Mind blowing, stimulating, and enjoyable: these three words come to mind when I think about Great Summer at Faulkner University. The event was a very eye-opening experience to how much information and knowledge we are not given in a public school environment. In public school, students are taught to sit there and to answer the questions that your teacher asks. Great Books takes the public school approach to learning and flips it on its head. From the minute we started class, we were the ones asking the questions and having to come up with what we thought the text was saying. Taking part in this type of learning was frustrating at first, due to us not always receiving one correct answer, but it was amazing to reach an answer that I had come up with through discussion and not by asking my teacher. With using the Great Books method of learning, I feel as though I have obtained more knowledge in one week than I have in all my years of school.
When we first got to the event on Friday, it was extremely awkward. None of us knew each other, and no one was truly willing to engage. Dinner was even worse. When we took our seats, no one spoke for at least two minutes at my table, except for when my mom and Abigail’s mom started talking. Then everyone at the table started to talk when the adults started asking questions about our majors. The dinner was amazing, though I had to glance around to see which utensil everyone else was eating with so I looked like I knew what I was doing. After we finished dinner, it was off to play Don’t-be bored Games and our first encounter with Game Master Ethan. He showed us how to play Spyfall, which was a awesome game where we had to ask questions in order to find the spy without giving away our location, and in some ways, it was an introduction to the days ahead of us asking questions.
On Saturday, we slowly started to ease our way into the academic content without totally diving into the deep end. We read “The Pedestrian,” and we worked through the short story as a group in order to get a better understanding of what we were reading . The story was about an old man walking at night, occasionally watching people in their homes as they lived their lives in front of their televisions like mindless zombies instead of interacting with the people around them. The story shows us how people today are not really living, but instead, they are glued to a screen and not going outside to sniff the roses, though in this case it’s a leaf. In order to give our brains a break from learning for the day, we went to Rockin Jump. My favorite part of going to Rockin Jump would definitely have to be dodgeball. It is always fun when you get to throw things at other people without getting in trouble for it.
Sunday morning I went to the church on campus and had a great time, especially when they gave us a loaf of bread for being a guest; though I didn’t eat it because of being on my basketball diet. Then it was back to work, and we read the original myth of Cupid and Psyche. As soon as we started to read the story, we saw how different this story was compared to Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. In the original myth, Psyche’s two sisters came to the mountain to look for her and became jealous of seeing Psyche’s new home, but in Lewis’ version, only Orual travels to the mountain to search for Psyche and seems unable to see the home her sister describes. We also got our first glimpse into the belly of the beast of Great Books with reading Aristotle's “On Happiness.” During this discussion, my brain felt like it was going to explode. We concluded that a person can never achieve full happiness while they are alive, as you won’t know true happiness until we are with the Lord. However, we can gain access to some perfection through Christ which can happen as we try to become more like him and when we get baptized. We also figured out that excellence in one’s proper function is what helps people in finding about 70% happiness. After we fried our brains, we then acted out the play Antigone, where I got to play the OG blind prophet Tiresias, who predicts King Creon’s downfall due to his refusal to bury Polyneices. He told the King that his actions had angered the gods and that they would come after him with vengeance. The wrath of the gods was seen in the end when the King’s son and wife both killed themselves, allowing us to see that if he had only listen to Tiresias, he might still have his family.
Monday we went on our Excursion of Montgomery, visiting the Peace and Justice Memorial, an Episcopal Church, the church where MLK preached out of, and the Montgomery Archives. Although they were all amazing places to visit, my favorite was the Montgomery Archives. They had an amazing Native American exhibit, and it was so cool to see the poetry and beading displayed in there. It was also eye-opening to see all the struggles these people had to go through, whether it was people taking away their land or having mass deaths due to diseases that the Europeans brought over to America.
Tuesday we started on “The Decameron 10:10,” which was about a noble man picking a peasant woman to be his wife and then testing her in order to prove to himself and to everyone else that she was meant to be his wife. The test in the story seemed a bit harsh to us, but in order for her to prove herself to him, it had to be done. The rest of the day went by in a blur and with some pain, but then we went bowling, which helped a lot and was really entertaining when I got to watch Dr. Jacobs try to dance.
Wednesday we did more school, but my favorite part of that entire day was watching Rear Window in the media room. I had never seen a Hitchcock film and watching one for the first time blew my mind. The fact that the whole story took place through a back window was insane, because in movies now a days take you around the world to different places to have events happen. It was also interesting to see how after analyzing all these stories, it made it much easier to actually pick up on certain themes and aspects that I probably never would have bothered to look for before.
