April 17th

1. BNW questions are due today at the beginning of class.

2.  Review the Dystopian Literature Characteristics (received on first day of BNW. See April 9th post).  For class Wednesday, have multiple examples of how BNW functions as a dystopian text. Search for a minimum of two examples for each characteristic. Put these in your notes.

3.  EOC Prep: Please review the EOC Literary Terms Quizlet a minimum of 5 times before class on Wednesday. AS10 Lit Terms Quizlet- EOC

4. Read Chapter 5 of Brave New World for Wednesday 

April 16th

1. For Tuesday, read chapter 4 of Brave New World. 
2. Complete the following questions on paper.. to turn in... on Tuesday!

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 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:
Read Chapter 4-5 of Brave New World. 

April 11th.

1. Have your BNW anticipation guides for 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. The last part of chapter 3 has 4 different conversations going at once.

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?

April 10th

1. 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 Wednesday, April 11th.

2. Read chapter 2 for Wednesday, April 11th.  Make sure that you have notes on Chapter 1 and 2 in your notebooks.

Questions to consider for Chapter 2:
- Why are the babies being conditioned to hate books and flowers?
-  How is the conditioning reinforced?
- What is the name of the deity in this world?
-  Why is "mother" such an obscene word?

April 9th

1. Taming of the Shrew "Ten Things" projects are due by the beginning of class.
2. 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 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



For class today:

We have just finished Ten Things I Hate about You. You have finished Taming of the Shrew. 

You will be constructing a Google Slide Presentation continuing the "Ten Things" motif. Your Google Slide Show will include the following:

Title Slide
A. Ten Things... about Elizabethan England
B. Ten Things ... about Shakespeare's Biography
C. Ten Things...  about Shakespeare's Plays (play titles.. genres... topics... )
D. Ten Things...  of similar nature between Taming of the Shrew and Ten Things I Hate About You. 
E. Ten Things . . . about the characters in Taming of the Shrew.
F. Ten Things...  of significant quotes in Taming of the Shrew... explained meaning AND significance to the meaning of the play.  Cite Shakespeare (Act. Scene. Line)  (4.3.22-25).
G. Ten Things . . . about the literary nature of Taming of the Shrew... themes... symbolism... diction choices. . etc.
H.  A final reflection. This is where you will discuss what you learned about Shakespeare, literary devices, etc. through the reading and this project.

Please cite your sources both on the slide where the biographical/historical information is found... as well as referenced on the Works Cited slide. Your work cited slide will also list the film and the primary text.

Due: Monday, April 9th by the beginning of class uploaded to Google Classroom.