ACE & Guided Study: Johnny Bunko Ch 1-3

As you read through the book with your group, discuss the following questions. Someone in your group needs to take notes on the responses your group members give. Turn your notes in at the end of the class period.

Lesson One:

1. Do you have a plan? What is it? Who in your life has influenced it? 
2. Would discarding this plan help you—or hurt you? 

Lesson Two:

1. What are your strengths? 
2. How can you tell the difference between a weakness and something that just needs a little more effort? What has your schooling taught you about how to handle weaknesses? What about your family?

Lesson Three:

1. Diana advises Johnny that the most valuable people bring out the best in others. How does this apply in school? Describe a situation where a fellow student or teacher helped you in this way.

Great Books: 1984 and Human Rights

Orwell's 1984 and Human Rights

Using your understanding of two Articles from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and your reading of George Orwell's 1984, create a PowerPoint presentation that compares and contrasts Our World with Their World (of the novel). Your presentation should include the following elements.

1. Each of your Articles quoted exactly then paraphrased into your own clear language.
2. A description of an actual event that illustrates each Article (see online newspapers for current news: The Daily Herald, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Times, etc.). Cite your sources.
3. A minimum of two specific and distinct moments from 1984 - for each Article - that shows how that right is honored or violated by the Party. Cite page numbers.
4. An exact quotation from both Winston (and the narrator) and a Party member (O'Brien or others) that expresses the conflicting 1984 position on the issues raised by each of these articles (For example, if your issue is torture, you would quote Winston or the narrator on its negative aspects and O'Brien on positive reasons for using it). Cite page numbers
5. A poem or song lyric (your own original composition) that expresses a single character's feelings about each issue.
6. Annotated links to at least three other internet resources related to the specific issues of each of your two articles (as starting points consider Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The Southern Poverty Law Center, and The Freedom Forum)

The elements listed here are in no particular order. How you organize them is up to you. Create an order that makes sense.

Design Requirements

• Do not cram too much text onto a single slide. Use a readable font and size.
• Consider designing your own background to meet your own needs instead of using a pre-made template. This background must contribute to the ease of reading and viewing your presentation.
• Use illustrations that add to our understanding of the issues raised by 1984 and your two Articles.
• Do not overuse movement effects. These should help to create an atmosphere and pace within your presentation and should contribute to our understanding of your issues.
• Do not use automatic timings for your slides.

Great Books: 1984 by George Orwell

Time for the last of this year's student picks. We read Anthem, we read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, now, lets read 1984 by George Orwell.

Written in 1948, 1984 is a vision of a totalitarian future, ruled by Big Brother, in which everything is strictly controlled, from history to individual thought. The novel was written in response to post-WWII politics, specifically communist and fascist governments.  Since this is our second dystopian novel, I expect you to have a strong working knowledge of the characteristics of dystopian literature.

Unit Vocabulary

• Thought Police – The Secret Police, correcting anti-party thought.
• Thought Crime – Thinking anti-party, anti-government thoughts
• Newspeak – The language of Oceania
• Groupthink – Thinking as a group to discourage creativity and individual responsibility.
• Doublethink – the ability to believe two contradictory things at a time.
• Ingoc – The Government of Oceania
• Inner Party/Outer Party – Those that are closest to Big Brother and those that are on the outside.
• Proles – Lower classes, segregated from the rest of the city. From the term proletariat.

Main Characters:
A two paragraph character analysis of these characters is due at the end of the unit.

• Winston Smith
• Julia
• O’Brian
• Mr. Charrington
• Big Brother

Great Books: Literary Elements in Kingdom Come

With Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross finally under our belts, it's time to prove what you learned about literary elements and devices used in the novel. 

Essay requirements:

• 5 paragraph minimum
• Must include a three part thesis statement. 
• Example1: "I believe Kingdom Come is a powerful novel because of the author's use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and dialogue."
• Example2: The author uses symbolism to create religious significance, emotional investment, and character depth. 
• Must discuss 1-3 literary techniques used in the novel. (Note above examples.) 
• Must re-state the thesis statement in the conclusion. 

Possible literary elements to choose from: 

• Onomatopoeia
• Narration
• Symbolism
• Point of View
• Genre
• Allegory
• Irony
• Theme
• Flashback
• Allusion 

After finishing your hand written rough draft you must get approval from me before moving on to your typed final draft. Make sure you spend time proofreading your final draft before turning it in. Read your essay out loud to help catch obvious mistakes. 

ACE and Guided Study: 4th 6wks Interview

Interview Assignment for Fourth Grading Period

Please interview someone in your field of interest.  It can be your mentor or someone else.  Include my two questions (see below) as well as at least five of your own.  Type up your interview.   

Questions Due Date: Friday Feb 3.  

Transcript Due date: Monday, Feb 13.

1.)   What training did you have to do the job that you do?

2.)   What advice do you have for me?

Add at least five questions of your own. (Due date above.)

Photo Source 

Great Books: Kingdom Come

This week we're finishing your superhero/villain presentations and starting on our newest read: Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross.

It's time to be excited.

As we read we are going to be talking a lot about power, corruption, and personal responsibility (among others.)  Assignments for this unit will include daily discussion, as well as a 5 paragraph essay for each of the 4 chapters in the book.

Unit Vocabulary:

Literary Terms

1. Allusion - an intentional reference to another literary work or piece of art that the reader should understand in order to make connections.
2. Symbol - a concrete or physical object that represents an abstract concept.
3. Allegory - a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor.
4. Imagery - a writer’s vivid descriptions that help readers visualize.
5. Theme - an abstraction that represents the central idea of the story.

Elements of Graphic Novels

1. Panels - squares or rectangles that contain a single scene
2. Gutters - space between panels
3. Dialog Balloons - contain communication between/among characters
4. Thought Balloons - contain a character’s thoughts
5. Captions - contain information about a scene or character
6. Sound Effects - visual sound clues, i.e. Wonk! Pow

Today we will also be going over general and background information on the Revelation of St. John, which plays an important roll in Kingdom Come. You will be required to have notes from this presentation in your notebook at the end of the grading period. 

Great Books: Of Heroes and Villains - Research and Presentation

Welcome back! I hope everyone had an awesome break and are now ready to dive into the new spring semester.

One of the things we need to do this semester is a big research paper, but before we get started with that, I thought we could dip our toes in and test the waters with a smaller research paper.

Think about this: a fellow student tells you today in class, and a meteor is going to hit some where in New Mexico, somewhere tonight. You head home and see, on the 5 o'clock news, the President of the United states joined by the worlds top scientists. He tells you that a meteor the size of a football field will hit in the Albuquerque area at approximately 8 in the evening.

Who are you more likely to believe? I'd say the President. Why? Because he is backed up with scientists, experts who probably know what they are talking about. Whereas the guy sitting next to you in class, probably doesn't do his homework, or even pay attention in class.

We trust information when that information is backed up by an expert source. This is the basic premise behind a research paper, you need to have solid facts, backed up by expert resources, in order to make your paper credible.

For this assignment you will be doing a mini research project on a super hero or villain. You will be required to find at least two credible sources, and you will present your information in a small speech. You will be able to use up to 4 note cards during your presentation, and you will turn in your note cards as well as a works cited page, documenting your resources.

Check out the rubric below with some information from OWL Perdue on how to cite internet resources, here (PDF) or look below.