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CRITICAL THINKING

TOPIC: JUSTIFICATION

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

• Essential questions guide our understanding of a text• These questions do not have a definite answer but are

ripe for discussion and disagreement

SHORT STORY EQ

• Is violence ever justified?

LETS HAVE A QUICK TALK

• Violence: Behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.

• Justification: something (such as a fact or circumstance) that shows an action to be reasonable or necessary

QUICK TALK (CONT.)

• 1) On your own, think about your answer to the EQ (Is violence ever justified?)• Jot some notes down…Consider: philosophical arguments,

moral arguments, examples, etc. (think of the KIND of appeals you are making)

QT (CONT.)

• Turn to a partner and discuss the EQ• CONVINCE THEM!!!!!

QT (CONT)

• As a whole class, lets discuss what you discussed….

• Is violence ever justified?

8 WAYS TO ANALYZE A CHARACTER• Physical Description• Name analysis• Thoughts• Attitude (how they appear to feel)• Physical and Emotional Setting• Actions from the present & Incidents from the past• Dialogue• How others view the character

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION• What does the character look like? • How do the character’s physical attributes play a role

in the story? • How does the character feel about his or her physical

attributes? • How does the character change physically during the

story? • How do these changes affect the character’s

experience?

THE GIVER PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS

• Sameness means everything is a neutral color (could be grey) so Jonas wears grey and has grey skin• Jonas has light eyes • Jonas has cropped hair because at age 10 they

get haircuts.

NAME ANALYSIS

• What does their name mean?• Is it symbolic of anything?• Does it allude to anything? (Allusion)

THE GIVER NAMES

• Jonas- Jonah, Asher (name in the Old Testament), • The Giver- God is the Giver of all things, • Gabriel- name of the angel that came to Mary

giving her the news of a boy that was to be born of her

THOUGHTS

• What does this character believe about the way life is? • What are these beliefs based on? • How do these beliefs affect the choices this

character makes? • How do those beliefs change throughout the

story? • Do others in the story share these beliefs?

• Jonas believes in precise language because the community expects him to. • Jonas believes that choice could be dangerous but

also wants choice badly. He wanted it so bad that he left the community.• The Giver was the only one in the community who

shared his beliefs but he was also the only other person in the community who knew how Jonas felt.

THOUGHTS EXAMPLE

ATTITUDE

• How does this character feel most of the time? • How do his or her feelings change throughout the

story? • How does this character feel about himself or

herself? • When faced with challenges in the story, what

emotions come up for this character?

• Jonas is really nervous or apprehensive at the beginning. He felt very left out but, then, he was chosen as the Receiver and felt special.• His feeling shift a lot in the story because he is

shown a world he has never known. Ultimately he was hopeful that he could participate in the world from back and back and back.

PHYSICAL & EMOTIONAL SETTING

• How does the time period affect the character? • How does the city/house/neighborhood they live

in affect the character?• What was their emotional state when you first

“met” the character?• How does the setting affect the character

throughout the story? Does it enhance the conflict of the story?

• Physical setting:• Sameness community• Same housing as everyone• Same everything• Set in the future• Then he sees a different setting (Giver’s house)• Feels memories of before that no one else knows

Emotional setting: • Community is used to sameness• Community lacks “love”• Community speaks of release but all people do

not fully understand it.

ACTIONS FROM THE PRESENT & INCIDENTS FROM THE PAST

• How did their past make them the person they are today?• How do their actions show character?

SPIDERMAN

• Any thoughts?

SPIDERMAN

• At the beginning, Peter Parker uses his powers for his own gain (when he wrestles for money to buy a car he thinks will impress Mary Jane). The promoter doesn’t pay Peter the amount he said he would; so when the promoter gets robbed, Peter lets the robber go. That robber ends up killing his uncle….he decides that he will no longer use his powers selfishly.

DIALOGUE

• What words do they use when talking to people? DICTION(high, medium, or low?)• What is their tone when talking to different

people? • How do their conversations propel the action?

SPIDERMAN

• Come on……you KNOW this one

SPIDERMAN

• “With great power, comes great responsibility.”

HOW OTHERS VIEW THE CHARACTER

• How does this character get along with other characters in the story? • Who does this character choose for friends and

why does this character choose them?• Where does this character stand in the social

order? • How does this character’s social standing affect

events in the story?

OTHER QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER…

• What is the character’s motivation?• With what it the character struggling? Internally

and externally?• Does the character surprise readers? Or are they

dull and uninspiring?• How do most readers feel about the character?

Positive or negative?• How are they affected by the main conflict?• How does the author choose to reveal the

attributes of their characters?• How do the actions and motivations of the

character develop the meaning of the piece?

THEME

• A theme is an overarching message of piece of literature

THEME EQUATION

• Theme = Main Idea + Author’s Opinion

• I.E.- a theme can NEVER be a one word answer (love, conflict, despair, etc.)

• A theme must incorporate how the author wants us (the reader) to feel about the subject

THEME EXAMPLES

• Love conquers all

• Death comes for us all.

• Conformity is dangerous.

EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT!!!!!

• Everything is an argument…including fictional stories.

• The theme is an argument (main idea + author’s opinion)…we use techniques such as characterization to illuminate our theme (or argument)

• As we read through our stories for the unit, focus on what argument our author is making AND HOW does he/she make it

READ “HARRISON BERGERON”

• Read “Harrison Bergeron”• Annotate for characterization and theme

• Use this information to come up with the argument Vonnegut is making! • Think about HOW he makes the argument • 1) What kind of characterization method does he use to make

his argument• 2) What type of argument (Ethos, Pathos, Logos) does he use• 3) Is it effective?