S+Villeneuve,Benjamin+Joseph

**Office:** **Office Phone:** **Office Hours: All day, every day.** ** E-mail: bvilleneuve90@gmail.com **
 * Teacher: Mr. Villeneuve**

=Summary of Unit= George Orwell’s novel 1984 is one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century. Through reading this novel, students will understand that literary characters can change or stay the same, fictional stories can say things about the real world, and the importance of literary devices. To do this, they will consider several essential questions, such as how does Winston Smith change? How does Orwell let us know how he feels about the government in 1984? What literary devices are used by Orwell most often, and why? Following off these questions, they will analyze themes in 1984 and place them in an historical context, and they will evaluate and relate to characters. Regularly, throughout this unit, we will engage in active class discussions designed to further our understandings of the novel. At the end of this unit, they will know the themes and characters of 1984 well enough that they can use elements of both in a short piece of collaborative narrative work of their own.

=Establish Goals= // **A2 Literary Texts** // // **Grades 9 - Diploma** ( //// 1984 //// ) // // **Students read text, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, and present analyses of fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry using excerpts from the text to defend their assertions.** //
 * // Maine Learning Results: English Language Arts - A. Reading //**

= = =Students will understand that= •Literary characters can either undergo a change or stay the same. •Fictional stories can be used to say things about the real world. •Literary devices can be used to establish an author's style.

= = =Essential Questions= •How does Winston Smith change? •How does Orwell seem to let us know how he feels about the government in __1984__? •What literary devices does Orwell use prominently, and why?

= = =Students will know= •(Invented) Vocabulary (Minitrue, Miniluv, Minipax, Newspeak, crimethink, doublethink, Insoc, thoughtcrime) •Key factual information (Historical context, Orwell's life experience) •Important characters (Winston, Julia, O'brien, Emmanuel Goldstein, Big Brother)

= = =Students will be able to= •Describe common literary devices in __1984__. •Adapt a literary device in __1984__ for use in a short work of their own. •Analyze themes in __1984__. •Describe similarities and differences between our world and the world in __1984__. •Evaluate a character in __1984__'s motives and conflicts. •Relate to a character in __1984__ other than Winston.

**Performance Task Overview** Students will take on the role of a group of regular collaborators on comics. They hear that Image Comics, an independent comic publisher will be holding a competition to see who gets to have a short comic addressing a day in the life of a character from //1984,// taking into account the themes and literary devices Orwell uses to get across his ideas. Students will use Comic Life to put together a comic to enter into this contest. They may find that they have questions about a character which aren’t addressed in the novel – in this case, they should feel free to fill in the blanks with their own ideas, as long as those ideas aren’t contradicted by the novel, and there is some textual evidence they can cite for everything they include in their comic. Students will take several minutes to present their comic in front of class and take any questions the class has about what they’ve created.


 * (40 pts.)**

=Expectations= If you're absent, you will be expected to contact me within a reasonable timeframe to find out what you have missed, and to complete that work within the next two class periods. Exceptions may be offered on a case-by-case basis -- communication is the key. The sooner I know you won't be in class, the sooner we can figure out how to keep you up to speed. If you turn in work late, it will be graded and you will be given feedback, but the number of points received for the assignment will depend on several factors, such as the type of assignment, the timeframe within which it was completed, and your demonstrated learning. Again, communication is the key. If you wish to redo an assignment to improve your grade on it, this will generally be allowed. As always, communication is the key. You must give me a compelling reason for why you should be allowed to redo your work. The only time this doesn't apply is when it comes to improving writing, which will always be allowed. I'm here to teach you, not test you on what you already know. You will be expected to engage in respectful discourse during discussions. I will be there generally to moderate -- what I'd like to ultimately see are discussions which are mostly run by you guys. We can work up to that point. When I say "respectful discourse," I mean you should keep your voices at a respectable level, you should wait your turn to speak, and you should be civil to your classmates. You're all partners in learning in this class. When it comes to interpreting works of literature, everybody's opinion serves to enrich the discussion.

=Benchmarks= • Podcast describing a literary device or term and its usage in //1984.// **(20 pts.)** While we're reading the novel, during the discussions in class, we will talk about the definitions of literary devices and terms used in //1984.// Students will gain an understanding of these terms, and will collaborate in groups on a podcast describing the term, as well as several instances where it comes up in the novel. • Advertisement in Glogster for //1984,// mentioning literary devices/terms. **(20 pts.)** Students will use their knowledge of the literary devices and terms we've established as an important part of //1984.// Throughout the reading of the novel, students will pay special attention to literary devices and terms. They will use these literary devices and terms to create an advertisement for the novel in Glogster. This advertisement will incorporate both the definitions of the devices and terms and examples of their usages in //1984,// and will ultimately help students with the Comic Life assignment. • Inspiration flowchart analyzing a character other than Winston. **(30 pts.)** Students will incorporate what they know about a character into an Inspiration flowchart. This flowchart will be continually added to as students read //1984//. It will address several aspects of the character, including physical features, motivations, and conflicts, and will ultimately help students complete the Comic Life assignment. • Video of debate held comparing and contrasting //1984// with our lives in the present. **(30 pts.)** Students will do the pertinent research and ultimately hold a small group debate about whether there are more similarities or differences between the world in //1984// and the current global political climate. This debate will be recorded, allowing students to go in as a group and construct an ideal version of it, taking their best points and cutting them into a sort of highlight reel. • Quizzes & Participation in class discussions. **(20 pts.)** Each student will be expected to make at least two substantial contributions to each of our class discussions. A "substantial contribution" consists of a well-defined point backed up by textual evidence. In addition, quizzes will be administered at the beginning of several class periods throughout the unit, designed to assess overall understanding of the readings.


 * Total points: 160**

=Grading Scale= **A** (93 -100), **A-** (90 - 92), **B+** (87 - 89), **B** (83 - 86), **B-** (80 - 82), **C+**(77 - 79), **C** (73-76), **C-** (70 - 72), **D+**(67 - 69), **D** (63 - 66), **D-** (60 - 62), **F** (0 - 59).