the societal pressures on the narrator to act a certain way. I feel this is applicable to Ari’s story. The Netflix documentary, “The Mask You Live In” would be an excellent piece of media to include with this. I would have a discussion or a debate about the complicated topics of masculinity, societal expectations and pressures, and the connections to the text with writing activities to function as a summative assessment.
With this novel I would probably like to celebrate diversity and identity. Perhaps I would design a presentation project where students could use interdisciplinary skills to combine art, music, history, or any other area to create a story for themselves. They could relate their own life experiences to those of Ari and Dante. The only fear with this would be students getting far too personal and perhaps some would feel uncomfortable doing this assignment. To avoid oversharing, this may be a summative assessment held during one class period. Another idea would be to have students pair this novel with other TV shows or films and present the connection between them. I’m sure there is plenty out there that students can connect this to.

Kasey Pelletier

11/30/2017 03:43:28 pm

In a diverse school setting such as Sharon, I think Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe would be a great fit. This text offers a much more modernized coming of age story that students can certainly relate, especially more than the typical picks like Catcher in the Rye. I think that pairing the two would present an interesting conversation for students to have. Holden Caulfield’s story seems so disconnected from our own world while Aristotle’s is relatable to a typical teenager. It also would be fun to use this text in conversation with the moth pieces that we used. I think that by doing so, it would bring in more stories that students can feel a sort of connection with. I talked about this in my journal, but this is certainly a text I would pair with journaling often. I would like to focus on the topic of masculinity and have students reflect on the ways that their own families have intentionally, or unintendedly pushed certain behavioral traits, regardless of gender. Aristotle and Dante feel lost because of their sexuality because they feel that as men, they are doing something wrong, even though they are not. I think I could have students anonymously write down things that they have been told by their family in regards to how they should act and maybe I could make a poster out of them. By doing this, I could ask them trends that they see by gender and really show them how society can shape how we act and the traits that we take on because of it. For a final assignment, I could ask them to use their better understanding of family and their impact on behavior to write a paper on one of the characters in the text and do a character analysis; thinking about how they behave, their emotional state and think about why they either struggle or strive. Overall, I think that this text allows for students to explore themselves and the characters in a deep and meaningful way.

Gabrielle Rosson

12/2/2017 03:15:32 pm

I really liked the masculinity represented in the book. I don't feel that we see that enough and I think this book would be incredibly beneficial to youth (regardless of their sexual orientation) in helping them identify their passions. Kids are mostly treated like objects by their parents--they're told what to believe and how to feel about things. This book confronts that using sexuality, much the same way Marcelo did that with the topic of school and life ambitions. I like your idea to ask students to use this book to reflect on their own family lives. Smart idea!

Stephanie Doyle

11/30/2017 06:40:31 pm

I want to start off by saying that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy this book. I think that this is a book that would be a great book to assign over summer for a summer reading book because I think that once the kids got started with it, they wouldn't put it down. I think that this is a good books to get the boys involved in reading and the girls would enjoy it as well.
As for assignments I think that it would help to get the class more involved in writing journals and writing down their thoughts and feelings especially when it comes to what they are reading. I'm not sure about group work, I don't think there is much that could be done in a group setting like that. However, this book may help in getting the kids to open up to one another.

