Mr.Chiaravalli&Ms.

Kosinski
20142015

English12
Semester2
TheSearchforTruth

Overview

SocratesoncestatedthatTheunexaminedlifeisnotworthliving.So,whatdoesitmeantoexamineones
life?Considerthefollowingquestions:Whatdoyoubelievein?Whatareyourlifeobligations?What
responsibilitydoyouhavetosociety?Whydoyoudowhatyoudo?Manyscholars,philosophers,andwriters
havededicatedtheirlivestoraisingandansweringtheseandotherquestions.Ashumans,weareconstantly
seekingtruthandwisdom,andwehavedevelopeddifferentmethodsandsoughtmultipleresourcesinour
unendingsearchforinsight.Inthisunitwewillturntoresearch,argument,andperformanceanddiscussthe
differentwaysinwhichtheyconveyorrevealtruths.

HowtoUseThisPacket
:Thispackethasalltheworkthatwearedoingforthecomingweeks,sodontbe
intimidated!Iwillbeprovidingguidanceandinstructionatapacethatwillhaveyoufinishedbytheendofthe
unit.Eachstephasitsown
rationale
,
objectives
,
sequence
,and
assignments
(explainedbelow).

Rationale
:Thistellsyou
why
wearedoingsomething,whyitsimportantnoworinthefuture.

Objectives
:Thesearetheskillsyoushouldbeabletodemonstratebytheendofeachstep.

Sequence
:Thislistsworkyoumustcompleteinordertoprogresstowardmeetingourobjectives.

representsanassignmenttoturnin
representsstepsleadinguptoassignments
representssomethingthatcanbeusedtodevelopablogpost

Assignments
:Onthelastpageofthepacket,alltheassignedworkischecklistedinorder.Imayadd,subtract
orchangeassignmentsasneededthroughouttheterm.

Mr.Chiaravalli&Ms.Kosinski
20142015

English12
Semester2

StepOne
:Theroleofresearchandquestforcontext

Rationale

Scholarsandacademicsoftenrelyonresearchmethodstodeveloptheirtheses,respondtoarguments,and
answersignificantquestions.However,ourincreasinglytechnologicalsocietyprovidesuswithanextensiveand
evenoverwhelmingamountofmaterial,andmuchofitisnotcredibleorreliableinformation.Duringthispart
ofourunit,wewillusethetoolsofresearchtolocateaccurateinformationanddevelopcontextforour
upcomingreadings.

Objectives

Aftercompletingthisstepyoushouldbeableto

1. Identifyanduseresearchmethods,MLAcitationprocedures,andcrediblesources.
2. Makestrategicuseofdigitalmedia(e.g.,textual,graphical,audio,visual,andinteractiveelements).
3. Presentfindingsinawaythatisclearandeasytofollow.

Sequence

Asaclass,wediscussourpreviousknowledgeregardingancientGreece.

WatchandtakenotesoninstructionalvideosonMLAcitationandrecordingapresentation.

Insmallgroups,beginresearchingtheassignedtopicanddevelopaplanofaction.Assigngroupmembers
totakenotesoneachwebsiteandrequiredquestion.

Researchtheassignedtopicandcomplete1bibliographycardand3notecardspergroupmember.

Insmallgroups,combinethenotecardsinformationtoprepareaGoogleSlidespresentation.Rememberto
citeallsourcesandincludeabibliographyslide.Whenthepresentationiscomplete,recordthepresentation
usingScreencastifyonGoogleChrome.PostyourvideosurlintheGoogleFormonourwiki.

Watchanddiscussthepresentationstogetheronlineand/orasaclass.Wemayhaveachooseyourown
adventurequizontwoormoreofthepresentations.

StepTwo
:Theartofargument

Rationale

Awellwrittenargumentcanchallengeideologies,persuadeaudiences,andprovokechange.Throughstrong
claimsandsubstantialsupportingevidence,writerscanconveyimportanttruths.Manyarguments,however,
containlogicalfallacies,errors,andinconsistencies,soitisthereadersresponsibilitytobecriticalwhen
readingargumentativetexts.Inthispartofourunit,weanalyzeseveralargumentsandevaluatetheiroverall
effectiveness.

Mr.Chiaravalli&Ms.Kosinski
20142015

English12
Semester2

Objectives

Aftercompletingthisstepyoushouldbeableto

1. Identifyandevaluatetheauthorsmainpointandsupportingstatements.
2. Respondpersonallyandanalyticallytoavarietyoftexts.

Sequence

Asaclass,wereadaneditorial,identifyingandevaluatingtheauthorsmainpointandsupporting
statements.Then,ingroups,youareassignedanotherarticletoreadandanalyzeinasimilarway.

