Dystopian Literature: From Fiction to Fact

Transcription

Dystopian Literature: From Fiction to Fact:
A Course for Adult Education Programs
Jessica H. Smith
Keene High School
June 8, 2009
Disclaimer: Some of the assignments are not mine. The ones I had access to are cited; however,
the ones from other colleagues/myself are not.
Table of Contents
Introduction Letter
An Introduction to Dystopia
Literary Terms
Dystopic Characteristics/Traits
Propaganda/Satire
Short Stories
1984
Supplemental
Brave New World
Literary Circles
The Hunger Games
Unwind
The Giver
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June 8, 2009
This course is designed for the reluctant reader as an introduction to literary analysis.
Students will study three dystopian novels, as well as films and short stories. The course begins
with a basic introduction of literary terms that we will apply to the materials we examine. Films
will serve as a different way of learning about the elements that categorize the curriculum as
dystopian. My students will write essays (, one speech, and minor projects.
I’ve tried to establish and implement assignments that apply literary terms, as well as the basis of
propaganda and satire. We will discuss these elements in films, short stories, and novels. I have
also tried to create assignments that allow for differentiated learning. As I myself struggle with
anything that is not in my face visual, I need to remember how others on the opposite side feel.
There are many keys included in this curriculum; however, all will be added once they class has
been taught.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for thoughts, ideas, and questions!
Disclaimer: Though I may be nuts, as I think most educators should be, I overplanned. I think
the most important thing in education is to be able to serve every child with knowledge,
regardless of learning style. I tired to incorporate visuals, activities, games, etc in the hopes that
you will be able to serve many students!!
Best,
Jessica H. Smith
English Teacher
Keene High School
Keene, NH
jsmith@sau29.org
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Dystopia – The Anti-Perfect Future
Essential Question:
In a perfect world, is fair equal?
Instructional Objectives:
You will:
 understand the concept of dystopia.
 read and analyze a novel about a dystopian world.
 Identify and discuss common themes of dystopias.
Anticipatory Event:
1. Take the following pre-test:
AGREE
DISAGREE
In an ideal society, everyone is equal.
It is better to be ignorant and happy than to be aware and upset.
The government knows what is best for us.
Rules exist to help us live our lives properly.
The police should be allowed to do whatever they can to protect
the community.
You shouldn’t have to be around people that you don’t agree
with.
It is alright to upset some people as long as you’re doing what is
best for society.
If you know you are right, you shouldn’t listen to anyone else.
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Name: _______________
Directions: Review the cartoons (see below) and based on your readings, identify the types of
dystopias represented:
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LITERARY TERMS
Tasks:
1. Students will complete literary term note activity.
2. Students will read the story The Sniper
3. Students will complete lit term sheet for story.
4. Teacher will engage students in discussion about lit terms.
5. Students will take quiz.
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Task One:
Directions: Using the overhead, use the Cornell template (on notebook paper) to take notes.
Remember be SHORT and concise. There are 37 terms. Choose the 15 words that you do not
know. If you don’t know more than 15, choose any 15 that you think might be difficult for you.
For example: exposition: provides background information, introduces you to characters, setting, and
conflict. Occurs at the beginning of a piece of work.
exposition
background info—setting, chars, etc—beg of work
Task Two:
Directions Choose another 5 literary terms to illustrate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
antagonist- the force working against the protagonist, or main character. The antagonist may be
another character, society, nature, or an internal force.
characterization- the techniques a writer uses to create and develop a character. The reader learns
about the character through the character’s words, actions, and feelings through descriptions of the
character; and through what other characters have to say.
climax- the turning point in the plot. The peak, interest, and intensity created allows the reader to see
when the outcome of the conflict becomes clear. Usually results in a change of in a character or a
solution to a problem.
conflict- struggle between opposing forces.
external- occurs between a character and a force outside of himself or herself, such as the
another character, society, or nature.
internal- an inner struggle the character has with himself/herself.
Ex: trying to make a decision or depression
connotation- the emotional response a word evokes.
Ex: a rose- you think of romance and love
denotation- the dictionary definition of a word.
Ex: a rose- a prickly bush or shrub that typically bears red, pink, yellow, or white fragrant flowers,
native to north temperate regions.
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dialect- the particular variety of a language spoken in one geographical area by a certain group of
people.
Includes- pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammatical constructions.
Ex: “ How come you didn’t go on home when the rain come? Rain don’t bother you young folks
none.”
exposition-provides background information, introduces you to characters, setting, and conflict.
Occurs at the beginning of a piece of work.
falling action- occurs after the climax in a work of fiction. Shows the effects of the climax, or turning
point. As it begins, the suspense is over but the results of the action that caused the conflict are not yet
worked out.
flashback- an interruption in the chronological order of events in a story to go back in time to retell an
event that is pertinent to the understanding of the plot or characters.
foreshadowing- hints at an event that will occur later in the story.
Ex: the prologue to Romeo and Juliet informs us of their impending death.
genre-refers to the distinct types or categories into which literary works are grouped. (fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry)- 4 main types!
hyperbole- a figure of speech in which an exaggeration is made for emphasis or humorous effect.
Ex: Ms. Hoyt gave us so much homework; I needed a pickup truck to carry it all home.
idiom- a common phrase or expression that has a meaning different from the literal, or actual, meaning
of the individual words.
Ex: She was fit to be tied after she saw what he had done to her car.
She was upset about something being wrong with her car.
imagery- refers to words and phrases that appeals to the reader’s senses, often in a startling way.
Most often appears to sight.
Ex: …he heard the padding sound of feet on the soft earth, and the night breeze brought him the
perfume of the General’s cigarette.
irony- the contrast between what happens and what is expected to happen
situational- when a reader or character expects one thing to happen, but something entirely
different occurs.
Ex: You cancel plans with your boyfriend/girlfriend to hang out with your buddies. You see
your bf/gf at the pizza place. OOPS.
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verbal- when a character or narrator says one thing but means another
Ex: Your show up to Sadie’s in ripped jeans and your date tells you it was nice that you
dressed up.
dramatic- occurs when the reader/audience learns information that certain characters don’t.
Ex: Talk shows…we know why certain guests are invited to the show while some think it’s for
different reasons.
metaphor- a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that have something in common.
Ex: “Juliet is the sun! Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon.” - Romeo
mood- the feeling- such as sadness or hope- that the writer evokes in the rader through carefully
selected details and words. Usually in opening paragraphs. The writer uses connotation, dialogue,
imagery, figurative language, foreshadowing, setting, and rhythm to create the mood.
motivation- the moving force behind a character’s actions. Often uses psychological and cultural
factors.
plot- sequences and actions and events in a literary work. Some sort of conflict is at its center. Follow
a specific pattern. (plot diagram components)
point of view- the perspective from which a story is told.
first person- narrator recounts the story using “I” or “me”
third person- narrator is outside the story- uses “he”, “she”, and “they”
omniscient- narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story, as
opposed to third person limited, which adheres closely to one character's perspective.
protagonist- main character.- always involved in the central conflict and often undergoes change after
the climax of the plot.
resolution- the final part of the plot of a literary work. Explains how the conflict is resolved and may
answer any of the reader’s questions about the plot.
rising action- forms the second stage in the development of plot. The conflict of the story becomes
obvious..complications arise and suspense builds.
setting- the time and place in which action occurs in a piece of literature. Past, present, future; during
the day or at night; a certain historical period, etc.
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simile- a comparison using like or as
Ex: Her hair was like a soft piece of silk.
suspense- the tension or excitement felt by the reader as he or she becomes involved in the piece of
work and becomes eager to know the outcome of the conflict.
symbol- a person, place, or thing that represents something beyond itself..images can be used to
symbolize abstract ideas.
Ex: Romeo and Juliet- Queen Mab speech…Mab symbolizes the power of waking dreams, fantasies,
and desires.
theme- message or insight about life or human nature that the writer presents to the reader…not
usually stated, but implied- the reader must figure it out.
Ex: Romeo and Juliet- a theme could be the inevitability of fate
tone- the writer’s attitude toward his or her subject. It may be humorous, admiring, sad, angry, bitter,
etc. The writer’s word choice often indicates tone.
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Literary Term
Notes
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Literary Term
Notes
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“The Sniper”
Liam O’ Flaherty
The long June twilight faded into night. Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of
the moon that shone through fleecy clouds, casting a pale light as of approaching dawn over the
streets and the dark waters of the Liffey. Around the beleaguered Four Courts the heavy guns
roared. Here and there through the city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night,
spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms. Republicans and Free Staters were waging civil
war.
On a rooftop near O'Connell Bridge, a Republican sniper lay watching. Beside him lay his rifle
and over his shoulders was slung a pair of field glasses. His face was the face of a student, thin
and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the
eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.
He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning. He had been too
excited to eat. He finished the sandwich, and, taking a flask of whiskey from his pocket, he took
a short drought. Then he returned the flask to his pocket. He paused for a moment, considering
whether he should risk a smoke. It was dangerous. The flash might be seen in the darkness, and
there were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk.
Placing a cigarette between his lips, he struck a match, inhaled the smoke hurriedly and put out
the light. Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof. The sniper
took another whiff and put out the cigarette. Then he swore softly and crawled away to the left.
Cautiously he raised himself and peered over the parapet. There was a flash and a bullet whizzed
over his head. He dropped immediately. He had seen the flash. It came from the opposite side of
the street.
He rolled over the roof to a chimney stack in the rear, and slowly drew himself up behind it, until
his eyes were level with the top of the parapet. There was nothing to be seen--just the dim outline
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of the opposite housetop against the blue sky. His enemy was under cover.
Just then an armored car came across the bridge and advanced slowly up the street. It stopped on
the opposite side of the street, fifty yards ahead. The sniper could hear the dull panting of the
motor. His heart beat faster. It was an enemy car. He wanted to fire, but he knew it was useless.
His bullets would never pierce the steel that covered the gray monster.
Then round the corner of a side street came an old woman, her head covered by a tattered shawl.
She began to talk to the man in the turret of the car. She was pointing to the roof where the sniper
lay. An informer.
The turret opened. A man's head and shoulders appeared, looking toward the sniper. The sniper
raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted toward the
side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the
gutter.
Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse.
The rifle clattered to the roof. The sniper thought the noise would wake the dead. He stooped to
pick the rifle up. He couldn't lift it. His forearm was dead. "I'm hit," he muttered.
Dropping flat onto the roof, he crawled back to the parapet. With his left hand he felt the injured
right forearm. The blood was oozing through the sleeve of his coat. There was no pain--just a
deadened sensation, as if the arm had been cut off.
Quickly he drew his knife from his pocket, opened it on the breastwork of the parapet, and
ripped open the sleeve. There was a small hole where the bullet had entered. On the other side
there was no hole. The bullet had lodged in the bone. It must have fractured it. He bent the arm
below the wound. the arm bent back easily. He ground his teeth to overcome the pain.
Then taking out his field dressing, he ripped open the packet with his knife. He broke the neck of
the iodine bottle and let the bitter fluid drip into the wound. A paroxysm of pain swept through
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him. He placed the cotton wadding over the wound and wrapped the dressing over it. He tied the
ends with his teeth.
Then he lay still against the parapet, and, closing his eyes, he made an effort of will to overcome
the pain.
In the street beneath all was still. The armored car had retired speedily over the bridge, with the
machine gunner's head hanging lifeless over the turret. The woman's corpse lay still in the gutter.
The sniper lay still for a long time nursing his wounded arm and planning escape. Morning must
not find him wounded on the roof. The enemy on the opposite roof coverd his escape. He must
kill that enemy and he could not use his rifle. He had only a revolver to do it. Then he thought of
a plan.
Taking off his cap, he placed it over the muzzle of his rifle. Then he pushed the rifle slowly
upward over the parapet, until the cap was visible from the opposite side of the street. Almost
immediately there was a report, and a bullet pierced the center of the cap. The sniper slanted the
rifle forward. The cap clipped down into the street. Then catching the rifle in the middle, the
sniper dropped his left hand over the roof and let it hang, lifelessly. After a few moments he let
the rifle drop to the street. Then he sank to the roof, dragging his hand with him.
Crawling quickly to his feet, he peered up at the corner of the roof. His ruse had succeeded. The
other sniper, seeing the cap and rifle fall, thought that he had killed his man. He was now
standing before a row of chimney pots, looking across, with his head clearly silhouetted against
the western sky.
The Republican sniper smiled and lifted his revolver above the edge of the parapet. The distance
was about fifty yards--a hard shot in the dim light, and his right arm was paining him like a
thousand devils. He took a steady aim. His hand trembled with eagerness. Pressing his lips
together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired. He was almost deafened with the
report and his arm shook with the recoil.
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Then when the smoke cleared, he peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit.
He was reeling over the parapet in his death agony. He struggled to keep his feet, but he was
slowly falling forward as if in a dream. The rifle fell from his grasp, hit the parapet, fell over,
bounded off the pole of a barber's shop beneath and then clattered on the pavement.
Then the dying man on the roof crumpled up and fell forward. The body turned over and over in
space and hit the ground with a dull thud. Then it lay still.
The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He
became bitten by remorse. The sweat stood out in beads on his forehead. Weakened by his
wound and the long summer day of fasting and watching on the roof, he revolted from the sight
of the shattered mass of his dead enemy. His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself,
cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody.
He looked at the smoking revolver in his hand, and with an oath he hurled it to the roof at his
feet. The revolver went off with a concussion and the bullet whizzed past the sniper's head. He
was frightened back to his senses by the shock. His nerves steadied. The cloud of fear scattered
from his mind and he laughed.
Taking the whiskey flask from his pocket, he emptied it a drought. He felt reckless under the
influence of the spirit. He decided to leave the roof now and look for his company commander,
to report. Everywhere around was quiet. There was not much danger in going through the streets.
He picked up his revolver and put it in his pocket. Then he crawled down through the skylight to
the house underneath.
When the sniper reached the laneway on the street level, he felt a sudden curiosity as to the
identity of the enemy sniper whom he had killed. He decided that he was a good shot, whoever
he was. He wondered did he know him. Perhaps he had been in his own company before the split
in the army. He decided to risk going over to have a look at him. He peered around the corner
into O'Connell Street. In the upper part of the street there was heavy firing, but around here all
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was quiet.
The sniper darted across the street. A machine gun tore up the ground around him with a hail of
bullets, but he escaped. He threw himself face downward beside the corpse. The machine gun
stopped.
Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face.
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Name: ______________
Study Guide for Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper”
I. VOCABULARY: Be able to define the following words and understand them when they
appear in the story or class discussion.
ascetic________________________________________________________________________
beleaguered____________________________________________________________________
enveloped_____________________________________________________________________
fanatic________________________________________________________________________
lodge_________________________________________________________________________
spasmodically__________________________________________________________________
reel___________________________________________________________________________
ruse__________________________________________________________________________
remorse_______________________________________________________________________
II. LITERARY TERMS: Be able to define each term and apply each term to the story.
Point of View ______________________________________________________
First person ________________________________________________________
Third person omniscient__________________________________________
Third person limited_________________________________________
From what point of view is the story told? Provide
evidence._______________________
onomatopoeia____________________________________________________________
example_________________________________________________________________
protagonist___________________________________________________________
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Who is the protagonist?__________________________ ____________________
antagonist_______________________________________________________________
Who is the antagonist?______________________________________________
simile_____________________________________________________________
example___________________________________________________________
situational irony______________________________________________
setting__________________________________________________________________
List all the information you can about the setting in the story_____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
theme____________________________________________________
What is a theme of this story?_________ ____________________________
III. QUESTIONS: Answer the following questions. Be sure to use complete sentences.
1. What time of day is the story set?
2. What are the names of the two sides?
3. What side is the protagonist on?
4. Why hadn’t the sniper eaten since morning?
5. What risk does the sniper decide to take?
6. What pulls up in front of the building?
7. What happens to the driver and the old woman?
8. What happens to the sniper?
9. Describe the sniper’s ruse to kill the other sniper.
10. How does the sniper feel about war after he had killed the other sniper?
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11. What happened when the sniper threw the revolver down?
12. Who was the dead sniper?
13. How might the story be different if the story was told from third person omniscient?
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Name:______________
Literary Terms Quiz
I. Match the following short story elements with their proper descriptions:
1.______ plot
2.______ conflict
3.______ 1st person
4.______ limited 3rd person
5.______ omniscient
6.______ theme
7.______ stereotype*
8.______ connotation
9.______ foreshadowing
10.______ verbal irony
11.______ motivation
12.______ protagonist
13.______ external conflict
14.______ symbol
15.______ denotation
16.______ dramatic irony
17.______ antagonist
18.______ exposition
19.______ setting
20.______ irony of situation
21.______ suspense
22.______ tone
23.______ internal conflict
24.______ flashback
25.______ climax
A. all-knowing narrator
B. character vs. self
C. suggested meaning of a word or phrase
D. clues that hint at events to come
E. person or force that opposes main character
F. reasons for a character's actions
G. character vs. character
H. one-dimensional character
I. sequence of events in a story
J. when outcome of the conflict is made clear
K."fly on wall" perspective; told from outside
L. explicit meaning of a word or phrase
M. central character
N. struggle between two or more forces
O. main idea expressed in a work; central insight
P. writer says one thing and means another
Q. tells of events that happened earlier
R. oversimpliflied view of someone
S. an "I" tells the story
T. difference between expected/actual outcome
U. takes on a greater meaning than itself
V. time and place of a story
W. uncertainty or anxiety about the outcome
X. provides background and introduction to the story
Y. reader knows something a character does not
*- indicates an extra credit question.
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There are many common traits that dystopic societies contain:
A dystopia is a negative or undesirable society. They are seen as dangerous and
alienating future societies.
1. Society: most impose severe social restrictions on community members
- social stratification: social class is strictly defined and enforced
- ruthless egalitarian
- repression of the intellectual
2. Social Groups: total absence of social groups other than the “state”
- independent religion is notable because of omittance
- family is attacked: the hostility to motherhood
3. Nature: characters are isolated from the natural world
-conditioned to fear nature
4. Political: Government asserts power over citizens
- flawed in some way—portrayed as oppressive
- filled with pessimistic views of the ruling class—rules with an “iron fist”
5. Economic: state is in control of the economy
- black market—items banned or seen as contraband
- often privatization in businesses
6. The Hero: protagonist questions society—intuition
- Escape or Rebel
7. Conflict: societal group somewhere not under control of state
8. Climax: can be unresolved
- death or reeducation/conformity
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SATIRE and PROPAGANDA UNIT
Propaganda:
1. Students will read and discuss as a class The Seven Techniques of Propaganda Packet.
2. Students will complete Propaganda Project.
3. Students will have a small propaganda quiz.
Satire:
**Suggested order**
1. Students will complete writing prompts for discussion with “BABY GASP” Transparency.
2. Class will share ideas.
3. Students will take satire notes.
4. KEY for notes
5. Students will watch the movie Shrek. They will be taking notes with the template on the
techniques of satire.
6. Students will be taking a traditional fairytale, condensing it, and satirizing it.
7. Assignment will be graded using the fairytale satire rubric.
8. Discussion: “Fool” Transparency- Before students begin to discuss, ask them to look closely
at the picture. Ask questions such as:
a. what is this a parody of?
b. is this horatian or juvenalian? Why?
c. Where is there an example of incongruity?
9. Students will complete personal caricature assignment.
10. Class will read and develop discussion questions for “Monkey with a Word Processor”
article.
11. Read and discuss Watch What You Say assignment.
12. LAB: Students will complete political cartoon web search assignment.
13. Discussion: “Hitler and Nike” Transparency- Before students begin to discuss, ask them to
look closely at the picture. Ask questions such as:
a. what is this a parody of?
b. is this horatian or juvenalian? Why?
c. Where is there an example of reversal?
14. Students will read and discuss MIT: Satirical Letters sheet.
15. Students will read, highlight, and discuss the four techniques of satire in The Onion: Wonka
Article.
16. Students will take the Satire and Propaganda Unit Exam.
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THE TECHNIQUES OF PROPAGANDA
From “How to Detect and Analyze Propaganda” by Clyde R. Miller
The Fine Art of Propaganda
In examination of propaganda, the first logical thing to do is to define the term. A little
over a year ago a group of scholars organizing the Institute for Propaganda Analysis, after a good
many hours of argument, arrived at this definition: “As generally understood, propaganda is an
expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups, deliberately designed to influence
opinions or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined ends.”
That means if you and I have an opinion and express it with intent to influence some
individual or group, we are, to that extent, propagandists.
And are acts propaganda, too? Yes. The Boston Tea Party was a propaganda act plotted
and planned and beautifully timed by that master propagandist of the American Revolution,
Samuel Adams, to crystallize the feeling of hatred by the Colonists against the British Tories.
The burning of the Reichstag when Hitler came to power may have been a propaganda act.
Certainly Hitler took advantage of it by placing blame for it on “Jews” and “Communists,”
labeling those whom he did not like “Jews” and “Communists” whether they were or not,
blaming them for the fire and putting them in prison. By such propaganda acts Hitler was able to
dispose of many of his enemies at the very outset of his dictatorship.
We are fooled by propaganda chiefly because we don’t recognize it when we see it. It may be
fun to be fooled, but, as the cigarette ads used to say, it is more fun to know. We can more easily
recognize propaganda when we see it if we are familiar with the seven common propaganda
devices.
Types:
BANDWAGON: The basic idea behind the bandwagon approach is just that, "getting on the
bandwagon." The propagandist puts forth the idea that everyone is doing this, or everyone
supports this person/cause, so should you. The bandwagon approach appeals to the conformist in
all of us: No one wants to be left out of what is perceived to be a popular trend.
EXAMPLE: Everyone in the sophomore class is voting for _______________ to be class
representative at our meeting. Shouldn't you have a say in this fabulous decision?
TESTIMONIAL: This is the celebrity endorsement of a philosophy, movement or candidate. In
advertising, for example, athletes are often paid millions of dollars to promote sports shoes,
equipment and fast food. In political circles, movie stars, television stars, rock stars and athletes
lend a great deal of credibility and power to a political cause or candidate. Just a photograph of a
movie star at political rally can generate more interest in that issue/candidate or cause thousands,
sometimes millions, of people to become supporters.
EXAMPLE: Michael Jordan promotes sneakers, why wouldn’t you want to wear the same shoes
that Michael Jordan wears?
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PLAIN FOLKS: Here the candidate or cause is identified with common people from everyday
walks of life. The idea is to make the candidate/cause come off as grassroots and all-American.
EXAMPLE: After getting her makeup done and shooting her show, Rachel Ray whisks off to
Dunkin Donuts to have coffee and a new flatbread sandwich.
TRANSFER: Transfer employs the use of symbols, quotes or the images of famous people to
convey a message not necessarily associated with them. In the use of transfer, the
candidate/speaker attempts to persuade us through the indirect use of something we respect, such
as a patriotic or religious image, to promote his/her ideas. Religious and patriotic images may be
the most commonly used in this propaganda technique but they are not alone. Sometimes even
science becomes the means to transfer the message.
EXAMPLE: The environmentalist group PEOPLE PROMOTING PLANTS, in its attempt to
prevent a highway from destroying the natural habitat of thousands of plant species, produces a
television ad with a "scientist" in a white lab coat explaining the dramatic consequences of
altering the food chain by destroying this habitat.
FEAR: This technique is very popular among political parties and PACs (Political Action
Committees) in the U.S. The idea is to present a dreaded circumstance and usually follow it up
with the kind of behavior needed to avoid that horrible event.
EXAMPLE: The Citizens for Retired Rights present a magazine ad showing an elderly couple
living in poverty because their social security benefits have been drastically cut by the
Republicans in Congress. The solution? The CRR urges you to vote for Democrats.
LOGICAL FALLACIES: When two true statements are introduced and they are then assumed
to have a connection. A false conclusion is made.
EXAMPLE:
1: Bill Clinton supports gun control.
2: Communist regimes have always supported gun control.
Conclusion: Bill Clinton is a communist.
We can see in this example that the Conclusion is created by a twisting of logic, and is therefore
a fallacy.
GLITTERING GENERALITIES: A word that could mean different things to different people
and is used to stir up favorable mentions. The important thing to remember is that in this
technique the propagandist uses these words in a positive sense. They often include words like:
democracy, family values (when used positively), rights, civilization, even the word "American."
EXAMPLE: An ad by a cigarette manufacturer proclaims to smokers: Don't let them take your
rights away! ("Rights" is a powerful word, something that stirs the emotions of many, but few on
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either side would agree on exactly what the 'rights' of smokers are.)
NAME-CALLING: This is the opposite of the GLITTERING GENERALITIES approach.
Name-calling ties a person or cause to a largely perceived negative image.
EXAMPLE: In a campaign speech to a logging company, the Congressman referred to his
environmentally conscious opponent as a "tree hugger."
Identify the following types of propaganda and what the ad is actually trying to instill/do.
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Exercise: Please label the following types of propaganda.
1. This elegant, cashmere sweater will make you feel like the luxurious, beautiful person
you are. ________________________
2. I know how hard it is to make ends meet. When I was just starting out, I struggled to pay
the bills and had collectors calling me all the time. Using my program, I can help you get
rid of the pesky phone calls. ________________________
3. More and more students are getting the iPod touch instead of the basic iPod, or the once
popular iPod nano. Do you really want to be caught with anything less that the
best?_________________
4. Stand up for your rights. Choose a candidate who has family values and supports a
Democratic society through his patriotism. ________________________
5. Hello, I am Britney Spears, international pop-icon. I use the Schick razor for all my last
minute, psycho breakdowns. If you use the Schick razor, I promise you will be very
successful. (HAHA couldn’t help it…) ________________________
6. My opponent is a snake, a cheat, and a liar! ________________________
7. Senator Booshi voted agains the Envirnmental Protection Act so he must hate trees!
________________________
Rhetorical Devices can also be used when trying to persuade someone to buy something, join a
cause, etc.
Some rhetorical devices:
use of analogy , metaphor, simile, personification, etc .
allusion (references to other things that may or may not truly relate)
imagery (picture this)
alliteration (repetition of beginning consonant sounds) - Listen and Learn to Love English!
rhetorical questions (questions you don’t mean to be answered)
hyperbole or understatement
onomatopoeia (use of words that express sounds - Buuuuzzzzzzz).
Exercise: Determine what the following slogans used as far as rhetorical devices.
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“Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh, what a relief it is.”
The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” (M&M)
“A diamond is forever.”
“Unleash the Power of the Sun.” (Sunny Delight)
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Propaganda is EVERYWHERE!
Even children’s picture books now a day try and influence the way one thinks and feels. A
popular children’s book, And Tango Makes Three, is is based on the true story of Roy and Silo,
two male Chinstrap Penguins in New York's Central Park Zoo who for a time formed a couple.
The book follows part of this time in the penguins' lives. This book teaches children that it's okay
to be in, or know, someone who has a "non-traditional" family. The pair were observed trying to
hatch a rock that resembled an egg. When zookeepers realized that Roy and Silo were both male,
it occurred to them to give them the second egg of a mixed-sex penguin couple, a couple which
had previously been unable to successfully hatch two eggs at once. Roy and Silo hatched and
raised the healthy young chick, a female named "Tango" by keepers, together as a family.
Many parents are not happy about the message that this children’s book is sending to children at
such a young age.
Please read the following article:
Propaganda in Children's Literature
Perhaps the greatest lesson for parents from conflicts about books like And Tango Makes
Three is the need to develop a deeper understanding of children's literature.
