HomeWork
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: Police-Don't Stand So Close to Me
Topic: Announcements
Hope everyone had a great weekend. We're finally in the home-stretch (for the term at least). For tomorrow (Wednesday) read Nabokov. It's a tough little assignment, so read it twice, maybe thrice. Also post on it here tonight:
Choose a quote from "Lance" and post it here with you analysis/explanation of why you chose it.

Also due: all late work/corrections by tomorrow!!!
Read Sin Boldly Chapter 2 by Thursday (we'll have a quiz).
-Mr. H

HomeWork
Now Playing: The Mars Volta
Topic: Announcements
Alright folks, the homework for tonight: read the Masque of the Red Death for tomorrow. In fact read it a couple of times. Also, you need to read Sin Boldly Ch. 2 by next Thursday (there will be a brief set of questions). PS. Here's a helpful link for all things AP.

HomeWork
Now Playing: Do You Realize??? by The Flaming Lips
Topic: Announcements
At the request of certain parents, I've decided to put all assignments on this blog. If it's not here, it's not due. That said, the first thing I would like to add as due is all items on the syllabus which already have due dates. For instance, your first book analysis, due next Friday.

Now on to the real day to day assignments:
1. I announced today that ALL LATE WORK IS DUE WEDNESDAY THE 12TH. If I don't have it by then, it's an automatic zero. Also, if you'd like to get a rough draft of your book analysis to me, that would be the due date as well.

2. Sin Boldly: read chapter 2 by Friday.

3. Edit Write #1 and turn it in by Tuesday.

4. Read Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" by tomorrow.

5. Tomorrow there will be an in-class write on Hemingway's "Clean Well-Lighted Place."

The Meaning of Lif
Now Playing: Bob Dylan - The Times They Are a-Changin'
Topic: Zenacious P
Rationality declares that the ultimate purpose in life is to continue living. But this is in itself defeatist and impossible. As Christians we have a hope of life hereafter and a command to value our lives as but tools for God. How does this reconcile reason and passion? How does Christianity get around reason? Is reason the foundation of life or is there something else which Pirsig has forgotten (or not mentioned at this point)? Read Hebrews 11:1 and allow it to comment on reason. Does the Godhead reside in reason as well, though? Is God more pleased by our triumphs of reason or of passion? Are those the only two ways? Think about it.

Romantic Comedies (4-6)
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: The Andy Milanokis Theme Song
Topic: Zenacious P
Classical or Romantic? That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to live, or in the heart. There's a lot of meat in these chapters, hopefully you've read them slowly and carefully. Now that you've finished chapter 6 the whole "rhetorical scalpel" thing should make more sense. Does it? How does a high-lighter work as a rhetorical scalpel (Phaedrus' Knife)? Do you find yourself more Romantic or Classical? The aim of this class will be to bridge the gap. You will need to romantically appreciate the beauty and joy of literature, while being classically able to analyze said literature. So which one is going to be the challenge for you and how are you going to surmount it? Maybe Pirsig will give us some advice.

What's Best?
Now Playing: "Us" by regina Spektor
Topic: Zenacious P
In the first three chapters Pirsig subtly (and not so subtly) introduces us to his own philosophy. He discusses memory (blackbirds), perception (“frames”), quality (“what’s new” vs. “what’s best”), and technology (dripping faucets and motorcycle maintenance)—and that’s just the first chapter. He ends the first chapter with,
I disagree with them about cycle maintenance, but not because I am out of sympathy with their feelings about technology. I just think that their flight from and hatred of technology is self-defeating. The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower. To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha...which is to demean oneself. That is what I want to talk about in this Chautauqua.
I think in a way he’s right. If we can find God (not the Buddha, but Yaweh) in nature, and we can find Him in art (e.g. a poem like Paradise Lost, a sermon like “Sinner’s in the Hands of an Angry God”, or a painting like Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal), then why couldn’t we find his glory reflected in a motorcycle or a faucet. By engaging in technology we can proclaim the glory of the Creator and reflect the Imago Dei through our own acts of creation.
Yet, as we discussed today (Thursday), the prerequisite for any philosophical discussion—and remember, all language partakes in some kind of philosophical discussion just through the act of speaking—is a proper, Biblical anthropology. This is what’s missing in Pirsig’s gross assumptions of chapter two which lead him to prematurely terminate a motorcycle trip with Chris. Don’t worry solely about the object (the motorcycle), remember always to consider the subject (the rider).

There’re many ways one could respond to these chapters. You may engage in his discussion about whether the laws of science really exist; or on whether education is mass hypnosis. One might attempt to define “common sense,” “science,” “truth,” or “quality.” Still another route would be to engage in a discussion of how the constant motorcycle maintenance references are part of a greater metaphor (“the real motorcycle is yourself”) which deserves a lengthy dissection. Or you could just react to my post above. Have at it.

Example Post
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: Loripsum and the Fraggles
Well this is just an example. If you don't understand what's going on, read the first post (below) first.
so all I've done is put a little lorem ipsum down below to give you an example of what 150 words look like in non-sensical latin:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Donec mi. Suspendisse tristique lectus vitae sapien. Etiam lobortis tristique justo. Vivamus cursus, ligula a consectetuer fermentum, mauris leo iaculis diam, in porta odio sapien et mauris. Donec malesuada, neque nec mollis ultricies, mi risus fermentum lectus, vel sagittis neque risus non leo. Pellentesque sit amet massa. Aliquam mauris magna, laoreet ac, faucibus ac, dapibus sit amet, velit. Fusce tempus. Nullam vel tellus. Ut eget eros. Donec sed enim. Vestibulum libero mi, malesuada malesuada, feugiat vitae, bibendum sit amet, lectus. Proin turpis. Fusce sit amet velit. Sed bibendum, nisi sed vestibulum accumsan, turpis nunc lobortis est, ac feugiat nisl nisi ac dui. Suspendisse orci pede, ultricies et, pellentesque et, molestie vel, odio. Fusce pretium pede a lacus. Vivamus nonummy pretium sem. Morbi in arcu. Nullam et est a est hendrerit accumsan. Nullam rutrum, elit non aliquet sollicitudin, lectus eros tempus purus, sit.

There that's a hundred and fifty words. Any questions?

THE BLOG
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Nada pues Nada (no speakers on my desk)
Topic: Announcements
Hey all,
Well it looks like you found your way here ok. During the next couple of days I'll post three seperate posts on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance right here. The first will cover Chapters 1-3, the second, 4-6, and the third, 7-9. We will discuss 10-12 on thursday when you come into class.
So what are the requirements?
First off, give me a good size post--150 words or so should do it.
Second, it can be a response to either my post or someone else's. It does NOT have to attempt to answer specfic questions raised by me or another student, but it does need to react to it.
Third, sign your name at the bottom.
If you would like to go beyond the requirements and add more to other students responses, feel free. Just keep it respectful and avoid anonymity.
The post below should give you a fairly clear example.
That's it. Have a great time on college tour.
-Mr. Helms

PS if you left your copy of Zen at home, or would like to cut and paste a large section of it, here's a link to the full text of the novel.

or down here