Oncewehaveanalyzedaneditorialingroups,eachofyouwillchooseonetoanalyzeindependently.In
to1page,respondtothefollowingquestions,smoothlyincorporatingatleast1quotefromtheworkitself:
Whataretheauthorsmainpointsandsupportingstatements?
Whatisyourownresponsetooneormoreoftheauthorsstatements?
Overall,doyouagreewiththeauthor?Whyorwhynot?

ReadPlatos
TheApology
asaclass.Asbefore,weoutlinetheauthorsmainpointsandsupporting
statements.WhatisyourownreactiontoSocratessideas?Overall,doyouagreewithhim?Whyorwhy
not?

StepThree
:Uncoveringinsightsintheatreandtragedy

Rationale

Likesomanyotherliterarytexts,dramaandperformancescanrevealtruthsaboutthehumanconditionand
experience.Tragedycanengenderfeelingsofpityandfearwithinusaswerecognizetheparallelsbetweenus
andthetragichero.LikeOedipus,themaincharacterofourplay,weeachencounterforcesthatareseemingly
beyondourcontrol.Torevealthesetruthsandevokeemotion,playwrights,directors,andactorsusevarious
dramaticelements.Props,gesticulations,lighting,staging,blocking,andmanyotherelementscanbeusedto
developcharacter,advancetheplot,andsupportoverarchingthemes.Duringthisfinalstepofourunit,wewill
readaboutKingOedipusssearchfortruthandmakedeliberatedecisionsabouthowtoconveyourownunique
perspectivesonthetext.

Objectives

Aftercompletingthisstepyoushouldbeableto

1. Identifyandanalyzeelementsandconceptsoftragedy.
2. Examineanddiscusscharactersandliterarythemeswithin
OedipusRex
.
3. Recognizeandevaluatehowplaywrights/actorsusedramaticelementstosupportmeaning.
4. Usedramaticelementseffectivelytosupportmeaning.

Mr.Chiaravalli&Ms.Kosinski
20142015

English12
Semester2

Sequence

Asaclass,wewillcreateaconceptmapdefiningtragedyandbrainstormexamplesoftragedy.

WatchandtakenotesontheAristotlelecturevideo.

Insmallgroups,completeaposterpresentationthatdefinesandillustratesyourassignedconcept.Include
thedefinition,textualexamples,andrelevantimagesandquotes.

Asaclass,watchthe
OedipusRex
lecturevideo.

ReadSophocless
OedipusRex
,focusingclassdiscussionaroundAristotlesconceptsoftragedy.

TakenotesusingtheJournalingForm.Attheendoftheplay,explainhow
OedipusRex
illustratesyour
assignedconceptinapageanalysis,includingatleastoneMLAcitation.

Asaclass,watchtheDramaticElementslecturevideo.

Asaclass,watchdifferentperformancesof
OedipusRex
.Discusshowthedramaticelementssupportand
conveymeaning.

Injournals,analyzeoneofthefilmclipsandexplainhowthedirectorsand/oractorsuseddramaticelements
effectivelyintheperformance.

Insmallgroups,selectascenetoperformcollaboratively.Beconscientiousofyourperformancedecisions
considerthewaysinwhichyoucoulduseblocking,staging,gestures,expressions,props,andcostumesto
conveymeaning.EACHgroupmemberisrequiredtoaddatleastonewellreasoneddramaticelement.

Eachgroupmembersubmitsa1pageperformanceanalysis.Yourpapermustanswerthefollowing
questions:
Whathappensinyourscene?Whatisitssignificancetotheplay?
Whatdoyoulikeaboutthisscene?
Howdidyourperformancedecisions(characterchoices,bodylanguage,blocking,props,etc.)support
and/orconveymeaning?

Mr.Chiaravalli&Ms.Kosinski
20142015

English12
Semester2

Assignments

From
StepOne:

PresentationonAncientGreece

From
StepTwo
:

Analysisofaneditorial

From
StepThree
:

Posterpresentationonelementoftragedy
Journalingformon
OedipusRex
Performanceanalysis

AcademicVocabulary

TheApology
:
OedipusRex
:
effrontery
surmise
servility
swarthy
iniquity
mortify
depravity
oblivion
disparage
oblivious
unscrupulous
menace
reconcile
retract
annihilation
loathe
denunciation
futile
amiss
foreboding
migration
explicit
culpable
despondent
appall
denounce
reverberate
revile