Life of Pi Unit ELA 20-1
Task A: Reading Comprehension (TWO tasks): - Pass Reading Quiz + TWO of the following: . Reading Comprehension Worksheet . Read “Secret Life of Walter Mitty” & compare with Life of Pi . Active participation in Life of Pi Circle Discussion . Read article on Life of Pi and write Personal Response
Task B: Symbolic & Thematic Interpretation (TWO tasks): - Animal symbolism assignment - Dialectics Reading & Worksheet - Power of Story assignment - Semiotics Reading & Worksheet - Symbolic Interpretation assignment (Algae Island, Blindness, Food & Religion)
Task C: Analysis (TWO tasks): ONE of the following - Essay - Thematic Analysis Paragraph - Author Choice Analysis Paragraph + - Symbolic Analysis Paragraph
Task D: Representation (ONE task): - Personal Zoo project - Creative Writing in Textual Context - Art Gallery project - Photo Essay
Task A: Reading Comprehension Worksheet Name:
Section 1 Character and Setting Identification
Match the character or setting in Column A with its description in Column B. (15 marks)
Column A Column B A. The man who said “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” _____1. Orange Juice B. Pi’s parents _____2. Indira Ghandi C. Pi’s favorite teacher in secondary school _____3. Tsimtsum D. He is named after a swimming pool _____4. Mamaji (Francis Adirubasamy) E. The Catholic priest Pi visits _____5. Scarborough, Ontario F. The hyena _____6. Picine Molitor Patel G. A worker from the Japanese Ministry of Transport _____7. Mr. Satish Kumar H. Pi’s brother _____8. Mr. Tomoshiro Okamoto I. The Japanese cargo ship that sank _____9. Santosh and Gita Patel J. Where Pi lives with his family in the present. _____10. Richard Parker K. The leader of India as the novel opens. _____11. Father Martin L. Where Pi received hospital treatment after his days at sea. _____12. Pondicherry, India M. The orangutan _____13. Ravi Patel N. Pi’s wife _____14. Tomatlan, Mexico O. Where the Patel family had their zoo. _____15. Meena Patel P. The tiger
Q. The zebra
R. Where the writer finds the elderly man who tells him the story of Pi. Section II
Multiple Choice
Read each statement carefully and select the most appropriate response. (1 mark each = 20 marks)
1. This novel is told primarily in ______point of view from the perspective of ______.
a) first person, Pi Patel b) third person, Yann Martel c) first person. Yann Martel d) third person, Pi Patel
2. The nickname young Pi receives in his school years, that even some teachers mistakenly adopt is
a) Swimming Pool b) Lemon Pie c) Pissing Patel d) Pi Patel
3. Pi’s favorite teacher, Mr. Kumar, taught which subject?
a) English b) Biology c) Mathematics d) Religion
4. Pi and his brother are taught a harsh lesson at a young age by their father. What does the father force the boys to witness?
a) the slaughterhouse van take away their favorite zoo animal b) a rotting, dead animal corpse in a cage c) the slaughter of goat by a purposefully starved tiger d) the death of a weakened tiger by a vicious hyena
5. In his youth, Pi seeks understanding in these three religions. They are
a) Christianity, Hinduism, Muslim b) Catholicism, Buddhism, Atheism c) Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism d) Catholicism, Islamism, Agnosticism
6. As an adult, Pi and his wife have _____ children.
a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) no
7. Pi’s zoology thesis from the University of Toronto focused on the study of the
a) thyroid glands of the three-toed sloth b) lymph glands of the Bengal tiger c) habitats in equatorial Brazilian jungles d) saliva glands of the meerkat
8. The three animals, besides Richard Parker, who end up on the life raft with Pi are
a) an orangutan, a hyena, a zebra b) a monkey, a lion, a warthog c) baby elephant, hyena, antelope d) three-toed sloth, cougar, camel
9. Pi’s first meal on the lifeboat consists of pale biscuits and water. What did he manage to feed the hungry Richard Parker?
a) a piece of zebra b) one of the biscuits c) a rat d) a fish
10. Pi comes up with seven different plans on how to deal with the ever dangerous Richard Parker. Which plan did he decide to enact?
a) attack him with available weaponry b) keep him alive c) wage a war of attrition (wait until he died) d) push him off the lifeboat
11. How does Pi go about establishing “his” territory on the life raft?
a) roping off the top of the lifeboat and the tarpaulin b) spreading his own urine around the tarpaulin c) laying his clothes on the tarpaulin d) creating a shelter with the tarpaulin
12. As Pi is about to try his hand at fishing for the first time, he is struck violently across the face by
a) Richard Parker b) a bird c) a flying fish d) a swarm of cockroaches
13. Why is Pi so anxious and disgusted with the prospect of killing any animals?
a) he is a humanitarian b) he is a vegetarian c) he is an anti-violence advocate d) he is an animal rights advocate
14. While on the boat, Pi’s favorite meal was
a) biscuits and water b) flying fish c) shrimp and green algae d) turtle
15. Which of the following senses did Pi lose while on the boat?
a) sight b) smell c) taste d) hearing
16. Pi encounters another lone survivor, on a lifeboat like his, who is blind. What does this person attempt to do to Pi?
a) sink his raft and lifeboat b) coax Richard Parker overboard c) eat him d) steal all his supplied
17. Name the small animals Pi finds on the algae island.
a) meerkats b) squirrels c) gophers d) opossums
18. All of the fish, found in the fresh water ponds on the algae island were
a) sharks b) jumping out of the water c) deformed d) dead
19. After Pi and Richard Parker gain their strength back while on the algae island, what does Pi teach the tiger to do?
a) roll over b) jump through a hoop c) speak d) walk on hind legs
20. One of the trees on the island appeared to be growing fruit, similar to small oranges. When Pi breaks open one of the fruits, what does he find?
a) a human molar b) small black seeds c) slimy green ooze d) shiny fish scales
Section III
Short Answer (out of 30)
1. Why didn’t Pi drown with his family on the ship? (2)
2. Explain the frame narrative for the novel (2)
3. What does Pi say about wild animals in cities? Provide 2 examples. (3)
4. Who do you think the Frenchman is? Why? (2)
5. What strange behavior does Pi demonstrate in the hospital in Mexico? (1)
6. What does the Japanese report on the shipwreck imply? (2)
7. Why was the algae island so menacing? (2)
8. How old was Pi when the story takes place? How long was he at sea? (2)
9. Why does Pi practice 3 different religions? (2)
10. What are Pi’s 3 religions? What do they have in common? How are they different? (12)
Task A:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
"We're going through!" The Commander's voice was like thin ice breaking. He wore his full-dress uniform, with the heavily braided white cap pulled down rakishly over one cold gray eye. "We can't make it, sir. It's spoiling for a hurricane, if you ask me." "I'm not asking you, Lieutenant Berg," said the Commander. "Throw on the power lights! Rev her up to 8,500! We're going through!" The pounding of the cylinders increased: ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa. The Commander stared at the ice forming on the pilot window. He walked over and twisted a row of complicated dials. "Switch on No. 8 auxiliary!" he shouted. "Switch on No. 8 auxiliary!" repeated Lieutenant Berg. "Full strength in No. 3 turret!" shouted the Commander. "Full strength in No. 3 turret!" The crew, bending to their various tasks in the huge, hurtling eight-engined Navy hydroplane, looked at each other and grinned. "The old man will get us through" they said to one another. "The Old Man ain't afraid of Hell!" . . .
"Not so fast! You're driving too fast!" said Mrs. Mitty. "What are you driving so fast for?"
“Hmm?" said Walter Mitty. He looked at his wife, in the seat beside him, with shocked astonishment. She seemed grossly unfamiliar, like a strange woman who had yelled at him in a crowd. "You were up to fifty- five," she said. "You know I don't like to go more than forty. You were up to fifty-five." Walter Mitty drove on toward Waterbury in silence, the roaring of the SN202 through the worst storm in twenty years of Navy flying fading in the remote, intimate airways of his mind.
"You're tensed up again," said Mrs. Mitty. "It's one of your days. I wish you'd let Dr. Renshaw look you over."
Walter Mitty stopped the car in front of the building where his wife went to have her hair done. "Remember to get those overshoes while I'm having my hair done," she said. "I don't need overshoes," said Mitty. She put her mirror back into her bag. "We've been all through that," she said, getting out of the car. "You're not a young man any longer." He raced the engine a little. "Why don't you wear your gloves? Have you lost your gloves?" Walter Mitty reached in a pocket and brought out the gloves. He put them on, but after she had turned and gone into the building and he had driven on to a red light, he took them off again. "Pick it up, brother!" snapped a cop as the light changed, and Mitty hastily pulled on his gloves and lurched ahead. He drove around the streets aimlessly for a time, and then he drove past the hospital on his way to the parking lot.
. . . "It's the millionaire banker, Wellington McMillan," said the pretty nurse. "Yes?" said Walter Mitty, removing his gloves slowly. "Who has the case?" "Dr. Renshaw and Dr. Benbow, but there are two specialists here, Dr. Remington from New York and Mr. Pritchard-Mitford from London. He flew over." A door opened down a long, cool corridor and Dr. Renshaw came out. He looked distraught and haggard. "Hello, Mitty," he said. "We're having the devil's own time with McMillan, the millionaire banker and close personal friend of Roosevelt. Obstreosis of the ductal tract. Tertiary. Wish you'd take a look at him." "Glad to," said Mitty.
