Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 1 (Sept. 3)

 Greetings!

It was so good to be in class again.  The students all brought good, attentive attitudes to the room, and I think we're going to have a good year together.  All the students are new to me, so we'll hopefully be able to quickly get to know one another.  In my classes, I incorporate full class and small group discussions, which I think we can still do in a socially distanced manner.  

Our first order of business for our class periods, after praying, of course, is to complete a Quick Write.  The prompts for these are usually light-hearted, but occasionally the topics require a little more serious thinking.  For today, I asked students to write about what they would put in a "Back to School Survival Kit."  Each student shared aloud one or two items, and snacks, drinks, and music were the top choices of items that students wanted to help them get their homework done.(You'll notice the embedded link -- it is for the Google Classroom assignment.  I will include these homework links in these emails; they will be especially helpful for students who were absent, who forgot what an assignment was, or who lost an assignment.)

We had a small group of students joining the class via Zoom, and I'm hoping it worked well for those students.  This is an option for any students who might miss a week for one reason or another.  

Most of our first morning together was spent in getting acquainted with materials and some of the logistics of the class.  I'm trying something new this year:  I handed out a complete Materials Packet for the whole semester, which included essay explanations, writing-related material, literature study guides, grammar worksheets, extra Rocketbook pages, etc.  I recommend that students put all of this material in a 3-ring binder and insert dividers or a piece of colored paper between the Writing and Literature papers and between the Literature and Grammar papers.  If the binder has inside pockets, the front pocket could be for homework to hand in and the back one could be for homework that is returned.  In the past I've handed out materials one week at a time, but this year I thought having everything at the beginning would help avoid the issue of any missing papers should a student be unable for any reason to be in class.  

One piece of paper from the packet needs both the student's and the parent's attention:  the Class Policies handout.  Students are to read it and put their names (not initials) in the top margin, and then I would like parents to read it and initial it.  Thank you!  (You can do the paper version or the Google Classroom version.)

I also took time to check in on the chatclasses emails, Google Classroom, and the Rocketbook app.  I will include that information on another email.  

Our first Writing assignment is a rough draft of a Descriptive Essay.  For this essay, students should choose a place, event, or situation that they can describe using multiple senses.  (i.e. sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)  They can organize their essays chronologically, spatially, or by the senses.  This is meant to be a shorter essay, and a pre-write/outline is not required.  The rough draft should be submitted on Google Classroom.  Students can type their papers on the Word or Pages, but they will need to copy and paste them onto the Google doc template attached to the assignment.  (They can also hand in a paper copy in class if they would like.)

We will start reading Animal Farm by George Orwell after next week.  For this week, they are to read the Introduction and take the short quiz that is posted on Google Classroom.  The short writing assignment, "What makes a good leader?" is not due until Sept. 17.

Finally, for the Grammar portion of the class, I briefly mentioned to the class that this semester will focus on the parts of speech, and the students will become the teachers.  More on this next week!

If you are new to my classes, this is what the weekly Class Notes will look like.  I'll tell you about Quick Writes, writing assignments, literature discussions, and grammar lessons.  I'll include links to the Google Classroom assignments and attach any pertinent materials.  At the bottom of the email I'll list the homework and any links.  (I've found that most students simply scroll to the bottom of the email to get homework info.)  These class notes will be the record of what we cover in class.

Have a great weekend!  Enjoy our beautiful weather.

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Homework for Next Week:

(Note:  Any assignments that are designated GC must be completed on Google Classroom)

-- Class Policies -- signed & initialled

-- Organize your materials packet  (binder? folders?)

-- Descriptive Essay rough draft  (GC)

-- Animal Farm Introduction

-- Animal Farm Quiz (GC)

-- Extra Credit -- Draw a picture of IVAN CAPP

Other Links for this week:

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 1 (Sept. 3)

Writing 1 Google Drive folder

Writing 1 -- Information about Google Classroom, CHAT emails, and Rocketbook 

Introduction to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Information about Robert Louis Stevenson[1]

            Robert Louis Stevenson, born in 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland, was a sickly child. His father was a designer of lighthouses, and he wanted his only son to study engineering.  However, when Stevenson entered Edinburgh University, he chose to study literature.  After graduation Stevenson was forced to split his time between the French Riviera and southern England because the warmer climates helped his deteriorating health, now known to have been caused by tuberculosis. His travels in France led to his first book, An Inland Voyage (1878), the story of a canoe trip on the country’s many canals. While in France, he fell in love with Fanny Osbourne, a married American.

            In 1879, Stevenson undertook an extremely risky voyage to California, where Fanny was divorcing her husband. The dreadful transatlantic crossing to New York and the cross-country train trip to the West Coast nearly killed him. The strain was so hard on his health that when he reached California and finally married Fanny, he was barely able to stand. His doctor told Fanny that her new husband could live for only a few months.

            Fortunately, the doctor was wrong. The couple returned to Scotland. It was there that

Stevenson began to write his first great success, Treasure Island (1883), the thrilling story of a

swashbuckling pirate named Long John Silver.  The writer’s deteriorating health prompted the

couple to move to the south of France, where Stevenson completed A Child’s Garden of Verses

(1885). At his next home, in southern England, Stevenson wrote Kidnapped. Nonetheless, financial

worries were never far away. One night Stevenson had a nightmare so strange that he decided to use it as the basis for a novel. This novel, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), became one of Stevenson’s most popular creations and helped to ease his financial strain. 

