Descriptive Essay

Descriptive Essay-100pts Due-Monday 4/28 Requirements: • Topic of your choice • All 5 senses must be used (imagery) • At least a paragraph per sense • Have a point (tone)

Narration/Description

We are beginning the Narration/Description unit. Students will be writing shorter pieces as we begin the unit.

Memoir

Students are beginning their memoir assignment. We will be reading passages from several memoirs and using the themes as inspiration for our own chapters. The first assignment is as follows: What will be the focus of your memoir? Brainstorm some ideas- • High School student • Middle school student • Employee • Specific relationship- good/bad • Family The first section of The Glass Castle focuses on one of Jeannette’s earliest memories. We quickly understand her family dynamic and the type of parents she has. Whatever period of your life you choose to write about, you must consider your earliest memory of that period and put together an introductory story about it. You must include elements of voice such as figurative language and dialogue. Rough Draft -2 similes -hyperbole -dialogue -detailed setting (imagery-3 senses)

The Truman Show

Students finished viewing the film The Truman Show and responded to the following questions: 1. Which would you prefer-to live in an artificial utopia (Sea Haven Island) or the real world? Explain. 2. Do you agree with Christoff’s statement “people accept the reality of the environment they are in”? Why or why not? 3. Do you believe people can be conditioned to respond a certain way to things? Explain. 4. Would you sacrifice privacy or freedom to live in an ideal society? Why or why not? 5. In what ways does The Truman Show relate to 1984 and Brave New World?

Essay

We have spent three days in class working on the following assignment: Compare/Contrast Essay-100pts Due-Friday 1/17 Requirements- • Topics-your choice • Examples-Minimum of 5 per topic • Use of figurative language-throughout • Examples-personal or general stories/anecdote • Must work on it in class • Must have clear purpose and tone

1984/BNW

Students completed the following assignment in class: Topic-sex How do the different views of sex in 1984 and Brave New World compare and contrast? What fear is each author bringing to light? Which of these examples relates more to our culture? Explain. 1984- When he had gone with that woman it had been his first lapse in two years or thereabouts. Consorting with prostitutes was forbidden, of course, but it was one of those rules that you could occasionally nerve yourself to break. It was dangerous, but it was not a life-and-death matter. To be caught with a prostitute might mean five years in a forced-labour camp: not more, if you had committed no other offence. And it was easy enough, provided that you could avoid being caught in the act. The poorer quarters swarmed with women who were ready to sell themselves. Some could even be purchased for a bottle of gin, which the proles were not supposed to drink. Tacitly the Party was even inclined to encourage prostitution, as an outlet for instincts which could not be altogether suppressed. Mere debauchery did not matter very much, so long as it was furtive and joyless and only involved the women of a submerged and despised class. The unforgivable crime was promiscuity between Party members. But -- though this was one of the crimes that the accused in the great purges invariably confessed to -- it was difficult to imagine any such thing actually happening. The aim of the Party was not merely to prevent men and women from forming loyalties which it might not be able to control. Its real, undeclared purpose was to remove all pleasure from the sexual act. Not love so much as eroticism was the enemy, inside marriage as well as outside it. All marriages between Party members had to be approved by a committee appointed for the purpose, and -- though the principle was never clearly stated -- permission was always refused if the couple concerned gave the impression of being physically attracted to one another. The only recognized purpose of marriage was to beget children for the service of the Party. Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting minor operation, like having an enema. This again was never put into plain words, but in an indirect way it was rubbed into every Party member from childhood onwards. There were even organizations such as the Junior Anti-Sex League, which advocated complete celibacy for both sexes. All children were to be begotten by artificial insemination (artsem, it was called in Newspeak) and brought up in public institutions. This, Winston was aware, was not meant altogether seriously, but somehow it fitted in with the general ideology of the Party. The Party was trying to kill the sex instinct, or, if it could not be killed, then to distort it and dirty it. He did not know why this was so, but it seemed natural that it should be so. And as far as the women were concerned, the Party's efforts were largely successful. Brave New World- Exquisite little creature!" said the Director, looking after her. Then, turning to his students, "What I'm going to tell you now," he said, "may sound incredible. But then, when you're not accustomed to history, most facts about the past do sound incredible." He let out the amazing truth. For a very long period before the time of Our Ford, and even for some generations afterwards, erotic play between children had been regarded as abnormal (there was a roar of laughter); and not only abnormal, actually immoral (no!): and had therefore been rigorously suppressed. A look of astonished incredulity appeared on the faces of his listeners. Poor little kids not allowed to amuse themselves? They could not believe it. "Even adolescents," the D.H.C. was saying, "even adolescents like yourselves …" "Not possible!" "Barring a little surreptitious auto-erotism and homosexuality–absolutely nothing." "Nothing?" "In most cases, till they were over twenty years old." "Twenty years old?" echoed the students in a chorus of loud disbelief. "Twenty," the Director repeated. "I told you that you'd find it incredible." Mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. But there were also husbands, wives, lovers. There were also monogamy and romance. "Though you probably don't know what those are," said Mustapha Mond. They shook their heads. Family, monogamy, romance. Everywhere exclusiveness, a narrow channelling of impulse and energy. "But every one belongs to every one else," he concluded, citing the hypnopædic proverb. The students nodded, emphatically agreeing with a statement which upwards of sixty-two thousand repetitions in the dark had made them accept, not merely as true, but as axiomatic, self-evident, utterly indisputable. "And after all," Fanny's tone was coaxing, "it's not as though there were anything painful or disagreeable about having one or two men besides Henry. And seeing that you ought to be a little more promiscuous …" Lenina shook her head. "Somehow," she mused, "I hadn't been feeling very keen on promiscuity lately. There are times when one doesn't. Haven't you found that too, Fanny?" Fanny nodded her sympathy and understanding. "But one's got to make the effort," she said, sententiously, "one's got to play the game. After all, every one belongs to every one else." "Yes, every one belongs to every one else," Lenina repeated slowly and, sighing, was silent for a moment; then, taking Fanny's hand, gave it a little squeeze. "You're quite right, Fanny. As usual. I'll make the effort." "Lenina Crowne?" said Henry Foster, echoing the Assistant Predestinator's question as he zipped up his trousers. "Oh, she's a splendid girl. Wonderfully pneumatic. I'm surprised you haven't had her." "I can't think how it is I haven't," said the Assistant Predestinator. "I certainly will. At the first opportunity."

compare contrast

Students were given the following task to be completed in class as a brainstorming exercise: Compare/Contrast essay There are two strategies for writing a comparison and contrast essay. • Divided or Subject by Subject o You present all your information on one topic before you bring in information on the other topic Or • Alternating or Point by Point o You work your way through the comparison point by point, giving information first on one aspect of the topic, then another. For each of the following items you must select subjects and provide at least 5 bulleted ideas for comparison: Two athletes Two actors/actresses Two heroes Two villains Two (your choice) We also watched the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRfhbEUkg7o