LAKE CORMORANT HIGH SCHOOL

ENGLISH 9

TERM 4 WEEKS 3-4

Week 1: April 20-24

Week 2: April 27-May 1 HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK

Students,

You will be required to submit your work to your teacher for grades. There are several different ways you can do this. Whichever way you choose to submit your work, please make sure YOUR NAME, YOUR TEACHER’S NAME, YOUR GRADE LEVEL, and YOUR SUBJECT is on anything you turn in.

Work may be submitted through one of the following ways:

1) Take a picture of your work and email it to your teacher. 2) Take a picture of your work and have your parent/guardian send it to your teacher through SchoolStatus. 3) If your teacher has created a Microsoft Teams account for your class, you may submit work there. 4) School Drop Box – LCHS will have a drop box to submit physical copies of your work. This drop box will be available Tuesdays – Thursdays from 11am to 1pm. Suggested Schedule For gifted and accelerated classes, please note that in addition to the following schedule, you are still required to read a book of your choice and complete a dialectical journal.

Week 1

April 20, 2020 • Journal • Read “Why Teens Like Dystopian Fiction” and complete quiz at the end (Common Lit) April 21, 2020 • Journal • Begin reading “Harrison Bergeron” (Common Lit)

April 22, 2020 • Journal • Finish reading “Harrison Bergeron” (Common Lit)

April 23, 2020 • Journal • Complete the quiz at the end of “Harrison Bergeron” (Common Lit)

April 24, 2020 • Journal • Begin working on “Harrison Bergeron” inference chart

Week 2

April 27, 2020 • Journal • Finish “Harrison Bergeron” inference chart

April 28, 2020 • Journal • Begin “Harrison Bergeron” literary elements chart

April 29, 2020 • Journal • Complete “Harrison Bergeron” literary elements chart

April 30, 2020 • Journal • Begin “Harrison Bergeron” writing prompt

May 1, 2020 • Journal • Finish “Harrison Bergeron” writing prompt

Assignments Due at the End of the Two Weeks

1) Completed “Why Teens Like Dystopian Fiction” quiz on Common Lit 2) Completed “Harrison Bergeron” quiz on Common Lit 3) Completed “Harrison Bergeron” inference chart 4) Completed “Harrison Bergeron” literary elements chart 5) Completed “Harrison Bergeron” writing prompt Journal Entries

COVID-19 Journal Instructions

You will be keeping a daily journal of what it’s like being alive at this pivotal time in history.

Why? These journal entries could go on to be primary sources later! Think about all the teenage journals/writing that have shed light on important eras in history: Anne Frank, Malala Yousafzai, Ishmael Beah, etec.. Plus, you will definitely want these later when you’re older and our world goes back to normal. Trust me on this one : )

How? Once a week, I want you to turn in four journal entries from life in social isolation. They can be four days in a row, they can be spaced out, they can be weekdays or weekends, but I would like for them to be on four different days because, as you’ve seen, things can change a lot in 24 hours! 4 journal entries are due on Wednesday of each week. You could always do more than 4 entries, but 4 is the minimum. Each entry should be at least a paragraph.

Include things like:

! How you’re feeling—take this time to really check in with yourself. Are you scared? Anxious? Calm? Restless? Motivated by a new adventure? Are you wrestling with several feelings at once? ! How you and your family are spending your time on a daily basis. Don’t feel pressured to share more than you want, but with what you do share, be specific! What you may think as boring or inconsequential might be a super interesting detail later. ! Any changes you’re noticing in yourself or the world around you. It’s a good idea to look back at earlier journal entries before writing a new one and compare outlooks. What’s different since you last checked in?

COVID-19 Journal Format

Date:

Days in quarantine:

Time:

(Write here)

Remember, good memoir writers:

● SHOW instead of TELL. Don’t tell us “I’m really, really, really bored”-- show us “I’ve dusted every surface in my room, cleaned my windows, and trimmed my dog’s eyebrows. Twice.” ● Avoid cliches (or overused expressions) in their writing. ● Let their personality shine in their writing. This includes interjections, honest thoughts, sarcasm, humor, opinions, the works. Unlike with formal academic writing such as research papers, now’s the time to let loose with your creativity and personality! ● Talk a lot about their inner landscape (thoughts and feelings) and their reactions to situations. It’s not all “this happened, then this happened,” but more “this happened—here’s what I think about it, here’s how my sister reacted, here’s how I’m processing it.” ● Use physical description to communicate emotion. Show us Mom’s raised eyebrows when you tell her you burned the banana bread after she warned you three times to check on it. Show us Grandma’s furrowed brow while she’s concentrating to figure out how to use FaceTime. Show us pressure building up in your throat instead of feeling like you’re about to cry. A phrase I’ve heard writers ask themselves is, “Where do I feel this thought/feeling in my body?” ● Think about their audience while they’re writing. Right now I’m your audience, but while you’re writing, think about what you’d want someone years from now to understand about this time. That can help guide your writing to be more informative.

