The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

During the brainstorming that began this summer (when we thought we were going to have to move this challenge to another group) the idea of having a yearly theme was raised. Thankfully, we didn’t have to move and start the challenge anew. However, the moderators and at least some other challenge members did like the idea of a yearly theme.

This theme should be thought of as a “bonus” theme. In other words, the challenge timelines will not be affected, they will still take place with the seasons as they always have and they will still have seasonal names. Some of the tasks will also revolve around the seasonal theme as they've always done.

However, with a yearly theme some of the challenge tasks may also revolve around the bonus theme. And, as with all of the challenges, some tasks wouldn't be related to either of one of these (they may be inspired by quotes or just the task creator’s creativity). The yearly theme is just another idea that task creators may play with if they are so inclined.

Ideally, the theme would be composed of 4 interrelated components. Some of the ideas that were mentioned this summer were:

** Meals: The Breakfast Challenge, The Lunch Challenge, The Dinner Challenge, The Dessert Challenge (Ms. Anderson)
** Card Suits: Diamonds, Heart, Clubs, Spades (Julia OH)
** Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water (Julia OH)
** Directions: North, South, East, West (Julia OH)

The moderators would like incorporate the bonus theme starting with the Winter Challenge. So, I’m opening this thread for theme ideas. I’ll leave it open until the end of this month and then take some of the more popular and workable ideas and put up a poll the beginning of October for the members to choose the first yearly theme.

So, what are your ideas for a fun theme?

Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes - not totally sure what to do with this, but it's all I can think of right now-haha! (intelligence, strength . . . ?)

Haha Liz that was the first thing I thought of for some reason, but thought it would be too silly to put up! :D

Kristi is a member of it too, but the RRRC does a lot of themed challenges...

maybe something based off the zodiac since there are 12 signs, or something like that for a yearly theme

The only other group of four I can think of is the four forces on an aeroplane - thrust, drag, lift and weight.

Four main rooms in a common house: Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom, Living Room

Liz wrote: "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes - not totally sure what to do with this, but it's all I can think of right now-haha! (intelligence, strength . . . ?)"

And Eyes, Ears, Mouth and Nose! Or sight, hearing, taste and smell.

what about: mother, father, daughter, son?

How about common day: Work, School, Sleep, Eat?

★Meghan★ wrote: "Haha Liz that was the first thing I thought of for some reason, but thought it would be too silly to put up! :D"

There is no such thing as too silly when it comes to books and themes ;o).

Great suggestions so far!

Delicious Dee's suggestion of Zodiac signs (and a few of the other suggestions, too) reminded me -- we don't necessarily need to limit ourselves to things that come in sets of 4. Bigger sets (like the Zodiac) can be grouped into sets of 4. Or, like the senses that Wendy mentioned, for example, we can pick 4 of the 5 either by vote or randomly (or by what makes sense as Wendy did).

It's fun to see all the different directions people take this ;o). Keep 'em coming!

There are 4 major entertainment awards: Emmy, Tony, Oscar, Grammy

The states that make up the "4 corners" intersection: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona

Fours:
The Beatles!

Ages: Babyhood, Youth, Adulthood, Elder-hood

Hemispheres of the Earth

Epochs of time? Ancient, Dark/Middle Ages, Renaissance, Modern, for example?

Food groups: fruits/veggies, grains, meat/beans, dairy

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! *GRIN*

The core subjects in school: English (or native language), Math, Social Studies/History/Civics, and Science

The Four Humors (y'know, like from the Greeks): Blood/Sanguine, Black Bile/Melancholy, Yellow Bile/Choleric, and Phlegm/Phlegmatic

Other possibles that don't come in fours:
the Chakras (7 major ones)

Colors of the Rainbow (also 7)

Decades (we could pick some interesting ones from the last 100 years or something)

Genres of art/music (ex. Byzantine or Abstract; Jazz or Classical; or even Photography vs Sculpture)

Nobel Prizes (Physics, Chemistry, Literature (which we could skip, since we'd be reading), Economics, Medicine, and Peace)

Alternately, awards and prizes in general (or things you might win an award for: bravery in battle, an important invention or discovery, writing an epic book...sort of like what Christine US suggested)

Letters of the Alphabet (break them into groups of 6/7...it could be fun if we went from "most common" to "least common" over the course of the year)

This sounds like fun! If it doesn't have to come by fours, how about days of the week?

