tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330762245893680745.post742647084047133543..comments2024-03-13T13:25:01.402-07:00Comments on An Hour A Day: Words and Picturescmillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128598629089024454noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330762245893680745.post-63402947575709324722012-10-04T06:52:05.748-07:002012-10-04T06:52:05.748-07:00Scott, we spent half the class on it, inspired by ...Scott, we spent half the class on it, inspired by your post, and we had a terrific discussion. :)cmillshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03128598629089024454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330762245893680745.post-79433804661933949832012-10-03T13:46:08.116-07:002012-10-03T13:46:08.116-07:00I'm sorry to have implied that the lesson plan...I'm sorry to have implied that the lesson plan wasn't useful for teaching. I was only joking that "Millions of Cats" is so traumatizing, that it may be difficult for your students rationally analyze its ethics in the face of its horror.Scott Glancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687217443139204228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330762245893680745.post-46174758218816682302012-10-03T04:34:42.019-07:002012-10-03T04:34:42.019-07:00Great analysis of MILLIONS OF CAT, Scott! But rem...Great analysis of MILLIONS OF CAT, Scott! But remember that one of the purposes of my class is to get students to engage in just this kind of ethical analysis of a text - so now I plan to share your reading of the story with them to see how they respond. We're going to talking about the explicit message of a text as well as the messages that are conveyed to children in a way that the adult creators of the tale may not at all have intended. I think this is a great text for doing just that. :)cmillshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03128598629089024454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330762245893680745.post-35148333732712512012012-10-01T21:38:50.157-07:002012-10-01T21:38:50.157-07:00Claudia, that sounds like an excellent lesson plan...Claudia, that sounds like an excellent lesson plan, with one exception: the inclusion of "Millions of Cats". In my opinion, this is one of the most horrible of all children's stories. It has a happy ending in which the old man and the old woman live happily together with their homely little cat. But at what cost!!?? A horrible <a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.86970394.jpg" rel="nofollow">cat holocaust</a> in which trillions of cats murder and eat one another. Even though the cat holocaust is triggered by the foolishness of the Old Man, he and his wife take no steps to intervene or even show remorse.<br /><br />Should I believe that this holocaust is the just result of the trillions of cats' vanity? Is the one homely surviving cat the Noah's Ark of cats, ready to establish a new cat society free of vanity? Apparently not, because the Old Man and Old Woman end the story praising their new pet as being the most beautiful cat in the world.<br /><br />Scott Glancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687217443139204228noreply@blogger.com