            In 1888, an American publisher asked Stevenson to write a travel book about the South Pacific. The couple jumped at the chance to escape to the tropics. They chartered a yacht and sailed from San Francisco to the Marquesas Islands, Tahiti, and Hawaii. The author’s health improved in the tropical sun, and in 1890 the Stevensons decided to settle in Samoa.

            On his estate in Samoa, Stevenson finished David Balfour (1893), a sequel to Kidnapped, as well as several books about nature and life in the South Seas. His descriptions of his exotic and romantic lifestyle captivated readers. During his years in Samoa, legends grew up about Stevenson that led to his reputation of being one of the most beloved storytellers of his time.  

            Stevenson died in Samoa on December 3, 1894, at the age of forty-four. At the time of his death, he was working with friends in Scotland to prepare an edition of his complete works.

Introduction to the Novel[2]

            Why has Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde touched so many readers so powerfully? One answer lies in

the spirit of the time in which it was written. At the end of the 1800s, Britain was experiencing a period of intense social, economic, and spiritual change, after many decades of confident growth and national self-fulfillment. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde perfectly captured some readers’ fears that their carefully built society was hypocritical.

            Stevenson was aware of the new ideas about economics, science, and the workings of the mind.  To many readers, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was a symbolic representation of these threats to traditional British society. Political reforms had given many more men the right to vote, and the working classes were beginning to flex their political muscles. Karl Marx’s ideas about the struggle for power among the different social classes were becoming more influential. To some of Britain’s upper-class readers,  the character of Edward Hyde represented the increasing political power of the working class.

            Other readers saw in the novella echoes of Charles Darwin, who earlier in the century had challenged the long-held religious belief in God’s creation of the universe. Darwin had claimed that life-forms developed as a result of evolution, the extremely slow and gradual changes species underwent in response to their environments.  Gone was the certainty of the religious model of life. It was replaced by social Darwinism, a radical new conception of life as a struggle in which only the fittest survived. Some readers considered Hyde to be a model of the strong yet evil individual who would survive while Jekyll fell. Hyde was the natural man, free of the civilizing influences  of society and religion. Stevenson himself had received an extremely strict religious upbringing, which  emphasized sin and the punishments of hell. He seems to have reacted against this upbringing, and the conflict between religion and science probably interested him greatly.

            Still other readers found in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a reflection of the new ideas about the workings of the human mind. A Viennese doctor named Sigmund Freud had begun the investigations

that would lead him to create psychoanalysis, a method of analyzing psychic phenomena and treating emotional disorders. Freud believed that human beings are powerfully influenced by impulses of which they are not aware and which are often expressed in dreams. To many readers, Hyde represented Dr. Jekyll’s subconscious desire to be freed from his society’s restrictions.

THE TIME AND PLACE

            The novella takes place in London in the 1880s. The settings include Jekyll’s fine home in a formerly grand neighborhood now in decay; Lanyon’s comfortable home in Cavendish Square, where

many distinguished doctors have their houses and offices; and Hyde’s house in Soho, a part of London known for its immigrant populations.

The Victorian Era

            Robert Louis Stevenson was born at the height of the Victorian Era, which stretched from the 1830s to the beginning of the 1900s. Britain’s Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 at the age of

eighteen and ruled until her death in 1901.  During her sixty-four-year reign, Great Britain was the world’s leading economic and military power and controlled a vast empire.

            Queen Victoria’s reign was a period of intense change in many arenas. Railroads and a postal system expanded to link almost every corner of the nation, making transportation and communication much faster. Medical and sanitary advances led to improvements in health. The government began to support schools financially. Political reforms allowed more people to participate in self-government. Industry grew rapidly, while agriculture became less important to the economy. Cities like London, Manchester, and Glasgow became densely populated as masses of people flocked to them in search of work.

            The prosperous decades between 1850 and 1870 were characterized by a general optimism and a sense of accomplishment. By the 1880s, however, pessimism and worry had begun to cloud the thoughts of many Victorians. With the increase in the urban population, poverty became a formidable problem.  The strength of Britain’s vast empire was challenged by difficult foreign wars. Workers  demanded more power, and women were entering the workforce in greater numbers. The changes in traditional society disturbed and frightened many Britons.

            It was at this historical juncture that Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. As you read, look for signs of a society undergoing major changes

---

[1]  "Study Guide for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Glencoe Literature Library. McGraw Hill Education. Web. 1 Jan 2013. <http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/strangecase.html>.  p. 2.

[2] . "Study Guide for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Glencoe Literature Library. McGraw Hill Education. Web. 1 Jan 2013. <http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/strangecase.html>.  p. 3 – 4.

Writing 1A Class Notes -- Week 8 (Oct. 10)

Greetings!

Even though we were on the edge of Fall Break this week, students engage well with the material and our discussions.  For the Quick Write, I gave them these three National Days as options:  National Bring your Teddy Bear to Work Day (10/9), National Cake Decorating Day (10/10), and National Free Thought Day (10/11).  We had some great comments on favorite childhood toys, fancy birthday cakes, and conversations we have in our heads.

I used the Words of the Day part of the class for a different kind of activity.  I gave them three unusual words  (Gluggavedur, tidsoptimist, and dysania) and asked them to come  up with definitions for at least 2 of them.  We had a wide range of silly options and some that came pretty close to the real meanings.  (You can follow the links to find the definitions.)

Students are in the process of writing a Biography Essay.  I briefly covered a few topics:  how long should a paragraph be; where should the thesis statement go; how to divide the essay into paragraphs.  When we meet again, students should hand in both their pre-writes and their rough drafts.

