Semester 2 Journal Assignments
Here is list of journal assignments for Semester 2. The purpose of the journal entries is to spark discussion in class and lead you to a deeper understanding of the material discussed in class. Journal entries will be posted on the blog of your Weebly writing portfolio as well as submitted to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia with the filename: YOURNAMEJournal#.doc.
Journal entries should be at least 500 words and adequately address the question. A grade will be given based on the following criteria:
1. Does the entry adequately address the question?
2. Is the the entry understandable, using proper grammar, word choice, and spelling?
3. Are the entries properly organized, using thesis statements, paragraphs, and topic sentences
4. Is the entry completed on time?
Journal entries should be at least 500 words and adequately address the question. A grade will be given based on the following criteria:
1. Does the entry adequately address the question?
2. Is the the entry understandable, using proper grammar, word choice, and spelling?
3. Are the entries properly organized, using thesis statements, paragraphs, and topic sentences
4. Is the entry completed on time?
1. Can we make ourselves happy by changing the way we think?
Due Date: February 10 (Points will be deducted if late)
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal1.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
Can we make ourselves happier by changing the way that we think? Could our lives be better if we'd just "look on the bright side" and think positively?
Consider the material we discussed and use evidence to support your points:
TED Talk: Ron Gutman - The Hidden Power of Smiling
TED Talk: Dan Gilbert - The Surprising Science of Happiness
Article: The Science of Positive Thinking: How Positive Thoughts Build Your Skills, Boost Your Health, and Improve Your Work
Article: Does "Positive Thinking" Really Make our Lives Better?
Article: The Biology of Joy
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal1.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
Can we make ourselves happier by changing the way that we think? Could our lives be better if we'd just "look on the bright side" and think positively?
Consider the material we discussed and use evidence to support your points:
TED Talk: Ron Gutman - The Hidden Power of Smiling
TED Talk: Dan Gilbert - The Surprising Science of Happiness
Article: The Science of Positive Thinking: How Positive Thoughts Build Your Skills, Boost Your Health, and Improve Your Work
Article: Does "Positive Thinking" Really Make our Lives Better?
Article: The Biology of Joy
2. What happens to the American Dream in times of hardship?
Due Date: March 24th, 2014 (points will be deducted if late)
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal2.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
Why do Americans continue to believe strongly in the American Dream even in times of hardship, like a Recession?
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal2.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
Why do Americans continue to believe strongly in the American Dream even in times of hardship, like a Recession?
- Describe American attitudes about the American Dream during the Great Recession of 2009 compared to other times. Describe the shift in the definition of the American Dream.
- How is wealth distributed in the United States?
- Explain the Gatsby Curve. What is the relationship between inequality and social mobility?
- Use evidence from "What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession" and "Hollywood Dreams of Wealth, Youth and Beauty to support your ideas.
3. Death of a Salesman 1
Due Date: April 2
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal3.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
1. Consider the images in the section of Biff's speech below and what we know of Biff so far. What is the main conflict in Biff’s character? How does it relate to conflicts in Willy?
2. Both this play and Citizen Kane are working with the idea of the American Dream. What connection to Kane can you draw from the images in this speech? Are Kane and Biff pursuing similar definitions of success?
Text: P. 14-15: Biff’s Speech
BIFF: Why does Dad mock me all the time?
HAPPY: He’s not mocking you, he...
BIFF: Everything I say there’s a twist of mockery on his face. I can’t get near him.
HAPPY: He just wants you to make good, that’s all. I wanted to talk to you about Dad for a long time, Biff. Something’s --
happening to him. He — talks to himself.
BIFF: I noticed that this morning. But he always mumbled.
HAPPY: But not so noticeable. It got so embarrassing I sent him to Florida. And you know something? Most of the time he’s talking to you.
BIFF: What’s he say about me?
HAPPY: I can’t make it out.
BIFF: What’s he say about me?
HAPPY: I think the fact that you’re not settled, that you’re still kind of up in the air...
BIFF: There’s one or two other things depressing him, Happy.
HAPPY: What do you mean?
BIFF: Never mind. Just don’t lay it all to me.
HAPPY: But I think if you just got started — I mean — is there any future for you out there?
BIFF: I tell ya, Hap, I don’t know what the future is. I don’t know— what I’m supposed to want.
HAPPY: What do you mean?
BIFF: Well, I spent six or seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind
or another. And it’s a measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your
whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a twoweek
vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And always to have to get ahead of the next
fella. And still — that’s how you build a future.
