Final Annotated Bibliography

My "magical realism" unit is fun and intriguing, because the settings of the texts are familiar (the real world) but the author has added extraordinary elements. Many students would recognize the use of magical realism in media and literature from their childhood (i.e. E. B. White's use of anthropomorphism in Stuart Little), which would help them become more engaged in the topic. The average ability students in my class will benefit from these texts in a variety of ways, because each text enhances the unit in its own unique fashion. The Heartbreak Soup: Love and Rockets graphic novel and the "Ten Dreams" fine art gallery website are to help students to comprehend magical realism through impressive visuals. Magic(al) Realism; The New Critical Idiom is a higher level text that helps the students navigate through the historical context and cross-cultural significance of magical realism; it is also rich with vocabulary building opportunities that would benefit lower-higher ability students. Anansi Boys is a perfect example of a contemporary, fantasy author drawing inspiration from another genre (in this case, West African Folk Tales); reading this text exposes the students to a humorous, natural writing style and entertaining genre they can add to their "literary toolkit", and utilize when asked to do creative writing assignments and ace the reading portion of standardized tests. To help each student recognize the plot development of each text, I've added the interactive graphic organizer "Story Map" as an after reading activity; this can be used as a class or in a group to start, but eventually the student will be able to use the organizers independently. The assessment for this unit would be a multi-genre project where the students apply all they've learned about magical realism into art pieces, writing, music, or any other medium they can find.

Gaiman, N. (2006). Anansi Boys. New York: Harper Collins

Flesch-Kincaid Index: 5.2

This novel is a wonderful read that kept me engaged from beginning to end.The story begins when Charlie "Fat Charlie" Nancy's father, Mr. Nancy, dies at a karaoke bar. The reason everyone calls the protagonist Fat Charlie is because his father gave him the embarrassing nickname in his youth, and it stuck. Most of the novel takes place in London, but Fat Charlie does return to his childhood home of Florida for his father's funeral. While in Florida, he comes across a family friend that informs Fat Charlie that his father was the trickster god Anansi, and that he has a brother named Spider that inherited their father's god-like powers. These powers include being able to disguise himself as other people, walk into photographs, etc. When Spider comes into Fat Charlie's life, utter chaos ensues: Spider successfully woos and falls in love with Rosie, Fat Charlie's fiancee', and he is the reason Fat Charlie is framed for the embezzlement schemes of his employer, Grahame Coats. More gods, ghosts and witches help to make Fat Charlie and Spider's adventure in the novel suspenseful and hilarious.

This book is 384 pages long, but I would like the students to read it in its entirety. Acknowledging the problem that many students home environments may not be conducive to effective reading, independent reading in class and at home, reading as a class and listening to the audio book version of the text, would make it possible to complete the novel in a few weeks. I would engage the students in a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity to get the most out of the text. Because it is estimated to be readable for at a 5th grade level, I would want to introducing the history of West African folktales (particularly the role of the spider Anansi, the trickster god), asking the students to predict what the novel may be about, discussing Gaiman's use of magical realism and extending the text into a multi-genre project to demonstrate their comprehension of the novel in an original way.

Bowers, M.A. (2004). Magic(al) Realism (The New Critical Idiom). New York: Routledge

Flesch-Kincaid Index: 19.2 (high estimate due in part to German and Hispanic multi-syllabic names and terms)

This text answers the questions "Where did magical realism come from and how does it vary cross-culturally?" There were three turning points in the development of magical realism: 1920s Germany, 1940s Central America and Latin America around 1955. Even though it is studied mostly in the context of literature, German art critic Franz Roh actually "coined the term that is translated as 'magical realism' to define a form of painting that differs greatly from its predecessor (expressionist art) in its attention to accurate detail...and the representation of the mystical non-material aspects of reality." (p. 9) Alejo Carpentier, a French-Russian Cuban diplomat and writer, is credited as the originator of Latin American magic(al) realism and the rest is history. There is a short glossary in the back of the book to help the students understand the historical terms Bowers uses, such as 'feminism' and 'Marxism, to help the students that may not have encountered those concepts in history class. The glossary also appropriately distinguishes between 'magic(al)' and 'marvellous' realism, for readers that may have difficulty comprehending the discussion of the concepts in the body of the text.

