I taught this unit on Rhetoric for many years in many variations, generally to sophomore English students, second semester. The first part is a unit on the elements of rhetoric. It creates a foundation of concepts and vocabulary that bond the class into a “knowing” culture.

I usually pause at the lesson on logical fallacies and give the students a day or two to create group posters for each fallacy. These I put on the wall and then they can “cheat” off them for the enclosed quiz. It makes for humor while learning. Also, a side effect is that they really learn the concept for which they made the poster.

You may want to take more than a day per page. The pages are meant to be copied so that each student has a page for his or her notebook. If the pages are kept together, the students will have an organized body of notes.

After the general intro to Rhetoric, the students read class copies of the three speeches (Douglass, Lincoln and King) which have been abridged to help make them accessible to all reading levels. I will try to scan them in when I have access to a scanner in September.

General Intro to my teaching style

1. I believe that history (timelines, maps and cultural background) help students connect the literature to the world and what they learn in other classes. It helps them connect the dots so that their learning becomes a tapestry rather than disconnected random facts.

I draw maps and give map quizzes. I draw timelines and show the connections and then expect students to reproduce timelines on exams.
I show pictures and parts of movies to illustrate the historical world when it is shown in a historically correct manner. Clothing, hairstyles, architecture, natural settings, historical settings, interiors…all help to make the world of the story come alive for students. To think students cannot visualize a world outside their ghetto, barrio, suburban neighborhood, youth culture, is to sell them short and to cheat them.

2. Drama and art wake students up to the literature and remain with them for years. I kept a supply of large paper and markers, scissors and glue, white bed sheets, table clothes, plastic fruit, flowers, platters, goblets, swords, other fabrics, especially gold, bows and arrows, safety pins, etc. which could become banquet tables or kings’ costumes at a moment’s notice. (Ask for donations and/or go to the dollar store. Stock up and save for the future.) Students are expected to draw for certain homework and participate in classroom group drawing activities, no matter what their skill level. It is amazing what they come up with!

3. My classes were 45 minutes, five times a week. If you have a different schedule, you may want to alter my lessons to fit your timing. You may also find you teach three of the same class and use the same sign up sheet for all three or create a page that works for only one class at a time.

I use open notebook tests and classwork, with partners (2 per test or assignment) to reinforce using the notebook and cooperative learning. What one student doesn’t know, the other student supplies. They share the same grade. To keep control, I declare that CHEATING is talking to any other group of two. This needs some getting used to but builds knowledge and team spirit. I call these “quizzls” to emphasize that they are not part of their grades but more a proof of participation.

I will add lessons on viewing the movie “The Great Debaters” at a later date.

Name_____________________________
Day one__________________
Aim: What is Rhetoric?

We are starting a new unit. The first unit explored how people use words to communicate feelings. Now we will combine feelings and logical thinking to show how people communicate ideas.

If you want to learn more, check out this site:
Silva Rhetoricae = Rhetorical Forest (http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm)

Rhetoric is the study of effective speaking and writing. It is the art of persuasion. It is the way to get people to agree with you and do what you want. It really helps to know HOW it works. Rhetoric was developed and taught to students over 2500 years ago in ancient Greece and it is taught today. Rhetoric is a call to action.

Timeline of great speakers:

300 BCE________0___500 CE_600_____1770_______1860_______1850’s____1960’s
Socrates Plato Aristotle Jesus Confucius Muhamed Thomas Jefferson Abraham Lincoln Frederick Douglass ML. King

The purpose of learning Rhetoric is to train students

1) to understand how language works orally and in writing, and
2) to become skilled in applying the resources of language to improve their own speaking and writing.

To make an analogy, rhetoric is like fighting. In fighting you can learn how to punch, block, move so that you can get the upper hand. In rhetoric, you learn how to fight with speech so that your opponent goes down. Who uses this? Everyone! Lawyers and businessmen do, of course, But so does everyone who wants to get his or her way.

When have you ever argued a point and won what you wanted?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When did you not make a good argument and later thought of all the things you should have said?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name_____________________________
RHETORIC Day two__________________
Aim: What is Rhetoric?
Give three reasons why it is so important to know your audience.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rhetoric begins with being aware of to whom you are talking and where and when.

1. kairos (awareness of the moment);

2. audience (awareness of the people who are listening/reading)

3. decorum (awareness of the right way for that circumstance)

KARIOS; the moment
1. There is about to be a fight you don’t want to happen
2.Someone just hurt someone you care about.
3.You believe in a candidate and want to convince people to vote for him.
4.You are a sales person and will get commission if someone buys.

AUDIENCE: list 4 different ones
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DECORUM- the right way to act and speak, what would be the change if you were

meeting the president _______________________________________________________________________
visiting a home of a new friend

_______________________________________________________________________
talking to a mugger

_______________________________________________________________________
going to the principal to ask for more rights

_______________________________________________________________________
stopped by the police

_______________________________________________________________________

Name_____________________________
RHETORIC Day three__________________
Aim: What are the three ways to appeal of a person who tries to persuade?

Persuasion, according to Aristotle and the many authorities that would echo him, is brought about through three kinds of proof (pistis) or persuasive appeal:

1. logos The appeal to reason.

