Textual Support
While recounting man's struggle for freedom throughout history, Equality laments that "At first, man was enslaved by gods... then by kings... then by his birth, his race, his kin. But he broke their chains. He declared to all his brothers that a man has right which [no men] can take away from him. And he stood on the threshold of freedom... But then he gave up all that he had won, and fell lower that his salvage beginning" (pg. 119).
Task
Find a specific example from history for each of these five stages in mankind's political history, including an example from the twentieth century for the final stage. What, according to this novel, must man understand to enable him to pass through the threshold of freedom that, in the past, he so nearly reached?
The response to the task should be a visual representation of some variety. Please include a works cited page. (Refer to the MLA style guide and example of works cited page on this blog.)
Monday, November 28, 2011
Explication/ Close Reading Exercise
Textual Support
Liberty chooses "Unconquered" as a fitting name for Equality. Similarly, William Henley's most famous poem is titled "Invictus" which is Latin for 'unconquered."
"Invictus"
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquered soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms by the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Task
Write a 5x5 close reading on the similarities between the main characters in Anthem and this poem. Refer to the linked close reading handout for guidance.
Close Reading of a Literary Passage
Liberty chooses "Unconquered" as a fitting name for Equality. Similarly, William Henley's most famous poem is titled "Invictus" which is Latin for 'unconquered."
"Invictus"
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquered soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms by the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Task
Write a 5x5 close reading on the similarities between the main characters in Anthem and this poem. Refer to the linked close reading handout for guidance.
Close Reading of a Literary Passage
Works Cited Page Sample
Please model your Works Cited page after the example. Please click on the hyper link below.
Works Cited Page sample
Works Cited Page sample
MLA Style Guide
Please model your citation according to the the attached style guide. Click on the hyper link below.
Style Guide
Style Guide
Introduction to Objectivism
Please view the following website. Watch the video and read selections under the video.
Intro to Objectivism
http://aynrandnovels.com/ayn-rand-ideas/introduction-to-objectivism.html
Intro to Objectivism
http://aynrandnovels.com/ayn-rand-ideas/introduction-to-objectivism.html
Essay Contest
All Honors students will be required to enter the Essay Contest through the Ayn Ran Institute.
Visit the link below to read the rules, essay options, and entry dates. In order to recieve credit for this assignment, you will have to print your submition email and a copy of your essay. This assignment is worth 100 points.
Essay Conest Website
http://essaycontest.aynrandnovels.com/Anthem.aspx?theme=blue
Visit the link below to read the rules, essay options, and entry dates. In order to recieve credit for this assignment, you will have to print your submition email and a copy of your essay. This assignment is worth 100 points.
Essay Conest Website
http://essaycontest.aynrandnovels.com/Anthem.aspx?theme=blue
Essay Exam
Respond to each essay in a 1x5 format using specific examples and details from the novel. Regular English mods, respond to 3 of the choices.
Honors mod respond to three of the questions as well; however, write a 2x5 response. Also, Honors students will chose one essay option that they did not respond to in the exam to give a "Keynote Speaker" address to the class.
Essay Options
1- In many real and fictionalized totalitarian societies, children live apart from their families. Why would dictatorial leaders enforce this living arrangement?
2- What does Equality finally understand about his society when the Council threatens to destroy his invention?
Contrast Equality’s view of morality at the end of the novel to that of his society.
3- At first glance, most characters in Anthem appear to be near-automatons, blindly conforming to the rest of society. Upon closer study, however, we see that all of the characters in Anthem—Equality, International, Liberty, the Council members, everyone—make choices and decisions that affect their lives and their futures, for better or for worse. In short, they all possess the choice to think or not, and that choice determines everything else. Discuss.
4- Many people blame their hardships, poverty, or unhappiness on external conditions. “It’s not my fault,” they cry, “it’s because of the family, class, race, society, or culture into which I was born!” They believe that outside factors control and determine their lives. Use Equality as an example to refute this deterministic view of man.
5- Anthem is a heroic and inspiring story about the triumph of the individual’s independent spirit. Even though, at the end of the novel, Equality is greatly outnumbered, and modern society lies in ruins, it is a story of liberation and hope—not of despair. Discuss.
6- Aside from very rare exceptions (Equality, the Saint at the Pyre) there is literally no opposition to the leaders in this society. Why is this? What ideas must these men have accepted to live a life of obedience, drudgery, and fear?
7- Anthem’s theme is, in Ayn Rand’s own words, “the meaning of man’s ego.” Explain the ways in which the characters and plot in Anthem illustrate this theme.
8- To fully control a man, dictators must not only enslave his body, but also destroy his mind. Discuss how the leaders in Anthem seek to accomplish this tyrannical end.
Honors mod respond to three of the questions as well; however, write a 2x5 response. Also, Honors students will chose one essay option that they did not respond to in the exam to give a "Keynote Speaker" address to the class.
Essay Options
1- In many real and fictionalized totalitarian societies, children live apart from their families. Why would dictatorial leaders enforce this living arrangement?
2- What does Equality finally understand about his society when the Council threatens to destroy his invention?
Contrast Equality’s view of morality at the end of the novel to that of his society.
3- At first glance, most characters in Anthem appear to be near-automatons, blindly conforming to the rest of society. Upon closer study, however, we see that all of the characters in Anthem—Equality, International, Liberty, the Council members, everyone—make choices and decisions that affect their lives and their futures, for better or for worse. In short, they all possess the choice to think or not, and that choice determines everything else. Discuss.
4- Many people blame their hardships, poverty, or unhappiness on external conditions. “It’s not my fault,” they cry, “it’s because of the family, class, race, society, or culture into which I was born!” They believe that outside factors control and determine their lives. Use Equality as an example to refute this deterministic view of man.
5- Anthem is a heroic and inspiring story about the triumph of the individual’s independent spirit. Even though, at the end of the novel, Equality is greatly outnumbered, and modern society lies in ruins, it is a story of liberation and hope—not of despair. Discuss.
6- Aside from very rare exceptions (Equality, the Saint at the Pyre) there is literally no opposition to the leaders in this society. Why is this? What ideas must these men have accepted to live a life of obedience, drudgery, and fear?
7- Anthem’s theme is, in Ayn Rand’s own words, “the meaning of man’s ego.” Explain the ways in which the characters and plot in Anthem illustrate this theme.
8- To fully control a man, dictators must not only enslave his body, but also destroy his mind. Discuss how the leaders in Anthem seek to accomplish this tyrannical end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)