As informative as this book is, the writing is quite dense for high school juniors and seniors. I would do a Guided Reading Activity to help the students work through two more particularly interesting chapters, 'Cross-cultural Variants of Magical Realism' and 'Magic(al) Realism and Cultural Production'. These chapters will help keep the students engaged because they refer to

recognizable authors and cultural icons, like Roald Dahl and Harry Potter. After introducing the students to critical vocabulary terms and phrases found in the text (such as "ontology" and "sentimentality", I would shortly model how to read the text and let the students read silently. I would provide them with a reading guide and monitor the students'silent reading, as I am sure they will have questions about the author's syntax and concepts. This text would be used

to make a universal definition of magical realism that will be easy for the students to remember and understand.

Hernandez, G. (2007). Heartbreak Soup: Love and Rockets. Seattle: Fantagraphic Books

Flesch-Kincaid Index: 6.9

In the small town of Palomar, there is a multitude of stories that play out like a soap opera. There is a multitude of young and older characters that the reader can easily empathize with. This series of comics originally published by Hernandez as a graphic novelette, are in chronological order so the reader essentially sees the characters grow up throughout the collection. Palomar is in Central America, where the inhabitants speak Spanish and believe in the fantastical. The town is said to be plagued by spirits, which is the most prevalent use of magical realism in the text. One character, Heraclio, claims to see the ghost of young Toco waving at him from time to time; Pipo was once pushed off of an ancient statue on the outside of town, but witnesses claim no one was behind her. There characters fall in love with each other, and the friendships they've had since birth are tested at least once. There is nudity and swearing in the text, but nothing you can't find in an anatomy book or hear in everyday conversation.

For it's stunning visual and storytelling quality, I would use the appropriate chapters from Heartbreak Soup show how it has been applied to mediums other than narrative novels. If the students wanted to make a comic to put in their multi-genre project, they could use this as a model for developing a story with graphics. I would have the students independently read the chapters that demonstrate the use of magical realism, and then they would work in groups to answer stance questions about the text. Because there aren't many words, I would want the students to think critically about the images and text they are given. I would want them to answer Interpretation, Personal Reflection and Critical Analysis questions, such as "Compare the characters Luba and Chelo in the story", "How would you have reacted to seeing the ghost of your deceased neighbor waving to you?", or "How effective is Hernandez's use of illustrations with this selection?". These higher order thinking questions will help the students comprehend what they've read and to think critically , which is demanded of high school graduates when they enter the workforce.

"What is Magic Realism-An Introduction" (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.tendreams.org/magic.htm

Readability Estimate: 13.1 (Flesch-Kincaid Index)

This website gives more historical context about the origins of magical realism, but this is from the framework of art. There are several chapters dedicated to magical realist art, including "The Roots of Magical Realism", "Magical Realism in the Americas" and "Contemporary Magic Realism". In each of the chapters, there are examples of the artists' works they are exploring in depth, which makes for a very engaging read. There are links to galleries that are full of magic realist examples from the artists of the Weimar Republic, America and Europe. The site is very organized and aesthetically pleasing, which makes it easy to get lost in the beautiful art and heaps of information very easily. Also, if students wanted to explore other movements in art, such as Metarealism and Symbolism, they could do so on the same site.

I would use this website to replace reading the beginning of Bowers text, because I was very frustrated while reading the many art references in the Magic(al) Realism: The New Critical Idiom without being able to see what she was actually talking about. The three galleries for the magic realism section of the website is a visual aid I would use for the students to compare and contrast the art to the magical realist writing we've read. I would also ask the students to compare and contrast the artists between the three galleries, so they could draw inferences as a class based on what they know about the socio-political atmosphere each piece of art came from. Ideally, I could collaborate with the Art and History departments in the school to make a (powerpoint) presentation about the different effects history had on the evolution of the magical realist art form before we read the Bowers text.

"Story Map" (2011) Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/story-30008.html

Readability Estimate: designed for K-12 students

"Read.Write.Think" is a website sponsored by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. There is a multitude of assets for English teachers and their students to help them share reading comprehension and writing strategies. In particular, the interactive "Story Map" is a handy tool for all students to consider the character, setting, conflict and resolution development throughout a story. There are also guiding questions to help students think about what they should be putting in each text box of the graphic organizer. The interactive nature of the organizer is engaging for a student of any ability level, and they can even print out their work after they're done; this makes it easier to compare their notes to the other readings they've done throughout the unit and share with the class in discussion.

