DUE April 30 or May 1
You have a creative writing assignment. This assignment will be due on May 1, 2008. Your creative writing short must be in MLA format and must be at least two pages (double spaced) in length. Choose one of the topics below.
1.[Embellish An Ad] Choose an advertisement from the Classifieds section of a recent newspaper. Use the advertisement as the starting point for a short story that explores the people and situations behind the ad. Who wrote the ad? What was the writer's motivation (beyond buying or selling an item)? What kind of life does the writer have? What is the social setting behind the ad? What kind of family or community is involved? Using the advertisement as your starting point, create the story behind the ad that you've chosen. Here are a couple of example ads in case you have trouble finding one on your own:
For SaleCLOTHING, UT apparel. Worn only a few times by former UT athlete.
Wanted:BICYCLE, free. Working poor. I'm married with 2 small children. Need bike and helmet to work nights. I use Capital Metro for day job-school.
[NOTE: You could create a similar assignment where you take the facts in a newspaper story and write a fictionalized account of the people and situations referred to in the story.]
2.[Historical Fiction] Choose a historical figure whom you know something about. Choose one of the following sentence beginnings below, and complete the sentence for your figure. Compose a short story in first-person, speaking as the historical figure where you explain the figure's wish, dream, or fear.
The thing that I regret most about my life is _____________________.
If I could accomplish one more thing, I would ___________________.
The accomplishment that I am proudest of is ___________________.
If I could live anywhere in the world, I would choose ______________.
The saddest moment in life was when ________________________.
My favorite childhood memory is _____________________________.
The thing that scares me the most is _________________________.
3.[Confess a Secret] Create a character who has a secret to confess, but who is afraid to confess it. Write the diary or journal entries that your character would write as she or he considers the secret, explores why it needs to be confessed, thinks about who will be affected if the secret is known, and considers why she or he is afraid. Write a series of diary or journal entries, as if they were written over a period of several days or a week. In the entries, you can incorporate the main character's interactions with others and explore the ways that the day-to-day events that the character experiences influence the way that she or he thinks about the secret and confession. Your character's decision to tell (or not) should be revealed in the final diary or journal entry. All the entries need to work together as a whole -- they should sound like the writings of a single person, and should show consistency from one entry to the next (for example, if the person writes in the diary that she is afraid of water in one journal entry, it would be inconsistent to have her mention that she had been water skiing in the entry written two days later).
Monday, April 14, 2008
Reader Response Questions
Reader Response Questions for Anthem
You must write a one page response for one of the questions below. You will complete two papers total. These two are due on April 10th and April 16th for A-Day. These are due on April 11th and April 17th for B-Day.
1. Why did Ayn Rand name her main characters “Prometheus” and “Gaea”? Look these names up in a book on mythology. Compare the myths about Prometheus and Gaea to the story of these two characters.
2. In her Foreword to Anthem, Ayn Rand summarizes her political views. What laws that we have today do you think she would agree with, and which would she oppose?
3.What might it be like to live in a society where there are no “selves”, and “we” has replaced “I”?
4. Prometheus’s intellectual activities are illegal in his society. Throughout history, many great innovators, such as Copernicus, Galileo, Watt, and Fulton have faced ridicule and even legal attacks. Research the struggle faced by one of these individuals. Write a dialogue between that person and Prometheus. How would Prometheus try to encourage that person?
5. Why did Prometheus try to convince the Council of Scholars that his invention merited their support? If a government council thinks that an invention will not benefit the community, should the invention be banned? Compare the situation in the novel to such government agencies as the Federal Drug Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration, which allow new products or new air routes only if they will “benefit the community.”
6. For Prometheus, life in the Uncharted Forest is quite different from what he has known. Write two brief messages that Prometheus might want to send to any two characters who are still in the city.
7. Read about a “positive” utopia, such as in Plato’s Republic, or Thomas More’s Utopia, and compare with them with Anthem.
8. Compare the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden to the story of Prometheus and Gaea. For what “sins” were each condemned?
9. What is “collectivism”? Which of our laws today are collectivist?
10. Ayn Rand held that freedom is a prerequisite for economic progress. Is this view confirmed by the histories of the U.S.S.R and the People’s Republic of China?