Last week I had assigned a brief Character Sketch for one of the primary characters from Animal Farm.  I told them that I had a secret plan for how we would use these.  This week, I grouped the students according to the animals they chose, and they were to use what they knew about their characters to come up with a "campaign speech" for that character.  I didn't give them a lot of time, so they had to think quickly as groups.  They did a great job and were pretty creative.  We are now officially done with Animal Farm.  I gave them their next books, and their assignments include reading this online introduction about Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol and watching this short video.

The remainder of the class was spent learning from the Nouns group (Michael, Carson, James, and Ethan).  They presentation included a video, a slide presentation, a Bingo activity, donuts, and homework.  They did a great job, and we are looking forward the Conjunctions group on 10/24 (Maria, Gabi, Alison).

Assignments for Oct. 24

-- Read the Intro to A Christmas Carol

-- Watch the introductory video for A Christmas Carol

-- Write the Pre-Write and Rough Draft for the Biography Essay

-- Complete the Nouns Homework

This Week's Links

Class Notes

Schoolhouse Rock Nouns Video

Nouns Google Slides Presentation

Gluggavedur, tidsoptimist, and dysania 

Introduction to Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol

Video Introduction to A Christmas Carol

Introduction to A Christmas Carol

             A Christmas Carol is a fairly straightforward allegory built on an episodic narrative structure in which each of the main passages has a fixed, obvious symbolic meaning. The book is divided into five sections (Dickens labels them Staves in reference to the musical notation staff--a Christmas carol, after all, is a song), with each of the middle three Staves revolving around a visitation by one of the three famous spirits. The three spirit-guides, along with each of their tales, carry out a thematic function--the Ghost of Christmas Past, with his glowing head, represents memory; the Ghost of Christmas Present represents charity, empathy, and the Christmas spirit; and the reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come represents the fear of death. Scrooge, with his Bah! Humbug! attitude, embodies all that dampens Christmas spirit--greed, selfishness, indifference, and a lack of consideration for one's fellow man.

from Victorian Age

http://www.guidanceassociates.com/victorianage.html

            The Victorian Age is a very elastic term used to denote an extremely dynamic period. Although the Victorian Age roughly spans most of the 19th century (from 1832 to 1900), it is not totally confined within these dates. The rumblings of change to come were felt for some time before 1832, and changes did not stop occurring as soon as Queen Victoria died in 1901. However, lifestyles did change more dramatically during this period than ever before in English history. England was suddenly pulled together by the railways, the penny post, and the rest of the newly constructed apparatus of fast, cheap communication. The country became unified in a way never before possible.

            Prior to the middle of the 19th century, education had been reserved for the nobility and those who could afford to send their children to exclusive private schools. Even if the poor had been able to enter their children in these schools, they would not have done so. A child of six was expected to start bringing home money to help support his entire family; he would be put to work as soon as possible. In those days work meant twelve to sixteen hours a day of grueling, hard labor in conditions that would today be considered totally unacceptable. There was no time spare for education. However, with the appearance of the modern public school system it became fashionable and necessary for the children of the lower classes to at least learn the rudiments of the 3 R’s. With these assets, they could go on to vocational apprenticeships in one of the trades.

            Great nationalistic spirit developed during the Victorian Age, and England struggled to place herself at the top of the international scene. At the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851, England was influential in many countries. By the end of the Victorian Age, the British Empire had reached the high point of its development.

            During this period the extreme poverty of the lower working classes was pointed up by the increasingly congested living conditions of city life. While the nobility still hung onto its money and its social barriers, and an individual’s birthright tended to be the deciding factor of his future, the rapidly expanding middle classes made steady inroads. The middle-class novelist, Charles Dickens, did more than any writer before or since to expose the sufferings of the working class. His books found their way into the drawing rooms of the titled and wealthy, and social consciousness began to rise. Emancipation of women and the rights of children became popular cases for the previously sheltered nobility. They brought their money and influence to bear in demanding better working conditions and broader education for the working class. A kind of feverish sentimentality of guilt gripped everyone.  The debt owed to Charles Dickens for the many reforms of the Victorian Age is certainly not a small one.

Writing 1B Class Notes -- Week 4 (Sept. 12)

Greetings!

Again, another great class.  This group of students brings a lot of positive energy and attitudes to the class.  The prompts for our Quick Write today were taken from the National Days Calendar:  National Video Game Day, National Day of Encouragement, and National Milkshake Day.  As always, if none of those options triggered any productive thinking or writing, students could write about something else.  We had good discussions about all three topics.

We did not have any Words of the Day from the students because Stephan was providing words for the Literature Circle, so the rest of the class did not need to do any.  

During the Writing portion of today's class I collected the final draft of their Descriptive Essays.  For all of the essays that they will write they are required to hand in the rough drafts with the final drafts so that I can see the specific changes.  Those who didn't do that in class this week can send me a picture or scanned version of their rough drafts with my corrections.  A couple of students mentioned that they had thrown away their rough drafts, so I will correct their papers without them.  I also reminded them that they SHOULD NOT throw away any work from this class until the end of the semester; they should also save all of their essays until the end of the year.

In Writing 1, as soon as students finish one paper we start another.  Their new assignment is a Personal Essay.  We discussed a number of topics and thesis statements. I introduced my equation for a thesis statement and a template for thesis statements that include a plan for development.  

