One of my favorite words in the English language is "juxtaposition." Read Wikipedia's entry for Juxtaposition
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Really?
There will be a quiz.
Yeah, go back, click on the link.....
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You promised academic integrity, remember?
As I think about the Senior Presentation of Learning, perhaps my favorite mode of communicating growth and insight is through juxtaposition. Quite simply because juxatoposing images with words or words with words or images with sound immediately creates a comparison and a contrast where there might not otherwise been one. As humans, we thrive by creating order from the chaos that we experience through our senses, thus, a great communicator manipulates or plays with this inherent characteristic. We want to make sense of things, so placing two unexpected items together tickles our brains....
Eulogies are quite another matter from juxtaposition. Eulogies are those speeches, or oral tributes given at funerals for the dead. Eulogies can be difficult to write if the person was just not such a nice person, as their intention is to praise the dead. If you don't believe me, look at the etymology of the word (the history). We have "eu" from Greek which means "good" and "logos" (also Greek) which means word, phrase, or speech. In other logos, we mean a speech made up of good. While I don't wish any of you death, I do thiink that thinking about your Senior Presentation of Learning as an opportunity for you to eulogize the death of your high school career. You are laying to rest a part of your life, and your P.O.L. ought to highlight the "good works" that you experienced. Now, just as it's troublesome to write a eulogy about a bad person, so it might be difficult to eulogize (write good words) about parts of your high school career that might be unaccomplished or off-track...I encourage you to rethink those times that you or others might even see as wasted and discover what was good about it?
So, to keep this short....
I encourage you to collect all your materials together in a box. Read every shred of history you have over the last 4 or 5 years. Start placing objects and words together to create a juxtaposed eulogy of your high school career.
I have been ending these blogs with questions. This time, it's your turn. What questions should be asked at the end of this blog???? Post them...Answer other people's questions...Be engaged.
1 comment:
Petra amazes me. I have seen POL's, I have helped brainstorm with people about POL's and never have I been so... so... captivated by the possibility a POL can hold.
Why do we look at "unaccomplished" times as bad? (You can't discount the "bad" drafts of your senior paper when you end with a great piece of writing. You would not have had the same outcome, right?)
How do we prove the learning from those times when we feel that we did not intellectually grow?
I am not going to make this short, I do not have the time... So for that, I apologize.
One of my biggest problems is that I feel as though i have done so much; I have learned, grown, and accomplished more than two hours can hold.
I am trying to figure out a way to (nassa auto pawn commercials are terrible by the way) include my favorite classes and experiences and still prove that I learned.
I could easily have a boring POL in which i go through year by year and it pains the audience.... but I don't want to.
How do I, in a positive-eulogy-esque-way, present my learning, present the main topics and keep the audience interested?
--Jan
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