2. pathos The appeal to emotion.

3. ethos The appeal to a sense of right and wrong, justice, fairness.

YOU WANT TO GO OUT TO A PARTY. GIVE YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN ONE ARGUMENT OF EACH. (groups of 2)

1.logos The appeal to reason.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2.pathos The appeal to emotion.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ethos The appeal to a sense of right and wrong, justice, fairness.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Although they can be analyzed separately, these three appeals work together in combination toward persuasive ends.

Name_____________________________
RHETORIC Day four__________________

Aim: What are the three directions or branches of oratory?

ORATORY=_________________________________________________________

ORAL=________________________________________________________________

ORAL CULTURE=_____________________________________________________

ORATOR=______________________________________________________________

WHO IS AN ORATOR BY PROFESSION?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. branch of oratory time purposes special topics of invention
judicial past accuse or defend justice / injustice

deliberative future exhort or dissuade good / unworthy
advantageous / disadvantageous

epideictic present praise or blame virtue / vice

ONE EXAMPLE OF EACH:
JUDICIAL______________________________________________________________
DELIBERATIVE________________________________________________________
EPIDEICTIC___________________________________________________________

The orator must keep all five of these parts in mind in preparing and making a speech.

4. 1 Invention – good ideas
2 Arrangement – good organization of those ideas
3 Style – give it flavor
4 Memory – memorize or know your speech….ahhhh, sooo,,ahhh, you…ahhh
5 Delivery – strong clear voice that CAN BE HEARD by all of your audience

Arrangement (dispositio or taxis) concerns how one orders speech or writing. In ancient rhetorics, arrangement referred solely to the order to be observed in an oration, but the term has broadened to include all considerations of the ordering of discourse, especially on a large scale.
Name_____________________________
RHETORIC Day five____________
Aim: to learn logical fallacies.
Fallacy= unfair or untrue
Logical fallacy= an argument which has NOTHING to do with the argument.
——————————————————————————————————
1. ad hominem: attacking the human; when logic fails, people get personal;
e.g you’re ugly, fat, stupid, thin, gay, your mother…..

2. begging the question: the desired conclusion is built into the question
e.g. You don’t want to look bad, do you? Are you stupid?

3.non sequitur: It doesn’t follow. The sequence is not real because there is no
logical connection between the first idea and the second.
e.g. You are cute, therefore I should pass you.
He listens to Rap therefore he must be Black and live in a
ghetto.

4.post hoc ergo propter hoc: (“after this, therefore, because of this”)
two events or ideas are thrown together as though they are
related but they are not. There IS no cause and affect.
e.g. You should pass because tea is cheap in China.

5.card stacking: piling on all the good points or ALL the bad points without being
fair or balance e.g. You are failing because 1. your grades are
low 2. your homework is sloppy 3. you fell asleep in class three
weeks ago 4.Your name is hard to remember 5. you forgot
your pen twice 6.you did not start your journal on time
yesterday AND 7.Tea is cheaper in China.

6.glittering generalities: using words that are glamorous, exciting, respectable, luxurious, to make people buy a product, vote for a person, make a decision
e.g. fine American, good Christian, family man, family values, nutritious, exquisite, luxurious, delicious,

7.emotional appeal: appealing to our inner fears, hopes and desire.
EVERYONE fears failure, being unloved, not being cool, dying, getting old.
EVERYONE wants to be sexy, loved, safe, good smelling, happy, safe, alive.

8.black and white fallacy: the speaker creates a false dilemma or an either-or situation when actually there are many alternative solutions or answers.

9.bandwagon: everyone is doing it. Why aren’t you?

10. testimonial: Using a celebrity as an expert. E.g. sports people selling cars, food, beer, a politician
Name_____________________________ (circle one)
RHETORIC Day 6__________________

Aim: What is the strongest arrangement of a speech?

5.Arrangement of a Classical Oration

1. Introduction exordium

2.Statement of Facts narratio

3.Division partitio

4.Proof confirmatio

5.Refutation refutatio

6.Conclusion peroratio

Cicero aligned certain rhetorical appeals with specific parts of the oration. In the exordium or introduction, it is necessary for one to establish his or her own authority. Therefore, one employs ethical appeals (see ethos). In the next four parts of the oration (statement of facts, division, proof, and refutation), one chiefly employs logical arguments (see logos). In the conclusion, one finishes up by employing emotional appeals (see pathos).

Say it in your own words. What is the job of each part of a speech?

exordium_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

narration_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

partitio________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

confirmatio_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

refutatio________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

peroratio_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name_____________________________ Quiz on Logical Fallacies
RHETORIC Date __________________
A fallacy is ______________________________________________

ad hominem, begging the question, non sequitur, testimonial,

post hoc ergo propter hoc, card stacking, glittering generalities,

emotional appeal, black and white fallacy, bandwagon

1._______________________________Beyonce drinks Sierra Mist. So should you.

2._______________________________Everyone is wearing Levis. Shouldn’t you?

3.____________________________________You can either love him or hate him.

4._______________________________You don’t want to be unpopular, do you?

