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The subsequent texts are sources to help me guide my 11th grade English class through our unit on George Orwell’s classic novel 1984. Each text is used in their own specific way to contribute useful information to the overall lesson. By providing guiding questions like “how would you react if you were living in this ‘Big-Brother-is-always-watching’ society,” and/or “how have Orwell’s satirical predictions have come true (or not),” the class is given a preface to what they will be learning. Also, to get my students to think abstractly and retain a certain attentiveness I will bring them into the lesson they are being taught. In my ideal class of twenty students, I have hopes that about four of them can read at a higher grade level, thirteen or fourteen read at the appropriate grade level, and six or seven read at a lower grade level. With this hope comes the assertion that I will use my higher level students to their full potential, in that, they will be available to help the lower level readers if the situation presents itself. With these ideals in mind, I continue with this text set.

A. Print Resources

Text #1: George Orwell’s 1984 Orwell, George. (1949). 1984. (226). New York: Signet Books via The New American Library of World Literature, Inc.

• Text Summary: Orwell’s story depicts life living under a totalitarian regime from one man, Winston Smith’s point of view. The author uses Winston and his trials and tribulations to satirically forecast the future. • Rationale: This text is the focal point of my lesson- “How can literature influence life?” • Use of text: The reading of this novel is imperative to the information my later lessons will discuss. The book raises the issues of privacy infringement, totalitarian rule, etc. that I will use to progress the lesson. • Attachment: As the book is over 200 pages I did not include it here.

Text #2: Bernard Crick’s biography of George Orwell: George Orwell: A Life Crick, Bernard. (1992). George Orwell: A Life. (688). Boston: Penguin Books Ltd.

• Text Summary: Crick guides the reader through the life that made Orwell and his writing what they are. Using a variety of sources Crick reveals the true character of this solitary and uncompromising author. • Rationale: For my students to be able to identify the main ideas of 1984, I feel it is vital to first look at the source of these main ideas, i.e. - what events in Orwell’s life could have provoked his writing. • Use of text: Using excerpts from the entirety of the text, I would provide my students with certain background information about our author. I have hopes that this will solidify for them the ideas that we have outlined in our prefacing lessons to this unit. • Attachment: As this text is almost 700 pages I did not include it here.

Text #3: Eve Merriam’s poem Thumbprint Merriam, Eve. (1986). “Thumbprint” from A Sky Full of Poems. Yearling Publishing.

• Text Summary: This poem provides my students with a tangible example of the type of individualistic ideals “The Party” tries to suppress in the novel. • Rationale: I feel that giving students a break from a dull textbook or a thick novel revitalizes their enthusiasm. The poem provides a new medium for students to digest topical information that I feel is important to the lesson. Moreover, I can use this poem to model/preface a poetry unit we may cover at another time over the course of the school year. • Use of text: We, as a class, will read and discuss this poem. As we are not studying the work for is poetic value, but rather its subject matter, I will more or less “tow” the class through the main points I want acknowledged. Yet, always allowing for a student’s idea or question to be presented or answered. • Attachment: A copy of the work is attached.

Text #4: An excerpt from Bertolt Brecht’s play Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, The Spy. Brecht, Bertolt. (1957). The Spy from Fear and Misery of the Third Reich. Germany.

• Text Summary: The Spy in “Fear and Misery of the Third Reich” is a one-act play that shows how paranoia can overcome people when they are afraid of their government's power. Two German parents are driven to the brink of sanity when they realize their son has gone missing. They are sure he is working under Hitler’s authority and "handing them over". When he returns with sweets they are still very suspicious. • Rationale: Watching a clip of this scene performed will incorporate a form of technology that my students find captivating—video. The act will give my students a visual example of the frailty of a person’s psyche, and how that person can then be manipulated to conform. • Use of text: We will view the scene and then discuss how it relates to the ideas the novel presents. • Attachment: Finding a publication of this play was daunting, so the acting portrayal will provide the source.