Here's a poem:
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

Alternatively, one could link in the original meaning of the days of the week:

see: http://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/da...

To pick one day from the above link:

Wednesday -- Woden's day
Middle English wodnesday, wednesday, or wednesdai
Old English wodnesdæg "Woden's day"
Latin dies Mercurii "day of Mercury"
Ancient Greek hemera Hermu "day of Hermes"

Woden is the chief Anglo-Saxon/Teutonic god. Woden is the leader of the Wild Hunt. Woden is from wod "violently insane" + -en "headship". He is identified with the Norse Odin.

Mercury is the Roman god of commerce, travel, theivery, eloquence and science. He is the messenger of the other gods.

Hermes is the Greek god of commerce, invention, cunning, and theft. He is the messenger and herald of the other gods. He serves as patron of travelers and rogues, and as the conductor of the dead to Hades.

Wendy UK wrote: And Eyes, Ears, Mouth and Nose! Or sight, hearing, taste and smell" Love this idea!

Delicious Dee the book slut wrote: "Kristi is a member of it too, but the RRRC does a lot of themed challenges...

maybe something based off the zodiac since there are 12 signs, or something like that for a yearly theme"

This would be really interesting and could have a lot of possibilities!

Ms Anderson, you just have a ton of good ideas!!!!

Months of the year.

Okay, that's all I have right now. I'll think about it some more.

Hmmmm...What about: mammals, fish, reptiles, bugs?

single, married, divorced, widowed...

Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force

Sun, Moon, Planets, Stars.

or

Four names of planets.

Modes of transportation - Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Boats, Rickshaw, Bicycle, etc.

Soup, Salad, Entree, Dessert

Lake, Sea, River, Ocean

Morning, Day, Evening, Night

Biology, Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science (Natural Sciences)

The 12 animals of the Chinese horoscope:
Horse
Goat/ram/sheep
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Boar/pig
Rat/mouse
Ox
Rabbit/hare
Dragon
Snake
Tiger

The 12 labours of Hercules:
Lion
Hydra (snake with 9 heads)
Hind (female deer)
Boar
Stables
Birds
Bull
Horses
Belt
Cattle
Apples
Cerberus (beast)

The 4 nations of the United Kingdom:
England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales

The 4 estates:
Clergy, Nobility, Commoners, Press

4 parts of day:
Midnight, Dawn(morning), Noon, Dusk(evening)

Here's my thoughts:

4 Noble Truths of Buddhism

4 Basic states of matter - liquid, solid, gas, plasma

4 Basic mathematical operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division

4 Movements of a Classical symphony

Ages of Man - Stone, Bronze, Iron and modern (?)

4 Ages of Sand (from a Douglas Adams speech!) - telescopes (macro perspective), microscopes (micro perspective), silicon (computer perspective), fiber-optics (communication)

Ok, that's it from me!

the 4 major sections in an orchestra - strings, woodwinds, brass and precussion

Ooohhh! I like that one Dee

4 years in high school--freshman, sophomore, junior, senior--not quite sure how it would translate, but it is the only group of 4 I can think of that has not been mentioned.

4 Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

5 Regions of the United States: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and the West

And because I'm a huge nerd, the 4 most popular Microsoft Office programs: Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint

I apologize if any of these have already been mentioned:

Times of day: Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night

4-H (Head, Hands, Heart, Health)

Math: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division

Four Parts of a Plot: Introduction, Conflict, Climax, Resolution

School: Elementary School, Middle School, High School, College

Life Stages: Birth, Childhood, Adulthood, Death

Harmony: Bass, Tenor, Alto, Soprano

Regions of the World: The Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa

Beatles: John, Paul, George, Ringo

Tastes: Salty, Sweet, Sour, Bitter

The letters in the number 4: F, O, U, R

4 horses of the apocalypse - pestilence, war, famine, death (white, red, black, pale)

4 Hindu castes - Brahmana (priest/teacher), Kshatriya (warrior/politician), Vaishya (landowner/entrepreneur) and Shudra (servant/manual laborer)

4 rocky planets - mercury, venus, earth, mars

4 gas planets - jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune

4 stages of a butterfly - egg, larva, pupa, adult

4 blood group - A, B, O, AB

4 colour printing - cyan, magenta, yellow, black

4 estates - politics, administration, judiciary, journalism

kristina

different math signs: negative(-), Zero(0), Positive(+), Infinity

One more because this is what I'm studying!

