Done!

Frogger Bloggers--
You are done with required blogging.  Instead, spend your time on your culminating essay.  The essay is in place of this week's blogs and an end-of-unit assessment.  Remember that it is one of three writing grades for marking period 3 and will really help if you give a stellar effort.  I have samples, if you need to see one.
Flying out over the pond,
Queen Bee

(5/3) Optional Blog

Chapter(s) #11-14

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• Create an Animoto video (at animoto.com) that reflects the realizations and life changes that Lily encounters in the last few chapters of the book.
• Include pictures, text, and a relevant song.
• This will count as an extra blog if you wish to complete it.  

NOTE: Paste the url address of your Animoto video on the comment page.

When It's All Over

(3/27) Sitting Vigil

Prompt:
After May commits suicide, August announces that they'll be sitting vigil.


Response Requirement:
-Discuss how different cultures and religions observe rituals regarding death and burial. Why are they important?
-What do they do to the beehives? Why do they do this?

Class Thursday "And the Oscar Goes To..."

Watch each of the Animoto videos below.  

• Listen to the music.  
• Read the message.  
• Ask yourself the rhetorical questions.  
• Which one moves you the most?  
• Which is the most inspiring?

Movie #1
Movie #2
Movie #3
Movie #4
Movie #5
Movie #6

You have one blue chip and one white chip to cast your vote.  Follow the directions on your Beehive worksheet.
  

(3/27) Oh, Susanna!

Chapter(s) #10

Prompt:
Stephen Foster wrote the original lyrics in 1847.
I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee
I'm going to Louisiana,
My true love for to see

It rained all night
The day I left
The weather it was dry
The sun so hot,
I froze to death
Susanna, don't you cry

Oh, Susanna,
Oh don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee

I had a dream the other night
When everything was still
I thought I saw Susanna
A-coming down the hill

The buckwheat cake
Was in her mouth
The tear was
In her eye
Says I, I'm coming from the south
Susanna, don't you cry

Oh, Susanna,
Oh don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee

I came from Salem City
with my washpan on my knee
I'm going to California,
the gold dust for to see.
It rained all night the day I left,
the weather it was dry
The sun so hot I froze to death,
Oh, brothers don't you cry.
Oh, Susannah, Oh, don't you cry for me
I'm going to California with my washpan on my knee.
I soon shall be in Frisco
and there I'll look around.
And when I see the gold lumps there,
I'll pick them off the ground.
I'll scrape the mountains clean, my boys,
I'll drain the rivers dry.
A pocketful of rocks bring home,
So, brothers don't you cry.

Response Required: Cover all parts.

• Choose two stanzas  (poetry/musical paragraphs) to rewrite about BEES.  Pick a character.  Pick two.  Whatever you do, stick with the rhythm and flow of the song's original lyrics.  You can also listen to the song online in case you don't know it.   (When you hear it, you'll smack yourself because you do actually know it.)

(3/27) MANDATORY Vocabulary

Compose a short story (1-2 paragraphs) using 14 of your vocabulary words.  You may use first person or third person, whichever suits your story and purpose.

You must choose one story line:

1.     Explain what T. Ray has been doing since Lily left

2.     Explain Zach’s background, childhood, or life goals.

3.     Describe a childhood experience that May, June, August, and April shared.

presumptuous, imbecile, carouse, jagged, smirk, brazen, beseeching, pious, blaspheme, iridescent, consternation, corrugated, flounce, meander, naïve, bona fide, bristle, revelation, righteous, eclectic, hoax, outlandish, deliverance, solace, consolation, incessantly, fidget, scraggly, magnitude, cunning

(3/27) Acrostics

Chapter(s) #8

Prompt:
In Chapter 8, Lily shares an acrostic that she wrote for T.Ray:
D- Despicable
A- Angry
D- Dud of a father
D- Disappointment
Y- Yoke around my neck


Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• Create an acrostic for two different characters.  Choose any that inspire you, no matter how large their role in the book is. 

