Dear Fellow Educators:

By stumbling across this page, you will begin to see the innerworkings of my mind in regards to creating two lessons that are not only fun, but incredibly educational.

The first webquest, "Can we change language?" began as a project waiting to be doomed, however, when completed, ultimately captivated the minds of many people.

The first webquest engages the student to learn about everyday words were invented by Shakespeare that is STILL used in language every day. After a brief introduction to some of the invented Shakesperian words, students will then look at Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll. The students will then create their own poem using the invented Shakesperian words, creating a funny mish-mosh of poetry.

For a student to understand the stranglehold that Shakespeare has on language, and, at the end of the webquest, try to emulate Shakespeare by inventing words, makes this lesson fun and exciting. Ultimately, the students learn a lot about language, and the way we, as a society, view changes to our language.

The second webquest, "The Virgin Metaphors", takes an in-depth look at the usage of certain metaphors in The Virgin Suicides, and allows the students to work their way through them with little supervision.

The ability for students to conceptualize the importance of metaphor in a work such as this one allows the student to obtain a further sense of mastery of literature. poetry is also discussed in this webquest, allowing the students to delve into meaning, and how it can differ greatly from one man to the next.

If you have any questions or comments about ANY of these webquests, please let me know by e-mailing me at [email protected].

Best Regards,

Lee DiGeorge