April 13th

Happy Friday!

Today we are going to examine the first 3 chapters of Brave New World. 

1. You will be getting into groups of 4. Take out your BNW anticipation guide. In your small groups, go over the questions and your responses to each question. You will turn in your guides after your discussion.

2. As a group, you will go through the first 3 chapters of discussion questions. This is to make sure that you are grasping the significant events that occurring in each chapter, so you can move on to analysis.

DUE MONDAY:
Complete typed draft of your Taming of the Shrew paper... printed off when you come to class!! We will be proof-reading on Monday.

Brave New World Reading:
For Wednesday/Thursday, April 18th/19th- Be through Chapter 6.

April 11th/12th

1. Rough drafts are due today. Typed COMPLETE drafts are due on Monday, April 16th. These need to be typed AND printed off when you come to class.

2. Complete the following Brave New World anticipation guide. Anticipation Guide- BNW
- Open document. Make a copy of it for yourself. Close my copy.
- Print off finished guide for class on Friday, April 13th.

2. Read through Chapter 3 for Friday, April 13th.  Annotate your text. Make sure that you have notes on Chapter 1-3 in your notebooks.

Questions to help your annotations and notes.

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 ia actually hot inside? What goes on there?
4. Why do particulars “make for virtue and happiness,” while generalities “are intellectually necessary evils?”
5. How do people know who they are in this society?
6. Why use the Bokanovsky process at all? How is it an instrument “of social stability?”
7. 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?

April 9th

1. Thesis for Taming of the Shrew paper is due to Google Classroom.
2. Outline for Taming paper.

3. Receive Brave New World.  Read chapter 1 by Wednesday/Thursday.

Utopia: A place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics,
laws, customs, and conditions.

Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and
the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic,
technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated
worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or
political system. 

Characteristics of a Dystopian Society
• Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society.
• Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted.
• A figurehead or concept is worshipped by the citizens of the society.
• Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance.
• Citizens have a fear of the outside world.
• Citizens live in a dehumanized state.
• The natural world is banished and distrusted.
• Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are bad.
• The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world.

Questions to consider when reading Chapter 1: 

•      Who is the D.H.C.?
•       What is Bokanovsky's Process?
•        Explain why Bokanovsky's Process is one of the major instruments of social stability.
•       What is the point of conditioning?
•      Why does Huxley fill the first chapter with such complex scientific descriptions? What is the effect on the reader?

April 6

Literary analysis paper:

2-3 pages on Gender and Taming of the Shrew. 
Your literary analysis thesis must address a literary device and the implications of its usage on the meaning of the literary work.

Requirements:

• Predominantly arguing for "how" and "why". ..  avoid summarizing plot
• 2-3 pages- MLA Formatting (correct textual citation, work cited page, etc.)
• Outline, Handwritten rough draft, typed draft
• Scoring guide: Written Assignment Scoring Guide

Paper Due Dates:
April 9th: Literary thesis due to Google Classroom.
April 10th: Outline for paper due.
April 11th/12th: Rough handwritten draft done by the end of block class.
April 16th: Typed draft for peer editing due at the beginning of class. Come to class with your draft.
April 17th: Final draft due to Turnitin.com by 7:30 AM.  No late submissions.

April 4th

Today marks 50 years since a powerful light was extinguished in Memphis, Tennessee. April 4th, 1968. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

Just the evening before, King delivered one of his most powerful, yet prophetic speeches, "I've Been to the Mountaintop".

Find the full text here: King's final speech

Video clip: I've Been to the Mountaintop

Robert Kennedy speech: RFK announcement


1. We are going to start with reading the article: Power and Gender in The Taming of the Shrew.

Take notes on the following:

• Notice that the article start with a research question. What is it?
• What thematic issues does the article address that are evident in Taming of the Shrew. 
• What similarities exist between the induction and main play addressing power and gender. 
• What is the significance of the final speech given by Kate? 

2.  After you have read the article, we will follow with small group discussions about gender and Taming of the Shrew generating from your journaling on the five specific lines you examined for class today.

• Refer back to the initial questions I gave you considering gender and Taming. 
• Add to your personal notes on the lines your group discusses, plus lines that you may not have had in your own notes.
• Start developing some initial ideas/conclusions from your findings/group findings. To do this, consider the "how" and the "why". 
• What literary devices are being used to present the issues of gender in Taming? 

April 3rd

Using your lines that you have gathered addressing gender in Taming of the Shrew, you are to select 5 lines from Taming and you will journal about each line. I am using the term "journal" because I want this to be an informal exercise where you pour over the line.  Don't just go through the line and tell me a summary and answer the questions below. Be thoughtful.. ask questions yourself.

I want this exercise to be reflective and exploratory.  I want you to think about the following as you think about these lines and gender:

• What is the context of the line(s)/passage? 
• What diction is significant? What do you notice about the choice of words being utilized. How would the meaning of the text change if different words would be used. 
• How do male and female characters interact with each other? How do they relate to each other? Are these relationships of conflict? Are these conflicts resolved? 
• How does the work affirm or challenge traditional views of women? Men? How? 
• If female characters were male, and male characters female, how would meaning change? 
• How is power related to gender? Do characters utilize forces of gender to attain/relinquish power? 

These are to be done on notebook paper to be turned in. I don't want them typed. Start with the line, itself, and cite it correctly. After this, start writing. 

April 2nd

Genre: type or category.

Generalized* genres of Shakespearean Plays:
1. Tragedy-
2. Comedy-
3. Histories-

* Please understand that these categories are generalized and many of Shakespeare's plays integrate the characteristics of each genre within one singular play. 

Shakespearean Comedy Key Characteristics:
1. Marriage
2. Misconception
3. Disguise and Gender
4. Satire-moral commentary

2. Read the following article: Take notes on key points
Social Class- Gender Roles in Taming of the Shrew

3. Gather significant lines that can lead to discussion or understanding of gender in Taming of the Shrew.