(3/27) My Name is Month!

Prompt:
On page 137, Lily decides if she could have picked a month to be named for, she'd have selected October and gives her reasons.


Response Requirement:

• If you could pick a month to be named after, what would you choose and why? How would you spend your special month?

This must be a strong example of persuasive writing. It does not have to be a five-paragraph essay per say, but it must use the good habits of persuasive writing--hook, transitions, reasons backed up by examples, anecdotes, and topic sentences for each paragraph.

(3/27) Memorable Quotes

Chapter(s) #

Prompt:
I personally love the quote found on page 170: Every human being on the face of the earth has a steel plate in his head, but if you lie down now and then and get as still as you can, it will slide open like elevator doors, letting in all the secret thoughts that have been standing around so patiently, pushing the button for a ride to the top.  The real troubles in life happen when those hidden doors stay closed for too long."

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• Find a quote you love.  Type it for us to see.
• Explain why it helps you make text-to-text or text-to-self connections.

(3/27) Ch. 9 Intro

Chapter(s) #9

Prompt:
"The whole fabric of honey bee society depends on communication--on an innate ability to send and receive messages, to encode and decode information." --The Honey Bee

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• Apply the quote to the events of chapter nine.

(3/27) Freedom Writers

Prompt:
Let's admit it... most of us love Freedom Writers. Lucky for us, it applies to most of our reading. =)


Response Requirement:

• In what ways are Bees and Freedom Writers similar?

(3/27) 911? Hello, it's Lily.

Prompt:
Lily made an important call in chapter 8.  It wasn't to 911, but if it was, what would she be calling about?


Response Requirement:
Think a little more deeply (and not just about health) and imagine what Lily would say to a 911 operator if she needed help with something in her life.

• What would she say?
• If you were on the other end of the line, what would you do to help her? 
  

(3.27) Ch. 8 intro

Prompt:
Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require its social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die. The Queen Must Die

Your Required Response Instructions:

• As we move into Chapter 8, make a prediction about the events to come.
• In what ways does this apply to the novel already?

(3/27) L is for Lily

Prompt:
On page 105, May made  an "L" pancake for Lily. June throws it in the trash.


Response Requirement:

• Besides "Lily," pick an "L" word that applies to Lily. Explain (and use a quote) to show the word's importance.
• Pick one more character and come up with a word that describes them using the first letter of their name.  Explain the word's importance. 

(3/27) Story-telling

Prompt:
One thing we can understand now about August is that she loves stories.


Response Requirement:

• Find a quote that supports the idea that August loves stories.
• What does she mean? Why use that story?

(3/27) Dissect a Song-- You pick!

Prompt:
As we all listen closely to the songs we listen to, it may become apparent that the song perfectly fits with what we read.


Response Requirement:

• Pick out a song that reminds you of Bees. Provide us with a title, artist, and at least some of the lyrics.
• Dissect the song and its meaning. Does the song relate directly to a character? a greater message? a theme?
  

(3/27) The Supremes

Prompt:
The Supremes song that makes Lily think "There's nothing like a song about lost love to remind you how everything precious can slip from the hinges where you've hung it so careful" (50) is called "Where Did Our Love Go". The lyrics to "Where Did Our Love Go?" are:

Baby, baby
Baby don't leave me
Ooh, please don't leave me
All by myself

I've got this yearning, burning
Yearning feelin' inside me
Ooh, deep inside me
And it hurts so bad

You came into my heart
So tenderly
With a burning love
That stings like a bee

Now that I surrender
So helplessly
You now wanna leave
Ooh, you wanna leave me

Ooh, baby, baby
Where did our love go?
Ooh, don't you want me
Don't you want me no more

Ooh, baby
Baby, baby
Where did our love go
And all your promisses
Of a love forever more

I've got this yearning, burning
Yearning feelin' inside me
Ooh, deep inside me
And it hurts so bad

Before you won my heart
You were a perfect guy
But now that you got me
You wanna leave me behind
Baby, baby, ooh baby

Baby, baby don't leave me
Ooh, please don't leave me
All by myself

Ooh, baby, baby
Where did our love go?
(http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Where-Did-Our-Love-Go-lyrics-The-Supremes/0D470E3B06AB9FF84825693B00112B40)

Response Requirement:

• In what ways does this song relate to the novel thus far? Make a text-to-lyric connection.