5.______________________________This cereal is nutritious, delicious and tasty.

6._____________________________Don’t vote for this candidate. His wife is ugly.

7.__________________________You are cute. Therefore you will pass this class.

8.__________________________This toothpaste is 1000% better than other leading brands. It is also tastier and has the endorsement of many dentists.

9. __________________________He is African American. He is tall. He must love basketball.

10._________________________She is short. She is not African American. She cannot be good at basketball.

11. ___________________________Vote for me. I love America. Mothers are wonderful. Let’s all eat apple pie.
12._______________________________Don’t vote for her. Her daughter is gay.

13. __________________________ This cream is scientifically proven to be 32% more effective than other acne creams in preventing glaring blemishes.

14.__________________________Derek Jeter, of the Yankees drives a Toyota.

15.___________________________Everyone is cutting class. Why aren’t you?
Extra: The three appeals that a speaker can make are logos, pathos and ethos.
Logos_________________pathos________________-ethos___________________
Name_____________________________
RHETORIC Day 7__________________
Remember that Rhetoric is the art and science of persuading someone of the rightness of your ideas…whether you are selling a car or a social change.

Now we are going to read speeches made by some of the great (orators) speechmakers in our country’s history. We will read the words of Fredrick Douglass who was born a slave and spoke to abolish slavery, Abraham Lincoln who spoke to free the slaves while preserving the union and Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke for civil rights for all people.

First, let’s see where these great orators are in time:

(Independence) Douglass Lincoln (WWI) (WWII) King
_______________________________________________________________________
1776 1850’s 1860’s 1914-19 1939-45 1960’s

The next thing we have to do is prepare to read sophisticated speeches for grown ups.
We need to know a few words and ideas to prepare before we read.
Working together in groups of three, look these words up and write their definitions.

1. Slave___________________________________________________________
2. Abolition___________________________________________________________
3. Reproach___________________________________________________________
4. Obligation__________________________________________________________
5. Moral______________________________________________________________
6. Betray_____________________________________________________________
7. Principle___________________________________________________________
8. Bequeath___________________________________________________________
9. Fetters_____________________________________________________________
10. Tumultuous-_______________________________________________________
11. Intolerable-________________________________________________________
12. Perpetuate-________________________________________________________
13. Auction___________________________________________________________
14. Submission________________________________________________________
15. Ridicule__________________________________________________________
16. Rebuke___________________________________________________________

Name __________________________________ Reading # 1 on Rhetoric
Partner__________________________________

Read the speech made by Frederick Douglass on July 4th, 1852. Read it again.

1. After reading the brief biography of Douglass before the speech, what three obstacles did Douglass have to overcome before he stood in front of this audience?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What was Frederick Douglass known for before he stood on this particular stage?

3. In paragraph,1, what technique does Douglass use to pull in his listeners?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

4. In the second paragraph, what immeasurable distance does Douglass recognize?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

5. What does sacrilegious in paragraph 3 mean?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

6. WHAT is Douglass calling sacrilegious?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

7. In paragraph 4 copy the Biblical quotation that Douglass uses to say he will not forget his fellow slaves even though he has attained his own freedom.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. List at least negative three words Douglass uses against American slavery in ¶5.

Fredrick Douglass page 2

9. Name two slave experiences Douglass mentions in paragraph 5.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. In paragraph 6, according to Douglass, what relationship does God have to slavery?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. In paragraph 7, Douglass wants to shout into the nation’s ear. By picturing the nation as a person having an ear Douglass is using the literary technique of ________________
What does Douglass want to do to this imaginary ear?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12.In paragraph 8, Douglass concludes by calling Americans hypocrites which means_____________________________________________________________

13. What was ironic about asking a Black man to make a speech about independence in 1852?
_______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. We learned that there are three appeals: logos, pathos and ethos.
Which does Douglass use? Defend what you say with proofs from the speech. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. Imagine you had the opportunity to speak against slavery or any other injustice you see today. Write a poem, rap or short speech to pour into the nation or world’s ear.
Or create a propaganda poster to express your opinion. This is homework.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name______________________________ Partner___________________ Reading #2 in Rhetoric
President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Message to Congress.
Read the introduction and speech by Lincoln to the congress in 1862. Fill in the following as you read. Work with your partner. Find the exact lines that answer

1. When Lincoln made this speech, how was the North doing in the Civil War?
a. very well b. slowing down c. moving faster

2. At the time, the American people felt about their 16th president was
a. doing a terrific job b. doing a terrible job c. stealing money

3. What two moral and political obligations concerned Lincoln?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4. Some of President Lincoln’s advisors called his emancipation plans ___________________________ and________________
What did they think Lincoln might be destroying?
__________________________________________________________
5. In paragraph one, what three things make up a nation?
__________________________________________________________
6. Of the three things that make up a nation, which is the only thing that stays pretty much the same through the years? _______________________________________________

7. The three technologies that have united the people of America are _____________________________ _______________________ ________________________________________

Lincoln, as a lawyer, once defended the railroads when shipping businesses on the Mississippi River wanted to stop their crossing the river going west. He argued that people had as much right to go east and west as they had a right to go north and south (on the Mississippi River.) He fought for the transcontinental railroad which was started from both the west coast to the east and east coast to west. When it met in the middle, people had a cheap, fast and safe way of traveling all through the United States. In this way, Lincoln also unified the nation.