While reading Anansi Boys, Heartbreak Soup, and any other short stories infused with magical realism, I would ask the students to complete this interactive story map to help monitor their comprehension. As I stated earlier, the students would find this graphic organizer a helpful tool to remember observations they've made about the magical realism texts we've read. I would also ask them to make cross-genre comparisons to see if the structure of a magical realist text resembles any other text they've read before; although it is dependent on how much we've studied in the curriculum so far and their prior knowledge from past English courses, I would hope they recognize that it is similar to surrealism, fantasy, and science fiction. Most importantly, I want the students to be able to confidently discern when a text, film, piece of art or animation is inspired by the principles of magical realism.

Reading Next Activity

1.) Biancarosa and Snow's ideas and principles in Reading Next reminded me of the International Reading Association's (IRA) Adolescent Literacy: A Position Statement the most; also, the heavy focus on comprehension shared a clear connection with Gunning's Chapter 8: "Comprehension: Text Structures and Teaching Procedures" and even McKenna's Chapter 3: "Getting to Know Your Students, Your Materials, & Your Teaching". Both the IRA's position statement and Reading Next make it quite clear that the country's excessive high school dropout rates are tied to the ignored literary difficulties faced by the growing number of secondary students. In order to decrease these excessive rates, both texts are favorable of an approach that is committed to making adolescents ready for their future as literate (young) adults; the IRA suggests that "adolescents preparing for the 21st century deserve new forms of collaboration among educators. Community colleges, technical schools, and universities can offer input and assistance" and Reading Next notes that "the goal in improving adolescent literacy should...[be] to envision what improvements will be necessary to prepare tomorrow's youth for the challenges they will face twenty and thirty years from now." In both Gunning and McKenna's chapters 8 and 3, respectively, there are differentiated instruction strategies that align with the elements found in Reading Next. All relevant to settings beyond school, Gunning's chapter 8 is full of instructional tips to help students recognize expository texts, engage in text discussions, and comprehensive reading strategies students can use both independently and dependently. McKenna's chapter 3 asserts the importance of summative and formative assessments in order to improve the literacy of students, also an element found in the reform proposed by Reading Next. Finding the readability of course texts and the reading ability of the students is necessary to address the sixth element in Reading Next, which is finding diverse texts with varying difficulty levels and topics.

2.) Text-based collaborative learning will be used by having regular class discussions about the various texts I would want the students to read. Screenplays, novels, short story anthologies, plays, graphic novels, journal articles, among other texts, will be discussed. Inquiry and multi-genre projects are two more ways to assess how students comprehend a text and work in groups. Performing selected scenes from plays is another way students can work and learn together. Diverse texts will be measured according to the different readability estimating tools we have encountered throughout the course, including Raygor and Lexile. By surveying the students at the beginning of the year about what topics interest them and keeping an open dialogue about what they enjoy, I can use the information to help make course readings fun and exciting. Intensive writing in my classroom will prepare students for the real world. Because there are so many freelance writing jobs, students should be writing well enough to write about the topics that interest them and make a living from it if they wanted to. It would be interesting to work on developing an English/Language Arts class newspaper that could be circulated around the community, not just the school. This would create the opportunity for valuable feedback for the students from local film/book/theater critics, community members and other educators. I can't wait to find more ways to incorporate these elements into my teaching when I finally get a classroom!

Blog #7: Two Websites for Use (Theater)

According to the National Standards for Theatre Education, grades 9-12, students are expected to demonstrate "acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in improvisations and informal or formal productions". The websites below are resources for students to find monologue material for class workshops, auditions, and the like.

1) Monologue Archive is a solid collection of comedic, dramatic and classical monologues for men and women. Though the monologues for men outnumber those for women, this website would expose students to a number of unfamiliar playwrights. The hope is that student will go to a library, or most likely online, to find more works by the playwrights included on the website. When you click on a monologue, not only is there the text of the monologue piece, but related links that take you to bibliographies, biographies, and some collections of the writer's work, if in the public domain. Because most auditions will ask an actor for a classical AND a contemporary monologue, it is necessary that students work on developing characters from a different time period. Students are most familiar with Shakespeare's verse, but this website includes pieces by Euripides, Christopher Marlowe, Sophocles and many more. Decent monologues can be extraordinarily hard to find, but this website is a helpful start to any actor in search pieces to add to their monologue portfolio.