In the operating room there were whispered introductions: "Dr. Remington, Dr. Mitty. Mr. Pritchard- Mitford, Dr. Mitty." "I've read your book on streptothricosis," said Pritchard-Mitford, shaking hands. "A brilliant performance, sir." "Thank you," said Walter Mitty. "Didn't know you were in the States, Mitty," grumbled Remington. "Coals to Newcastle, bringing Mitford and me up here for a tertiary." "You are very kind," said Mitty. A huge, complicated machine, connected to the operating table, with many tubes and wires, began at this moment to go pocketa-pocketa-pocketa. "The new anesthetizer is giving way!" shouted an intern. "There is no one in the East who knows how to fix it!" "Quiet, man!" said Mitty, in a low, cool voice. He sprang to the machine, which was going pocketa-pocketa-queep-pocketa-queep. He began fingering delicately a row of glistening dials. "Give me a fountain pen!" he snapped. Someone handed him a fountain pen. He pulled a faulty piston out of the machine and inserted the pen in its place. "That will hold for ten minutes," he said. "Get on with the operation." A nurse hurried over and whispered to Renshaw, and Mitty saw the man turn pale. "Coreopsis has set in," said Renshaw nervously. "If you would take over, Mitty?" Mitty looked at him and at the craven figure of Benbow, who drank, and at the grave, uncertain faces of the two great specialists. "If you wish," he said. They slipped a white gown on him; he adjusted a mask and drew on thin gloves; nurses handed him shining . . .
"Back it up, Mac! Look out for that Buick!" Walter Mitty jammed on the brakes. "Wrong lane, Mac," said the parking-lot attendant, looking at Mitty closely. "Gee. Yeh," muttered Mitty. He began cautiously to back out of the lane marked "Exit Only." "Leave her sit there," said the attendant. "I'll put her away." Mitty got out of the car. "Hey, better leave the key." "Oh," said Mitty, handing the man the ignition key. The attendant vaulted into the car, backed it up with insolent skill, and put it where it belonged.
They're so damn cocky, thought Walter Mitty, walking along Main Street; they think they know everything. Once he had tried to take his chains off, outside New Milford, and he had got them wound around the axles. A man had had to come out in a wrecking car and unwind them, a young, grinning garageman. Since then Mrs. Mitty always made him drive to the garage to have the chains taken off. The next time, he thought, I'll wear my right arm in a sling; they won't grin at me then. I'll have my right arm in a sling and they'll see I couldn't possibly take the chains off myself. He kicked at the slush on the sidewalk. "Overshoes," he said to himself, and he began looking for a shoe store.
When he came out into the street again, with the overshoes in a box under his arm, Walter Mitty began to wonder what the other thing was his wife had told him to get. She had told him, twice, before they set out from their house for Waterbury. In a way he hated these weekly trips to town-he was always getting something wrong. Kleenex, he thought, Squibb's, razor blades? No. Toothpaste, toothbrush, bicarbonate, cardorundum, initiative and referendum? He gave it up. But she would remember it. "Where's the what's-its-name," she would ask. "Don't tell me you forgot the what's-its-name." A newsboy went by shouting something about the Waterbury trial.
. . . "Perhaps this will refresh your memory." The District Attorney suddenly thrust a heavy automatic at the quiet figure on the witness stand. "Have you ever seen this before?" Walter Mitty took the gun and examined it expertly. "This is my Webley-Vickers 50.80," he said calmly. An excited buzz ran around the courtroom. The Judge rapped for order. "You are a crack shot with any sort of firearms, I believe?" said the District Attorney, insinuatingly. "Objection!" shouted Mitty's attorney. "We have shown that the defendant could not have fired the shot. We have shown that he wore his right arm in a sling on the night of the fourteenth of July." Walter Mitty raised his hand briefly and the bickering attorneys were stilled. "With any known make of gun," he said evenly, "I could have killed Gregory Fitzhurst at three hundred feet with my left hand." Pandemonium broke loose in the courtroom. A woman's scream rose above the bedlam and suddenly a lovely, dark-haired girl was in Walter Mitty's arms. The District Attorney struck at her savagely. Without rising from his chair, Mitty let the man have it on the point of the chin. "You miserable cur!" . . .
"Puppy biscuit," said Walter Mitty. He stopped walking and the buildings of Waterbury rose up out of the misty courtroom and surrounded him again. A woman who was passing laughed. "He said 'Puppy biscuit'," she said to her companion. "That man said 'Puppy biscuit' to himself." Walter Mitty hurried on. He went into an A&P, not the first one he came to but a smaller one farther up the street. "I want some biscuit for small, young dogs," he said to the clerk. "Any special brand, sir?" The greatest pistol shot in the world thought a moment. "It says 'Puppies Bark for It' on the box," said Walter Mitty.
His wife would be through at the hairdresser's in fifteen minutes, Mitty saw in looking at his watch, unless they had trouble drying it; sometimes they had trouble drying it. She didn't like to get to the hotel first; she would want him to be there waiting for her as usual. He found a big leather chair in the lobby, facing a window, and he put the overshoes and the puppy biscuit on the floor beside it. He picked up an old copy of Liberty and sank down into the chair. "Can Germany Conquer the World Through the Air?" Walter Mitty looked at the pictures of bombing planes and of ruined streets.
. . . "The cannonading has got the wind up in young Raleigh, sir," said the sergeant. Captain Mitty looked up at him through tousled hair. "Get him to bed," he said wearily. "With the others. I'll fly alone." "But you can't, sir," said the sergeant anxiously. "It takes two men to handle that bomber and the Archies are pounding hell out of the air. Von Richtman's circus is between here and Saulier." "Somebody's got to get that ammunition dump," said Mitty. "I'm going over. Spot of brandy?" He poured a drink for the sergeant and one for himself. War thundered and whined around the dugout and battered at the door. There was a rending of wood and splinters flew through the room. "A bit of a near thing," said Captain Mitty carelessly. "The box barrage is closing in," said the sergeant. "We only live once, Sergeant," said Mitty with his faint, fleeting smile. "Or do we?" He poured another brandy and tossed it off. "I never see a man could hold his brandy like you, sir," said the sergeant. "Begging your pardon, sir." Captain Mitty stood up and strapped on his huge Webley-Vickers automatic. "It's forty kilometers through hell, sir," said the sergeant. Mitty finished one last brandy. "After all," he said softly, "what isn't?" The pounding of the cannon increased; there was the rat-tat-tatting of machine guns, and from somewhere came the menacing pocketa-pocketa-pocketa of the new flame-throwers. Walter Mitty walked to the door of the dugout humming "AuprËs de Ma Blonde." He turned and waved to the sergeant. "Cheerio!" he said. . .
Something struck his shoulder. "I've been looking all over this hotel for you," said Mrs. Mitty. "Why do you have to hide in this old chair? How did you expect me to find you?" "Things close in," said Walter Mitty vaguely. "What?" Mrs. Mitty said. "Did you get the what's-its-name? The puppy biscuit? What's in that box?" "Overshoes," said Mitty. "Couldn't you have put them on in the store?" "I was thinking," said Walter Mitty. "Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?" She looked at him. "I'm going to take your temperature when I get you home," she said.
They went out through the revolving doors that made a faintly derisive whistling sound when you pushed them. It was two blocks to the parking lot. At the drugstore on the corner she said, "Wait here for me. I forgot something. I won't be a minute." She was more than a minute. Walter Mitty lighted a cigarette. It began to rain, rain with sleet in it. He stood up against the wall of the drugstore, smoking . . .
He put his shoulders back and his heels together. "To hell with the handkerchief," said Walter Mitty scornfully. He took one last drag on his cigarette and snapped it away. Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.
Task A: Life of Pi article
Active Artist Presentation by Yann Martel Westin, Edmonton Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Here is some of what Yann Martel told us about Life of Pi:
What’s important is what Pi looked at, not what he looked like (the reader is Pi)
Faith is an attempt to understand what is beyond human comprehension; to glimpse at a small portion of a larger picture.
Pi must learn to live with, and eventually comes to love, his fears.
Art is not an answer, it’s a beginning point.
Our life is a construction of narrative; a mixture of fact and fiction. It is the interpretation of that narrative that gives it meaning.
Art is the key to explaining life and its alternatives; it isn’t inherently moral, it merely presents life as the artist perceived it. It allows us to experience more life than we would normally have access to.
“I was weary of being reasonable; I wanted to see what else there was to life than being reasonable.”
It’s easy to be skeptical; people use it as a defense mechanism against participating in or examining their lives.
Because art is, at its core, a comment on life, it should be something that everyone can discuss, because everyone loves to talk about life.
Images from the illustrated Life of Pi:
Task B: Animal Symbolism Assignment
“My majors were religious studies and zoology…Sometimes I got my majors mixed up” (pp 3,5)
“I would like to say in my own defense that though I may have anthropomorphized the animals till they spoke fluent English…the fancy was always conscious” (p 14)
“A plague upon fundamentalists and literalists!” they “lack imagination and miss the better story” (pp 54, 70)
“‘We believe what we see.’… ‘What do you do when you’re in the dark?’” (p326)
The List
□ Three-toed sloth (p3) □ Fish etc. o Shark o Dorado o Flying fish o Whales □ Hyena □ Zebra □ Orang-utan □ Tiger □ Meerkat □ Birds o Albatross
Assignment: Research the physical characteristics, “personality” traits, natural habitats, and symbolic references for each of the animals on The List. Complete the Animal Symbolism Worksheet based on the information you found. Remember that you will have to cite your sources, so write down where you find your information!
Task B: Animal Symbolism Worksheet Name:
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
Animal: Reference from novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common Characteristics/Traits/Habits:
Natural Habitat: Common Symbolism:
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain.
10 marks per animal x 13 animals = ____/130 (weighted at .25)
Task B: Dialectics Readings
Thesis -- Antithesis -- Synthesis
By Jim Meskauskas , November 6, 2001
"What is rational is real and what is real is rational." --Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
The early 19th century German philosopher, Georg W.F. Hegel is best known for his system of inquiry into the nature of reality. This system is called the dialectic. Now, reading Hegel will confirm some of your worst nightmares about delving into philosophical writing. His work likely made his own contemporaries' eyes glaze over.
Simply put, the dialectical method involves the notion that the form of historical movement (process or progress), is the result of conflicting opposites. This area of Hegel's thought has been broken down in terms of the categories of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Hegel's philosophy of history embraces the concept that a conflict of opposites is a struggle between actual and potential worlds.
