Essential Question:
How do authors incorporate ethical dilemmas for social commentary?
DAY 1 - PLAN 1
DAY 2 - SEED 1
DAY 3 - SEED 2
DAY 4 - SEED 3
DAY 5 - SEED 4
DAY 6 - SEED 5
DAY 7 - PLAN 2
DAY 8 - SEED 6
DAY 9–21 - PLAN 3
DAY 22–25 - PLAN 4
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This unit is guided by the essential question: "How do authors incorporate ethical dilemmas for social commentary?" Huxley's Brave New World, published in 1958, features a world of constant stimulation and triviality that supplants individuality with entertainment. Students begin with an introduction to Modernism and its influence on dystopian authors. Using Blooms taxonomy of questions stems, students create their own study guide for each chapter. Using the seven steps for analyzing ethical decision making, students will identify the key elements on ethical dilemmas and formulate an approach to resolution. Once they have started reading the novel, they will engage in a collaborative discussion to analyze how both Orwell and Huxley craft their corrupted utopias. After a concluding discussion, students conduct short focused research to find four articles of literary criticism on Brave New World. Students will work in groups to write close reading questions and then lead the class in a close reading discussion about their assigned literary criticism. Students will write an Explanatory Essay to answer the essential question as well as research, write, and defend specific claims for an Ethical Debate Tournament.