HAPPY: Well, you really enjoy it on a farm? Are you content out there?
BIFF (with rising agitation): Hap, I’ve had twenty or thirty different kinds of jobs since I left home before the war, and it always turns out the same. I just realized it lately. In Nebraska when I herded cattle, and the Dakotas, and Arizona, and now in Texas. It’s why I came home now, I guess, because I realized it. This farm I work on, it’s spring there now, see? And they’ve got about fifteen new colts. There’s nothing more inspiring or — beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt. And it’s cool there now, see? Texas is cool now, and it’s spring. And whenever spring comes to where I am, I suddenly get the feeling, my God, I’m not gettin’ anywhere! What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty-eight dollars a week! I’m thirty-four years old, I oughta be makin’ my future. That’s when I come running home. And now, I get here, and I don’t know what to do with myself. (After a pause.) I’ve always made a point of not wasting my life, and everytime I come back here I know that all I’ve done is to waste my life.
HAPPY: You’re a poet, you know that, Biff? You’re a — you’re an idealist!
BIFF: No, I’m mixed up very bad.
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal3.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
1. Consider the images in the section of Biff's speech below and what we know of Biff so far. What is the main conflict in Biff’s character? How does it relate to conflicts in Willy?
2. Both this play and Citizen Kane are working with the idea of the American Dream. What connection to Kane can you draw from the images in this speech? Are Kane and Biff pursuing similar definitions of success?
Text: P. 14-15: Biff’s Speech
BIFF: Why does Dad mock me all the time?
HAPPY: He’s not mocking you, he...
BIFF: Everything I say there’s a twist of mockery on his face. I can’t get near him.
HAPPY: He just wants you to make good, that’s all. I wanted to talk to you about Dad for a long time, Biff. Something’s --
happening to him. He — talks to himself.
BIFF: I noticed that this morning. But he always mumbled.
HAPPY: But not so noticeable. It got so embarrassing I sent him to Florida. And you know something? Most of the time he’s talking to you.
BIFF: What’s he say about me?
HAPPY: I can’t make it out.
BIFF: What’s he say about me?
HAPPY: I think the fact that you’re not settled, that you’re still kind of up in the air...
BIFF: There’s one or two other things depressing him, Happy.
HAPPY: What do you mean?
BIFF: Never mind. Just don’t lay it all to me.
HAPPY: But I think if you just got started — I mean — is there any future for you out there?
BIFF: I tell ya, Hap, I don’t know what the future is. I don’t know— what I’m supposed to want.
HAPPY: What do you mean?
BIFF: Well, I spent six or seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind
or another. And it’s a measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your
whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a twoweek
vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And always to have to get ahead of the next
fella. And still — that’s how you build a future.
HAPPY: Well, you really enjoy it on a farm? Are you content out there?
BIFF (with rising agitation): Hap, I’ve had twenty or thirty different kinds of jobs since I left home before the war, and it always turns out the same. I just realized it lately. In Nebraska when I herded cattle, and the Dakotas, and Arizona, and now in Texas. It’s why I came home now, I guess, because I realized it. This farm I work on, it’s spring there now, see? And they’ve got about fifteen new colts. There’s nothing more inspiring or — beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt. And it’s cool there now, see? Texas is cool now, and it’s spring. And whenever spring comes to where I am, I suddenly get the feeling, my God, I’m not gettin’ anywhere! What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty-eight dollars a week! I’m thirty-four years old, I oughta be makin’ my future. That’s when I come running home. And now, I get here, and I don’t know what to do with myself. (After a pause.) I’ve always made a point of not wasting my life, and everytime I come back here I know that all I’ve done is to waste my life.
HAPPY: You’re a poet, you know that, Biff? You’re a — you’re an idealist!
BIFF: No, I’m mixed up very bad.
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4. Death of a Salesman 2
Due Date: April 8 (points will be deducted if you turn it in late)
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal4.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
If Death of a Salesman is, in part, a story of the American dream, then...
1. Who does Ben represent?
2. Who does Willy represent?
3. What does Willy hope to teach his sons about life by introducing them to their Uncle Ben?
4. From the lines of Scene 2, what does Ben's behavior say about his character and the reality of the type of men he represents?
5. Willy asks Ben for advice before he leaves, "sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not teaching them the right kind of—Ben, how should I teach them?"
What kind of ideas has Willy taught his boys? What kind of effect has that teaching had on their lives?
Scene 1
Text pg 37
BERNARD (rushing in): The watchman’s chasing Biff!