C. S. Lewis wrote, "It certainly is my opinion that a book worth reading only in childhood is not
worth reading even then."
So true. There are books that inspire and stir the imagination (Lord of the Rings, King Arthur).
There are books that explore human relationships and the choices we make (anything Jane
Austen). There are books that expose the culture's underbelly and show the triumph of the human
spirit (anything Dickens). There are books that help children cope with insecurities (Ira Sleeps
Over or A Birthday Gift for Frances), find their place in the world (Noisy Nora), or maintain
hope and optimism (A Chair for My Mother).
Then there is the current tsunami of "relevant" teen books and propagandistic picture books for
kids. Here is where parents really need to look beyond the pictures or the copy on the back cover
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to find the subtext(s). My girls tell me of books they're required to read on eating disorders,
broken homes, suicidal teens. Often there is a Christian character to serve as a foil - representing
everything hypocritical and evil to contrast with the goodness and virtue of the kids with all the
problems. Not that Christian kids don't have problems - we all do- but hopefully they've been
raised with compassion and hope.
Every writer has a worldview. Some writers write because they are compelled to write, as though
somewhere along the line they struck oil and writing becomes the default. I think of people like
Shakespeare and Dickens and Austen and Elliot who wrote in the days when a writer paid a price
to write - cutting nibs on pens and mixing their own ink, handwriting page after page after page.
Nowadays, it takes so little effort to write that anyone can do it. So people can choose to grind
out pulp teen fiction focused on darkness, on lives going nowhere - and thanks to Jr. Scholastic,
people will buy it. People with a political ax to grind can write a warm and fuzzy picture book
and progressive librarians will stock it.
In a culture with too much abundance and not enough discernment, our kids' library shelves have
become like a cafeteria tipping way too far toward junk food. Too many choices and many of
them meaningless.
(One of my friends is a librarian - I hope she understands this is not a personal attack on her
profession, but simply observing: are we losing the transcendent in a bog of mediocrity?)
Which leads to my main problem with And Tango Makes Three and books like it.
I don't like to see children used as political pawns. Too often these days, children's literature is
being hijacked by people with a political agenda who want to "teach" children the lessons they
think they need to learn.
In a National Public Radio interview – “Here and Now” May 3, 2005, Robert Skutch, author of
Who’s in a Family? said:
“The whole purpose of the book was to get the subject [of same-sex parent households] out into
the minds and the awareness of children before they are old enough to have been convinced that
there's another way of looking at life.
“. . . It would be really nice if children were not subjected to the – I don't want to use the word
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'bigotry,' but that's what I want to say anyway – of their parents and older people.
That's a very narrow worldview, I must say. And I'm not sure that writers who write for children
simply for indoctrination purposes merit the same kind of trust and respect that authors who
write from a more inspired place and a broader worldview enjoy. (I don't write children's books,
btw, but I've been reading them to students and my own children for 39 years.)
Adults themselves are vulnerable to propaganda. Why shouldn't children be protected from it?
Children's propaganda is not new - in a cursory google search I found references dating back to
the French Revolution.
I'm wondering if a picture book about a boy who wanted to grow up to be a priest - maybe based
on a true story - would be acceptable on public school library shelves? Or how about a story of a
girl who one day got off the bus crying because two boys - one from a fiercely atheist home - had
called her "pea-brain" and "stupid" because she is a Christian? This really happened to my
daughter Maddy a couple years ago (the only time she ever came home without a smile on her
consistently happy face).
The point is that all children will encounter opposition at some point in their lives - they are too
fat, too skinny, too smart, too dumb, too clumsy, too shy. Their house is too small, their car too
old, their parents too weird. Maybe their parents are two dads or two moms. You know, I don't
think in the world of little children these things really matter all that much.
The early years are the years for building up character, compassion and kindness so that when
these issues come up our kids will respond in the right way. They would not bully someone for
being homosexual or having homosexual parents because they do not bully, period.
The problem with children's propaganda is not only that it doesn't respect the autonomy of
individuals and their families, but that they crowd out more worthy choices on crowded shelves
and in busy schedules.
John Stevens says he is going to ask for a review/updating/overhaul of Loudoun County Public
Schools book review procedures. If this is the case, I do hope that we will add a component to
the review process that has to do with guarding our children from propaganda. When a group many with no children in the public schools - dress up in black and white to defend a book about
Penguins, you know it's about more than penguins.
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http://www.mommylife.net/archives/2008/02/propaganda_in_c.html
Where else are children exposed to propaganda at a young age? Walt Disney! He didn’t just
write about cute and cuddly, little cartoon characters; he basically put a predetermined message
and image of certain historical and political aspects in people’s minds.
Example? Pocahontas
What does this image suggest about Native Americans?
What is this image trying to say?
Fox News dork Neal Cavuto and Christian Broadcasting Network movie reviewer Holly
McClure are unhappy with the environmentalist message of Happy Feet.
CAVUTO: Holly, I saw this with my two little boys. What I found offensive — I don’t care what
your stands are on the environment — is that they shove this in a kid’s movie. So you hear the
penguins are starving and they’re starving because of mean old men, mean old companies, arctic
fishing, a big taboo.
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Assignment: Now that you have your feet wet—well okay hopefully we’re up to
your torso now, you need to complete your propaganda assignment.
From the magazines in the front of the room, you need to find 5 advertisements
and
• Determine what type of propaganda it is
• Determine what each add is trying to imply—what is its message?
• In your personal opinion, do you think that this is actually reaching
the people? Why? (popular celebrity, aesthetically pleasing, highly
sexual, shows the vice’s of man, etc)
• If you were to create your own ad/propaganda what would you try
and deliver as a message?
Criteria:
• You need to create a poster
• Your poster needs to be well done, aesthetically pleasing, and not
haphazardly thrown together.
• You MUST have shown proof that you know what propaganda
is and how it applies to your ads.
• This is a project grade worth 100 points.
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Name: _______________
Directions: Using your propaganda expertise, with each picture state what type
of propaganda is being used. There could be more than one answer, so please be
careful in your reasoning that you provide.
Type:
Reasoning:
1. Caption: All of Germany listens to the Fuhrer.
2.
Type:
Reasoning:
.
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Name: __________
Satirical Writing Prompts for Discussion
Writing prompt one: What makes a fairy tale a fairy tale? What are the characteristics of the
genre?
Writing prompt two: Using the image on the overhead, I want you to make an educated guess on
what satire is, how it is being used, and what the original message was supposed to convey.
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36
Satire
Name: ___________
1. SATIRE-
2. HORATIAN-
3. JUVENALIAN-
4. CARICATURES-
5. SATIRIC MONOLOGUES-
6. PARODIES-
7. SATIRIC NARRATIVES-
Common Elements of Fairy Tales
1. A fairy tale begins with "Once upon a time...”
2. Fairy tales happen in the long ago.
3. Fairy Tales have fantasy and make believe in them.
4. Fairy Tales have clearly defined Good characters vs. Evil characters.
5. Royalty is usually present in a fairy tale, a beautiful princess/handsome
prince.
6. There may be magic with giants, elves, talking animals, witches or fairies.
7. Fairy tales have a problem that needs to be solved.
8. It often takes three tries to solve the problem.
9. Fairy tales have happy endings – “they all lived happily ever after.”
10. Fairy tales usually teach a lesson or have a theme.
11. Almost always there is a damsel in “distress.”
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Definition of Satire: A literary work that ridicules its subject through the use of techniques such as
exaggeration, reversal, incongruity (not in harmony), and/or parody in order to make a comment or
criticism about it.
***Shrek *** satirizes fairy tales by departing from the typical fairy tale characteristics in
humorous ways.
* what are some elements that depart from the typical characteristics of fairy tales. We
will share our observations.
Four Techniques of SATIRE!
1. Exaggeration
• To enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal bounds so that it becomes
ridiculous and its faults can be seen.
2. Incongruity
• To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to its surroundings.
3. Reversal
• To present the opposite of the normal order (e.g., the order of events, hierarchical
order).
4. Parody
• To imitate the techniques and/or style of some person, place, or thing.
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KEY
Satire Unit Definitions
1. Satire- humor mixed with criticism which points out problems or flaws in a specific
person, group, institution, society, or human nature; satire can be in any form (poem, novel,
etc.)
2. Horatian- light and amusing satire
3. Juvenalian- bitter and shocking satire
4. Caricatures- cartoons in which familiar faces are drawn with their prominent features
exaggerated and distorted
5. Satiric monologues- satires in which we “hear” the author speaking, usually in an ironic
tone, in a voice which is more or less his/her own
6. Parodies- satiric imitations of other well-known pieces of writing, songs, movies, etc.
7. Satiric narratives- satires in which the author proceeds as if he/she is telling a story and
the satiric intent is revealed by characters and events
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Name: ______________
Directions: As you watch the film Shrek, please fill in the chart on satirical techniques.
Technique
Description
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Grading Rationale:
1. Creativity –project looks as if time and
effort went into it.
---------/5
2. Style –good choice of language/description/complexity
---------/20
3. Satire –all four are present and
---------/40
4. Grammar –all standard rules are followed
---------/20
5. Visual –one illustration is included in color
---------/10
6. Content –it is obvious what is being satirized in your story ---------/10
Comments:
Final Grade ~>
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Name:_________________________
Personal Caricature
In caricatures an artist takes familiar characteristics, features, habits, hobbies, faults,
flaws, etc. from (usually) famous people and exaggerates them for effect. For this exercise, you
will be doing the same thing, except you will be doing this in the form of a self-portrait. Before
you start, you need to think of specific things which you think people notice about you. These
could be any of the aspects mentioned above, or other things which you feel make you unique or
are noticeable about you. In your caricature, feel free to add costume, accessories, action, even
word or thought “bubbles” to further personalize your self-satire.
How do others see you? How do you see yourself?
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Dave Barry and Mark Twain on
sPeLLiNg
Monkey with a Word Processor
Not that I’m recommending this, but if you were to sit down and actually read some of
the so-called writers of the past, they would make no sense whatsoever. For example,
Shakespeare’s plays go on and on until the main characters, driven insane by the fact that they’re
all speaking gibberish, kill themselves.
What was Shakespeare’s problem? He didn’t have word processing. He had to write
everything out by hand, and like that of most people, his handwriting was illegible. The actors in
his plays were forced to guess what their lines were, and by the time the words got into print,
they had almost nothing to do with what Shakespeare originally wrote..
Modern word processing enables us to exponentially enhance and aggrandize the
parameters, both qualitative and quantitative, of our communicative conceptualization because
now we can spell big words correctly without having a clue what they mean. This is made
possible by spell-checking. For example, suppose you write a prospective client the following
letter:
Deer Mr. Strompel:
It was a grate pleasure to meat you’re staff; we look foreword to sea you soon inn the near future.
Clearly, you did not create a good impression. But don’t worry, because all you have to
do is use your spell checker on this letter. It will not only inform you that there is no such word
as “Strompel,” but it can also replace it with the word that you probably meant to use. The result
is this impressive document:
Deer Mr. Strumpet:
It was a grate pleasure to meat you’re staff; we look foreword to sea you soon inn the near future.
But spell-checking is just one of those advantages of modern word processing. You’ll
find that for every 60 seconds you spend producing words, you’ll spend at least 10 more minutes
deciding what font to put them in.
Let’s take a look at an actual example: You are writing an important letter to your
employees. You don’t want to send them a document written in some ho-hum typeface like this:
Dear Valued Employee:
As you know, this has been a difficult year for all of us, what with the economic recession. .
And so on. What a visual snore! Now let’s look at how this same letter can be
transformed into a high-impact, must-read document, thanks to the creative use of fonts:
Dear Valued Employee:
As you know, this has been a difficult year for all of us, what with the economic
recession,
44
fact that
the increased foreign competition, the unfortunate fatal explosion at the Humperville plant, and the
our CEO needs a jet with a BIGGER hot tub.
call for
WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO let you go,
EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 24. But you may rest assured that should our future needs ever
employees, we will definitely think about getting in touch with you.
Warmest Seasonal Regards,
Bob Bunderheimer, Human Resources
p.s. Don’t forget to turn in your company pencil!
SATIRE:
Read Dave Barry’s editorial and answer the following questions. We have read some of these, written one
of these, and studied the terminology. Now it’s time to apply it on your final.
1. What general item is Dave Barry satirizing?
_________________________________________________
2-4. Give THREE SPECIFIC examples of things relating to #1 that Dave Barry uses as examples.
5. Explain the meaning of the title.
Bonus (+1): What literary technique (must use proper term) is being used in the title.
_________________________
45
Watch What You Say:
More Painful Lessons from the "Oops" File
1. Reebok had to backpedal after it blundered with the launch of a running
shoe for women named the INCUBUS. The dictionary says an incubus is “an
evil spirit believed to descend upon and have sex with women while they
sleep.”
2. British shoemaker Umbro must not have been paying attention. Umbro
was denounced in August 2002 as “appallingly insensitive” for using the
name ZYKLON for a running shoe. That’s the same name as the lethal gas
used in Nazi extermination camps during the Second World War.
3. A food company named its giant burrito a BURRADA. Big mistake. The
colloquial meaning of that word is "big mistake."
4. General Motors named a new Chevrolet the BERETTA without getting
permission from the Italian arms manufacturer. It cost GM $500,000 to
settle the lawsuit.
5. Estee Lauder was set to export its COUNTRY MIST makeup line when
German managers pointed out that in their language “mist” is slang for
“manure.” The name became Country Moist in Germany.
6. Apparently undaunted, another cosmetics firm introduced the MIST
STICK, a curling iron, in Germany. We wonder how many fräuleins were
prepared to use a “manure stick?”
7. Japan’s second-largest tourist office was mystified when it entered
English-speaking markets and began receiving requests for unusual sex
tours. The owners of KINKI Nippon Tourist promptly changed their name.
8. A leading brand of car de-icer in Finland will never make it in America.
The brand name: SUPER PISS.
9. Ditto for Japan's leading brand of coffee creamer. The brand name:
CREAP.
10. We alerted a client that a proposed name for a power tool with the word
GAGE in it (DynaGage, PowerGage) would likely be pronounced like the
Spanish word gajes, which has the connotation of an occupational hazard.
46
Name:________________________
Political Cartoons and Caricatures Internet Activity
Please follow the directions carefully to complete this activity.
1. Open Netscape to get onto the internet
2. Type in www.politicalcartoons.com in the address box and hit return. Bookmark the site under
“Favorites”.
3. Click on this button on the upper left of this page
4. This will take you to a page filled with current topics. DO NOT click on any of the animated choices. If an
animated cartoon starts
playing on your computer, click STOP and go BACK.
5. Choose five of these topics (No Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal allowed), and complete the following for each:
Topic 1:_______________________________________________________
1. Look at all of the cartoons given for that topic (You can stop at ten if there are too
many)
2. Is this a topic which should be satirized? Why or why not?
3. Which side of the issue do the majority of the cartoonists seem to be taking?
4. Do any of the cartoons cross “the line” in your opinion? Are they in poor taste?
Now choose what you think is the best example for the topic and complete the following:
1. Cartoonist’s Name:
2. Who or what is being portrayed?
3. How harsh is the cartoon? Would you say it is Horatian or Juvenalian satire?
4. What is the cartoonist’s opinion about the topic?
5. Do you agree or disagree with this stance?
6. What makes the cartoon so effective?
47
Topic 2:_______________________________________________________
many)
Topic 3:_____________________________________________________
many)
48
Topic 4:_______________________________________________________
many)
Now choose what you think is the best example for the topic and complete the
following:
Topic 5:_______________________________________________________
many)
Now choose what you think is the best example for the topic and complete the
following:
49
50
51
52
MIT certainly has a reputation to be proud of, but its admissions
department went a little over-board, I think. I actually received this
letter, and actually mailed the response that follows...
April 18, 1994
Mr. John T. Mongan
123 Main Street
Smalltown, California 94123-4567
Dear John:
You've got the grades. You've certainly got the PSAT scores. And now you've got a
letter from MIT. Maybe you're surprised. Most students would be.
But you're not most students. And that's exactly why I urge you to consider carefully
one of the most selective universities in America.
The level of potential reflected in your performance is a powerful indicator that you
might well be an excellent candidate for MIT. It certainly got my attention!
Engineering's not for you? No problem. It may surprise you to learn we offer more
than 40 major fields of study, from architecture to brain and cognitive sciences, from
economics (perhaps the best program in the country) to writing.
What? Of course, you don't want to be bored. Who does? Life here *is* tough *and*
demanding, but it's also *fun*. MIT students are imaginative and creative - inside and
outside the classroom.
You're interested in athletics? Great! MIT has more varsity teams - 39 - than almost
any other university, and a tremendous intramural program so everybody can
participate.
You think we're too expensive? Don't be too sure. We've got surprises for you
there, too.
Why not send the enclosed Information Request to find out more about this unique
institution? Why not do it right now?
Sincerely,
Michael C. Benhke
Director of Admissions
P.S. If you'd like a copy of a fun-filled, fact-filled brochure, "Insight," just check the
appropriate box on the form.
******************************************************************************
53
May 5, 1994
Michael C. Behnke
MIT Director of Admissions
Office of Admissions, Room 3-108
Cambridge MA 02139-4307
Dear Michael:
You've got the reputation. You've certainly got the pomposity. And now you've got
a letter from John Mongan. Maybe you're surprised. Most universities would be.
But you're not most universities. And that's exactly why I urge you to carefully
consider one of the most selective students in America, so selective that he will choose
only *one* of the thousands of accredited universities in the country.
The level of pomposity and lack of tact reflected in your letter is a powerful indicator
that your august institution might well be a possibility for John Mongan's future
education. It certainly got my attention!
Don't want Bio-Chem students? No problem. It may surprise you to learn that my
interests cover over 400 fields of study, from semantics to limnology, from objectoriented programming (perhaps one of the youngest professionals in the country) to
classical piano.
What? Of course you don't want egotistical jerks. Who does? I *am* self-indulgent
*and* overconfident, but I'm also amusing. John Mongan is funny and entertaining whether you're laughing with him or at him.
You're interested in athletes? Great! John Mongan has played more sports - 47 than almost any other student, including oddball favorites such as Orienteering.
You think I can pay for your school? Don't be too sure. I've got surprises for you
there, too.
Why not send a guaranteed admission and full scholarship to increase your chance of
being selected by John Mongan? Why not do it right now?
Sincerely,
John Mongan
P.S. If you'd like a copy of a fun-filled, fact-filled brochure, "John Mongan: What a
Guy!" just ask.
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UNITED NATIONS—Responding to pressure from the international community, the U.N.
ordered enigmatic candy maker William "Willy" Wonka to submit to chocolate-factory
inspections Monday.
Above: The enigmatic, elusive despot.
"For years, Wonka has hidden the ominous doings of his research and development facility from
the outside world," U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said. "Given the reports of child
disappearances, technological advances in glass-elevator transport, and Wonka-run OompaLoompa forced-labor camps, the time has come to put an end to three decades of secrecy in the
Wonka Empire."
The chocolate-making capabilities of Wonka's heavily fortified compound have long been a
source of speculation. Wonka, defying international calls for full disclosure, has maintained his
silence regarding his factory's suspected capacity to manufacture confections of mass
deliciousness.
Secretary of State Colin Powell praised the U.N. announcement.
"No more will this sinister figure be free to pursue his nefarious endeavors without fear of
reprisal, protected by loopholes in international candy-making law," Powell said. "With this
ruling, the U.N. has issued the global community a 'golden ticket' to draw back the curtain
behind which this mysterious confectioner hides."
Above: U.N. inspectors arrive at the gates of the Wonka compound.
According to CIA psychological profilers, Wonka has retreated from the outside world entirely,
withdrawing into "a world of pure imagination." An anonymous tinker stationed near the
infamous, long-locked Wonka factory gate corroborated the claim, saying, "Nobody ever goes
in, nobody ever comes out."
Rival candy makers, long worried that Wonka's advanced capabilities have created an imbalance
of power within the volatile global chocolate marketplace, also applauded the U.N. move.
"Wonka exerts a powerful psychological grip over the world's children," said Arthur Slugworth,
president of Slugworth Confections. "They are devoted to him with a loyalty that borders on the
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fanatical, eagerly lapping up Scrumdiddlyumptious Bars by the millions at his command. But
when we found evidence that Wonka was developing so-called 'everlasting gobstopper'
technology—'the mother of all gobstoppers'—we knew it was time to act."
To date, all efforts to peer inside the Wonka inner sanctum have met with failure. Armies of
legal experts retained by Wonka have kept visitors to his chocolate-making facilities effectively
gagged with elaborate non-disclosure agreements. His in-house staff of high-contrast
Technicolor dwarves carefully monitors what information flows in or out of the heavily guarded
compound. And the few scraps of information that have come to light—vague reports of
terrifying river-barge rides, razor-sharp ceiling fans, and human-sized pneumatic tubes of
indeterminate purpose—have been obscured by layers of darkly comic, psychedelic symbolism,
making them virtually impossible to interpret.
"Wonka has shown himself to be a man who cannot be trusted," Annan said. "Whether
misrepresenting himself as a limping cripple, only to drop at the last moment into an agile
somersault, or exploiting the deepest and most personal character flaws of misbehaving children,
Wonka has been a man of shifty, undetermined motives and baffling ends. He must be stopped."
Above: A CIA surveillance image of suspicious activity within the Wonka compound.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a longtime advocate of regime change in the Wonka
Empire, is urging President Bush to consider military intervention should Wonka refuse to
cooperate.
"The world can no longer turn a blind eye to Wonka's deception and misdirection," Rumsfeld
said. "Without full inspections, there's no earthly way of knowing which direction Wonka's
going. Not a speck of light is showing, so the danger must be growing. And he's certainly not
showing any signs that he is slowing. Are the fires of Hell a-glowing? Is the grisly reaper
mowing? Who can provide the world with the answer to these pressing questions?"
"The candy man can," Rumsfeld added grimly.
Bush said he is leaning toward the use of force, undeterred by the prospect of the candy maker
using his rumored "Wonkavision" technology to turn would-be attackers into millions of tiny
pieces, beaming them through the air and shrinking them to tiny, dollhouse-accessory size.
"We are talking about a man who is able to take a rainbow and cover it with dew," Bush told
reporters during a press conference Monday. "Who knows what else he is capable of? Left to his
own devices, he could, in a worst-case scenario, make the world taste very bad, indeed."
56
Name: ___________
Directions: For the first section, please define the satirical term. For the second section, you
will be watching the movie Scary Movie. As you watch, you will be taking notes on the 4
satirical techniques. This will be a big part of the grade, so be neat and concise.
Good luck!
I. Define: (20 points)
1. Horatian satire-
2.Juvenalian Satire-
II. Scary Movie (60 points)—15 points each
1. Parody
2. Reversal
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3. Incongruity
4. Exaggeration
Part III. Fun Stuff  (20 points)
1. What is a caricature?
Draw a caricature of a celebrity here: (make sure you incorporate all techniques)
58
SHORT STORY UNIT
“ALL SUMMER IN A DAY” BY RAY BRADBURY
Pre Reading:
1. students will read Ray Bradbury Bio Handout.
2. Journal: Respond to the quote by Henry David Thoreau: “It takes two to speak the truth:
one to speak and the other to hear.”
3. Discuss journal responses.
4. Draw a web on the board, as a class, the connotations and denotation of the word
summer. What do you think of when you hear summer? Also, have a student look up the
word summer in the dictionary. Tell students to pay attention to the idea of summer as
the story progresses.
5. Complete the vocabulary for the story.
--Vocabulary—
Resilient- the ability to recover or heal
Tumultuous- noisy; disorderly; agitated
Savor- a special quality or sensation; to taste
Concussion- a violent jarring; a shock
Apparatus- a device or set of equipment used for a specific purpose
During:
1. As you read as a class, stop and make sure students comprehend reading. As you read,
have students make a note of literary terms in the story. Look specifically for irony,
conflict, climax, resolution, characterization, etc.
Post:
1. Have students verbally respond to reading. Any questions?
2. Discuss the literary term activity. Discuss what kind of world Margo lives in and how it
is similar/opposite of ours. Make sure students understand the dystopic elements in the
story.
3. Students will answer the questions, write a cinquain, and respond to the journal.
4. Journal: In "All Summer in a Day," the children discriminated against Margot. Why do
people in general discriminate against each other? Give two reasons for intolerance and
explain them. Give a detailed example to support one of your reasons. This example may
come from your own familiarity, your observations, or the reading.
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Ray Bradbury—Biography
by Chris Jepsen & Richard Johnston
.
Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, on August 22, 1920.
He was the third son of Leonard Spaulding Bradbury and Esther Marie Moberg Bradbury. They
gave him the middle name "Douglas," after the actor, Douglas Fairbanks.
He never lived up to his namesake's reputation for swashbuckling adventure on the high seas.
Instead, Bradbury's great adventures would take place behind a typewriter, in the realm of
imagination. Today, as an author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, lecturer, poet and visionary,
Ray Bradbury is known as one of America's greatest creative geniuses.
Bradbury's early childhood in Waukegan was characterized by his loving extended family. These
formative years provided the foundations for both the author and his stories.
In Bradbury's works of fiction, 1920s Waukegan becomes "Greentown," Illinois. Greentown is a
symbol of safety and home, and often provides a contrasting backdrop to tales of fantasy or
menace. In Greentown, Bradbury's favorite uncle sprouts wings, traveling carnivals conceal
supernatural powers, and his grandparents provide room and board to Charles Dickens.
Between 1926 and 1933, the Bradbury family moved back and forth between Waukegan and
Tucson, Arizona. In 1931, young Ray began writing his own stories on butcher paper.
In 1934, the Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles, California. As a teenager, Bradbury often
roller-skated through Hollywood, trying to spot celebrities. He befriended other talented and
creative people, like special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen and radio star George Burns.
In fact, it was Burns who gave Bradbury his first pay as a writer -- for contributing a joke to the
Burns & Allen Show.
Bradbury attended Los Angeles High School. He was active in the drama club and planned to
become an actor.
However, two of his teachers recognized a greater talent in Bradbury, and encouraged his
development as a writer. Snow Longley Housh taught him about poetry and Jeannet Johnson
taught him to write short stories. Over 60 years later, Bradbury's work bears the indelible
impressions left by these two women.
As his high school years progressed, Bradbury grew serious about becoming a writer. Outside of
class, he contributed to fan publications and joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction League. At
school, he improved his grades and joined the Poetry Club.
Bradbury's formal education ended with his high school graduation in 1938. However, he
continued to educate himself. He sold newspapers on Los Angeles street corners all day, but
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spent his nights in the library. The hours between newspaper editions were spent at his
typewriter.
His first published short story was "Hollerbochen's Dilemma," printed in 1938 in Imagination!,
an amateur fan magazine. In 1939, Bradbury published four issues of his own fan magazine,
Futuria Fantasia, writing much of the content himself. His first paid publication, a short story
titled "Pendulum," appeared in Super Science Stories in 1941.
As he honed his writing skills, Bradbury often looked to established writers for guidance. During
those early years, his mentors included Henry Kuttner, Leigh Brackett, Robert Heinlein and
Henry Hasse.
At last, in 1942, Bradbury wrote "The Lake" -- the story in which he discovered his distinctive
writing style. The following year, he gave up selling newspapers and began to write full-time. In
1945 his short story "The Big Black and White Game" was selected for Best American Short
Stories. That same year, Bradbury traveled through Mexico to collect Indian masks for the Los
Angeles County Museum.
In 1946, he met his future wife, Marguerite "Maggie" McClure. A graduate of George
Washington High School (1941) and UCLA, Maggie was working as a clerk in a book shop
when they met.