Laura Gittleman

11/30/2017 06:46:45 pm

Having read Sharon High School's summer reading list, I do think that Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe would fit in well. Because it is a coming of age story, I would pair it with another of Benjamin Alire Saenz's books, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. Having read them both, I think students would benefit from reading the two together because they have similar themes, such as friendship, adolescence, and experimentation with identity. But at the same time, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life deals with themes of loss and found family, which aren't as present in Ari and Dante. As for which media I would pair with Aristotle and Dante, I would most likely have the students listen to parts of Benjamin Aliee Saenz's keynote speech at SLJ Live, in which he talked about his life and Aristotle and Dante. I would also bring in spoken word poems, as they often share themes with this text. The students could maybe act out and film a scene from the novel of their choice, or even their own trailer for a movie (hopefully by then the trailer for the actual movie will be out, to show the students an example of what they could do). Students could do this in a group, and present the final product in class. A low stakes writing opportunity would be a reading journal about who the students relate to most, Ari or Dante, with an explanation as to why they feel that way. A high stakes writing assignment could be a "deleted scene" that they write themselves, a letter from Ari to his brother, or a letter from one of the boys to the other from when Dante lived in Chicago. Finally, I would probably pair this novel with Catcher in the Rye, because although I've never read it, I'm fairly sure that it's also a coming of age novel, so the two could possibly go well together. I would like to say (as I've said in a previous post) that I feel like it would be difficult for me specifically to teach this text, being gay myself. I say this because while the boys' sexualities aren't necessarily the focus of the novel, it is still an important part. Also, I wonder how the sequel would influence the way I read and teach Ari and Dante, when the sequel does come out. Overall, I think it is worth it to teach the novel because students may be able to relate to Ari and Dante, or at least see the value in being exposed to a perspective different from their own.

Alex D.

12/1/2017 10:30:11 am

wow, after reading your response I have to say that I'm very impressed with all of your ideas! They are super creative and sound like a lot of fun. Students need assignments that will allow them to think outside the box, while learning something new. I think that having them listen to the author give a speech is a wonderful way of getting them more involved and interested in the book itself. It will help them understand why its written and why the author wanted to tell this story. It could even inspire students to tell their own stories. Also, acting out a trailer is a fun and easy way to engage the students so that they can explore their creativity within themselves and their peers. It also sounds super fun! Finally, I absolutely loved the idea of having the students write their own deleted scene because its a great way of helping students relate to the characters. The use of creativity in a classroom is so important when working with high schoolers because in all honesty, most do no want to be there. They also find school quite boring and uneventful so having so may fun, creative and engaging assignment can help them get excited about learning.

Gustavo Barandas

11/30/2017 07:31:22 pm

Aristoteles and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is such an amazing book. I enjoyed reading every page. This book is so delightful and sincere in telling the personal discovery of these two incredible boys. Looking at Sharon High School demographics we can tell that it has a majority of white students and a smaller number of Hispanics students. It is not as diverse as schools in Brockton or on the Cape, but it still has a good number of Asian and African American students. Teaching Ari and Dante to nine graders should be exciting as many students are figuring out themselves just as Ari and Dante were. After the students have finished reading the book I would ask them to write an essay about a few topics listed on the board, which relate to issues faced by the two boys throughout the book. They would be able to write about several topics including self-discovery, sexuality, race, family relationships and anger. I think all populations from Sharon High could benefit from reading this book. As a smaller assignment I would separate the students in groups chosen randomly and assign them topics related to the book open for discussion. Students could also discuss about their own heritage and how it impacts their lives in the United States. Ari and Dante were Mexican American boys and Ari’s relatives did not accept same sex relationships. Dante felt out of place among Mexicans. Perhaps some Hispanic or Asian students could share their experiences to the class regarding how they feel living in a multicultural universe and if there are any similarities to the book.

Sam Correia

11/30/2017 08:02:59 pm

I think students would enjoy reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe in the classroom. The text deals with themes about family, identity, and individuality in e beautiful way, which I think the students would appreciate. When teaching this text, I think I would play some of the music that is mentioned in the text as a way to include media, so that students would get an understanding of the music from the time period. I really liked the artistic element of this text and how Dante is an artist; I think it would be cool to look at some different Mexican and Mexican-American artists and have the students write their observations of the paintings. As for some other types of writing that the students could do, I think I would give them a prompt similar to Ari's journal writings when he writes "I didn't like being 13, I didn't like 12...". I would ask the students to write about what they distinctly remember about being a certain age, like 7 or 13. Things they associate with that age, how they felt, any memories. One of my favorite elements of the text is all of the writings between the characters; the letters between Ari and Dante, and between Ophelia and her sister. I would assign "pen pals" in the class to practice this letter-writing technique. I personally love writing letters and I'm kind of sad it's something we don't do very much as a culture. I would assign the students Pen Pals and they would get time to write to their Pen Pal in class. Then I would collect the letters and distribute them to the partners, and every class they would swap "letters". They would write to each other about the text, and perhaps give them feedback on their assignments/writings. I think this would be a cool way to get students to practice long-form writing over a period of time in the style of the text.