Equation:

     Topic/Subject

  +  Opinion/Stand

Thesis Statement

Template:

     (topic/stand)     is/are      (opinion/stand)     because      (reason #1)      ,      (reason #2)     , and       (reason #3)     .

We also  took time to discuss the elements of an introduction and conclusion.  The introduction should include a hook, a thesis statement, and a "road map."  The conclusion mirrors the introduction and should restate the thesis, summarize the main points, and leave parting thoughts with the reader.  

A significant portion of the class was given to the Literature Circle for Animal Farm.  Each student had prepared for his/her role in the group, and I intentionally stepped away so that they themselves had to propel the discussion.  They each made insightful comments and I was pleased with what I heard.  We will continue to do Literature Circles throughout the year, especially considering how well they did.  For next week, we will continue with the study guide/ala carte assignments and vocabulary in addition to taking a Take Home Quiz for chapters 1 - 4.  Note:  There has been some confusion about the assignments for the book.  When I give the assignment for "Reader Responses," that means their answers to the study guide questions or the ala carte responses.  Their vocabulary worksheets do not need to be handed in until the end of the book.

Our first Parts of Speech presentation, Interjections, will be next week.  When students present their part of speech, they should either bring copies of the homework (8 students and 1 teacher) OR email the homework to me by the Tuesday before class so that I can make copies.  If they are showing a video or slide presentation, they can use their own computers or email them to me.  I have links listed below of videos that students have done in the past for the parts of speech unit.  For further inspiration, students can also scroll for older blog entries (Sept. - Nov) for links to other student projects.  

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Ch. 5 & 6 of Animal Farm

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- 3 Vocabulary Words

-- Personal Essay Rough Draft

-- Preparation for your parts of speech presentation

     -- Interjections (Aliena) next week

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Blog with Presentation Schedule

Adverbs Video

Nouns Video

Verbs Video

Personal Essay

Take Home Animal Farm Quiz (Ch. 1 - 4)

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1A Class Notes -- Week 4 (Sept. 12)

Greetings!

Again, another great class.  This group of students brings a lot of positive energy and attitudes to the class.  The prompts for our Quick Write today were taken from the National Days Calendar:  National Video Game Day, National Day of Encouragement, and National Milkshake Day.  As always, if none of those options triggered any productive thinking or writing, students could write about something else.  We had good discussions about all three topics.

This week's Words of the Day came from the students and included:

doled--verb --  fr. Middle English, dol, to share-- to distribute shares

muted-- verb -- fr. Anglo-French, ameutir, to make fluid-- to evacuate the cloaca (a bird's process of defecation) (Who knew??)

maxim -- noun -- fr. Latin, maximus, large, great-- a general truth, fundamental principle, or rule

During the Writing portion of today's class I collected the final draft of their Descriptive Essays.  For all of the essays that they will write they are required to hand in the rough drafts with the final drafts so that I can see the specific changes.  Those who didn't do that in class this week can send me a picture or scanned version of their rough drafts with my corrections.  A couple of students mentioned that they had thrown away their rough drafts, so I will correct their papers without them.  I also reminded them that they SHOULD NOT throw away any work from this class until the end of the semester; they should also save all of their essays until the end of the year.

In Writing 1, as soon as students finish one paper we start another.  Their new assignment is a Personal Essay.  We discussed a number of topics and thesis statements. I introduced my equation for a thesis statement and a template for thesis statements that include a plan for development.  

Equation:

     Topic/Subject

  +  Opinion/Stand

Thesis Statement

Template:

     (topic/stand)     is/are      (opinion/stand)     because      (reason #1)      ,      (reason #2)     , and       (reason #3)     .

We also  took time to discuss the elements of an introduction and conclusion.  The introduction should include a hook, a thesis statement, and a "road map."  The conclusion mirrors the introduction and should restate the thesis, summarize the main points, and leave parting thoughts with the reader.  

Our Grammar topic this week included .some short videos that previous classes have done for their parts of speech presentations.  Students are not required to do videos, but sometimes showing example of work others have done sparks new ideas for students. The links to those videos are listed below.  Our first Parts of Speech presentation, Interjections, will be next week.  When students present their part of speech, they should either bring copies of the homework (25 students and 1 teacher) OR email the homework to me by the Tuesday before class so that I can make copies.  If they are showing a video or slide presentation, they can use their own computers or email them to me.  

The literature discussion about Animal Farm centered on a group effort to complete a quiz on the first four chapters.  I divided the class into 6 groups, and they had to discuss the questions and find the answers in the book all together because they would all get the same grade.  I enjoyed hearing their conversations about the material they had read.  Note:  There has been some confusion about the assignments for the book.  When I give the assignment for "Reader Responses," that means their answers to the study guide questions or the ala carte responses.  Their vocabulary worksheets do not need to be handed in until the end of the book.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Ch. 5 & 6 of Animal Farm

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- 3 Vocabulary Words

-- Personal Essay Rough Draft

-- Preparation for your parts of speech presentation

     -- Interjections (Bennett, Josh, Jesse) next week

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Adverbs Video

Nouns Video

Verbs Video

Personal Essay

Take Home Animal Farm Quiz (Ch. 1 - 4)

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Parts of Speech Unit

The 8 parts of speech are the important building blocks for our sentences.  Every single word in our vocabulary falls into one of the following categories:  interjections, verbs, adjectives, nouns, conjunctions, adverbs, prepositions, or pronouns.  These are especially important to know as we learn to revise and improve our writing.