8. In paragraph 1, Lincoln also quotes the Bible: “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.” This means
a. the land always changes but the people remain the same
b. the people always change but the land always remains the same
c. the land and people always stay the same but technology changes
9. In paragraphs 2 and 3, Lincoln argues that the North and South should not separate because
a. the North will win in a war against the South
b. they share land mass and will have always to talk to communicate with each other
c. the British will come back and win back both lands

!0. In paragraph 4 Lincoln says “Men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and in eternity…” which means
a. Men should say anything that comes to mind
b. Men should vote on anything they say
c. Men should think of the consequences of what they say
to future generations.

11. In paragraph five, Lincoln is aware some of the criticism he is getting from members of congress and
responds to it by
a. telling them he is the boss
b. apologizing for being older than some of them
c. recognizing that some of them thinking he is young and inexperienced

12. In paragraph 6, Lincoln notes that we have to get away from dogmas and think anew. Today we would call this
a. sticking to the old ways
b. thinking outside of the box
c. not thinking

13. In paragraph 7, Lincoln warns the Congress that we cannot escape history meaning
a. people of the future will judge us
b. people of the past caused our problems
c. people of other countries will either respect us or disrespect us for what we decide to do today.
d. a and c are both correct

14. The “last best hope of earth” is America as
a. a truly democratic country for all its inhabitants
b. a very wealthy country
c. a model of freedom for the rest of the world
d. a and c are both correct

15. How does Lincoln’s ending to this speech make it sound more powerful?____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

16. Homework: Write a poem, rap, letter or speech about freedom in America. Or draw your response. Due Tuesday.

Name____________________________ Date________________E4________
“Letter from Birmingham City Jail” paragraphs 1-7 Day 1

Journal # 4___ 1. Copy the quotation into your journal

”An unjust law is no law at all.” St. Augustine

2. What does this mean to you?
3. When have you ever experienced an unjust law? Explain.

1) Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his speech “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” as he
a. sat amongst other prisoners
b. while he was awaiting trial
c. remained in solitary confinement

2) King’s motivation in writing this speech was in response to
a. the president asking him to explain his actions
b. clergymen who were calling for an end to the nonviolent demonstrations he was leading
c. nothing- he decided to write it on his own

3) King was ____________________ to Birmingham, despite contrary beliefs, to stop the ___________________________ that were occurring in the city.

4) In paragraph 2, King uses the comparison of the prophets of the eighth century B.C. and the Apostle Paul to show what?
a. they were leaders who wouldn’t take no for an answer
b. just as they did, King would go beyond the boundaries of his city to promote freedom and the call for aid
c. they were good men who never let their families down and he wanted to follow their example

5) In paragraph 3, King makes the point that
a. each state should have their own rules and the members of those communities should not be concerned with other states
b. citizens of the United States must be unified and concerned about the care and safety of everyman
c. our government leaders need to take a stand against segregation

6) In paragraph 4, King cannot believe the reactions of the demonstrations by the people in power because
a. he is taken aback that those in power would react so strongly to the demonstrations but not the conditions that brought forth the demonstrations
b. white people have lead demonstrations throughout history and he doesn’t understand why they would be upset about these demonstrations
c. these demonstrations are nonviolent and therefore no man will be harmed

7) In paragraph 5, King outlined the four steps in a nonviolent campaign. They are: __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

8) King used the strategy of non-violence to achieve civil rights which means
a. a bloody revolution b. by any means necessary c. by using peaceful protest

9)What are some examples King used to prove that Birmingham is probably the most segregated city in the United States?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10)King believed that a person has a legal and moral responsibility to obey just laws and to disobey unjust laws. This means that laws had to be
a. voted in by Congress and acceptable to God
b. voted on by both the House and the Senate

11) In paragraph 7, according to King, a just law is
a. in harmony with eternal law
b. uplifts the human personality
c. does not give anyone a false sense of superiority
d. all of the above

12)King calls all segregations laws unjust because they _________________ the personality and _________________ the soul. He says it gives the segregator a false sense of
a. authority and power
b. confidence and high self-esteem
c. limitation and weakness

13. Explain philosopher Martin Buber’s two kinds of human relationships:
“I-it”_______________________________________________________________
“I-thou”_____________________________________________________________
Name____________________________ Date________________E4________
“Letter from Birmingham City Jail” paragraphs 8-14 Day 2

Journal # 46
1. Tell of one unjust law you have experienced.
2. Tell of one relationship you have or have had
which is “I and thou.”