A thesis can be seen as a single idea. The idea contains a form of incompleteness that gives rise to the antithesis, a conflicting idea. A third point of view, a synthesis, arises from this conflict. It overcomes the conflict by reconciling the truths contained in the thesis and antithesis at a higher level. The synthesis is a new thesis. It generates a new antithesis, and the process continues until truth is arrived at. http://www.clickz.com/917191
Hegel and his dialectic A Philosophy of History
In presenting this page we wish to thank David Burrell for consent to use material from his "A Historian Looks at Hegel Philosophically: A Critical Examination of Hegelian Dialectic, Determinism, and Contingency" ( Term paper, College of the Holy Cross, April 1991 ).
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel introduced a system for understanding the history of philosophy and the world itself, often called a "dialectic": a progression in which each successive movement emerges as a solution to the contradictions inherent in the preceding movement. To specifically apply this model of Hegel's view of world history, it represents the manner in which the Spirit - for Hegel a total reality that is an inherent unity of a mental or spiritual nature - develops gradually into its purest form, ultimately attaining unto its own essential freedom. To Hegel, "world history is thus the unfolding of Spirit in time, as nature is the unfolding of the Idea in space."
To quote Hegel himself in his Introduction to the Philosophy of History:- “Spirit does not toss itself about in the external play of chance occurrences; on the contrary, it is that which determines history absolutely, and it stands firm against the chance occurrences which it dominates and exploits for its own purpose."
Although Hegel's dialectic often appears broken up for convenience into three moments called thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, these terms were not original to or much used by Hegel himself. This classification was in fact developed earlier by Fichte in his loosely analogous account of the relation between the individual subject and the world.
Without the active opposition of an antithesis working through the dialectic, Hegel asserts, existence is simply an empty task. "Periods of happiness are empty pages in history, for they are the periods of harmony, times when the antithesis is missing." What is left to life is simply habit, "activity without opposition." This then raises a crucial question: how can it be possible to have an end to history? If history ends in the ultimate realization of the Spirit, then all opposition apparently has been negated. Not only has the past already been completed, but the future is foreclosed to any further developments. What is left to life when the final synthesis has been achieved and nothing stands in opposition of the immediate present?
Schools of thought influenced by Hegel tend see history as progressive, but also as a possibly painfully arrived at outcome of a dialectic in which factors working in opposite directions are over time reconciled. History was best seen as directed by a zeitgeist, or Spirit of the Age, and traces of the zeitgest could be seen by looking backward.
Hegel has a rather notable disciple in Karl Marx who adapted Hegels Dialectic away from being related to the unfolding of Spirit and towards Marx's own Materialist Conception of History where the economic factors of human society and the associated social relations would critically determine the unfolding of human history and could only, for Marx, (Engels, Lenin, Trotsky and their millions of sometime ideological followers) result in the establishment of Socialism. http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/philosophy/history/hegel_philosophy_history.html
Dialectic Prof. Eric Steinhart (C) 1998
Dialectical Motion
Hegel stresses the paradoxical nature of consciousness; he knows that the mind wants to know the whole truth, but that it cannot think without drawing a distinction. Unfortunately, every distinction has two terms, every argument has a counter-argument, and consciousness can only focus on one of these at a time. So it fixes first on the one, then under pressure fixes second on the other, until it finally comes to rest on the distinction itself. Hegel refers to this process of alternation and rest as dialectic. Dialectical motion has three stages: THESIS, ANTITHESIS, and SYNTHESIS.
Dialectic of Personhood
THESIS: Start here: "I am born; I am a child." ANTITHESIS: Negation of the thesis. "I have grown; I am an adult; so, I am NOT the child I used to be."
SYNTHESIS: Negation of the opposition between thesis and antithesis. "I am NEITHER child NOR adult, but a whole person."
Dialectic of the Drinking Glass
THESIS: Looking at a glass with some water in it, consciousness would not see anything at all if it did not distinguish between what is water and what is not water. If we suppose that consciousness begins as an optimist, then its thesis is an argument that the glass is half-full.
ANTITHESIS: Faced with the objection that this is not the whole truth, consciousness becomes a pessimist who argues for the antithesis that the glass is half-empty. The antithesis is the opposite of the thesis.
SYNTHESIS: Faced with the objection that this is not the whole truth either, and having already taken both sides, consciousness realizes that the whole truth is a synthesis: the volume that is empty equals the volume that is full.
Dialectical motion can be far more complicated than this simple example reveals. But the mind generally moves from one side of an opposition to another, finally discovering a deeper unity from which the two sides are derived. This motion is dialectic.
Dialectic of Existence
THESIS: Being
ANTITHESIS: Nothingness.
SYNTHESIS: Becoming. http://www.wpunj.edu/cohss/philosophy/courses/hegel/DIALECTX.HTM
Task B: Dialectics Worksheet Name:
Who was best known for “his system of inquiry into the nature of reality?” Where was he from? When did he live?(3)
What did he apply Dialectics to?(1)
Explain Dialectics in your own words.(2)
Name, define and provide an example (NOT in the reading) for each category of Dialectical motion: (9) 1. _
2. _
3. _
Draw a diagram of how these 3 categories work in relation to each other: (6)
What does the quote “Without the active opposition of an antithesis working through the dialectic, Hegel asserts, existence is simply an empty task” mean to you? (4)
Explain the “paradox of consciousness” in your own words. Provide an example.(4)
/31
Task B: Power of Story Assignment
Why do we tell stories? What makes a story effective? How can stories be powerful? What role do they play in the “real world”? Why is storytelling important to human existence?
Read the Prologue to “Goodbye Lemon” then write a personal response explaining how you see storytelling playing a powerful role in human reality.
Personal Response* structure: - Intro paragraph - Paragraph on “Goodbye Lemon” - Paragraph on “Life of Pi” - Paragraph on personal experience (could be something that happened to you, someone close to you, a book you read, a movie or TV show you saw, or something realistic you make up) - Conclusion paragraph
*a Personal Response differs from an essay in that it is solely based on your opinions, reactions, feelings and ideas – there doesn’t have to be any critical analysis.
Goodbye Lemon
Adam Davies
Prologue: Theories of Dexter
His eyes were brown. His mouth was round. His fingers and toes were small and trinketlike. His skin was nearly transparent; you could see delicate blue veins at his temples and in his wrists and this inspired either an impulse to cruelty or the wild urge to protect him. His hair was curly. Our mother cut it herself, and she kept it long. With its ringlets, and her irregular technique with scissors, he looked like a sad little prince. He always seemed profoundly melancholy and reluctant at the same time, as if he knew there were something urgently required of him that he simply could not provide, and that because of his deficiency the people around him would suffer.
Dexter liked to draw stars on his wrists in permanent makers. He had strong feelings about uncapped tubes of toothpaste and made regular nighttime rounds to assure they were intact. If he was nervous he would chew on the topmost button of his shirt, which made it look like he had a drooling problem. When I was in another part of the house and he wanted to play with me, he would always call out, “Where is the Jack Attack?” and I’d come running.
His favorite show was Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom but whenever the predation segment came on-the scene of the cheetah tripping up the baby gazelle before cutting dramatically to commercial - he would run crying from the room. He would wait just on the other side of the door, his head in his hands, his eyes clenched shut, and beg us to tell him when that part was over so that he could come back in. Press would always tell him it was safe before it really was and every time when Dex would return to see the cheetah dragging the beautiful, broken, velvety gazelle up a tree by its neck he would flee the room wailing. It happened this way every Sunday night. Without fail Dex believed that Press was telling the truth, and every time when Press fooled him he seemed astonished and crestfallen. Press won’t say it now, but he thought Dex was a sucker. I think Dex just wanted to trust his big brother.
He wanted to believe that his family wouldn’t let him down.
He was terrified of birds and moths. He loathed the sound of zippers and would do a madcap, leprechauny jig of disgust when Pressman would zip his coat up and down over and over just to torture him. He loved books, though, and could tell you everything you ever wanted to know about mushrooms and pneumatics and reptiles. “Herpetology,” he would say proudly, out of nowhere, as if he had just discovered a cure for cancer. “Herpetology is the branch of zoology dealing with reptiles and amphibians. Herpetology. Herpetologist. Herp-e- to-logic-al.” Cooking thrilled him; he would stand, petrified with wonder, as the packet of powdered cheese turned white pasta coils into yellow macaroni as my mother mixed them together in a pan. And he valued his personal space. In the backseat of our old pea-green Volvo he would always separate himself from me or Press by lowering the armrest. He loved us but he was afraid of us, too. He required a protective membrane around him to function in the world, and Pressman and I, his own brothers, weren’t always allowed in.
Only six years old and already he was beginning to distrust his family.
It was as if he had intuited that one day soon he would be sucked under the waves of Lake George and no one would be there to pull him back up.
But I could be wrong.
Maybe his eyes were hazel, like mine. And his mouth was lopsided and smirk-prone. His fingers and toes were not trinketlike at all but long and flexible, brachiatory, made for climbing hazardous branches and throwing curveballs. His skin was tanned and pulled taut over compact muscles. He could rollerskate like the wind. His hair was straight but jagged because even though our mother made him sit on the stool and endure her haircuts, he would, five minutes later, administer his own finishing touches with dull safety scissors. This gave him the appearance of a frantic muppet, but he didn’t care; he wanted control over his own world and shrugged off the punishment he always incurred. He was braver than any of us, even Pressman.
He wasn’t a timid, empathetic, bookwormy brother. He was a proud, unbeaten brother. He was incisive, kinetic, pioneering, action-heroic.
But he was also kind. He smiled funny for photographs. His eyebrows would arch wildly, his eyes bulging as if he were in shock, and his face would be split by a maniacal, open-mouthed smile. The number of visible teeth was an infallible index of happiness, the thought, so he tried to give you all thirty-two at once. It looked like he was trying too hard, though, like he wanted to reassure you that it meant a lot to him that you were taking his picture. He wanted you to see how grateful he was so that you would feel good about it. I can still see him clearly in my imagination, that brittle smile creasing his face, eyes popping clownishly out of their sockets, willing you to be happy.
