Today we watched the end of Waiting for Godot, and boy oh boy we weren’t expecting that!
But first, a word about this weekend:
Next week on Monday we will have a Paideia Seminar on Of Mice and Men and Waiting for Godot, specifically addressing how these works of art help us understand society’s transition from a clan-based, communal culture to the more individualistic culture of today. There is no homework for the seminar. Just come prepared and open on Monday.
On Tuesday we will all go to the school library to check out books for our next project: reading a coming of age novel of your choice. Now, what is a coming of age novel? Well, it’s any novel that tells the story of growing up–physically, emotionally, mentally. Usually, these novels have a young protagonist. Almost all YA books (or Teen Lit books) are coming of age novels, so those are always a safe bet. But, there are plenty of other novels that fit the bill.
If you would like to purchase your own book or get a specific book from the Durham Public Library, do that this weekend. You may work alone on this reading project or you may work with a group of 2, 3, or 4 people. If you decide to work in a group, your group members must be in your period and they must all have a copy of the same book. You can figure it out this weekend with your classmates, or you can figure it out on Tuesday when we go to the media center. Everyone needs to have a book by Wednesday. So, if this weekend you’d like to call up your pals and all meet at The Regulator or Barnes and Noble, please do! Pick out a novel you’re all interested in and bring it to school on Tuesday.
Our ultimate goal with this project is to read the book, write a concise summary and character list, research the critical reception of the novel, and then work on our informational writing by composing an encyclopedia entry on the novel itself. Then, we will use our work to improve the Wikipedia page on this novel. YES. We will be editing Wikipedia. It’s going to be amazing. But don’t start now–we will do all of this together in class, step by step.
Back to class today: we watch the ending of Waiting for Godot, which you can watch at home here:
As we watched, we filled in this viewing guide: Godot Viewing Guide Day 3. If you were absent, you must download the viewing guide and watch at home.
HW: None. Optional – get your own coming of age novel to read either alone or with a group in your class.
And now your daily dose of awesome videos. Like Godot? Well here’s the hat scene:
Now that’s genius.
Check out this tidbit: Patrick Steward (PROFESSOR XAVIER!) and Ian McKellan (GANDOLF!) as Vladimir and Estragon doing their curtain call:
And here’s a bit of interviews with the actors about the show–it’s really a great watch!
Loving the Beckett? Weirded out by it? Just want some more? Well, here are some of my favorites:
“Play” which is about a love triangle that went seriously wrong. Featuring Alan Rickman, known to you as SNAPE in Harry Potter.
“Breath,” the shortest play you’ll EVER SEE.
“Endgame” is actually my personal favorite. I just love Clov so much. And David Thoulis does a great job (you know, also of Harry Potter fame — he’s Lupin). And the relationship between the main characters is very similar to that of Didi and Gogo in many ways. But it’s quite long. Check out the grandparents in trashcans at 14:50. Let’s hope you don’t do this to your parents someday!
And if you haven’t had enough, check out this WHOLE YOUTUBE CHANNEL devoted to Beckett on Film.
Can you tell I love this? You should, too!
ALEXA GARVOILLE 