On Thursday we traveled to Fitzpatrick Elementary for a service project. With the scent of crayola in the air, we marched along until we got to the classroom where the little kids were waiting for us with eager faces. I don’t think that I have ever been impressed by third graders before in my life. These kids came up with some really good questions. One of the little girls in our group asked why the fisherman was portrayed as being nice and friendly when in all the other stories she had read the fisherman was always grumpy? I was surprised when she first asked this question because I had just skipped over that part and did not realize that the character traits of the fisherman could lead to potentially lead to a question. The kids were like sponges and wanted to soak up everything, until the point it was time for us to leave. They pleaded with Rachel to come back tomorrow and it was heartbreaking for us to leave, so Rachel told them that we would try to come back and see them later on in the year. This brought joy to their faces and allowed us to leave without feeling too guilty for leaving them. Hopefully before the school year is up, we can head back down there and do it again.
Finally the day had arrived for us to go see Annie at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I was super excited to go see Annie all day that I cannot remember anything school related discussion we had all day. As we departed to head to the Shakespeare Festival, my excitement was building. This was my first time ever going to a play and I was super pumped to see one of my favorite movies in real life. From the minute the lights dimmed till the ending bows, my eyes were glued to the stage. From the costumes, to the actors, to the backdrop, everything was perfect. The way the orchestra played the music helped to set the mood of what was happening on the stage, which made the story flow effortlessly. Once the lights came on and it was time for us to leave, I was heartbroken, but I had to remind myself I can always come back and I surely will.
All in all, I would have to say that this week has been amazing. Even though we did a ton of school work, it didn’t feel like we did any at all. The week was a great example of how learning can occur and you can still have fun while doing it. In public school, we have to sit there and listen to lectures of what our teacher thinks the text says, but while doing the Great Books way, it allowed for us to interpret the text and come up with what we think the answer could be through discussion and asking questions of our own. This week has gotten me super pumped to be apart of the Great Books Honors program and I am looking forward to learning so much more.
When we first got to the event on Friday, it was extremely awkward. None of us knew each other, and no one was truly willing to engage. Dinner was even worse. When we took our seats, no one spoke for at least two minutes at my table, except for when my mom and Abigail’s mom started talking. Then everyone at the table started to talk when the adults started asking questions about our majors. The dinner was amazing, though I had to glance around to see which utensil everyone else was eating with so I looked like I knew what I was doing. After we finished dinner, it was off to play Don’t-be bored Games and our first encounter with Game Master Ethan. He showed us how to play Spyfall, which was a awesome game where we had to ask questions in order to find the spy without giving away our location, and in some ways, it was an introduction to the days ahead of us asking questions.
On Saturday, we slowly started to ease our way into the academic content without totally diving into the deep end. We read “The Pedestrian,” and we worked through the short story as a group in order to get a better understanding of what we were reading . The story was about an old man walking at night, occasionally watching people in their homes as they lived their lives in front of their televisions like mindless zombies instead of interacting with the people around them. The story shows us how people today are not really living, but instead, they are glued to a screen and not going outside to sniff the roses, though in this case it’s a leaf. In order to give our brains a break from learning for the day, we went to Rockin Jump. My favorite part of going to Rockin Jump would definitely have to be dodgeball. It is always fun when you get to throw things at other people without getting in trouble for it.
Sunday morning I went to the church on campus and had a great time, especially when they gave us a loaf of bread for being a guest; though I didn’t eat it because of being on my basketball diet. Then it was back to work, and we read the original myth of Cupid and Psyche. As soon as we started to read the story, we saw how different this story was compared to Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. In the original myth, Psyche’s two sisters came to the mountain to look for her and became jealous of seeing Psyche’s new home, but in Lewis’ version, only Orual travels to the mountain to search for Psyche and seems unable to see the home her sister describes. We also got our first glimpse into the belly of the beast of Great Books with reading Aristotle's “On Happiness.” During this discussion, my brain felt like it was going to explode. We concluded that a person can never achieve full happiness while they are alive, as you won’t know true happiness until we are with the Lord. However, we can gain access to some perfection through Christ which can happen as we try to become more like him and when we get baptized. We also figured out that excellence in one’s proper function is what helps people in finding about 70% happiness. After we fried our brains, we then acted out the play Antigone, where I got to play the OG blind prophet Tiresias, who predicts King Creon’s downfall due to his refusal to bury Polyneices. He told the King that his actions had angered the gods and that they would come after him with vengeance. The wrath of the gods was seen in the end when the King’s son and wife both killed themselves, allowing us to see that if he had only listen to Tiresias, he might still have his family.