Today we are continuing our reading of Martin Luther King Jr’s
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

1. In paragraph 8, King uses the words “majority” and “minority” to mean
a. the controlling group and the group that is controlled
b. the voters and non voters
c. the Senate and House of Representatives

2. In paragraph 8, King defines an unjust law as one created by a
a. majority of people in power who are also bound by it
b. majority of people in power who are not bound by it
c. an agreement of both the majority and minority of people

3. In paragraph 9, King also describes an unjust law as one which
a. is voted on by everyone
b. is not voted on by the people who must obey it
c. exists only in Alabama

4. When King described a law that is “just on its face but unjust in its application” he meant _ ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

5. In paragraph 11, King shows his own respect for the law when he
a. follows all of them without question
b. breaks them when he feels like it
c. breaks them when his conscience says but accepts the penalties

6. In paragraph 12, King evokes the spirits of other “extremists.” How did King change the word that was thrown at him as an insult?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Still n paragraph 12, King evokes the spirit Jesus who taught______________.

8. He also evokes the Biblical Amos who taught____________________________

9. King evokes Lincoln who taught_______________________________________

10. Finally, King evokes Jefferson who wrote the declaration of Independence and said “_______________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________”

11. In paragraph 13, King evokes the spirits of the heroes of the struggle for equality in America including

a. James Meredith who was the first Black student at the University of Mississippi, causing riots when he first attended in Oct, 1962
b. Old tired women who refused to continue to segregate buses
c. Young people who nonviolently desegregated lunch counters
d. All of the above

12. King ends on a note of
a. anger and sarcasm
b. fear
c. love and hope

Homework:

Create a poem, rap or drawing that evokes Martin Luther King, Jr’s dream for America as he sat in solitary confinement in a Birmingham jail.

I draw maps and give map quizzes. I draw timelines and show the connections and then expect students to reproduce timelines on exams.
I show pictures and parts of movies to illustrate the historical world when it is shown in a historically correct manner. Clothing, hairstyles, architecture, natural settings, historical settings, interiors…all help to make the world of the story come alive for students. To think students cannot visualize a world outside their ghetto, barrio, suburban neighborhood, youth culture, is to sell them short and to cheat them.

2. Drama and art wake students up to the literature and remain with them for years. I kept a supply of large paper and markers, scissors and glue, white bed sheets, table clothes, plastic fruit, flowers, platters, goblets, swords, other fabrics, especially gold, bows and arrows, safety pins, etc. which could become banquet tables or kings’ costumes at a moment’s notice. (Ask for donations and/or go to the dollar store. Stock up and save for the future.) Students are expected to draw for certain homework and participate in classroom group drawing activities, no matter what their skill level. It is amazing what they come up with!

3. My classes were 45 minutes, five times a week. If you have a different schedule, you may want to alter my lessons to fit your timing. You may also find you teach three of the same class and use the same sign up sheet for all three or create a page that works for only one class at a time.

4. I use open notebook tests, with partners (2 per test) to reinforce using the notebook and cooperative learning. What one student doesn’t know, the other student supplies. They share the same grade. To keep control, I declare that CHEATING is talking to any other group of two. This needs some getting used to but builds knowledge and team spirit. I call these “quizzls” to emphasize that they are not part of their grades but more a proof of participation. THEN I give individual tests. I set up this pattern and the students fall into step within 3 quizls.

Several paintings, notably Jim Lute’s “Piece of Barbara,” were made of egg tempera! ( Holy shades of Orthodox icons!)   Egg tempera! Check my entry on icons!

And there were iconic images: Lorraine O’Grady’s “First and Last of the Modernists” which paired huge paintings of Baudelaire and Michael Jackson as kindred spirits and martyrs to the cause of creativity. Vernon Dawson entitled a Chagall-like large painting “Pagan” with floating fairy tales and 4 seasons personified a cultural stew of icons: Santa for winter, the Fool (of Tarot) for spring, The Green Man (of the Celts) for summer and Death/Dracula for fall.

Ania Soliman took the pineapple as a symbol of colonialism and created a verbal/visual dialogue of the oppressed and oppressor. She then stretched them out in succession around four walls of a room like an unbound illuminated manuscript.

The exhibit was populated by archetypes and mythic beings, both recognizable and personal. Aural Schmidt created a minataur, holy Greek mythology, complete with a six-pack of beers, and a head of pink roses, in a personal meditation of the nature of masculinity today.

The the retrospective of previous biennials on the 5th floor  also evoked shrines and icons. There was Bruce Conner’s homage to Allen Ginsberg, a gritty assemplage of wood, garbage and stretched out nylon stockings. “I have seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.” from “Howl” the anthem poem of the beat generation.
David Hammons created spider legs of African hair wrapped around metal rods and jutting up from small bolder bases. (Hair is often used as a mystical conductor, both on the head and shorn from it. Think of Samson, Hassidic Jews, Rastifarians and Voodoo dolls.)
Louise Bourgeiose “Pink Days and Blue Days” evokes a sense of sacrifice, maybe crucifixion, in large cow bones suspended in space with diaphonous clothes dangling from each. Mike Kelly sewed handmade stuffed animals densely over several afghans, a tapestry of hours spend sewing and childhood disappearing. Trenton Doyle Hancock apparently has created his own private fantasy land inhabited by “Membrys” who fight the evil vegans.  Oh boy,  and he wasn’t the only one.

