March 31st

1. Comma practice..
Review your 11 rules for when to use and when not to use COMMAS. Use this list as you go through the following practice quiz. Remember, quiz on MONDAY!
Comma Practice Quiz #1
Comma Practice Quiz #2

Keep track of your scores on a piece of paper. Clearly label each quiz. Turn in to Mrs. Cole.

2/ Read through the following two instructional links.
Remember: Parallel Structure is the balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure. We have already examined this when reading the Sacred Texts..

Clause: group of words with a subject and predicate (can be independent or dependent.. remember what makes them dependent?)
Phrase: group of words that FUNCTIONS as one part of the sentence (The subject... modifiers.. the predicate... the objects)

Parallelism work:
                        Link #1 Parallelism- Rules
                        Link #2 Parallelism Grammar Link
3. Parallelism practice:
                       Link #1 Parallelism Exercise #1
                       Link #2 Parallelism Exercise #2
                       Link #3 Parallelism Exercise

Keep track of your answers on a piece of paper. Clearly label each group of questions. Turn in by Monday, April 3rd.

4. Keep RESEARCHING for your paper. Sources, printed off are due on TUESDAY, April 4th.

March 27th- Paper Timeline

Argumentative Paper Timeline:
** Please understand that the following dates are hard deadlines. I will be checking your progress on the paper through these check points. In order for the paper to come together in an effective manner, please adhere to these dates. I will only be providing points on these specific dates. Each step will need to be completed for a productive final product; however, points will not be given after the due date. Assignments are due at the BEGINNING of class. Please understand also, when documents, etc. are to be printed off when you come to class, you will not be excused to print during class time. If you chose to do so, after class begins, you will receive a tardy.

March 27th: Receive the paper assignment.
March 28th: Paper preparation handout DUE at the beginning of class.
                    Post research question and thesis/claim to Google Classroom.
March 29th/30th: Rough outline is due by the END of class.
                             Review the guidelines for academic sources.
March 31st: (EOC Practice)
April 3rd: Finish research.
April 4th: Have your 4 academic sources printed off when you come to class.
                 Bring your outline and blank note cards to class.
April 5th/6th: Go through research and put on note cards.
                       Build a preliminary works cited page.
April 7th: (EOC Practice)
April 10th: Finished note cards are due.
                  Preliminary works cited page is due (Google Classroom). Submit a copy.
- Review I.C.E. and citation practices.
- Start writing handwritten rough draft. You are writing the body of your paper.. integrating quotations, warrants, transitions.
April 12th/13th: Handwritten rough draft is due.
                         - Go over Introductions and Conclusions.
April 14th: Good Friday- No school
April 17th: (EOC Practice)
April 18th: Paper title is DUE on Google Classroom
                  (EOC Practice)
April 19th/20th: Typed rough draft of paper with introduction and conclusion, and works cited page DUE printed off at the beginning of class. PEER PROOFREADING.
April 21st: Finishing touches on paper
April 24th: PAPER IS DUE by 7:34 AM to Turnitin.com.  
Folder with: Paper preparation assignment, outline, handwritten rough draft, note cards, proofed typed draft DUE when you walk in the classroom. Do not wait to put together when you get to class.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

1. Go to USATESTPREP.com. You will be completing 4 exercises that you have to pass with a 70% or above. You should use your notes to help your performance.

2. Check out the St. Patrick's Day facts! St. Patrick's Day Fun Facts

March 15th/16th

Grammar Practice: 
Today we are going to reviewing the building blocks of sentence construction.

Independent Clause: A group of words that have both a subject and predicate, which expresses a complete thought.

Dependent Clause: A group of words that have both a subject and predicate, but does not express a complete thought. (Look for an added word to the clause.. relative pronouns, that, which, who, whom... or words that start an introductory clause)

Look over the list of Dependent Clauses. It will help you spot them: Examples of Dependent Clauses

Sentence Fragment: Looks like a sentence but is missing either a subject or predicate.

We will also be looking at COMMAS....

Please put the following 11 times to use a comma in your notes:

Quick Guide to Commas from the Purdue OWL 

1. Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

2. Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.

3. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause.

4. Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential.

5. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.

6. Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives.

7. Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift.

8. Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer back to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion.

9. Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names.

10. Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.

11. Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.

Homework...

For Friday: Go to Noredink.com and log in to your account. You will see an assignment that will provide practice in identifying independent/dependent clauses... and using commas. 

March 13th

Read over all of the following questions. Choose two questions to answer. 

Please write out a rough outline first on your document. Then type your response. When you are done with your response, go to the top of your response and write a few sentences introducing what you have discussed, ending with a topic sentence/thesis. Then, go to the end of your response and write a couple of sentences concluding your response. 

Your answers need to include specific/quoted details from the novel.  Please remember to introduce the quotes with a tag line... Boxer explains, "Napoleon is always right" (Orwell 33). Please, also, do the parenthetical citation correctly. I have demonstrated it above. Remember I.C.E.- Introduce. Contextualize/Cite. Explain. 

Utilize an MLA heading at the top, as well as a header/page numbers. You will also add as your last page, a work cited page in which you will cite Animal Farm. You will only have one source. A sample works cited page is found here: OWL Works Cited Page

You will upload your document with both outlines/responses to Google Classroom by the end of class tomorrow (Tuesday). 

1) "Surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?" (26). Throughout the animals' reign on the farm, Napoleon and Squealer dangle the possibility of Jones' return as a constant danger, keeping most of the other animals in fear, and thus, submission. Do you think that this was a valid threat? Do you feel that, overall, the animals were better or worse off once they were in control of the farm?

2) In chapter 1, Old Major expresses his vision of a society free of human influence and control. Compare and contrast this against what eventually plays out on Manor Farm once the animals have taken over. What, if any, concepts or goals remain the same?