4 fields of Anthropology - Linguistics, Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology and Physical Anthropology

Diane wrote: "
The letters in the number 4: F, O, U, R "

Going along with this one, we could do "Books" (for the unique letters) or "Read" or other words, too. I really like this idea, Diane :3

- the 7 continents
- areas of the world, meaning: oceans, forests, deserts, plains, etc.

just a couple of ideas, but I like all the great ideas on here so far, how fun!

How would this work exactly? I don't want to seem like Debbie Downer but I actually liked that the challenges were never "theme"-ed. I saw the seasons as a way to structure the time element rather than an actual theme to the challenge itself. I fell in love with the challenge due to the sheer diversity of tasks presented and now am a bit worried about how heavy-handed the theme may turn out to be.

Any chance the whole theme idea can be put up for a vote instead of jumping right into it?

Maybe I'm the only one that feels this way. Um, maybe if it were contained within the moderator created 5-10 point tasks it would be more palatable? Either way I'm not excited about this.

Dionisia, I'm waiting to see how this works, too. I don't really get how the themes are going to be applied/used towards the Challenge tasks. I'm in a "wait and see" mode.

I think that the themes would be written into some of the 5/10/15 point tasks. Anyone creating a 20/25/30 etc point task has the option of following the theme or just doing a random task. I don't think all of the tasks would revolve around the theme. But of course I may be wrong.

"However, with a yearly theme some of the challenge tasks may also revolve around the bonus theme. And, as with all of the challenges, some tasks wouldn't be related to either of one of these (they may be inspired by quotes or just the task creator’s creativity). The yearly theme is just another idea that task creators may play with if they are so inclined."

This is as per Kristi in her first post on here so it shouldn't rely heavily on either. It looks like the tasks we have now. Some will relate to the season, some will relate to the theme, and some will just be whatever creativity that someone can dream of.

★Meghan★ wrote: ""However, with a yearly theme some of the challenge tasks may also revolve around the bonus theme. And, as with all of the challenges, some tasks wouldn't be related to either of one of these (they..."

Meghan is exactly right. We also like the diversity of the challenge and the themes are designed to enhance that diversity not decrease it.

Seeing as this is likely not going to a vote I guess I'll just have to suck it up. Maybe it will grow on me over time. Meh. :(

...still hoping our moderators will consider putting the theme idea to a vote and allow members to express their support or opposition to this significant change. If a majority of members vote for the use of a yearly theme, why not begin in the spring (vs winter) challenge. Isn't winter usually associated with the end of the year?

Meghan wrote: "This is as per Kristi in her first post on here so it shouldn't rely heavily on either. It looks like the tasks we have now. Some will relate to the season, some will relate to the theme, and some will just be whatever creativity that someone can dream of."

It seems to me there will still be a large change, otherwise what would be the point? I'm sort of with Dionisia on this one - a few tasks geared towards a theme would be fine, but I thought we had a nice balance already. I would be sad to see it start leaning too much the other way. Maybe I just need to see it in effect first to really understand how it will play out.

I think the whole theme idea would require us to get incredibly creative when we come up with task ideas...and I'm all for creativity.

I don't mind keeping the same theme for an entire year, but what if we just started out with the theme for a season, rather than the year? Then the number of objects/words/what have you wouldn't need to go through the whole year (so all of those non-four ideas would definitely work), and it would give us a little more leeway in suggesting 5/10/15 point tasks. Also, it would give us a chance to see how the alternate themes work, and if we don't like it, we can always go back.

As for having different themes (as opposed to just whatever season it is), I think it will end up working just like the seasons do now. Instead of having a task like the "T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G" one, we'd have a task using whatever the theme is. Say, "M-E-R-C-U-R-Y" if our theme is "our solar system." "The first man walked on the moon in 1969--Read a book published in 1969." "The Sun is our nearest star, so read a book by or about someone you consider a star." Things like that. Not every task would have to be directly or literally related to the theme, but we'd just be replacing "winter" with "[insert theme we voted on here]."