As I descended the steps from floor to floor, I rediscovered the permanent installation of Charles Simonds’ “Dwellings.” tiny villages tucked into the window sills, evoking the imaginary civilization of “The Little People.”  The wall pieces and some of the installations presented surprisingly ritualistic theater experiences: a young man voguing, a masked dancer moving through poses, a woman being interviewed.

Was it a theme? The 4th floor opened with a full wall wall hanging of natural burlap,  embroidered, patched and tatted.  The Polish artist, Piotr Uklanski, created a huge stage waiting for the museum visitors to bring it to life.  .  Working my way down to the first floor, I found another stage in that little room to the left of the entrance.  Martin Kersal has created a series of stages of upturned chairs and bits and pieces of life called “5 songs.”  On one of the platforms a record sounds like a heartbeat as it circles on the runoff grooves, evoking endings.  The audio guide informs me that the artist is recalling  a record player found running in the room of a popular radio dj who had died.

Earler, on the 4th floor, I step into a dark box/room. It is also a play, a room within a room.  Like an overturned chair with a blanket over it. The guard points and offers helpfully “That’s John Kennedy.” to the slowly revolving hologram of the instantly recognizable portrait. I have already recogized him.  I wonder why the guard feels the need to identify what is yet another icon of our times.It is  floating above an image of… a record player! Some cosmic muse is whispering “record player” this year. With a shy smile the guard asks “What do you think Kennedy would say about the new immigration laws?” I hear his African accent and see his surprisingly sincere face and try to answer honestly and without cynicism. “He lived at a different time, a time full of optimism. Today people are closed in by the twin fears of terrorism and economic instability. Perhaps that would affect him. But I think it would not.”  I see that the guard is satisfied with my answer.  He continues “Did you know that Kennedy began a scholarship for African students and Obama’s father was one of the recipients?”  I ask him from where he comes.  The guard says “I am from Ghana.”  We both look at  Kennedy’s head turning like a sacrificial lamb and  smile at each other.  The guard turns out to be the most realistic part of the Biennial. All the art seems to be caught in a Narnia world of personal and appropriated symbols. Is this where we run when our lives are in confusion and instability? To a land of  ritual, lost gods and make believe? To the land of counterpane?

The Land of Counterpane
When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Have you ever done better at a sport or in a play because someone was there in the audience who gave you the extra spiritual lift to transform yourself?
Recently I went to a soccer game and watched a girl play her team to a win. Later she said that our presence gave her the boost to play especially well.

Have you ever suddenly brainstormed wonderful ideas because the people in your group seemed to be on fire?

There is a belief that, I think is born out by empirical evidence, that inspiration occurs with a ground swell of positive thinking. The American revolution and civil right movement created new ways of thinking because a few people began to think a powerful new way and it gathered so much steam that it ultimately succeeded.
(Both the United States and Civil Rights may have their imperfections but both ideas are amazing because they didn’t exist and now they do. Neither the kings of Europe nor the slaves of America could have imagined this change.)

And so: why the Greeks? Somehow the Greeks created a
powerful new way of thinking and doing things that was so polished and new that there are people who attribute it to the intervention of aliens (as they do with many cultural leaps.) This seems to underestimate, most curmudgeonly, the human potential for good I do believe that the source of this ‘magical’ paradigm shift comes from a much closer source: the divine spark within humankind. Yes, humans can do most despicable things. But, over time, humans have also created the sublime: gardens and buildings and philosophies and laws and music and poetry that seem to be simply beyond a mere single human capability.

Which brings us to Noetics which is defined by ION, a group exploring its potentials as “advancing the consciousness and human experience to serve individual and collective transformation.” http://www.noetic.org/
“The word noetic is derived from the Greek word nous, which refers to direct and immediate access to knowledge beyond what is available to our normal senses and powers of reason.”

So you know: “Today, IONS is an international nonprofit organization with about 20,000 members; a quarterly magazine, Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness; a unique membership program featuring an annual book, quarterly CDs, DVDs, weekly teleseminars with global leaders from a wide range of fields, and an active online community (www.shiftinaction.com); ongoing research and educational programs; a stunning retreat center on 200 acres; and 220 self-organizing community groups throughout the world, all working together to foster a global shift in consciousness.

Check it out. In 2007, IONS began publishing The Shift Report, an annual document that charts the transition that appears to be underway worldwide from a rigid, mechanistic, and materialistic worldview to one that is built on a foundation of interconnectedness, cooperation, and the intersection of science and spirituality (www.shiftreport.org).

And once again, back to the ancient Greek culture. Looking at its incredible confluence of science, arts, aesthetics, philosophy, and ethics, I see a noetic surge long , long before IONS, a blueprint for what can be. The Greek culture of BCE has so much wisdom to teach us in CE about combining the rational and the irrational, the analytical and the emotional, the scientific and the spiritual, in ways that enrich rather than deplete us as people and cultures.

The Alexander Onassis Cultural Center was founded by the incredibly wealthy shipping Magnate, (Yes, Magnate means big as in a magnum of champagne or a .44 magnum gun!) Aristotle Onassis, in honor of his son Alexander, who died at the age of 25 in a plane crash.  The father died two years later at 69.  That is a Greek tragedy in a nutshell: fate will get you no matter what wealth, beauty or talents you have.

