The Final: 2015

Here's what's on it:

• 93 multiple-choice questions
• A vocabulary lesson 10 quiz in its entirety
• 20 words randomly selected from vocabulary lessons 1-9
• an AP Lang reading comprehension passage and questions
• Literary term questions
• Anaphora
• Apostrophe
• Asyndeton
• Chiasmus
• Hyperbole
• Invective
• Litotes
• Metonymy
• Polysyndeton
• Syndecdoche 
• SAT reading passages and questions
• The Handmaid's Tale analysis essay

Feminism Theories

Scandalous!

The Handmaid's Tale: Culminating Writing Task

In a typed, 3 page essay, explore the feminist themes of The Handmaid's Tale.

Your essay must be properly MLA formatted with a works cited page.

Completed essays, which will count as 4th marking period grades as well as a component of the final exam, are due Thursday, June 4th. Get thinking! May the lord open!

Resources:

A brief history of the three waves of feminism, via the Pacific University of Oregon:
http://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/news-events/three-waves-feminism

A brief list of feminism definitions, via the University of Alabama in Huntsville:
http://www.uah.edu/woolf/feminism_kinds.htm

And, for your reference only, here is a list of the various types of feminism via Wikipedia (Note: You cannot cite Wikipedia):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_theory#See_also

Easy Bib:
http://www.easybib.com/

The "OWL" at Purdue:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Snowpiercer: Dystopia, Life, Order, and Disorder

The easiest way to interpret the film Snowpiercer is to analyze its unique visual style. The YouTube channel, "Every Frame a Painting," does a nice job of breaking the narrative down into very simple terms:

Here is a more in-depth analysis of the film:

The film is a unique take on the concept of dystopia, and it shares many things in common with both The Handmaid's Tale and The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.

The following is a list of 20 questions concerning the film, Julius Caesar, and The Handmaid's Tale. You must respond to 5 of the 20 questions in a Power Point presentation that you will present to the class.

You must select at least one question that concerns Julius Caesar and at least one question that concerns The Handmaid's Tale.

You must explain your interpretation/answer fully!

1. Is Wilfred a bad guy?
2. Is the train necessarily a corrupt organism? 
3. Does the order of the train resemble the order of the natural universe? 
4. Why do both The Handmaid's Tale and Snowpiercer begin with some sort of environmental disaster? 
5. How is the film, Snowpiercer, similar to the play, Julius Caesar?
6. Is Gilliam akin to Cassius?
7. Is Curtis akin to Brutus?
8. Is Wilfred similar to Caesar?
9. Can a society exist without a "tail section?" 
10. The inhabitants of the front of the train are controlled with pleasure. Is this the case in reality now? Explain how this works.
11. Why do you think Gilliam works in conjunction with Wilfred?
12. Does war keep the ruling class in power?
13. Are revolutions a societal form of natural selection? 
14. Do leaders invent conflict to control populations?
15. Will the residents of the "tail section" ever usurp power?
16. At the end of Snowpiercer, will a new society form that resembles the train?
17. Is humanity simply the sum of its parts, as Wilfred implies, or do the needs of individuals truly matter?
18. What happens in a world without leaders--without Wilfreds?
19. What is the message of Snowpiercer?
20. How are the residents of the "tail section" similar to the handmaids in Gilead?

We will be in the library computer lab on Thursday, May 14th and Friday, May 15th.

Your presentations must be completed by Monday, May 18th. Class presentations will then follow.

Why Do We Tell Stories?

Watch the following short video in which Margaret Atwood explores the question, "Why do we tell stories?":

Some interesting ideas:

• Atwood implies that early humans with narrative abilities and the ability to comprehend stories had an evolutionary advantage over their peers.
• "We are thought-feeling entities."
• "We are a very creative species."
• "In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. It's endless."
• Brutus!

Post your thoughts and feelings regarding in idea or idea posted to this video in the comment section below.

Your response must include a specific reference to at least one thing Atwood says in the video, followed by your thoughts and analysis.

Responses must be posted before class (Friday, April 24th); late post, no credit.

The Handmaid's Tale

Here is a digital copy of the Study Guide:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Aa55Rz3gE-IjWyeQrLrmsqpAtP9TcFtAQV2rhyNDHMk/pub

Here is our reading schedule for The Handmaid's Tale:

• Thursday, April 23rd: 7-12
• Monday, April 27th: 13-18
• Thursday, April 30th: 19-24
• Thursday, May 7th: 25-39

The Julius Caesar Essay Rubric

Hey, ya'll.

Here is a link to the rubric I will be using to grade your papers:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/189WuCBILE1WwbGneY22jMrwAihJiUgzfIDzRV-iMPfI/pub

It explains my late policy and how you can go about recouping lost points.

How to Write an Intro for the Julius Caesar Essay

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxpOzQbJh-83ZHpGNlVvSzJCekU/edit?usp=drive_web