Blog 3 - 3 Questions (Leader, Advice, I-Me-Mine)

1. How do you think Equality 7-2521 would feel if he were given the job of "Leader?"

I imagine that Equality would be very disheartened if were named a Leader. He would be forced to learn even more about why he is evil and cursed and have to hide an even heavier burden within his heart. I think that he would live in agony each day, but would become the perfect kind of worker they want. He genuinely feels guilty about his transgressions, so he would work even harder than the others (with his higher intelligence), to atone for his crimes by being an even better Leader. He would become the epitome of everything he knows in his heart to be wrong.


2. What advice would you give to Equality 7-2521 in his current situation?

I would tell him to do his best to stay out of trouble. I would tell him to sweep with all his heart each day. I would also tell him to confide in a few very close friends and see if he could find like minded people among his brothers. If he found others who thought like him, he would feel empowered and less guilty. Then he could possibly start to change the society, by placing doubt in the laws in the hearts and minds of others.

3. Why do you think they don't use the words "I, me, mine" in this society?

I believe that a society that does not even have the words "I, me, mine, he, or she," is in total control of its citizens. Not having words to name individuals makes everyone responsible for everyone else. Conversely, it also takes the burden of responsibility off of oneself. If you don't have to live for even yourself, because everyone else is taking care of you, how could you find any meaning in life or any joy? They have taken the words, and therefore the spirit, away from the people. 

Documents

Hello! I had a form that I meant to give you in class, but I thought it would be good to put it here for you to print yourself. This is called a Reading Record, and it helps you to keep track of how much you are reading each day. Fill this out when you read your personal novels. Keeping this record will help you to be diligent about reading each day, and will keep you motivated!

Reading Record Form

Blog 2 Importance of Free Will in Our Society

One of my favorite types of novels are dystopian, meaning that they are set in an undesirable future. Some famous dystopian stories are 1984, Brave New World, and The Hunger Games. A constant feature in these novels is the lack of free will in society. The citizens in these novels are oppressed and whether they realize it or not, they have no choice in how they live. Sometimes the rules force them to take certain jobs, or they are told whom to marry, or perhaps they are subjected to awful laws that force their children to kill each other for sport. 

The most intriguing thing to me about these novels is that it would only take a short time for our current lives to fall into these types of tragedies. Every time we give up a right, we make it that much easier to take away other rights. For example, when the Nazis wanted to enslave the Jewish people of Germany, they didn't come and put them into murder camps on the first day. They took away their rights one at a time: first they harassed them, prohibited them from earning a living, and made them wear stars to identify their religion; then they moved them into ghettos and stole their homes and possessions; and finally they moved them into concentration camps and slowly and systematically murdered them.

If we don't learn from our previous mistakes, we can easily be made into slaves of anyone who has the will and resources to rule over us. We have to remember, Hitler was elected by popular vote.

Our usual class structure

Hi everyone,

Our classes are going to be very full from now until the end of the semester. I just want to prepare you for the format you can expect each week.

1. You will have 10 minutes to read your chosen novel freely.

2. You will have a few minutes to talk about your week's reading with people at your table.

3. We will go over the textbook activities in your table groups, and then as a whole class. You will have time to edit your answers, but not to do the activities in class. These should be completed before you come to class.

Starting at Week 4, we will also...

4. Read a section from Anthem together. I will read it aloud while you follow along. If it helps you, please read the scheduled reading at home first.

5. After reading, we will have a discussion about the meaning of what we read.

I look forward to working closely with you and helping you improve through many different methods! Let's do our best during every class and watch ourselves improve each week!

Welcome to Reading with Warren!

Hello and welcome to Academic Reading! I look forward to reading many different texts and building on reading and critical thinking skills with you. In this class, we will learn how to read more critically (intensive), as well as read for pleasure (extensive), while having meaningful discussions about it all.

We will share a reading of the short novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand. This will be an opportunity for you hear a fluent reading, analyze a challenging text, explore interesting concepts, pick up new vocabulary, and practice using reading skills. After we finish reading this book, you will do a project relating to it.

In addition to this shared reading, you will read a novel of your choice during the semester. There will be a final project based on this text. During our weekly classes, you will also read a variety of texts provided by both your classmates and myself.

Each week, we will be doing exercises in the textbook, Read and Think! A Reading Strategies Course Level 2, by Ken Beatty. We will do activities from the book in class and for homework.