(3/20) Animoto!

Chapter(s) #
Segregation is Still a Chasm to Cross articles


Prompt:
Summarize your article (or group's articles using your notes) using keywords and photographs found online.

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• Using the article you were given in class, create a 30 second, free Animoto video.  You'll need to set up a free account.  Check mine out for a reminder of what you can do: Civil Rights.  Here's the one you saw in class Tuesday: Constitutional Rights.  You'll have to post your link to your own video in the comment section.
• Your paragraph response should reflect on all the articles you learned about today.  Make a text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connection here.  

"Prom Night in Mississippi" Trailer

(3/20) The Power of Nonviolence

Chapter(s) # from textbook

Prompt:
John Lewis' "The Power of Nonviolence" catalogs the abuse that civil rights activists and participants endured during restaurant sit-ins.

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• What did abuse of the righteous look like?
• What steps were taken to ensure that the sit-in was well-organized?
• What was the purpose of the sit-in?
• How did local and national governments react?
• Where did the ideas of nonviolence originate?
• Make text-to-text connections to Rosaleen's experiences in the book.

(3/20) Food

Prompt:
Kidd describes August Boatwright with images of food and candy.

Response Requirement:

• What kinds of food and candy are used to describe August?
• Describe someone you know using food.

(3/20) Ch. 5 Introduction

Prompt:
Let's imagine for a moment that we are tiny enough to follow a bee into a hive. Usually the first thing we would have to get used to is the darkness..." Exploring the World of Social Insects


Your Required Response Instructions: (use textual evidence)

• In what ways is this introductory quote relevant to the events of Chapter 5?

(3/20) The Calendar Sisters

Prompt:
Besides a home the color of Pepto-Bismal, Lily and Rosaleen have no idea what to expect when they meet August, May, and June Boatwright.

Your Required Response Instructions: (use textual evidence)

• What do you think of the new characters? What are they like?
• Can you compare any of them to characters in other books? Which character is your favorite? Least favorite?

(3/20) The Bees

Prompt:
Bees have a secret life we don't know anything about.- August

Honey making, bees, and bee keeping are central to the novel.






Your Required Response Instructions: (use textual evidence)

• In what ways are the characters like the bees mentioned in the quote above?

(3/20) Bee Yard Etiquette

Prompt:
August teaches Lily about "bee yard etiquette."

 

 

Response Requirement:

• How does she compare the world to bees?  What IS bee yard etiquette?
• In what ways has "bee yard etiquette" impacted the characters in the novel so far? 

 

(3/20) The Likenesss of

Chapter(s) #
4 & 5


Prompt:
Sue Monk Kidd introduces the reader to August, May, June, and even April by building life into them.  Review your notes about characterization and compile a list of characteristics that describe any of the ladies.

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.
Instead of typing a response, you are to create a collage or drawing of one of the sisters (or of all of them on one sheet if you so desire).  This will be displayed in the room, so make sure to do an excellent job.  This will be turned in at any point this week or put up on the wall Monday, March 22.

(3/20) MANDATORY

Prompt:
You are to create a special attractions entry for the AAA Tiburon, SC tourist guide. Provide strong descriptions to lure tourists to visit the Boatwright Beekeeping Estate.