Name: Class:

Why Teens Find The End Of The World So Appealing By Elissa Nadworny 2017

Dystopian 6ction has become an extremely popular genre amongst teenagers. This genre usually focuses on a world where life is unpleasant or bad because of certain social or political structures. As you read, take notes on what teenagers like about dystopian 6ction.

[1] The plots of dystopian novels can be amazing. A group of teens in Holland, Mich., tells me about some of their favorites:

In Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Love is considered a disease. Characters get a vaccine for it. In Marissa Meyer’s Renegades, the collapse of society has left only a small group of humans with extraordinary abilities. They work to establish justice and peace in their new world. "Girl reading book - where the world ends" by Annie Spratt is licensed under CC0 Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies is on everyone’s favorite list. The plot goes like this: Everyone wants to be pretty. And on their 16th birthday, they can be surgically altered to be a “pretty.” During the surgery, however, lesions1 are put on their brains. These can cause illness, or hinder your thinking. If characters get an important enough job later on, they get those lesions removed.

The teens explaining these books are sitting around a table at the public library in the idyllic2 west Michigan town. Tonight the book club is meeting to talk about House of The Scorpion by Nancy Farmer — the gathering is part of the library’s young adult programming.

[5] Even though the Lyer advertises this book as dystopian, there’s some dissent3 around that (at a dystopian book club, this distrust of “the adults and their Lyers” is no surprise.)

After a brief plot description (there’s a drug lord, clones and, of course, a rebellion against the status quo),4 Taylor Gort, 17, starts things oN: “It’s a question of how many ethics rules are you willing to break,” she says, referring to the book’s main character, El Patrón. Amanda Heidema, the librarian leading the discussion, nods her head, “I mean, is making a clone ethical?”

There are a few beats of silence before Will Anderson shakes his head: “No, I don’t think it is.”

1. a wounded region in an organ or tissue 2. Idyllic (adjective): extremely happy, peaceful, or appearing perfect 3. Dissent (noun): diNering opinions or disagreement 4. the current state of things 1 The conversation goes on for nearly an hour — Lowing from clones, to whether or not manipulation is evil, to how screwed up adults are (can you believe they think this book is dystopian? It’s not.).

That last one — how messed up grownups are — it’s a hallmark of dystopia, especially in the young adult genre. When I ask the group why they think these types of books are so popular with teens, they tell me it has a lot to do with relatability.

[10] “There tends to be a common teen-angst thing, like: ‘Oh the whole world is against me, the whole world is so screwed up,” Will explains.

Teenagers are cynical,5 adds Aaron Yost, 16. And they should be: “To be fair, they were born into a world that their parents kind of really messed up.”

Everyone here agrees: The plots in dystopia feel super familiar. That’s kind of what makes the books scary — and really good.

Think of it like this: Teen readers themselves are characters in a strange land. Rules don’t make sense. School doesn’t always make sense. And they don’t have a ton of power.

“Their parents impose curfews, and no one lets them drive unless they are ready or not,” says Jon Ostenson, who studies young adult dystopian literature at Brigham Young University in Utah. He published a paper on the subject in 2013, for which he spent months reading YA dystopia. “I had to take a break for quite a while — unfortunately there’s not a lot of utopian Kction to balance that out.”

[15] In dystopia, he says, “Teenagers see echoes of a world that they know.”

These books don’t always have a happy ending, and they’re all about choices and consequences.

“The hallmark of moving from childhood to adulthood is that you start to recognize that things aren’t black and white,” says Ostenson, “and there’s a whole bunch of ethical grey area out there.”

"Which makes dystopian Kction perfect for the developing adolescent brain," says Laurence Steinberg, a psychologist at Temple University.

“Their brains are very responsive to emotionally arousing stimuli,” he explains. During this time, there are so many new emotions and they are much stronger than those kids experienced when they were younger.

[20] “When teenagers feel sad, what they often do is put themselves in situations where they feel even sadder,” Steinberg says. They listen to sad music — think emo! — they watch melodramatic6 TV shows. So dystopian novels Kt right in, they have all that sadness plus big, emotional ideas: justice, fairness, loyalty and mortality.