3) In one of the first scenes in the novel, Old Major sings Beasts of England, effectively bringing the animals together under a common purpose. Indeed, throughout the initial struggle against Man, it is a wildly popular and inspirational song. Yet later on, when the animals have successfully conquered the humans, Squealer, "attended by two dogs," announces that Beasts of England had been abolished and "was no longer needed" (62). Why would the pigs no longer want the animals to sing this song?

4) Following the massacre of "guilty" animals at the hands of Napoleon and the other pigs, Clover reflects sadly on what she thought life should have been like on Manor Farm: "If she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, the strong protecting the weak, as she had protected the lost brood of ducklings with her foreleg on the night of Major's speech" (61). Is Clover overly idealistic in feeling this way? Do you feel that such a community can exist?

5) Although Napoleon is considered the absolute Leader of Animal Farm, it is Squealer who is most adept at conveying the "party line" to the animals, often convincing them to disbelieve their own eyes. What methods does Squealer employ to deceive and/or placate the other animals? How does the concept of memory (or lack thereof) figure in Squealer's pronouncements and dealings with them?

6) The novel ends with a chilling passage, wherein Clover notices something odd about the humans and pigs meeting in the farmhouse: "Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (97). What is Orwell saying here? How do you interpret this final scene?

7) In reading Animal Farm, Lord Acton's famous pronouncement "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" may come to mind. How and why is this statement applicable to the course of events in the novel?

8) Among the various characters in the novel, whom do you feel is the noblest or most worthy? Which animal would be best suited to lead a group against Napoleon and the pigs? What qualities would this animal need to posses to do so?

March 10th

1. On a piece of paper to turn in, you need to write a paragraph or so describing your personal Utopia. Be specific in your examples and descriptions.

2. On the back, or another piece of paper out to turn in. Draw a line down the middle. On the left-hand side, on the top, write UTOPIA. Number 1-10 down the left-hand side of the paper. On the top of the right column, write REALITY.

3. Now that your chart is set up, please write down the 10 major things/events/situations that would be in your personal utopia.

4. Once you are done, with each of the ten items  you have written down, you will need to think about in what way would this aspect of your Utopia become someone else's Dystopia.

5. Now, flip back to your original writing. Add your findings about the implementation of Utopia. Start your first sentence with HOWEVER...

FOR MONDAY: When you are done, the following information needs to be placed in your notes:

Allegory: A story with two levels of meaning. The first level is the plot/surface level story. The second level functions on a symbolic level. 

Although an allegory uses symbols, it is different than symbolism. An allegory is a complete narrative which involves characters and events that stand for abstract ideas or events. A symbol is an object that sthands for another object giving it a particular meaning. Unlike allegory, symbolism does not tell a story. 

In many allegories, the hidden story has something to do with politics, religion, or morality — complex subjects that are difficult to understand directly. Many authors find it easier to think through these issues by translating them into allegories, which are easier to understand (and more fun to read) than dense philosophical arguments.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is one of literature’s most famous allegories. The surface story is about a group of farm animals who rise up, kick out the humans, and try to run the farm themselves. The hidden story, however, is about the Russian Revolution, and each of the characters represents some figure from that revolution. The pigs represent Communist leaders like Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky, the dogs represent the KGB, the humans represent capitalists, the horses represent the working class, etc.

Please review the following Prezi to understand the Historical Context and its influence in creating the allegory of Animal Farm

Allegory Animal Farm- Prezi

March 8th/9th

Propaganda Posters and Reflections are due today.

We have defined propaganda, examined its usage in Animal Farm, analyzed examples of visual propaganda, recognized propaganda techniques used in current society, and now we have applied this knowledge by creating our own examples of propaganda that would develop from Manor Farm/Animal Farm.

The use of propaganda is one technique in the creation and sustaining of a Utopian Society.

1. We will be watching 2 short videos on Dystopian Literature and "What it means to be Orwellian".
The Orwellian explanation will show how Dystopian characteristics are demonstrated in his famous book 1984. In this examination, it will demonstrate how the concept of what Orwell's purpose in writing.

2. Please get the following definitions and characteristics in your notes.

Utopia: A place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics,
laws, customs, and conditions. *Usually the goal of the character(s) within the story being told

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. 
**How the author intends us to view the results of the character(s)' attempts to create the UTOPIA. Also the characters subjected to the actions of the utopian creation can view it as a dystopia.

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 worshiped 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.

Types of Dystopian Controls 
Most dystopian works present a world in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through one or more of the following types of controls:

• Corporate control: One or more large corporations control society through products, advertising, and/or the media.
• Bureaucratic control: Society is controlled by a mindless bureaucracy through a tangle of red tape, relentless regulations, and incompetent government officials.
• Technological control: Society is controlled by technology—through computers, robots, and/or scientific means.
 • Philosophical/religious control: Society is controlled by philosophical or religious ideology often enforced through a dictatorship or theocratic government.

The Dystopian Protagonist
• often feels trapped and is struggling to escape.
• questions the existing social and political systems.
• believes or feels that something is terribly wrong with the society in which he or she lives.
• helps the audience recognizes the negative aspects of the dystopian world through his or her perspective.

3. Using the 8 Characteristics of Dystopian Literature- Find two examples for each characteristic in Animal Farm. 

March 6th

1. Introduction to Animal Farm propaganda poster assignment. Assignment link here: AF Poster Assignment

Poster and accompanying writing are both due on Wednesday/Thursday March 8th/9th at the beginning of class. Have this printed before you arrive to class. You will not be excused to go print.

2. Finish watching Animal Farm. 

March 1st

1. In small groups, review the different types of propaganda.
2. Examine the World War II propaganda posters with the guiding questions. These are due on Thursday, March 2nd.