 

Sample entry for Boone Hall Plantation and Garden in Charleston, SC:A ½-mi drive through a live oak alley draped in Spanish moss introduces you to the still-operating plantation, the oldest of its kind in the country. Tour the 1935 mansion, the butterfly pavilion, the heirloom rose garden, and nine antebellum-era brick slave cabins. Stroll along the winding river, tackle the fields to pick your own strawberries and more, or dine in Serena's Kitchen, the on-site restaurant that serves Southern fare. North and South, Queen, and Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook were filmed here. 11 mi east of Charleston. (http://www.boonehallplantation.com/home.htm)

 

Your Required Response Instructions:
Using Chapters 4 & 5, write a paragraph inviting tourists to visit August, May, and June's Beekeeping Estate in Tiburon, SC.
Remember that their home is charming and welcoming--so include the necessary details (of which Sue Monk Kidd gives you PLENTLY!).

 

• What kinds of things will visitors see?
• What can you hear?
• What kinds of foods will visitors eat?
• What activities can visitors do?
• What are some rare sights?
• Who will host your visit?

(3/20) The Title

Prompt:
Although The Secret Life of Bees sounds like a strange title for a book about a girl and the women she lives with, it's actually "spot on" for the story.


Response Requirement:

In what ways is the title a greater theme and symbol of the novel?

(3/20) Music and Lyrics

Prompt:
Tracy Chapman's famous song, "Fast Car":

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe well make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We wont have to drive too far
Just cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old mans got a problem
He live with the bottle thats the way it is
He says his bodys too old for working
I say his bodys too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebodys got to take care of him
So I quit school and thats what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And we go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still aint got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
Youll find work and Ill get promoted
Well move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs
You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
Id always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I aint going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way
(http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/tracy+chapman/fast+car_20140283.html)
You can go head and listen to it online too!

Response Requirement:\

Make a text-to-lyric connection between Bees and Fast Car. Copy and paste the lyrics you are referencing.

(3/20) Identity

Prompt:
Lily may have a last name (Owens), but it doesn't give her much of an identity. She may also have a family, but it doesn't give her much either.


Response Requirement:

Make a text-to-text connection with Francis Joseph Cassavant (of Heroes).

(3/20) Writing

Prompt:
Lily seems to be a bit of a loner, so it comes as no surprise to the reader that she loves reading and writing. She doesn't need anyone else and can be alone for those activities.


Response Requirement:

-What is the importance of reading and writing thus far in the novel?
-What is the power of reading and writing (as related to the main characters)?

(3/6) Introductory Quote

Prompt:
The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness. Man and Insect (Ch. 1)


Response Requirement:
--In what ways is this quote relevant to the first chapter? Analyze it metaphorically and include details from the text to support your analysis.

(3/13) The T. Ray Pad

Prompt:
Lily refuses to call her father "Daddy."


Response Requirement: (Use a quote)

* What sorts of things does he do or say that explain her reasoning?
* What are your thoughts on him as a person, a husband, or a father?

(3/13) The Rosaleen Pad

Prompt:
Lily's "stand in mother" is Rosaleen. It means "little rose." Irish history used it to describe the suffering hearts of Irish women.


Response Requirement: (Use a quote)

* In what ways does the information about Rosaleen's name describe Rosaleen well?
* What are your thoughts on Rosaleen?

(3/13) The Lily Pad

Prompt:
Lily Melissa Owens is a lonely 14-year-old trapped in Sylvan, SC with a father she despises, few (if any) friends, and a "stand in" mother.


Response Requirement: (Cite the book's words)

* How has Lily's family situation impacted her personality?
* What are your thoughts about her?

(3/13) True Life: I Knelt on Grits

Prompt:
In Chapter 1, T. Ray punishes Lily by making her kneel on the Martha Whites for an hour.


Response Requirement:
Kneel on the grits yourself. (no quotes necessary)

* What did you expect? What did they feel like?
* What does this punishment say about T. Ray? Lily's childhood and maturity?

(3/13) Philosophy of Life

Prompt:
On page 16, Lily mentions how she wrote "My Philosophy of Life" for a school assignment. Sue Monk Kidd also had to write one when she was a little girl, maybe that's where she got the idea from.


Response Requirement: (Use a quote that supports one part of her philosophy.)