He didn’t have time for books but he loved sports radio and prided himself on knowing all the baseball players that the other kids didn’t know. Rolling naturally from his mouth came names like Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker, James “Cool Papa” Bell, and if someone tried to argue that George Brett was better, Dex would smite them with an unimaginable barrage of stats and figures. And then, as his vanquished adversary stood there stunned and mute at the verbal thrashing he had received, Dex would wrap his arm around him chummily and say, “Ah, maybe you’re right. George Brett is pretty awesome.”
If he had lived I think he would have been a do-gooder talk show host or a lobbyist for lost causes or a guidance counselor for at-risk youth. Something that required a lot of fast- talking, but also conviction and love.
But this could be wrong, too.
Maybe his eyes were blue, like my mother’s. And you never saw his fingers because he kept his hands in his pockets all the time. And his skin was nondescript. And his hair was Nordic blond like Pressman’s, or black like our father’s, or inexplicably coded for baldness like mine. And he didn’t watch TV, period, or ever listen to the radio and had no opinion on sports or snakes or photographs or predation or mac-and-cheese or zippers. He didn’t chew buttons. He was not the invigilator of uncapped toothpaste. He never invited me to play by calling out to me, “Where is the Jack Attack?” and I never came running.
Maybe he wasn’t great at sports but wasn’t terrible either. Maybe he liked normal kid things and was afraid of all the normal kid-scary stuff. Maybe he thought Pressman was aces but didn’t like me because-even though I was only one year younger-I was still too little to be much fun. Maybe he tried but failed to love our mother, just like Press and I did. Maybe he was afraid of our father, too, and deep down inside his heart somewhere he knew that one day he would drift out too far into Lake George when our father was supposed to be watching him - not drinking - and that no one would be there to save him.
Maybe he felt it coming.
Maybe he was shocked. He couldn’t believe it was happening, even at the last moment, when he felt his beloved orange flip-flops sucked off his feet. That last sensation might have felt heavy, like being pressed under a mattress. It might have been epiphanic, like finally getting a joke you never understood. Maybe it felt like being airborne. Or like forgiveness.
Sometimes I think he wanted it to happen. Maybe he felt alone and unloved and wanted someone to notice him in the most dramatic way: a rescue. How luxurious it would be, he could have thought, to have your father’s powerful hands snatch you from deadly water, pull you up and return you to the shore where your family is waiting for you. Then they would recognize how valuable you are. You wouldn’t be ignored after that.
Every day you would be loved that way you deserve.
But I don’t know. I don’t know any of it. I can’t remember what my brother Dexter looked like. I can’t remember his odor. I can’t remember what he loved or what he hated. I can’t remember how it happened that day in August at Lake George. I was barely five years old, too young to have a clear memory of it, and no one would ever tell me about it. I wasn’t there when he waded into the water. I wasn’t there when his head went under. I wasn’t there when our father struggled back to shore without Dex in his hands and with scotch on his breath.
I don’t know any of this, and it breaks my heart.
What else can I do but try to write him back to life?
Task B: Semiotics Reading
What The Hell is Semiotics? And Other Useful Questions ELA 20-1
Semi-What? We seem as a species to be driven by a desire to make meanings and semiotics endeavors to do just that. We make meanings through our creation and interpretation of 'signs' and semiotics is the study of those signs.
'What do you mean by a sign?' people usually ask next. The kinds of signs that are likely to spring immediately to mind are those which we routinely refer to as 'signs' in everyday life (road signs, pub signs and star signs); signs can also be drawings, paintings and photographs, words, sounds and 'body language'.
One of the broadest definitions for semiotics is that of Italian scholar Umberto Eco, who states that it “is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign.” Meaning anything which 'stands for' something else.
Semiotics is often employed in the analysis of texts, so it would follow that an exploration of the signs of the text would require an understanding of the rules governing that text. However, it should perhaps be noted that a 'text' can exist in any medium and may be verbal, non-verbal, or both, despite the logocentric1 bias of this distinction.
Above all, semiotics is a peculiar point of view: a perspective which consists in asking ourselves how things become carriers of meaning.
Very A^ Brief History of Semiotics
Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist2, anticipated “a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life… We shall call it semiology (from the Greek semeîon, 'sign'). It would investigate the nature of signs and the laws governing them.”
Concurrently, American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, founded an area of study dedicated to inquiry into human communications, which he called semiotics.
The concept of semiosis (meaning the production of meaning) is a term borrowed from Peirce which has been expanded by Eco to mean a process by which a culture produces signs and/or attributes meanings to signs. For Eco, the production of meaning is a social activity; the “culturization” of a sign provides its meaning. For example, a specific meaning has been attached to Ed Hardy clothes; through cultural signification, Facebook groups like ‘Thanks to Ed Hardy I Can Recognize Idiots from a Distance’ have helped to produce meaning for that signifier.
1 logocentric – from the Greek logos meaning word, this is a tendency to focus (or centralize) the concept of text to those containing printed words 2 linguist – from the Latin lingua meaning language or tongue, this is a person who studies the formal structures and rules governing language How Are We Going to Be Using Semiotics?
1. Understanding How Meaning is Established
Within the Saussurean tradition, the task of the semiotician is to look beyond the specific texts or practices to the systems of functional distinctions operating within them. The primary goal is to establish the underlying conventions, identifying significant differences and oppositions in an attempt to model the system of categories, relations, connotations, distinctions and rules of combination employed.
Semioticians argue that signs are related to their signifieds by social conventions which we learn. In order to understand the meaning of signs, we must learn the conventions that have given them meaning. We become so used to such conventions in our use of various media that they seem 'natural', and it can be difficult for us to realize that meaning we recognize isn’t inherent in these signs. When we take these relationships for granted, we treat the signified as unmediated or 'transparent', as when we interpret television or photography as 'a window on the world'. Semiotics demonstrates that the 'transparency' of the 'medium' is illusory: we must recognize the system at work that establishes meaning.
2. Looking at How Semiotics Can Be Applied In Various Contexts
Semiotics can be applied to anything which can be seen as signifying something - in other words, to everything which has meaning within a culture.
In English Language Arts, semiotics provides us with a potentially unifying conceptual framework and a set of methods and terms for use across the full range of signifying practices, which include writing, speech, photography, film, television and radio. It is an approach that can be used to interpret the variety of texts we will deal with in this course.
3. Using Semiotics to Gain Insight into Texts
In the context of semiotics, 'decoding' involves not simply basic recognition and comprehension of what a text 'says' but also the interpretation and evaluation of its meaning with reference to relevant codes. It’s our ‘reading’ of a text.
Semiotics is invaluable if we wish to look beyond the obvious content of texts; it is well adapted to exploring connotative meanings; searching for what is 'hidden' beneath the 'obvious' can lead to fruitful insights. Looking behind or beneath the surface of the observed in order to discover the underlying organization of phenomena - not just looking at what a text says but why its context lead to its creation and how its parts work to develop its meaning.
Some Words to Impress People With langue refers to the system of rules and conventions which is independent of, and pre-exists, individual users (language) parole refers to that language’s use in particular instances (speech) signifier: the form which the sign takes Signifier the word ‘open’
Signified ability to conduct business OR signified: the concept it represents mechanical action of doors sign is the whole that results from the association of the Sign “You may enter this store to make purchases” signifier with the signified; a single unit of meaning “This button holds open the elevator door”
* while the signifier and the signified work together to create meaning, their relationship is abstract
For example:
A certain combination of the letters E R D will form the sequence R-E-D; RED denotes a particular color, but neither the individual letters nor the specific combination of them has anything to do with redness.
For example: an ‘open’ button elevator buttons buttons display their actions; the in an elevator display the actions invention of navigational buttons that control the car: for websites is easily understood bell for assistance, because of the patterns set up for
numbers for floors the use of buttons
C.S. Pierce distinguished 3 types of signs: icon – is given meaning based on similarity of appearance (ex: a map= the location it shows) index – is given meaning based on cause and effect (ex: smoke = fire) symbol – is given meaning based on convention; connection to meaning is arbitrary (ex: b = voiced bilabial, red = stop)
Internet Sources http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Saussure http://www.nndb.com/people/396/000026318/ http://www.olinda.com/VC/lectures/Semiotics/semioticshistory.htm
Task B : Semiotics Worksheet Name :
Explain Semiotics in your own words. (3)
What sorts of things constitute Signs in Semiotics? (2)
What is Umberto Eco’s definition of a sign?(1)
Provide an example of a Sign(not from the reading) and explain how it works. (2)
Define logocentric in your own words (1)
Name 3 linguists (3)
Explain in your own words how Eco sees culture playing a role in Semiotics. (4)
Provide & explain an example of “cultural semiotics” not outlined in the reading. (6)
What is the relationship between a Sign and a Signified?(2)
Explain how Semotics contributes to the why and how of reading. (2)
Explain how the RED example proves an arbitrary relationship between Signifier and Signified. (4)
Explain how one of the following examples would be examples of Semiotics. (6) Wedding Ceremony Scoring a Goal in Hockey Thumbs Up
Task B: Symbolic Interpretation Assignment
Step 1: Make a list of the most significant quotes regarding the following symbols; remember to include page numbers for each. - Algae Island - Blindness - Food - Religion
Step 2: Based on the context for the quotes you’ve collected, determine what you think would be the most reasonable interpretation of each symbol.
Step 3: Research what others see as reasonable interpretations of these symbols. Write down 1-3 of your favorite interpretations. Provide support for why you think each interpretation is strong/reasonable or how you would refute it.
Step 4: Create an 8x11 poster for each symbol. Include the “title” (name + meaning of symbol), a visual representation of the symbol, the most significant quotes from the novel in relation to the symbol. On the back of each, write point form notes explaining your choice of meaning for that symbol (including any cited references you used to make your decision).
Please hand in ALL STEPS with your final project.
Task C: Critical Analysis Paragraph
Choose ONE of the following from Life of Pi: - a theme - an author choice - a symbol
Write a detailed (specific proof, clear and detailed explanations supporting your interpretation) analysis, outlining your interpretation (idea), citing specific support from the novel (proof), and explaining how the proof you’ve chosen supports your interpretation (explain). You may choose to use more than one Proof; please remember that each Proof needs an Explain.