This time in a kid’s life is often deKned by acting out, but, Steinberg says, that’s a misguided interpretation of what’s happening. “It isn’t so much rebellion, but it is questioning.”

5. Cynical (adjective): believing that people are generally selKsh and dishonest 6. Melodramatic (adjective): extremely dramatic or emotional 2 As the brain develops, so does executive functioning. Teens start to understand argument, logical reasoning and hypotheticals.

“Kids are going through a stage in development when they are trying on diNerent identities,” he says, “Lexing a muscle that they now have that wasn’t very strong before.”

The fact that these books oNer a safety net, a place where kids can “Lirt with those questions without getting into trouble,” that’s reason enough to keep teachers and parents buying them oN the shelf.

©2017 National Public Radio, Inc. News report titled “Why Teens Find The End Of The World So Appealing” was originally published on NPRed on December 17, 2017, and is used with the permission of NPR. Any unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited.

3 Text-Dependent Questions

Directions: For the following questions, choose the best answer or respond in complete sentences.

1. PART A: Which statement best expresses the central idea of the text? A. Dystopian novels oNer teenagers a Kctional world that they can relate to, and they prompt strong emotional responses. B. Teenagers who read dystopian novels are more likely to have unhappy and distrustful relationships with others. C. Adults are not the intended audience of dystopian novels, as they usually occupy villainous roles in the genre. D. The ideas explored in dystopian novels often mislead teenagers to view the world in a more negative light.

2. PART B: Which TWO details from the text best support the answer to Part A? A. “Even though the Lyer advertises this book as dystopian, there’s some dissent around that” (Paragraph 5) B. “Teenagers are cynical, adds Aaron Yost, 16. And they should be: ‘To be fair, they were born into a world that their parents kind of really messed up.’” (Paragraph 11) C. “Teen readers themselves are characters in a strange land. Rules don’t make sense. School doesn’t always make sense. And they don’t have a ton of power.” (Paragraph 13) D. “‘The hallmark of moving from childhood to adulthood is that you start to recognize that things aren’t black and white’” (Paragraph 17) E. “So dystopian novels Kt right in, they have all that sadness plus big, emotional ideas: justice, fairness, loyalty and mortality.” (Paragraph 20) F. “As the brain develops, so does executive functioning. Teens start to understand argument, logical reasoning and hypotheticals.” (Paragraph 22)

3. What is the author’s main purpose in the article? A. to encourage teenagers to read dystopian Kction B. to explore why dystopian Kction interests teenagers C. to discuss how dystopian Kction could be harming teenagers D. to explain why adults don’t enjoy dystopian Kction

4. How do paragraphs 1-3 contribute to the development of ideas in the text? A. They provide examples of dystopian Kction in which parents are the villains. B. They show readers what teenagers relate to in dystopian Kction. C. They emphasize the variety of real-world problems that dystopian Kction explores. D. They help readers understand dystopian Kction through plot examples.

4 5. What connection does the author create between the plots of dystopian novels and the realities of teenagers?

5 Discussion Questions

Directions: Brainstorm your answers to the following questions in the space provided. Be prepared to share your original ideas in a class discussion.

1. Describe a dystopian book you’ve read or a dystopian movie you’ve seen. What about the book or movie did you enjoy? Did you relate to any aspects of the book or movie? If so, which aspects and why?

2. Dystopian Kction can help young adult readers explore diMcult questions. Do you think dystopian novels can inLuence how teenagers perceive the world? Why or why not? Describe a time when a Kction book helped you better understand a larger concept.

3. In the text, teens are described as having extreme emotions, feeling alone, and feeling as though they are in a strange land. Do you think this is an accurate depiction of growing up? Why or why not? How can dystopian novels help with some of the struggles of growing up and being a teenager?

6 Name: Class:

Harrison Bergeron By Kurt Vonnegut 1961

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was an American writer, best known for his novel Slaughterhouse-Five. In this short story, all citizens have been made equal. But at what cost?

[1] The year was 2081, and everybody was Lnally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy "creativbroa?ng" by Ryan Merritt is licensed under CC BY 2.0 by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron’s fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away.

It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn’t think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.

George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on Hazel’s cheeks, but she’d forgotten for the moment what they were about.

[5] On the television screen were ballerinas.

A buzzer sounded in George’s head. His thoughts Med in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm.

“That was a real pretty dance, that dance they just did,” said Hazel.

“Huh,” said George.

“That dance — it was nice,” said Hazel.

