Benni and Maddie's Candide assignment

From watching the video about Candide, and looking at the pictures, we got a more in depth understanding of the context of the novel. The cover of Candide also writes "L'optomisme," which means optimism. Two characters, Pangloss and Martin, represent the two sides of optimism, Pangloss being an optimist, and Martin being a pessimist. The back of the book in some copies portrays a house. This image later went on to be the logo for Random House publishing. The author of the novel, Voltaire, is seen by some as being the father of human rights. He thinks that this world has much room for improvement. Voltaire also thinks that the world should have imperfections. We know this because Candide wasn't happy in El Dorado. Voltaire's ideal view of the world consists of a balance between happiness and hard work. That is why Candide settles down on a farm at the end of the novel.

Michael and Sammy's Candide "work while I'm gone" assignment

Sammy Katz and Michael Reinhart

We learned that a number of historical events inspired Voltaire to write Candide. A major impact was that of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami. The natural disasters impacted Voltaire because they made him reject Leibnizian optimism. In Candide, Voltaire subtly rejects Leibnizian optimism when he wrote about the earthquake in Lisbon. Also, Voltaire got his inspiration to do a satire from the satirical picaresque novel, Simpilicius Simplicissimus. Picaresque is a specific type of satirical novel in which the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero are described in a series of usually humorous or satirical events that often depict the everyday life of the common man. Voltaire writes a picaresque novel. Candide represents the hero and the stories told upon his travels depict events of the average person. (Wikipedia)

In the 1980’s, the Vatican Church and the pope himself forbade Candide. It challenged the Catholics as well as religion as a whole. Voltaire covered all complex human elements in Candide. He wrote about rape, war, theft and sexual trafficking. Anti-Semitism is present in the novel, however, Voltaire most likely did not see it as an evil thing. Voltaire tries to show us that one should structure his or her life around enlightenment but also to defend against evil. The book balances optimism versus pessimism by using characters Martin and Pangloss. Martin was not an optimist at all. Pangloss on the other hand was a total optimist, his opinion on the world being the best possible world can’t be shaken no matter his experiences. The evil in this world is overwhelming and Voltaire is trying to show us that through Candide. Candide saw a lot of evil but believed that if you worked at it you could fix it. He also thought if you did it with a society you could diminish the evil of the world at a better pace and in a better society. Voltaire shows us, that Candide thought this but when he tried creating this society he didn’t diminish it for the world he just ran away from the world to his own little farm. This, I feel, shows that Candide is used to show how evil the world really is and how naïve people are to think they can change it. Voltaire was still a huge activist for human rights, and he wanted change but realized the level of difficulty, even in his time. (Video)

When studying the map of Lisbon between 1576 and 1618, the time of Candide, we can see the geography, waterways and residential areas. One can see a normal city. I personally think this looks like a relatively normal city and one that I would like to live in. It has a nice geographical structure with good spacing as well as waterways. Also, when studying the image of El Dorado that is painted in the United States, one can derive that it is a utopia. The picture is a beautiful ocean with and angel hovering over a man and women sitting on rocks near the ocean. The angel represents perfection, and a utopia is a perfect city. Personally I would not live in El Dorado. I like the idea of everyone doing his or her own thing. A utopia doesn’t allow that. (nypl.org)

All three sources deepened our understanding of the books. Candide is a picaresque novel. Picaresque is a specific type of satirical novel in which the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero are described in a series of usually humorous or satirical events that often depict the everyday life of the common man. Candide is also a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman is a novel dealing with one persons spiritual education. Voltaire does exactly that in his novel, Candide

Benny Weisbrot's outside reading choice

I chose to read the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The reason this novel interested me is because it is a change from the norm. Through out this year, and from the time I started reading novels in school, most novels were about utopias. The idea that everything is or seems to be perfect. In the novel that we just completed, Candide, everything was presented to Candide as a utopia. The novel 1984 is about a dystopia. It will be interesting to see how the main characters or the novel act in circumstances where everything is bad.

Raquel G- Independent book choice

I chose Girl With A Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier. This book was recommended to me and I think I will gain great value by reading it especially since it pertains to the end of the Renaissance era. I think the book will greatly complement the curriculum thus far. Also I find the plot of the novel, one based on a painting, intriguing.

Jenny Rosen's Outside Reading Source

I have chosen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I chose this novel because it is a novel which expresses coming of age. It is also one of the most widely known novels that are necessary to read throughout a person's life, and I have chosen to read it now.

Maddie Rosen's book choice

I would like to read The Girl with the Pearl Earring. This book interests me because it circulates around a sixteen year old girl, like me, and I feel like I will be able to to connect with the book more.

