More on Orwell

 Two new items for consideration:

• Orwell's Prophecy
• How Language Affects Thought

Great discussion on one of Orwell's essays. Beware - this is a reddit post and it is fully vulnerable to incorrect information; nothing here is peer re-viewed or verified, but an interesting discussion nonetheless. Proceed with caution:

REDDIT

Animal Farm Chapter 6 / 7

 

English 10

 

GLA 12 Preparation

 Follow this link to the GLA practice materials.

English 10: Animal Farm ch 3 & 4

 

1984 Genre Analysis

We'll be writing a synthesis essay in the later stages of 1984. Going forward we'll be reading quite quickly. Complete the comprehension handouts and we'll look over these items in class to begin our overview.

1. Essay arguing the current validity of 1984 (Kakutani)
2. Why Nobody Cares The President is Lying (Sykes)
3. All of the Passages in 1984 that relate to you right now (Temple)
4. Letter that explains why Orwell wrote 1984 (Orwell)

Also, here is Orwell's Essay: Politics and the English Language cited from the video.

Harrison Bergeron

 Great job English 10! Presentations are DONE!

Time to move on to Harrison Bergeron.

We'll read the story in class, and do some questions! If there's time we'll have a little discussion on the big themes of the story in groups:

1. A dictatorship works efficiently.
2. The pursuit of equality must remain a priority.
3. The individual must be allowed to thrive.
4. Art reveals our talents.

Also questions #1-#4.

Diagnostic Topics

Greetings, Block D,

If you want to try out the diagnostic topics, here they are. Give yourselves no more than 2 hours to do it, and bring it to me by Friday. It is not worth marks, but it is an opportunity for feedback.

1. How does symbolism convey meaning in Masque of the Red Death?
2. How does imagery influence the mood of Masque of the Red Death?

Composition Topics

 Today we'll be doing some writing. We will do both topics. Here is the first:

1. Facing obstacles is a part of life.

Animal Farm: Chapter 7 & 8

Chapter 7

1. Why does Napoleon order that the hens’ eggs be sold? What happens when the hens rebel?
2. Why do apparently innocent animals confess to being traitors? How do the animals react to the executions?
3. Who does Boxer blame for the executions? What does he vow to do?

Chapter 8

1. What other names are given to Napoleon? What is your reaction to these titles? Explain.
2. Describe the scandal surrounding the sale of the wood pile. Give your interpretation of the changing stories involving Pilkington and Frederick.
3. How does another Commandment change at the end of the chapter? Explain the importance.

Chapter 7 & 8: Paragraph Response
One of the big problems of the animals on Animal Farm is that they are ignorant. This is true for the working animals and the pigs. How has ignorance made Animal Farm a political satire? Find evidence.

Chapter 6: Animal Farm

The animals in Animal Farm are being deceived. Much of the language in chapter 6 reveals that they are in denial.

Why do people lie to themselves?

To answer this question, you can look at what's been happening in Animal Farm. Use an extended paragraph to form a response (8 sentences+)

English 10 Adapted

 ANIMAL FARM

We're going to start with a little introduction, then we're going to begin Animal Farm.

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE BOOK

ANIMAL FARM INTRODUCTION

Animal Farm Chapter 1 & 2

1. List the animals that enter the barn for Old Major’s speech.
2. If we were to connect each type of animal to a different kind of person in society, what kind of personalities do you think Orwell is describing? Describe the kinds of people represented by the following animals from Chapter 1: 
1. Boxer 
2. Pigs 
3. Mollie 
4. The Cat 
5. The Rats 
3. At one point in Chapter 2, Moses describes Sugarcandy Mountain as a place where animals may go when they die. Since this book is an allegory – what is the true story Orwell may be referring to with the character “Moses” and his stories of Sugarcandy Mountain? 
4. What do the animals with Mr. Jones’ farming equipment and tools immediately after the rebellion? How might this change the way animals take care of the farm after Mr. Jones is gone? 
5. What do you suppose happened to the milk at the end of chapter 2? How does this break the rules suggested by Old Major’s speech in chapter 1? 
6. Why are the animals so eager to do a big, successful harvest at the end of chapter 2?