Every student is to do a project on one of the parts of speech.  For this project, students are to do some research on their assigned parts of speech and put together a lesson that includes a worksheet and an activity.  During the first two weeks of the Fall term, students will get a brief overview and explanation of each of the parts of speech.  For the next 8 weeks, presentations/lessons will be given by student(s). 

Requirements for the unit:

–   Fill out the Parts of Speech Planning Worksheet

–   Research the assigned part of speech

–   Put together a short lesson that explains the part of speech

–   Put together a worksheet for the class to practice using the part of speech

–   Have the worksheets ready the week before your presentation

Parts of Speech Unit

Week 1 – Introduction to Parts of Speech, part 1

Week 2 – Introduction to Parts of Speech, part 2

Week 3 – Introduction to Parts of Speech, part 2; Parts of Speech Pre-Test

Week 4 – Nouns Presentation

Week 5 – Pronouns Presentation

Week 6 – Adjectives Presentation

Week 7 – Adverbs Presentation

Week 8 – Verbs Presentation

Week 9 – Prepositions Presentation

Week 10 – Conjunctions Presentation

Week 11 – Interjections Presentation

Week 12 – Review

Week 13 – Review; Parts of Speech Post-Test

Week 14 – Parts of Speech Test

Introduction to Animal Farm

George Orwell intentionally wrote this novel with Russia, Stalin, Trotsky, and socialism in mind.  Below are some definitions and explanations that will give some historical background to this insightful novel.

Socialism - Stalinism - Trotskyism
Socialism is usually defined as "common ownership of the means of production". Broadly speaking the State, representing the entire nation, owns all the means of production, and everybody is "employed" by the State. This does not mean that you have no private possessions such as clothes and furniture, but it means that land, mines, ships, etc. are collective. In the end the State is the only producer. Contrary to capitalism, it is claimed that socialism can solve the production and consumption problems. Normally a capitalist economy cannot consume all it produces. There is always a surplus production going to waste and there is always unemployment. In a socialist economy these problems allegedly do not exist. The State simply "calculates" which products are needed and then does its best to produce them.
Stalinism is based on, among other things, a number of writings by Josef Stalin, but any real Stalinist theory does not exist. The closest we get is the doctrine of "socialism in one country", with which Stalin in the late 1920s claimed that it was possible to implement socialism in one isolated country alone - as opposed to the teachings of the original Marxism.
During Stalin’s reign a bureaucracy developed along with a small clique of leaders and a terror regime with persecutions and purging of all critical elements. This is what is normally meant by Stalinism - for Orwell, as well.
Trotskyism refers to Leon Trotsky’s contribution to the Marxist theory. Trotsky did not believe that socialism could be implemented in one country alone. Neither did he believe that the revolution came in different phases - e.g. first a bourgeois revolution, then a proletarian one. The proletarian revolution had to be on the political agenda everywhere, also in less developed countries - hence the concept of the permanent revolution. After Trotsky had been driven from the USSR in 1929, Trotskyism was founded as a political movement, which among other things was characterized by a sharp criticism of the USSR.
Animal Farm
In 1943 Orwell felt that the people in England, because of their admiration for the Russian war effort, consciously or unconsciously overlooked the faults of the communist regime in the USSR. He also felt that the English communists used their position as unofficial representatives of the USSR to prevent the truth from coming out - just as they had done in connection with the Spanish Civil War.

"Indeed, in my opinion, nothing has contributed so much to the corruption of the original idea of Socialism as the belief that Russia is a Socialist country. [...] And so for the past ten years I have been convinced that the destruction of the Soviet myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the Socialist movement." [CEJL vol. 3 p. 458]

That was why Orwell wrote Animal Farm which is the story of the revolution betrayed. The tale is based on Orwell’s experiences in Spain that had subsequently led him to study power structures during revolutions, especially the Russian.
Although Orwell was an anti-communist he was not on the side of traditional ruling class, neither so in Animal Farm. Throughout the book he is on the side of the animals. But from Day One of the revolution it is clear that a new elite is about to replace the old rulers. The new elite are the pigs. It was the pig called Major  who had come up with his revolutionary theories and who had died before the revolution. After the breakout of the revolution, which happened spontaneously, the pigs assume leadership with Napoleon and Snowball in front. The pigs assume privileges and end up telling the other animals what to do and eating the best food.
As in Spain during the Civil War objective truth or history is disappearing from Animal Farm. Historical facts change according to what suits the pigs as in the case of the windmill. Originally it was Snowball's idea and Napoleon had of course been opposed to the windmill. But after Snowball has been driven away the mill is to be built after all. Those animals that vaguely remember how things were are told that actually it had been Napoleon's idea and that he had opposed Snowball for tactical reasons. Another example is the seven commandments that change concurrently with the pigs resembling human beings more and more. Eventually the seventh commandment, "All animals are equal" has had the following added: "but some animals are more equal than others.
In Animal Farm Orwell is not on the side of the humans. The pigs are the villains in the tale and they become more and more like humans. In the end of the book, pigs and humans are playing cards. When someone cheats, at row starts.