Task C: Essay
Choose ONE of the following essay topics for your essay on Life of Pi:
Discuss the idea(s) developed by Yann Martel in Life of Pi about the significance of idealism and truth in an individual’s life.
Discuss the idea(s) developed by Yann Martel in Life of Pi about faith in the intangible.
Discuss the idea(s) developed by Yann Martel in Life of Pi about the darker aspects of human nature.
Task D: Personal Zoo
Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi compels us to look closely at the nature of animals and calls into question the differences we assume distance us as humans from the savagery and instinct-driven nature of the animal world.
In this project you will create a visual representation of your personal zoo that houses yourself and the people in your life who are important to you.
Step 1: Compendium of Knowledge
It is important to be familiar with the characteristics of the animals you’d like to use. Think about which animals you’d like to use, then make some research notes on them to see whether or not they will work (use the Animal Symbolism notes from Task B as a guide).
Step 2: Creating Exhibits
Your zoo must contain at least 6 exhibits: - one exhibit each for the FIVE people (or things) you consider the most important in your life - one exhibit (the last) for yourself
Each exhibit MUST include: □ a visual representation of the animal you’ve created □ consideration for visual elements (color, layout, positioning, grouping, juxtaposition, size and shape) □ a common characteristic that connects all visuals together as a unified whole (so it reads like a zoo as opposed to a collection of pictures of animals) □ use of line and focal point that directs the viewer’s eye where to start, in which direction to move and compels them to continue to the next exhibit □ an explanation (that does not interfere with the visual presentation of your zoo) outlining □ visual choices made □ layout choices made □ symbols used □ name for animal □ support for choice of animal
Remember to choose an effective and purposeful visual layout for your zoo that includes your exhibits, explanation(s) and a name for your zoo.
Task D: Creative Writing in a Textual Context
In this type of assignment, you are responding to a topic and a textual context through creative writing. What this means is you are using thematically relevant descriptive phrases from a text (a textual context) in your creative writing on an assigned topic.
An Example by Miss Donnelly: Central Idea: We imprison ourselves when ignore reality in order to protect ourselves from unpleasant truths. Textual Context: “And of Clay Are We Created” by Isabel Allende
Start with your planning: Determine how each text thematically approaches your central idea.
Ignoring Reality because of Unpleasant Truths Ignoring Reality because of Unpleasant Truths in And Of Clay my idea for a story Rolfe Carle ignores his past in order to be Nun struggles with the reality of freedom in her life emotionally detached from his world – keeps – her imaginary lover is not “real” but neither is her everything at a distance so the power of emotions confinement in the life she’s chosen – she chooses never touches him, he traps himself in his television to ignore the reality of her own freedom She feels reporter persona – a man without a past, but is trapped in the life she has chosen, but is too scared finally freed to find himself when he comes face to to seek the freedom of a new choice, a new life face with the truths of his past
Next, look for specific examples from the textual context that support your central idea – specific quotes are what we’re looking for here. Then brainstorm ways to integrate those descriptions/that imagery into your creative writing
Rolfe uses his camera to protect himself “I believe The Nun’s imaginary lover “transports her to a the lens of the camera had a strange effect on him; it different” life – one where she is free to give and was as if it transported him to a different time form receive romantic love -- this fictive life is “safe” which he could watch events without actually for her because she can experience what she’s participating in them. When I came to know him missing “without actually participating in them” better, I came to realize that this fictive distance and thereby breaking her vows. Having the dream seemed to protect him from his own emotions” (fictive love) “protects her from” actually facing her fears of freedom Rolfe refuses to acknowledge his reality just like he used to hide from his abusive father “for eternal Daydreams happen furtively “crouched, with eyes hours he had crouched with his eyes closed, not to closed” ignoring (not seeing) the reality around see the darkness, with his hands over his ears, to shut her the “darkness” of her sadness/unhappiness/ out the beating of his heart, trembling, huddled like a loneliness. The fear of her “transgression” would cornered animal” “He understood then that all his cause “the beating of her heart, trembling, exploits as a reporter… were merely an attempt to huddled like a cornered animal” when she realizes keep his most ancient fears at bay, a stratagem for that she is trapped in her loneliness. Her taking refuge behind a lens to test whether reality daydreams are “an attempt to keep her most was more tolerable from that perspective” ancient fears at bay” that she has made the wrong decision for her life – Life, however “is more When Rolfe abandons the cameras, he is able to tolerable from that perspective” of what she begin accepting truths/reality that he had ignored knows, than starting over before “He had completely forgotten the camera; he could not look at the girl through the lens any longer” Her daydreams would cause her to “completely “But he had come face to face with the moment of forget” her reality – but then she could not truth; he could not continue to escape his past… he imagine him any longer because he pain of not was buried in the clayey mud; his terror was not the having what she truly wanted was too painful – distant emotion of an almost forgotten childhood, it she came “face to face with the moment of truth” was the claw sunk in his throat” “Your cameras lie that she was unhappy in her life “her terror was forgotten in a closet” not the distant emotion of an almost forgotten” past – the lover she never had “it was the claw Mudslide imagery // Rolfe facing his past “That night, sunk in her throat” that she was truly unhappy imperceptibly, the unyielding floodgates that had and unable to fix it Her imaginary lover was contained RC past for so many years began to open, abandoned to protect her from more unhappiness and the torrent of all that had lain hidden in the deepest and most secret layers of memory poured All of a sudden he was back in her life, then all out” “he found himself trapped in a pit without that unhappiness she had when she was younger escape, buried in life, his head barely above ground” came flooding back, “the torrent of all that had “Sorrow flooded through him, intact and precise, as if lain hidden in the deepest and most secret layers it had lain always in his mind, waiting” “during the of memory poured out” She is trapped in a pit of night his defenses had crumbled and he had given in unhappiness and feels as if there is no possibility to grief” for escape
Finding freedom through acceptance (Azucena is freed through death, Rolfe through acceptance of past) “I felt how in that instant both were saved from She gives in to the unhappiness she knows instead despair, how they were freed from the clay, how they of facing the fear of the unknown – it feels like rose above the vultures and helicopters, how relief, but it’s really trapping herself together they flew above the vast swamp of corruption and laments. How, finally, they were able to accept death” “She sank slowly, a flower in the mud”
You should try to aim for 5-8 quotes/images that you can directly transplant into your writing. The more direct the integration, the more effective (direct quotes are fine and you don’t have to put “ “ around them for this type of assignment). When you write your piece, integrate the imagery from your textual context into the flow of your narrative.
Miss D’s Example:
Lately he had been forgetting that he was only a dream, and had been coming to her when he was not expected. At first it happened so she might believe that it was just her eyes playing games with her mind, like seeing him dash out of a room as she entered it, but on and on it became harder to accept him as just a vision. He ran his fingers through her hair, and brushed the tears from her face; just like she had imagined him doing a thousand times over. But his time it was different. The warmth. It was the warmth she felt when he touched her that was different form all her dreams. That was what convinced her that he was not a dream, that he was really real. The warmth. One can’t imagine warmth like his.
She had created him just after she had been joined in holy matrimony to the Lord Our God, and had devoted her life to His service and love. At first he had been someone to talk with, and soon share her fears with. She had, at the time, feared that she had made the wrong decisions for her life, but denied any such miscalculation adamantly. She fought within herself over this, and could only speak with him of it, for fear that her sisters would have frowned upon her weakness. The words of comfort that he offered were hers, and she had known it; yet she had found solace in them all the same.
After a few years, he had become her companion; accompanying her on outings, and one (oh, shame!) to her lonely bed, as she had wept into his arms. In her twentieth year of sisterhood she had realized her dependency on her fantasy companion, and had cut their visits to only when she needed him most. And that is the way it has remained. But now, he has returned to her. And with his return came the memories she had stored away with her unmentioned sins. She remembered a real young man that she had encountered years ago, who had looked into her eyes like she had make her companion do, and at the sight of this young man she had sensed something inside of her awaken that frightened her. She had longer for that young man 0 at the time she had thought it lust, and had ran to the church and done a day of Hail Mary’s to cleanse her should of the sin. But now, years later, with this sudden return of her companion, she was able to see that what she had longed for was not to break her vows, but to have a real, living soul hold her in his arms and be strong for her as she sobbed away her pain. This realization stuns her, for she has not acknowledged the burden of pain that had hunched her back and wrinkled her skin. Now the urge to pull the metal ring from her hand and run free into his awaiting arms returned. Her soul ached to be held, understood… (blush) loved…
For a moment her heart holds its breath as she teeters on the edge of decision. As she stands, and lets the wind of all the might be brush through her hair and stroke her face, she notices her youth – fluttering away – in the distance. With a quiet sigh of contented defeat, she falls back again into the loving hands of the Lord. She is too old to love. Too old to start again
Choices for Topics for Your Story (use these to come up with a Theme):
Loss of innocence Ideas for this in Life of Pi Golden Age of zoo life lost at sea forced to accept a harsh reality
Darker parts of us are never really gone Ideas for this in Life of Pi Richard Parker disappears into the jungle turning the city upside down, animals would fall out If Richard Parker represents Pi’s savage survival, what would this mean? Could have had a very different ending if the tiger had eaten him.
Ends justify the means Ideas for this in Life of Pi horrific ordeal given meaning with happy ending happiness is sweeter in the face of tragedy “without darkness there can be no light”
Getting your feet wet Ideas for this in Life of Pi idea of swimming/water as participation in life Pi jumps in whole heartedly while his family hesitates on the beach Pi survives, his family perishes (literally or symbolically?)
Task D: Art Gallery
Output: You will be creating a visual representation of the thematic significance of Life of Pi
Process: - Make notes for yourself about the relevant topics embodied in Martel’s novel.
