Written+Task+4






 * RUBRIC: [[file:A1 Lang and Lit WT2 HL Rubric_update May 2012.docx]] **


 * TIPS AND SAMPLE OUTLINE:[[file:WT 4 sample outline.docx]] **

IB POSSIBLE TOPICS:

1. How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? 2. If the text had been written in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, how and why might it differ? 3. How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? 4. Which social groups are marginalized, excluded or silenced within the text? 5. How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose? 6. How has the text borrowed from other texts, and with what effects? Non- IB additional topics:  and harkness table discussion questions 1. “The Man I Killed” is the only story that focuses primarily on a Vietnamese character. Why does this shift in focus occur in this particular story? Why are Vietnamese characters largely absent from the rest of the text? 2. Although the work is supposedly about the Vietnam war, the final story focuses not on the war but on an episode from O’Brien’s childhood. Discuss how this story relates to the stories of the war. What is O’Brien’s purpose in ending his collection of stories this way? 3. What do the terms “story-truth” and “happening-truth” mean in the context of the book? How do they differ? 4. Although //The Things They Carried// contains a story called “The Man I Killed,” it is unclear whether O’Brien actually killed anyone in Vietnam. What purpose does this ambiguity serve? 5. How does shame fit into O’Brien’s portrayal of the war experience? 6. Discuss the structure of the work. Do the stories progress in a linear manner? How does the work’s fragmented style contribute to the themes that run through the stories? 7. Which story did you enjoy the most? Why? 8. Is war ever moral? 9. If you were an American citizen, would you support an assault -weapons (guns for war) ban? Why?

**// WT 4 - CRITICAL RESPONSE QUESTIONS>> //**


 * Reader, culture and text**
 * 1) 1. How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers?

The following are examples of texts that may be studied for student responses to question 1.
 * The study and analysis of possible readings of the final pages of part 1 of the novel //The Outsider// by a French and Algerian reader at the time of the Algerian war of independence
 * The study and analysis of possible readings of an extract from the screenplay of //La Grande Illusion// by a French public in the early 1930s and late 1930s
 * The study and analysis of a political speech by a world leader that excludes references to certain groups or issues (those excluded will read the speech differently) – Obama vs. Romney
 * The study and analysis of different views of an article on obesity (this article may be viewed differently by someone from a country with problems of poverty and famine and by someone from a wealthy consumer society)

//Examples from our class://

The following are examples of texts that may be studied for student responses to question 2.
 * 1) 2. If the text had been written in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, how and why might it differ?
 * An article from a newspaper and how it would be written in a different newspaper
 * A comic book or graphic novel for teenagers in the 1950s rewritten for teenagers in the 21st century
 * The study and analysis of a literary work on the theme of prejudice that highlights different assumptions about race, religion, and so on
 * The study and analysis of an article about social class from a country that has a very hierarchical class structure (the significance of language that identifies class distinctions is of primary focus)

//Examples from our class://


 * Power and privilege**
 * 1) 3. How and why is a social group represented in a particular way?

The following are examples of texts that may be studied for student responses to question 3.
 * The study and analysis of an article in which an urban tribe is represented in a negative way

//Examples from our class://


 * 1) 4. Which social groups are marginalized, excluded or silenced within the text?

The following are examples of texts that may be studied for student responses to question 4.
 * Chinese fiction in which the figure of the intellectual is either revered or condemned

//Examples from our class://

The following are examples of texts that may be studied for student responses to question 1. The study and analysis of an author’s reworking of fairy tales The study and analysis of a novel that uses dramatic dialogue, poetry, letters, accounts of journeys The study and analysis of media texts with a particular format, style and register
 * Text and genre**
 * 1) 5. How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose?

//Examples from our class://


 * 1) 6. How has the text borrowed from other texts, and with what effects?

The following are examples of texts that may be studied for student responses to question 2. The study and analysis of how a particular character from a work of fiction is re-imagined in a song lyric The study and analysis of religious imagery and references in political speeches The study and analysis of one of the stories from Borges’s //Ficciones// The study and analysis of the use of the courtly love tradition in //Romeo and Juliet//

//Examples from our class://