M - 1/9: Context of Anthem & Intro. to Objectivism
https://www.aynrand.org/ideas/overview T - 1/10: Comparison to The Island http://putlockers.ch/watch-the-island-2005-online-free-putlocker.html W - 1/11: Looking at your Ego - 16 Personalities https://www.16personalities.com/ TH - 1/12: Anthem Study Guide - Anthem Test will be on Tuesday, 1/17/17. An accountabilty grde will given for completing & submitting your study guide on the day of the test. F - 1/13: MLKJ: A Legacy Left
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READ, WRITE, & WONDER
Over the winter break, we want to make sure that our molding minds continue to grow, remain challenged, and keep thinking critically.
Therefore, Kalma’s students will be required to read the dystopian novel Anthem and write a short response to a personally-selected prompt.
Over the winter break, we want to make sure that our molding minds continue to grow, remain challenged, and keep thinking critically.
Therefore, Kalma’s students will be required to read the dystopian novel Anthem and write a short response to a personally-selected prompt.
SYNOPSIS
Anthem is Ayn Rand’s “hymn to man’s ego.” It is the story of one man’s rebellion against a totalitarian, collectivist society. This young man, Equality 7-2521, yearns to understand “the science of things,” but he lives in a bleak, dystopian future where independent thought is a crime and science and technology have regressed to primitive levels.
All expressions of individualism have been suppressed in the world of Anthem; personal possessions are nonexistent, individual preferences are condemned as sinful and romantic love is forbidden. Obedience to the collective is so deeply ingrained that the very word “I” has been erased from the language.
In pursuit of his quest for knowledge, Equality 7-2521 struggles to answer the questions that burn within him — questions that ultimately lead him to uncover the mystery behind his society’s downfall and find the key to a future of freedom and progress.
TASK
Students will read the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, which they will obtain and sign out through Mr. Kalma. Upon completing the novella, they are to write a response to one of the following prompts and adhere to the following requirements.
PROMPTS
Select one of the following topics to respond to:
REQUIREMENTS
LINK TO "THE SOUL OF A COLLECTIVIST" SPEECH
LINK TO "THE SOUL OF A INDIVIDUALIST" SPEECH
Anthem is Ayn Rand’s “hymn to man’s ego.” It is the story of one man’s rebellion against a totalitarian, collectivist society. This young man, Equality 7-2521, yearns to understand “the science of things,” but he lives in a bleak, dystopian future where independent thought is a crime and science and technology have regressed to primitive levels.
All expressions of individualism have been suppressed in the world of Anthem; personal possessions are nonexistent, individual preferences are condemned as sinful and romantic love is forbidden. Obedience to the collective is so deeply ingrained that the very word “I” has been erased from the language.
In pursuit of his quest for knowledge, Equality 7-2521 struggles to answer the questions that burn within him — questions that ultimately lead him to uncover the mystery behind his society’s downfall and find the key to a future of freedom and progress.
TASK
Students will read the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, which they will obtain and sign out through Mr. Kalma. Upon completing the novella, they are to write a response to one of the following prompts and adhere to the following requirements.
PROMPTS
Select one of the following topics to respond to:
- Equality knows that his invention will benefit mankind greatly. However, this was not his primary motivation in conducting his experiments, and it is not the primary source of the joy and the pride he experiences in his work. What is his primary motivation? Do you think that Equality is right to be motivated in this way? Explain the reasons for your answer. What do you think the world would be like if everyone were motivated in the same way?
- Politically, Anthem depicts a completely collectivist society. What ideas do the rulers appeal to in order to justify their collectivist society? What similarities, if any, do you see between these ideas and the ones that you hear around you today? In what way, if any, has your own thinking about such ideas been affected by reading and reflecting upon Anthem? Relate your answer to a speech, “The Soul of a Collectivist,” made by a villain in a different Ayn Rand novel, The Fountainhead.
- To Prometheus the word “ego” is holy, but today one is usually told that it is wrong to be an egoist. Is Prometheus an egoist? What does this mean? Is it something good or bad? Explain your answer by reference to specific events in Anthem, and to a speech, “The Soul of an Individualist,” made by the hero of a different Ayn Rand novel, The Fountainhead.
REQUIREMENTS
- Responses must be able to argue for and justify the students’ view on the selected topic.
- Be sure to structure your response in an engaging way for your reader with an introduction and conclusion and not just merely answer the questions.
- Writing must be clear, articulate, and logically organized and demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophic meaning of the novel.
- It must be no fewer than 600 and no more than 1,200 words in length and be in MLA format.
- Spelling errors found on the essay will count against the final grade and should be omitted before submission.
- All responses must be submitted to turnitin.com by Friday, January 6th before midnight.
- This will be the first grade of the second semester, so be sure to start reading and writing as soon as possible in order to make it perfect and start 2017 off strong.
LINK TO "THE SOUL OF A COLLECTIVIST" SPEECH
LINK TO "THE SOUL OF A INDIVIDUALIST" SPEECH