- Use those topics to create a coherent, insightful theme for Life of Pi. o Example: . Topics for Pleasantville Freedom, Expression, Finding Yourself, Restrictions, Homogeny… . Themes from Pleasantville based on those topics The pursuit of freedom can be dangerous When we restrict ourselves to the homogeny around us, we are unable to truly find ourselves The freedom of expression creates opportunity
- Once you have a theme you’re happy with, make note of support of that theme in the novel (try to find 5-8 strong quotations from the novel in relation to this theme).
- Brainstorm imagery associated with the key words from your theme as well as imagery used in the pieces of support you’ve chosen from the novel. o Example: . Theme: The pursuit of freedom can be dangerous. . Support from film: Bill’s painting (freedom of expression) destroyed by the angry mob (dangerous); Betty and Bill’s relationship (freedom to choose); . Brainstorming:
birds sky “no”
sign fire freedom clouds Broken Do not chains enter dangerous Open hands
weapons Sharp angry fists teeth yelling mob - Choose the most powerful images and plan how you could combine them in a visual representation. o Consider things like . Medium (are you going to draw, paint, sculpt, build, computer generate etc. and WHY that medium) . Size – how can this correlate with your message? . Focal point & subsidiary contrasts . Color . Layout – what are you going to put where and why? Also consider relative size of your images to each other
- Create your visual representation.
- Write brief notes (point form is fine) explaining your representation and how you see it developing your chosen theme – how it enhances the reading of the text etc.
Assessment: Assessment for all representation projects is BASED ON INSIGHT NOT ARTISTIC TALENT. You can demonstrate insight in the following ways: - Creating a thoughtful, thought-provoking visual representation with a clear, insightful message about the text - Engaging in thoughtful, productive and observant conversations about other representations and the text - Providing a thorough, thoughtful and thought-provoking analysis of your visual representation that has a clear, insightful message about the text
Task D: Photo Essay
Create and present a thematic photo essay that centres around a theme from Life of Pi.
Your photo essay must include
at least 12 visuals comprised of photographs, ads, pieces of art etc and at least 2 created/taken by you that effectively apply techniques of composition we’ve learned in class (focal point, subsidiary contrasts, color etc.). All of which should follow the Types of Photos outlined in the Photo Essay handout. headlines, captions etc. are acceptable, and may enhance the “reading” of your essay, but are not required a written component to accompany the presentation of your visuals – the format may be creative (narrative, poetry) or expository (speech, article). You will recite this written component aloud during the presentation of your essay.
Photo essays may be presented physically (ie: photos printed and compiled like an art show) or digitally (ie: photos are on the computer and presented via projector). NOTE: This is NOT in any way a slide show or photo album presentation. Your project must maintain the look and techniques of a Photo Essay at all times.
You will need to create and practice both components (visual and auditory) in conjunction with one another so your key images/phrases correlate with one another and so that the timing of both veins of media in your presentation are aligned. Your presentation should not exceed 5 minutes.
The Photo Essay: Information ELA 20-1
A photo essay is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer. All photo essays are collections of photographs, but not all collections of photographs are photo essays.
We all know that photographs and illustrations can support text, but in photo-essays that relationship is often reversed; the photographs lead the text. In photo-essays, you'll likely notice the photographs first. The photos are chosen with the same care and precision with which the writer chooses the words. The photos are high quality and are featured prominently in the page layout. Each photograph contains a wealth of information and may generate an equivalent wealth of questions and wonderings before the reader even approaches the text. Rather than merely providing a caption to the photographs, writers of photo-essays are often responding in depth to what the photographs make them feel or wonder.
Creating a photo essay is a combination of art and journalism. As with a written essay, the elements of a photo essay should be structured in a way that easily conveys a story to the viewer.
Each individual photo contributes to the overall story, theme, and emotions of the essay. The photos you choose must not only be compositionally and artistically strong, but also informative and educational. Finding photos that have both qualities can be very challenging, but the result can be very powerful.
Photo essays are a form of art, and like any artistic creation, breaking the rules can sometimes create the most powerful result. Don’t be afraid to try something different.
Types of Photo Essays
There are two types of photo essays: the narrative and the thematic. The narrative essay tells a story through a sequence of events or actions. They may follow an individual or activity over a period of time and present this story in chronological order. A thematic photo essay focuses on a central theme (e.g. homelessness, the environment, etc.) and presents photos relevant to that theme.
Elements of Photo Essay
Regardless of what type of photo essay you choose to present, the following elements should be considered during its creation:
The story- The visual part of your essay should be able to stand alone, without a written article, and make logical sense to the viewer.
A range of photos: A variety of photos (angles, genres, sources etc.) should be included. See the types of photos section discussed below.
The order of the photos: It is important that the order of your photos effectively tell a story, in an interesting and logical sequence.
Information and emotion: Your photos should include both informational and emotional photos. Those essays that effectively evoke emotion while providing information tend to convey their messages the best.
Captions: In a photo essay, captions are your best opportunity to describe what is happening in words and ensure that the viewer understands. Include informational content in these captions if necessary.
Types of Photos
By including a variety of types of photos in your essay, you will ensure that it is both interesting and informative. The following types of photos, presented together, can create a successful photo essay. Not only is it important to choose powerful photos, but also to present them in an effective order. While the order of some photos (e.g. the lead photo, and the clincher) is set, the order of most types of photos in your essay is your preference.
The Lead Photo: Similar to the first two sentences of a piece of writing, your lead photo should effectively draw in your audience. This is usually the most difficult photo to choose and should follow the theme of your essay. It could be an emotional portrait or an action shot, but ultimately it should provoke the curiosity of the viewer.
The Scene: Your second photo should set the stage and describe the scene of your story.
The Portraits: Your photo essay should include at least one portrait. Capturing an emotional expression or telling action shot can effectively humanize your story. These photos often evoke strong emotions and empathy in the viewer (whether it is a positive and enthusiastic emotion, or a sympathetic and concerned emotion.)
The Detail Photos: Detail photos focus in on one element, be it a building, a face, or a relevant object. These photos are your best opportunity to capture specific objects. The captions of these photos should be informative and educational.
The Close-up Photos: Similarly, close-up photos provide an opportunity to focus in on specific objects. These photos are tightly cropped, simple shots that present a specific element of your story. Again, this is an excellent opportunity to present information in the caption.
The Signature Photo: The signature photo summarizes the situation and captures the key elements of your story in a telling moment.
The Clincher Photo: The final photo, the clincher, should evoke the emotion you want the viewer to walk away with, be it a feeling of hope, inspiration, or sadness. Decide on this mood before you select this photo.
Information from http://www.esiponline.org/classroom/foundations/writing/photoessays.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_essay http://www.collectivelens.com/article.php?id=4
Examples of Photo Essays as well as the Photo Essay planning pages are posted on Miss Donnelly’s wiki: www.donnellywikiofgreatness.wikispaces.com
Appendix A: Marking Rubrics and Deadlines
Task A (due by Nov 30) - Reading Quiz (marked out of 10) - Reading Comprehension Worksheet (as indicated on worksheet; out of 65, weighted at .25) - “Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (rubric attached below; out of 16) - Circle Discussion (notes will be marked out of 10) - Personal Response (rubric attached below; out of 16)
Task B (due by Dec 5, Dec 10) - Animal Symbolism Assignment (marked out of 130, weighted at .25) - Dialectics Reading & Worksheet (marked out of 31) - Power of Story Assignment (rubric attached below; out of 24) - Semiotics Reading & Worksheet (marked out of 36) - Symbolic Interpretation Assignment (rubric attached below; marked out of 25)
Task C - Critical Analysis Paragraph due Dec 11 (rubric attached below; marked out of 16) - Essay due Dec 14 (rubric attached below; marked out of 24)
Task D (due by Dec 21) - Personal Zoo (rubric attached; marked out of 30) - Creative Writing in Textual Context (rubric attached below; marked out of 28) - Art Gallery (rubric attached; marked out of 35) - Photo Essay (rubric attached, marked out of 55; weighted at .6)
Secret Life of Walter Mitty/Life of Pi Comparison Name: ELA 20-1
Proficient Satisfactory Limited Poor All thesis statements are All thesis statements Some thesis statements Most thesis statements Thought & thoughtful & considered, relevant & straightforward, superficial or largely absent or Understanding competent comprehension generalized comprehension oversimplified, weak irrelevant, &/ do not of both texts. Literary of both texts. Literary comprehension of one or develop topic. Little (x 1) interpretations revealing interpretations general but both of the texts. Literary comprehension of either and sensible plausible interpretations incomplete text demonstrated &/ literal Support from both texts is Support from one or both Support for one or both Support from one or both Supporting specific and well chosen texts is general, adequate, texts is inadequate, texts is irrelevant, Evidence to reinforce ideas in and appropriately chosen inaccurate, largely a overgeneralized, lacks persuasive way. Sound reinforce ideas restatement of what was validity and/or is absent. (x 1.5) connection to thesis acceptably, but may read &/ inappropriately Little or no connection to statements capably occasionally lack chosen to reinforce ideas, thesis statements evident maintained persuasiveness. lacks persuasiveness. Reasonable connection to Weak connection to thesis theses suitably maintained statements maintained Paragraphs structured for Paragraph structure Ineffective paragraph Not in paragraph structure Form & effect structure Structure (x.5) Diction is specific. Diction is adequate. Diction is imprecise &/ Diction inaccurate Matters of Syntactic structures Syntactic structures inappropriate. Syntactic &/overgeneralized. Choice generally effective. straightforward, complex structures frequently Syntactic structures are Stylistic choices contribute structures awkward. awkward or ambiguous. uncontrolled or (x 0.5) to considered composition Stylistic choices contribute Inadequate language unintelligible. Lack of with capable voice to conventional choices contribute to language choices composition with vague composition with contributes to confused appropriate voice undiscerning voice composition with ineffective voice Competence in control of Control of basics of Faltering control of correct Lack of control of correct Matters of correct sentence correct sentence sentence constructions, sentence constructions, Correctness constructions, usage, constructions, usage, usage, grammar and usage, grammar and grammar and mechanics. grammar and mechanics. mechanics. Range of mechanics. Jarring errors (x 0.5) Minor errors in complex Occasional lapses and errors blurs clarity of impair communication structures understandable minor errors, however communication communication remains clear
