"The truth is . . . once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.“ TODAY: Introduction to Tuesdays With Morrie Objectives: * To prepare for the reading of this novel. * To understand and appreciate the subject and/or topics that will be the focus of this novel. * To gain an understanding of the author’s intent and purpose for writing this novel. * To review , understand and create aphorisms. "The truth is . . . once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.“ ~ Morrie

What’s on your Bucket List?? A list of things to do before you die. Comes from the term "kicked the bucket". A list of things you think you might need to accomplish because you feel your own mortality closing the door on you. You feel insecure about your life and therefore make a list of things to get busy on. A list of hotties that you always had your eye on and you most now go conquer.

DO NOW: Think about what you would like to accomplish before you “kick the bucket.”  I know it’s a morbid thought, but humor me  Today, you will start a Bucket List of your own. In your notebook, create a list of ten ‘things’ you would like to do before you are ‘lying six feet under.’ I want these to simply be the first ten things that come to your mind. You will have plenty of time in the near future to add/change your list!

An old man, a young man and life’s greatest lesson. Tuesdays With Morrie An old man, a young man and life’s greatest lesson. ~Mitch Albom

Overview: We all know the ‘age old’ question – Who is your hero? Who helps you see the world as a more profound place and gives you sound advice to help you make your way through it? For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you will lose track of this mentor as you make your way through life. You may want or need to see that person again, to ask the bigger questions that may still haunt you, or to receive wisdom for your busy life . . .

Overview Continued: Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": a class that taught him lessons in how to live. Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world.

Who is Morrie?? Morrie was Mitch’s college professor. He used to live a life full of dancing, helping others, and spending time with his loved ones. After he was diagnosed with ALS, also know as Lou Gherig’s Disease, Morrie stopped being able to do these enjoyable things he loved. He accepted the fact he was dying, and lived a life of helping others . . He continued teaching classes after he was diagnosed with ALS at the age of seventy-six, incorporating what he was learning about the meaning of life as he faced impending death. When ABC-TV's "Nightline" producer heard of his classes, Ted Koppel flew to Boston for the first of three interviews with Morrie. The shows were among the highest rated ever for "Nightline." Morrie Schwartz wrote his own epitaph: "A Teacher to the Last." http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3863455317235235085# http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3863455317235235085# http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3863455317235235085#

I have an Aphorism for you. . . . Aphorism is a brief saying containing a moral, a precise statement of a principle or value given in pointed words. A LIFE LESSON Examples: Hippocrates: Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experimenting dangerous, reasoning difficult. Pope: Some praise at morning what they blame at night. Emerson: Imitation is suicide Franklin: Lost Time is never Found again. Miss Territo: An open mind opens doors . . . . Don’t let go too soon . . . But don’t hold on too long, Find a Balance. ~ Morrie

Who is Mitch?? Mitch graduated from Brandeis University At that age he made promises easily. Keeping them was another story. "You'll stay in touch?", his sociology professor Morrie Schwartz asked him on graduation day in 1979. Mitch answered his favorite professor, his mentor, his friend, without hesitation, "Of course." Fast-forward sixteen years to Mitch's life as a successful newspaper sports columnist and broadcast journalist. Adept at juggling phone calls, faxes, interviews, problems, often it seems while driving too fast to another appointment on an overloaded docket, Mitch has a wonderful wife but no time to spend with her, a beautiful house on a hill, a stock portfolio, and a brother he hasn't talked to in years. He lives on a deadline--too fast is the only speed he knows. Then, one night, . . . Well let’s let him tell you . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuazNYNIl5c

Conflicts 1. Morrie vs. ALS - Morrie must come to terms with his illness and accept his coming death from ALS. How will he choose to live his final days? What does he have to offer the world? 2. Mitch vs. Himself - Mitch is overcoming a materialistic ,unfulfilling lifestyle. This is an internal conflict because Mitch is struggling with himself on how to live life. Should he live his life full of money and fame, or live with his own interests and good of others in mind?