"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." [AF p. 119]

In other words, old and new tyrannies are the same. Authoritarian forms of government, whether based on social or political castes, are basically alike and they are all a danger to freedom - as has always been claimed by anarchists. Orwell argues against the Russian revolution that was betrayed in the same way that anarchists did as early as the 1920s. The anarchist traits in Orwell were to become more pronounced and form an essential part of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Introduction to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

            Robert Louis Stevenson, born in 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland, was a sickly child. His father was a designer of lighthouses, and he wanted his only son to study engineering.  However, when Stevenson entered Edinburgh University, he chose to study literature.  After graduation Stevenson was forced to split his time between the French Riviera and southern England because the warmer climates helped his deteriorating health, now known to have been caused by tuberculosis. His travels in France led to his first book, An Inland Voyage (1878), the story of a canoe trip on the country’s many canals. While in France, he fell in love with Fanny Osbourne, a married American.

            In 1879, Stevenson undertook an extremely risky voyage to California, where Fanny was divorcing her husband. The dreadful transatlantic crossing to New York and the cross-country train trip to the West Coast nearly killed him. The strain was so hard on his health that when he reached California and finally married Fanny, he was barely able to stand. His doctor told Fanny that her new husband could live for only a few months.

            Fortunately, the doctor was wrong. The couple returned to Scotland. It was there that

Stevenson began to write his first great success, Treasure Island (1883), the thrilling story of a

swashbuckling pirate named Long John Silver.  The writer’s deteriorating health prompted the

couple to move to the south of France, where Stevenson completed A Child’s Garden of Verses

(1885). At his next home, in southern England, Stevenson wrote Kidnapped. Nonetheless, financial

worries were never far away. One night Stevenson had a nightmare so strange that he decided to use it as the basis for a novel. This novel, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), became one of Stevenson’s most popular creations and helped to ease his financial strain. 

            In 1888, an American publisher asked Stevenson to write a travel book about the South Pacific. The couple jumped at the chance to escape to the tropics. They chartered a yacht and sailed from San Francisco to the Marquesas Islands, Tahiti, and Hawaii. The author’s health improved in the tropical sun, and in 1890 the Stevensons decided to settle in Samoa.

            On his estate in Samoa, Stevenson finished David Balfour (1893), a sequel to Kidnapped, as well as several books about nature and life in the South Seas. His descriptions of his exotic and romantic lifestyle captivated readers. During his years in Samoa, legends grew up about Stevenson that led to his reputation of being one of the most beloved storytellers of his time.  

            Stevenson died in Samoa on December 3, 1894, at the age of forty-four. At the time of his death, he was working with friends in Scotland to prepare an edition of his complete works.

Introduction to the Novel[2]

            Why has Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde touched so many readers so powerfully? One answer lies in

the spirit of the time in which it was written. At the end of the 1800s, Britain was experiencing a period of intense social, economic, and spiritual change, after many decades of confident growth and national self-fulfillment. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde perfectly captured some readers’ fears that their carefully built society was hypocritical.

            Stevenson was aware of the new ideas about economics, science, and the workings of the mind.  To many readers, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was a symbolic representation of these threats to traditional British society. Political reforms had given many more men the right to vote, and the working classes were beginning to flex their political muscles. Karl Marx’s ideas about the struggle for power among the different social classes were becoming more influential. To some of Britain’s upper-class readers,  the character of Edward Hyde represented the increasing political power of the working class.

            Other readers saw in the novella echoes of Charles Darwin, who earlier in the century had challenged the long-held religious belief in God’s creation of the universe. Darwin had claimed that life-forms developed as a result of evolution, the extremely slow and gradual changes species underwent in response to their environments.  Gone was the certainty of the religious model of life. It was replaced by social Darwinism, a radical new conception of life as a struggle in which only the fittest survived. Some readers considered Hyde to be a model of the strong yet evil individual who would survive while Jekyll fell. Hyde was the natural man, free of the civilizing influences  of society and religion. Stevenson himself had received an extremely strict religious upbringing, which  emphasized sin and the punishments of hell. He seems to have reacted against this upbringing, and the conflict between religion and science probably interested him greatly.

            Still other readers found in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a reflection of the new ideas about the workings of the human mind. A Viennese doctor named Sigmund Freud had begun the investigations

that would lead him to create psychoanalysis, a method of analyzing psychic phenomena and treating emotional disorders. Freud believed that human beings are powerfully influenced by impulses of which they are not aware and which are often expressed in dreams. To many readers, Hyde represented Dr. Jekyll’s subconscious desire to be freed from his society’s restrictions.

THE TIME AND PLACE

            The novella takes place in London in the 1880s. The settings include Jekyll’s fine home in a formerly grand neighborhood now in decay; Lanyon’s comfortable home in Cavendish Square, where

many distinguished doctors have their houses and offices; and Hyde’s house in Soho, a part of London known for its immigrant populations.

The Victorian Era

            Robert Louis Stevenson was born at the height of the Victorian Era, which stretched from the 1830s to the beginning of the 1900s. Britain’s Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 at the age of

eighteen and ruled until her death in 1901.  During her sixty-four-year reign, Great Britain was the world’s leading economic and military power and controlled a vast empire.

            Queen Victoria’s reign was a period of intense change in many arenas. Railroads and a postal system expanded to link almost every corner of the nation, making transportation and communication much faster. Medical and sanitary advances led to improvements in health. The government began to support schools financially. Political reforms allowed more people to participate in self-government. Industry grew rapidly, while agriculture became less important to the economy. Cities like London, Manchester, and Glasgow became densely populated as masses of people flocked to them in search of work.

            The prosperous decades between 1850 and 1870 were characterized by a general optimism and a sense of accomplishment. By the 1880s, however, pessimism and worry had begun to cloud the thoughts of many Victorians. With the increase in the urban population, poverty became a formidable problem.  The strength of Britain’s vast empire was challenged by difficult foreign wars. Workers  demanded more power, and women were entering the workforce in greater numbers. The changes in traditional society disturbed and frightened many Britons.