2.) I also found a series of videos on www.ehow.com titled "How to Find a Monologue for Auditions". The thirteen video hosted by Dr. Charles Grimes. Although I am not a fan of how Grimes monotonously and somewhat uncomfortably presents his information, these videos are short and there are valuable tips for every step of the audition process. If Grimes' tedious speech patterns are too much for the viewer, there are actually transcripts of each video below the comments section. In the video below, Grimes acknowledges that (casting) directors tire of hearing the same popular monologues over and over, then proceeds to drop the names of playwrights I've never even heard of! Becoming worldly theater students would help them to impress theater directors in higher education, professional theaters and beyond. Other video titles in the series include "How to Relieve Stress Before a Monologue Audition" and "How to Be Creative in a Monologue", which are topics that should be addressed as early as possible when students are learning about the audition process and preparatory methods for a role. This site will help students cast a wider net when searching for perfect monologues for themselves and hopefully find plays that they would like the school's drama club to produce one day.

Good Authors for Monologues -- powered by ehow

Blog #6: Video meets poetry

Question: Is it possible to combine poetry and film to extend students' comprehension of poems?

Answer: Unbeknownst to me, there is actually an extensive collection of beautiful poetry films, or video poetry, that exists. Poets, such as former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, pair the readings of their works with short animations, which makes for a surprisingly intriguing form of entertainment. One poem by Collins in particular, "Hunger", was used by FAD to create a very creepy video that I've watched at least seven times. Without ever having read the poem before watching the video, the images helped me understand that the poem was about loneliness and the feelings of delusion that come with success. This is the type of literary comprehension aid students should be exposed to in the classroom.

This new multimedia discovery has made me realize that having a B.A. in Film and Media Studies will definitely come in handy while teaching in a secondary English classroom. Three years ago, I actually made a short film based on a poem written by a close friend of mine. My professor didn't tell us we had to make a short film based on a poem; however, writing action based on text already rich with imagery inspired me. I'm positive that bringing a multimedia assessment to stimulate a poetry unit would be welcome and enlightening, considering I have a list of past instructors who have made it quite boring.

Other than my personal experience with pairing poetry and film, I was doubtful I would find a scholarly model I could base this unit on. Luckily, a group of University of Cambridge postgraduate students seeking certification in Secondary English and Drama participated in a workshop where they used "camcorders as notebooks for the study of poetry". When Gabrielle Cliff Hodges, author of the journal article documenting this teaching session, found that this activity was very rewarding in the scheme of English and Media studies. Hodges and I both agree that "the requirement to use the camcorder as a notebook relieves the pressure of making a complete film but still offers valuable insights into areas of knowledge and understanding in media education." Using a camcorder to turn the text into "moving images" with a group of peers is a much more exciting task than sitting at a desk dissecting a poem for an entire class period. The most fun part of using this in my classroom would be seeing the different films that are born out of a single piece of text.

The teachers in training that took part in the workshop were satisfied with their collaborative experiences, and found a multitude of reasons why using a camcorder is rewarding when studying poetry. In my opinion, the most poignant reflection was by Deborah, who stated "filming draws attention to the way in which the poem may have relevance in the modern world. Using images from daily life encourages you to make the connection between the poem and modern concerns." The poem used in the workshop was Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott", which is almost 200 years old and a piece most of them had encountered before. However, the students were able to use images from the modern world to help them understand the poet's diction, symbolism and narrative techniques in a refreshing way. Exploring Whitman and Dickinson with media integration would equip students with tools attack texts they would otherwise be intimidated by.

Hodges, G.C. (2005) The poem, the reader and the camera: Using camcorders as notebooks for the study of poetry. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 4(1), 70-80.

Blog #5: Two websites for student use (English)

1) This site is called "Lightning Bug" and is an ideal resource for writers in secondary school, because it not only helps you how to write but to help you discover what kind of writer you are. The website's creator, Martin Jorgensen, emphasizes that the kind of writer you are is emphasized by your interests and strengths. For example, an 'active' writer may prefer writing about sports that put them at the center of the action, or dramas where writing it in (screen)play form is easier for them to plot out the action of a story. Jorgensen is also a big fan of mind maps, which is an effective way for students to flesh out their story and character development. There are also links to the blogs of published authors, which gives insight into the lives of full-time writers and where they draw their inspiration from. The students would also enjoy the nice list of writing exercises, which would serve as inspiration for writing assignments in class. A great group activity would be to write a story in a series of text messages, which is something they are familiar with, but may not recognize that they tell stories on their phones almost every day.

