Tuesday, June 19. 2018

Today's Assembly schedule is C-D-Assembly-A-B

C Block  9:00-10:00 AM
Ag 10:05-10:15 AM
D Block 10:20-11:20 AM
Assembly 11:25-12:25 PM
Lunch 12:25-1:05 PM
A Block 1:10-2:10 PM
B Block 2:15-3:15 PM

C Block Criminology 12 - What are Crime Themes or Tropes? From TVTropes:

Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite." In other words, dull and uninteresting. Tropes transcend television. They reflect life. Since a lot of art, especially the popular arts, does its best to reflect life, tropes are likely to show up everywhere.

So this week I want you to consider being a critical viewer of crime media. I will show you two US crime serials in class: Lie to Me and the Mentalist (if there was time I'd also show you Elementary, Person of Interest, White Collar and Castle too but we don't really have time). I want you to examine these shows through the tropes of: "Police are Useless"; "The Only One"; and "Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop". Again from TVTropes:

Unlike just one Dirty Cop, or a small group of them, Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop describes an entire precinct (or world!) where police are monolithically terrible. Maybe they're all corrupt. Maybe just a few are corrupt, but the rest are so incompetent that they completely ignore the swath of abuse, violence, and destruction the corrupt cops leave. Maybe they're all just completely insane. When this is more of an Implied Trope due to the fact that nobody bothers to involve the police in anything, you have Police Are Useless.

Whenever someone in film or on TV reports a murder, or a monster, or a stalker or whatever, the police come as close to ignoring them as procedure (and the local captain) will allow. And that's if the report is from a respected professional; if they're an Agent Mulder, or worse yet, a teenager, the cops might try to pin charges on them! In addition to police, this trope also covers the military, security guards, and other people whose job is to protect others. So...

There's a crisis, and our beloved protagonists are the only people who can handle the problem. Unfortunately, this is because all the other people who could take care of it are woefully incompetent. If the series is about a local police force, the FBI are ivory-tower glory hounds. If the series is about an FBI agent, the local police are all useless Corrupt Hick types. If the series is about the military, government higher-ups will only be interested in pleasing the voters. If the series is about the government or an anti-military type, then the military will be The Evil Army commanded by a General Ripper type who is just itching to Nuke 'em back to the stone age, never mind the asking questions part. If the series is about a rogue hero, all levels of government and law enforcement, plus the military, are either corrupt or clueless, with the possible exception of a Reasonable Authority Figure who will still be unable to help because of mountains of red tape. And everyone else will just think that it isn't for them to deal with (In those cases where the people who are supposed to be handling the situation are not also bad guys).The Useless or Incompetent cop/police will need outside help "the only one" who becomes "the great detective"
A staple of Mystery Fiction and Detective Fiction, the Great Detective relies on powers of deduction and educated thought to solve crimes. The Great Detective is usually an Amateur Sleuth or a Private Detective (because Police Are Useless). Some of these detectives will have an Arch-Enemy that will be their equal, but in a different light.

So think about messages about detective "experts" and what these shows say about the public's view of modern police forces.

Today we'll watch an episode of Lie to Me, called "Moral Waiver". Dr. Cal Lightman and Ria Torres investigate the case of a female soldier who claims to be the victim of sexual assault by her commanding officer. At the same time, Dr. Gillian Foster and Eli Loker work on the case of a college basketball player who is accused of accepting a bribe from his university. In both cases the Lightman group employees are experts who are hired by authority figures (the US Army or a University Ombudsman) to do the work that they themselves can't quite get done...see if you can notice any tropes/themes here.

D Block Human Geography 11 -  Today we'll continue with our look at the Key Issue, "Why Do Cities Face Challenges"? Again, our focus will be on the division between the downtown CBD and the suburban residential neighbourhoods...using Vancouver as an example. We'll look at "filtering" (and SROs in Vancouver), public housing, gentrification and the Downtown Eastside (DTES).


A Block Law 12 - Exam prep day. We'll decide what you want to write tomorrow (MC/TF or Written). I don't want to heap on the pressure here but it's coming down to the wire right? Your major project is due this Thursday...so it's nose to the grindstone time; pound out the work and do the best that you can. Good Luck.

B Block Introduction to Law 10 - Today we'll go to the learning commons/library so you may start working on our last project of the year...your Fairy Tale Criminal Code Case Study. Many thanks to Mr. Scott McKillop of Winston Knoll Collegiate in Saskatchewan and Ms. Sarah Curry (currently in Toronto, Ontario) for the idea and the "bones" of this assignment.

Fairy tales are among the most violent and chilling tales in storytelling. While modern tales often have a happy ending, historically, older tales were full of elves, goblins, witches and magic, often resulting in violent endings. The Grimm brothers Jacob and Wilhelm are possibly the most famous publishers of fairy tales. In 1802, Jacob went to university to study law at the University of Marburg. As always, his little brother followed him, and entered law school in 1803. So the Grimm fairy tales come from two German lawyers so this makes them perfect for a criminal law analysis!

You are a court reporter at a criminal trial involving a fairy tale. Your job during the case is to accurately report the case to your readers. Your story will summarize the events leading to the trial (the story), what the person is being charged with, who testified and to what for the Crown, who testified and to what for the defense including what was the basis for their defense, and finally what the judge’s decision was and why.

Required items:

1. Summary of the facts – Summarize the fairy tale that you are using.
2. Crown’s case – Lawyer’s opening statement which includes what the defendant is being charged with (Use the criminal code and/or your textbook to find the offence and record the Section and the number), what penalty they are asking for, and who testified (Minimum of three (3) witnesses including the victim assuming they are alive) along with testimony of each witness.
3. Defense’s case – Lawyer’s opening statement including what is his/her client’s defense will be and who will be testifying (Minimum of three (3) witnesses including the defendant) along with the testimony of each witness
4. The judge's decision - Is the defendant guilty as charged? guilty of a lesser offense? or not guilty at all? What sentence will be given if necessary (the Criminal Code outlines minimum and maximum sentences)? Give the reasons for the decision made, why did the judge make the decision that they did?

For a really good example, Check out: Appleman Law Hansel & Gretel, Appleman Law Little Red Riding Hood, Appleman Law Goldilocks and the Three Bears  or Hansel and Gretel a Lawyer's Fairy Tale by the Legal Geeks.

Grimm Fairy Tales
Anderson Fairy Tales
Classic Fairy Tales
Another page of Grimm tales
Another page of Anderson tales