Monday we went on our Excursion of Montgomery, visiting the Peace and Justice Memorial, an Episcopal Church, the church where MLK preached out of, and the Montgomery Archives. Although they were all amazing places to visit, my favorite was the Montgomery Archives. They had an amazing Native American exhibit, and it was so cool to see the poetry and beading displayed in there. It was also eye-opening to see all the struggles these people had to go through, whether it was people taking away their land or having mass deaths due to diseases that the Europeans brought over to America.
Tuesday we started on “The Decameron 10:10,” which was about a noble man picking a peasant woman to be his wife and then testing her in order to prove to himself and to everyone else that she was meant to be his wife. The test in the story seemed a bit harsh to us, but in order for her to prove herself to him, it had to be done. The rest of the day went by in a blur and with some pain, but then we went bowling, which helped a lot and was really entertaining when I got to watch Dr. Jacobs try to dance.
Wednesday we did more school, but my favorite part of that entire day was watching Rear Window in the media room. I had never seen a Hitchcock film and watching one for the first time blew my mind. The fact that the whole story took place through a back window was insane, because in movies now a days take you around the world to different places to have events happen. It was also interesting to see how after analyzing all these stories, it made it much easier to actually pick up on certain themes and aspects that I probably never would have bothered to look for before.
On Thursday we traveled to Fitzpatrick Elementary for a service project. With the scent of crayola in the air, we marched along until we got to the classroom where the little kids were waiting for us with eager faces. I don’t think that I have ever been impressed by third graders before in my life. These kids came up with some really good questions. One of the little girls in our group asked why the fisherman was portrayed as being nice and friendly when in all the other stories she had read the fisherman was always grumpy? I was surprised when she first asked this question because I had just skipped over that part and did not realize that the character traits of the fisherman could lead to potentially lead to a question. The kids were like sponges and wanted to soak up everything, until the point it was time for us to leave. They pleaded with Rachel to come back tomorrow and it was heartbreaking for us to leave, so Rachel told them that we would try to come back and see them later on in the year. This brought joy to their faces and allowed us to leave without feeling too guilty for leaving them. Hopefully before the school year is up, we can head back down there and do it again.
Finally the day had arrived for us to go see Annie at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I was super excited to go see Annie all day that I cannot remember anything school related discussion we had all day. As we departed to head to the Shakespeare Festival, my excitement was building. This was my first time ever going to a play and I was super pumped to see one of my favorite movies in real life. From the minute the lights dimmed till the ending bows, my eyes were glued to the stage. From the costumes, to the actors, to the backdrop, everything was perfect. The way the orchestra played the music helped to set the mood of what was happening on the stage, which made the story flow effortlessly. Once the lights came on and it was time for us to leave, I was heartbroken, but I had to remind myself I can always come back and I surely will.
All in all, I would have to say that this week has been amazing. Even though we did a ton of school work, it didn’t feel like we did any at all. The week was a great example of how learning can occur and you can still have fun while doing it. In public school, we have to sit there and listen to lectures of what our teacher thinks the text says, but while doing the Great Books way, it allowed for us to interpret the text and come up with what we think the answer could be through discussion and asking questions of our own. This week has gotten me super pumped to be apart of the Great Books Honors program and I am looking forward to learning so much more.
Angela!
ReplyDeleteYour account of our week is super cool! And the title is perfection lol! I had the best time getting to know and work with you that week and I can’t wait to see you at school in a few days (let us hope, however, that you will be out of your cage this time jk:)
See ya soon!
Abigail (:
I hate google blogs. I typed this whole thing and then tried to post it but it was on the wrong account and the post was deleted when I switched.
ReplyDeleteI really like what you did with this. When I wrote it despite my best efforts I made it a "I did this and then this" list, but you actually have a main point and a good structure. You pointed out several things that I honestly just missed, like spyfall (you forgot the 2 :P) being practice for asking questions, or the growing excitement over Annie (though I noticed the dress stuff; we already went over that.) Now that I have read your post, it makes me want to read everyone else's too. If everyone has as many new concepts as you, I could end up getting an extra 78% out of this class! See you on Tuesday,
J. Edward Jewell
(My numbers don't have any backing; I just pull them out of the air. ;P)