* Based on what you know so far, what would be her philosophy?
* What is your own philosophy of life?

(3/13) What's Going on in the Pond?

Prompt:
There are bound to be some serious questions going on after reading Lily's fragmented flashback and reminisce of her time in T.Ray's house. What's on your mind?


Response Requirement:

* Write down a question (or two). Don't just ask the question. Supply reasons why you are confused.
* What is the line/quote you are reflecting on?

(3/13) Paint Me A Picture

Prompt:
Sue Monk Kidd (the author of Secret Life of Bees) is a figurative language master. She uses a variety of literary and figurative language elements. These include:

* Simile
* Metaphor
* Personification
* Alliteration
* Allusion (biblical, historical, literary)
* Onomatopoeia
* Rhetorical Questions
* Foreshadowing


Response Requirement:
Find examples of these literary devices throughout your reading. Use your sticky notes to aid you in posting.

* Identify first THE ELEMENT, then the quote, the page number, and why you believe it is a specific element.

(3/13) Inequality in Society

Prompt:
Look for gender, race, or class inequalities and injustices.


Response Requirement:

* Provide a detailed example of equality/inequality appearing in our reading. Who has the power? How is it used?
* The book takes place in the 1960's, but is this inequality still present in society today? Explain.

(3/13) Birthdays

Prompt:
Lily wants a charm bracelet for her birthday.


Response Requirement:

* Speculate about what four charms she would want on her charm bracelet. Why? (Use a quote to support one of your charm ideas.)
* What would you put on your charm bracelet?


(Sorry, guys. This is kind of girl-specific.)

3/13 Historical Overview

Prompt:
"The book is set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement in the tumultuous summer of 1964. Segregation and violence were apparent, obvious, and quite public all over the United States, but especially in the South. Our legacy of slavery and racism accompanied the formation of our country. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 fueled fears that the civil rights work he initiated for American minorities would be lost. However, Lyndon Johnson (the new President), urged for the passage of a civil rights bill that would further the progress made under Kennedy. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided for black men and women to be protected from discrimination based upon race. It also expanded to protect women from discrimination as well. The infamous "Jim Crow" laws were declared abolished." (Penguin Group)


Response Requirement: (no quote necessary)

* Besides the obvious effect on Rosaleen in town, predict how (or if) the Civil Rights Act will guide the story's development.
* What else do you know about the public's reactions to the Civil Rights Act?

Grades

I am in the process of grading the 3/3 blogs. Check the portal to find out the better of the two scores you earned. Check back tomorrow. Bzzz bzzzz.

Frog On!

Dear Froggers (haha... get it??),

Since this is our first week, I've decided to grade both of your 3/3 responses, but only keep the highest of the two. This should help us get acclimated to the process. I am going to post next week's blogs on Sunday. Those will start to cover the actual book. You'll have to finish reading chapter 1 at home over the weekend; however, we will start it in class tomorrow. You'll also get your reading calendar tomorrow.

Good job getting on the blog at home. Remember...if you need help, come in at lunch for the first half.

Keep it up!
**Queen Bee

What do fantastic/great/good/mediocre responses look like?

4 (A):

100%
"Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open." That voice gave her the courage to run away.  he had been thinking about it, but never had the guts to
do it. That one little voice gave her the push, to get out of her crazy
life.
---> Before she left her house she wrote a note to T.Ray. It stated not
to find her and that people like him should "rot in hell". She grabbed
her duffel filled it with clothes, and grabbed her mother's gloves and
black Mary. She decided she was going to make her way to Tiburon
because she thought someone had to have known her mother if she was
there because the inscription on the back of the photo said "Tiburon,
S.C.". Then she went and found Rosaleen. Rosaleen was in the hospital
getting stitches; there was a guard blocking her door, so no one could
see her. Lily made a clever plan, and called the hospital pretend there
was an emergency, and the officer had to go down to the station right
away. Then she fooled the nurse at the hospital by calling her
a "shitbucket" and ran into another room. She waited for the nurse to
leave the desk, and then the two of them bolted out the door.
---> They made their way down to Highway 40 and tried to hitch hike. A
colored man going to visit his sister in Columbia, (3 miles away from
Tiburon) took them. They got to a sign that said "Tiburon 3 miles" and
the man let them out. They walked awhile and made it to a bridge. They
decided to stay there and sleep by the creek; they would finish their
way to Tiburon the next day.