...Sorry if this is sort of ramble-y. I'm writing this on my break between subbing jobs and my brain is in a muddle from lack of sleep and psychotic 12th graders.

I agree with Ms. Anderson. I think the diversity of tasks will be about the same if we have new themes for each challenge or continue with our seasonal themes. It just gives the task creators something new to work with.

If the theme was "North" then a task might be to read a book that takes place in a location more northern than where you live. Another task might be: Since north is usually up on a map, read a book with a the word up, top, north, or high in the title. Or: One of my bucket list items is to see the Northern Lights, read a book that has a some visual depiction of light on the cover (a burning candle, a lightbulb, the sun).

And there could still be tasks that have nothing to do with the theme, or that still have to do with the calendar/dates that fall within the challenge.

I can't imagine that the whole scope of the challenge would feel any different. So why bother, you might ask? The idea first cropped up when we thought we would have to "change" the challenge in order to restart it with fresh moderators,as per Goodreads. Fortunately, we didn't have to start from scratch, but a lot of us thought that fresh themes would spark some fresh task ideas.

I see what you're all saying, but to use the example of "North", then there will be a lot of tasks related to North. I just think that would get really dry within the challenge. I haven't enjoyed it when so many tasks have been similar in the past - holiday-related or whatever, so I do worry that a theme would cause a lot of tasks to be very similar to one another, thus losing some of the challenge's freshness.

I suppose if it does come to pass, I think Ms. Anderson's idea of doing it for a season and not a year at first is a good suggestion. That way everyone can get a feel for it and if all the tasks are related to one topic we can all see how boring that is (or is not, if that's how it goes).

We kind of already have themes: winter, spring, summer, fall. A lot of the 5-15 pt tasks have to do with someone who was born/died during the season or holidays/events that occur during it. I guess I always thought that was theme-y enough.

I don't know if I'm for or against this new "theme" idea because I can't really see how it's going to be implemented...

*Are we going to pick just one of someone's suggestions, say diamonds/clubs/hearts/spades and this next challenge will be the "diamonds" challenge (followed by the hearts challenge in spring, spades in summer, and then clubs in fall), and all the 5-15 pt tasks in winter will have something to do with diamonds?

*Or are we going to take ALL the themes people suggested (directions, cards, continents, math, Beatles, etc.) and assign one "item" from each theme to each season (like hearts=spring; spades=summer; clubs=fall; diamonds=winter) and then have 1 task for each theme in each season?

I just can't see how it's going to work, so I don't know what to think. I definitely think that if we DO go that way, we should take a vote after the first challenge to see how everyone feels about it.

I really like the seasonal challenge as it is. I love having tasks that relate to events or anniversaries that happen during each season, and I'd hate to lose that.

For me, the 'seasonal' part of the challenge isn't just about the fact that there's a new one each season, but about the fact that we celebrate the seasons with seasonally related tasks.

I guess I don't really mind if some tasks are part of another theme (maybe the 5 point ones?), as some of the current tasks aren't seasonal anyway and I do the challenge for the reading, but ideally I'd actually love every single 5, 10 and 15 pt task to have some seasonal relevance, rather than some other factor. I think it's lovely getting in touch with the changing seasons :)

I have decided to weigh in on this topic. I have been doing the seasonal challenge for about 9 seasons now... As a result, I have seen the repeats of some of the tasks that relate to the season. For that reason, I like the idea of themes. At the same time, I don't want to see all of the holiday related tasks taken out. Those are fun! So maybe it would be nice if it was a mix of both with some extra "whatevers" thrown in.

Kathryn wrote: "I have decided to weigh in on this topic. I have been doing the seasonal challenge for about 9 seasons now... As a result, I have seen the repeats of some of the tasks that relate to the season. Fo..."

I totally agree with this. This is my 8th so I am also open to exploring the idea of themes. The creativity potential is an exciting thought! That said, Dionisia and El make valid points. Especially where some of the participant-driven tasks are concerned. I think we got pretty lucky this time around but not all task creators are created equal and I do worry about the types of "matchy-matchy" tasks a formal theme might spawn.