This is a very simple picture book that shows two different perspectives of one thing. One side is arguing that there is a duck and the other side is saying it is a rabbit. The book continues through describing different reasons that the picture is either a duck or a rabbit. 

This book introduces the different perspectives that people have. There are several other pictures that could be different things depending on your own perspective. I would show the class different examples and have them debate on what they think it is. Class discussion would be the main part of this activity. 

 

Grade K-2

Book Level:

Lexile AD300L

Putney Debates - Jack Emery

bookshelves: play-dramatisation, spring-2010, history, published-1983

 

Almost 20 years after its humble beginnings, Manifesta has definitely become one of the most important contemporary art biennials in Europe, and a famous one around the world. Its nomadic nature and the fact that it is so deeply concerned about the geopolitical situation in Europe set it apart from other, older and more established biennials, like Documenta and the Venice Biennial, to name only a couple. However, it is still a difficult project to understand, its process and so-called goals are fluid and constantly debated, and every edition has its own vicissitudes and subjectivities. This is why I picked up this book, and why it was so interesting to read.

 

The book itself is a bit like Manifesta: a complicated, at times confusing and apparently self-contradicting, open process. The essays vary wildly in their quality and style, but they all maintain a critical stance towards Manifesta and the so-called art world. Frankly, after a while all the negative criticism begins to feel a bit forced and superfluous, but I admit my point of view might be biased. I am, after all, reading this seven years after the book came out, a time when the biggest challenges that Europe is facing aren't exactly about bridging the gap between East and West (there is one essay that speaks about the North-South divide, but that's about it). Perhaps even more important, this book came out when the Manifesta Foundation was preparing its Nicosia edition, which ended up never happening for several reasons. Had this most interesting landmark in the history of Manifesta happened before this book was published, it would certainly have changed it a lot.

 

Still, this is an indispensable read if you want to learn more about Manifesta and contemporary art in Europe, specially concerning the period after 1989.

The last chapter was the best IMHO - seemed the least biased of the book

Jim Lehrer has assembled a nice retrospective on televised presidential debates and on his experience as a moderator. Lehrer, anchor of PBS NewsHour and moderator of eleven presidential debates, is pleanty familiar with the subject matter and presents it with the same level-headed coolness that comes across in his televised persona. Lehrer conjures up the controversies and game changers-"major moments" in his own terminology-but discusses the human factors over the political rhetoric. Through personal anecdotes and interviews with the participants Lehrer gives the personal side of the story, a story of three men in the most public forum with the highest stakes "walking down the blade of a knife" where anything from tone of voice to body language can change the face of everything. Tension City reads quick and stays on point, Lehrer is not hear to make judgements but to fill out the story. I recommend it for just about anyone.