Ray and Maggie were married in the Church of the Good Shepherd, Episcopal in Los Angeles on
September 27, 1947. Ray Harryhausen served as the best man.
That same year also marked the publication of Bradbury's first collection of short stories, entitled
Dark Carnival.
The first of the Bradbury's four daughters, Susan, was born in 1949. Susan's sisters, Ramona,
Bettina and Alexandra were born in 1951, 1955 and 1958, respectively.
Bradbury's reputation as a leading science fiction writer was finally established with the
publication of The Martian Chronicles in 1950. The book describes man's attempt to colonize
Mars, the effects of colonization on the Martians, and the colonists' reaction to a massive nuclear
war on Earth.
As much a work of social criticism as of science fiction, The Martian Chronicles reflects
America's anxieties in the early 1950's: the threat of nuclear war, the longing for a simpler life,
reactions against racism and censorship, and the fear of foreign political powers.
Another of Bradbury's best-known works, Fahrenheit 451, was released in 1953. It is set in a
future in which a totalitarian government has banned the written word. Montag enjoys his job as
a professional book-burner. But he begins to question his duties the when he learns of a time
when books were legal and people did not live in fear. Montag begins stealing books marked for
destruction and meets a professor who agrees to educate him. When his pilfering is discovered,
he must run for his life.
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Bradbury's work has won innumerable honors and awards, including the O. Henry Memorial
Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award (1954), the Aviation-Space Writer's Association Award
for Best Space Article in an American Magazine (1967), the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime
Achievement, and the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. His
work was also included in the Best American Short Stories collections for 1946, 1948 and 1952.
Perhaps Bradbury's most unusual honor came from the Apollo astronaut who named Dandelion
Crater after Bradbury's novel, Dandelion Wine.
Bradbury's lifetime love of cinema fuelled his involvement in many Hollywood productions,
including The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (a version of his story, "The Fog Horn"), Something
Wicked This Way Comes (based on his novel,) and director John Huston's version of Moby
Dick. His animated film about the history of flight, Icarus Montgolfier Wright, was nominated
for an academy award
Over the decades, there have also been many attempts to adapt Bradbury's stories for television.
Commendable examples include episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and
Bradbury's Emmy-winning teleplay for The Halloween Tree.
But not all adaptations were so successful. For instance, Bradbury was seriously disappointed
with a Martian Chronicles network miniseries, broadcast in 1979.
Looking for more creative control, Bradbury turned to the relative freedom of cable television
and developed his own series. Ray Bradbury Theater ran from 1986 until 1992 and allowed the
author to produce televised versions of his own stories.
Even while working on TV series, novels, short stories, screenplays and radio dramas, Bradbury
continues to publish collections of his plays, poems and essays.
What does he do for an encore, you ask?
Beyond his literary contributions, Bradbury also serves as an "idea consultant" for various civic,
educational and entertainment projects. He provided the concept and script for the United States
Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair and contributed to Disney's Spaceship Earth at
EPCOT and the Orbitron at the Disneyland parks in Paris and Anaheim.
As a creative consultant to the Jon Jerde Partnership, he also helped create trend-setting
shopping/entertainment plazas, including the Glendale Galleria in Los Angeles and Horton Plaza
in San Diego. These innovative malls (and their many imitators) reflect Bradbury's vision of a
"small-town plaza" tailored to the urban environment.
Today, Ray and Maggie Bradbury continue to live in Los Angeles. They have eight
grandchildren and four cats.
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Ray Bradbury still writes daily and occasionally lectures. At an age when most men rest on their
laurels, Bradbury remains a dynamic storyteller and contributor of "obvious answers to
impossible futures.".
Work Cited:
Jepsen Chris, Johnston Richard Ray BRadbury Online- Biography. Retrieved August 4, 2009,
from A Brief Biography Web site: http://www.spaceagecity.com/bradbury/bio.htm
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Name: _____________
“All Summer in a Day”
Vocabulary
Directions: First (A), define and write the part of speech for the following words. Then (B), as
you read, write the sentence in which the word is found in the story. Next, (C) show your
understanding of the word by using it corectly in your own sentence.
1. resilient
a.
b.
c.
2. tumultous
a.
b.
c.
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3. savor
a.
b.
c.
4. concussion
a.
b.
c.
5. apparatus
a.
b.
c.
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Name: _____________
Questions
1. In “All Summer in a Day,” Margot is like a captive. She is trapped, living
under conditions that are slowly destroying her. What are some conditions
here on Earth that are similar to Margot’s? List at least three.
2. The main idea in this story has something to do with why people are
sometimes cruel to one another. The author says the children hated
Margot for
“all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her
pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness and her
possible future….”
Tell which of these reasons you think are of “big consequence” and which are of
“little consequence.”
3. Do you think that the children as a group would have treated Margot as
they did if there had not been many against one? What has your own
experience, or your reading, shown you about group behavior versus
individual behavior? Write a paragraph about his issue.
66
4. We are told that Margot’s parents are considering taking her back to Earth
next year: “it seemed vital to her that they do so,” but it will be at a cost of
thousands of dollars to her family. What is the cost to Margot if her family
stays?
5. Consider how the other children are being deprived because of their life on
Venus and how they, like Margot, will feel their deprivation now that they
know what sunshine is like. Which do you think is more important, the
parents’ careers or their daughter’s well-being? Why? Be specific.
6. What is your view of similar conflicts that parents and children in our
society must face?
7. Is this a juvenalian or horatian satire and why? What is being satirized?
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Name: ___________________
Cinquain Activity
Directions: Using some of the themes and imagery in the story, you will write a
short poem called a cinquain. A cinquain is a five-line poem that documents a
person’s impressions of a momentous event.
You will need to follow this formula:
Noun
Two adjectives that describe the noun
Three verbs that activate the noun
Phrase that illuminates the noun
Noun
Snow
Graceful, translucent
Gliding, Swimming, Floating
Through the night sky
Flake
Brainstorm here:
_____________________
__________________________, ____________________________
___________________, _________________________, ____________________
___________________________________________________
_____________________
Once you have brainstormed your poem, you will come get it checked off by me.
Once you are approved by me, you may rewrite and decorate your poem. This
is a quiz grade.
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“THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME” BY RICHARD CONNELL
PRE READING:
1. Journal: When you think of a deserted island what do you think of?
Would this be ideal to you and why? What sort of things would you want
on your island (think food/water—meat, fruits, veggies, etc)
2. Discuss the idea of the word game. What sort of games might be
dangerous?
3. Complete the vocabulary sheet.
--Vocabulary--1. palpable
2. amenity
3. futile
4. debacle
5. affable
6. zealous
During:
1. Have students pay attention to locations as they read. Have them
highlight them in yellow.
2. Complete a dialectic journal as they read.
Post:
1. Complete the order of events sheet.
2. Project: Rainsford’s Escape Route Map.
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Name: _______________
“The Most Dangerous Game”
Vocabulary
Directions: Please provide the part of speech and definition for each word. Once you have done
that, please write a sentence for each word. Underline the word.
1. palpable : part of speech__________________
definition: ______________________________________________________
sentence: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. amenity : part of speech__________________
definition: ______________________________________________________
sentence: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. futile : part of speech__________________
definition: ______________________________________________________
sentence: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. debacle : part of speech__________________
definition: ______________________________________________________
sentence: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
5. affable : part of speech__________________
definition: ______________________________________________________
sentence: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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6. zealous : part of speech__________________
definition: ______________________________________________________
sentence: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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Dialectic Journal: “The Most Dangerous
Game”
As you read, you will choose 5 quotations from the short story that you would like
to interact with. You will divide your paper down the middle. The first column will
be entitled Quote and the second, Response.
How does the journal work?
• Pick a quote that jumps off the page for you. Choose one that you want to
interact with.
• This quote may:
o Exemplify a particular characterization
o Show use of certain tone or style
o Represent writing that you have a question about or truly like
o Show you something new about the world.
For the RESPONSE column, you have several ways to respond to a text:
o Raise questions about the beliefs and values implied in the text
o Give your personal reactions to the passage
o Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character
o Tell what it reminds you of from your own experiences
o Write about what it makes you think or feel
o Argue with or speak to the characters or author
Criteria:
Each response needs to be at least 4 sentences. This is not to make sure you’ve
read the story, but to ensure connection with the text.
72
Rubric for Dialectical Journal
Critical Reader (detailed, elaborate responses)—90-100:
· Extra effort is evident.
· You include more than the minimal number of entries.
· Your quotes are relevant, important, thought provoking, and representative of the themes
of the novel.
· You can “read between the lines” of the text (inference).
· You consider meaning of the text in a universal sense.
· You create new meaning through connections with your own experiences or other texts.
· You carry on a dialogue with the writer. You question, agree, disagree, appreciate, and
object.
· Sentences are grammatically correct with correct spelling and punctuation.
Connected Reader (detailed responses)—80-89:
· A solid effort is evident.
· You include an adequate number of legible entries.
· Your quotes are relevant and connect to the themes of the novel.
· Entries exhibit insight and thoughtful analysis.
· You construct a thoughtful interpretation of the text.
· You show some ability to make meaning of what you read.
· You create some new meaning through connections with your own experiences and the
text.
· You explain the general significance.
· You raise interesting questions.
· You explain why you agree or disagree with the text.
Thoughtful Reader (somewhat detailed responses)—75-79:
· You include an insufficient number of entries.
· Sentences are mostly correct with a few careless spelling and grammatical errors.
· You selected quotes that may be interesting to you, but that don’t necessarily connect to
the themes of the novel.
· Entries exhibit insight and thoughtful analysis at times.
· You make connections, but explain with little detail.
· You rarely make new meaning from the reading.
· You ask simple questions of the text.
· You may agree or disagree, but don’t support your views.
Literal Reader (simple, factual responses)—70-74:
· You include few entries.
· Entries exhibit limited insight or none at all.
· You accept the text literally.
· You are reluctant to create meaning from the text.
· You make few connections which lack detail.
· You are sometimes confused by unclear or difficult sections of the text.
Limited Reader (perfunctory responses)—below 70:
· You include very few entries.
· Very little effort is evident.
· You find the text confusing, but make no attempt to figure it out.
· You create little or no meaning from the text.
· You make an occasional connection to the text, and the ideas lack development.
· Sentences contain numerous grammatical and spelling errors.
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Name: ______________
“The Most Dangerous Game”
Order of Events
Directions: Using the following events, place them in the correct order they happened in the
story. This will be a quiz grade.
__ Ivan dies.
__ General Zaroff tells Rainsford that hunting has gotten boring.
__ One of Zaroff's dogs falls into the pit and dies.
__ Rainsford and Whitney talk about "Ship Trap Island."
__ Rainsford kills General Zaroff.
__ Ivan answers the door and points a gun at Rainsford's heart.
__ Rainsford spends the night in a tree.
__ Rainsford jumps off a cliff to the swirling waters 20 feet below.
__ Rainsford falls into the water and swims to the island.
__ Rainsford makes a trap by leaning a large dead tree against a smaller living one.
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Rainsford’s Trap Map
You will illustrate a map of Ship-Trap Island, which will include all of the key
locations and/or traps he used in his attempt to win the game. The key to this
assignment is imagination, creativity and attention to detail. Use the plot of the story
to help you recall and label each key area.
Include the following: Illustrate and color each.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Castle
The Loop de Loop or Fox Trail close to “The Tree”
The Malay-Man Catcher
Quicksand Pit
Burmese Tiger Pit
Uganda Hunting Knife Trick
Cove/Twenty Foot Cliff “Death-Dive”(You must be able to view the castle
from this point.)
To give your map more authenticity add some or all of the following:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Legend. Make symbols for the locations.
Compass Rose (There is some indication of direction in the story.)
Scale
Footprints or some other symbol to mark his trail
*Remember, this is a jungle island of the Amazon. Use dark greens for trees
and foliage; deep blues for the Caribbean Sea.
Rubric
20 pts.
5 pts.
10pts.
15 pts.
50 points
Key locations clearly illustrated and marked
Legend
Added features to map.
Map layout, color and creativity.
Use lots of color and be creative!!
75
“HARRISON BERGERON” BY KURT VONNEGUT JR
Pre Reading:
1. Students will be given Vonnegut biography sheets. Handout.
2. After students have completed the reading, they will complete partially filled in Cornell
Notes.
3. Discuss how different aspects of Vonnegut’s life could have influence over his writing.
JOURNAL- Based on Vonnegut’s biography, imagine and describe what you expect to
see written in the short story.
4. Complete “HARRISON BERGERON” VOCAB/QUES SHEET
5. Have the students sit at their desks with a piece of paper and a writing utensil. Instruct
them to do the following:
a. FIRST, choose a symbol ( a simple one works best) and have them draw it at the top
of his/her journal. Next, have students number papers one to 10, while leaving room
to write. Have them do the following tasks:
1. draw with your opposite hand
2. draw with your eyes closed
3. draw with your pencil in your teeth
4. draw with the pencil between your knuckles
5. be careful- draw while someone GENTLY tries to take your pencil
6. Have students fill out a note card with 5 traits that they think they are good at.
During:
1. Students will keep track of different elements of the short story as they read on the
graphic organizer.
Post:
1. Revisit the note card: Have students choose three of the traits to write about in
preparation for an essay.
2. Using the essay graphic organizer, students will plan his/her essays.
3. After each student has brainstormed, they will receive a Handicap Essay assignment
sheet and rubric.
4. As a final project for the story, students will visually represent themselves, as portrayed
in their essays. For example, if you were a talented writer, maybe your hands are taped
together so you cannot write. In the visual, this imagery would be created.
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Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)
American author noted for his pessimistic and satirical novels. Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s best known
work is SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE (1969), which was based on his experiences in Dresden,
Germany, where he was a prisoner-of-war at the destruction of the town in 1945. Vonnegut used
fantasy and science fiction to examine the horrors and absurdities of 20th century civilization.
His constant concern about the effects of technology on humanity led some critics to consider
him a science fiction writer, but the author himself rejected this label.
'"You know - we've had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being
fought by aging men like ourselves. We had forgotten that the wars were fought by babies.
When I saw those freshly shaved faces, it was a shock. "My God, my God - " I said to
myself, "it's the Children's Crusade."' (from Slaughterhouse Five)
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born in Indianapolis. His father, Kurt Sr., was a architect. In
GALÁPAGOS (1985) Vonnegut wrote: "When I got to be sixteen, though, I myself had arrived
at the conclusion my mother and the neighbors had reached so long ago: that my father was a
repellent failure, his work appearing only in the most disreputable publications, which paid him
almost nothing. He was an insult to life itself, I thought, when he went on doing nothing with it
but writing and smoking all the time - and I mean all the time." For the ten years before World
War II Vonnegut's father was almost constantly unemployed, and anti-German feelings and
cultural prejudices were later seen in Vonnegut's novel SLAPSTICK (1976).
In 1940 Vonnegut started to study biochemistry at Cornell; his father, who funded his education,
had recommend that he should study chemistry rather that the humanities. However, Vonnegut
also wrote satirical anti-war articles for the student newspaper Cornell Sun. When Japan attacked
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Pearl Harbor, Vonnegut volunteered in 1943 for military service. "Good! They will teach you to
be neat!" his father said.
Vonnegut was sent to Europe. He was taken as a prisoner in the Battle of the Bulge in December
1944. After being transported to Dresden, an old cultural town, he worked there making a diet
supplement for pregnant women. Between February 13 and 14 the Royal Air Force and United
States Air Force made heavy raids on Dresden. At that time Vonnegut was a prisoner in a meatlocker under a slaughterhouse, and was among the few people to survive the total destruction of
the city. Later he was employed by the Germans to dig out corpses. Dresden was occupied in
1945 by Soviet troops and Vonnegut was repatriated to the United States.
After the war Vonnegut studied anthropology at Chicago University from 1944 to 1947, but his
M.A. thesis 'Fluctuations Between Good and Evil in Simple Tales' was rejected. However, in
1971 the anthropological department accepted his novel CAT'S CRADLE (1963) in lieu of a
thesis and Vonnegut war awarded the degree. In the book Vonnegut explores destructive
rationality of Western science and the turn towards mysticism, which was just then beginning to
take hold among students in the USA and Europe. In 1945 Vonnegut married a childhood friend.
They had two daughters and a son, and also adopted the three children of Vonnegut's sister, who
died of cancer in 1958.
Vonnegut worked for over three years as a public relations man for General Electric's research
laboratory. His first science fiction story, 'Report on the Barnhouse Effect' was published in
Collier's Weekly in September 1950. After selling also other stories, Vonnegut quit his "goddam
nightmare job", as he described it in a letter to his father, and moved with his family to Cape Cod
(the Cape), Massachusetts. Between 1950 and 1963 Vonnegut published 45 stories, which
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appeared in such publications as The Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and the
Ladies' Home Journal. "During most of my freelancing," Vonnegut recalled in 1969 in an
interview, "I made what I would have made in charge of the cafeteria at a pretty good junior-high
school." Vonnegut's short fiction has been collected in CANARY IN A CAT HOUSE (1961),
WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE (1968) and BAGOMBO SNUFF BOX (1999).
Vonnegut's first novel, PLAYER PIANO (1952), was a tale of black humour. The story is set in
the future, where scientists and engineers of vast corporations attempt to automate everything.
As a result, the functions of human beings are gradually taken over by machines. Noteworthy,
Vonnegut also prophesied the collapse of the Soviet Union under the impact of American knowhow. This work labelled Vonnegut as a sciece-fiction writer, although the author himself though
that he had written a novel about people and machines. Noteworthy, MOTHER NIGHT,
originally published in paperback in 1961, and republished in 1965 in hardcover, was a non-sf
novel about the "true" identity of a double agent.
Before his breakthrough novel Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut wrote THE SIRENS OF TITAN
(1959). It featured a character for whom the events of history take place simultaneously. Cat's
Craddle, his fourth novel, which also gained attention among the broad readership, was about a
scientist who creates a chemical, Ice-Nine, that turns all water into ice. Absentmindedly he is
responsible for the end of the world. Slaughterhouse Five combined historical facts and science
fiction. "Thank God I was in Dresden when it was burned down," Vonnegut once said, meaning
he had something to write about that he had experienced himself. Vonnegut depicts the Allied
firebombing of Dresden, seen through the eyes of Billy Pilgrim, a kind of descendant of
Voltaire's Candide. Billy finds peace of mind after being kidnapped by Tralfamadorians. He
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learns that time is not necessarily moving in a liner fashion and that the secret of life is to live
only in the happy moments. Billy lives on Earth and on the distant planet Tralfamadore,
responding to events with the resignated slogan "So it goes".
For roughly twenty years, from 1950 to 1970, Vonnegut led, much as his fictional alter ego
Kilgore Trout, the anonymous life of a drugstore-rack writer, who is said to have been modelled
on the science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon. A novel attributed to Kilgore Trout, written by
Philip José Farmer, was published in 1975 under the title Venus on the Half-Shell. In 1979
Vonnegut divorced his first wife and married the photographer Jill Krementz.An innate
pessimism, central to Vonnegut's oeuvre, has not made the author's later years any easier. In
1984 he made a suicide attempt. Vonnegut does not specify the culprit responsible for the ills of
the world, but he views misfortunes as a part of our common nature or coming by chance.
Since BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS (1973) Vonnegut used self-consciously and mockingly
his public personality as the author-narrator. Robert Altman planned to film the book in the mid1950s, Alan Rudolph wrote the script for him, but they never got it made and lost the right.
Eventually Rudolp's adaptation, in which Bruce Willis played the suicidal Pontiac dealer
Dwayne Hoover and Albert Finney was Kilgore Trout, was released in 1999. The film failed
both critically and commercially. In JAILBIRD (1979) and DEADEYE DICK (1983) Vonnegut
explored idealized Mid-western middle-class values and the social and political course of
American history in this century. Vonnegut's commandments for a better world are simple:
honor the Sermon of the Mount, stop exploiting and killing people, be kind to everyone.
Sometimes his opinions are intentionally controversial,: "Educating a beautiful woman is like
pouring honey into a fine Swiss watch: everything stops." HOCUS POCUS, the author's
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thirteenth novel, appeared in 1990. It was set in the years following the defeat of the Vietnam
war.
Vonnegut's other works include plays, essays, critics, and TV plays. His later novels received
mixed reviews and he was accused of recycling essentially the same ideas. "And what is
literature, Rabo," he argued on the art of writing in BLUEBEARD (1987), "but an insider's
newsletters about affairs relating to molecules, of no importance to anything in the Universe but
a few molecules who have the disease called 'thought.'" With TIMEQUAKE (1997) Vonnegut
struggled for ten years. Instead of throwing it away, the author published it with fragments of
autobiography. The novel was again about Kilgore Trout, thrown into a world set back ten years,
from February 13, 2001 to February 17, 1991. Inside the story Vonnegut makes comments on all
kinds of matters between heaven and earth.
Although Vonnegut announced that Timequake would be his last book, he started again another
novel, IF GOD WERE ALIVE TODAY, about a stand-up comedian. His essays, written after
Timequake, Vonnegut collected in A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY (2005). On January 2000
Vonnegut was hospitalized for smoke inhalation after a fire at his home. Vonnegut had tried to
extinguish the flames with a blanket. The fire broke out on the top floor of his townhouse at East
48th Street where he reportedly had been watching the Super Bowl in his study. Kurt Vonnegut
died on April 11, 2007, in Manhattan, New York, after suffering irreversible brain injuries as a
result of a fall at his home.
Work Cited:
Liukkonen, Petri. "Kurt Vonnegut." Books and Writers. Amazon. 30 Jul 2009
<http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/vonnegut.htm>.
81
Name: _____________
Cornell Notes : “Harrison Bergeron” and Kurt Vonnegut Bio
Questions/Ideas
Notes
1. Early life
2. World War II
3. Post War
4. Works
5.
Death
Summary:
82
Name: ______________
Short Story Graphic Organizer
I. Setting
A. When?
________________________________________________________________________
B. Where?
________________________________________________________________________
II. Characters
A. Character #1
1. Name ____________________________________________________
2. Age ________________
3. Physical characteristics
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Emotional characteristics
_________________________________________________________
5. Other characteristics
______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Direct characterization
________________________________________________________________________
7. Indirect characterization
________________________________________________________________________
B. Character #2
1. Name ____________________________________________________
2. Age ________________
3. Physical characteristics
___________________________________________________________
83
________________________________________________________________________
4. Emotional characteristics
_________________________________________________________
5. Other characteristics
______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Direct characterization
________________________________________________________________________
7. Indirect characterization
________________________________________________________________________
III. Plot
A. Rising action event #1
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
B. Rising action event #2
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
C. Rising action event #3
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
D. Climax
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
E. Resolution
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
84
Name: _______________
“Harrison Bergeron:
I.
Vocabulary
Directions: Please match the vocabulary word to its synonym.
1. oppression
a. cringe
2. consternation
b. radiant
3. cower
c. obstacle
4. hindrance
d. observant
5. luminous
e. persecution
6. vigilant
f. dismay
II.
Vocabulary Practice
Directions: Using the above words, fill in the blanks using your knowledge of the word.
1. The girl was in complete and utter _________________________ as what to do when
she was told she needed to write an essay.
2. Many countries today are still filled with _________________________, especially
towards women.
3. The dog remained at the door, _________________________, until his owner came
home.
4. They walked into the room, which was _________________________ with energy and
life.
5. The young girl didn’t like to _________________________ when she was afraid; she
liked to be brave and strong.
6. The whole project became a _________________________ when things started to go
wrong.
85
III.
Questions
Directions: Answer the following in your journals.
1. What can be inferred of the opening sentence, “The year was 2081, and everyone was
finally equal?”
2. How is fundamental mediocrity achieved and enforced?
3. Why does Hazel Bergeron forget what she is crying about?
4. What is the meaning of the last words of the Bergerons, “that one was a doozy”?
5. Do you think Harrison knows he will dies as a result of his behavior? Are you shocked
by his death?
6. Consider how “handicap” is a negative word. How does this change our perception if
instead we used the words “differently abled” when referring to people we have referred
to as “handicapped”?
7. How do schools behave like the United States Handicapper General office in the story?
8. Is there a moral to this story? What is it?
IV.
Literary Devices
A. Irony : Irony is the opposite of what is expected. Using this definition, what is ironic
about the story and why?
B. Satire: Using your knowledge of the two mood categories of satire, name the type of
satire this story is. EXAMPLES!
86
“Harrison Bergeron” Essay—An Odd Angle of Perfection
I.
Background
I would like you to make a list of 5 personal traits you are proud of about
yourself. In reading the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, I hope that you
understand that both physical and mental handicaps can be figurative as well as
literal. Think of all of the day-to-day restrictions placed on you by authority: the
government, teachers, and your parents.
II.
Assignment
I would like you to choose 3 of your 5 traits that you listed and develop them
into a well-thought out, organized, and concise paper that both describes your
traits and then handicaps your traits. If you are a talented writer, maybe you
would need to wear wool mittens all of the time. I want you to be creative, not
necessarily realistic; Vonnegut wasn’t.
Your conclusion paragraph will be a self-reflection of the assignments. Consider
how you may handicap others on a day-to-day basis, or maybe how you take for
granted all of your good, physical attributes. You may use first person for this
paper.
III.
Assessment
This assignment will be graded by the attached rubric; please make sure you
turn the rubric in with your paper. Please follow all of the standard rules of a 5
paragraph essay including: grammar, usage, mechanics, format, typed, doublespaced, and the header as specified in the prospectus. I will be looking for
organization and original thought. Do not throw this paper together.
87
Essay Planner
88
“Harrison Bergeron” Essay
CATEGORY
Introduction
(Organization)
4
The introduction is
inviting, states the
main topic, is 3-5
sentences and
previews the
structure of the
paper.
3
The introduction clearly
states the main topic and
previews the structure of
the paper, but is not
particularly inviting to
the reader. Intro is less
than 3 sentences.
2
The introduction
states the main topic,
but does not
adequately preview
the structure of the
paper nor is it
particularly inviting
to the reader. Intro is
two sentences or does
not contain a thesis
statement.
Details are mostly
Some details are in a
placed in a logical order. logical or expected
order, and this
distracts the reader.
Sequencing
(Organization)
Details are placed in
a logical order.
Support for Topic
(Content)
Handicaps are a
reflection of
personal traits.
Most handicaps are a
reflection of personal
traits.
Some handicaps are a
reflection of personal
traits.
Grammar &
Spelling
(Conventions)
Writer makes a less
than 2 errors in
grammar or spelling
that distract the
reader from the
content.
Writer makes 3- 5 errors
in grammar or spelling
that distract the reader
from the content.
Writer makes 6-8
errors in grammar or
spelling that distract
the reader from the
content.
Conclusion
(Organization)
The conclusion is
strong and provides
a conclusive selfreflection of the
assignment.
The conclusion is a
summary of the paper.
The conclusion is
recognizable, but
does not tie up
several loose ends.
1
There is no
clear
introduction of
the main topic
or structure of
the paper. Intro
only contains
thesis
statement.
Details are not
in a logical or
expected order.
There is little
sense that the
writing is
organized.
Few or none
handicaps are a
reflection of
personal traits.
Writer makes
more than 8
errors in
grammar or
spelling that
distract the
reader from the
content.
There is no
clear
conclusion, the
paper just ends.
Final Grade:
Comments:
89
“THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS” BY RAY BRADBURY
Pre Reading:
1. As a class, formulate predictions of what this story could be about based
on your knowledge of Ray Bradbury. Write on board.