2) This site is called "Whichbook", which is perfect for students to independently choose what book to read next. They could use this when they need to choose a book for a book report, or for when they want to read a book during their free time. On the homepage of the website, there are 12 sliders which indicate different factors that readers take into account when choosing a book to read. You can choose if you want a book that is "Larger than life" or "Down to earth", "Easy" or "Demanding", "Funny" or "Serious. You could also search books by author and look at suggestions by other members of the website. Each book also has parallels, or suggested reading, which would help students extend their reading into a particular genre. For example, for my Annotated Bibliography, I am reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman; according to Whichbook, I should also read Dreamsongs by George R. R. Martin. This is appropriate, because I really enjoy Martin's Game of Thrones series. Ideally, the students will also enjoy Anansi Boys and read more works in the fantasy vein for their personal enjoyment.

Blog Post #4: Why Should I Care?

Question: What is the importance of writing poetry in contemporary society?

Answer: In order to convince students to take a poetry unit seriously, I think it's only fair to discuss why it matters. When I was in high school, I never understood why we had to spend an entire class period dissecting a piece of poetry that was less than 20 words long. The one that comes to mind is by William Carlos Williams called "The Red Wheelbarrow":

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

Talking about such a little poem for so long frustrated me. How many things did my teacher expect us to find? Why would someone write a poem about a wheelbarrow? Was it this easy to become a famous poet? Apparently, the 14-year old version of myself was not alone. Adrienne Rich, in her discussion on the importance of poetry, acknowledges the more popular critiques made of poetry: "it's not a mass-market "product"...it's too "difficult" for the average mind; it's too elite, but the wealthy don't bid for it at Sotheby's; it is, in short, redundant. This might be called the free-market critique of poetry." So, even rich adults don't see the significance of poetry. My average mind definitely didn't understand the importance of those words, and my classmates tried their best to tell our teacher what she wanted to hear. Then we discussed the reality of the poem, how Williams was writing what he saw and what the image meant to him. That became my definition of poetry: life in words that are short but sweet.

In the same article, Rich goes on to say that "critical discourse about poetry has said little about the daily conditions of our material existence, past and present: how they imprint the life of the feelings, of involuntary human responses - how we glimpse a blur of smoke in the air, look at a pair of shoes in a shop window, or a group of men on a street-corner, how we hear rain on the roof or music on the radio upstairs, how we meet or avoid the eyes of a neighbour or a stranger. That pressure bends our angle of vision whether we recognise it or not." Much like a photographer can make a glass of water look beautiful, or a man can put a urinal in the middle of an exhibit and transform it into an art piece, poets have managed to provide us with written snapshots of the human experience. With that understanding in mind, it makes it much easier to poems at face value.

Dave Gessner's blog was quoted in the New York times article titled "Does poetry matter?", and sheds some serious light on why writing poetry today has taken on a very universal quality. His wife makes the comment that "We are all poets now", which would be depressing for a writer seeking fame and fortune through their words in such a competitive pool. Despite this uneasy thought, Gessner makes the brilliant statement that I want every one of my student's to take with them from my creative writing unit: "If it doesn’t really matter, if it truly isn’t possible to be heard on a large stage, why not just focus all your energy on making the thing itself as great as you possibly can? You can’t please the masters anyway, no matter how hard you try, so why even try to please them? And since your efforts to win favor by sounding like someone else are bound to fail, why not sound exactly like yourself?" Individuality is something young artists can easily lose sight of; it is my responsibility to introduce as many creative outlets as possible. And even though the reputation of poetry is less than outstanding in most minds right now, a student's 16 words on a page can become worth more someday than a best-selling novel.

Below is a link to Roger Ebert's blog from The Chicago Sun-Times where he put together multimedia inspired by "The Red Wheelbarrow":

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/poetry/so-much-depends-upon-a-red-whe-1.html

Blog #3: Websites for Student Use #2 (Theater)

1) This site is called "The Tongue Twister Database" and is wonderful because vocal exercises are a necessity in any theater classroom as warm ups, but can be difficult to find. Independently, the students can use the website to choose tongue twisters that will help them master using "the tip of the tongue, the lips, and the teeth". Tongue twisters are a great way to work on the annunciation for students that are not native English speakers and students that may be in speech therapy. I think the best way to use this in a class would be to pick one at the beginning of the week (i.e. "A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.") and have the students practice it at home. We will use this same tongue twister for a whole week so that the students have time to learn it and can eventually store it in a mental catalog of tongue twisters to use when independently working on their diction.

