Love isn't love if you are not willing to sacrifice for it. In the film "Titanic," not only was Jack willing to give Rose his love, he gave everything he had. Below, Graciela captures Jack's spirit in her definition paragraph for "sacrifice."
Jay's Movie Definition Dictionary
12/11/2016
No Backing Down: The Definition of Courage - by Alondra Burciaga - English 008
Alondra was asked to expand on her definition of "courage" by drawing on an example from a film she has seen. I chose "Rocky." She chose "Dauntless." The results were the same. Courageous people move forward while everyone else runs away.
06/08/2016
The Definition of Hope - by Maria Aguilera - English 59
At this point of the semester, many of my students have given up hope in my classes. Not Maria. In fact, she defines the idea of hope in this post. Here, Maria provides an excerpt from her definition essay. She uses a scene from “90 Minutes in Heaven” to illustrate her point.
06/01/2016
Definition of True Love - by Paola Wong - English 59
Do you know what true love is? Would you recognize it if you saw it? Here Paola defines "true love" through the use of a scene from one of her favorite movies.
04/01/2016
Defiant to the Bitter End
This week in English 009 we are creating a website I call “Jay’s Movie Definition Dictionary.” We’re learning to define complex in our own words, using new strategies of negation, enumeration, analogy. What’s this have to do with movies? As a special twist, were developing illustrative examples drawn from our favorite films. On the website, students arrange and format their extended definitions and then embed their video clips. You can look forward to reading about “True Love” in 50 First Dates and “Sacrifice” in The Hunger Games among many others. Later, I hope to see my students use the same skills they use here in their research papers. Below, I’m posting excerpts of models I use in class.
08/18/2015
Life at Top Speed
Later in the semester, I expect my students to define complex terms and ideas in a language their readers can access and understand. To help them develop their skills, I’ve created an activity where students extend their definitions with scenes from their favorite movies. We call it Jay’s Movie Dictionary. They explain true love in “The Notebook.” They clarify the meaning of sacrifice with the last scene from “The Titanic.” Here is my discussion on the concept of cool.
When Steve McQueen arrived on the Hollywood scene, he didn’t really have the skills, the know-how, or the connections that could really set him apart from thousands of other aspiring, good-looking actors. People didn’t even like him. They thought he was a punk. The man had no literary or artistic background, but what he had was the burning desire to defy anyone and everyone who tried to bring him down. That’s what you see in every movie.
07/26/2015
Courage - Inside and Outside the Ring - In Rocky I
Currently, my students are working on their definition essays. They are to select terms or ideas to define in their own words, but instead of using readings, personal experience, and/or real-life observations, they are working together to select the best film scenes from their favorite movies to illustrate their points. Here is mine: "Courage" in Rocky.
03/02/2015
Fear in "No Country for Old Men"
This week in my English classes we are developing definition essays. We’re learning to define ideas on our own terms . But instead of using our own knowledge or experience to support our definitions, we are choosing scenes from our favorite movies to illustrate meaning. Students are using Rocky to demonstrate “courage.” They are choosing Jack from The Titanic to show “sacrifice.” Here, I’ve chosen to define “fear” with a scene from No Country for Old Men.
Categories
- Back to the Future (12)
- Book out of your Past (8)
- Butterfly Effect (5)
- Faces in the Crowd (40)
- Film History (19)
- Girl, Interrupted (8)
- Jay's Movie Definition Dictionary (9)
- Mental Health Encyclopedia (24)
- Music to Inspire the Imagination (32)
- Student Essays (92)
- Stuff We've Been Reading (59)
- Tattoo You (21)
- Tortilla MVP (8)
- Tortured Artists (9)
- Tuff-Stuff Essays (12)
- Visual Analysis (12)
Special Mental Health Issue - Summer 2015
Celebrity Diagnosis
Blogs We're Following:
- Perfectly Imperfect - from Lemec Torres - English 110
In English 009, Lemec explored the stigma of mental illness in a class research paper. In English 110, she developed a community profile for a unique subject living in nearby Slab City. You will see a little bit of everything here in her Perfectly Imperfect blog - Deep EcoMatter - Cindy Huguez - English 009
It's been three days since the accident and I still can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I can hear the sound of the train approaching us, getting closer and louder, the wheels scraping on the metal train tracks, the pessimistic look of despair on their faces, and worst of all, the piercing scream that still haunts my ears - The Realist - Juana Bustos - English 009
My mother, the only parent I know, is both a mom and a dad to me. Both of my parents would work, but even then my father would demand for my mothers paychecks. He'd use that money to get totally wasted, and it went on for a while like this.... - Brandy's World - Brandy Moya - English 008
In the book “Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility” the most valuable part is when Chuy offered a ride to Yoli on his motorcycle through many places of the San Diego city. no. Yoli thought she hadn’t heard him right...
- Sonia's - Sonia Sanchez - English 009
On November, 1993 both my father and brother started the Richard McGee Correctional Basic Correctional Academy.... - English with Jay - Edna Romo - English 110
For America in the novel The Tortilla Curtain, Being married to Candido is like carrying a backpack full of bricks all day long....
- COEXIST - Alejandra M. Lopez - English 009
My mother had struggled her whole life to make us happy. Being a single mother of two with two jobs was almost impossible yet it was her daily routine.... - Lesly's World - Lesly Tirado - English 008
My father's addiction has had significant effects in my life. My father's alcohol abuse has made me realize what I want in my life and what I don’t want.... - Queen K - Karissa Gomez - English 009
After the bell had rung, I quickly got to my seat, of course being tardy was probably a bad first impression because as soon as I picked a desk to sit at my teacher was glaring at me. He then began to yell at me saying how it was an essential to be on time to his class. This was my first encounter with my economics teacher and I already knew it was going to be a long year. Little did I know that Jack had a specific purpose in my life and although he was scary to me at first, he soon became my strongest adult in my life. As the years went by, I got to know Mr. Little and we became the greatest of friends. Once Jack Little passed away, I had a different perspective on the little amount of time we all have to live... - Lorena's Blog - Lorena Diaz, English 009
After living three years in this country, it was important for me to realize that I needed to go to school to learn English. I was feeling like I was illiterate and deaf. When my husband was in work I was afraid to answer the phone, or afraid to go outside. I remember the day when I had my first daughter, I was in pain in the hospital and my new born daughter was crying; the hospital was cold, with a pale color on the walls, and its smell was like alcohol. There were nurses walking on the long and bright hallway. You can hear the nurses talking morning and night. I couldn’t express myself and talk for my daughter that was crying...
In this first section of Friends of the Earth,
students take the time to introduce themselves through their reading.
Instead of the brief mention of their hobbies and pets, they reflect on
a memorable literary experience. You might not judge a book by its cover, but here we learn
what is often hidden inside of others.