2. Have students journal what they think is needed to make a good story.
What is your “utopic” story?
3. Discuss and share journals.
4. Using what the students included in their utopic story elements, they will
now create a short story (2 pages typed and double-spaced) that reflects
their ideas. This can be done as journals or in a lab.
5. Each short story needs to contain the following sentence in it somewhere:
“At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow, which could be seen
for miles.”
During:
1. Students will design five questions as they read the story. This will serve
for a post reading activity.
2. Students will write down any word they do not know.
Post:
1. Students will sit in a circle and each student will ask one of their
questions. As a class, we will discuss the questions.
2. Go back and read the poem in the story. What is it implying? How can
we tell?
3. Discuss: Can a smart house like the one in the story really exist? Read
article by Daren Fonda.
4. Discuss similarities/differences.
5. Complete literary term sheet.
6. Students will complete Dystopic to Utopic sheet.
90
Published January/February 2000
Home Smart Home
Electronic controllers are creating high-tech houses that do everything but tuck you in at
night (though they will turn off the lights)
By Daren Fonda
Most mornings, Jerry Rich follows a routine his house knows well. As the sun rises over the
cornfields on his Illinois estate, the 60-year-old executive and computer systems engineer heads
for a workout in his huge exercise room. Dubbed "The Lagoon" for its indoor pool, Jacuzzi and
miniature waterfalls, the room prepares for his arrival. It knows he likes the room a temperate 68
degrees and has preheated itself accordingly. Its electronic brain has been programmed to tune
the TV to CNBC, his choice for stock quotes. The high hats in the ceiling illuminate to 75
percent, as Rich prefers a subdued dawn scene. The pool's temperature rises to 70 degrees and
the waterfalls start cascading. The Lagoon, in effect, knows that Rich likes watching the falls
while he exercises, but will shut them down when he leaves.
Programmable rooms aren't uncommon in Rich's house. If any dwelling resembles what the
French architect Le Corbusier called a "machine for living in," it is this two-story rambler.
Situated on a 3,000-acre estate outside Chicago, it serves as both a private residence and
showcase for TronArch, its electronic management system. At 53,000 square feet, the home is
the size of a small hotel: big enough for an exotic car museum, full-size carousel and 15-seat
home theater. TronArch governs everything from the house's climate and alarm system to its
TVs, stereo systems, appliances and
more than 400 lights. Linking it all together is a web of high-grade cables, electrical wires and
sensors embedded in the windows, walls and floors.
Wall-mounted touch screens allow occupants to program rooms to their liking: lights can be
timed, temperatures set, music or movies selected--all at their fingertips.
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"This isn't 'The Jetsons,' " says Keith Rich, Jerry's son and president and chief executive officer
of I.S.R., the company that designed TronArch for the Pavilion, as the house is known. "But it's
the smartest home control system you'll find today."
What it does, he says, is make a home "think" for its residents. A "bedtime" routine, for instance,
might include closing the blinds, setting the alarm, heating a bath and switching the TV channel
to the news. In a guest room, tapping the touch screen's "snack" icon will light a path to the
kitchen late at night. A "romance" button might close the draperies, dim the lights and pipe
Bolèro through speakers in the walls. Pressing the "dog-walk" icon could deactivate a backdoor
alarm and shine a path to the kennel. Tapping the "away" icon locks the house down like a
fortress.
"With TronArch," says Keith Rich, "you never have to worry about whether it's dark out, it's
cold, or ask questions like: Did I close the garage door? Did I close the gates? The system is like
your home psychologist." Whatever your house's "problems," TronArch is designed to solve
them, he says. With light and temperature sensors strategically placed around the home's
perimeter and tied into its computer network, the house automatically adjusts for seasonal
changes. And when residents do want to change the settings, they can do so, even from a
distance, via a telephone and PC. (The system's Pentium-based computers run on the Internet
protocol, allowing residents to dial into the house's management system.) Vacationing
homeowners might call to disarm the security system for a maintenance worker, for example, or
they could time classical music to turn on for their arrival.
The younger Rich hesitates to put a price tag on all this convenience. The system, he explains, is
customized for every house, with I.S.R.'s engineers typically spending weeks learning clients'
living habits before configuring the software to match their routines. That said, on a $10 million
to $30 million house, installing TronArch could add between $350,000 to $4 million to
construction costs, depending on the project. "Only a few thousand homes in the country warrant
our service," says Rich. Indeed, as an industrial-grade system--installed in buildings such as
Chicago's Union Square Station--TronArch is ideally suited for homes larger than 10,000 square
feet. With sensors embedded in electrical appliances, windows and floors, a TronArch-equipped
92
house can literally communicate with itself--a major advantage in a large home, where feedback
gives assurance that the lights at the other end of the house have actually shut down when
commanded.
TronArch has been called the Rolls-Royce of home control systems. But adding brain power to
your house needn't cost a fortune. In the past few years, the home automation industry has
developed a number of products that, for less than $5,000, can transform even the lowest-tech
houses into semblances of computerized Xanadus. More than 50 automation systems are
available, ranging from $100 software that can turn your computer into a nerve center for the
entire house to $20,000-plus models such as the Home Boss, which coordinates systems from
lawn sprinklers to climate controls.
Americans spent an estimated $727 million on central home controllers in the past two years,
according to Parks Associates, a Dallas research firm. And more than 300,000 new homes were
fitted with electronic butlers in that time. So far, less than 1 percent of U.S. homes have been
fully automated, says Parks. But the figure is expected to double by 2005, and with prices falling
and the technology advancing, the industry is betting that home automation will be part of
standard architectural planning within a few decades.
For now, most "smart homes" (as the industry calls them) remain comparatively dumb. Even
systems like TronArch can't recommend what groceries you need or if your walls could use
replastering. Not that anyone would necessarily want a house that brainy. Just think of Ray
Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" in The Martian Chronicles, and the smarthome idea starts to sound like a science fiction nightmare. Bradbury describes a house that
continues serving meals and cleaning floors long after its residents have died. Luddites can rest
assured, though: today's so-called intelligent homes are benign creatures, humble servants
dedicated to alleviating drudgery.
What does a typical automated home look like? In some ways, not that different from Jerry
Rich's mansion, albeit on a smaller scale. Peggy and Clark Graham of Mobile, Alabama,
installed a Vantage Vision system when they remodeled their 6,500-square-foot ranch house in
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1997. The home's brain is a control panel in the utility closet, which links all its "subsystems"-the air conditioning, lighting and security--and distributes commands to and from wall-mounted
keypads in various rooms. The Grahams use the keypads to set lighting and to control their
audio/video sources, draperies and storm shutters, and other appliances. Hitting the "sleep"
button in their master bedroom arms the outdoor security system and shuts off all unnecessary
lights. The "projector" button in the bedroom pulls down a 100-inch screen, dims the lights,
closes the curtains and starts the video projector, mounted in the canopy above their bed. After
dark, motion detectors in the driveway trigger the kitchen lights, which are programmed to turn
on when the couple enters. Pressing a panic button will set off flashing lights in every room and
alert the Grahams' security company.
But for all its high-tech wizardry, an automated home should still look like a home. "The idea is
to keep the house as normal-looking as possible," says Mike Esposito, a Vantage installer in
Pleasantville, New York. "You don't want to have the screens everywhere, because that scares
people." Installing a Vantage controller for the whole house could cost more than $40,000 if
walls and floors need to be opened to route through sensors and electrical cables. But the
system's main attraction--its high level of automation--is also its Achilles' heel. If the system
crashes or you decide you don't like a preprogrammed "scene," your installation guru will have
to make the repairs or adjustments. Unlike TronArch, Vantage's software is inaccessible to
homeowners, and a professional installer is probably the only one (unless you're an engineering
genius) who'll understand how the system works.
Less complex, and a lot cheaper, is turning your PC into a home manager. One funky system, a
real-life version of HAL--the computer that goes berserk in 2001: A Space Odyssey--can
network your house into a virtual spaceship. Like its cheeky film cousin, the HAL 2000 system
operates through voice commands: you hook it up to your PC and modem, then issue commands
from microphones anywhere in the house. HAL is programmed to understand spoken phrases
such as "turn bathroom lights on" and can link thermostats, security sensors and other electronic
appliances. You can also phone HAL and ask it to retrieve e-mail, stock reports and Internet
data.
94
Unless your PC turns evil and decides to play homewrecker, HAL probably won't run amok; it
simply isn't brainy enough. In industry language, HAL is a "retrofit" system, making use of the
house's existing electrical wiring to send commands between appliances and subsystems.
Automating lights or timing the coffee to start percolating when the alarm clock rings is simple:
you plug in a module (available from Radio Shack under the "plugn power" label or directly
from X-10, the manufacturer, at www.x10.com) between the appliance and the wall and then
send on/off commands from a transmitter or wireless remote via radio frequency, infrared
network or power lines. Timing the porch lights to come on at night or setting the thermostat
back to save energy during the day are common applications. You can also network the modules
using PC software. With X-10's ActiveHome program, homeowners can write scripts for their
houses to act out: opening the garage door could disarm the security system, trigger indoor lights
and start music on a CD player. IBM's Home Director software features a "lifestyle" function
that learns the way lights and appliances are used and can replay the same patterns, making the
home look occupied when residents are away.
Today, more than 5 million homes contain at least one X-10 module, usually for remotecontrolled lighting or timed thermostats. But turning your house into an intelligent machine will
require more advanced circuitry. "Right now, we don't have smart houses," says Paul Saffo of the
Institute for the Future, a California think tank. "What we have are smart archipelagos or islands
of automation. We're still slouching toward the ambitious home."
The problem, say Saffo and other industry experts, is that we live in electronic Towers of Babel.
Appliances, from your air conditioner to TV, all speak different languages. Until your clothes
dryer can beam a signal to your TV, for example, informing you with a little icon that your
laundry's done, your house won't be smart by most measures. Homes prewired with a central
controller can work around that problem--given skilled software--but appliances incompatible
with the systems' communications protocol will remain out of the loop.
One solution would be for manufacturers to adopt a universal standard so all of your house's
appliances and subsystems could communicate. But that hasn't happened, despite the
development of several promising technologies. The so-called CEBus standard, developed by a
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consortium of consumer electronic companies, and its rival, LonWorks, made by the Echelon
company, are locked in a VHS-versus-Betamax-type pre-market war. "They're both good
systems," says industry analyst Tricia Parks. "But neither one has reached a critical mass." When
that happens, she says, houses will really get smart.
"The degree of external information waiting to get into our homes is immense," Parks says.
Imagine, she says, that your house could receive local weather broadcasts. The sprinklers would
know not to turn on if it's raining. If there's a fire, thermostats will sense excess heat, but instead
of activating the air conditioners or fans, it will shut them down. Your house will also know how
to manage energy. Utility companies are already experimenting with "real-time" pricing-offering discounts for power use during nonpeak hours. When energy prices are lowest, your
electricity meter will instruct your washing machine that it's time to turn on.
"Homes of the future will have a neurological system with distributed nerves like our bodies,"
predicts Chris Luebkeman, professor of architecture and building technology at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The home will react in ways which are completely
subconscious." Along with Kent Larson, a research scientist with the school's architecture
department, Luebkeman and a team of MIT designers are already designing prototypes. In these
homes, he explains, "walls will know they're walls; the house will know if it has a leak, just like
your body knows when it's wounded." Microprocessors and sensors will be embedded in
structural elements from the foundation to the roof shingles, distributing intelligence throughout
the home. You might wear sensors like jewelry that can monitor your body temperature and
communicate with the home's climate control system to maintain a certain comfort level. The
house could also be linked to the National Weather Service. If a storm is forecast, the home
could automatically close the shutters to protect itself. It would check all the windows and doors
to make sure they're shut and send you a signal at work, notifying you to stock up on candles and
other provisions. In the kitchen, flat screens will be embedded in cabinets and connected to the
Internet. Sensors might tell the computer what groceries you have and send the information to a
recipes Web site; you'll then see a video showing five meals to make with the food you've got at
home.
96
Your house will be plugged in, turned on and wired like a finely calibrated machine. "This will
be as radical a change to American living as the introduction of the automobile," predicts
Luebkeman.
No one knows when we'll move into these computerized pods. Technological advances found in
futuristic houses of the past have had a hit or miss track record of acceptance by the American
public. Still, the idea of the smart home is nothing new. Architectural historians date it to the
nineteenth century, citing Thomas Jefferson's 33-room mansion, Monticello, as the nation's first
"intelligent home."
Completed in 1809, the house was designed by Jefferson "with an eye toward convenience,"
integrating a number of then-cutting edge technologies. A chain beneath the floor operates
automatic double doors opening onto the parlor. Double-glazed storm windows were installed
for insulation. There are light-maximizing mirrors and space-saving alcove beds. Dumbwaiters,
built into the fireplace, connect the wine cellar to the dining room directly above it. Slaves could
bring in food through underground passageways and place hot plates on shelves built on a
revolving door. In his bedroom, Jefferson installed a "turning machine," a device for hanging
clothes. He placed a weather vane atop the east portico and connected it to a compass, enabling
him to gauge wind direction from the entrance halls. His dual-faced calendar clock, hanging
above the main entrance from an 18 1/2-foot-high ceiling, chimed a gong on the roof every hour,
while its cannonball-sized weights along the wall served as markers for the days of the week.
This century's visionary dwellings expanded Jefferson's ideal of comfort and convenience,
sometimes to comical effect. In 1922, Buster Keaton tapped the idea for his two-reel film The
Electric House. Asked to install electricity in his college dean's home, Keaton winds up in a
house with a will of its own: stairs move uncontrollably, a tub slides on tracks from the bathroom
to the bedroom, and double doors nearly decapitate him. The kitchen features machines that are
supposed to wash, rinse, dry and put dishes back on the shelf but predictably go haywire.
Outside, a pool drains and fills seemingly at will.
Hollywood aside, by the 1930s American companies were designing futuristic homes to
97
showcase new products. In 1934, Westinghouse Electric's Home of Tomorrow featured a host of
conveniences--central air conditioning, an intercom system and electric garage door opener--that
heralded the domestic technology revolution of the 1950s. Not all the home's gadgetry, though,
was successful. Its automatic double doors, which connected the pantry and dining room, never
found a market. Its kitchen, with an electrically heated serving wagon and a self-cleaning
garbage disposal, would remain an oddity. That same year at the Century of Progress Exhibition,
another house of tomorrow featured a hangar (one of the architects, George Keck, believed that
everyone would fly personal planes in the future). The house also had living room walls made of
polished plate glass for easy cleaning and a built-in aquarium in the children's room--a hit at the
exhibition.
More techno-homes followed after the Second World War, though few would be considered
livable. Some, like Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Dwelling Machine, resembled tinny space
pods, with Plexiglass windows, aluminum walls and a rooftop ventilator whose rotating fins
supplied a continuous stream of fresh air. As Fortune magazine observed at the time: "When you
go into the house it feels as if you had walked into the twentieth century." There were a few oldtime holdovers, however. In a nod to Jefferson's clothes-turning machine, the Dymaxion's closets
featured rotating clothing and shoe racks.
Fuller's Dymaxion machines never caught on, despite the promise of cheap construction and
sophisticated technology. Americans may have found them too outlandish for everyday living.
Contemporary homes of tomorrow, however, suggest a finer balance of the futuristic and
traditional, evident in a recent project in Coppell, Texas.
Jointly constructed by Centex Homes, Builder and Home magazines, and B3 Architects +
Planners, the 4,073-square-foot home resembles a miniature family village--with separate wings
for adults and children, casitas flanking a courtyard and two 25-foot-high turrets that anchor the
residence like a medieval fortress. Despite the heavy Old World styling, however, the home is
thoroughly modern. A centralized controller governs its lighting, climate, alarms and audio/video
feeds. The home's energy management system is also state-of-the-art. Photovoltaic shingles on
the roof provide about 12 percent of the house's power. The shingles collect enough solar energy
98
to run an entire circuit of the house, including its computers and security equipment, and serve as
a backup in case of power failure. A geothermal system uses the earth's constant temperature for
energy-efficient heating in winter and cooling in summer. Triple-glazed windows, filled with
insulating gases, improve the house's overall energy efficiency. The great room boasts movable
walls. In the second-floor turret, kids can play in a spaceship-styled playroom. Overall, more
than three and a half miles of wiring can accommodate 24 locations for computer equipment.
And the home will be outfitted with fiber-optic cable for super-fast Internet connections.
Without question, though, the smartest house on the block still belongs to the world's wealthiest
man, Bill Gates. Built into a hillside in Medina, Washington, with a living space of about 20,000
square feet, the home ranks in grandeur with some of this century's most spectacular residences.
(With respect to the spirit of technological innovation, Gates himself compares his dwelling with
newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst Sr.'s 165-room mansion in San Simeon, California,
which featured such extravagant conveniences--for the time--as telephones in almost every
room.) Among the Gates estate's more impressive features: a 30-car underground garage
tunneled into the hill; a reception hall with 24 video screens to display changing artwork, as well
as news and business information; a 60-foot indoor pool with an underwater music system; two
elevators; a movie theater; a 25-foot-high trampoline room; a practice putting green; and a trout
spawning area.
In the Gates residence, more than 100 computers guide everything from the lights and climate
controls to the security system. (But not without occasional glitches, according to some reports.)
The house continually runs diagnostic tests on itself, pinpointing areas that need upgrading or
repair. When occupants receive a phone call, only the handset closest to them will ring. At night,
when residents walk down a hallway, the lights come on and then darken behind them. Music
and video choices are available on demand in any room. The house's most Big Brotherish
feature, however, was its people-tracking system: upon entering, guests were reportedly given an
electronic pin that can track and monitor their movements anywhere in the compound. With
these miniature bugs, your music, movie or art choices can follow you to any room. Ideally, the
house is supposed to adapt to your preferences and store information about your tastes for future
reference.
99
Since that time, the pin idea has reportedly been scrapped. Even so, few doubt that computers
will eventually guide our homes, much as they already govern our automobiles' brakes or
ignition systems. By then, it's a good bet that today's smart-home technology--even Gates's--will
seem primitive. Our dwellings should finally function like the home machines Le Corbusier once
dreamed of.
Daren Fonda is a freelance writer based in New York City.
Work Cited:
Fonda, Daren. "Home: Smart Home." Cigar Aficionado 2009 Web.6 Aug 2009.
<http://www.cigarinsider.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article_Print/0,2812,294,
00.html>.
100
Name: ___________
“There Will Come Soft Rains”
Literary Terms
 Simile:
o Example:
 Personification:
o Example:
 Setting:
o What is the setting of the story?
 Symbolism:
 Irony:
 Protagonist:
101
o Who or what is the protagonist of this story?
 Imagery:
 Suspense:
 Theme:
What is the theme of the story?
102
Name: ____________
“There Will Come Soft Rains”
Utopia or Dystopia?!
Directions: This is a personal opinion. Using the following paragraph, decide whether this is a
dystopic or utopic vision for you. Once you have decided, use the paragraph and create the
opposite. Explain your reasoning in a sentence below your paragraph.
When I woke up that morning, everyone else in the house was gone. I didn't
hear any sounds of life. I took a shower, put on my clothes, and went
downstairs to the kitchen. I looked in the refrigerator, but there was nothing to
eat except the same old thing. I took out two eggs, some bacon, and a piece of
bread for toast. I also took out some orange juice. I put the eggs and bacon in
the frying pan together. I quickly found out this would not work very well.
Then I put the bread in the toaster and put the dial on "dark." The toast came
out black. Now that I had done everything wrong, I put all the dirty dishes in
the sink. I decided to go out for breakfast.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Sentence:
103
“THE LOTTERY” BY SHIRLEY JACKSON
Pre Reading:
1. Discuss with students what could be contained in a code of ethics.
2. Have them write down four words they think summarizes their code of
ethics.
Example: Truth. Love. Freedom. Strength.
3. Lab: Students will research three crimes on Google. Students will read
about motive and the consequence of the crime. In their journals, they
will agree that it was fair, or state why it was unfair.
4. Discuss: Students/class will discuss the fairness of the various
punishments.
5. Students will complete vocabulary squares for the story’s vocab.
--Vocabulary—
1. boisterous – noisy/energetic
2. lapse- end without renewal
3. petulant- childishly sulky or bad-tempered
4. inevitable- impossible to avoid
5. exploitation- the act of capitalizing on goods
During:
1. Answer the questions as you read. Make marginal notes as you read.
Post:
1. The class will watch M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.
2. As they watch the movie, students will create some documentation (notes,
maps, pictures, etc) to show differences and similarities between the film
and the story.
3. Students will compose an essay on common themes in the two works.
104
Name: _______________
“The Lottery”
Vocabulary Squares
Directions: Fill in the squares completely using the list of vocabulary words below.
1. boisterous
2. lapse
3. petulant
Etymology/ Part of Speech
Synonyms/Antonyms
4. inevitable
5. exploitation
Synonyms/Antonyms
WORD:
Defintion
Picture/Representation
WORD:
Defintion
Sentence:
Sentence:
Sentence:
Synonyms/Antonyms
Synonyms/Antonyms
WORD:
Defintion
WORD:
Defintion
Sentence:
Sentence:
105
Name: _______________
“The Lottery”
Literary Terms
1. Name two symbols in “The Lottery” and what they represent.
2. Give five examples from the story that show how men have the power in
this society.
3. Give two examples of foreshadowing
4. Define the term situational irony.
Discuss the following examples of irony from the story.
a. Old Man Warner says, “The lottery keeps us civilized.”
b. The denotation and connotation of the word lottery
106
Thematic Essay: “The Lottery” and The Village
Directions: Using the following format, you will construct a 3-paragraph essay
on two similar themes the film and story share.
Introduction: follow ANT for the introduction. Should be between 4-6
sentences.
• Attention-getter. The attention-getter should be general and interesting. It should
draw the reader in. It should also connect thematically to the thesis.
• Necessary information:
o Author’s name
o Title of work
o Brief plot summary
• Thesis:
o Your thesis should make the statement that there are several themes that the
story and the film share.
Body Paragraph—Contain your points and support. 6-8 sentences.
You must use 2 quotations in this paragraph.
Sentence #1: Topic Sentence
Sentence #2: Concrete detail, starts with for example
Sentence #3: Support
Sentence #4: Analysis
Sentence #5: Concrete detail, starts with in addition
Sentence #6: Support
Sentence #7: Analysis
Sentence #8: Conclusion, all commentary
Conclusion Paragraph—finishes the essay by restating point. 3-4
sentences.
Using the rubric on the next page, make sure your essay contains the contents
before turning your work in. Also, please proofread carefully.
107
CATEGORY
Introduction
(Organization)
4
Detailed explanation
of theme: thesis
presents argument:
interesting
introduction
Quotations:
Citations
All quotations from
the novel are
punctuated and cited
correctly.
Quotations:
Analysis
All quotations are
analyzed well and
effectively used.
Sequencing
(Organization)
Details are placed in
a logical order and
the way they are
presented effectively
keeps the interest of
the reader.
Grammar &
Spelling
(Conventions)
Conclusion
(Organization)
3
Somewhat Detailed
explanation of theme:
thesis presents
argument: somewhat
interesting introduction
2
few details of theme,
confusing thesisdoes not follow rest
of essay, paper just
"starts" no intro to
draw in reader
Two quotations from the One quotation from
novel are punctuated and the novel is
cited correctly.
punctuated and cited
correctly.
Two quotations are
analyzed well and
effectively used or they
are analyzed and not
used efficiently.
Details are placed in a
logical order, but the
way in which they are
presented/introduced
sometimes makes the
writing less interesting.
One quotation is
analyzed well and
effectively used or is
analyzed and not
used efficiently.
Some details are not
in a logical or
expected order, and
this distracts the
reader.
Writer makes 1-2
the reader from the
content.
Writer makes 3-5 errors
from the content.
Writer makes 6-8
the reader from the
content.
The conclusion is
strong and leaves the
reader with a feeling
that they understand
what the writer is
"getting at."
The conclusion is
recognizable and ties up
almost all the loose
ends.
The conclusion is
recognizable, but
does not tie up
several loose ends.
1
There is no
clear
introduction of
the main topic
or structure of
the paper.
No quotations
from the novel
are punctuated
and cited
correctly.
All quotes are
ineffectively
used/not
analyzed.
Many details
are not in a
logical or
expected order.
There is little
sense that the
writing is
organized.
Writer makes
more than 9-12
errors in
grammar or
spelling that
distract the
reader from the
content.
There is no
clear
conclusion, the
paper just ends.
108
“THE EUPHIO QUESTION” BY KURTVONNEGUT JR
Pre Reading:
1. Handout copies of “The Euphio Question” by The Detachment Kit
lyrics.
2. As a class, make predictions using the lyrics about what you think the
story is about.
3. Journal: Students will write about and prepare to discuss with the class
the desirability of instant peace of mind. They will also explore and
discuss the consequences of manufactured, immediate serenity.
4. Complete A, B,C vocabulary for the story.
--Vocabulary—
1. monotonous- dull, tedious, or repitious
2. maudlin—self pityingly
3. forte- expertise
4. apathetic- showing or feeling no sympathy or concern
5. harangue—to lecture in a critical manner
During:
1. Students will generate 5 questions concerning the dystopic elements while
they read the story.
2. Marginal notes.
Post:
1. Students will swap with a partner and discuss the self-generated
questions.
2. Students will create their own boxes of happiness—due at next class.
3. Students will watch the film Disturbing Behavior and take notes as they read
on the theme of behavioral/emotional control.
4. Discuss with students how this is still plausible today: prescription drugs,
hypnotism, etc.
109
, for me Lyrics to “The Euphio Question” by The Detachment Kit
I know a place we can go where all fall into this the euphio had such a hold, that
when turned on infinite bliss so drop to your knees, and begin to fight through it
when death makes you wonder, you can wonder what you missed. and i could
do nothing. i would do nothing to put out the light. oh no, i need a feeling,
feeling so cold, is this night sort of a feeling, feeling. i could do nothing ... i would
do nothing to put out the light. hold on so tight you can't breathe for me, for me
until you're ... gone. there is something out there, there's something everywhere till we're gone.
www.lyricmania.com
Lyrics to “The Euphio Question” by The Detachment Kit
do nothing to put out the light. hold on so tight you can't breathe for me, for me
until you're ... gone. there is something out there, there's something everywhere till we're gone.
www.lyricmania.com
Lyrics to “The Euphio Question” by The Detachment Kit
do nothing to put out the light. hold on so tight you can't breathe for me until
you're ... gone. there is something out there, there's something everywhere - till
we're gone.
www.lyricmania.com
110
Name: _____________
“The Euphio Question”
Vocabulary
Directions: First (A), define and write the part of speech for the following words. Then (B), as
you read, write the sentence in which the word is found in the story. Next, (C) show your
understanding of the word by using it corectly in your own sentence.
6. Monotonous
a.
b.
c.
7. Maudlin
a.
b.
c.
111
8. Forte
a.
b.
c.
9. Apathetic
a.
b.
c.
10. Harangue
a.
b.
c.
112
Happy Boxes Assignment
Directions: When you close your eyes and someone asks you to think of what
makes you happy. What do you see? Vonnegut’s “Euphio Question” is about a
box that exudes pure happiness. Think about 10 things that make you happy.
Brainstorm below:
1. _____________________
2. _____________________
3. _____________________
4. _____________________
5. _____________________
6. _____________________
7. _____________________
8. _____________________
9. _____________________
10. _____________________
Homework: Go home and find a way to visually represent what makes you
happy. Put it in the box, and we will have a show and tell tomorrow. 