Text #5: George Orwell’s precursor to 1984, his novel Animal Farm Orwell, George. (1946). Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.

• Text Summary: This novel satirizes the totalitarian ideologies Orwell presents in 1984. • Rationale: Being able to find parallelisms across several works by an author will aid in reading comprehension. If a student is able to locate on his/her own the main ideas a text is offering based on the prior knowledge they have gained through reading the author before, then they will be able to understand the new material better. This is because the students have their own knowledge base to build off of. • Use of text: I will provide excerpts from Animal Farm to the class. We will read them and then discuss what ideas in AF are expressed in 1984. • Attachment: As the novel is over 120 pages it is not included here.

B. Media Resources

Text #6: Photograph of George Orwell De Boer, Mark. (2003). Remembering George Orwell. Retrieved October 12th, 2008 from URI Library. Website: home.planet.nl/~boe00905/Orwellhome.html

• Text Summary: A picture of the author we are studying. • Rationale: I find that having a face to put with a “name” (a term used loosely here) will not only help the student understand the new information being presented now, but also any addition information the student learns on his/her own in the future. • Use of text: A picture of Orwell will be presented along with the excerpts from Crick’s biography. • Attachment: A copy of the photograph is included.

Text #7: Clips from the motion picture “1984”Radford, M. (1984). 1984. MGM Home Entertainment.

• Text Summary: Orwell’s acclaimed novel brought to the silver screen. • Rationale: Students need to be entertained while learning. We will view parts of the movie and see how Hollywood has/has not altered Orwell’s themes. • Use of text: The viewing of this text will not only provide yet another reiteration of the book’s key points, but will allow my lesson to segue to its next text. • Attachment: Film clips unable to be included here.

Text #8: Clips from the motion picture “V for Vendetta” McTeigue, James. (2005). V for Vendetta. MGM Home Entertainment.

• Text Summary: A contemporary spin on the filmed version of 1984. • Rationale: By using clips from a movie not 5 years old my students seem more attracted to it because it is from their lifetime, and thus, “about them.” This notion suggests that my students will be more attentive to the subject matter as they now feel that the subject matters. • Use of text: After watching clips from both films, we will compare/ contrast the novel 1984, the filmed 1984, and V for Vendetta, discussing what ideals are still expressed in the contemporary film, what ones are not and why, etc. • Attachment: Film clips unable to be included here.

C. Online Interactive Resources

Text #9: A summative quiz of the novel provided by Sparknotes.com. Barnes & Noble. (2008). “1984/ George Orwell Quiz.” Retrieved October 12th, 2008 from URI Library. Website: www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/quiz.html

• Text Summary: A quick 25 multiple choice quiz about Orwell’s novel. • Rationale: Using Sparknotes to provide a quiz to my students is the best way to offer the class a non-biased assessment. Also, once the quizzes have been complete the students are about to see what questions they got wrong and can be provided textual evidence to support the correct answer. • Use of text: This will be a non-graded assessment that I will use to gauge which students are not doing the reading, what points I missed/covered/need to work on for next time, etc. Also, this will provide me with a good understanding of the material I will be putting on my graded assessment. • Attachment: As I will have the students access this quiz via Sparknotes.com it is not included here.

Text #10: A hands-on activity to cover the vocabulary expressed in 1984. Bigstar326. (2007). 1984 Vocabulary. Retrieved October 12th, 2008. Website: www.quizlet.com/set/12861/

• Text Summary: Vocabulary words and their definition are scattered across the webpage in no order. It is the student job to drag the word to its definition (or vice versa) to eliminate the word. • Rationale: This activity provides my students the opportunity to study the unit’s vocabulary in a provocative and appealing manner. • Use of text: I will ask that this activity be practiced outside of class at least once. Pending the grades in the vocabulary section of my assessment, I will be more stringent on how much/ amount of time I dedicate to reviewing the units vocabulary. • Attachment: As this is an interactive website it is not included here.