95%=

June Boatwright has been cruel to Lily and Rosaleen ever since they arrived at the home of the “Calendar Sisters”. She refused to let them stay there, and if it wasn’t for August to come along, they probably would have been living in the streets now or still just wandering around Tiburon, South Carolina, looking for a home that consisted of people who would actually greet them in with open arms. “But she’s white, August.” (pg. 87) June said this while talking to her sister, trying to convince her that Lily and Rosaleen should be forcibly removed from their home. Being hated by June so much really confused Lily; she would wonder why a black person would hate a white one. Usually, back then, it was black people that were mistreated, but when someone non-black (like Lily) is treated the same way, it doesn’t make her feel exactly jubilant on the inside.

In addition, what also confused Lily is that if June does not like white people, then how come she wouldn’t let in Rosaleen, who is black? Even though whites and blacks are all EQUAL, June obviously doesn’t feel that way. But then, don’t you think that she should have at least let Rosaleen stay there? It is all completely wrong, and I think that there is a stronger reason behind why June doesn’t like them. Now, I just want to find out.

3 (B), 88%:

Being discriminated against is a very strange concept for her because she is white. She is surprised because she always thought that racism was a one way street, that whites treat blacks differently, not the other way around. Lily is used to being held as a normal person, at least when it comse to the color of her skin, but now she is being discriminated against for it. But yet, Lily is surprised of the hipocricy that they are mad about normally being discriminated against, yet now they are doing it to lily. "I wanted to march up there, flip a couple of tables over, and say, Excuse me, June Boatwright, but you dont even know me!" (87) She is also shocked to hear, that the sisters dont believe her story. THey saw right through her lies. "There's no aunt and you know it," (87) Lily thought that she had fooled the sisters into believeing her false story but she didnt fool them.

2 (C), 75% :

"But she's white, August."(pg 87) Lily "Williams" finds this so unusual because she not used have people not like her because she is white. Lily is so accustomed to having people look at Rosaleen weird not Lily. Lily is also so confused why June doesn't like her because she thinks that June has no reason to dislike her. Also she probably thinks that everyone should be nice to her just like she expected Rosaleen to apologize to the three white men.

1 (D), 65% :

The unusual-nest in this situation is that she a little girl. Lily is surprised when the think someones after her. Rosaleen with her made her even more suspicious.