1 [10] “Yup,” said George. He tried to think a little about the ballerinas. They weren’t really very good — no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot,1 and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in. George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped. But he didn’t get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.

George winced. So did two out of the eight ballerinas.

Hazel saw him wince. Having no mental handicap herself, she had to ask George what the latest sound had been.

“Sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball peen hammer,”2 said George.

“I’d think it would be real interesting, hearing all the diNerent sounds,” said Hazel a little envious. “All the things they think up.”

[15] “Um,” said George.

“Only, if I was Handicapper General, you know what I would do?” said Hazel. Hazel, as a matter of fact, bore a strong resemblance to the Handicapper General, a woman named Diana Moon Glampers. “If I was Diana Moon Glampers,” said Hazel, “I’d have chimes on Sunday — just chimes. Kind of in honor of religion.”

“I could think, if it was just chimes,” said George.

“Well — maybe make ‘em real loud,” said Hazel. “I think I’d make a good Handicapper General.”

“Good as anybody else,” said George.

[20] “Who knows better than I do what normal is?” said Hazel.

“Right,” said George. He began to think glimmeringly about his abnormal son who was now in jail, about Harrison, but a twenty-one-gun salute in his head stopped that.

“Boy!” said Hazel, “that was a doozy, wasn’t it?”

It was such a doozy that George was white and trembling, and tears stood on the rims of his red eyes. Two of the eight ballerinas had collapsed to the studio Moor, were holding their temples.

“All of a sudden you look so tired,” said Hazel. “Why don’t you stretch out on the sofa, so’s you can rest your handicap bag on the pillows, honeybunch.” She was referring to the forty-seven pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George’s neck. “Go on and rest the bag for a little while,” she said. “I don’t care if you’re not equal to me for a while.”

1. small pellets designed for shooting birds 2. a hammer with a rounded end opposite the face 2 [25] George weighed the bag with his hands. “I don’t mind it,” he said. “I don’t notice it anymore. It’s just a part of me.”

“You been so tired lately — kind of wore out,” said Hazel. “If there was just some way we could make a little hole in the bottom of the bag, and just take out a few of them lead balls. Just a few.”

“Two years in prison and two thousand dollars Lne for every ball I took out,” said George. “I don’t call that a bargain.”

“If you could just take a few out when you came home from work,” said Hazel. “I mean — you don’t compete with anybody around here. You just set around.”

“If I tried to get away with it,” said George, “then other people’d get away with it — and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”

[30] “I’d hate it,” said Hazel.

“There you are,” said George. “The minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society?”3

If Hazel hadn’t been able to come up with an answer to this question, George couldn’t have supplied one. A siren was going oN in his head.

“Reckon it’d fall all apart,” said Hazel.

“What would?” said George blankly.

[35] “Society,” said Hazel uncertainly. “Wasn’t that what you just said?

“Who knows?” said George.

The television program was suddenly interrupted for a news bulletin. It wasn’t clear at Lrst as to what the bulletin was about, since the announcer, like all announcers, had a serious speech impediment. For about half a minute, and in a state of high excitement, the announcer tried to say, “Ladies and Gentlemen.”

He Lnally gave up, handed the bulletin to a ballerina to read.

“That’s all right — ” Hazel said of the announcer, “he tried. That’s the big thing. He tried to do the best he could with what God gave him. He should get a nice raise for trying so hard.”

[40] “Ladies and Gentlemen,” said the ballerina, reading the bulletin. She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous. And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred pound men.

3. Society (noun): a community of people living in a particular country or region who have shared customs, laws, and culture 3 And she had to apologize at once for her voice, which was a very unfair voice for a woman to use. Her voice was a warm, luminous,4 timeless melody. “Excuse me — ” she said, and she began again, making her voice absolutely uncompetitive.

“Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen,” she said in a grackle squawk, “has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under- handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.”

A police photograph of Harrison Bergeron was Mashed on the screen-upside down, then sideways, upside down again, then right side up. The picture showed the full length of Harrison against a background calibrated in feet and inches. He was exactly seven feet tall.

The rest of Harrison’s appearance was Halloween and hardware. Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps. He had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up. Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.

[45] Scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily, there was a certain symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard. In the race of life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds.

And to oNset his good looks, the H-G men required that he wear at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved oN, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth random.

“If you see this boy,” said the ballerina, “do not — I repeat, do not — try to reason with him.”

There was the shriek of a door being torn from its hinges.

