Day 2| What’s in a Name?

You all did a phenomenal job listening to my story and working quietly during yesterday’s exit slip, and many of you had very serious answers to the questions!  Today, we’re going to get to know who you are and a little more about your story...

1. Do Now | Who Am I?

Victor Hugo’s musical Les Misérables, which takes place in France in 1815, revolves around the story of Jean Valjean, also known as prisoner #24601. After spending 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, he adopts a pseudonym (a false name) and becomes a wealthy factory owner. Ten years later, however, the police inspector, Javert, is still looking for him, and arrests another man that he suspects is Valjean. When Valjean hears about this, he has a difficult decision to make.

Below are the lyrics of the song (“Who Am I”) in which he makes the decision; when everyone is seated quietly and working, I will play the song.

He thinks that man is me He knew him at a glance! That stranger he has found This man could be my chance! Why should I save his hide? Why should I right this wrong When I have come so far And struggled for so long? If I speak, I am condemned. If I stay silent, I am damned! I am the master of hundreds of workers. They all look to me. How can I abandon them? How would they live If I am not free? If I speak, I am condemned. If I stay silent, I am damned! Who am I? Can I condemn this man to slavery? Pretend I do not feel his agony?

This innocent who bears my face Who goes to judgment in my place Who am I? Can I conceal myself forever more? Pretend I'm not the man I was before? And must my name until I die Be no more than an alibi? Must I lie? How can I ever face my fellow men? How can I ever face myself again? My soul belongs to God, I know I made that bargain long ago He gave me hope when hope was gone He gave me strength to journey on Who am I? Who am I? I am Jean Valjean! And so, Javert, you see it's true That man bears no more guilt than you! Who am I? 24601!

• What is Valjean’s difficult decision? Why is it difficult? 
• Focus on the italicized stanza. What is troubling Valjean about owning his name?
• What does Valjean ultimately decide to do? Why do you think he makes this decision?
• How do you think Valjean feels about his name, after having been called 24601 for 19 years?

2. What’s in a Name? | Tell me a story about your name. It can be anything from how you got it to how you feel about it.

Now we’re going to look at another work of literature and what that has to say about names. How many of you are familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet? How many of you have read Shakespeare before? Look at the classwork that’s on your desk, and take 7 minutes to read through it and answer the questions.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title.
(Romeo and Juliet, II.2)





4. Partner Work | Shakespeare can be very challenging, and in this case, two minds are better than one. We’re going to take a few minutes to work with the person sitting beside you to discuss what you think this passage means and come up with an answer. 

Before we get started though, can someone remind us what groupwork should look like?

• In your own words, what is Juliet saying?

Let’s try question #2. Discuss with your partner, and then we’ll have a few pairs share out.

• What does Juliet mean when she says that “Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, retain that dear perfection”? Why is a name so powerful in this situation?

Do you agree with what Juliet is saying about how a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? It might, but how would it make that rose feel? If I called you Juliet, you would all still be as brilliant as you are now, but you would lose your individuality. Message: your name may not be something you chose but it is still important to who you are.

5. Integrity| (5 minutes) Earlier you all told very interesting stories, you all own your name and know what it means to you—everything you put your name on reflects your… grandparent you were named after, or parents, or something, and you want to honor that and be proud of it. Everything you put your name on in this class, you should be proud of. What does integrity mean to you? Solicit responses. Two things: no cheating, and always doing your best. If I only saw one paper you handed in, ever, what would it say about you?

6. Names in Human Geography | We’ve just spent all day talking about names. What does this have to do with Metacognition and our course? Integrity is the easy answer, but what else? One of the things we know about Human Geography is that there is a lot of vocabulary. It’s going to be very important to name everything accurately and precisely for the sake of communication, so we all know who we’re talking about. If I were to address “the student with the hair” in class, nobody would know who I was referring to, and I need to use a name to make that clear. 

Same with Human Geography and when we get to naming countries and societies, but we’ll talk more about that... :)