English 10 Adapted

 THE SCARLET IBIS

1. Give two examples of pride in "The Scarlet Ibis"
2. How do the narrator's feelings towards Doodle change over time?
3. What is one important message that "The Scarlet Ibis" relays to present-day children with siblings?
4. Where do we see foreshadowing in "The Scarlet Ibis"? Find two examples.
5. Is the narrator to blame for Doodle's death? Why or why not? (paragraph response)

Introduction to the GLA12

 Greetings all. Though I am away today there are a few additional useful notes here as you begin looking into composition writing.

The GLA12 has two extended responses, the 2nd of which is composition writing. Now, this style of writing is very open-ended. There are no rules in terms of the number of paragraphs and the topics are usually quite broad.

Take a look through the package of sample compositions. Read through it with your table and determine what seems to work well, and what tends to go wrong with this style of writing. Create a list of these items on the board as you read through them.

If you want to see more examples, check out the RESOURCES tab at the top of the page. Under Grade 12 you'll see a link to other sample compositions. There are an additional 6 samples of compositions there.

Essay Topic

 Behold - our argumentative essay topic. This one appears simple, yet it is complex. We will need to consider everything we've done up to this point to fuel a solid argument. First, the topic:

Is ambition more helpful or harmful?

Now, let's begin looking at this topic more closely. Consider the following:

• The Id, Ego, and Superego can inform this argument.
• Assume the term "helpful" or "harmful" is applied personally (as opposed to being applied to the well-being of others)
• Consider the relation between goals and ambitions. There are goals we can all agree are good for us, and those we would want to keep private. Think about how we can go about the pursuit of these goals.
• There are powerful quotes about ambition from many historical figures.

"Ambition is the last refuge of failure" - Oscar Wilde

(this means people who are failures will display ambition to overcompensate for what they lack)

"Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them." - Napoleon Bonaparte

Remember, you need two supporting reasons with evidence and a counterclaim with evidence.

The legal foolscap page is for quotes ONLY. Leave the back of the pink sheet BLANK before the essay.

Try this!

 1.       Should boys and girls be in separate classes?

Some practice essay topics

Below are a list of some practice essay topics. We will be addressing these for practice this week :)

1. Should high school students have to complete community service hours to graduate?
2. Should unhealthy fast food products be sold with a warning label?
3. Should students be allowed to drop out before they turn 18 years old?
4. Should alcohol manufacturers be allowed to advertise on YouTube?
5. Should the government censor internet content deemed inappropriate?
6. Should the government composition proportionally represent the ethnic diversity of the general population? (this is termed proportional representation)
7. Should universities follow the policies of affirmative action to help determine successful applicants?

Ambition and its Influence

 Greetings all, this week we are beginning to move into argumentative writing. This means we need to do some reading outside of Macbeth in order to inform ourselves and our position on this topic. Below are a few links in addition to printouts that we'll be using in class. Some of these links are lengthy, so use the search function on your devices to get to the gist of the argument.

Peer-reviewed journal articles are some of the more reliable sources we can find. There are many sources for these. One example below is remarkably long. Read the abstract of lengthier journal articles to see what general conclusions are proven within. Check it out:

1. Ambition and Extreme Behaviour
2. Ambition and its Psychopathologies
3. Is Ambition Good or Bad? (there is a printout of this one as well)

In our argumentative writing, we'll want 2-3 sources to support our position on the topic of ambition. The specific topic(s) will be coming soon. For now, we must focus on informing ourselves on the role ambition has in our lives, and its positive and negative influences.

Example Topics

1.      How would psychoanalytic literary theory indicate whether the boys on the island were doomed to fail?

2.      Based on Freud’s structure of the psyche, how does Ralph struggle with the contest between his civilized and savage self?

3.      How might The Lord of the Flies be described as an allegory of Freud’s structure of the psyche?

Thesis/Claim Statements

 Practice topics for LOTF:

1. How does impulse drive the boys' behaviour on the island?
2. What is the significance of the symbol of fire on the island?
3. What experiences caused morality on the island to decline so that one may kill another with "delirious abandonment"?
4. Why is Simon able to commune with "The Lord of the Flies"?
5. Why was Piggy's death inevitable?