Personal Response Name:
Criteria Proficient Satisfactory Limited Poor
Exploration is Exploration is Exploration is vague. Exploration is Ideas & purposeful. Ideas/ generalized. Ideas/ Ideas/Perceptions are minimal. Ideas/ Perceptions are Perceptions are superficial &/ Perceptions are Impressions thoughtful and straightforward and ambiguous. Support is underdeveloped &/ - exploration of considered. Support relevant. Support is imprecise and/or irrelevant. Support is topic is specific and adequate and clarifies ineffectively related to lacking &/ unrelated - ideas and strengthens ideas & ideas & impressions ideas & impressions to ideas & reflection - support impressions impressions
Voice created is Voice created is Voice created is Voice created is Presentation distinct. Stylistic apparent. Stylistic indistinct. Stylistic obscure. Stylistic choices are specific choices are adequate choices are imprecise choices impede - voice and creation of tone is and creation of tone is and creation of tone is communication and - stylistic choices (quality of competent. Unifying conventional. Unifying inconsistent. Unifying creation of tone is language and effect is capably effect is appropriately effect is inadequately ineffective. Unifying creation of tone) developed developed developed effect is absent - development of unifying effect
- student has responded using form other than prose - student has written so little that it is not possible to assess Ideas & Impressions - there is no evidence that the topic presented in the assignment has been addressed INS - there is no connection between the text(s) provided in the assignment and the student’s response
Power of Story Name: ELA 20-1: Life of Pi
Criteria Proficient Satisfactory Limited Poor
Exploration is Exploration is Exploration is vague. Exploration is minimal. purposeful. Ideas/ generalized. Ideas/ Ideas/Perceptions are Ideas/ Perceptions are Ideas & Perceptions are Perceptions are superficial &/ ambiguous. underdeveloped &/ Impressions thoughtful and straightforward and Support is imprecise irrelevant. Support is - exploration of considered. Support is relevant. Support is and/or ineffectively related lacking &/ unrelated to topic specific and strengthens adequate and clarifies to ideas & impressions ideas & impressions - ideas and ideas & impressions ideas & impressions reflection - support
Voice created is distinct. Voice created is Voice created is indistinct. Voice created is Stylistic choices are apparent. Stylistic Stylistic choices are obscure. Stylistic Presentation specific and creation of choices are adequate imprecise and creation of choices impede - voice tone is competent. and creation of tone is tone is inconsistent. communication and - stylistic choices Unifying effect is capably conventional. Unifying Unifying effect is creation of tone is (quality of developed effect is appropriately inadequately developed ineffective. Unifying language and developed effect is absent creation of tone) - development of unifying effect
Purposeful arrangement Straightforward A discernible but Haphazard arrangement of ideas & details arrangement of ideas & ineffectual arrangement of of ideas and details Form & contributes to controlled details provides direction ideas and details provides provides little or no Structure discussion which is for appropriate some direction for direction for discussion; - coherent, developed capably. discussion. Unifying underdeveloped development is lacking focussed and Unifying effect effect presented and discussion. Unifying or obscure. Unifying shaped coherently sustained and maintained generally, effect inconsistently effect is absent arrangement and presented however, coherence may maintained discussion falter unifying effect developed & maintained
- student has responded using form other than prose - student has written so little that it is not possible to assess Ideas & Impressions - there is no evidence that the topic presented in the assignment has been addressed INS - there is no connection between the text(s) provided in the assignment and the student’s response
Symbolic Interpretation Assignment Name: ELA 20-1: Life of Pi
Criteria Awesome Got It! Not Quite Support from novel is specific. Support from novel is general. Support from novel is Information from research is Information from research is inadequate. Information from Support well chosen to reinforce adequate, and appropriately research is inaccurate, largely x2 interpretation in persuasive chosen reinforce ideas a restatement of what was read way. Interpretations are well acceptably, but may &/ inappropriately chosen to founded. occasionally lack reinforce ideas, lacks persuasiveness. persuasiveness. Interpretations are reasonable. Interpretations are weak.
Visual presentation creates Visual presentation creates Visual presentation creates Visual an interesting and eye- a clear, unified image a somewhat disorganized Organization catching image through through basic organization image through ineffective x1 precise organization of of visual elements (such as organization of visual visual elements (such as placement and focal point) elements (such as juxtaposition and balance) placement and focal point)
Written support effectively Written support clearly Written support outlines Written Support – examines interpretations relays interpretations in a interpretations in a general Ideas in an insightful way; detailed way; clearly way; vaguely demonstrates adeptly demonstrates the demonstrates the the student’s knowledge of x1.5 student’s interpretation of student’s understanding of the existence of the the role/ significance as the depth of as well as the general ideas associated well as the effects of purpose of basic visual with the symbol as well as complex visual conventions the existence of general conventions visual conventions Many varied and complex Many basic choices made Some basic choices made Creative Choices choices made in the in the creation of the visual in the creation of the visual creation of the visual contribute to the hint at the symbolism of x.5 develop the symbolism of symbolism of the visual in a the visual in a vague way; the visual in a creative and clear and effective way; use of medium shows a insightful way; use of use of medium shows minimal level of medium shows a high level consideration and effort consideration and effort effort and consideration were put into its creation were put into its creation was put into its creation Support not reasonable interpretation of Life of Pi and/or are not presented in a way that accurately represents their role/purpose in the novel Visual is so disorganized that it is difficult to decipher its meaning/purpose Use of visual conventions is absent and/or incorrectly applied Written support does not sufficiently explain the choices made in the visual and/or INS does not demonstrate the student’s interpretation of the symbol(s) indicated Errors permeate the written support to the point that the ideas presented are difficult to understand Symbolic choices are unoriginal, absent, unclear and/or inappropriate and not clarified/supported through written explanation.
Critical Analysis Paragarph Name: ELA 20-1
Proficient Satisfactory Limited Poor Understanding of literary Understanding of literary Understanding of literary Understanding of literary Thought & technique thoughtful & technique relevant & technique superficial or technique largely absent Understanding considered, competent straightforward, oversimplified, weak or irrelevant, &/ do not comprehension of text and generalized comprehension comprehension text and/or develop topic. Little (x 1.5) technique. Literary of text and technique. technique. Literary comprehension of text or interpretations revealing Literary interpretations interpretations incomplete technique and sensible general but plausible &/ literal Support from texts is Support from texts is Support for texts is Support from texts is Supporting specific and well chosen general, adequate, and inadequate, inaccurate, irrelevant, Evidence to reinforce ideas in appropriately chosen largely a restatement of overgeneralized, lacks persuasive way. Sound reinforce ideas what was read &/ validity and/or is absent. (x 1) connection to purpose of acceptably, but may inappropriately chosen to Little or no connection to author choice capably occasionally lack reinforce ideas, lacks author choice evident maintained persuasiveness. persuasiveness. Weak Reasonable connection to connection to author author choice suitably choice maintained maintained Paragraph structured for Paragraph structure Ineffective paragraph Not in paragraph structure Form & effect structure Structure (x.5) Diction is specific. Diction is adequate. Diction is imprecise &/ Diction inaccurate Matters of Syntactic structures Syntactic structures inappropriate. Syntactic &/overgeneralized. Choice generally effective. straightforward, complex structures frequently Syntactic structures are Stylistic choices contribute structures awkward. awkward or ambiguous. uncontrolled or (x 0.5) to considered composition Stylistic choices contribute Inadequate language unintelligible. Lack of with capable voice to conventional choices contribute to language choices composition with vague composition with contributes to confused appropriate voice undiscerning voice composition with ineffective voice Competence in control of Control of basics of Faltering control of correct Lack of control of correct Matters of correct sentence correct sentence sentence constructions, sentence constructions, Correctness constructions, usage, constructions, usage, usage, grammar and usage, grammar and grammar and mechanics. grammar and mechanics. mechanics. Range of mechanics. Jarring errors (x 0.5) Minor errors in complex Occasional lapses and errors blurs clarity of impair communication structures understandable minor errors, however communication communication remains clear
Life of Pi Essay Name:
Essay Prompt:
Criteria Proficient Satisfactory Limited Poor
Ideas thoughtful & Ideas relevant and Ideas superficial or Ideas largely absent or considered, competent straightforward, oversimplified, weak irrelevant, &/ do not Thought & comprehension of text generalized comprehension of text develop topic. Little Understanding and topic. Literary comprehension of text and topic. Literary comprehension of text (x1.5) interpretations revealing and topic. Literary interpretations demonstrated and sensible interpretations general incomplete &/ literal but plausible
Support specific and Support general, Support inadequate, Support is irrelevant, well chosen to reinforce adequate, and inaccurate, largely a overgeneralized, lacks Supporting ideas in persuasive way. appropriately chosen restatement of what validity and/or is absent. Evidence (x1.5) Sound connection to reinforce ideas was read &/ Little or no connection to ideas capably acceptably, but may inappropriately chosen ideas evident maintained occasionally lack to reinforce ideas, lacks persuasiveness. persuasiveness. Weak Reasonable connection connection to ideas to ideas suitably maintained maintained
Purposeful arrangement Straightforward A discernible but Haphazard arrangement of ideas & details arrangement of ideas & ineffectual arrangement of ideas and details Form & contributes to controlled details provides direction of ideas and details provides little or no Structure discussion which is for appropriate provides some direction for discussion; developed capably. discussion. Unifying direction for development is lacking Unifying effect effect presented and underdeveloped or obscure. Unifying (x1) coherently sustained maintained generally, discussion. Unifying effect is absent and presented however, coherence may effect inconsistently falter maintained
Diction is specific. Diction is adequate. Diction is imprecise &/ Diction inaccurate Syntactic structures Syntactic structures inappropriate. &/overgeneralized. Matters of generally effective. straightforward, complex Syntactic structures Syntactic structures are Choice Stylistic choices structures awkward. frequently awkward or uncontrolled or contribute to considered Stylistic choices ambiguous. unintelligible. Lack of composition with contribute to Inadequate language language choices (x1) capable voice conventional composition choices contribute to contributes to confused with appropriate voice vague composition with composition with undiscerning voice ineffective voice