            It was at this historical juncture that Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. As you read, look for signs of a society undergoing major changes

---

[1]  "Study Guide for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Glencoe Literature Library. McGraw Hill Education. Web. 1 Jan 2013. <http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/strangecase.html>.  p. 2.

[2] . "Study Guide for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Glencoe Literature Library. McGraw Hill Education. Web. 1 Jan 2013. <http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/strangecase.html>.  p. 3 – 4.

Introduction to A Christmas Carol

             A Christmas Carol is a fairly straightforward allegory built on an episodic narrative structure in which each of the main passages has a fixed, obvious symbolic meaning. The book is divided into five sections (Dickens labels them Staves in reference to the musical notation staff--a Christmas carol, after all, is a song), with each of the middle three Staves revolving around a visitation by one of the three famous spirits. The three spirit-guides, along with each of their tales, carry out a thematic function--the Ghost of Christmas Past, with his glowing head, represents memory; the Ghost of Christmas Present represents charity, empathy, and the Christmas spirit; and the reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come represents the fear of death. Scrooge, with his Bah! Humbug! attitude, embodies all that dampens Christmas spirit--greed, selfishness, indifference, and a lack of consideration for one's fellow man.

from Victorian Age

http://www.guidanceassociates.com/victorianage.html

            The Victorian Age is a very elastic term used to denote an extremely dynamic period. Although the Victorian Age roughly spans most of the 19th century (from 1832 to 1900), it is not totally confined within these dates. The rumblings of change to come were felt for some time before 1832, and changes did not stop occurring as soon as Queen Victoria died in 1901. However, lifestyles did change more dramatically during this period than ever before in English history. England was suddenly pulled together by the railways, the penny post, and the rest of the newly constructed apparatus of fast, cheap communication. The country became unified in a way never before possible.

            Prior to the middle of the 19th century, education had been reserved for the nobility and those who could afford to send their children to exclusive private schools. Even if the poor had been able to enter their children in these schools, they would not have done so. A child of six was expected to start bringing home money to help support his entire family; he would be put to work as soon as possible. In those days work meant twelve to sixteen hours a day of grueling, hard labor in conditions that would today be considered totally unacceptable. There was no time spare for education. However, with the appearance of the modern public school system it became fashionable and necessary for the children of the lower classes to at least learn the rudiments of the 3 R’s. With these assets, they could go on to vocational apprenticeships in one of the trades.

            Great nationalistic spirit developed during the Victorian Age, and England struggled to place herself at the top of the international scene. At the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851, England was influential in many countries. By the end of the Victorian Age, the British Empire had reached the high point of its development.

            During this period the extreme poverty of the lower working classes was pointed up by the increasingly congested living conditions of city life. While the nobility still hung onto its money and its social barriers, and an individual’s birthright tended to be the deciding factor of his future, the rapidly expanding middle classes made steady inroads. The middle-class novelist, Charles Dickens, did more than any writer before or since to expose the sufferings of the working class. His books found their way into the drawing rooms of the titled and wealthy, and social consciousness began to rise. Emancipation of women and the rights of children became popular cases for the previously sheltered nobility. They brought their money and influence to bear in demanding better working conditions and broader education for the working class. A kind of feverish sentimentality of guilt gripped everyone.  The debt owed to Charles Dickens for the many reforms of the Victorian Age is certainly not a small one.

Introduction to Animal Farm

Introduction to Animal Farm

George Orwell intentionally wrote this novel with Russia, Stalin, Trotsky, and socialism in mind.  Below are some definitions and explanations that will give some historical background to this insightful novel.

Socialism - Stalinism - Trotskyism
Socialism is usually defined as "common ownership of the means of production". Broadly speaking the State, representing the entire nation, owns all the means of production, and everybody is "employed" by the State. This does not mean that you have no private possessions such as clothes and furniture, but it means that land, mines, ships, etc. are collective. In the end the State is the only producer. Contrary to capitalism, it is claimed that socialism can solve the production and consumption problems. Normally a capitalist economy cannot consume all it produces. There is always a surplus production going to waste and there is always unemployment. In a socialist economy these problems allegedly do not exist. The State simply "calculates" which products are needed and then does its best to produce them.
Stalinism is based on, among other things, a number of writings by Josef Stalin, but any real Stalinist theory does not exist. The closest we get is the doctrine of "socialism in one country", with which Stalin in the late 1920s claimed that it was possible to implement socialism in one isolated country alone - as opposed to the teachings of the original Marxism.
During Stalin’s reign a bureaucracy developed along with a small clique of leaders and a terror regime with persecutions and purging of all critical elements. This is what is normally meant by Stalinism - for Orwell, as well.
Trotskyism refers to Leon Trotsky’s contribution to the Marxist theory. Trotsky did not believe that socialism could be implemented in one country alone. Neither did he believe that the revolution came in different phases - e.g. first a bourgeois revolution, then a proletarian one. The proletarian revolution had to be on the political agenda everywhere, also in less developed countries - hence the concept of the permanent revolution. After Trotsky had been driven from the USSR in 1929, Trotskyism was founded as a political movement, which among other things was characterized by a sharp criticism of the USSR.
Animal Farm
In 1943 Orwell felt that the people in England, because of their admiration for the Russian war effort, consciously or unconsciously overlooked the faults of the communist regime in the USSR. He also felt that the English communists used their position as unofficial representatives of the USSR to prevent the truth from coming out - just as they had done in connection with the Spanish Civil War.