jess baccari

12/1/2017 06:38:44 pm

The first time I read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe last summer I thought it was an amazing book. I couldn’t put it down. I did not think it would be a book I would ever teach though, the reason being I had no idea where it would fit in. This book is nothing like anything I read in high school, it’s so much better. This is not to say all of the books I read in school were bad but I must admit most were not good. I think being able to teach this book would be awesome. I covers a lot of major themes, it’s well written, it’s newer, and I think the students would actually enjoy it. The only problem is, like I stated earlier I do not know where to place it in the curriculum. I tried finding other texts that could go along with some of the themes of this book but I did not want to focus too heavily on the major ones like race or sexuality. I do not want this book to become something that is only focused on for those these, because it has so much more to offer. I then tried to find some poetry on the topics. I found a spoken word poem called “To the Boys Who May One Day Date my Daughter!”. In the poem the speaker, a father talks about his daughter’s future boyfriends and at the end references to her daughter’s potential future girlfriends as well. This shows that he will be fully accepting of whoever his daughter ends up being, just like how both sets of parents accept their sons in the book. After finding this I decided that I would put this book as a part of my poetry unit, because the boys read poetry throughout out the book. By doing this I could also build in a few low stakes writing assignments where students create their own poetry.

Leah O'Bryan

12/2/2017 11:50:39 am

Discussion Board Respondent

This week we had a 9th grade class from Sharon High School and discussed the media we could use or other texts we could pair up with Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz. There were a lot of you (Alexandra, Cristina, Cayla) who compared this novel with I’ll Give You The Sun, as did I as well as those of you who found a connection with The Cather In The Rye (Kasey, Cristina, Cayla). I feel like a lot of you focused on the fact that the characters in these novels were completely relatable to the ones created by Saenz. Each discussed the coming of age theme throughout out the novel and was able to relate Ari to Noah and even to Holden. Gina pointed out how Saenz novel is relatable to the age group given because, “At the beginning of high school, you are just learning how thing work and learning the rues of the school, much like Aristotle and Dante are learning the rules of the world.” With that, I completely agree and you can make connections to Ari and Dante to other characters mentioned in the other books because they are all coming of age or experiencing new things in their lives. Amy pointed out how well she knows the town of Sharon and because of the, “predominately white wealthy Jewish town,” it is, she believes that teaching this novel would be a very, “interesting experience.” One thing I liked about Amy’s post was that she pointed out the struggles you could encounter with this novel. The mere fact that some students might not be able to find any connections with this novel causes a huge mishap because as teachers we want or hope our students will like the novels we choose and or find a good connection, somehow. Laura points out the good connection between this novel to another one of Saenz books, “he Inexplicable Logic of My Life. I have never read that novel but based on her list of great connecting themes, such as friendship, adolescence, experimentation with identity, I believe it would be great to introduce to these students for summer reading. Pairing them could be a great way to introduce them to this writer as well and they can make the comparisons between each novel. Sam talks about how there is an appreciation of art in this novel because Dante is an artist and explains how she would tie in, “different Mexican and Mexican-American artists and have the students write their observations of the paintings.” I really loved this idea because it ties in different things and different types of learners, like visual learners for example. Overall everyone enjoyed this novel and made great connections. I appreciated the true consideration on the demographic of the class and the use of your own knowledge and judgment. Great work!