Competence in control Control of basics of Faltering control of Lack of control of correct of correct sentence correct sentence correct sentence sentence constructions, Matters of constructions, usage, constructions, usage, constructions, usage, usage, grammar and Correctness grammar and grammar and grammar and mechanics. Jarring mechanics. Minor errors mechanics. Occasional mechanics. Range of errors impair in complex structures lapses and minor errors, errors blurs clarity of communication (x1) understandable however communication communication remains clear
- student has written so little that it is not possible to assess Thought and Understanding and/or Supporting Evidence INS - no reference has been made to literature studied - only literary reference present is to the text(s) provided in the Personal Response to Texts Assign no evidence of an attempt to fulfill the task presented in the assignment
ELA 20-1 Personal Zoo
Name: Zoo:
Criteria Excellent Proficient Satisfactory Limited
All choices are creative Most choices are clear, Most choices are Most choices strongly and symbolically though somewhat simplistic, literal connect to each Visual Symbolism relevant to the zoo’s literal representations and/or absent and may exhibit’s characteristics of Exhibits overall purpose and of the exhibits’ not always reflect the in thoughtful ways (x2) are explored in a way characteristics through exhibits’ characteristics through effective that is both complex considered, but in a complete or consideration for detail and detailed general choices accurate way
Written explanations Written explanations Written explanations Written explanations consistently show show a somewhat mostly show a strong usually show a basic Explanation thoughtful insight into limited or incomplete analysis of various consideration for the (x2) all complex aspects of understanding of the aspects of each general role of most of the exhibits as a relevance of some individual exhibit the exhibits unified whole exhibits
Layout of entire zoo Layout of all exhibits Layout of most exhibits Layout of some exhibits creatively catches and effectively catches and catches and guides the fail to catch and/or guides the viewer’s guides the viewer’s viewer’s eye in a basic guide the viewer’s eye; eye, maintaining Organization eye, attempting to way; interest and unity interest and/or unity interest and unity (x1) maintain interest and may falter occasionally, are not maintained throughout through unity throughout though visual due to inconsistent/ effective through effective use conventions are used inappropriate use of experimentation with of visual conventions appropriately visual conventions visual conventions Written work is consistently engaging Written work is Written work is unclear Written work is clear with strong and effective with and/or ineffective through specific word effective word choices; thoughtful and precise through general and/or choice; attempts at artistic unity and word choices; unity and inappropriate word Voice unity and coherence coherence are coherence are choice; unity and/or (x1) are made through creatively maintained effectively maintained coherence are lacking appropriate use of through effective through purposeful use through incorrect use basic stylistic experimentation with of specific stylistic and/or absence of techniques complex stylistic techniques stylistic techniques techniques
No work submitted Work submitted does not meet the assignment guidelines Insufficient Student has produced so little that it is not possible to assess ideas or impressions No evidence that the student has addressed the assigned topics Student has made no connections to the appropriate texts/themes
Personal Response Name:
Criteria Proficient Satisfactory Limited Poor
Theme is purposeful. Theme is generalized. Theme is vague. Theme is minimal. Ideas & Ideas/ Perceptions Ideas/ Perceptions are Ideas/Perceptions are Ideas/ Perceptions are thoughtful and straightforward and superficial &/ are underdeveloped Impressions considered. Textual relevant. Textual ambiguous. Textual &/ irrelevant. Textual supports are supports are adequate supports are imprecise supports are lacking (x2) creatively integrated and clarify ideas & and/or ineffectively &/ unrelated to ideas and strengthen ideas impressions related to ideas & & impressions & impressions impressions
Story is engaging. Story is creative. Story is Story is obscure. Presentation Details are believable Details are effective. straightforward. Detail is lacking. and well balanced. Unifying effect is Details are Unifying effect is Unifying effect is appropriately unbalanced. Unifying absent (x2) capably developed developed effect is inadequately developed
Diction is specific. Diction is adequate. Diction is imprecise &/ Diction inaccurate Syntactic structures Syntactic structures inappropriate. Syntactic &/overgeneralized. Matters of generally effective. straightforward, complex structures frequently Syntactic structures are Choice Stylistic choices structures awkward. awkward or ambiguous. uncontrolled or contribute to considered Stylistic choices Inadequate language unintelligible. Lack of composition with capable contribute to conventional choices contribute to language choices (x1.5) voice composition with vague composition with contributes to confused appropriate voice undiscerning voice composition with ineffective voice
Competence in control of Control of basics of Faltering control of correct Lack of control of correct correct sentence correct sentence sentence constructions, sentence constructions, Matters of constructions, usage, constructions, usage, usage, grammar and usage, grammar and Correctness grammar and grammar and mechanics. mechanics. Range of mechanics. Jarring mechanics. Minor errors Occasional lapses and errors blurs clarity of errors impair in complex structures minor errors, however communication communication (x1.5) understandable communication remains clear
- student has responded using form other than prose - student has written so little that it is not possible to assess Ideas & Impressions - there is no evidence that the topic presented in the assignment has been addressed INS - there is no connection between the text(s) provided in the assignment and the student’s response
Art Gallery Name: ELA 20-1: Life of Pi
Criteria Wow! Got It Almost Got It visual has clear connection to visual has general connection visual has vague connection to Creation of the theme to the theme the theme
Visuals use of specific visual details use of general visual elements attempts to use general visual x3 (such as unique camera angles/ (such as color, focal point and elements (such as color, focal communication perspectives, line or juxtaposition) balance) create a simplistic point and balance) create an construction create an insightful symbolic symbolic message ineffective symbolic message symbolism message
experiments with many tries to apply the basic Writing complex structures of creative uses the basic structures of structures of creative writing writing in a variety of situations creative writing (such as Conventions (such as description/imagery), but (such as spacing, grammar, and description/imagery) to does so in a way that is x1 word order) to develop the purposefully parallel the imagery inconsistent with the imagery structures imagery and/or theme of the and/or theme of the piece and/or theme of the piece thematic connection piece multiple, varied figures of figures of speech are speech effectively used sometimes ineffective and/or do basic figures of speech (simile throughout writing to insightfully not relate to the theme and/or metaphor) are used in the develop theme and/or mood Language Use piece to establish the theme attempts at detail are still
x2 consistent use of creative and vague and/or ineffective in inclusion of some detail create figures of speech precise details enhance the creating in image in the reader’s imagery in the piece imagery imagery of the piece mind
symbolism symbols used are appropriate symbols established are symbols are ineffective and/or to the theme of the piece creative and effective in inconsistent and/or do not relate developing the theme of the piece to the theme Gallery contributes varied and contributes one or two makes no contributions to the x1 insightful comments on many of interpretive comments on a few discussion of the exhibits participation the exhibits of the exhibits insight
Does not include all of the visual/written components required of the project Written work & visual were not created or presented in conjunction with one another Project is not focused on one central theme Insufficient Project does not have a symbolic and/or thematic connection to Life of Pi Creative choices are so haphazard that the theme of project is difficult to decipher
Comments:
Photo Essay ELA 20-1: Life of Pi Name:
Criteria Excellent Proficient Satisfactory Limited Poor
Photograph Layout of elements is Layout of elements is Layout of elements is Layout of elements is Layout of elements is adept – complex thoughtful – symbolic straightforward – basic negligent – some basic faulty – most basic Composition symbolic techniques techniques such as techniques such as focal techniques are used techniques are used such as juxtaposition, point of view, color, or point, focus, or lighting ineffectively and incorrectly, framing or negative proxemics are used are used correctly to negatively impact the composition is not space are used effectively to improve ensure the quality of quality of the created. x 3 insightfully to the quality of the the composition, composition, and/or enhance the quality composition and/or and/or symbolic symbolic or complex of the composition complex techniques are techniques are correctly techniques are used correctly attempted, attempted, but incorrectly, impairing but ineffective in ineffective in enhancing the quality of the enhancing quality of the quality of composition composition composition
Concept Photographs Photographs Photographs show a Photographs show a Photographs show a demonstrate a high demonstrate some straightforward vague understanding confused or inaccurate degree of originality clear examples of understanding of the of the topic; a faltering understanding of the and sophistication; a originality and topic; a clear central central idea is unclear topic; an ineffective coherent central idea thoughtfulness; an idea is clear and basic and/or ineffective central idea is absent x 2 is insightfully stated effective central idea is through correct through inattentive or incorrect through through effective creatively stated symbolic use of visual and/or literal use of ineffective or failure to symbolic use of through purposeful elements and cues visual elements and/or use visual elements visual elements and symbolic use of visual cues. and/or cues. cues elements and cues
Organization A judicious A purposeful A straightforward A discernable but A haphazard arrangement of ideas arrangement of ideas arrangement of ideas ineffectual arrangement of ideas x 1 and visuals and visuals creates a and visuals provides arrangement of ideas and visuals provides no contributes to a controlled photo essay direction for the photo and visuals provides direction for the fluent photo essay essay some direction for an photo essay underdeveloped photo essay
Conventions Adept manipulation Effective use of Correct use of Vague use of Ineffective/incorrect of conventions conventions shows conventions clarifies conventions confuses, use of conventions insightfully enhances thoughtful preparation presentation inhibits presentation detracts from x 3 (photo essay, presentation of presentation presentation written, presentation)
Language Use Diction is precise, Diction is specific, Diction is adequate, Diction is imprecise or Diction is over- syntax is effective syntax is generally syntax is inappropriate, syntax generalized or and sometimes effective, stylistic straightforward, frequently awkward or inaccurate, syntax polished, stylistic choices create a attempts at complex ambiguous, uncontrolled or choices create skillful considered composition structures awkward, inadequate stylistic unintelligible, lack of x 2 composition with with a capable voice stylistic choices create choices create vague stylistic choices create convincing voice conventional composition with an confused composition composition with undiscerning voice with ineffective voice appropriate voice
- No assignment submitted INS - Work submitted does not sufficiently meet assignment guidelines