March 20

Mr. Level

DUE: None

ACTIVITIES:

  1. Read excerpt from Slaughterhouse-Five
  2. Ch. 42-55 Quiz
  3. Discuss Ch. 42-55
  4. Listen to This American Life: “Human Error in Volatile Situations”
    1. You can listen to Act One of the episode here (we made it through 30 minutes in class).
    2. Or you can read the transcript of it here.

HW:

  1. Read Ch. 56-72
    1. Boxes, people.  Complete your boxes.
  2. Read two of the following articles about nuclear weapons in our world today.  After reading, type a 300+ word reflection.  Your reflection could delve into your interests, thoughts, or emotions relating to the topic.  Be sure to cite specific lines that are relevant to your thoughts and responses.
    1. The Guardian: US begins work on new cruise missile after pulling out of cold war treaty
    2. Minneapolis Post: You can now add nuclear weapons to the list of things to start worrying about again
    3. The Hill: Whatever happened to nuclear abolition?
    4. The National Review: The Nuclear Taboo Is Weaker than You Think
    5. The National Review: Who Gets to Have Nuclear Weapons–and Why?
    6. Time Magazine: Trump Is Withdrawing From a Landmark Arms Agreement With Russia. What Happens Now?
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March 18

Mr. Level

DUE:

  1. Ch. 15-17 Q’s
  2. Scientist’s Responsibility

ACTIVITIES:

  1. Discuss a scientist’s responsibilities
  2. Read The Butter Battle Book
    1. Discuss
    2. Read John Miller’s criticism
  3. Quiz 3: Ch. 28-41
  4. Discuss quotes, chapters
  5. Read Ch. 42 aloud
    1. excellent example of satire (though we didn’t get a chance to go into why)

HW:

  1. Read through Ch. 55

March 14

Mr. Level

DUE: None.

ACTIVITIES: Ch. 13-27 DQ’s

  1. Quiz 2 – Ch. 13-27
  2. Quotes and Q’s
  3. Discuss: Breed vs. Vonnegut
  4. Ice-9
  5. Ch. 15-17 Group Discussions — Satire, Irony, and Allusion — Finish on your own at home.
  6. Read Ch. 28.  Yes! Yes!

HW:

  1. Read Ch. 28-41; complete boxes.
  2. Finish the Ch. 15-17 Discussion Q’s
  3. 400+word analysis: Is a scientist responsible for the outcomes of her research and discoveries? Explain your opinion by referring to examples from the book and also examples from real life.  In order to establish a “real world example” you should cite a minimum of one other source.  Please cite your source at the bottom of the reflection.  A hyperlink is not a citation! Post to Turnitin.com.

March 8

Mr. Level

DUE: None.

ACTIVITIES:

  1. Recap Vonnegut’s viewpoints on
    1. Science
    2. Religion
    3. Violence
  2. Watch first ten minutes of The Atomic Cafe
    1. Discuss American responses to the atomic bomb
  3. Read first ten pages of John Hersey’s Hiroshima
    1. Discuss his audience and purpose
  4. Hand out Cat’s Cradle Unit Guide
  5. Read Ch. 1-2 aloud

HW:

  1. Read Ch. 1-12 of Cat’s Cradle
    1. Complete the first row of boxes on the unit guide

 

March 6

Mr. Level

DUE: Satire Analysis

ACTIVITIES:

  1. Discuss satire analysis
  2. Today we focused on background of Kurt Vonnegut (author of the book we will begin next week).  We took notes in the following format:
  3. Who is our author? / How can we use other texts to help understand the novel?  / What seeming contradictions do we see?
  4. Divide paper into four quadrants: Personal info (Dresden, war prisoner, etc.).  Style (including common topics).  Viewpoints (common themes in his writing). Quotes (select from what we read). Do not write trivial details.  If you missed class, review the following before next class.
    1. Vonnegut PPT.
    2. Vonnegut Interview — Dresden excerpts
    3. Vonnegut Grad Speech — 1981

HW:

  1. Read Why My Dog Is Not A Humanist and Vonnegut Essay Excerpts
    1. Add to your notes based on what you see here
    2. Pay close attention to the contrast in how Vonnegut views the topics of Science and Religion.  We will discuss the complexities of his viewpoint next class.

March 4

Mr. Level

DUE: Satire Comparison (completed in class)

  1. Watch clips from four satirists.
  2. Write a paragraph analyzing the similarities and differences between two of the satirists’ styles.
    1. Submit to Turnitin.com

HW:

  1. Satire analysis (see Feb 28 HW section)