Jon Sindell Tutoring

My Student's Profound Reflection On Falseness

I wanted to share a piece of writing that a high-school senior produced for me last week.

In formulating questions based on my students' study of literature, history, and other subjects, I often ask them to share their own thoughts in an open-ended fashion.

The student I speak of is presently studying Hamlet in her English class, and I am guiding her through it.

One of many profound themes in the play is falseness—the tendency to present a false face to the world, as several of the characters in the play do.

My student's reflection follows.

Here is the question (and you thought "To be or not to be?" was the question!):

(5) Reflect on falseness. Let your thoughts range as widely as you please, but consider touching on such questions as: How destructive of relationships is falseness? Is falseness damaging to one's own soul? How widespread is falseness in society in general, or in communities to which you belong? How does one avoid being false? How does it affect one if others are false to him or her?

Here is my student's response:

"Falseness begins at the surface level, but, in some context, it eventually engraves itself into somewhat of a truth. If one constantly lies about oneself to others, it can become real. If one acts falsely, those actions will become habits. The foundation of relationships is truthfulness and trust. If there is falseness, the entire relationship will collapse. Falseness in communities and in general leads to misunderstanding, chaos, and destruction of each other rather than our real enemies. To avoid falseness, one must be true to themselves first. Hold your own viewpoints and stand by them unless proven wrong. Don’t try to fit in with the current politically correct sentiments. If others are false to someone, that person will lose trust. It’ll be hard to believe new people they meet. If this is the case for many, no one can trust anyone. Society would become an “every man for themselves” system, which will inevitably lead to self-destruction and collapse."

What an insightful, grounded young woman! Gives you hope.

Jon

A Lovely Story of Learning Taking Root

Every December I teach A Christmas Carol, supplementing the text with questions and activities I've crafted. Some of the activities ask students to model their writing after the writing of Charles Dickens. For instance, I ask students to craft phrases of their own modeled after this Dickensian passage:

"[Scrooge] ... was a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner."

Three months after studying the book, one of my youngest students, a 7th-grader (I tutor grades 6 through 12 plus college), wrote the following in his wild story about (what else?) aliens and ghosts:

"The machine [a spacecraft] went crazy. It was spinning, flipping, dashing, and crashing, but for some reason, it didn't break."

I can't say for certain, but based on my experience with this student and hundreds more I consider it virtually certain that this amazing series of –ing verbs represents the student's incorporation, conscious or unconscious, of his writing exercise.

And I had to share because it's oh so nice.

(By the way my annotated version of A Christmas Carol is available on Amazon)

New review of my annotated A Christmas Carol

"Evergreen classic, delightfully annotated

Alongside its classic story, there is a wealth of historical and literary knowledge to be gleaned from A Christmas Carol - but it can be hard for a young reader to fully comprehend without assistance. This annotated version does a wonderful job of shedding light on the details that make Dickens' London so rich and distinct. In addition to clarification, some notes serve a different function, targeting younger readers with questions that add a built-in educational dimension to their reading. These are questions that challenge the readers to think about language on a structural level as well as to use their imaginations in applying such lessons to their own lives. With jovial tone and fascinating insight, this version of A Christmas Carol allows readers to engage with a beloved story in new, rewarding ways."

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Carol-Annotated-Enthusiasts-Students/product-reviews/B08C8R9PVD/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

A President Worth Celebrating

After leading the rebellious American colonists to victory over the mightiest army on earth, the beloved General Washington could have assumed extraordinary power had he wished to. When the war ended, and Washington stated that he would return to his farm rather than establish himself as a lord in the new nation, George III, the King of England, stated: “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” He did do that, and it was the act of a great man.

Then, when the new government was established, Washington reluctantly left his beloved Mount Vernon to served two terms as president, disdaining such proposed titles as “His Exalted Highness” or “His Highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same,” embracing instead the simple republican “Mr. President.”

Washington set another precedent emphasizing his republican vision of the presidency when he declined to run for a third term, reinforcing his reputation as the “American Cincinnatus.”

This was no imperial president. May his example never be forgotten.

In Literature | Live a literary inspired life Live a literary inspired life

Here's my talented student Moselle Mac moments after making her world reading debut on May 26, 2018 at Bay Area Generations when she read her tender, insightful, beautifully rendered prose poem "The Cracks Within." She is flanked by her proud mom and equally proud tutor. (For interested parties, the story I read (and in part sang) as Moselle's cross-generational reading partner, "Night Divine," appeared recently in BULL, here: http://bullmensfiction.com/fiction/night-divine/)

Now THIS was a president:

After leading the rebellious American colonists to victory over the mightiest army on earth, the beloved General Washington could have assumed extraordinary power had he wished to. When the war ended, and Washington stated that he would return to his farm rather than establish himself as a lord in the new nation, George III, the King of England, stated: “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” He did do that, and it was the act of a great man.

Then, when the new government was established, Washington reluctantly left his beloved Mount Vernon to served two terms as president, disdaining such proposed titles as “His Exalted Highness” or “His Highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same,” embracing instead the simple republican “Mr. President.”

Washington set another precedent emphasizing his republican vision of the presidency when he declined to run for a third term, reinforcing his reputation as the “American Cincinnatus.”

This was no imperial president. May his example never be forgotten.

This is one episode in a superb set of eight videos about the Middle Ages. Highly informative and entertaining.

Life in the Middle Ages The Serf Life in the Middle Ages The Serf

HUGE RECOMMENDATION. I am a passionate history lover, and I kept my powder dry through four episodes of this new history pod before hardending my opinion. This series is fantastic. The programs are deeply immersive, as they include brief theatrical vignettes to establish the historical social context, judiciously chosen audio of historic moments to illustrate key points, intelligent and compelling writing, a focus on somewhat lesser events that illuminate the great themes and events treated, and, it appears, highly credible scholarship. Moreover, the program dives deep beneath the level of high politics to furnish a ground-level sense of the historical moment. I learn history almost every day and have for years, and yet I have learned a ton of fascinating and important facts in every episode. I love it.

American History Tellers by Wondery on Apple Podcasts Download past episodes or subscribe to future episodes of American History Tellers by Wondery for free.

Christmas Eve, all! And I’d like to share a few of my favorite Christmas Eve pleasures, along with one I haven’t yet experienced.

With the NORAD Santa Tracker, you can watch Santa’s progress through the skies of the world! Kids love this.
http://www.noradsanta.org

One of the most well written and inspiring Christmas stories ever is “The Gift of the Magi” by the master storyteller O. Henry. I consider it a must for any lover of literature, especially those who write fiction. You can read it for free here.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7256

For something completely different, I recommend that you spend a half hour listening to this reading of the Christmas ghost story “The Shepherd” by the renowed suspense writer Frederick Forsythe.
http://www.sffaudio.com/the-shepherd-by-fredrick-forsyth-read-by-alan-maitland/

Finally, for Christians as well as others wishing to partake of Christian spiritualty, I’m told that A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, from King’s College, Cambridge, is a worthy investment of time.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005ftyb

I wish you all a great evening and a very merry Christmas!

Official NORAD Santa Tracker