Gabrielle Rosson

12/2/2017 03:05:34 pm

I agree that Dante and Aristotle would be a good book to teach at Sharon high school. It appears to be a diverse population, and this book presents a look into two school aged kids who deal with gender and racial minority. I think there would be a ton of opportunities for low stake writing. Because Dante and Aristotle is such a moving and self-reflective piece of literature, I would ask the students to journal as they read it. I found Ari's revelation at the end of the book (that he was in love with Dante and simply couldn't or wouldn't let himself realize it) really powerful. I can remember feeling so sure of myself as a kid, only to later feel different or changed somehow. I think this book taps into the changeability of youth and this is a really powerful topic for kids. In order to help them tap into this for themselves, I might create a writing assignment (high stakes) where I ask the students to identify a belief they had in the past that they no longer have a why. I know that sounds kind of tricky--but I think if it was structured so that it didn't have to be any major reveal (like about their sexual identity or the like) students could really get into it. I think there could be opportunity for group work, but maybe not as much as in some of the other major books we've read. I think this book really asks students to soul search and I like the idea that people would do more self-reflection instead of group thinking. A presentation project fore this class could be a visual representation of their paper. For example, after they write their paper about a belief that changed and why, they could find an object or create a piece of art to share with the class. That way they can reflect on their changes as a group without sharing all of the details per se. In this sense they would be focusing more on the emotion of the change and less on the change itself. If I were to incorporate any other framework texts, I might look at I'll Give You The Sun, or even Marcelo in the Real World. I feel like both of those texts tackle this idea that part of being a youth is to explore yourself and your beliefs and to change or become more of who you really are.

Herby Jolimeau

12/3/2017 10:17:03 am

I was thinking because the story is centralized on homosexuality I would actually give the class an article on an introduction to sexual orientation prior to reading the book in order to prepare them and provide a sense of general knowledge before they begin reading Dante and Aristotle. Hoping to eliminate or limit the judgement that might come along with reading this book. A fun activity to get the class really interested in the book could possibly be allowing the students to illustrate their own cover for the story as to how they depicted it after they finish reading. If I was to pair this book along with another I'd probably choose "Carnival at Bray" because it has a a number of similarities the class should be able to point out. Obviously both books deal with homosexuality but in contrasting ways. So an assignment could possibly be to compare and contrast how these books tackle sexual identity, Self expression was also a major theme in both books so students could choose to compare and contrast that as well. Hopefully by the end of this assignment students will be able to be more open with themselves and with one another on things that they might be dealing with.

Amelia Fuss

12/3/2017 01:08:24 pm

This is a great book to give to class of 9th graders because they may be in a similar state of discovery as Aristotle and Dante; at the very least they are all beginning to learn how the function in the world outside of home and immediate family. I found a really great, short, interview of Saenz about how this book reflects himself. I would potentially have students write short stories or poems then have them interview each other able the writing process. When I read the interview of Saenz, I felt like I recognized him as a person beyond his authorship. It’s easy, when looking at a text, to forget that sometimes they can be biographical. Having students do a short writing practice like this one would open up a literary conversation to different ways of approaching literature because we could also discuss other ways of reading the same book but with historical, reader-response, or formal criticism.

Greg Arthur

12/3/2017 04:21:14 pm

I think that Aristotle and Dante presents educators with a variety of different teaching practices. I feel that for a writing activity, students should keep just an active journal. It is a very personal book and although we are teaching it in a classroom, this book requires some thoughtful, free write activities throughout before discussing openly. It is easier to write about these subjects (LGBTQ, Race, Coming of Age, etc.) in high school first, and then go into discussion because for some students these are heavy topics. I think a nice summative assessment for Aristotle and Dante, would be to write a perspective paper from the view of either of their parents and to write a personal, interior monologue about their sons’ growth and development. I feel that this book would open up opportunities, especially related to group work, for students to do research on cases of LGBTQ successes in politics and social movements, and do presentations on it. This book has topics that have not necessarily been talked about in school, so I think that as a teacher, research really is important. Aristotle and Dante’s details about teen drug use, alcohol use, and sexual experiences provides teachers with opportunities for genuine writing assignments and discussion amongst high school students because the book is realistic about these experiences. I appreciate the perspectives of both Aristotle and Dante and I think that for students, these perspectives are realities for some.

ALL-CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD #6: Aristotle & Dante

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