WILLY (angrily): Shut up! He’s not stealing anything!
LINDA (alarmed, hurrying off left): Where is he? Biff, dear! (She
exits.)
WILLY (moving toward the left, away from Ben): There’s nothing wrong. What’s the matter with you?
BEN: Nervy boy. Good!
WILLY (laughing): Oh, nerves of iron, that Biff!
CHARLEY: Don’t know what it is. My New England man comes back and he’s bleeding, they murdered him up there.
WILLY: It’s contacts, Charley, I got important contacts!
CHARLEY (sarcastically): Glad to hear it, Willy. Come in later, we’ll shoot a little casino. I’ll take some of your Portland money. (He laughs at Willy and exits.)
WILLY (turning to Ben): Business is bad, it’s murderous. But not for me, of course.
BEN: I’ll stop by on my way back to Africa.
WILLY (longingly): Can’t you stay a few days? You’re just what I need, Ben, because I — I have a fine position here, but I --
well, Dad left when I was such a baby and I never had a chance to talk to him and I still feel — kind of temporary about myself.
BEN: I’ll be late for my train.
(They are at opposite ends of the stage.)
WILLY: Ben, my boys — can’t we talk? They’d go into the jaws of hell for me see, but I...
BEN: William, you’re being first-rate with your boys. Outstanding, manly chaps!
WILLY (hanging on to his words): Oh, Ben, that’s good to hear! Because sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not teaching them the right kind of — Ben, how should I teach them?
BEN (giving great weight to each word, and with a certain vicious audacity): William, when I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen.When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich! (He goes off into darkness around the right corner of the house.)
WILLY: ...was rich! That’s just the spirit I want to imbue them with! To walk into a jungle! I was right! I was right! I was right!
(Ben is gone, but Willy is still speaking to him as Linda, in nightgown and robe, enters the kitchen, glances around for Willy,
then goes to the door of the house, looks out and sees him. Comes down to his left. He looks at her.)
Scene 2
BEN: Father was a very great and a very wild-hearted man. We would start in Boston, and he’d toss the whole family into the
wagon, and then he’d drive the team right across the country; through Ohio, and Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and all the
Western states. And we’d stop in the towns and sell the flutes that he’d made on the way. Great inventor, Father. With one
gadget he made more in a week than a man like you could make in a lifetime.
WILLY: That’s just the way I’m bringing them up, Ben — rugged, well liked, all-around.
BEN: Yeah? (To Biff.) Hit that, boy — hard as you can. (He pounds his stomach.)
BIFF: Oh, no, sir!
BEN (taking boxing stance): Come on, get to me! (He laughs)
WILLY: Go to it, Biff! Go ahead, show him!
BIFF: Okay! (He cocks his fists and starts in.)
LINDA (to Willy): Why must he fight, dear?
BEN (sparring with Biff): Good boy! Good boy!
WILLY: How’s that, Ben, heh?
HAPPY: Give him the left, Biff!
LINDA: Why are you fighting?
BEN: Good boy! (Suddenly comes in, trips Biff, and stands over him, the point of his umbrella poised over Biffs eye.)
LINDA: Look out, Biff!
BIFF: Gee!
BEN (Patting Biffs knee): Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You’ll never get out of the jungle that way. (Taking Linda’s hand and bowing.) It was an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Linda.
LINDA (withdrawing her hand coldly, frightened): Have a nice trip.
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal4.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
If Death of a Salesman is, in part, a story of the American dream, then...
1. Who does Ben represent?
2. Who does Willy represent?
3. What does Willy hope to teach his sons about life by introducing them to their Uncle Ben?
4. From the lines of Scene 2, what does Ben's behavior say about his character and the reality of the type of men he represents?
5. Willy asks Ben for advice before he leaves, "sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not teaching them the right kind of—Ben, how should I teach them?"
What kind of ideas has Willy taught his boys? What kind of effect has that teaching had on their lives?
Scene 1
Text pg 37
BERNARD (rushing in): The watchman’s chasing Biff!
WILLY (angrily): Shut up! He’s not stealing anything!
LINDA (alarmed, hurrying off left): Where is he? Biff, dear! (She
exits.)
WILLY (moving toward the left, away from Ben): There’s nothing wrong. What’s the matter with you?
BEN: Nervy boy. Good!
WILLY (laughing): Oh, nerves of iron, that Biff!
CHARLEY: Don’t know what it is. My New England man comes back and he’s bleeding, they murdered him up there.