Talia's Outside Reading Assignment

My outside reading that I chose to read was An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski. I decided to pick this book because it is a real life story about two strangers that created a life long relationship over an act of kindness. I thought that it would be an appropriate book to read since this year in school we took upon ourselves to complete 26 Acts of Kindness, to remember the children of Newton, Connecticut. The 10th grade also explored slavery in Africa and tried to raise money for different organizations to help end the poverty and slavery. 

Why I'm reading 1984- David Zucker

I decided to read the novel 1984 by George Orwell because the idea that Orwell wrote the book in the year 1949 about what he thought the world would end up as, a dystopia, fascinates me.

Ronit Langer- Outside Reading Book

I chose Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier because I think that it will tie together the whole year for me. The book is about understanding a time period through the eyes of a painting, something which we have done a lot of this year. Plus, it is a post-modern book writing about the end of the Renaissance. After spending the whole year learning about the Renaissance and its effects on the world, I think it would be interesting to see how people now portray what was happening then. 

Ayala's Outside Reading Book

I decided to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This book really interested me because it is a classic that is revolved around women. I also chose this book because I personally enjoy romantic novels.

Tsipora's out of class reading assignment

I decided to read A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickins, because it is a classic and it includes interesting takes on historical events such as the French Revolution. I also find it interesting how Dickins portrays two similar cities, London and Paris as almost complete opposites.

Alex Kershenbaum: outside reading assignment

I would like to read The Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
This book appealed to me because it is about a man who contemplates spirituality and practicality, which is something I personally do too. I feel that reading this book will expand my ways of thinking and help further my thinking process on already existing thought topics.

EDITED: Sammy's Group Project: Much Ado About Nothing (Part E)

Much Ado About Nothing

Part E: Explain how masks, cross dressing contribute to the theme in the play Much Ado About Nothing-

One of the themes in Much Ado About Nothing is deception as a means to an end. Throughout the play, many forms of deception are featured. For example, Don John deceives Claudio and Don Pedro. Also, everyone is duped into thinking Hero is dead after the wedding disaster. The deception of Claudio and Don Pedro is when Don John makes them believe that Hero, Claudio’s fiancée, is cheating on Claudio. Don John convinces them of this by having the maid, Margret, cross-dresses as Hero and makes love on Hero’s windowsill. This particular form of deception is a means to an end because it is bad for the society. This form of deception is a way for someone evil, like Don John to create an illusion to help him succeed in society. Cross-dressing contributes to this theme in this particular example of deceiving Claudio and Don John.

Also, Leonato, Hero’s father, dupes Claudio into thinking Hero is dead. He then tells Claudio, that out of Hero’s honor, he must marry one of Leonato’s nieces (really Hero). At the wedding, he is introduced to the “niece”, who was under her veil to not show Claudio that it was actually Hero. The deception here is a means to an end because now Claudio has married Hero and the duping is over. The masks contribute to the theme of deception as a means to an end because each form of deception comes about using masks (Claudio marrying the “niece”) or cross-dressing (making believe Margret is really Hero). 

Sammy's Outside Reading Book

I am choosing The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. This book caught my eye because it is about a journey and a quest. I personally like books that have a quest motif because they are interesting and unpredictable.

Ayelet Personage assignment

Ayelet Schorr

In my opinion, the two most important people of the Renaissance were William Shakespeare and Michelangelo Buonarroti, because of their lasting impact on the world.  Shakespeare revolutionized the sonnet, particularly the sonnet cycle.  He also added so many words to the modern English language.  Michelangelo created masterpieces like the David and the Pieta.  The David in particular was revolutionary during the Renaissance, since Michelangelo made a Biblical figure as beautiful as any Greek god. Though of course there were many important people who made contributions to the Renaissance, none are as famous as Shakespeare and Michelangelo.  The reason these two are so well known is because of how they affected the culture even after their generation.  Even today, we use the words and phrases that Shakespeare invented, and the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is still known worldwide.  People still study Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, and Michelangelo is still considered one of the greatest artists of all time.  I think the fact that their works are still known today makes them the most important out of all the great people of the Renaissance, because though that time period is over, people are still well aware of its occurrence because of those two men.  In addition, students are still learning about Shakespeare and Michelangelo, which ensures that their legacies will remain for many generations to come. Though many people impacted the Renaissance during its time, none kept it alive until this day like Shakespeare and Michelangelo.

Benny Weisbrot--Sonnet 17

Who will believe my verse in time to come,
If it were fill'd with your most high deserts?
Though yet, heaven knows, it is but as a tomb 
Which hides your life and shows not half your parts.
If I could write the beauty of your eyes 
And in fresh numbers number all your graces, 
The age to come would say 'This poet lies: 
Such heavenly touches ne'er touch'd earthly faces.'
So should my papers yellow'd with their age 
Be scorn'd like old men of less truth than tongue,
And your true rights be term'd a poet's rage 
And stretched metre of an antique song: 
   But were some child of yours alive that time,
   You should live twice; in it and in my rhyme.