113
1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL
Pre Reading:
1. Introduce the new class rules (print as an overhead)—tell students they need
to sit down without a word.
**Number 2 and 3 are optional as they are a bit risky.** Do not expect students
to answer the personal privacy breech, however if they do, do not collect them.
Any students that do not answer will be asked to leave the class** No answers
are revealed, but they reflect on the review sheet, which can later be discussed
together.**
2. Handout personal privacy sheet
3. Students will complete personal privacy review sheet
4. Discussion—freedoms that citizens and students are granted. What freedoms
are they denied? Who controls the system that governs us? How do we
fit into the system? What happens when the power to govern ends up in
the wrong hands?
- NOVEL: 1984—Everything that can go wrong when too much power is
being given to one group over another.
5. Distribute Vocabulary
6. Students will read Orwell Bio.
7. Students will create a Utopian Society
8. Students will write a 3-paragraph essay on their greatest fear. Extra points
for artwork.
9. LAB: Using the Internet, examine the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of
Rights to find freedoms granted to you as an American citizen. Are some of
these freedoms denied to citizens of other countries? Which ones?
10. Discuss as a class: Are there ways in which government or the private sector
intrudes upon the privacy of U.S. citizens? What are some of these ways?
11. Student notes: Have students take using Cornell method template.
114
During: *In Order*
1. Students will need to complete a dialectic journal as they read. Each
student needs to have a minimum of 15 entries. Make sure students are
introduced to journal rubric. Due: _____________________
2. Students will complete Mood and Environment sheet. [after part I
chapter 3]
3. Students will complete character webs. [after part I chapter 6]
4. Students will complete Part I Quiz.
5. Students will create and illustrate bio poems. [after part I]
6. Students will complete study guide 1.[after part I]
7. Students will watch Equilibrium [after part II chapter 3]
8. Students will complete Equilibrium Viewing Sheet. [ after film]
9. Students will complete doublespeak today sheet. [after part II chapter 4]
10. Students will complete Winston and Julia Venn Diagram sheet. [after
part II]
11. Students will complete Quiz Part II.
Post: In Order
1. Students will complete Flashback or Foreshadowing Dreams.
2. Students will use graphic organizer and rubric to prepare essay.
3. Students will complete essay.
4. Students will complete Social Structure sheet.
5.Students will complete Party Reeducation Sheet.
6. Students will complete 1984 in Today’s World sheet.
7. Students will complete exam.
115
NEW CLASS RULES
1. You may not communicate with other students without my
permission.
2. You must remain in your seat for the entire class period.
3. Once you are called on to speak, you must stand up beside
your desk to answer or ask a question.
4. All materials, including backpacks, purses, and notebooks
must be placed in front of the door. You will bring a writing
utensil to your desk ONLY.
5. If a student sees another member of the class breaking a rule,
they must report the misbehavior.
Any infraction to the following rules will result in being asked to
leave the class.
116
Name: ____________
Personal Privacy Guide
Directions: Please answer the following questions. Answers will only be taken if they are
written in black ink.
1. What is your household income?
2. What are your plans for everyday after school this week?
3. Who are you friends with?
4. What have you done that your parents would disapprove of?
5. Have you ever killed a small animal?
6. How often do you bathe?
7. What biggest flaw do you have that would make you second-guess
reproduction?
117
Name: ______________
Personal Privacy Breach Review
Directions: Please reflect on the following.
1. QUICK, write down the FIRST thing that popped into your head when
receiving the sheet!
2. How did this exercise make you feel about me as a teacher?
3. What is your definition of a Tyrannical leader?
4. What was the worst part of this exercise for you and why?
118
1984 Vocabulary
Part I
I. depict, interminable, refute, inscrutable
II. reverberate, discountenance
III. reproach, disdain, repudiate
IV. collate, denounce, multifarious
V. venerate, proliferate
VI. debauchery, promiscuity
VII. incriminate, stratum
VIII. sordid, altercation, innumerable, unprocurable
Total= 22 words
Part II
I. malignant, guise
II. daple, strenuous
III. stagnant, commodity
IV. eccentricity, endurable
V. effigy, indignation, mutability
VI. invariably
VII. intermittent, remonstrance
VIII. NONE 
IX. reprisal, spurious, irrevocable, oligarchic, infallible
X. reverence
Total= 20 words
Part III
I. timorous
II. truncheon, despicable
III. forlorn, degradation
IV. taut
V. interpose
VI. digression
Total= 8 words
119
GEORGE ORWELL
George Orwell [pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair] (19031950), journalist, political author and novelist wrote
Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949);
“It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that
the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG
BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it
ran.”
Originally titled Last Man in Europe, it was renamed
Nineteen Eighty-Four for unknown reasons, possibly a
mere reversal of the last two digits of the year it was
written. It was first met with conflicting criticisms and
acclaim; some reviewers disliked its dystopian satire of
totalitarian regimes, nationalism, the class system,
bureaucracy, and world leaders’ power struggles, while
others panned it as nihilistic prophesy on the downfall of
humankind. Some still see it as anti-Catholic with Big
Brother replacing God and church. From it the term
Orwellian has evolved, in reference to an idea or action that is hostile to a free society. Yet,
Nineteen Eighty-Four has proven to be a profoundly meaningful work and continues to be one of
the world’s most widely read and quoted novels into the twenty-first century. Inspired by
Yevgeny Zamyatin's (1884-1937) We, Blair worked intensely, often writing ten hours a day and
even when bedridden with tuberculosis in his last days continued to labour over it. From his
essay “Why I Write”;
“First I spent five years in an unsuitable profession (the Indian Imperial Police, in Burma), and
then I underwent poverty and the sense of failure. This increased my natural hatred of authority
and made me for the first time fully aware of the existence of the working classes, and the job in
Burma had given me some understanding of the nature of imperialism: but these experiences
were not enough to give me an accurate political orientation. Then came Hitler, the Spanish Civil
War, etc. By the end of 1935 I had still failed to reach a firm decision.”
He goes on to say;
“The Spanish war and other events in 1936-37 turned the scale and thereafter I knew where I
stood. Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or
indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.”
Education and Early Years 1903-1921
Eric Arthur Blair was born on 25 June 1903 in Motihari, Bengal (now Bihar) India, into a family
of the “lower-upper middle class” as he wryly puts it in The Road to Wigan Pier (1933). He was
the son of Ida Mabel née Limouzin (1875–1943) and Richard Walmesley Blair (1857–1938),
120
who worked as a sub-deputy opium agent for the Indian Civil Service under the British Raj. Eric
rarely saw his father until he had retired in 1912. Eric’s grandfather had been a wealthy
plantation and slave owner but the fortunes dwindled by the time he was born. He had two
sisters, Marjorie and Avril.
At the age of one Eric and his mother settled in England; his father joined them in 1912. At the
age of five, Blair entered the Anglican parish school of Henley-on-Thames which he attended for
two years before entering the prestigious St. Cyprian’s school in Sussex. Corporal punishment
was common in the day and possibly a source of his initial resentment towards authority. While
there, Blair wrote his first published work, the poem “Awake! Young Men of England”; “Oh!
think of the War Lord’s mailed fist, That is striking at England today.” With pressures to excel,
Eric earned a scholarship to “the most costly and snobbish of the English Public Schools” Eton
College where he attended between 1917 and 1921, and where Aldous Huxley, author of Brave
New World (1932) taught him French.
Indian Civil Service 1922-1927
Following in his father’s footsteps, Blair went to Burma (now Myanmar) to join the Indian
Imperial Police, much like author H. H. Munro or ‘Saki’ had done in 1893. During the next five
years he grew to love the Burmese and resent the oppression of imperialism and decided to
become a writer instead. Works he wrote influenced by this period of his life are his essay “A
Hanging” (1931); “It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to
destroy a healthy, conscious man.” and “Shooting an Elephant” (1936); “It is a serious matter to
shoot a working elephant – it is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of
machinery.”. His novel Burmese Days was first published in the United States in 1934 and then
London in 1935, also based on his days in service.
Paris and London 1928-1936
After Orwell resigned, he moved to Paris to try his hand at short stories, writing freelance for
various periodicals though he ended up destroying them because nobody would publish them. He
had to resort to menial jobs including one at the pseudononymous ‘Hotel X’ that barely provided
him enough to eat as a plongeur;
“[A] plongeur is one of the slaves of the modern world. Not that there is any need to whine
over him, for he is better off than many manual workers, but still, he is no freer than if he were
bought and sold. His work is servile and without art; he is paid just enough to keep him alive; his
only holiday is the sack... trapped by a routine which makes thought impossible. If plongeurs
thought at all, they would long ago have formed a union and gone on strike for better treatment.
But they do not think, because they have no leisure for it; their life has made slaves of them.” —
Down and Out in Paris and London (1933)
After a bout of pneumonia in 1929 Blair moved back to England to live in East London and
adopted his pseudonym George Orwell, partly to avoid embarrassing his family. Down and Out
in Paris and London, similarly to Emile Zola’s The Fat and the Thin (1873) famously exposes
the seedy underbelly of Paris and accounts his days of living hand to mouth;
121
“At present I do not feel that I have seen more than the fringe of poverty. Still I can point to
one or two things I have definitely learned by being hard up. I shall never again think that all
tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny, nor
be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the Salvation Army, nor pawn my
clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a meal at a smart restaurant. That is a beginning.”
A proponent for socialism, Blair now wanted to write for the ‘common man’ and purposefully
lived as a tramp in London and the Home Counties and stayed with miners in the north. Blair
learned of the disparity between the classes and came to know a life of poverty and hardship
amongst beggars and thieves. His study of the under-classes in general would provide the theme
for many of his works to follow. We read of his ‘urban rides’ and experience with the
unemployed in The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), written for the Left Book Club.
In 1932 Blair was a teacher for a time before moving to Hampstead, London to work in a
bookstore. In the sardonically comical Keep The Aspidistra Flying (1936) Gordon Comstock
spurns the ‘Money God’, materialism, and status, though that which he hates becomes an
obsession. Comstock’s political creed soon proves a cover-up for deep seated emotional issues;
“The money clinked in his trouser pocket as he got up. He knew the precise sum that was
there. Fivepence halfpenny—twopence halfpenny and a Joey. He paused, took out the miserable
little threepenny-bit, and looked at it. Beastly, useless thing! And bloody fool to have taken it! It
had happened yesterday, when he was buying cigarettes. ‘Don't mind a threepenny-bit, do you,
sir?’ the little bitch of a shop-girl had chirped. And of course he had let her give it him. ‘Oh no,
not at all!’ he had said—fool, bloody fool!”
In 1936 Blair and once student of J.R.R. Tolkien student Eileen O'Shaughnessy (1905-1945)
married. In 1944 they would adopt a son, Richard Horatio. Based on his teaching days, A
Clergyman’s Daughter was published in 1935.
Spanish Civil War
When civil war broke out, Blair and his wife both wanted to fight for the Spanish government
against Francisco Franco’s Nationalist uprising. While on the front at Huesca in Aragon Blair
was shot in the throat by “a Fascist sniper”. In Barcelona he joined the anti-Stalinist Spanish
Trotskyist ‘Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista’ or POUM, the Workers’ Party of Marxist
Unification. When the communists partly gained control and tried to purge the POUM, many of
Blair's friends were arrested, shot, or disappeared. He and Eileen barely escaped with their lives
in 1937. His autobiographical Homage to Catalonia is written in the first person, mere months
after the events.
“Shall the common man be pushed back into the mud, or shall he not? I myself believe,
perhaps on insufficient grounds, that the common man will win his fight sooner or later, but I
want it to be sooner and not later—some time within the next hundred years, say, and not some
time within the next ten thousand years. That was the real issue of the Spanish war, and of the
122
last war, and perhaps of other wars yet to come.”—from his essay “Looking Back on the Spanish
War”
WW II, the Home War Effort, and Fame 1939-1950
Back in England, Blair set to freelance writing again for such publications as New English
Weekly, The Tribune and New Statesman. His essay subjects include fellow authors Charles
Dickens, William Butler Yeats, Arthur Koestler, and P.G. Wodehouse. Essay titles include
“Inside the Whale” (1940), “The Lion and The Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius”
(1941), “Notes on Nationalism” (1945), “How the Poor Die” (1946), and “Reflections on
Gandhi” (1949). Coming Up For Air was published in 1939. Blair joined the Home Guards and
also worked in broadcasting with the BBC in propaganda efforts to garner support from Indians
and East Asians. He was also literary editor for the left wing The Tribune, writing his column
“As I Please” until 1945, the same year he became a war correspondent for The Observer. Eileen
O’Shaughnessy died on 29 March 1945 while undergoing surgery in Newcastle upon Tyne.
In 1946 Blair lived for a year at Barnhill on the Isle of Jura. For years he had been developing his
favourite novel that would cinch his literary legacy, Animal Farm (1944). “On my return from
Spain I thought of exposing the Soviet myth in a story that could be easily understood.”
Publishers did not want to touch his anti-Stalinist allegory while war was still raging so it was
held for publishing until after the war had ended. From Chapter One of Animal Farm;
“Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of
hunger and overwork is abolished for ever. Man is the only creature that consumes without
producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he
cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work,
he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he
keeps for himself.”
Back in England, in 1949 Blair was admitted to the Cotswolds Sanitorium, Gloucestershire for
tuberculosis, the same year he married Sonia Bronwell (1918-1980). Eric Arthur Blair died
suddenly in London on 21 January 1950 at the age of forty-six, succumbing to the tuberculosis
that had plagued him for the last three years of his life. He lies buried in the All Saint’s
Churchyard in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, England.
George Orwell’s life and works have been the source of inspiration for many other authors’
works. Keep The Aspidistra Flying, Animal Farm, and Nineteen Eighty-Four have inspired
numerous television and film adaptations. He has also contributed numerous concepts, words,
and phrases to present day language including Newspeak; doublethink “the power of holding two
contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them”; thoughtcrime;
four legs good, two legs bad; all animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than
others; He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the
past; and War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength. Among the ranks of other such
acclaimed literary giants as Jonathan Swift and Aldous Huxley, George Orwell is a master of wit
and satire, critically observing the politics of his time and prophetically envisioning the future.
123
He devoted much of his life to various causes critical of capitalism, imperialism, fascism, and
Stalinism, but in the end what he “most wanted to do is to make political writing into an art.”
“Liberty is telling people what they do not want to hear.”—from a preface to Animal Farm
Biography written by C.D. Merriman for Jalic Inc. Copyright Jalic Inc. 2006.
All Rights Reserved. Taken from www.Literature.com
124
* Stems from a Greek word meaning “no place”…
1. How could this misnomer be an example of irony?
Directions: The government has asked that this class create a utopian community. Each member
must live and contribute to the community in some way.
Tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Choose a leader through an anonymous class election for nominees/leader
Decide upon the type of governemnt
Most important rules and regulations
Rights and Ownership of community goods
Distribution and Rations—food and supplies
Job assignments—use your classmate’s talents/strengths during this process
School—mandatory? For some?
Entertainment—minimum of 10 enjoyable/inclusive activities
Enforcement of Rules/Law
After you have finished the tasks, you must visually represent your utopia. You will need to tell
us:
1. How much of your land is dirt and how much is water?
2. What is your society’s flag and why? What does each part symbolically represent?
3. What size/acreage is your community?
For homework: Each member of the group will need to answer the following follow-up
questions in his/her journal.
1. Is there more or less personal responsibility in your community than in society now?
Explain and provide an example.
2. Can a utopic society actually exist? Why or why not?
3. Is the community more dependent on the individual or the outside force of a governing
system?
4. Which is easier to create, a utopian or totalitarian society? Why?
5. Can a Totalitarian society be utopic?
125
Directions: You will be writing a 3-paragraph, personal fear essay. You have a bit of creative
license when it comes to this assignment, as you can either write a one -page story on your
greatest fear or you can write an essay.
Option One: Creativity
Write a short story that contains interesting and meaningful characters, a clear setting and theme,
and shows point of view.
A rough plan of what your story is about is due on _______________. Include in this plan:
 Character names
 Short character sketch for each character
 Short explanation about the theme of your story
 Short explanation about the narrator and his/her point of view
 Short description of your story’s setting
Option Two: Formality
Write a 3 paragraph essay on your greatest fear and why it affects you as it does.
Format:
Paragraph I. Intro
Attention Grabber—Hook—question/quote/statistic
Necessary Info- background information in topic
Thesis Statement- road map to your paper
Thesis for paper: I have the fear of __________________ because ______________ and
_______________.
Paragraph II. Body
All of your examples of why you are scared of _____________ will be inserted here and
clarified.
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Paragraph III. Conclusion
• Reword your thesis. (You may want to start the rewording of your thesis with a signal word:
i.e.., thus, therefore, in short, as one can see, it is obvious then, and then.)
• Tie all your points together. Then in 1 – 3 sentences, tell your reader the significance or
importance of the ideas you have been analyzing. You might want to tell your reader what they
should learn from the ideas you analyzed in the body paragraphs. (Warning: do not use you.)
• Seal the deal: try to end your paper with a short sentence that reinforces your argument. This
last sentence should do one of two things. It should either include some words from your
attention-getter or it should include most words from your title. This gives a sense of closure to
your paper.
127
1984: Student Notes (KEY)
-Orwell was dying as he wrote the book, which may have added to his pessimism.
-Setting: Post WWII (1984) Airstrip One (England) in city of London.
-Main character = -Winston (after English leader Churchill) Smith (common name) - age 39
Geography:
Oceania - North America+ British Isles (all Atlantic Islands), Austraila, S. Africa
Eastasia - China+ Japan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet
Eurasia - Russia+ all of northern Europe and Western Asia
Government:
Ruled by the party (INSOG) with a figurehead leader called Big Brother
Three groups: inner party, outer party, proles (party = less than 20% of the population)
INSOG SLOGANS:
1. WAR IS PEACE
2. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
3. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Ministries:
Minitruth - propaganda
Minipax/peace - war
miniplenty-shortages
miniluv - police/captured/vaporized
Propaganda Techniques Used by INSOG:
-Doublethink / slogans
-“Victory” items (cigarettes, gin, coffee) / poor quality, right after “winning!”
-Newspeak: limit thought by words
-2 Minute Hate / changing wars / Goldstein
Control (mainly for outer party members as proles aren’t considered a threat):
1. Spies / children spies (ex. Parsons kids)
2. Telescreens
3. “Big Brother is Watching You”
4. thought police
5. no sex except for reproduction (anti-sex league) Discusses his wife was a true believer in this
and never got pregnant so allowed to separate.
Some things to focus on:
-Prophetic Dreams/Memories
-Government Control Techniques
-Goldstein and Big Brother
-The perpetual “war”
128
1984 Intro Notes
Cornell Template
Questions/Ideas
Notes
Summary:
129
A dialectical journal includes parts of a text and your response to those sections. It is like a
conversation between you and the text of the book. For the entire novel, while you read, you
will need to do the following:
· select 15 striking or significant quotations (with proper citations).
· discuss those quotations in a short paragraph (approx. 3-5 sentences) by presenting your views
about the events; identifying and explaining themes; identifying literary techniques and
explaining the effects of literary techniques; or analyzing the scene in the context of the entire
book, in terms of characterization, or in terms of changes seen throughout the story.
100 points are available, and your responses will be graded according to…
· the selection of your quotations (that they are relevant, important, or pivotal moments with
enough “meat” and length to warrant discussion)
· and the accuracy and detail of your discussion.
Note: While you only need to write 3-5 sentences, your discussion of the idea should not be
superficial. Your ideas within a paragraph should be linked fluidly to avoid redundancy and
unnecessary wordiness.
An “A” level journal must reflect consistent attention to all of the criteria above.
Format: You may type OR write your work as long as you do it neatly.
Pages 1-20
Response
“Text of quotation
Any questions, or comments you have
from the book”
about the quotation. Each response should
(Smith 3).
be 3-5 sentences.
“Next quotation”
(Smith 5).
Rub
ric
Crit
ical
Rea
der
(det
aile
130
Elaborate Reader/ responses)—90-100:
· Extra effort is evident.
· You include more than the minimal number of entries.
· Your quotes are relevant, important, thought provoking, and representative of the themes
of the novel.
· You can “read between the lines” of the text (inference).
· You consider meaning of the text in a universal sense.
· You create new meaning through connections with your own experiences or other texts.
· You carry on a dialogue with the writer. You question, agree, disagree, appreciate, and
object.
· Sentences are grammatically correct with correct spelling and punctuation.
Connected Reader (detailed responses)—80-89:
· A solid effort is evident.
· You include an adequate number of legible entries.
· Your quotes are relevant and connect to the themes of the novel.
· Entries exhibit insight and thoughtful analysis.
· You construct a thoughtful interpretation of the text.
· You show some ability to make meaning of what you read.
· You create some new meaning through connections with your own experiences and text.
· You explain the general significance.
· You raise interesting questions.
· You explain why you agree or disagree with the text.
Thoughtful Reader (somewhat detailed responses)—75-79:
· You include an insufficient number of entries.
· Sentences are mostly correct with a few careless spelling and grammatical errors.
· You selected quotes that may be interesting to you, but that don’t necessarily connect to
the themes of the novel.
· Entries exhibit insight and thoughtful analysis at times.
· You make connections, but explain with little detail.
· You rarely make new meaning from the reading.
· You ask simple questions of the text.
· You may agree or disagree, but don’t support your views.
Literal Reader (simple, factual responses)—70-74:
· You include few entries.
· Entries exhibit limited insight or none at all.
· You accept the text literally.
· You are reluctant to create meaning from the text.
· You make few connections which lack detail.
· You are sometimes confused by unclear or difficult sections of the text.
Limited Reader (perfunctory responses)—below 70:
· You include very few entries.
· Very little effort is evident.
· You find the text confusing, but make no attempt to figure it out.
· You create little or no meaning from the text.
· You make an occasional connection to the text, and the ideas lack development.
· Sentences contain numerous grammatical and spelling errors.
131
Name: ______________
Mood and Environment
Directions: You will find three settings from the novel listed for you. Please provide
descriptions/details, and then analyze the mood created by the environment. You need to have 3
descriptions/details per setting. The first one has been done for you.
Victory Mansion- Winston’s Home
Detail/Description
1. Poster of BB—“watching you”
Mood
Threatening/fearful—no privacy or
freedom
2.
3.
The Ministry of Truth
Detail/Description
Mood
1.
2.
3.
Choose One: _________________________
Detail/Description
Mood
1.
2.
3.
132
Questions for Discussion:
1. How could Winston’s home environment affect him psychologically?
2. List 5 adjectives that describe Winston’s home?
3. In 1984 why can mood and environment be so useful to character and plot? Explain.
133
Name: ___________
Directions: Write the name of the character to be described in the center of the web. For each
different branch, write at least 4 descriptions of the character. Draw more branches if you need
to.
Personality
Appearance
Character:
Relationships
Personal
History
134
Name: ____________
1984 Part I Quiz
1. What item does Winston buy that although not technically illegal, could get him killed?
a. chocolate
b. a Shakespearean play
c. a journal
d. a camera
2-4. Name the three main slogans of the party.
War is ________________________
Freedom is ____________________
Ignorance is ____________________
5. What propaganda technique does the government make them participate in daily?
The __________ Minute ___________
6. What is Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth? ________________________
7. What is the basic idea of Newspeak?
8. Why did the party allow Winston and his wife to separate?
a. because she cheated on him
b. because they had no kids
c. because they fought a lot
d. because she wasn't loyal to the party
9. Why does Winston believe the hope lies in the proles?
a. because there are so many of them
b. because they are full of ideas
c. because they are strong
d. because they are team players
10. What does Winston try to find out about from the old man in the pub?
a. what life was like before the revolution
b. where to rent a room
c. where he could find a drink besides gin
d. where he could buy razors
135
KEY
1984 Part I Quiz
1. What item does Winston buy that although not technically illegal, could get him killed?
a. chocolate
b. a Shakespearean play
c. a journal
d. a camera
2-4. Name the three main slogans of the party.
War is ____PEACE____________________
Freedom is ______SLAVERY______________
Ignorance is ______STRENGTH______________
5. What propaganda technique does the government make them participate in daily?
The ___TWO_______ Minute ___HATE________
6. What is Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth? ______HISTORY ALTERER
7. What is the basic idea of Newspeak? LIMIT WORDS / DITCH SYNONYMS
8. Why did the party allow Winston and his wife to separate?
a. because she cheated on him
b. because they had no kids
c. because they fought a lot
d. because she wasn't loyal to the party
9. Why does Winston believe the hope lies in the proles?
a. because there are so many of them
b. because they are full of ideas
c. because they are strong
d. because they are team players
10. What does Winston try to find out about from the old man in the pub?
a. what life was like before the revolution
b. where to rent a room
c. where he could find a drink besides gin
d. where he could buy razors
136
Name: ____________
Directions: One way to feel as if you know the character through characterization is to establish
a bio-poem for that character. Following the format below, you will complete two tasks:
1. Create a bio-poem for Winston Smith.
2. Create one for yourself, which will be illustrated.
Format:
Character first name
Three adjectives that describe character
Father of…./Husband of…/Brother of…
Lover of ________________, ________________, and ________________
Who feels ________________, ________________, and ________________
Who fears ________________, ________________, and ________________
Who would like ________________, ________________, and ________________
Resident of ________________
Character last name
Brainstorm Winston here
________________
________________, ________________, ________________
Father of…./Husband of…/Brother of…
Lover of ________________, ________________, and ________________
Who feels ________________, ________________, and ________________
Who fears ________________, ________________, and ________________
Who would like ________________, ________________, and ________________
Resident of ________________
________________
137
Name: _____________
1984 Part I Study Guide
Language, Irony, and Contradiction
This will count as a QUIZ grade. You may work in partners.
Part A. Using your text, please define the following:
1. Telescreen
2. Though Police
3. Two Minute Hate (14-27)
4. Big Brother
5. The Brotherhood (15)
6. Newspeak (7, 45-47)
7. INGSOC (38)
8. Inner Party
9. Outer Party
10. Proles
11. Doublethink
12. Vaporize
13. Airstrip One
Part B. Answer the following while using part I of the novel as a reference.
1. What are the four ministries that govern Airstrip One?
2. In what way is each ministry ironic in its purpose and function?
138
3. What are the three “sacred principles” of INGSOC? (25)
4. Why is Newspeak so important? How is Nespeak ironic? (45-47)
5. What are the three party slogans?
Part C. Paragraph Answer
A paradox states an apparent contradiction that also contains a kind of truth when seen in a
certain way. For example, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius says, “though this be madness, yet
there is method in’t.” This is a contradiction/paradox because there is no method to madness, as
madness is a sickness. Using that example, answer the following question:
In what ways can the Party slogans express paradoxes?
139
Name: _____________
Equilibrium Viewing Questions
Directions: Using your dystopic traits sheet, choose two traits and apply them to the movie.
1.
2.
140
Name: ____________
According to Dr. William Lutz, a professor at Rutger’s University, doublespeak is language that
attempts to deceive and/or disorient. It conceals the true meaning of the word, which in turn
averts clear thoughts.
Below, is a partial list that has been complied since the 1970’s. Please match the military term
with its true meaning.
Term
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
____ front-leaning exercises
____ preemptive counterattack
____ air support
____ servicing the target
____ wood interdental stimulators
____ collateral damage
____ tactical redeployment
____ disruptive reentry system
a. retreat
b. invasion
c. civilian casualties
d. push-ups
e. toothpick
f. bombing
g. nuclear bomb
h. killing the enemy
Questions: Answer the following.