You must write a one page response for one of the questions below. You will complete two papers total. These two are due on April 10th and April 16th for A-Day. These are due on April 11th and April 17th for B-Day.
1. Why did Ayn Rand name her main characters “Prometheus” and “Gaea”? Look these names up in a book on mythology. Compare the myths about Prometheus and Gaea to the story of these two characters.
2. In her Foreword to Anthem, Ayn Rand summarizes her political views. What laws that we have today do you think she would agree with, and which would she oppose?
3.What might it be like to live in a society where there are no “selves”, and “we” has replaced “I”?
4. Prometheus’s intellectual activities are illegal in his society. Throughout history, many great innovators, such as Copernicus, Galileo, Watt, and Fulton have faced ridicule and even legal attacks. Research the struggle faced by one of these individuals. Write a dialogue between that person and Prometheus. How would Prometheus try to encourage that person?
5. Why did Prometheus try to convince the Council of Scholars that his invention merited their support? If a government council thinks that an invention will not benefit the community, should the invention be banned? Compare the situation in the novel to such government agencies as the Federal Drug Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration, which allow new products or new air routes only if they will “benefit the community.”
6. For Prometheus, life in the Uncharted Forest is quite different from what he has known. Write two brief messages that Prometheus might want to send to any two characters who are still in the city.
7. Read about a “positive” utopia, such as in Plato’s Republic, or Thomas More’s Utopia, and compare with them with Anthem.
8. Compare the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden to the story of Prometheus and Gaea. For what “sins” were each condemned?
9. What is “collectivism”? Which of our laws today are collectivist?
10. Ayn Rand held that freedom is a prerequisite for economic progress. Is this view confirmed by the histories of the U.S.S.R and the People’s Republic of China?
Friday, April 11, 2008
April 10 (A Day) and April 11 (B Day)
I apologize for the lack of blogs, the google has not been working from my portable computer. Please follow the Daily Unit Outline I have given you!
1. Silent Reading
2. Turn in Vocab #1
3. Vocab Test
4. Grammar--Verb Tenses
5. Read Anthem
1. Silent Reading
2. Turn in Vocab #1
3. Vocab Test
4. Grammar--Verb Tenses
5. Read Anthem
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
B-Day: April 3, 2008
5th and 6th Period:
1. Silent Reading
2. Vocabulary #1--Anthem
3. Journal: What groups do you associate with
4. Class Discussion: What is good and bad about the world, what would you change.
5. Introduction to the philosophy of Communism
6. Begin Anthem by Ayn Rand
8th Period:
1. Silent Reading
2. School House Rock (you're ahead....thus a bit of a break!)
3. Finish Chapter 1
1. Silent Reading
2. Vocabulary #1--Anthem
3. Journal: What groups do you associate with
4. Class Discussion: What is good and bad about the world, what would you change.
5. Introduction to the philosophy of Communism
6. Begin Anthem by Ayn Rand
8th Period:
1. Silent Reading
2. School House Rock (you're ahead....thus a bit of a break!)
3. Finish Chapter 1
A-Day: April 2, 2008
1. Silent Reading
2. Vocabulary #1--Anthem
3. Journal: What groups do you associate with
4. Class Discussion: What is good and bad about the world, what would you change.
5. Introduction to the philosophy of Communism
6. Begin Anthem by Ayn Rand
2. Vocabulary #1--Anthem
3. Journal: What groups do you associate with
4. Class Discussion: What is good and bad about the world, what would you change.
5. Introduction to the philosophy of Communism
6. Begin Anthem by Ayn Rand
B-Day--April 1, 2008
5th and 6th Period:
Finish Film
8th Period:
1. Silent Reading
2. Vocabulary #1
3. Class Discussion on Group verses the Individual
4. Introduction to the philosophy of Communism
5. Begin Chapter 1
Finish Film
8th Period:
1. Silent Reading
2. Vocabulary #1
3. Class Discussion on Group verses the Individual
4. Introduction to the philosophy of Communism
5. Begin Chapter 1
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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