The Stranger

Why does Meursault kill the Arab?

Albert Camus said,

“In our society, any man who doesn't cry at his mother's funeral is liable to be condemned to death.”

What does this mean? How can you connect this statement to The Stranger? 

Why is it relevant whether Meursault believes in God or not? 

What is the significance of the scrap of newspaper that Meursault finds in his cell? 

On p. 81, Meursault references what the nurse says on the day of his mother's funeral (17) which he interprets to mean there is no way out. Out of what? What is he talking about here? 

#ProtectSyrianChildren part 2

As mention before, I said I will write a poem on this horrifying tragedy and I finish it. I want to know if guys like it and as you reading it, do you visualize what is happening to those innocent children? While I was writing this poem, I thought of my baby cousin and it makes me want to protect him more than ever. That video is still on my mind and here is my poem:
The title mentions the miles between Syria and United States.

6,677 Miles

Can you hear the cries of children,

From 6,677 miles away?

The desperation ringing in the air; stifled screams that you don’t hear,

The thundering footsteps running in fear.

Can you hear the streets pleading for help,

From 6,677 miles away?

The skies rain fire; their home has become their hell,

Where is it safe to hide? How can they even tell?

Can you hear the bombs go off,

From 6,677 miles away?

The weeping sounds of children; many who are now motherless,

The clouds darken; rendering life colorless.

Why can’t you hear the screams of 18 million people,

From 6,677 miles away?

Death

Illness

Debt

Sadness

Anger

Depression

Worry

Confusion

Guilt

Hopelessness 

     The anger that was felt after we had left the room was so great. 

    

     There was so much confusion going on during the meeting.

     We had a lot of debt going on during this time period.



     The anger that was felt after we had left the room was so great.
It made us believe that we were being betrayed. There was no way to
put it. We were mad, and upset by what was taking place, we could not
even believe what had just happened. When we were told the news about
the person that was stealing was a very difficult thing to manage. It was
shocking yet also very uneasy to acknowledge. At this point we had to protect
ourselves to make sure this wasn't going to happen again.

Beginning The Stranger

The Stranger is set in Algeria in Northern Africa just after WWII. You have to realize that Algeria was a colonial territory of France up until 1962. So when Meursault refers to Arabs, he's really talking about the people who are native to this land before the French occupied it (Camus was born in Algeria and grew up there and went to college before moving to France). Meursault is part of the minority white European population there. One reason I chose this novel is to think about how Camus uses setting. We live in such a diverse and vibrant location in Queens, NY. Sometimes I have to remind students to write about where their stories are taking place. So my first question would be what is Algeria like?

Other questions:

• What is Meursault like?
• What effect does the first line of the novel create? What is his attitude toward his mother's death?
• What is his relationship w/ Marie like? His neighbor Raymond?

Motivational poem

Ambition


As I lay on my bed,
I think of all of the endless possibilities ahead.
Life has in store
Because life isn’t even close to a bore.

Live, love,laugh
Or just simply Laugh your life away
Because there shouldn’t be room for sadness on any day.

As they say you live and you learn
No need to grief on your mistakes indeed.
Don't let a setback burn your fire.

Remember . . .
You always have yourself to lean on.



Authors Notes:

I wrote this poem for motivational purposes Do you feel I excelled that aspect? what did you feel as you read it ?

What was your favorite line?

Is there anything that should be added or edited out?

Public Writing Project opportunity

I wanted to bring your attention to this writing opportunity, a chance to both meet your Public Writing Project requirement and also make some money.

 

 

#ProtectSyrianChildren

I know this is not related to what we talk about in class, but I feel like it should be mention because it needs attention. I watched a video of what is going on Syria and children are getting brutally murder. They were taken away from their parents and are getting beaten. It aches my heart to see this horrific news.  It makes me think what kind of world do we live in? Especially children, what did they do wrong? They don't deserve this at all. They can be someone's daughter, son, brother, sister or cousins.  Anyway, I am thinking to write a poem based on this horrific tragedy and creating a awareness.