Journal Prompts

1. Journal Prompts English III Week of 2/27

2. Monday, February 27th “Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” --Henry David Thoreau • What do you think Thoreau meant by this? What does it mean to “hear a different drummer”? • Do you march to the beat of your own drum or someone else’s? Explain. • Does your school encourage you to “step to the music which [you] hear”? Or does it discourage such individuality? Explain. If the latter, how can individuality be encouraged? How can we encourage this in English class this trimester?

3. Wednesday, February 29th It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. --Ralph Waldo Emerson • What does Emerson mean by this? What does to “live after our own” opinion? • Do you know people who change depending on who they are around? Why do you think they do this? • Who are some famous nonconformists who have chosen not to follow the crowd? How has their decision to break with society impacted their lives?

4. Friday, March 2nd • Free Pass Friday!