This sonnet is the final sonnet of Shakespeare’s “Procreation sonnets.” In this sonnet, Shakespeare is imploring his lover, the young man, to have a child. Throughout the sonnet, Shakespeare is frustrated with himself, because he realizes that he will not be able to properly describe the young man’s beauty. On one hand, there are no words he can use to describe his beauty. On the other hand, if he finds those words, no one would ever believe him. In the end of the sonnet, in the rhyming couplet, he figures out a solution. He decides that if the young man has descendants, his beauty will last forever.

This sonnet contains the immortality through verse theme. This means that a person lives forever simply through literature. The young man will live forever, as long as people continue to read his sonnets. –Stephen Booth

Sammy Katz sonnet 131 summary

SONNET 131

Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art, 
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to myself alone.
And to be sure that is not false I swear,
A thousand groans, but thinking on thy face,
One on another's neck, do witness bear
Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place.
   In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
   And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.

Sonnet 131 addresses Shakespeare's dysfunctional relationship with the dark lady. The sonnet is very contradictory. At first, Shakespeare will say that she is very beautiful then he says that she is very harsh and tyrannical. He backs her up by saying that he thinks she is perfect but then addresses how others hate her. This sonnet is tough to judge but I understand this as a dysfunctional relationship. 

A.L. Rowse says that this sonnet is a strait forward way of telling who the dark lady was. Her deeds were dark however, to Shakespeare, "Black is the fairest".

Renaissance Personage Assignment by Talia Bardash

There were many influential people during the time of the Renaissance; however, two people specifically made a true difference during the time of the Renaissance and continue to make an impact in modern times. William Shakespeare and Christopher Columbus were the two most influential people of their time because they continue to impact mankind today.

William Shakespeare made a tremendous impact on the English language. Shakespeare wrote one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and thirty-seven plays, tragedies, histories and comedies. One reason that Shakespeare's writing is so important is because he was able to convey true human emotion to his audience. The audience was and still is able to identify with the characters Shakespeare created. Shakespeare also contributed much to the English language. He created over 2000 words and phrases and therefore helped make English the important and universal language it is today.

Christopher Columbus is another important person in the Renaissance because he discovered America. Christopher Columbus devoted his whole life to the finding of the New World. Many believe that the discovery of America was a mistake in coordinates made by Columbus and his crew, but a new idea has emerged that Columbus actually believed there was land where America was, and he tricked King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella into lending him a ship so he could travel and investigate. His dedication to sailing and exploration led to his discovery of America, a new nation that today has grown into a home to over 313,914,040 people and is a leading one in the world today.

 Christopher Columbus

William Shakespeare

Sammy and Maddie's Presentation

Appreciating Art and Untapping Your Creativity: A 10H Outside Reading Assignment

We've looked at the Renaissance and admired the well-rounded people who lived during that time. We're now exploring the Enlightenment, a kind of second Renaissance. As an outside reading assignment, make yourself more well-rounded by embarking on an interesting literary exploration or learning about a subject or person you've always wanted to study.

Suggestions:

Works of Fiction

Pride and Prejudice or Emma by Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The Kite Runner by Khaled Husseini
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
1984 by George Orwell
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
The Hobbit  by J.R.R. Tolkien

Biography

Renaissance-like Figure to Study

Alexander Graham Bell
Hildegard of Bingen
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Marie Curie
Walt Disney
Thomas Edison
Albert Einstein
Queen Elizabeth I
Benjamin Franklin
Steve Jobs
Isaac Newton
William Shakespeare
Orville and Wilbur Wright

Check out this list of inventors if you want to read a biography of a famous inventor.

History

If you like history, consider one of these books.

All this talk about invention and innovation perhaps has made you want to read a book about it. Try an amazing one, The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices by Frank Moss, or consider one of these on invention or one of these on innovation.

You can also read about innovative institutions or labs, such as the Technion in Israel or Bell Laboratories in America.

Building Creative Confidence

Watch these two videos about David Kelley, who knows how to unlock people's creativity. 

Assignment:

Due May 28

Choose one of the essays to complete about your book:

1) Explain how your book reflects the ideas of an historical era. What ideas does your book most prominently reflect?

2) Compare your book to another one we have read during the course of the year. What literary techniques does it share and how do those techniques advance the books' themes? Or -- what ideas do both works promote that are similar?

3) Chart the innovation and creativity that your person or institution displays. What major contributions did your person or institution make to the world, and how is our world different as a result?

4) What was most inspiring to you about the work? Name three ideas or habits you are now going to incorporate into your life because of the book you read. 

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