(3/4 p.m.) Sue Monk Kidd

Chapter(s) #
pre-reading

Prompt:
Read the following biography of Sue Monk Kidd's life.  
I grew up in the 1950s and 60s in a tiny town tucked among the pine-lands and peanut fields of Southwest Georgia. A “beautiful nowhere,” my urbane college roommate called it the first time she visited. For me, though, it was an “end during somewhere,” a long-suffering lap of Southern life. My great-grandparents settled there in 1828, building the rambling farm house where my parents live today. Our most plentiful resource, next to family roots, was stories. My desire to become a writer was born while listening to my father ply us with tales about mules who went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewing
Gum Bum. It seemed to me that, possibly, the only thing more magical than listening to stories, was creating them.
I filled Blue Horse notebooks with my writings. At thirteen, I fell in love with the Bronte Sisters and started a novel, predictably set on the English moors. At fifteen, completely enamored with Emerson and Thoreau, I wrote “My Philosophy of Life,” (thinking I actually had one worth writing down). Around my sixteenth year, however, I stopped writing completely. I don’t really know why. Perhaps I was finally sabotaged by the presumptuousness of it, by some lack of belief in myself. I only know when it came time to go to college, I did not choose writing. To compound the problem, this was before the women’s movement had made much
of a dent in the South, and I was under the impression that while there were a few unnatural exceptions to the rule (like the Bronte sisters), basically girls grew up to become one of four things: homemaker, secretary, teacher, nurse. Since I knew all about the glamour of hospitals by watching Dr. Kildare on television, I chose nurse.
I graduated with a B.S. degree from Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth in 1970 with a major in nursing. The only time I really doubted my career choice was when my English professor said to me, and I quote, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.”
Writing did not pop up again until a few months before my thirtieth birthday. I was married, living in a brick house in a small town in South Carolina with two small children, a dog, a station wagon, a part time nursing position, and a restlessness I could barely contain. I would tell you the story of how I finally seized my long lost desire to become a writer, but it happened while I was dumping my daughter’s diapers into the washing machine, which is not especially how I want people to remember my defining moment. Still, I left the washer that day with an unshakable determination to write. 
Then I enrolled in writing classes with the earnest desire to write fiction, but fate intervened, and I was diverted almost immediately to personal experience articles and essays—mostly inspirational and art of living pieces. For years I was a Contributing Editor at Guideposts, a monthly inspirational magazine with a formidable readership in the millions. It was there I cut my writing teeth, learning to create stories, studying the craft of fiction and using its techniques—character, scene, dialogue, conflict, denouement, etc.– to write simple non-fiction pieces about the ways my ordinary life intersected with the sacred.
My first book, God’s Joyful Surprise, was a spiritual memoir which chronicled my early experiences with contemplative Christian spirituality. My second book, When the Heart Waits, also rooted in contemplative spirituality, recounted a psychological and spiritual transformation I experienced in early mid life. When I turned forty, my explorations and study took an unexpected turn into feminist theology and I underwent a profound redefinition. In 1996, Harper San Francisco published The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, my memoir of that passage.
My writing career, which had begun way back there in my childhood world of stories, was going well. But at 42, my original desire to write fiction returned, and with surprising intensity. Success seemed implausible. Nevertheless, I took a deep breath...and began. I took a graduate course in fiction at Emory University, and studied at Sewanee, Bread Loaf and other writers’ conferences. I wrote and published a series of short stories in small literary journals. After I began to get the hang of it, I taught Creative Writing as an adjunct at the local college. I’m sure that I learned a lot more than my students did.
In 1997, I began writing my first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, set in South Carolina in 1964. It was sold to Viking Press in 2000 and was published January 28, 2002.  Today, I live beside a salt marsh near Charleston, South Carolina with my husband, Sandy, a marriage and individual counselor in private practice, and our black lab, Lily. I write in a book-lined, upstairs study where I can gaze out at the marsh birds and the tides. When not writing, I spend my time reading, playing with my friends, walking the beach, paddling around in my kayak, or sitting on the dock with my husband, simply letting things be.

Adapted from www.suemonkkidd.com

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• What aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer? 
• Make a list of six interview questions that you may ask her about her life.  

(3/3 p.m.) Themes

Chapter(s) #
pre-reading

Prompt:
This book presents many of the same themes that we have already been discussing this year.  Knowing these themes will help you develop text-to-text responses throughout the novel.  Themes to explore:

• Secrets and secret lives
• coming of age
• search for identity
• relationships with parents
• resilience of the human spirit
• man's inhumanity to man
• discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, class structure (social class)
• literacy--the role of writing
• how death gives way to life

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• Choose two themes from the list above.  Explain how each has been found in Heroes, Anne Frank, and/or Of Mice and Men.

(3/3 p.m.) Persuade Me to Publish with this Cover!

Chapter(s) #
Pre-Reading



Prompt:
Above you will see two different covers of our next novel. 

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.

• Which cover do you prefer?  Why?  What do the colors, images, and words do to persuade you to a favorite?
• From these covers, what can you predict about the novel?  Note: If you have read or watched it already, please do not give away vital information.  Focus more on what the images themselves could represent.  Thank you. :)