1. Select 3 expressions from the above list, and explain how this is doublespeak and how it
misleads the reader.
2. Is doublespeak dangerous? Write a paragraph citing your opinion with support.
3. For the following words that we use daily, develop a term for them in doublespeak.
Remember the terms should be contradictory.
-
greeting card
-
toilet
-
job layoff
141
Name: ______________
Part I. Directions: For each category, complete the Venn diagram for Winston and Julia. Any
similar traits are to go into the middle, intersecting space.
1. age/physical condition
2. job
3. role in community
4. memories of past
5. experience with deception
6. reasons for rebellion
7. attitude towards BB
8. intellectual understanding of party ideals
9. hopes for future
10. personal fears
Part B. Directions: Answer the following question in paragraph form on white-lined paper.
How does the paperweight symbolize Julia and Winston’s relationship? What does the fate of
the paperweight foreshadow? What could possibly be another object that could symbolize
Winston and Julia’s relationship?
142
Name: _____________
1984 Part II Quiz
1. What does the note that the girl with the dark hair slips Winston say?
a. I know what you're thinking
b. give up the journal
c. I love you
d. meet me after work
2. When Julia states that she has been with many men, Winston is
a. horrified
b. overjoyed
c. skeptical
d. worried about disease
3. Winston arranges a regular meeting place located
a. above an antique shop
b. in an abandoned church
c. in the "golden country"
d. in the Ministry of Truth
4. Who is more interested in politics, Julia or Winston? ___________________
5. What did Winston steal from his dying sister when he was a child?
a. her blanket b. their mother's love
c. chocolate
d. a broken toy
6. Where do Julia and Winston go to learn more about the brotherhood?
a. O'Brien's flat
b. the records room
c. the secret hall of the thought police
d. the library
7. Why is Winston extra busy at work during Hate Week?
a. he is in charge of the parades
b. he has to change who they're at war with in history
c. he is really reading Goldstein's book in the back room
d. he has to appear loyal to the party
8. What phrase does Winston, Julia, O'Brien, all say?
"We are the _______________________". (one word)
9. Where was the telescreen in Charrington's room hidden?
a. behind the clock
b. behind the headboard
c. behind the picture d. there was no telescreen
10. Explain the symbolic meaning for ONE of the following:
the cold/oil is out:
the paperweight smashing:
the end of the nursery rhyme:
143
KEY
1984 Part II Quickie Quiz
1. What does the note that the girl with the dark hair slips Winston say?
a. I know what you're thinking
b. give up the journal
c. I love you
d. meet me after work
2. When Julia states that she has been with many men, Winston is
a. horrified
b. overjoyed
c. skeptical
d. worried about disease
3. Winston arranges a regular meeting place located
a. above an antique shop
b. in an abandoned church
c. in the "golden country"
d. in the Ministry of Truth
4. Who is more interested in politics, Julia or Winston? ___WINSTON________
5. What did Winston steal from his dying sister when he was a child?
a. her blanket b. their mother's love
c. chocolate
d. a broken toy
6. Where do Julia and Winston go to learn more about the brotherhood?
a. O'Brien's flat
b. the records room
c. the secret hall of the thought police
d. the library
7. Why is Winston extra busy at work during Hate Week?
a. he is in charge of the parades
b. he has to change who they're at war with in history
c. he is really reading Goldstein's book in the back room
d. he has to appear loyal to the party
8. What phrase does Winston, Julia, O'Brien, all say?
"We are the ______dead_________________". (one word)
9. Where was the telescreen in Charrington's room hidden?
a. behind the clock
b. behind the headboard
c. behind the picture d. there was no telescreen
10. Explain the symbolic meaning for any ONE thing that happens in chapter 10 (morning they
are caught).
the cold/oil is out: bad is coming /
the paperweight smashing: his idyllic world with Julia is smashed forever
the end of the nursery rhyme: just as the ladder smashes through the window "Here
comes a chopper to chop off your head" O'Brien never hinted at the end whereas others
all remembered it
the prole woman singing hope / love song : hope lies in the proles, but not for Julia and
Winston
144
Name: _____________
Directions: Orwell uses dreams in the novel as a very powerful literary device. You will do the
following tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
reread the assigned dream
summarize key details
determine whether the dream functions as a flashback or foreshadowing device
provide reasons
answer any related questions
1. Winston’s dream of O’Brien (part I, chapter 2)
Summary:
Which device?
Reasons:
2. Dream of mother and sister (part I, chapter 3)
Summary:
Which device?
Reasons:
145
3. Dreams of Golden Country (part I, chapter 3)
Summary:
Which device?
Reasons:
4. Dream of the rat (part II, chapter 4)
Summary:
Which device?
Reasons:
5. Dream of Julia (part 3, chapter 4)
Summary:
Which device?
Reasons:
Answer the following on a separate piece of paper.
1. Does Orwell use dreams realistically and effectively? Why or why not?
2. Can you recall a dream about your past? Describe.
3. What about a dream that was prophetic? What did it forsee?
146
Name: _______________
How are they alike?
How are they different?
147
1984 Essay Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to compare and/or contrast two topics (you choose) in order to
provide your reader with a better understanding of one or both of them. You may choose to
show how they are alike, how they are different, or both.
Assignment goals:
•
•
•
Demonstrate the ability to devise a comparison and/or contrast of two topics in order to
support a claim about one or both of them;
Demonstrate ability to analyze and write for a specific rhetorical situation, including the
audience(s), purpose(s), topic, and context;
Demonstrate ability to structure a sustained comparison or contrast in a brief (3-5 pages)
essay format.
Assignment!
Choice One: 4 paragraph essay comparing/contrasting 1984 with today.
Choice Two: 4 paragraph essay comparing/contrasting 1984 with the film Equilibrium.
You can choose one of the following ways to present your essay:
1. Whole-to-Whole, or Block
2. Similarities-to-Differences
3. Point-by-Point
148
Guide to Compare/contrast Writing
Whole-to-Whole or Block Strategy
- say everything about one item then everything about the other.
For instance, say everything about the characters, setting, and plot for the book then everything
about the characters, setting, and plot for the movie.
Similarities-to-Differences Strategy
- explain all the similarities about the items being compared and then you explain all the
differences.
For instance, you might explain that the characters and plot were similar in both the book and
movie in the one section.
In the next section, explain that the settings were different. The book took place during the
summer while the movie took place during the winter.
Point-by-Point Strategy
- explain one point of comparison before moving to the next point.
For instance, you would write about the characters in the book and movie in one section; then
you would write about the setting in the book and movie in the next section.
There are three main things to pay attention to as you write a comparison and contrast paper:
1. Purpose & Supporting Details
2. Organization & Structure
3. Transitions & Coherence
In addition, be sure to pay attention to the usual requirements for writing, such as spelling,
punctuation, and grammar. Follow the checklist below to ensure an “A” paper! 
1. Purpose & Supporting Details
a. The paper compares and contrasts items clearly
b. The paper points to specific examples to illustrate the thesis.
c. The paper includes only the information relevant to the part of the thesis.
149
2. Organization & Structure
a. The paper breaks the information into the whole-to-whole, similarities-to-differences,
or point-by-point structure.
b. The paper follows a consistent order when discussing the comparison.
c. The paper breaks the information into appropriate sections or paragraphs to the ideas.
3. Transitions & Coherence
a. The paper moves smoothly from one idea to the next.
b. The paper uses comparison and contrast transition words to show relationships
between ideas.
c. The paper uses a variety of sentence structures and transitions.
150
Essay Rubric
G.U.M.Score
Purpose and
Supporting Details
Writer makes
1-2
4
errors in grammar
The paper
or spelling that
compares
distract the reader
and contrasts items
from
theThe
content.
clearly.
paper
points to specific
examples to
illustrate
the comparison.
The
paper includes
only the
information
relevant to the
comparison.
Writer makes
3-4
3
errors in grammar
The paper
or
compares
spelling that
and contrasts items
distract
clearly, but the
the
reader from the
supporting
content.
information
is general. The
paper
includes only the
information
relevant to the
comparison.
Writer makes
5-7
2
errors in grammar
The paper
or
compares
spelling that
and contrasts items
distract
clearly, but the
the
reader from the
supporting
content.
information
is incomplete. The
paper may include
information that is
not relevant to the
comparison.
Writer makes
more
1
than 8 errors in
The paper
grammar or
compares
spelling
or contrasts, but
that
doesdistract the
reader
from both.
the
not include
content.
There is no
supporting
information or
support is
incomplete.
Organization and
Structure
The paper breaks
the
information into
whole- to-whole,
similarities to-differences, or
pointby-point
structure. It
follows a
consistent order
when discussing
the comparison.
The paper breaks
the
information into
whole- to-whole,
similarities - todifferences, or
pointby-point structure
but does not follow
a
consistent order
when discussing
the
comparison.
The paper breaks
the
information into
whole- to-whole,
similarities - todifferences, or
pointby-point structure,
but some
information is in
the wrong section.
Some details are
not in a logical or
expected order,
and this distracts
the reader.
Many details are
not in a logical or
expected order.
There is little
sense that the
writing
is organized.
Transitions
The paper moves
smoothly from one
idea to the next.
The
paper uses
comparison and
contrast transition
words to show
relationships
between ideas. The
paper uses a
variety of sentence
structures and
transitions
. The paper moves
from
one idea to the
next,
but there is little
variety. The paper
uses comparison
and
contrast transition
words to show
relationships
between
ideas.
Some transitions
work well; but
connections
between other
ideas are fuzzy.
The transitions
between ideas are
unclear or
nonexistent.
G.U.M.
Writer makes 1-2
errors in grammar
or spelling that
distract the reader
from the content.
Writer makes 3-4
errors in grammar
or
spelling that
distract
the reader from the
content.
Writer makes 5-7
errors in grammar
or
spelling that
distract
the reader from the
content.
Writer makes more
than 8 errors in
grammar or
spelling
that distract the
reader from the
content.
151
Name: _________
Directions: Now that you have a clearer understanding of Oceania’s societal structure, follow
the instructions and answer the questions.
Choose one of the following shapes to represent the geometrical power structure of Oceania:
Square, rectangle, triangle, diamond, or inverted triangle
1. Using your shape as a template, draw two horizontal lines through your shape to
represent the percentage of the population that comprises the Inner Party, Outer Party,
and Proles.
a. smallest percentage?
b. Largest percentage?
2. Which group represents the middle class? The lower class? The upper class?
3. Which group has the most freedom? How is this an example of irony?
152
4. Goldstein explains that Oceania’s government is an oligarichal collectivism. Oligarchy
means rule of a few; collectivism means collective (no private) community. Based on
what you know of Oceania, is this true?
153
Name: ______________
Part I. Directions: O’Brien helps Winston undergo “reintegration”: learning, understanding,
and acceptance. Interview your partner, who will respond as if he/she was O’Brien.
1. Why is Winston crazy/defective?
2. Why take time to reintegrate criminals that will eventually be killed?
3. Why is important to make Winston betray Julia?
4. What is in room 101? Why is it saved for last?
5.
-
Discuss one of the following thematic prompts in paragraph form.
santity or insanity
individualism or conformity
freedom or laws
objective reality or illusion
Name: _____________
154
Part A.
Directions: List at least 10 ways that the US government monitors and keeps track of lives of
citizens.
____________________ ____________________
____________________
____________________ ____________________
____________________
____________________ ____________________
____________________
____________________
Part B.
Directions: Decide and briefly explain whether each constitutes as an invasion of privacy.
1. Selling personal information from telemarketer to telemarketer.
2. Access to a person’s credit rating for any reason.
3. Random drug testing.
4. Hidden surveillance cameras.
5. Requirement to carry phot ID with information.
6. Searching students upon entrance to school.
7. Tapping/monitoring employees’ personal phone calls at work.
8. Monitoring websites/emails at work.
Part C
Directions: Answer the following in your journal and be ready to discuss them.
155
1. Should states have the power to enforce mandatory curfews for certain age groups?
2. With computer improvements, will a person’s rights to privacy continue to diminish?
3. Are there times when an invasion of privacy is needed to provide/maintain a safe society
or community?
4. Read the three articles that follow. Provide a paragraph response per article. Make
marginal notes—they will count.
Learning to love Big Brother
George W. Bush channels George Orwell
156
Daniel Kurtzman
Sunday, July 28, 2002
Here's a question for constitutional scholars: Can a sitting president be charged with plagiarism?
As President Bush wages his war against terrorism and moves to create a huge homeland
security apparatus, he appears to be borrowing heavily, if not ripping off ideas outright, from
George Orwell. The work in question is "1984, " the prophetic novel about a government that
controls the masses by spreading propaganda, cracking down on subversive thought and altering
history to suit its needs. It was intended to be read as a warning about the evils of totalitarianism
-- not a how-to manual.
Granted, we're a long way from resembling the kind of authoritarian state Orwell depicted, but
some of the similarities are starting to get a bit eerie.
permanent war
In "1984," the state remained perpetually at war against a vague and ever- changing enemy. The
war took place largely in the abstract, but it served as a convenient vehicle to fuel hatred, nurture
fear and justify the regime's autocratic practices.
Bush's war against terrorism has become almost as amorphous. Although we are told the
president's resolve is steady and the mission clear, we seem to know less and less about the
enemy we are fighting. What began as a war against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda quickly
morphed into a war against Afghanistan, followed by dire warnings about an "Axis of Evil," the
targeting of terrorists in some 50 to 60 countries, and now the beginnings of a major campaign
against Iraq. Exactly what will constitute success in this war remains unclear, but the one thing
the Bush administration has made certain is that the war will continue "indefinitely."
Ministry of truth
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Serving as the propaganda arm of the ruling party in "1984," the Ministry of Truth not only
spread lies to suit its strategic goals, but constantly rewrote and falsified history. It is a practice
that has become increasingly commonplace in the Bush White House, where presidential
transcripts are routinely sanitized to remove the president's gaffes, accounts of intelligence
warnings prior to Sept. 11 get spottier with each retelling, and the facts surrounding Bush's past
financial dealings are subject to continual revision.
The Bush administration has been surprisingly up front about its intentions of propagating
falsehoods. In February, for example, the Pentagon announced a plan to create an Office of
Strategic Influence to provide false news and information abroad to help manipulate public
opinion and further its military objectives. Following a public outcry, the Pentagon said it would
close the office -- news that would have sounded more convincing had it not come from a place
that just announced it was planning to spread misinformation.
Infallible Leader
An omnipresent and all-powerful leader, Big Brother commanded the total, unquestioning
support of the people. He was both adored and feared, and no one dared speak out against him,
lest they be met by the wrath of the state.
President Bush may not be as menacing a figure, but he has hardly concealed his desire for
greater powers. Never mind that he has mentioned -- on no fewer than three occasions -- how
much easier things would be if he were dictator. By abandoning many of the checks and balances
established in the Constitution to keep any one branch of government from becoming too
powerful, Bush has already achieved the greatest expansion of executive powers since Nixon.
His approval ratings remain remarkably high, and his minions have worked hard to cultivate an
image of infallibility. Nowhere was that more apparent than during a recent commencement
address Bush gave at Ohio State, where students were threatened with arrest and expulsion if
they protested the speech. They were ordered to give him a "thunderous ovation," and they did.
Big Brother is Watching
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The ever-watchful eye of Big Brother kept constant tabs on the citizens of Orwell's totalitarian
state, using two-way telescreens to monitor people's every move while simultaneously
broadcasting party propaganda.
While that technology may not have arrived yet, public video surveillance has become all the
rage in law enforcement, with cameras being deployed everywhere from sporting events to
public beaches. The Bush administration has also announced plans to recruit millions of
Americans to form a corps of citizen spies who will serve as "extra eyes and ears for law
enforcement," reporting any suspicious activity as part of a program dubbed Operation TIPS -Terrorism Information and Prevention System.
And thanks to the hastily passed USA Patriot Act, the Justice Department has sweeping new
powers to monitor phone conversations, Internet usage, business transactions and library reading
records. Best of all, law enforcement need not be burdened any longer with such inconveniences
as probable cause.
Thought Police
Charged with eradicating dissent and ferreting out resistance, the ever- present Thought Police
described in "1984" carefully monitored all unorthodox or potentially subversive thoughts. The
Bush administration is not prosecuting thought crime yet, but members have been quick to
question the patriotism of anyone who dares criticize their handling of the war on terrorism or
homeland defense. Take, for example, the way Attorney General John Ashcroft answered critics
of his anti-terrorism measures, saying that opponents of the administration "only aid terrorists"
and "give ammunition to America's enemies. "
Even more ominous was the stern warning White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer sent to
Americans after Bill Maher, host of the now defunct "Politically Incorrect," called past U.S.
military actions "cowardly." Said Fleischer, "There are reminders to all Americans that they need
to watch what they say, watch what they do, and this is not a time for remarks like that; there
never is."
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What would it take to turn America into the kind of society that Orwell warned about, a society
that envisions war as peace, freedom as slavery and ignorance as strength? Would it happen
overnight, or would it involve a gradual erosion of freedoms with the people's consent?
Because we are a nation at war -- as we are constantly reminded -- most Americans say they are
willing to sacrifice many of our freedoms in return for the promise of greater security. We have
been asked to put our blind faith in government and most of us have done so with patriotic
fervor. But when the government abuses that trust and begins to stamp out the freedom of dissent
that is the hallmark of a democratic society, can there be any turning back?
So powerful was the state's control over people's minds in "1984" that, eventually, everyone
came to love Big Brother. Perhaps in time we all will, too.
Daniel Kurtzman is a San Francisco writer and former Washington political correspondent.
Work Cited:
Kurtzman, Daniel. "Learning to Love Big Brother: George W. Bush channels George Orwell."
The San Francisco Chronicle 2002 Web.16 Aug 2009. <http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/07/28/IN244190.DTL&type=printable>.
Orwell's 1984: the future is here: George Orwell believed the stark totalitarian society he
described in 1984 actually would arrive by the year 2000, thanks to the slow, sinister
influence of socialism
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Insight on the News, Dec 31, 2001 by David Goodman
Suppose someone 50 years ago had drawn a picture of the future that looked something like this:
You live under the governance of an international alliance composed of a North American
Union,
China and Europe. Major powers are waging permanent low-level urban warfare. Rocket bombs
soar over cities to crash into buildings. There are conflicts involving armies, but they are limited
to border regions. Large banners fly downtown to celebrate victory over the nation's enemies.
This is a totalitarian state under a benevolent leader in which citizens are detained and arrested
on the merest suspicion of espionage. But the benevolent leader is seen only on television; he
never appears in public. Personal surveillance is unceasing and relentless: TV cameras that
receive and transmit simultaneously are everywhere. The political-correctness police listen in on
every conversation to match speakers to the profile of a potential saboteur. Ordinary citizens live
in constant fear of arrest and imprisonment for terrorist activities.
No, this is not the implementation of the antiterrorist USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, which
Congress just passed in the throes of the anthrax attacks without even reading it (see "Police
State" Dec. 3), and whose very name evokes the memory of the late George Orwell's sci-fi
masterpiece, 1984. It is the scenario of Orwell's book itself, written in 1948 and published in
1949. It is ironic that the character he calls Big Brother was not meant as a symbol for a
U.S.administration but likely for the future of Britain under progressive socialism. What gives
pause is that the book clearly satirizes the consequences of Fabian socialism exactly 100 years
after its birth in the salons of
London.
If Orwell's totalitarian state seems to be arriving about 20 years late, it is not because he
mistargeted the book by naming it 1984. A careful review of the literary evidence reveals that he
was aiming at the period immediately following the year 2000 but wanted to memorialize the
100th anniversary of the founding of the Fabian Society.
With Orwell's stark vision of a totalitarian society having for more than half a century sent
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shivers down the collective spine of the prestigious Western intelligentsia, one might assume in
the roil of current events that scholars worldwide would be combing the pages of 1984 for
triggering incidents of a kind that might lead to the predicted Orwellian world. Yet literary and
social critics long have avoided coming to grips with the implications of Orwell's profound
insight that socialism, despite its claim to benevolence, would deliver Orwell's 1984 by A.D.
2000.
The major facts about Orwell and the origins of 1984 lay as enshrouded in mystery as when his
London publisher, Secker and Warburg, first brought out the book in 1949. In the beginning, he
is
supposed to have been a committed socialist, a close observer of the founders of the socialist
Fabian Society, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, and of the famous socialist futurist H.G. Wells.
Taking as a theme the strategy of the Roman general Quintus Fabius Cunctator, who famously
delayed battle with the Carthaginians while exhausting them with endless harassments, the
Fabians argued that the grand aim of socialism could be achieved bit by bit, through moderate
increments, making small changes in society so as not to alarm the defenders of individual
responsibility.
The Fabian Society was founded in 1884, according to its Website, and continues to play a
prominent role through the Socialist International in developing the policies of the Labour Party
in Britain, of which Orwell once was an active member, and of allied Clintonian liberals in the
United States.
But when Orwell wrote 1984, it was more than a show of dislike for the Fabian socialists; it was
humorous, biting, Swiftian satire against the socialist and liberal intellectuals. The leftist elites,
then as now, praised the book for the wrong reasons. They applauded Orwell's resistance to the
loss of civil liberties but refused, and continue to refuse, to see the book as a mirror held up to
the
totalitarian face of the left-wing intelligentsia. They tiptoe away from such questions as: Why
choose the year 1984 as the title? Is it really just a science-fiction fantasy or is it political satire;
and, if so, against whom is it directed? Finally, what are the likely sources of Orwell's dystopia?
The critics try to explain away the hot spots. The title, 1984, is said to be simply the reversal of
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the
final two digits in 1948, the year he was writing the book. Some critics say it is not even a
serious
book but just derivative science fiction on par with Soviet writer Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, a
book
Orwell had read in translation and reviewed for literary journals.
Indeed, even the latest of Orwell's authorized biographers get it wrong. Orwell led a much fuller,
richer life than is acknowledged in, say, Peter Davison's 1996 biography, George Orwell: A
Literary Life, or in Peter Huber's 1993 book, Orwell's Revenge. They see in 1984 both
melodrama and a touch of satire. The satire, they say, is aimed against the Soviet Union (a safe
target, now, even for socialists). They assert that Josef Stalin is Big Brother and that Stalin's
Five-Year Plans buttressed by concocted statistics are other satirical targets of the book.
Work Cited:
Goodman, David. "Orwell's 1984: the future is here: George Orwell believed the stark
totalitarian society he described in 1984 actually would arrive by the year 2000, thanks to
the slow, sinister influence of socialism." BNET 2001 Web.16 Aug 2009.
<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_49_17/ai_81790763/>.
April 05, 2008
Doublethink and the Liberal Mind By Ed Kaitz
Recent polls are showing that by a good 60% margin, Barack Obama is seen as a candidate who
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can "unify" the nation. This may be the most brilliant example of what George Orwell called
"doublethink" in the recent history of the Democratic Party. Think about it: for over thirty,
maybe forty years the American public has been variously sermonized and threatened by
crusaders in Obama's same party into embracing not unity, but "diversity." Call it what you will
- brilliant or duplicitous - it is still a masterful political achievement.
For decades students in our schools have been told to "celebrate difference" and to see America
as a "salad bowl" rather than the "melting pot" of old. Those who resisted the collective swoon
for "diversity" and who descried the resulting balkanization of our educational institutions were
forced into "diversity training seminars" and reeducated under the watchful eyes of "diversity
officers." For as Mao Tse Tung famously said, those who oppose progressive change "must go
through a stage of compulsion before they can enter the stage of voluntary, conscious change."
But if these polls are correct, and Obama is indeed the great unifier, what will happen then to all
of the "diversity officers" and "diversity training" seminars on our college campuses and in our
corporations? Will the entire "diversity" superstructure in our society finally be dismantled?
Will Democrats, for maybe the first time since JFK or MLK start talking about what unites us
rather than what divides us? Will citizens be thought of as "Americans" first and not categorized
and rewarded based on skin color? Is Obama, the great unifier, going to finally liberate us from
this divisive ideology? Don't hold your breath.
George Orwell claimed that there was something more calculated at work when politicians begin
to claim for example that "Slavery is Freedom" or that "Hate is Love," or in Mao Tse Tung's
words, that "Compulsion is Voluntary." The new and improved Democratic Party version seems
to be that "Diversity is Unity." Orwell called this "doublethink" and he claimed that it was a
condition endemic to the totalitarian mind. It meant the ability "to hold simultaneously two
opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory" and "to be conscious of
complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies." For example, a liberal socialist
political platform usually involves "liberating" us from our attachments to property, families and
nation in the name of "freedom." When the State chooses for us, however, the result is slavery.
Doublethink in Mr. Obama's case ("Diversity is Unity!") gives him the luxury of defending not
only the divisive and intolerant Reverend Wright and his party's divisive policies over the years,
but it also allows him to be seen as the savior who will finally make America whole.
Since it is difficult to recall a time when national unity was high on the list of Democratic Party
priorities, the coming months should be a rather curious time for many. For instance, when
Obama runs in the general election, will his supporters cover their old "Celebrate Difference"
bumper stickers with a new "Celebrate Unity" sticker? Will the old "rainbow" flag be replaced
by a new flag sporting a picture of a melting pot? Doublethink, however, can help with these
exasperating decisions: just display both.
In all seriousness however we need to be aware that doublethink is at bottom a form of
intellectual laziness, irresponsibility, or a form of "having your cake and eating it too" with a
disdain for objective limits and consistency.
When it comes to U.S. foreign policy in Iraq for example the doublethink mantra of "Defeat is
Victory" can be heard loudly in our newsrooms and lecture halls. But this version of doublethink
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is nothing new. Since the Vietnam War, when liberals began dominating the media and
universities, the mantra of "Defeat is Victory" has been a popular refrain. Before the 1960s it
would have been terribly difficult however to generate the kind of divisive animus for America
that must exist in order to pull off this version of doublethink. Take for example a Christmas
Day, 1950, LIFE Magazine editorial entitled "The Blessing of God." At the time the editorial
was written, vastly outnumbered U.S. Marines were making a dramatic and courageous stand at
the frozen Chosin Reservoir against communist Chinese human wave attacks in North Korea. In
this desperate situation the staff at LIFE penned the following:
God, as always, is in the hearts of all who will have Him there. We, as a people, are indeed
blessed of God. Blessed in the justice of our cause; in that conviction we do not waver. . . . We
are blessed, most of all, in ourheritage. In a set of beliefs or habits . . . in which God looms
large. We do not need to put God at the head of our battalions. He is in them.
This passage of the editorial is telling for several reasons. First, what has happened to God?
Second, the word "we" is palpable here in 1950 but completely absent in our current editorial
climate. Third, what happened between 1950 and 1968 to destroy the sense of "we" in
America? Some will claim that Vietnam caused this drastic change but the two situations were
strikingly similar: communist aggression coming from the north, supported by the Soviets and
Chinese, and an American response to that aggression.
One must ask the following: what would have happened in Korea if, as in Vietnam, the press and
universities had organized, not a defense of, but a full out assault against America's "beliefs and
habits?" What if they had chanted "Defeat is Victory" and attacked the "justice of our cause?"
Would South Korea be free today? On the other hand, if the press had defended our mission in
Vietnam and had not made fun of the strategic "domino theory" that formed the basis of U.S.
policy in Southeast Asia, would South Vietnam be free today? Could the Cambodian genocide
in 1975 have been prevented?
The problem with doublethink is that in the interests of gaining power its practitioners tend to
play fast and loose with objective reality.