Screams and barking cries of consternation5 came from the television set. The photograph of Harrison Bergeron on the screen jumped again and again, as though dancing to the tune of an earthquake.

[50] George Bergeron correctly identiLed the earthquake, and well he might have — for many was the time his own home had danced to the same crashing tune. “My God — ” said George, “that must be Harrison!”

The realization was blasted from his mind instantly by the sound of an automobile collision in his head.

When George could open his eyes again, the photograph of Harrison was gone. A living, breathing Harrison Llled the screen.

Clanking, clownish, and huge, Harrison stood — in the center of the studio. The knob of the uprooted studio door was still in his hand. Ballerinas, technicians, musicians, and announcers cowered6 on their knees before him, expecting to die.

4. Luminous (adjective): glowing and bright 5. Consternation (noun): feelings of anxiety or distress, typically due to something unexpected 6. Cower (verb): to crouch down in fear 4 “I am the Emperor!” cried Harrison. “Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!” He stamped his foot and the studio shook.

[55] “Even as I stand here” he bellowed, “crippled, hobbled, sickened — I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! Now watch me become what I can become!”

Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore straps guaranteed to support Lve thousand pounds.

Harrison’s scrap-iron handicaps crashed to the Moor.

Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlock that secured his head harness. The bar snapped like celery. Harrison smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall.

He Mung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder.

[60] “I shall now select my Empress!” he said, looking down on the cowering people. “Let the Lrst woman who dares rise to her feet claim her mate and her throne!”

A moment passed, and then a ballerina arose, swaying like a willow.

Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped oN her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. Last of all he removed her mask.

She was blindingly beautiful.

“Now — ” said Harrison, taking her hand, “shall we show the people the meaning of the word dance? Music!” he commanded.

[65] The musicians scrambled back into their chairs, and Harrison stripped them of their handicaps, too. “Play your best,” he told them, “and I’ll make you barons and dukes and earls.”

The music began. It was normal at Lrst — cheap, silly, false. But Harrison snatched two musicians from their chairs, waved them like batons as he sang the music as he wanted it played. He slammed them back into their chairs.

The music began again and was much improved.

Harrison and his Empress merely listened to the music for a while — listened gravely, as though synchronizing their heartbeats with it.

They shifted their weights to their toes.

[70] Harrison placed his big hands on the girl’s tiny waist, letting her sense the weightlessness that would soon be hers.

And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they sprang!

5 Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.

They reeled, whirled, swiveled, Mounced, capered, gamboled, and spun.

They leaped like deer on the moon.

[75] The studio ceiling was thirty feet high, but each leap brought the dancers nearer to it.

It became their obvious intention to kiss the ceiling. They kissed it.

And then, neutraling gravity with love and pure will, they remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each other for a long, long time.

It was then that Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double- barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She Lred twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the Moor.

Diana Moon Glampers loaded the gun again. She aimed it at the musicians and told them they had ten seconds to get their handicaps back on.

[80] It was then that the Bergerons’ television tube burned out.

Hazel turned to comment about the blackout to George. But George had gone out into the kitchen for a can of beer.

George came back in with the beer, paused while a handicap signal shook him up. And then he sat down again. “You been crying” he said to Hazel.

“Yup,” she said.

“What about?” he said.

[85] “I forget,” she said. “Something real sad on television.”

“What was it?” he said.

“It’s all kind of mixed up in my mind,” said Hazel.

“Forget sad things,” said George.

“I always do,” said Hazel.

[90] “That’s my girl,” said George. He winced. There was the sound of a riveting gun in his head.

“Gee — I could tell that one was a doozy,” said Hazel.

“You can say that again,” said George.

6 “Gee — ” said Hazel, “I could tell that one was a doozy.”

“Harrison Bergeron,” copyright © 1961 by Kurt Vonnegut, copyright renewed © 1989 by Kurt Vonnegut; from WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE by Kurt Vonnegut. Used by permission of Dell Publishing, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

7 Text-Dependent Questions

Directions: For the following questions, choose the best answer or respond in complete sentences.

1. Which statement best expresses the theme of this short story? A. Attempting to achieve complete equality will only result in widespread dissatisfaction and lack of creativity. B. The government should encourage everyone to hide their diNerences in order to have a more peaceful and equal society. C. Forcing uniformity on people doesn't result in equality, but rather causes conMict and unhappiness. D. People don't realize how important individuality is until they have what makes them diNerent taken away.

