A Block Sophomore Honors
Literature and Composition
Assignments up to
Thanksgiving
Students’ Writing
Prompts – portfolio of three written responses
From each section choose one student journal prompt to
respond to in 30-45 minutes of thoughtful writing. Please make sure you
clearly. identify the letter of the prompt.
I.
Due
Monday, November 7 (Choose one)
A.
“Everything in our background has prepared us to
know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us…But what if
there are no cries of anguish to be heard?
Who is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements…What is the
antidote to culture’s being drained by laughter?” - Neil Postman PROMPT:
In what specific ways does Fahrenheit
451 reflect Postman’s claim? What is
the danger of a society that becomes too comfortable? (Alex M.)
B.
Read the poem “123rd Street Rap” by
Willie Perdomo http://genius.com/Willie-perdomo-123rd-street-rap-lyrics
Compare and contrast the poet’s and Wes Moore’s experiences on the
streets of their cities. Write your own
rap about a day in Lexington Center. (Clare)
C.
The saddest thing I ever did see
Was a woodpecker pecking at a plastic tree,
He looked at me,
And “Friend” says he,
“Things aint as sweet as they used to be.” – Shel Silverstein
PROMPT: Do you feel the same way as the woodpecker about the
technological aspects of today’s society?
After 50 or so years, do you think you will change your mind? (Daniel)
D.
Read the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt
Vonnegut Jr.
What are the similarities and differences of how equality is promoted in
this society and the one in Fahrenheit
451? Although Diana Moon Glamper’s part in the story is brief, do you see
any similarities between her and any other characters in Fahrenheit 451? (Catherine)
E.
In the novel Dune
by Frank Herbert, water is a symbol that
represents life, loyalty, and kinship.
If fire and water are opposites, how does the meaning of the fire motif
in Fahrenheit 451 oppose the meaning
of the symbol of water? Could loyalty
and kinship put out the fire, so to speak? (Nat)
F.
1984 by George Orwell features a
dystopian society where the government has taken all sorts of actions to make
sure the people are utterly controlled.
The people’s actions, what they say and do are constantly being watched
by the government. They have police
patrols looking into people’s windows from helicopters t make sure that hey are
not doing anything they shouldn’t be doing.
The narrator states, “There was of course no way of knowing whether you
were being watched at any given moment,” (3).
There are telescreens which the people are forced to watch and which are
designed to listen to and watch the people.
The government could plug into your pone at any time without your
knowledge. As a result of not being able
to kow when you are being watched, the people are forced to obey the rules and
not question anything or bear the risk of getting into severe trouble. In this society there is no free thought or
open curiosity. People have no choice
but to obey. The future seems desolate,
unhappy and hopeless.
There
is no doubt that these new technologies are as controlling as the technologies
which control the society in Fahrenheit
451. Both of these novels were
written more than 50 years ago, however it is fascinating how close Orwell and
Bradbury have predicted the future. What
is the warning to people that Orwell and Bradbury are trying to convey in their
dystopian novels? (Alex Z.)
Wednesday,
November 9 Finish “The Sieve and the Sand” Note references to earlier motifs
and allusions
II.
Due
Monday, November 14 (Choose one)
A.
“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in
every society, in every family.” – Kofi Annan PROMPT: How can knowledge be
liberating in Fahrenheit 451? (Reina)
B.
“False happiness renders men stern and proud,
and that happiness is never communicated.
True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is
always shared.” – Charles de Montesquieu PROMPT: How does Montesquieu’s claim
relate to Montag’s mask of happiness? Can a society function with false
happiness? Does this false happiness affect Fahrenheit
451’s society as well as our own? (Melanie)
C.
How does Guy Montag’s journey relate to the
hero’s journey? Where does it resemble
it and where does it differ? What is the
significance of the similarities and differences? What is heroism in a world that suppresses
uniqueness and free thinking while rewarding conformity? (Patrick)
D.
“Her soul was too deep to explore by those who
always swam in the shallow end.” - A.J.
Lawless “Some souls are too deep for
shallow people.” - Paula White PROMPT: Who do these quotations remind you of in
Fahrenheit 451? How do thee two
groups interact with each other? Are all
souls deep but one type masks moving thoughts because they make people nervous,
or are sold simply deep or shallow? (Eden)
E.
Analyze Captain Beatty. Do you think he is truly in support of
censorship or is he hiding an allegiance to freedom of expression? Use specific examples from the text in your
argument. (Cameron)
F.
Ray Bradbury ponders what a dystopian future
would look like. Why is it that we try
to imagine a future in which we don’t exist?
Is it more more important to worry about the present and live in the
moment? (Klil)
Tuesday, November 15
Read “Burning Bright” pages 113-137 Write down two questions, either for
clarification or discussion.
Due Thursday,
November 17 (choose one)
A.
“Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in
his head, a minstrel.” PROMPT: How does
the author use the comparisons of a madman and a minstrel to describe the
feelings of someone in love? (Aditi)
B.
“No man, for any considerable period, can wear
one face to himself and another to the multitude, without final getting
bewildered as to which may be the true.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
PROMPT: Write about a moment during which the emotions you expressed do
not match the ones you felt internally.
Why was there a difference between them?
(Lauren)
C.
“Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” –
Voltaire “Nothing is more
sad than the death of an illusion.” – Arthur Koestler PROMPT: Illusions are pleasant, especially when they
tell us that nothing stands in our way, and that we have power, comfort and
free will. When this illusion is
shattered, nothing can be more confusing and agonizing. However, if the purpose of life is to be
healthy, free and happy, then why should anyone attempt to shatter illusions? What value is there in discovering the truth
when it can be so hurtful? (Jinwoo)
D.
“I think the world would be a lot better off if
more people were
to define themselves in terms of
their own standards and values and not what other people said or thought about
them.” –Hillary Clinton PROMPT: Has there been a time where you disregarded a
negative comment and carried on strong? (Donya)
E.
In Das
Kapital philosopher and economist Karl Marx writes:
“In general, the greater the productiveness of labour, the less is the
labour time required for the production of an article, the les is the amount of
labour crystallised in that article, and the less is its value;” PROMPT: In
reference to how the growth of capitalism is decreasing the value of the
worker, do you think he was right in his line of thought? (Cat)
F.
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved
to read. One does
not love breathing.” - Harper Lee
PROMPT: What in your life is so quintessential that it is almost like
breathing? (Aria)
G.
Reflect for a few minutes on your beliefs about
censorship. Do
you think it’s ever acceptable for authorities to limit what people can
read or write due to fear it would offend someone? If they don’t, what could one do to protect
others from getting insulted by someone else’s work? Should they do anything at all? (Carmel)
Monday, November 21 Finish reading Fahrenheit 451. Write down your favorite three motifs that the
ending of the novel highlights with a brief comment for each about Bradbury’s
intent.
Tuesday, November 22 Read the Afterward, Coda,
Conversation with Ray Bradbury. Write
down which you find most interesting with a couple of sentences that explain
your choice.
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