Research, Prepare, Present

Good morning,

In preparation for our reading of The Crucible (you have checked that out right?) you will be spending the next two days working on a mini-research project and preparing a presentation about a related topic.

• I will assign you to a group and I'll assign your group a topic.
• Share a presentation with each other in Google Docs so that you can all contribute what you find. Work quickly.  You should have 8-10 slides. 
• Consider history (origins), definitions, examples, important facts, impact on society, future significance, important individuals etc.
• Incorporate (and cite) images related to your topic to make your presentation interesting to your audience.
• Create three multiple choice questions that someone would be able to answer after listening to your presentation. Consider “why and how” questions first.  (Your group will turn in these questions tomorrow.)
• Each person in your group will be presenting this at least once to another group of peers.

Topics:

1.    Communism in the 1950’s
2.    Cold War Period (focus on 1950’s)
3.    Rise and Effects of McCarthyism
4.    Mass Hysteria
5.    Arthur Miller
6.    Puritan New England
7.    Salem Witch Trials

What was Thoreau thinking?

Good morning,

Remember we may have visitors today and we may not.

1. To start please vote in the poll at the right, (the one about how much you liked the ideas in Self Reliance)
2. Then write an entry in your English journal to explain why you voted the way you did.

Emerson had a friend named Henry David Thoreau.  Thoreau was also a writer.  His ideas changed our country and our world. (I know that's a big claim, but we will see how.)

Today you will read an excerpt from his essay "Civil Disobedience" with 2-3 other people. Together you will need to figure out the answers to some tough questions about what it says.  You'll submit your responses to me in writing using THIS FORM. You'll need one person to submit the form with all your names. You can use docs or e-mail to share your answers with the person in your group responsible for the form.

These are the questions you will find on the form:

1. What does Thoreau think about majority rule?
2. What does Thoreau think about the military?
3. How does he say we should deal with unjust laws?
   
4. Why does Thoreau refuse to pay his taxes?
5. What does he think of jail?