Well, the Onassis  Center celebrates and disseminates Hellenic culture all over the world.   In New York City, the Onassis Center is between Madison and Fifth Avenues and  flows from 50th to 51st Streets.  They even have a Greek cafe and store there.  Funny how I learned that Hellenic culture is Greek culture.  I played with my father’s stamps when I was little and learned what other countries and cities called themselves while we gave them (dumb) English names.  Hellas was Greece, Helvetica was Switzerland, Deutchland was Germany.  Macedonia and Serbia existed as countries with their own stamps.  Moskva  was Moscow,  Praha was Prague…  Read a map, read some stamps, read the CIA online book on the nations.  Travel and get that much more.  One of my former students went to Afganistan and Iraq…with the army.  Thank goodness he is back.  Another former student is in Australia for 6 months. I am so proud of her!  The Greeks knew this a long time ago: travel expands your horizons, fills in the picture.

This brings us back to an exhibit of Greek icons.  Icons are pictures of Jesus, his life, his mother and other saints. I could see why people are inspired to pray when they contemplate icons.  Icons glow!  The strange thing about icons is that they are not just pictures that kind of get you in the mood to pray.  They  actually were considered holy, themselves.  They tend to not be realistic but rather stylized and kind of stiff, almost as to say “the body is not important; pay attention to the soul.”

Part of the secret is the materials. The paint is tempera which is pigment or color mixed with egg. If you ever tried to wash dried egg off a plate, you know how strong that is. The consequent color  is very rich and can last for up to 1000 years.  That is why it radiates. The other element is the painter trying to capture  passion of religious belief. The Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches use icons.  People used to carry small foldable ones as portable shrines. The Onassis exhibit, which has since closed, showed how icon painters on Crete developed new methods by traveling or learning from visiting artists.  One of their boyz was the artist known as El Greco who carried the luminescence of  icons into his huge paintings. Art has an amazing way of flowing from one place to another.

So a Greek Orthodox lady walked into an Armenian Orthodox church and looked around.  Finally she asked the priest Aren’t you Orthodox?”  ”Yes,” replied the priest.  Then, demanded the Greek woman, “Where are your icons?”  We don’t need them to remind us of God’s presence,” responded the priest. This is a true story and that same priest told me that the Armenian Orthodox Church stopped attending the councils of the early churches after the 3rd one because they saw that everyone was getting into splitting hairs and creating icons where there were none.

And so, icons may be funny little symbols on your computer screen but icons existed long before computers.  I suppose Hermes/Mercury, the God of commerce and quick words would be the God of computers.  What do you think?

The etymology the dictionary offers is interesting:
“Etymology: Sanskrit avatāraḥ descent, from avatarati he descends, from ava- away + tarati he crosses over”

Traditionally, an avatar was a god in human form, it was a deity who, for whatever reason, disguised him or herself as a lesser being to facilitate an activity on earth. It either showed God’s compassion – to humble himself, to help mere mortals or God’s humanity – a desire for adventure or to cure divine boredom. But inside that avatar was a higher being: a god.

Now, the meaning of avatar has changed in its very core. The avatar is no longer a descent but an ascent: into a higher being. When a human being creates a virtual avatar, whether for work or for gaming, he or she is creating a better self – more powerful, more beautiful, more terrifying, more skilled than he or she is on this plane. What does this mean? How will this affect the ego? Will this increase the ego to fill the larger virtual space? Or will the human ego wither as its virtual counterpart’s life becomes richer and more satisfying?

I thought “where have I heard that before?” The next day, the yoga teacher read the same passage and I realized where I had heard it before!  After class, I ran up to copy the passage down.  Another student ran up, eager to copy down that very same passage!  As we each copied,we noted a certain sense of synchronicity in the world.  We were inspired to share email and facebook information. Andrea mentioned her last name. So I asked. … Yes,  she is Armenian!

My life seems to have dipped into hues of Armenian life; my friend Sheri is researching stories of life back in the Armenian communities of Turkey and of the time of the genocide.  She has interviewed friends, relatives, friends of friends and relatives of relatives!   She has read books by Armenians, by witnesses, by diplomats, by missionaries. She has read transcripts of interviews.  The stories are spilling out.  The connections are multiplying.  She has discovered the bridge to Ellis Island and has driven over as an invited researcher.  And the exhibit and curator at Queens College, and the connections to the Cathedral 5 blocks away… She…and now I …am swimming in a sea of Armenian lore.  It is like living in two worlds at once.  That must be the life of every writer.  I imagine novelists carrying on conversations with their characters over breakfast.  So, Holden, what do you plan to do today?  Would you like another piece of toast? Writers must be mindful on two planes of existence!

And, oh, that quotation:

“Mindfulness is the art of paying attention. But there is more to it than that. It is paying attention with an abiding faith in a loving Universe. We are not meant to be on the edge of our seats, anxiously paying attention so we can control outcomes and events. We are meant to stand firmly in the postures of our lives bearing witness to the moment, to our experience of the moment. When we pay attention with faith that we will be supported, then growth really is possible, our vision becomes clear, our path becomes unobstructed, and we are able to see the good in every person and situation.” ~ Rolf Gates

What does this have to do with mythology?  It occurs to me that the spiritual dimensions of human life, which includes religion and ritual of all forms, are really a call to a mindfulness and a resetting of the human psyche to do good and walk humbly.  It is when we lose mindfulness that we lose the way to our souls.