D. Instructional Resources

Text #11: A credible, informative teacher’s guide for 1984. Sessions, L. A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of George Orwell’s 1984. Retrieved October 13th, 2008 from URI Library. Website: www.us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/1984.pdf

• Text Summary: This guide outlines numerous pre, during, and post reading questions and activities to use when teaching 1984. It provides suggestions on how to approach and begin teaching this unit. • Rationale: By my having credible guiding help will only benefit the students. I will be more organized and cognitive of the ideas Orwell presents, thus my students will be able to receive the information I am providing with as little interference as possible. • Use of text: I will use this text throughout the unit as I said it provides excellent suggestions for activity topics and guiding questions. • Attachment: A copy of this guide is included here.

Using the Texts: I foresee this unit occupying about two weeks of class time. The first week will be establishing the main ideas, the reading of the novel outside of class, and getting familiar with George Orwell’s history. After the first week of mainly using the novel and Orwell’s biography, the second week will call for the majority of these texts to be implemented into the lesson. The focus points will be established through our work in week one, while they are reiterated and given substance in the second. Ideally, I want my students to not only find the main ideas of the texts they are reading, but to also see the correlation between each text we use. This will be gauged based on the informal assessments I do throughout the two weeks, not just the graded exam/project they will be assigned later.

Learning Objectives:

Content Standard- NCTE Standard #1: Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment.

An objective to my lesson that I feel comes above all others is that my students will be able to identify 1984’s underlying ideologies, while at the same time, identify those ideologies across numerous text. The skills employed in this act will better their ability to provide evidence, as well as make them more astute readers. This ability allows them to build better understanding of an infinite amount of topics through vast mediums of learning (NCTE 1).

Reading Standard- RI Grade Expectancies: (R-2) Students identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary by… (R-3) Students show a breadth of vocabulary knowledge through demonstrating understanding of word meanings and relationships by…

A second key objective of my lesson is for my students to be able to better recognize, and eventually exercise new vocabulary the lesson highlights. Students should be able to define an alien word based on its common roots, context clues, prefixes, suffixes, etc. If a correct definition still cannot be established after this “meta-reading” then the student should be able to access its proper definition with the ability to use diverse sources (R-10-2.1, 2.2). Moreover, students will be able to use more abstract thought processes as they have become familiar with connotation/ denotation, nuances, idioms, etc (R-10-3.1, 3.2). Now, not only will students have a cornucopia of terms in their lexicon, but they will be able to conceptualize future unfamiliar words based off their prior practices.

THUMBPRINT

In the heel of my thumb are whorls,* whirls, wheels in a unique design: mine alone. 5 What a treasure to own! My own flesh, my own feelings. No other, however grand or base, can ever continue the same. My signature, 10 thumbing the pages of my time. My universe key, my singularity. Impress, implant,* I am myself, 15 of all my atom parts I am the sum And out of my blood and my brain I make my own interior weather, my own sun and rain. Imprint my mark upon the world, 20 whatever I shall become.

Eve Merriam

whirls – designs round and round
 * whorls – twists, curves
 * implant – fix deeply

(Photograph)

George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair)

Chad, I like how you included "V for Vendetta" in your text set. It definitely has an engaging storyline that the students would easily grasp and connect with your 1984 theme. Sometimes students just need to be able to relate the class to their own lives. Since it isn't an old movie, perhaps some of them would have already seen it, getting them excited and possibly involved further into your lesson. Good job! --Sam Miller

Chad, I also loved the fact that you included "V for Vendetta." For an English teacher, it is difficult to engage students in literature and I think your text set does a fantastic job of connecting 1984 in a more contemporary and interesting way for students. I also like how you keep in mind that the language may be difficult for students and you included an online activity to cover the vocabulary. It is a very thorough set and covers the necessary bases. Great job! -Jessica Morales