JW

Book 2 Lesson: A Brotherhood of Secret Societies

Standard: Viewing and Media Literacy Standard 3.5- All students will access, view, evaluate, and respond to print, non-print, and electronic texts and resources.

Expectations: - My group will understand what the purpose of the Brotherhood was in 1984. - They will work together to find quotes in the text that illustrates the tactics used by the Brotherhood. - They will do research on the Internet to find other books, movies, TV shows, or anything else that uses secret societies or groups. - Finally, they will be able to create guidelines for their own secret society and a short movie in iMovie.

Materials: - A copy of 1984 - A functioning and charged laptop - Paper, pencil (or pen), and a couple of sheets of paper - The iMovie application (see instructions for iMovie and I will be able to assist when necessary)

Opening: - I will show a clip from “Old School” (hopefully I can use Mr. Saxon’s laptop cause I was not able to embed the clip on to my wiki page) - We will discuss the questions about the clip (and additional questions about “Fight Club”)

Questions about “Old School” and “Fight Club” 1. How is the fraternity shown in the clip similar to The Brotherhood? 2. Are Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn similar to Big Brother? 3. What are the similarities that you see between “Old School”, “Fight Club”, and The Brotherhood? 4. Which secret society is the most successful out of these three examples?

Middle: - My group will work together to create their own secret society. - They will make guidelines and create restrictions for the people. - In a creative way, they must make a short iMovie as the leaders of the society or group saying their purpose, expectations, and reason for creating this particular secret group or society. - They must incorporate parts of movies, books, or any other examples they can find into their movie. (Da Vinci Code)

Ending: - My group will share their presentation to the class (time permitting) - We will have a final discussion about The Brotherhood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collegiate_secret_societies http://www.skullandcrossbones.org/articles/skullandbones.htm college secret societies

Book 3 Lesson: Torture Leads to Conformity Standard: Media Literacy 3.C.3- Recognize that creators of media use a number of forms, techniques, and technologies to convey their messages.

Torture (noun) the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty. Expectations: - My group will be able fully understand the meaning of torture and how it applies and connects to __1984__. - They will search the book for examples of when torture (in Winston’s case) led to conformity or allowed for Winston to stay strong as a rebel. - They will show their understanding of Garage Band. - No one will fall asleep go on inappropriate websites during the lesson

Materials - Laptop (with full battery) with a functioning Garage Band application - A copy of George Orwell’s __1984__ - A pencil or pen - Creative Minds! - Instructions for Garage Band (hyperlink “Garage Band” to word document)

Opening Activity: -I will use Mr. Saxon’s laptop to show my group the Milgram Experiment -My group will work together to answer the [|questions] following the video. - We will have a brief discussion about the definition of torture and if there are different types of torture.

Middle (main) Activity - My group (Brandon and Mike) will search for examples in __1984__ that use torture. We will talk about how Winston handled the specific form of torture. - Then my group will search the Internet to find [|examples]of torture in history, books, movies, or anything else that they can think of. They will use these different [|links]to find examples. - After a list of about 8-10 examples is formed, the group will make a short script that describes each example. - They will record their script on Garage Band and find pictures that depict the examples of torture. - The group can choose to add songs in the background of their presentation if they find that more appropriate. - They will have to make a connection between the examples of torture that they have found to __1984__.

Ending: - The presentation will be edited - Finally, my group will present their well thought out presentation to the class!

[|torture experiment article]


 * BOOK 1: Newspeak**
 * **__Standard__**
 * __Media Literacy 3.C.1 -__
 * **__Expectations__**
 * My group will understand the concept of Newspeak in George Orwell’s __1984__.
 * They will examine the effects of a world without “Oldspeak” and instead, people communicating only through Newspeak.
 * They will attempt to communicate to their partners with only a limited vocabulary.
 * Laptop with internet
 * Paper/Pencil to write dialogue
 * **__Opening__**
 * My group will discuss the ideas of “doublespeak” and “Newspeak.” They will answer and discuss the following questions:
 * How does “Newspeak” affect the lives of the people of Oceania?
 * Symes, who works with Newspeak, tells Winston that the 11th dictionary will be even smaller than before. What happens to a society when the language is limited?
 * Can you still have unlimited thoughts when your language is restricted?
 * Can you still have unlimited thoughts when your language is restricted?
 * **__Middle__**
 * The group will have to imagine their life with a limited vocabulary. They will choose a situation that they encounter daily in life (examples: talking to a friend, going out to eat). Instead of talking normally, they will have to use only Newspeak vocabulary.
 * Use the following websites for a full Newspeak dictionary and how to create words:
 * http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak


 * **__Ending__**
 * They will share their dialogues with the rest of the group.