Let's grant for "objective reality's" sake that the 1950 use of "we" excluded black Americans and
other non-Europeans. This is an ugly and painful truth. But when Martin Luther King rightly
wanted to achieve a more inclusive sense of "we", he didn't say to judge people based on the
"color of their skin" but instead on the "content of their character." MLK probably understood
that any future sense of "we" would fall apart if Americans were categorized by arbitrary
qualities such as skin color.
This kind of divisive, arbitrary designation however has been a hallmark of Democratic Party
policy. It is interesting in this regard to revisit a famous curmudgeon dubbed the "Old Oligarch"
who lived in late 5th century B.C. Athens. A critic of the excesses of Athenian democracy, the
Old Oligarch said that the Athenian democrats were ready to use the arbitrary "lottery" to grant
access to just about any institution except, interestingly enough, the military:
Such offices as bring safety if they are in meritorious hands - and danger to the whole people if
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they aren't - the general populace feels no need to participate in. That is, it doesn't think it has to
participate through lottery in generalships or cavalry commanderships. For the populace
recognizes that there is more advantage in not exercising those offices itself but for those to
exercise them who are most able to.
For example, what would happen if the military, or the NFL for that matter, began rewarding
soldiers or players based on arbitrary distinctions such as skin color? First of all, the sense of
"we" or "team" would disappear, and secondly, the team would no longer be effective or
successful if the participants failed to be rewarded based on the "content of their character." As
the Old Oligarch says, the populace in Athens had figured out that when something important is
at stake, such as national security, the arbitrary distinctions and fancy flights away from
objective reality should probably stop.
At about the same time that America began to divide over Vietnam many feminists mobilized to
attack not America so much as nature itself. This happened in a couple of ways. First, about the
time of Roe v. Wade, progressive intellectuals like Judith Jarvis Thompson and Mary Anne
Warren set out in groundbreaking and influential essays to convince women that an unborn child
for example was nothing more than a "renter" in the mother's "house" who was subject to
eviction, or, even worse, nothing more than a "fish."
For example, in 1973 professor Warren famously argued,
"a fetus, even a fully developed one, is considerably less personlike [i.e., less conscious] than is
the average mature mammal, indeed the average fish."
By convincing women that fetuses were less "personlike" than fish, Warren and others were
hoping that women would somehow use "reasonable" arguments like this to overpower the
biological and emotional connections they had to their unborn children. In this case the carefully
constructed yet understandably suppressed doublethink cry became "Murder is Justice." Says
Warren:
"Mere emotional responses cannot take the place of moral reasoning [i.e., justice] in determining
what ought to be permitted."
And since "moral reasoning" rather than emotional ties should convince women that they had "a
right to obtain an abortion at any stage of [the] pregnancy," the conclusion, says Warren, is quite
liberating:
Whether or not it would be indecent (whatever that means) for a woman in her seventh month to
obtain an abortion just to avoid having to postpone a trip to Europe, it would not, in itself, be
immoral, and therefore it ought to be permitted.
The result was an amazing achievement. Feminists like Warren and Thompson and others
convinced millions of women that the natural, feminine, emotional connection they had to their
unborn children could be trumped by rational argument. Doublethink in this case rates as the
most brilliant and successful defiance of objective, natural law ever in the history of human
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civilization. In short, according to professor Raymond Dennehy in his fascinating new book,
Soldier Boy, these feminists had convinced women that "there is no moral difference between a
woman bearing her child or killing it."
To add to this astonishing early victory against nature, more recent feminists have seduced
young women into a new, more deadly expression of doublethink: "Murder is Compassion."
That is, it is more "compassionate" to kill your unborn child if you cannot adequately provide for
him or her after birth. In one of George Orwell's most beautiful novels, Keep the Aspidistra
Flying, a young man, Gordon Comstock, contemplates this same kind of reasoning after his
girlfriend becomes pregnant. But in Orwell's novel the young Comstock chooses life:
Here was the poor ugly thing, no bigger than a gooseberry, that he had created by his heedless
act. It's future, its continued existence perhaps, depended on him. Besides, it was a bit of
himself - it was himself. Dare one dodge such a responsibility as that?
Comstock seems to be aware that there is something unnatural and frightening about killing a
family member. In Professor Dennehy's words:
"Humans have always recoiled at the thought of homicide and the contemplation of killing one's
own family members is more horrifying yet; but there's something grotesque about a woman
killing her own child, born or unborn."
For proof of the success of these more ghastly forms of doublethink we have the numerous
recent polls showing that a pro-abortion candidate like Hillary Clinton can still be very popular
with Catholic voters. Indeed, the 1992 general and midterm elections were dubbed the "Year of
the Woman" based on the argument that incoming politicians like Barbara Boxer and other
staunch defenders of even partial birth abortion would bring more feminine "compassion" to the
male suits in Congress.
But many men were obviously shocked by these feminist claims. How could a child in the
womb be nothing more than a fish? How could a woman justify murdering her seven month old
unborn child so as not to miss out on a European vacation? How can murder of the innocent be
compassionate? The natural, masculine, biological drive to protect and defend innocent life was
distorted by these feminists as mere attempts to "dominate" women and perpetuate "patriarchy."
Is this more unity or more division?
Coming on the heels of this dramatic success against unborn children, many Democrats naturally
graduated to an attack on the traditional family. In this case, the doublethink cry was "Slavery is
Freedom!" Young radicals like Hillary Clinton set out to undermine parental authority in the
family by likening a child's relationship with his or her parents to the condition of slaves with
their masters and to the condition of oppressed women under male "patriarchy."
In a devastating critique of Hillary Clinton's proposals for the American family, the eminent
historian Christopher Lasch wrote in the October, 1992 issue of Harper's Magazine,
"her writings leave the unmistakable impression that it is the family that holds children back, the
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state that sets them free."
Hillary later expertly spun this philosophy in a more palatable form as "it takes a village to raise
a child." Lasch quotes from several of Hillary's essays in which she challenges, according to
Lasch, the traditional view that "parents are competent to raise their children and that the burden
of proof lies with those who argue otherwise." That is, according to Hillary, the burden of proof
is on the parents to prove their competence, not the state to prove theirs.
In Hillary's words, traditional conventions regarding parental competence simply amount to
"romanticism about the family" and "cherished, albeit fantasized, family values." After quoting
these and a number of Hillary's other observations on the family, Lasch draws a rather sobering
conclusion:
The best defense against the state is the informal authority exercised by the family, the
neighborhood, the church, the labor union, and all of those other intermediate institutions that
make it possible for communities to educate, discipline, and take care of themselves without
calling in the state. The growth of the welfare state weakens those institutions, and reformers
then cite the resulting disarray in order to justify another dose of the same medicine. Far from
encouraging individual autonomy, however, the state turns citizens into clients.
Hillary's grand plan, according to Lasch, is to weaken the very institutions that make free
societies possible, but with a strategic use of doublethink she can do all of this in the name of
freedom: by "freeing" children from their parents the state can then turn American citizens into
what Lasch calls "clients" or what most people would call "slaves." A recent major ruling in
California against home school parents is a testament to the slow, gradual, march of this kind of
thinking.
When Mao took over China in 1950 and began dismantling the traditional Confucian family
there, new school textbooks were mass produced with the following introductory remark:
"Chairman Mao is your new father and mother." Mao understood that Confucianism (one of the
four "olds" that had to be destroyed in China) is built entirely on the success of the nuclear
family. Without strong nuclear families, said Confucius, the village is weakened, and when the
village is weakened, communities are in trouble, and when communities are in trouble, the nation
ceases to exist. But the problem for Mao and other tyrants is that parents are annoying obstacles
standing between the State and its ideological designs on the children.
By fomenting conflict not only between children and their parents but between women and men
Mao hoped to destroy the nuclear family and thus usher in the State as savior and dictator. To do
this however Mao had to destroy the entire Chinese cosmology of Yin and Yang, which includes
not the opposition but the natural complement between not only children (Yin) and their parents
(Yang), but women (Yin) with men (Yang). Since Chinese philosophy could not help him out
here, Mao had to turn to Marxism -- a western theory of conflict and opposition, not
cooperation. This can explain the 50 Million brutal deaths during Mao's reign: many Chinese
people revolted against what they considered to be an unnatural Western theory of conflict that
violated the Chinese natural law of complementarity between Yin and Yang.
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What we have to ask ourselves is the following in this regard: when was the last time a major
Democratic candidate for president talked about natural law and family values? Haven't many
Democrats been supporting arguments over the years that "liberate" us from nature? Does
making fun of family values as Hillary has done in her past writings help or hurt the black
family? Does more division within the family square with Obama's doctrine of "unity?"
But the Left was not finished with its goal of sowing division. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s
students across the country were subject to ever more creative sources of division and
doublethink. "Postmodernist" intellectuals crafted a new and improved Marxist mantra called
"race, class, and gender" and encouraged the academy and the media to see history and society
through these new lenses. When a student read Shakespeare for example, he or she was
encouraged by the professor to dismiss the beauty of the language and the tender intimacy of the
love affair and focus instead on race divisions, class divisions, and gender divisions within the
story.
Not only were great works of literature forced through this Marxist lens but history was as well.
The history of America, in other words, is little more than a sad record of race, class, and gender
oppression. By dividing American citizens against each other in this way it became even easier
to justify not the unifying of America but rather the "damning" of America. And the more the
academy and media bought into this argument, the more they could justify expanding affirmative
action programs and claim in addition that European immigrants to America who overcame
enormous difficulties themselves relied not on hard work and sacrifice to achieve success but
relied merely on "white privilege."
But when these divisive affirmative action programs were challenged in courts across the
country "diversity" was invented as a way of continuing the assault on what many considered
"white privilege" or "white oppression." In the final analysis however, diversity or
multiculturalism were never more than a charade to cover the underlying Marxist theory of
conflict. Minority students brought in on affirmative action were rarely encouraged to study
other languages and cultures because the liberal gatekeepers understood something rather
disturbing about this endeavor: a thorough and sensitive investigation of other cultures and
religions reveals a rather conservative, not liberal, orientation in their respective beliefs and
habits.
A survey of many of the world's ethnic and cultural traditions shows, much to the chagrin of
western progressives, a demonstrated respect for natural law, family, marriage, and restraint.
Diversity in America, by contrast, is defined not by its enthusiasm for world cultures but simply
by the tacit agreement of those with various skin tones on the Left to all embrace the drab and
divisive monotone of "race, class, and gender."
The bottom line is that when the Left in this country embraced Marxism they committed
themselves to conflict and division, not cooperation. Obama, unlike Hillary however is smart
enough to understand that fostering division is a poor strategy for winning elections. In the
words of Eric Hoffer:
Those who would transform a nation or the world cannot do so by breeding or captaining
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discontent. . . They must know how to kindle and fan an extravagant hope.
Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright complicates this strategy, as does his receptivity to
and defense of the anger in much of the black electorate. But if Obama's message is "unity" then
it means absolutely nothing unless he addresses several decades of divide and conquer liberal
ideology. In other words, unless he does this, Obama's message will amount to nothing other
than the latest form of Orwellian doublethink: "Diversity is Unity!"
Work Cited:
Kaitz, Ed. "Doublethink and the Liberal Mind." American Thinker 05 Apr 2008 Web.16 Aug
2009.
<http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2008
/04/doublethink_and_the_liberal_mi.html>.
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1984 Essay Exam
Directions: Please answer the following questions using a minimum of one half page per
response. You will be graded on complexity, completeness of thought, and relevance. Each
question is worth 20 points. Good Luck! All answers must be typed, 12 point TNR font, and be
1.5 spaced. As this is a TAKE home test, laziness will not be tolerated.
1. Why is the novel a satire? What is it satirizing? What does this tell us about Orwell’s
attitude toward governmental control? Use examples from the novel to prove your point.
2. Choose either Julia or Winston: describe her/his attitude toward life. How is this attitude
reflected in his/her response to the Party?
3. What does the glass paperweight symbolize? Be specific.
4. Following his capture in Mr. Charrington's spare room, Winston undergoes a process of
"philosophical cleansing" and re-education against which he valiantly, but unsuccessfully
fights. Discuss Winston's "capitulation" at the hands of O'Brien. How is Winston brought
to "love Big Brother?" In sacrificing Julia, how has Winston, in essence, signaled his
own end?
5. During his final encounter with O'Brien, Winston argues that, if all else fails, the inherent
nature of the individual-the "spirit of man"-is strong enough to undermine a society such
as that created by The Party. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Is Winston's
belief applicable to the world we live in today? Can you cite examples in our own recent
history that support or dismiss Winston's belief in the resiliency and righteousness of the
human spirit?
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PART I. BRAVE NEW WORLD---BY ALDOUS HUXLEY
Pre Reading:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Students will read Author Bio Sheet.
Students will complete Pre Reading Questions.
Students will research the pros and cons of cloning.
Students will use the reward system of Smithinia money (money template after explanation
of the system). Teacher will pass out money at discretion. For good deeds…take away
tibils, etc.
During:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
As students read, they will complete a vocabulary sheet.
As students read, they will complete reading questions.
Students will read a persuasive essay (MLK).
Students will complete a rhetorical device sheet.
Students will write a persuasive essay.
Students will prepare a persuasive speech to deliver to class.
Students will watch the film The Island.
Students will complete The Island viewing sheet.
Post:
1. Students will create their own baby.
2. Students will complete exam.
3. Students will complete vocab test.
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Aldous Leonard Huxley was born on July 26, 1894, into a family that included some of the most
distinguished members of that part of the English ruling class made up of the intellectual elite.
Aldous' father was the son of Thomas Henry Huxley, a great biologist who helped develop the
theory of evolution. His mother was the sister of Mrs. Humphrey Ward, the novelist; the niece of
Matthew Arnold, the poet; and the granddaughter of Thomas Arnold, a famous educator and the
real-life headmaster of Rugby School who became a character in the novel Tom Brown's
Schooldays.
Undoubtedly, Huxley's heritage and upbringing had an effect on his work. Gerald Heard, a
longtime friend, said that Huxley's ancestry "brought down on him a weight of intellectual
authority and a momentum of moral obligations." Throughout Brave New World you can see
evidence of an ambivalent attitude toward such authority assumed by a ruling class.
Like the England of his day, Huxley's Utopia possesses a rigid class structure, one even stronger
than England's because it is biologically and chemically engineered and psychologically
conditioned. And the members of Brave New World's ruling class certainly believe they possess
the right to make everyone happy by denying them love and freedom.
Huxley's own experiences made him stand apart from the class into which he was born. Even as
a small child he was considered different, showing an alertness, an intelligence, what his brother
called a superiority. He was respected and loved--not hated--for these abilities, but he drew on
that feeling of separateness in writing Brave New World. Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson,
both members of the elite class, have problems because they're different from their peers. Huxley
felt that heredity made each individual unique, and the uniqueness of the individual was essential
to freedom. Like his family, and like the Alphas of Brave New World, Huxley felt a moral
obligation--but it was the obligation to fight the idea that happiness could be achieved through
class-instituted slavery of even the most benevolent kind.
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Another event that marked Huxley was his mother's death from cancer when he was 14. This, he
said later, gave him a sense of the transience of human happiness. Perhaps you can also see the
influence of his loss in Brave New World. The Utopians go to great lengths to deny the
unpleasantness of death, and to find perpetual happiness. But the cost is very great. By denying
themselves unpleasant emotions they deny themselves deeply joyous ones as well. Their
happiness can be continued endlessly by taking the drug soma by making love, or by playing
Obstacle Golf, but this happiness is essentially shallow. Standing in contrast to the Utopians are
the Savages on the Reservation in New Mexico: poor, dirty, subject to the ills of old age and
painful death, but, Huxley seems to believe, blessed with a happiness that while still transient is
deeper and more real than that enjoyed by the inhabitants of London and the rest of the World
State.
When Huxley was 16 and a student at the prestigious school Eton, an eye illness made him
nearly blind. He recovered enough vision to go on to Oxford University and graduate with
honors, but not enough to fight in World War I, an important experience for many of his friends,
or to do the scientific work he had dreamed of. Scientific ideas remained with him, however, and
he used them in many of his books, particularly Brave New World. The idea of vision also
remained important to him; his early novels contain scenes that seem ideal for motion pictures,
and he later became a screenwriter.
He entered the literary world while he was at Oxford, meeting writers like Lytton Strachey and
Bertrand Russell and becoming close friends with D. H. Lawrence, with whom you might think
he had almost nothing in common.
Huxley published his first book, a collection of poems, in 1916. He married Maria Nys, a
Belgian, in 1919. Their only child, Matthew Huxley, was born in 1920. The family divided their
time between London and Europe, mostly Italy, in the 1920s, and traveled around the world in
1925 and 1926, seeing India and making a first visit to the United States.
Huxley liked the confidence, vitality, and "generous extravagance" he found in American life.
But he wasn't so sure he liked the way vitality was expressed "in places of public amusement, in
dancing and motoring... Nowhere, perhaps, is there so little conversation... It is all movement and
noise, like the water gurgling out of a bath--down the waste. Yes, down the waste." Those
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thoughts of the actual world, from the book Jesting Pilate, were to color his picture of the
perpetual happiness attempted in Brave New World.
His experiences in fascist Italy, where Benito Mussolini led an authoritarian government that
fought against birth control in order to produce enough manpower for the next war, also provided
materials for Huxley's dystopia, as did his reading of books critical of the Soviet Union.
Huxley wrote Brave New World in four months in 1931. It appeared three years after the
publication of his best-seller, the novel Point Counter Point. During those three years, he had
produced six books of stories, essays, poems, and plays, but nothing major. His biographer,
Sybille Bedford, says, "It was time to produce some full-length fiction--he still felt like holding
back from another straight novel--juggling in fiction form with the scientific possibilities of the
future might be a new line."
Because Brave New World describes a dystopia, it is often compared with George Orwell's 1984,
another novel you may want to read, which also describes a possible horrible world of the future.
The world of 1984 is one of tyranny, terror, and perpetual warfare. Orwell wrote it in 1948,
shortly after the Allies had defeated Nazi Germany in World War II and just as the West was
discovering the full dimensions of the evils of Soviet totalitarianism.
It's important to remember that Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931, before Adolf Hitler
came to power in Germany and before Joseph Stalin started the purges that killed millions of
people in the Soviet Union. He therefore had no immediate real-life reason to make tyranny and
terror major elements of his story. In 1958 Huxley himself said, "The future dictatorship of my
imaginary world was a good deal less brutal than the future dictatorship so brilliantly portrayed
by Orwell."
In 1937, the Huxleys came to the United States; in 1938 they went to Hollywood, where he
became a screenwriter (among his films was an adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice,
which starred the young Laurence Olivier). He remained for most of his life in California, and
one of his novels caricatures what he saw as the strange life there: After Many a Summer Dies the
Swan. In it the tycoon Jo Stoyte tries to achieve immortality through scientific experimentation,
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even if it means giving up humanity and returning to the completely animal state--an echo of
Brave New World.
In 1946 Huxley wrote a Foreword to Brave New World in which he said he no longer wanted to
make social sanity an impossibility, as he had in the novel. Though World War II had caused the
deaths of some 20 million inhabitants of the Soviet Union, six million Jews, and millions of
others, and the newly developed atomic bomb held the threat of even more extensive destruction,
Huxley had become convinced that while still "rather rare," sanity could be achieved and said
that he would like to see more of it. In the same year, he published The Perennial Philosophy, an
anthology of texts with his own commentaries on mystical and religious approaches to a sane life
in a sane society.
He also worried about the dangers that threatened sanity. In 1958, he published Brave New
World Revisited, a set of essays on real-life problems and ideas you'll find in the novel-overpopulation, overorganization, and psychological techniques from salesmanship to
hypnopaedia, or sleep-teaching. They're all tools that a government can abuse to deprive people
of freedom, an abuse that Huxley wanted people to fight. If you want to further relate his bad
new world to the real world, read Brave New World Revisited.
In the 1950s Huxley became famous for his interest in psychedelic or mind-expanding drugs like
mescaline and LSD, which he apparently took a dozen times over ten years. Sybille Bedford says
he was looking for a drug that would allow an escape from the self and that if taken with caution
would be physically and socially harmless.
He put his beliefs in such a drug and in sanity into several books. Two, based on his experiences
taking mescaline under supervision, were nonfiction: Doors of Perception (1954) and Heaven
and Hell (1956). Some readers have read those books as encouragements to experiment freely
with drugs, but Huxley warned of the dangers of such experiments in an appendix he wrote to
The Devils of Loudun (1952), a psychological study of an episode in French history.
Another work centering on drugs and sanity was Island (1962), a novel that required 20 years of
thought and five years of writing. Among other things, Island was an antidote to Brave New
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World, a good Utopia. Huxley deplored the drug he called soma in Brave New World--half
tranquilizer, half intoxicant--which produces an artificial happiness that makes people content
with their lack of freedom. He approved of the perfected version of LSD that the people of Island
use in a religious way.
Huxley produced 47 books in his long career as a writer. The English critic Anthony Burgess has
said that he equipped the novel with a brain. Other critics objected that he was a better essayist
than novelist precisely because he cared more about his ideas than about plot or characters, and
his novels' ideas often get in the way of the story.
But Huxley's emphasis on ideas and his skin as an essayist cannot hide one important fact: The
books he wrote that are most read and best remembered today are all novels--Crome Yellow,
Antic Hay, and Point Counter Point from the 1920s, Brave New World and After Many a
Summer Dies the Swan from the 1930s. In 1959 the American Academy of Arts and Letters gave
him the Award of Merit for the Novel, a prize given every five years; earlier recipients had been
Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Mann, and Theodore Dreiser.
The range of Huxley's interests can be seen from his note that his "preliminary research" for
Island included "Greek history, Polynesian anthropology, translations from Sanskrit and Chinese
of Buddhist texts, scientific papers on pharmacology, neurophysiology, psychology and
education, together with novels, poems, critical essays, travel books, political commentaries and
conversations with all kinds of people, from philosophers to actresses, from patients in mental
hospitals to tycoons in Rolls-Royces...." He used similar, though probably fewer, sources for
Brave New World.
This list gives you some perspective on the wide range of ideas that Huxley studied. He also
wrote an early essay on ecology that helped inspire today's environmental movement. And he
was a pacifist. This belief prevented him from becoming an American citizen because he would
not say his pacifism was a matter of his religion, which might have made him an acceptable
conscientious objector.
Huxley remained nearly blind all his life. Maria Huxley died in 1955, and Huxley married Laura
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Archera a year later. He died November 22, 1963, the same day that President John F. Kennedy
was assassinated. He was cremated, and his ashes were buried in his parents' grave in England.
Work Cited:
A large part of the above is © Copyright 1985 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
copyright somaweb.org 1995-2009
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Name: ____________
A Brave New World: Pre reading Questions
Brainstorm your thoughts in your journals.
1. What is conformity?
2. What are some ways people in society conform?
“Almost everybody wears …………….”
“On weekends, most students …………..”
3. What behaviors make people in society “outcasts”?
4. List some examples from history that show conformity can be a good idea.
List some examples of when conformity had negative effects.
5. Would you rather be thought of as a conformist or a non-conformist?
6. What would happen to civilization if only a few people had access to books and the
advancement of ideas?
7. How are our minds manipulated by outside sources such as the media, government and peers?
Is this always "bad" for us?
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8. What are the ethical issues surrounding human cloning? Are there any scenarios where it
could be justified?
9. What steps should a government take to keep order among its people? Where does one draw
the line between protection and personal freedom?
10. What is psychological conditioning?
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Name: ______________
Research: Pros and Cons of Cloning
PROS
CONS
Your opinion after research…
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Brave New World
Vocabulary
1. Acute
2. Bestial
3. Callow
4. Castes
5. Coccyx
6. Corporeal
7. Derision
8. Hypnopaedic
9. Incandenscence
10. Menial
11. Pallid
12. Replete
13. Stature
14. Volumptuous
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Earning Tibil s
Being on Time
Coming Prepared
Participating
Sharing Valid Insights
Taking Detailed Notes
Helping a Classmate
A Nice Gesture
Earning an “A” on a Test
Earning an “A” on a Project
Coming for Extra Help
Spending Tibil s
Coming Late (5 minutes)
Leaving Class (up to15 minutes)
Not Being Prepared
·
Pencil?
·
Paper?
·
Book?
·
Homework?
Not Being Engaged
Not Following Directions
Cheating
Breaking a Class Rule
Students earn Tibils throughout the week and spend Tibils when necessary. Students will keep
Tibils until the final project.
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SMith
SmithiniaSmithiniaSmithiniaSmithiniaSmithiniaSmithiniaSmithiniaSmithi
SMith
$5
tibils
Five tibils
SmithiniaSmithiniaSmithiniaSmithiniaSmithiniaSmithinia Smithinia
SmithiniaSmithinia
$ 10
tibils
Ten tibils
SMith
SmithiniaSmithinia
$ 20
tibils
twenty tibils
Brave New World
SmithiniaSmithinia
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Brave New World: Chapter Questions
Directions: In addition to the bolded question, choose one questions per chapter to complete on
white-lined paper. Be leggible and write in complete sentences, please.
Chapter 1
1. Why is the first sentence strange? What does it set up?
2. What is the meaning of the World State’s motto “COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY?”
3. Why does the fertilizing room look so cold, when it is actually hot inside? What goes on
there?
4. How do people know who they are in this society?
5. Why use the Bokanovsky process at all? How is it an instrument “of social stability?”
6. Why don’t the Epsilons “need human intelligence?”
Chapter 2
1. What work does the conditioning do? Who gets conditioned? How does hypnopaedia work?
2. Why condition the Deltas to hate nature but love outdoor sports?
3. How does time work in this book? History? Why does Ford say “History is Bunk?”
4. What are the various castes like, and why?
5. How do the students demonstrate their own conditioning?
Chapter 3
1. How do the children play together? What is childhood like?
2. How is our world depicted? How do we get from here to there?
3. Why must games be so complex in this society?
4. Why are strong emotions dangerous? Family relationships? Romance? Religion? Art?
Culture?
5. How is sexuality used in this novel? Do you see any problems with it?
6. What does Mustapha Mond do? What is his relationship to history?
7. Is there anything unusual about Lenina Crowne? Bernard Marx? What? Why?
8. How does Huxley use the cinematic technique toward the end of this chapter?
9. What is soma? What are its uses?
10. How do people age in this society?
Chapter 4
1. What is life like for the Epsilon-Minus Semi-Moron who runs the elevator?
2. How do the other Alphas relate to Bernard?
3. What does Lenina do on her date?
4. What does she think of the lower castes?
5. Why is Bernard the way he is? What does he really want?
6. Why is Helmholtz the way he is? What does he want? How is he different from Bernard?
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Chapter 5
1. What do Lenina and Henry talk about on their way home? What happens at the crematorium?
2. Why are stars depressing?
3. What are the solidarity services like? What role do they play? How does Bernard fit?
Chapter 6
1. Why is being alone a bad thing?
2. What do Lenina and Bernard do on their first date? Why is the ocean important? The moon?
3. What does Bernard say about freedom? What does he mean?
4. How does the date end?
5. What does it mean to be infantile in this society?
6. How does the director feel about Bernard? Why is he warning him?
7. What does his story mean? What does it show us about him?
Chapter 7
1. How is the mesa like a ship?
2. Why doesn’t Lenina like their Indian guide?
3. What is the city itself like? What are the people like? How does Lenina respond? Bernard?
4. What ceremony do the witness? What does it mean? What does it seem like to Lenina?
5. What idols emerge from the ground?
6. How is John Savage different? What does he want? How does he respond to Lenina?
7. What is Linda’s story? What has her life been like here? How does Linda react to her?
Chapter 8
1. What was John’s upbringing like? His relationship with Linda? His education?
2. Why doesn’t linda want to be called a mother?
3. What social positions do Linda and John hold in Malpais?
4. What does John want in his life?
5. What does Linda tell him about the Other Place?
6. What does he learn from Shakespeare? How does he relate to Hamlet? The Tempest?
7. What does it mean to discover “Time and Death and God?”
Chapter 9
1, Why does Mustapha Mond agree to the plan?
