Grammar of the Undead

ACT Question Stems

ACT stuff...

For the English test, here is some help identifying what question stems are looking for. Check out the link here.

District 9 Analysis

This post is for JUNIORS only.

District 9 tackles a variety of real world problems: South Africa's apartheid, South Africa's racist attitudes towards Nigerians, people's willingness to buy into media smear campaigns, immigration issues, the abuse of authority by police, the utilization of concentration camps, and more. 

The film, however, is basically broken into three acts with each act focusing on one basic problem:

1. The first third of the film deals with MNU's treatment of the aliens and the way they plan to force them into a concentration camp. In other words, the first third of the film explores how horribly governments and corporations can treat groups of minorities.
2. The second third of the film deals with MNU's inhuman treatment of Wikus and how horribly governments and corporations can treat individual members of society.
3. The final third of the film deals with how people have a natural instinct for self preservation which often leads to selfish and callous behavior towards others.

Your task is to accomplish the following objectives:

• Select one of the three acts about which you would like to write.
• View the clip below that illustrates the act's central real world problem.
• Write a thoughtful, thorough, grammatically correct paragraph in which you thoroughly explain how the clip illustrates just how the problem exists in the film.
• Write a second paragraph in which you thoroughly explain how this real world problem exists in either (1) the real world, (2) A Long Way Gone, or (3) another film or book or your choice.

If you have any questions, please ask an instructor. As always, use the Road to the Formal Essay samurai handout for revision.

Act I:  The treatment of the aliens by MNU

(The treatment of minority groups by governments and corporations)

Act II:  The treatment of Wikus by MNU

(The treatment of individuals by a government or corporation)

Act III:  Wikus is ruled by his fear of MNU and his prejudice of the aliens
(Individuals are ruled by instinctive fears and prejudices)

Two more points of interest:

Be sure to bring your Fahrenheit 451 novels the day after break.

If you enjoyed District 9, you might also enjoy Monsters.

Another Long Way Gone - Essay 2

For this essay, due in your folder by the start of class on Friday if you are in school or not, is a little different than the usual. In this essay, you are going to have 3 body paragraphs instead of 2.

Here is your thesis:

While Ishmael is __________ and __________, he is not __________.

Here are the virtues from which you may choose:

• humble
• decisive
• tolerant
• focused

If you look closely at the prompt, you may notice that you have one extra virtue. Throw it away.  From the list of four, two must describe what Ishmael IS, one must describe what Ishmael is NOT, and one is not to be used.

Each body paragraph must have at least one example/cited quotation.

If you have any questions, please stop in and ask Mr. Cowlin or Mr. Smith for some help.

A Long Way Gone - Essay 1

This post is for JUNIORS only.

In a thoughtful, thorough, one-page essay, answer the following question. Be sure to use the One Page Essay Rubric when drafting and revising. The essay is due on Monday, 2/24/14.

Title your Googledoc "Hope and Desperation."

Is the overall tone of the memoir A Long Way Gone one of hope or desperation?

You can answer this question one of two ways:

1. While the book has moments of hope, the overall tone is one of desperation and hopelessness.
2. While the book has moments of desperation, the overall tone is one of hope.

Google Doc Hanging Indent Tutorial

Here is a short tutorial on how to create "hanging indents" for your work cited page:

Winter Play Trailer

A New Way to Punctuate

Courtesy of Victor Borge...

Gatsby/Kane Comparison Essay

This post is for juniors only.

In your 'to student' folder on your Google Drive you will find a document entitled "Gatsby/Kane Comparison Notes." Open the file and take a look at it. It is the material we collected in class contrasting Jay Gatsby to Charles Foster Kane. Your task is to select ONE of the thesis statements provided and craft a one page essay. 

We're looking for three paragraphs:

• Paragraph 1 - Thesis statement
• Paragraph 2 - Gatsby body paragraph (with at least one properly cited quotation from the novel)
• Paragraph 3 - Kane body paragraph (with at least one specific example summarized from the film)

Be sure to use the One Page Essay Rubric when drafting and revising.