2) This site is called "Charles and Mary Lamb Tales from Shakespeare" and would work very well for middle school Theater and English classrooms. I love that the plays of Shakespeare of been condensed into narratives that would take a class no more than a class period to read as a group. Most students are not introduced to Shakespeare until high school, but the majority of his plays have significant, universal themes (i.e. "ambition" in MACBETH and "man vs. society" in ROMEO AND JULIET) that should be discussed in middle school classrooms. If I wanted the students to perform select scenes from THE TEMPEST, we would read the tale from the website first so that the most important themes and symbols are understood. This website would be just as effective as the "No Fear Shakespeare" series as a companion piece to Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies.

There is also a link to the Librivox recordings of each tale for students that would prefer to be read to; this is an excellent alternative for special needs students. Because the Lambs' writing blends modern English with Shakespeare's language, it can be easier for a young reader to hear it read to them; this goes along well with the idea that teachers modeling how something should be read aids student reading comprehension.

Inquiry Project Update

The aim of my inquiry project will be to find effective methods for poetry writing instruction, since it is the form of creative writing I am least familiar with. Kelly's goal is to teach students how to write objective critiques of different forms of art (theatre, painting, etc.). Josh's mission is to find effective management and motivational writing practices in a secondary English classroom.

Blog #2: Poets Need Exercise, Too!

Question: What poetry exercises will students enjoy and actually help them develop their writing skills?

Answer: "Entering the Image" is one exercise that is a great way to stimulate the imagination of high school students. Because poetry heavily relies on the use of imagery and symbolism, it would make the most sense to give the students paintings, photographs and drawings to inspire their writing. By looking at a variety of art, students could write a poem about the action of a certain image. They could also pick more than one image and write a poem about how those two images could be related. For example, if there is a picture of a bicycle and a drawing of a woman bathing, a student could make a connection and write about how the woman is taking a bath after a long, scenic bike ride. Another exercise using images is writing a poem from the perspective of the image's artist or photographer.

Writing poems from first, second and third points of view can help students understand how different one event or character could be approached. I also feel that writing poems using the "Entering the Image" exercise, will help students turn these poems into short stories. This would be an exercise used after we have compared the structures and styles of different poets; students could adapt the structures of their poems accordingly, or come up with something completely original. Personally, music gives me just as much imagery when I am looking for inspiration, so age appropriate songs could be played for the class. The structure of a song is very similar to that of poetry, so students could also be inspired by the lyrics and rhythm of the song writer.

http://catherineowen.suite101.com/writing-exercises-that-teenagers-will-enjoy-a77944

Annotated Bibliography Prospectus

I have chosen these trade books for a 11th grade English Class. The unit's theme is magic realism found in contemporary literature. Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys is a 2006 YALSA ALEX award winning novel. The collection of magical-realist comics by Gilbert Hernandez, Heartbreak Soup: Love and Rockets, is a cult classic that follows the inhabitants of a fictional, Mexican town. Bowers' Magic(al) Realism is a text to help the students understand the history and elements of magic realism. Through this variety of texts, students will be able to identify magical realism in literature, as well as film & media.

Gaiman, N. (2006). Anansi Boys. New York: Harper Collins

Bowers, M.A. (2004). Magic(al) Realism (The New Critical Idiom). New York: Routledge

Hernandez, G. (2007). Heartbreak Soup: Love and Rockets. Seattle: Fantagraphic Books

Blog #1: Two websites for student use (English)

This site is a great way for students to use photographs in their creative writing. Using the public domain stock of photographs available on flickr.com, students are able to create comic strips with a series of photos and text bubbles. For example, if a student wanted to make a comic strip about dinosaurs, they would have to search 'dinosaur' in the upper left corner and then click and drag a result they like into the center of the page. It's an innovative way for students to integrate someone else's pictures and their own words to make a story. I would use this in the classroom as an independent brainstorming technique for creative writing projects; using pictures is an effective, visual way to storyboard the sequence of a short story. Before letting the students use the application on their own, I would have the class help me create a story using pictures on a whiteboard.

This site is perfect for building vocabulary and philanthropy at the same time! As a class, playing Free Rice is always fun and enriching. Using the whiteboard again, students could work in groups and have buzzers; when they know the definition of a word, they could buzz in and earn points toward class participation. Independently, students could play free rice during class and write down any words they had a hard time defining. As Gunning suggests, the students could use those words in a skit to help apply those words in a personal context. The great thing about Free Rice is that when you define a word incorrectly, they ask you to define the word again later on to help reinforce the meaning.