Now this brings me to the movie “Avatar” which I saw last night. I will ignore the obvious idealized Native American reference of the Na’vi.  It did feel a little like “The Last of the Mohicans.”  (At least they did not make the cultural faux pas of those who created and animated the  Gungan Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars.) I would like to focus on both the ritual and connection to the land which also mirrors most Native American cultures.  The rituals showed the Na’vi laying hands on each other, creating graceful patterns of humanoid connectivity.  They tap both into the spiritual and chemical synapses of nature. In contrast the crass commercialism that  molests the Na’vi’s world, is disconnected.  They can’t breathe the air.  We learn to see the world  through Na’vi eyes, beautiful and quivering with meaningful energy.  We gasp in horror when we see the machines bearing down on the now significant tendrils of light of the trees of voices. Check out the website for reminders of the plants and people:  http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar_Wiki

We all have become mindful of the tendency to rapacious in the world of commerce. But it does not have to be so.   Drucker and the Na’vi would say “I see you.”  What does this mean?  It means to recognize the other as human, as having a life unique from one’s own and a will, desires and awarenesses outside one’s own. And that is mindfulness.

Now we are going to talk about religion.

Some people declare that religion should not be a topic of discussion or investigation.  These people argue that the constitution of the United States separates church and state. What that means is the state cannot force a religion on its people.  But that does not mean that people ought to remain ignorant of all religions or of religions not their own.  Other people fear that getting closer to a religion by learning about it may threaten their own beliefs.  Your history classes will have taught you that many wars were fought over religion.  Wouldn’t it be better to just know about the many religions that exist and how they fit into human understanding and expression?

Besides, whether we like it or not, our thoughts…our very language is based on our beliefs.  Our beliefs are very much formed by our religions and our responses to them. Archaeologists find some of the earliest expressions of religion in the forms and artifacts of early human burials.  While cities, buildings, cultures and languages vanish, often it is only the graves that are left behind to whisper their story. In each grave were foods, weapons, clothes, makeup, and other symbolic artifacts. Each grave offers tantalizing clues to what the culture that its occupant valued. Have a look at this famous English burial place from the 7th century.  Who was this person who was buried in a small ship?  http://www.suttonhoo.org

Anthropologists tell us that religion began with a human need to express a need for a spiritual life.  This expression of spiritual connection to something beyond the human most often began with a close connection to nature that is expressed in worship of nature and animals or animism.  Animus is the Greek word for spirit or life force.  Early and even some current societies worship animals, trees and other natural phenomena.  Animism was and is a seamless relationship with the natural world. “If you take [a copy of] the Christian Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain, soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone.  Our bible IS the wind.” Statement by an anonymous Native American woman.

By the time the ancient Greeks had developed their culture, they had  created a pantheon of  gods.  “Pan” is Greek for ‘all’ and “theus” is Greek for god.  So “Theodore” would mean ‘gift of the gods.’  Why did the ancient Greeks pray to so many Gods?  Do they still pray to the same ones today?  The answer to the second question is easier.  Most modern Greeks belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church which is a form of Christianity.  They believe in a single God with a special connection with a son named Jesus.  But 2600 years ago, Jesus had not yet walked the earth and begun the religion of Christianity.  Ancient Greeks prayed to many gods.  How do we know?  Because they left temples built in honor of these gods full of the symbols of each one.  The Greeks also left stories and plays which talked of their many Gods.   Why so many Gods?  Perhaps the best explanation is the one a Hindu shopkeeper once gave me about the many Gods of Hinduism.

He surprised me when he told me, “Hindus believe in only one God!  But our religion realizes that no human can possibly comprehend the magnitude of this one God so the God is broken down into various aspects so that humans can absorb, appreciate and negotiate with the God in its many parts…male and female, destructive and creative, loving and hateful…each part that forms a whole.”  It may be that the ancient Greeks also felt the need to break the idea of God into ‘bite sized pieces’ so as to better understand  the spiritual world.

But no one actually prays to the ancient Greek Gods any more.  To repeat, today the Greeks themselves are Christians. So, why should we bother learning about the ancient Greek pantheon from 2500 years ago?

We study the Greek gods because we still use their symbols; the Gods themselves have become symbols in our language used in every field from psychology to politics to marketing.   We buy Wise potato chips which we recognize because of the owl logo which symbolizes wisdom.  Where did we get the idea that an owl is wise?  The Greeks decided that the goddess of wisdom, Athena, had a pet owl.  Dozens of flags of nations have eagles on them.  Eagles are birds of prey. But the Ancient Greeks decided that the eagle represented noble strength. They decided that the eagle was the symbol of Zeus leader of all the gods.  Study the pantheon of the gods and their symbols below.  Let’s see what you can learn by heart.  Then you can begin to look for the Greek gods and their symbols…their birds, their trees…all around you.