WILLY: It’s contacts, Charley, I got important contacts!
CHARLEY (sarcastically): Glad to hear it, Willy. Come in later, we’ll shoot a little casino. I’ll take some of your Portland money. (He laughs at Willy and exits.)
WILLY (turning to Ben): Business is bad, it’s murderous. But not for me, of course.
BEN: I’ll stop by on my way back to Africa.
WILLY (longingly): Can’t you stay a few days? You’re just what I need, Ben, because I — I have a fine position here, but I --
well, Dad left when I was such a baby and I never had a chance to talk to him and I still feel — kind of temporary about myself.
BEN: I’ll be late for my train.
(They are at opposite ends of the stage.)
WILLY: Ben, my boys — can’t we talk? They’d go into the jaws of hell for me see, but I...
BEN: William, you’re being first-rate with your boys. Outstanding, manly chaps!
WILLY (hanging on to his words): Oh, Ben, that’s good to hear! Because sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not teaching them the right kind of — Ben, how should I teach them?
BEN (giving great weight to each word, and with a certain vicious audacity): William, when I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen.When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich! (He goes off into darkness around the right corner of the house.)
WILLY: ...was rich! That’s just the spirit I want to imbue them with! To walk into a jungle! I was right! I was right! I was right!
(Ben is gone, but Willy is still speaking to him as Linda, in nightgown and robe, enters the kitchen, glances around for Willy,
then goes to the door of the house, looks out and sees him. Comes down to his left. He looks at her.)
Scene 2
BEN: Father was a very great and a very wild-hearted man. We would start in Boston, and he’d toss the whole family into the
wagon, and then he’d drive the team right across the country; through Ohio, and Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and all the
Western states. And we’d stop in the towns and sell the flutes that he’d made on the way. Great inventor, Father. With one
gadget he made more in a week than a man like you could make in a lifetime.
WILLY: That’s just the way I’m bringing them up, Ben — rugged, well liked, all-around.
BEN: Yeah? (To Biff.) Hit that, boy — hard as you can. (He pounds his stomach.)
BIFF: Oh, no, sir!
BEN (taking boxing stance): Come on, get to me! (He laughs)
WILLY: Go to it, Biff! Go ahead, show him!
BIFF: Okay! (He cocks his fists and starts in.)
LINDA (to Willy): Why must he fight, dear?
BEN (sparring with Biff): Good boy! Good boy!
WILLY: How’s that, Ben, heh?
HAPPY: Give him the left, Biff!
LINDA: Why are you fighting?
BEN: Good boy! (Suddenly comes in, trips Biff, and stands over him, the point of his umbrella poised over Biffs eye.)
LINDA: Look out, Biff!
BIFF: Gee!
BEN (Patting Biffs knee): Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You’ll never get out of the jungle that way. (Taking Linda’s hand and bowing.) It was an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Linda.
LINDA (withdrawing her hand coldly, frightened): Have a nice trip.
5. A Raisin in the Sun: The Youngers and the American Dream
Due Date: May 11 (points will be deducted if you turn it in late)
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal5.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
"Harlem"
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore -
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over -
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
- Langston Hughes, 1951
The title of the play, A Raisin in the Sun, is taken from a line in Hughes poem. The theme of deferred dreams in "Harlem" parallels the different dreams of the members of the Younger family.
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal5.doc. (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
"Harlem"
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore -
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over -
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
- Langston Hughes, 1951
The title of the play, A Raisin in the Sun, is taken from a line in Hughes poem. The theme of deferred dreams in "Harlem" parallels the different dreams of the members of the Younger family.
- Describe each member of the Younger family: Lena, Walter Lee, Ruth and Beneatha. What type of man was Mr. Younger? What type of man is Walter? What types of women are Lena, Ruth, and Beneatha?
- How is the American Dream expressed in each member of the Younger family: Walter, Ruth, Lena (Mama), and Beneatha?
- How are questions offered in the poem reflected in the play?
6. Of Mice and Men: The "fatta the land"
Due Date: June 9 (points will be deducted if you turn it in late)
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal6.doc (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
File name: YOURNAMEsemester2journal6.doc (points will be deducted if you do not name the file correctly)
Submit to http://dropitto.me/wardlandia
- How does the dream of living off the "fatta the land" relate to the American Dream and how does it influence the characters in the novel: George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife? What groups do these characters represent?
- Are their dreams doomed to fail? What is the power of the dream, even if it is fruitless? Use direct quotations and specific examples to support your views.