2. How does Harrison’s removal of his handicaps develop the plot of the story? A. Harrison inspires people to rebel against the government. B. Harrison brieMy shows people what is possible without handicaps. C. Harrison’s violent outburst makes the audience believe that handicaps are good. D. Harrison makes his parents proud that he stood up for what is right.

3. PART A: How do the diNerent handicaps contribute to the theme of the story? A. They show how being unique can be dangerous to yourself and the people around you. B. They emphasize how the most ordinary people are often the most valued in a society. C. They stress how the work towards achieving total equality won't be easy or pleasant. D. They illustrate how much must be done to make the most unique and talented individuals conform.

4. PART B: Which section from the text best supports the answer to Part A? A. “He began to think glimmeringly about his abnormal son who was now in jail, about Harrison, but a twenty-one-gun salute in his head stopped that.” (Paragraph 21) B. “he tried. That's the big thing. He tried to do the best he could with what God gave him. He should get a nice raise for trying so hard.” (Paragraph 39) C. “And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred pound men.” (Paragraph 40) D. “Diana Moon Glampers loaded the gun again. She aimed it at the musicians and told them they had ten seconds to get their handicaps back on.” (Paragraph 79)

8 5. What message does Kurt Vonnegut convey through the satire “Harrison Bergeron,” and how does the title character develop this message?

9 Discussion Questions

Directions: Brainstorm your answers to the following questions in the space provided. Be prepared to share your original ideas in a class discussion.

1. In your opinion, is it fair that some people in the story have more handicaps than others? Why or why not? How do the handicaps enforce sameness rather than equality? How do you think people in our society would respond if they had enforced handicaps?

2. In the story, people are reluctant to join Harrison and take oN their handicaps. Why do you think this is?

3. How does the government enforce these handicaps? How does the government enforce order in our society today?

4. In the context of the short story, what should the future look like? What implications does this story have for how people and the government should act?

10

“Harrison Bergeron” Inference Chart

Background Details from What can Knowledge/ Text be Inferred Experience

There are "211th, 212th, currently 27 The United States government/society and 213th Amendments to experienced a slew of Amendments to the US radical changes in a Constitution; at the relatively short time the time "Harrison period (prior to the year 2081), necessitating Constitution" Bergeron" was nearly 200 Constitutional (lines 2-3) published (1961), Amendments there were 24 “Harrison Bergeron” Inference Chart

Background Details from Background What can Details from Text What can be Inferred Knowledge/Knowledge/Experience Text be Inferred Experience

What conclusions can you draw about elements of the futuristic society and the author’s attitude toward the subject through his treatment? Literary Device/Element Citation Explanation/Comments

Example:

Allusion Line 155 The author alludes to Thor, the Norse god attributed with protecting mankind while describing Harrison’s superhuman strength. The author seeks to emphasize both traits (strength and protector) in Harrison.

Allusion

Setting

Conflict

Mood

Plot

Flashback

Foreshadowing Literary Device/Element Citation Explanation/Comments

Example:

Allusion Line 155 The author alludes to Thor, the Norse god attributed with protecting mankind while describing Harrison’s superhuman strength. The author seeks to emphasize both traits (strength and protector) in Harrison.

Characterization

Theme

Symbolism

Irony

“Harrison Bergeron” Writing Prompt

INSTRUCTIONS: Pick ONE of the writing prompts below to answer in a ​ ​ ​ detailed paragraph. Write down the prompt you chose. Then, compose a detailed paragraph using quotes, examples, and textual evidence to support your response.

OPTION 1 - Expository Writing Prompt (pg. 118) How does "Harrison Bergeron" convey the conflict between the needs or ideals of society and the realities of individuals? Reminders: Provide examples and quotes from the text to support your ideas as well as references to utopia/dystopia.

OPTION 2 - Persuasive ​ At the end of "Harrison Bergeron," Harrison, a 14-year-old boy who has mysteriously disappeared, suddenly shows up in a TV studio screaming, "I am the Emperor. Do you hear? I am the Emperor." Do you think Harrison is a hero or a danger to his society? Write a paragraph in which you explore whether Harrison Bergeron is a hero or a danger to society. Be sure to support your interpretation with evidence from the story.

OPTION 3 - Argumentative Most people find the type of equality depicted in “Harrison Bergeron” unacceptable. Would you object to a society that sought equality not by handicapping the gifted but by lifting up the ungifted, through genetic engineering or biotechnological enhancements? Can you think of any problems that might occur? Write a persuasive paragraph that discusses this question, evaluates the pros and cons of “lifting up” and states your opinion. Be sure to support your position with evidence from the text.

*** DUE Tuesday, March 5, 2019***