2. What happens when John watches Lenina sleep? What does he think or feel?
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Chapter 10
1. How and why was the DHC planing to make an example out of Bernard?
2. Why is unorthodoxy worse than murder?
3. How does Linda act in the hatchery? How does the DHC react? The spectators?
Chapter 11
1. Why does John become popular, but not Linda?
2. How does Bernard’s life change? How does he react? What does Helmholtz think?
3. How does Linda spend her time?
4. How does Bernard talk in public?
5. What does Mustapha Mond think of Bernard’s reports?
6. What does John think of the caste system? Of the clones? How does he use The Tempest
now?
7. What do we learn about the reservations at Eton? What does John think?
8. How do the children respond to dying? Why?
Chapter 12
1. Why does John decide not to come to Bernard’s party? What does this mean for Bernard?
2. How does Lenina feel at the party? Why does she feel this way?
3. How does John feel? Why is he reading Romeo and Juliet?
4. What does it mean that Lenina likes looking at the moon now?
5. What role does Mustapha Mond play as a censor? Why des he do it? What does he censor?
What does he really want?
6. How does Bernard’s position change? How do John and Helmholtz respond to Bernard now?
7. Why is Helmholtz in trouble with the authorities? What has he done that is dangerous, and
why is it dangerous? Why did he do it? What does he want?
8. What does Helmholtz think of Shakespeare? Romeo and Juliet?
9. What does Helmholtz think is necessary for good writing?
Chapter 13
1. What are the consequences of Lenina’s emotion? What is happening?
2. How does she feel for John? What does she do to get what she wants?
3. How does John feel for Lenina? What does he want to do to prove it?
3. How does John react to Lenina’s actions? Why does he respond this way? What did he want
from her?
Chapter 14
1. What is the hospital for the dying like? What are the dying like?
2. Note the television. Recall TV did not exist as we know it in 1932.
3. Why is Linda dying?
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4. What memories flood over John as he stands before his mother? Why these particular
memories? What are his memories of the “other place”? What role does memory play in
civilization?
5. Why are the Delta children at the hospital? What does John think of this?
6. Why isn’t death terrible for those in the civilized world? What does this mean for the
individual?
Chapter 15
1. The title phrase recurs here. How is it used differently than before? What does it mean
now?
2. Why does John decide to interfere with the soma distribution? Why does he say it is poison?
3. What is John’s conception of slavery and freedom? Manhood? Liberty?
4. What does he think of the Deltas to whom he delivers his speech?
5. What roles do Bernard and Helmholtz play here? What does this tell us about their characters?
6. How does the soma riot end? What does it mean to be happy and good?
Chapter 16
1. How would you describe Bernard’s behavior in this chapter? Why does he act this way?
2. Why doesn’t John like civilization?
3. Why does Mond say old and beautiful things are forbidden?
4. Why can’t tragedies be written now? What is necessary for tragedy?
5. What does art mean in the new world? What can’t it mean? What is Helmholtz’s role?
6. What does Mond say is the role of liberty? Happiness? Stability? Truth and Beauty?
7. How does Mond explain the caste system? Do you agree?
8. What would happen with an entire society of Alphas?
9. Why must science be constrained? Progress? Do you agree?
10. What choice did Mond make as a young physicist? Why? What is his real position?
11. Why does Helmholtz make the choice he makes?
Chapter 17
1. Why does Mond want to talk with John alone? What do they talk about?
2. What is the significance of their discussion of religion? What does John argue religion can
give to civilization? Why does Mond argue that it is unnecessary and potentially dangerous?
3. What does Mond believe is the role of God? How is it related to the self?
4. What role does solitude play in spirituality?
5. How does John argue that the civilized man has been degraded? From what and to what?
6. What are your conceptions of the roles of self-denial, chastity, nobility, heroism? What would
John or Mond say?
7. What role does Mond say soma plays in this? What is an “opiate of the masses”?
8. What does it mean “to suffer the sling and arrows of outrageous fortune” or oppose them?
9. What does John mean by saying that nothing in civilization costs enough?
10. In saying no to civilization, what does John say yes to? Would you make the same decision?
189
Chapter 18
1. How does John purify himself?
2. Where does he go, and what does he plan to do there?
3. Does this represent a healthy alternative from society?
4. Why the self-flagellation?
5. What are his thoughts of Lenina?
6. What makes the film so popular back in London?
7. What does Lenina want? What does John think she wants?
8. How does the crowd respond? What happens that evening? What becomes of Lenina?
9. What is John’s decision? Why does he make it? Were there alternatives?
190
MLK Speech and Old Major Speech Comparison
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech from 1963
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration
for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the
Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to
millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a
joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the
Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One
hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of
material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of
American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to
dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our
republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence,
they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a
promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable
rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of
color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro
people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to
believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds
in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check
that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also
come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to
engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the
time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate
valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from
the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make
justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer
of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of
freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that
the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the
nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the
191
Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the
foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which
leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty
of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of
bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not
allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to
the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy
which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for
many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that
their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There
are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never
be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We
can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging
in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We can never be satisfied as long as a
Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to
vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters
and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of
you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest
for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police
brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that
unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go
back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that
somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I
still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of
former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
192
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of
injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom
and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having
his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in
Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and
white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made
low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able
to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to
transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With
this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail
together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My
country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the
pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the
prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New
York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let
freedom ring.
193
And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village
and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all
of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will
be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last!
thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Analyzing Political Speeches
When writing a persuasive speech or essay of this type, you want to:
1. Describe the current situation
2. Discuss why it is unfair / needs to be changed
3. Describe a vision of a “better way.”
4. Call for appropriate action.
PART I: Find phrases from each speech that serve as appropriate examples for each box below.
Basic Structure
Describe the current
situation
Who’s profiting under these
circumstances?
Prove Injustice
Who’s suffering under the
conditions?
Provide a foresight to a
better way
What would things be like
if conditions were more fair
than they are now?
Plan for Action
What must be done to attain
more fair conditions?
I Have a Dream
194
PART II: Use this form to help find the rhetorical tools used in Martin Luther King’s I Have a
Dream speech. Find examples of each to place in the appropriate boxes below.
Rhetorical tools
Alliteration
I Have a Dream
(Examples of repetition
of sounds)
Repetition
(Key words or phrases that
are repeated for emphasis
Metaphor
(comparisons that help
listeners
"envision" meaning)
Rhetorical Questions
(Questions that are for
effect
rather than to be answered)
Allusion
(historical or literary
references)
195
KEY
Basic Structure
Describe the current
situation
I Have a Dream
Whites and Racists
Who’s profiting under these
circumstances?
Prove Injustice
Blacks
Who’s suffering under the
conditions?
Provide a foresight to a
better way
Whites and Blacks are equal
Whites and blacks (children) joining hands
What would things be like if
conditions were more fair than
they are now?
Plan for Action
What must be done to attain
more fair conditions?
Rhetorical tools
Alliteration
(Examples of repetition
of sounds)
Repetition
(Key words or phrases that
are repeated for emphasis
Metaphor
(comparisons that help
listeners
"envision" meaning)
Have faith
Revolt peacefully/protest
Not through hatred
I Have a Dream
Symbolic shadow
Dignity and discipline
Mighty mountains
I have a dream
Now is the time (5)
Let freedom ring
“bad check”
manacles and chains
drinking from cup
quick sands of injustice
Rhetorical Questions
(Questions that are for effect
rather than to be answered)
When will you be satisfied?
Allusion
Emancipation Procl
Constitution
D of I
“My Country ‘Tis of Thee”
“Free at Last”
(historical or literary
references)
196
Persuasive Writing Topic:
Considering Cloning Ethics
Assignment:
In a five-paragraph essay, express your opinion about lowering the voting age. You must include
the following elements in your essay:
• Introductory Technique
• Thesis/Opinion Statement
• 3 supporting reasons with evidence (1 in each paragraph)
• Conclusion
While assuming a role (from the list below), consider the ethical issues involved in the cloning of
humans. You will each write a persuasive position paper arguing views on human cloning from
the point of view of his or her role.
Roles:
Please choose one of the following roles to present in your paper
1. a married man or woman who is unable to have a baby through conventional means.
Goal: have a child by any means
2. a couple who lost their baby to a natural death
Goal: get their child back
3. a government official
Goal: avoid change at all costs
4. a stockholder of a genetics company
Goal: to make money
5. a religious leader
Goal: enforce religious beliefs
6. a spouse whose lover has died wants to have a baby from the frozen eggs or sperm of their
dead spouse
Goal: have a baby with dead spouse through any means
Final Words:
Keep in mind all grammar, usage, and mechanics rules. Be sure to follow the 5 paragraph essay
standard format.
Use the graphic organizer to brainstorm.
197
Essay Planner
198
CATEGORY
4
Position
The position statement
Statement
provides a clear, strong
statement of the
author's position on the
topic.
Support for Includes 3 or more
Position
pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences) that
support the position
statement. The writer
anticipates the reader's
concerns, biases or
arguments and has
provided at least 1
counter-argument.
Evidence
All of the evidence and
and
examples are specific,
Examples
relevant and
explanations are given
that show how each
piece of evidence
supports the author's
position.
3
The position
statement provides a
clear statement of the
author's position on
the topic.
Includes 3 or more
pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences) that
statement.
2
A position statement
is present, but does
not make the the
author's position
clear.
Includes 2 pieces of
evidence (facts,
statistics, examples,
real-life experiences)
that support the
position statement.
1
There is no position
statement.
Most of the evidence
and examples are
specific, relevant and
explanations are
given that show how
each piece of
evidence supports the
author's position.
Evidence and
examples are NOT
relevant AND/OR
are not explained.
Sequencing
Arguments and support
are provided in a
logical order that
makes it easy and
interesting to follow the
author's train of
thought.
Arguments and
support are provided
in a fairly logical
order that makes it
reasonably easy to
follow the author's
train of thought.
At least one of the
pieces of evidence
and examples is
relevant and has an
explanation that
shows how that
piece of evidence
supports the author's
position.
A few of the support
details or arguments
are not in an
expected or logical
order, distracting the
reader and making
the essay seem a
little confusing.
Grammar &
Spelling
Author makes no errors
from the content.
Author makes 1-2
the reader from the
content.
Author makes 3-4
the reader from the
content.
Includes 1 or fewer
pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences).
Many of the
support details or
arguments are not
in an expected or
logical order,
distracting the
reader and making
the essay seem very
confusing.
Author makes more
than 4 errors in
grammar or
spelling that
distract the reader
from the content.
199
Brave New World
Persuasive Speech Assignment
The Persuasive Speech
This assignment is a persuasive speech; it requires you to take your persuasive essay on
human cloning, and attempt to reinforce or change listeners’ attitudes, beliefs, values, or
behaviors.
The speech will have organizational clarity, the use of supporting and clarifying
materials,
and the use of at least one presentation aid.
Required
1. A full-sentence outline of your presentation must be turned in on the day of your
presentation.
2. The speech must be presented on the day assigned.
3. You may not read or memorize your speech. You are to use the extemporaneous
method of delivery.
4. You must use at least one presentation aid in your speech.
5. At least five published references will be used in researching and preparing your
speech and cited in the reference section of your outline.
6. The speech must meet the time requirements of 5 minutes minimum, 6 minutes
maximum.
200
Closing
The conclusion is
paragraph strong and leaves the
reader solidly
Category understanding
4 the
Position
The position
writer's
position.
Statement Effective
statement restatement
provides a
clear,
of
the strong
position
statement begins
of the the
author'sparagraph.
closing
position on
the topic.
Audience
Demonstrates
a clear
Support
Includes 3 or more
understanding
of the
for
pieces of reader
potential
evidence
and
Position
(facts,
uses
appropriate
statistics,
examples, real-life
vocabulary
and
experiences) that
arguments.
Anticipates
reader's
statement.and
questions
The writer
anticipates
provides
thorough
the
reader's concerns,
answers
appropriate
biases
for
thatoraudience.
arguments
and sources
has provided
at
Sources
All
used for
least 1 counterquotes,
statistics and
argument.
facts
are credible and
Evidence
All ofcorrectly.
cited
the evidence
and
and examples are
Examples specific, relevant and
explanations are
given that show how
each piece of
evidence supports
the author's position.
Transition A variety of
s
thoughtful transitions
are used. They
clearly show how
ideas are connected
Attention The introductory
Grabber
paragraph has a
strong hook or
attention grabber that
is appropriate for the
audience. This could
be a strong
statement, a relevant
quotation, statistic,
or question
addressed to the
reader.
The conclusion is
recognizable. The
author's position is
3
restated within
the
The position
first
two sentences
statement
of
the closing
provides a
clear statement of
paragraph.
the author's position
on the topic.
Demonstrates a
Includes 3 or more
general
pieces of evidence
understanding
of the
(facts, statistics,
potential
reader and
examples,
uses
vocabulary
real-life
and
experiences) that
arguments
appropriate
for that
statement.
audience.
The author's position is
restated within the closing
paragraph, but not near the
2
beginning.
A position statement is
present, but does not make the
the author's position clear.
There is no
conclusion - the
paper just ends.
1
There is no
position
statement.
Demonstrates some
Includes 2 pieces
understanding
of the
of evidence
potential
(facts, statistics,
reader
and uses arguments
examples,
real-life experiences)
appropriate
for that audience.
that
support the position statement.
It is not clear
Includes
who
the author
1 or
fewer
is
writing
pieces
for.of
evidence (facts,
statistics,
examples, reallife
experiences).
All sources used for
quotes, statistics and
facts are credible
Mostmost
and
of the
areevidence
cited
and examples are
correctly.
specific, relevant
and explanations are
given that show how
each piece of
evidence supports
Transitions show
how ideas are
connected, but there
is little variety
Most sources used for quotes,
statistics and facts are credible
and cited correctly.
At least one of the pieces of
evidence and examples is
relevant and has an
explanation that shows how
that piece of evidence supports
Many sources
are suspect (not
credible)
Evidence and
AND/OR
are
examples
not
cited are
NOT relevant
correctly.
AND/OR are
not explained.
Some transitions work well,
but some connections between
ideas are fuzzy.
The transitions
between ideas
are unclear OR
nonexistant.
The introductory
paragraph has a
hook or attention
grabber, but it is
weak, rambling or
inappropriate for the
audience.
The author has an interesting
introductory paragraph but the
connection to the topic is not
clear.
The
introductory
paragraph is not
interesting
AND is not
relevant to the
topic.
201
Name: _____________
1984
Directions: Using your traits/standards sheet on dystopias, answer the following prompts
while directly connecting to the film.
1. “Visions of dangerous and alienating future societies.”
2. Social tratification- Social class is strictly defined and implemented.
3. Isolation from the natural world.
4. State controls economy…microcosms vs. macrocosms
5. Protagonist goal: escape/destruction of social order
202
NEW! KCG (Keene Center for
Genetics) is helping the are to
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Thank you for choosing The
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passed the mandatory Pre Procreation Parenting Plan and are about to begin the process
of creating a better baby for a better tomorrow.
Please consider each selection carefully, as there are no refunds. Pay attention to your
budget as you are determining which traits are the most important to you. Place a check
near your choice for each selection.
Have fun and good luck!! 
Please note: You choose the sex of your child. Traits are interchangeable between sexes.
Each of you are given a ration of 5, 000 tibils from the government for the year. Keep
track of your budget.
Baby sex: _______ females= 200 tibils males = 100 tibils
Historical DNA coding: Each selection here costs 1, 000 tibils
___ Albert Einstein
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___Emily Dickinson
___ Franklin
___ Harriet Tubman
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___ Eminem
___ 50 cent
___ Paul Walker
___ Vin Diesel
203
Nationality DNA coding: You may alter your child’s nationality level. Please circle the
percent.
Each selection here costs 50 tibils per 10%.
Irish
10%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Scottish
10%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Australian
10%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Portuguese
10%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Italian
10%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Greek
10%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Height DNA coding: cost next to height
___ 4 feet
___ 4.5 feet
___ 5 feet
___ 5.5 feet
___ 6 feet
___ 6.5 feet
___ 7 feet
___ Other
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500 tibils
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___ Average
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___ Muscular
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___ no preference
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210 tibils
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Skin Pigmentation DNA coding: cost under each number. Circle Selection.
Tibils
Dark
Tan
Sun kissed
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
100
90
80 70
60
50
60
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3
70
2
80
Fair
1
100
204
Eye Color DNA coding: cost under each color
___ Red
___ Orange
___ Yellow
___ Blue
___ Green
___ Indigo
100 tibils
90 tibils
80 tibils
70 tibils
60 tibils
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___ Hazel
___ Amber
___ Brown
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Bald
Curly
Straight
Wavy
Blonde
Brown
Black
Red
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___ 180—genius
___175-160
___155-145
___135-125
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1, 500 tibils
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205
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Artistic
Musical
Mathematical
Athletic
Bookworm
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206
Name: ____________
Brave New World Exam
Part I. Short answer (20 points)
Briefly describe each character.
1. Henry Foster
2. Pope
3. Fanny Crowne
4. Mustapha Mond
5. Fifi Bradlaugh
Part II. True or False (30 points)
Write T or F on the line.
_____1. Lenina draws back from the sight of a wrinkled old Zuni climbing a ladder.
_____2. Mustapha Mond believes that God is not compatible with technology.
_____3. John watches a film in the geography room.
_____4. Lenina heeds Fanny’s warning about Marx being “odd, odd, odd..”
_____5. John was 12 years old when he went to Malpais to live.
_____6. At Park Lane Hotel for the dying, John tosses soma out the window
_____7. Linda waits until Pope is sleeping before she stabs him.
_____8. Tomakin resigns his post after Linda humiliates him.
_____9. The feely encourages waves of onlookers to yell to John to apply the whip.
_____10. In the Kiva, John is allowed to serve as a martyr during the snake ceremony.
207
Part III. Longer answers (50 points)
Write a paragraph response for each prompt.
1. One of the dystopian characteristics is “the hostility to the state of motherhood”, and
the two greatest obscenities in the society are birth and the mother. Explain and make a
connection.
2. Describe the purpose of the Park Lane Hotel.
3. Compare Malpais to Oceania in 1984.
4. Explain how Huxley’s view of sex (monogamy is bad, passion is a deviation, casual
sex is the norm) are similar to today’s.
5. “The hero’s goal is destruction of the society or escape”
208
Name: ____________
Brave New World
Vocabulary Test
Part I. Define the following words.
1. Coccyx
2. Stature
3.Hypnopaedic
4. Castes
Part B. Provide a sentence for the following words.
1. Callow
2. Derision
3. Corporeal
4. Incandescence
Part C. Fill in the blank using the remaining words from the bank.
acute
bestial
voluptuous
menial
pallid
replete
1. She had an ___________________ understanding of the latest fashions.
2. He couldn’t believe the savage and ___________________ actions of the society.
3. How could anyone be ___________________ on such a meager portion?
4. The society was full of standard ___________________ jobs for people with different
levels of intellect.
6. All of the women of the society were well-kept and ___________________, but the
men were undernourished and ___________________.
209
II. FINAL NOVEL—Literary Circles—only 4 copies of each novel
Option one:
THE HUNGER GAMES—BY SUZANNE COLLINS
Option one:
UNWIND—BY NEIL SHUSTERMAN
Option one:
THE GIVER—BY LOIS LOWRY
For the last classes, you will meet for 45 mins per session to complete the following
tasks.
Tasks:
1. select your book
2. keep a vocabulary list of 15 words as you read
3. define vocab words
4. prepare 5 discussion questions per session to share with your group.
5. develop ten discussion questions to help create exam
6. Create a board game based on your novel.
___ Exam template will be submitted after class is taught.
210
Name: _____________
Lit Circle: Vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
211
For the culmination of dystopian literature, you will be making a board game based upon
your literary circle novel. You may work in groups of TWO or THREE and you may
bring in materials from home to use along with the materials that I will provide you.
The board games can follow any design you choose, but the design must relate in
some way to the novel. The game must also include questions about the novel and
detailed instructions on how to play. After creating the games, you spend a class playing
one another's games and evaluating each other and yourself.
STEPS:
1. Choose your group.
2. You must complete three different components to the game
a. Design –covers how the game board, cover, cards, and pieces will look
b. Directions- properly written and published will explain how the game will
be played
c. Questions/Answers- refer to the plot, characters, etc
3. You will all decide what the game will look like, how it will be played, and the
number of questions and answers the game will include.
4. You will all have a rubric that you can follow to make sure that you are including
all required aspects. You will turn in your rubric with your project.
5. After you have designed your game, you should play it to make sure it makes
sense and there are no “holes”.
Title:
What are these instructions for?
How to…
Materials:
Will you need any materials or equipment?
You will need…
212
Steps:
What will you have to do?
First…
Next…
Then…
After that…
Finally…
213
Lit Circle Board Game
GroupMembers’ Names:___________________________
Assignment:
You are a board game manufacturer, and you have been assigned the task of creating a
board game that will help students review everything your literary circle novel.
Requirements:
_________ Using tag board, colored paper, colored pencils, and markers, create a game
board. Put the name of your game somewhere on the board (it must relate to the novel).
Make it neat, colorful, interesting, and creative.
20 Points
16 Points
12 Points
Everything is
Game board is
Game board is
neatly created and excellent but some complete but 1 or
directions were
parts are a little
2 elements are
followed
sloppy.
missing and it
completely.
could be neater.
8 Points
Most of the
directions were
ignored and the
board is sloppy.
4 Points
There is a game
board but it’s not
colored and no
extra efforts were
made at creativity.
_________ Create at least 30 questions and answers for your game that relate to the
chapter. The questions must be somehow incorporated into playing the game.
20 Points
There are 30
questions and
answers, and they
are well
incorporated into
the game.
16 Points
A couple of
questions or
answers are
missing or
incorrect.
12 Points
8 Points
4 Points
Some questions
Half of the
Many questions are
are missing OR
questions are
incorrect or
one could play the
missing OR
missing and very
game with
questions are few are required to
answering most hardly used in the play the game.
questions.
game.
_________ The format and purpose of your game must, in some way, relate to the novel.
Example: The game board is in the shape of Panem.
16 Points
12 Points
8 Points
4 Points
20 Points
The purpose
The purpose
It is unclear what
The purpose of the The purpose
closely relates to partially relates to slightly relates to the purpose and
game relates
the chapter and the chapter and the the chapter but theme of the game
directly to the
the game board
game board
does not represent
are from the
chapter and the
somewhat
doesn’t clearly
its theme.
appearance.
game board
represents the
represent its
represents the
theme.
theme.
theme.
214
_________ Write directions for your game that would make it perfectly clear how to play
the game. Type the directions, and glue them to the back of your game board.
20 Points
16 Points
12 Points
8 Points
Directions make it Directions are
There are more Errors in grammar
perfectly clear typed but have 2-3 than 3 errors.
interfere with
how to play the minor grammatical Directions are
understanding of
game. They are errors. They are unclear and 2-3
the directions.
neatly typed with somewhat unclear steps could be
Much revision is
minimal
or 1 step is
added to clarify.
needed.
grammatical
missing.
errors.
4 Points
Complete revision
needed. Many
steps are missing
or incomplete and
it is very difficult
to understand how
to play the game.
_________ Content and difficulty
20 Points
16 Points
12 Points
8 points
4 Points
Questions and Rules of play are Game is a bit too
Game is very
Game is not
rules of play are of age appropriate
simple for the
simple and most appropriate for the
an appropriate but some questions grade level and questions are too grade level and
level--not too are too easy or too some questions are easily answered. questions are too
difficult and not
difficult.
too easy.
easy or too
too easy.
difficult.
Total: _________/ 100 Points
Comments:
215
Name: _____________
Final Exam
I.
Lit Terms- Match the following short story elements with their proper
descriptions:
1.______ plot
2.______ conflict
3.______ 1st person
4.______ limited 3rd person
5.______ omniscient
6.______ theme
7.______ stereotype*
8.______ connotation
9.______ foreshadowing
10.______ verbal irony
11.______ motivation
12.______ protagonist
13.______ external conflict
14.______ symbol
15.______ denotation
16.______ dramatic irony
17.______ antagonist
18.______ exposition
19.______ setting
20.______ irony of situation
21.______ suspense
22.______ tone
23.______ internal conflict
24.______ flashback
25.______ climax
A. all-knowing narrator
B. character vs. self
C. suggested meaning of a word or phrase
D. clues that hint at events to come
E. person or force that opposes main character
F. reasons for a character's actions
G. character vs. character
H. one-dimensional character
I. sequence of events in a story
J. when outcome of the conflict is made clear
K."fly on wall" perspective; told from outside
L. explicit meaning of a word or phrase
M. central character
N. struggle between two or more forces
O. main idea expressed in a work; central insight
P. writer says one thing and means another
Q. tells of events that happened earlier
R. oversimpliflied view of someone
S. an "I" tells the story
T. difference between expected/actual outcome
U. takes on a greater meaning than itself
V. time and place of a story
W. uncertainty or anxiety about the outcome
X. provides background and introduction to the story
Y. reader knows something a character does not
*- indicates an extra credit question.
II.
1. satire
2. propaganda
3. utopia
4. dystopia
5. totalitarianism
Dystopian Terms- Draw a line from the term to its definition
a. means “no place” in Greek
b. humor mixed with criticism
c. biased or misleading publicized info
d. dictorial government
e. state controlled “bad” place
216
III.
Novels
A. 1984
Explain the connection from the characteristics (you may use your note sheet) to the
novel in concise, bulleted notes.
1. Society imposes severe social restrictions on the community. Name three.
2. Repression of the intellectual. Name two ways.
3. Isolation from the “natural” world. Name three ways.
B. Brave New World
1. Escape or rebellion for the protagonist?
2. How is this a dangerous and alienating future society? Be specific and detailed.
217
C. Lit Circle Novel—choose the question for your book. Answer on a separate piece
of paper.
The Hunger Games— What is it about being in the natural world that makes Katniss’
society dystopic? How does this go against the dystopic standard of “isolation from
natural world”? Look closely, how does it complement it?
The Giver- Explain why feelings and memories have been eliminated from Jonas’s
community. What characteristic would this fall under? Why?
Unwind- The scary concept of being unwound can be categorized under two
characteristics. What are they and how?
IV.
Propaganda and Satire
1. Name 4 of the 7 techniques of satire.
*one extra point for each extra listed (up to 3points)
3. What are the four techniques of satire?
218
V. Essay: Please write a clear and well-written 3 paragraph essay. Please pay attention
to grammar, style, and proofreading.
Prompt: Given all of the literature you have read in this class, explain (without using I or
In my opinion) which piece of literature is the most relevant today.
219
Course: ______________________
Instructor Name: _________________________
1. What do you like best about this course?
2. What would you like to change about the course?
3. What are the instructor's strengths?
4. What suggestions do you have to improve the instructor's teaching?
5. Anything else?
220

Dystopian Literature: From Fiction to Fact

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