Ms. Crespo
English Language Arts
The Frederick Douglass Academy
“If you have your lower animals to contend
with,” he said, “we have our lower classes!”
Imagine you lived in a
country where there was no democracy. No, really! Imagine if every
aspect of your life was controlled by one individual who had absolute power
over you. From the time you woke up, you were told when to go to school,
when to do your work, when to eat lunch, how much lunch you could eat, and when
you could be dismissed. No, no! I know what you are all thinking:
What are you talking about Ms. Crespo, you’ve just
described a typical school day. But trust me, this goes way beyond school
… Your government is controlling all facets of your life – when you can go
outside, when you can see your friends and family, when you can go shopping,
and worst of all, deciding if and when you could ever be free.
Well, George Orwell captures
this portrayal of totalitarianism perfectly in his famous novel Animal Farm. Only, instead of people controlling other
people, completely representational of many present-day countries outside of
the
Using the Public Policy
Analyst (PPA), http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html
you will be assigned to groups of five and identify and investigate the social
issue of totalitarianism from the perspective of one of George Orwell’s
characters. Then, using the information
you’ve gathered from your PPA Worksheets, write a 3-4 page, double-spaced typed
paper illustrating the social problem through the eyes of George Orwell and the
ways this issue could be prevented.
You will be placed in groups of five in order to
complete the gathering of information of the PPA worksheets. Your group roles …
“Pitcher”/ Leader - This student will lead the research by guiding the
other members to the web pages. He/She
will uncover information from the resources and collect information that will
be used to complete the worksheets.
“Offensive Linemen”/ Writers - These students will take notes on information
gathered by the group members. They will
be responsible for completing the PPA worksheets.
“Point Guards”/ Task
masters - These students will
keep the group on their path. They will assist in the research, keep the others
abreast of the aim of the assignment, and will assign classwork/homework to
make sure the deadlines are met.
**All group members are
required to contribute to the completion of the worksheets. The 3-4 page paper must be completed
individually.**
Along
with the information from the text and the resources, follow the Public Policy
Analyst (PPA) process http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html
and allow this to guide you with your essay.
1.
Identifying the
problem and Worksheet #1
2.
Gathering Evidence
and Worksheet #2
3.
Identifying Causes
of the problem and Worksheet #3
4.
Evaluate the Policy
and Worksheet #4
5.
Develop a Solution
to the problem and Worksheet #5
6.
Selecting the Best
Solution and Worksheet #6
Review all of the information collected on the
worksheets and make sure all of the information is accurate and complete.
Using the completed PPA worksheets, complete an
outline for your paper.
After completing an outline for your paper, now write
the rough draft.
After completing the rough draft, you will complete a
peer-editing sheet, make revisions, and prepare your 3-4 page paper.
After
making the final touches to your final paper, be sure to create your MLA Works
Cited page in proper MLA citation format.
Assistance for this product can be found in your resources.
GENERAL WEBSITES:
www.google.com (Google Book Search – Understanding Animal
Farm by John Rodden)
SPECIFIC WEBSITES:
Notes on Animal Farm text - www.sparknotes.com
George Orwell Resources - http://students.ou.edu/C/Kara.C.Chiodo-1/orwell.html
Totalitarianism … Orwell
links - http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/articles/col-totalitarianism.htm
MLA Citation Style - http://www.liu.edu/CWIS/CWP/library/workshop/citmla.htm
Create MLA Parenthetical
Citations -http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocMLACitation.html
Being that this course is
geared towards NYS Regents preparation, your paper will be graded using the
comprehensive grading rubric designed to assess reading and writing for
information. è http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/ELA/rubric2.html
6 = 100-90 5 =
89-80 4 = 79-70 3 = 69-60 2 = 59-50 1 = 49-0
|
|
Excellent 100-90 (4) |
Very Good 89-80 (3) |
Satisfactory 79-65 (2) |
Unsatisfactory 65-Below (1) |
|
Research |
Problem clearly identified
and thoroughly researched |
Problem identified and
reasonably well researched |
Problem identified |
Problem identified but research is lacking |
|
PPA Usage |
All six steps of the
PPA are clearly addressed and all
worksheets correctly completed |
All six steps of the PPA
are addressed and most worksheets
correctly completed |
Limited research |
Incomplete worksheets |
|
|
Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details
and/or examples. |
Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or
examples. |
Information clearly relates to the main topic. No
details and/or examples are given. |
Information has little or nothing to do with the
main topic. |
|
|
Successfully uses suggested internet links to find
information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance. |
Usually able to use suggested internet links to find
information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance. |
Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to
find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance. |
Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested
internet links and/or to navigate within these sites. |
Congratulations! You’ve completed the Web Quest study in
Totalitarianism. Not only have you
succeeded in your task of how to put an end to an oppressive form of
government, but in the process you have simultaneously learned and used the six
steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) to evaluate civics, citizenship, and
governmental systems in order to become a public policy creator.
This Web Quest addresses the following
English Language Arts and Social Studies Standards:
Standard
1: Language for Information and Understanding
Students will listen, speak,
read, and write for information and understanding. They will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover
relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from
oral, written, and electronically produced texts.
Standard
2: Language for Literary Response and Expression
Students will read and listen
to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from
American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own
lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and
cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent.
Standard
3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak,
read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. They will analyze
experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety
of established criteria presented from multiple perspectives, their opinions
and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.
Standard
4: Language for Social Interaction
Students will listen, speak,
read, and write for social interaction. They will use oral and written language
for effective social communication with a wide variety of people.
Social Studies
Standard
2: World History
Students will use a variety
of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras,
themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad
sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
Standard
5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety
of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for
establishing governments; the governmental system of the