Friday, December 12, 2008

12/12 English 10HP

You submitted your Things Fall Apart essays. Afterward, I explained your independent reading presentation, and we drew names to determine your presentation dates (presentations begin Tuesday and conclude Thursday). The assignment is below:

Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 describes a world where people are not allowed to read books. A small group of people who want to save books memorize them so that the books won’t be forgotten. For example, an old man who has memorized the novel The Call of the Wild helps a young boy memorize it by reciting the story to him. In this way, the book is saved for the future.

Prepare an engaging, audible, and coherent presentation in which you discuss why your independent reading book should be saved for future generations and what it is about the book that makes it important to save. Decide which three passages you marked should be memorized first. Include these passages in your presentation along with your reasons for choosing them. Be sure to discuss in detail why the book is important to you and why it would be important to future generations. I recommend creating a thesis to help you focus your presentation.

Sample Thesis: To avoid creating a Brave New World, young people must understand Huxley’s commentary on human relationships, taking his warnings about truth and societal control to heart.

An exemplary presentation will have the following qualities:
*Your presentation is engaging, audible, and coherent (10 points).
*Your ideas about why your book should be saved are insightful, detailed, and well developed (20 points).
*Your passages are excellent selections (they support your thesis) and your reasons for selecting them are thoughtful (20 points).

Homework:
Your independent book must be completed by Monday! Work on your presentation!

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