Monday, February 2nd

Today's Goal:

• Synthesize the various content we've covered in this project and formulate articulate reactions and emerging personal philosophies.  
• Hear other students' perspectives and insights regarding Happiness and Meaning
  
• Become better prepared to write your literary analysis essay
  

Announcements

• I need a few volunteers to help me set up the Commons on Tuesday morning at 8am for our Guest Speaker tomorrow during 2nd period in the Commons: Dr. Sarah Roberts-Cady, Professor of Philosophy  B.A. Linfield College (1994), Ph.D. Purdue University (2000)
  Interests: Social & Political Philosophy, Ethics, Feminist Philosophy, History of Philosophy
  
  

• Ashley and  Jessica's 11th Grade Honors Humanities Exhibition takes place in the Student Union at Fort Lewis College from 5:30 to 7:30 THIS Thursday evening.  Honors students worked individually over the course of several months, deconstructing a historical event or time period that was relevant to them personally through extensive research and critical analysis.  Stop by, and prepare to bring a critical lens as we dissect the history of the United States and beyond in a way never seen before!!
  
• Second Semester Honors Book Club project proposals on Fahrenheit 451 are due FRIDAY-- by midnight, via email.
• Second semester Honors Seminar Prep for Fahrenheit is due on Tuesday, 2/10 before our seminar (to take place 7th period).  GUIDELINES FOR SEMINAR PREP
• Please turn in your journal by the end of class. List of required journals

Agenda
1. Time to review seminar prep notes while Ashley checks seminar prep completion
2. Seminar!
3. When not seminaring, you may refine or complete journals, or begin re-reading the novel you think you want to focus on for your literary analysis essay (The Stranger or your lit circle book).  

The lit analysis essay question is the following:
"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves."  - Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) 

Does happiness really just mean living a pleasant life where your primary goal is to enjoy yourself? Is the pleasant life really the ultimate goal and the true sign of a purposeful, well-lived life? What about good health, wisdom, meaning in life, spirituality, creativity, authenticity, individuality, giving back to community, ambition, success, leaving a legacy beyond your time in a place or in a lifetime, etc.?

Select one factor (not necessarily from the list above) that you see as a marker of a well-lived life. Use evidence primarily from either The Stranger or your lit circle book as well as evidence from at least one other secondary source, to back up your claims.

Essentially, you are making an interpretation that is PRIMARILY based on the novel you choose about how the character(s) define happiness OR meaning and then either supporting or challenging that claim with evidence from a secondary source from the list below.

**IF there is another theme that stood out in your novel that you really want to explore in your essay that is not as directly tied to "happiness and meaning", feel free to run it by me!