"Indeed, in my opinion, nothing has contributed so much to the corruption of the original idea of Socialism as the belief that Russia is a Socialist country. [...] And so for the past ten years I have been convinced that the destruction of the Soviet myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the Socialist movement." [CEJL vol. 3 p. 458]

That was why Orwell wrote Animal Farm which is the story of the revolution betrayed. The tale is based on Orwell’s experiences in Spain that had subsequently led him to study power structures during revolutions, especially the Russian.
Although Orwell was an anti-communist he was not on the side of traditional ruling class, neither so in Animal Farm. Throughout the book he is on the side of the animals. But from Day One of the revolution it is clear that a new elite is about to replace the old rulers. The new elite are the pigs. It was the pig called Major  who had come up with his revolutionary theories and who had died before the revolution. After the breakout of the revolution, which happened spontaneously, the pigs assume leadership with Napoleon and Snowball in front. The pigs assume privileges and end up telling the other animals what to do and eating the best food.
As in Spain during the Civil War objective truth or history is disappearing from Animal Farm. Historical facts change according to what suits the pigs as in the case of the windmill. Originally it was Snowball's idea and Napoleon had of course been opposed to the windmill. But after Snowball has been driven away the mill is to be built after all. Those animals that vaguely remember how things were are told that actually it had been Napoleon's idea and that he had opposed Snowball for tactical reasons. Another example is the seven commandments that change concurrently with the pigs resembling human beings more and more. Eventually the seventh commandment, "All animals are equal" has had the following added: "but some animals are more equal than others.
In Animal Farm Orwell is not on the side of the humans. The pigs are the villains in the tale and they become more and more like humans. In the end of the book, pigs and humans are playing cards. When someone cheats, at row starts.

"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." [AF p. 119]

In other words, old and new tyrannies are the same. Authoritarian forms of government, whether based on social or political castes, are basically alike and they are all a danger to freedom - as has always been claimed by anarchists. Orwell argues against the Russian revolution that was betrayed in the same way that anarchists did as early as the 1920s. The anarchist traits in Orwell were to become more pronounced and form an essential part of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Comma Usage At A Glance

Punctuation, one is taught, has a point: to keep up law and order. Punctuation marks are the road signs placed along the highway of our communication -- to control speeds, provide directions and prevent head-on collisions.

1.1 – Compound Sentences

Two or more sentences held together with coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) form a compound sentence.  A comma must be used before the conjunction.

1.2 – Complex Sentences

Complex sentences contain on complete sentence and at least one fragment of a sentence.  Do not separate these parts with a comma.

1.3 – Compound/Complex Sentences

A compound/complex sentence contains two or more complete thoughts joined with coordinating conjunctions along with at least one sentence fragment.  Compound sentences require commas before the conjunctions.

1.4 – Introductory Elements

Some sentences begin with phrases.  Separate these phrases from the main part of the sentence with a comma.

1.4a – Using Transitional words

            1.4b – Dependent Adverbial Phrases

1.5 – Restrictive Clauses

Some phrases or clauses limit the meaning of the words they are referring to.  Because they are necessary to the meaning of the sentence, they should not be set off with commas.  

When you use who, which, whom, when, or where, decide whether the sentence would be unclear if you omitted it.  If omitting the phrase makes the sentence unclear or changes the meaning, then that part is necessary to the sentence, and you should not use commas.

1.6 – Appositives

An appositive renames the noun or pronoun it follows.  If omitting the appositive would change the meaning of the sentence, then do not set it apart with commas.  If the “renaming” does not change the meaning, then use commas.

1.7 – Parenthetical Comments

Parenthetical comments are those which can be left out but are included to add color or personality to the sentence.

1.8 – Items in a Series

Use a comma to separate words and phrases in a series.  Present usage advocates the use of the comma before and connecting the last two words of a series; some writers, however, prefer to omit the comma before and.  This comma is called the “series comma” or the “Oxford comma.”  When etc. ends a series, it should be preceded and followed by a comma.  Use commas to separate pairs of words in a series.  Use a comma between adjectives preceding a noun when they are coordinate qualifying words.

1.9 – Names

Use a comma to set off inverted names in bibliographies, in indexes, in directories, or in other reference lists.  Use a comma to separate a name from a title or a degree that it follows.  Use a comma to separate a name from a title or degree that follows it.

Do not use a comma to separate compound personal pronouns from the words they emphasize.  Omit the comma when an appositive has become part of the proper name.

1.10 – For similar or identical words

Use a comma to separate similar of identical words standing next to each other, even when the sense or continuity does not seem to require it.

1.11 – In direct quotations

Use a comma to set off direct quotations.  Not that no comma is needed in an indirect quotation.

1.12 – Short Phrases

A comma should follow yes, no, why, well when one of these words is used at the beginning of a sentence.  Use a comma to set off light exclamations.

1.13 – In Addresses

Use a comma to set off a phrase denoting residence or positions but not before ZIP codes.  Omit the comma before the ZIP code number in an address on an envelope; place the number two spaces after the two-letter state abbreviation.

1.14 – In Dates

Use a comma in dates.  A comma may be used to separate the month from the year when the date is omitted; in some current usage, the comma between the month and year is omitted.

1.15 – In Digits

Use a comma to set off figures in groups of more than four digits.

Use a comma to separate two figures or words indicating figures in order to make their meaning clear.