Interview: [|“Fucking Germans!”] My grandfather, Julius Wolfin, turned into a different person when World War II was brought up. The anger and disgust could be seen in his glassy, age burdened eyes. Sitting down on the threadbare couch, in my grandparents’ 1960 Montvale residence, I was hit with the smell of a traditional Jewish dinner coming from the kitchen; matzah ball soup and brisket. “They hated the Jews Jake. They really did,” my grandfather mumbled in a mundane way at the introduction of our interview. Mr. Wolfin grew up in Queens, New York, around the corner from Shea Stadium (a meaningless stadium for any intelligent baseball fan). As he spoke of his childhood, a seemingly lost sense of passion and happiness was rejuvenated. Since Mr. Wolfin’s family “did not have a lot of money”, he was naturally made into an independent person; he explored the busy streets of Queens and “delivered newspapers and milk cartons to make some money.” After humorous stories and reminisces of his adolescence, Mr. Wolfin moved on to [|June of 1944]; not only his senior year of high school, but also the year he became a part of World War II. “There was something called a Selective Service Act.” he said as he took a long gulp of water from his transparent water glass, “as soon as I turned 18 I had to register. After a physical and some other tests, they (the army officials) let you know your status. I graduated in June of 44 and I was a member of the US army in July.” Hearing Mr. Wolfin speak of his departure to Europe directly after high school naturally led to comparing the World War II era and present day. I have never thought about joining the army or becoming involved with the military in any way. My grandfather was the same way; “I never thought I would go to the army. Believe me I did not sign up, I was drafted,” my grandfather said with a slight smile coming from his chapped lips. “Ma Wolfin (a woman I had never met but heard countless boring stories about) was not happy obviously,” each word interrupted by a quiet chuckle, “no parents want their children to go to war, but I had no other choice.” My next question provoked a long yet detail-packed response from the tired looking Mr. Wolfin. “What kind of preparation was necessary before going to Europe?” I asked after turning my cell phone on silent, knowing that my grandfather could not stand the sound of a vibrating cell phone. My grandfather began to speak before I finished my question, “well we had to go to Texas for some training, then we were supposed to go to Ohio and then on to Georgia for the last phase of our long training.” After Mr. Wolfin listed the seemingly meaningless locations of his army training, a grin came to his face along with a slow nodding of his tired looking face. He went on to say that he and the men in his infantry were not supposed to go overseas yet but the Germans attacked [|the Bulge] and assistance was needed desperately. “I was trained to interpret Morse Code so I was of higher ranking than others in the army,” Mr. Wolfin said (not in a cocky way whatsoever) to explain the situation fully. He and the other men “left Staten Island on a huge ship; definitely not a convoy.” The tedious and long-lasting voyage across the Atlantic led to the arrival in England. To make Mr. Wolfin’s detailed and step for step story short, “we arrived in Le Havre, France seven or eight hours later.” Expecting a heroic story about the Battle of the Bulge (a battle I should probably know more about after taking history with Mr. Goodman) Mr. Wolfin almost retaliated by saying that the United States “got the shit kicked out of them.” The casualties and injuries were so high that the true numbers were not released to the media back in the states. “We lost a lot of men,” the words came from Mr. Wolfin’s mouth in a quiet, emotional voice. After the Battle of the Bulge’s outcome had been vaguely mentioned, Mr. Wolfin traveled back to the experiences and events that have stuck in his mind for generations upon generations. The lieutenants and sergeants “told us that there were warm showers on the top of the hill so we marched up.” The end result of that story is that “there were no hot showers and we had to camp out on the snowy hill. Those lying bastards,” Mr. Wolfin finished the story with a typical obscene statement. He recalled the trip he made in a “halftrack” across England and into France. He quickly time hopped (as normal grandparents do often) to the conclusion, or what he and his buddies thought, was the end of the war. “May 8th the war in Europe ended for us in Europe. We were the closest US troops to Berlin at the time (they were located somewhere in the Harts Mountains). We could hear the Russians bombing the shit out of the Germans!” Being a teenager, hearing my grandfather curse and be so animated caused me to let out a loud laugh. The US troops were not allowed into Berlin due to an agreement between Eisenhower and [|Stalin]. Little did my grandfather know, there was a problem forming with the Russians. The Russians wanted to take of Skoda, Czechlosavakia because “this is where tanks were made that were supposedly killing Russians.” The American troops did not want the Russians to have control over this city so after some “pushing and shoving between the Russians and Paten”, the problem was resolved; the American troops resisted the Russian troops and controlled the city. Mr. Wolfin spent some more time in Germany, where he was supposed to be working out and staying in shape for future battles. “I just sat around because my feet were still frozen from the Bulge,” Mr. Wolfin responded in his defense. Finally, Mr. Wolfin and his fellow men traveled back to Le Havre, France to the “cigarette camps” (the place where soldiers left and came in). After returning home to the states, Mr. Wolfin “would have a thirty day delay en route and then go right back to Fort Worth, Texas” where he would “get ready to go the Philippines for the raid of the island.” I’ve seen my grandfather, Mr. Wolfin, very, very happy throughout my life. When he told me that “two days after the [|A-bomb] was dropped” that the “Japs had surrendered”, not one human being alive could have displayed the happiness and pleasure that he illustrated in front of my eyes. Another laugh-causing comment quickly followed his announcement of the conclusion of the war: “When we found out that the war was over and we would not have to go to the Philippines, we got so fucking drunk!” The main reason that he was so delighted about the war ending (not that any sane person yearns to go back to war) is because the analysts projected that “there would be 90 percent casualties if the Americans invaded Philippines and Japan.” To finish off his stay in the army (every soldier needed to gain 45 points to be cleared) Mr. Wolfin traveled to Austria; “all we had to do there was guard prisoners and chase girls around.” He did his time and when he returned home to the states the army was no longer a necessity in his life, but it would always be a time that would be remembered. Three or Four years ago, my father and his brother planned a trip for Mr. Wolfin to travel back to the places in Europe that he had been stationed during World War II. My question concerning this trip provoked more and more stories (this interview was supposed to last only 10 minutes but it turned out to last around 25). He spoke about the scariest moment of his war career when his division “was taking over a German city” where he came into direct contact with German soldiers. “Joey Winn, may his soul rest in peace, got shot in the leg and could not be saved,” Mr. Wolfin stated as tears formed in his already glassy eyes. His description of the two-week long trip to Europe with Mrs. Wolfin was “very emotional to say the least.” He was honored with a medal and visited the burial grounds of the men he called brothers for his stint in the army. All the men he was with broke up as the war progressed but the times and countless hours they spent together would certainly stick with all of them forever. Julius Wolfin, described [|World War II] as “a necessary evil.” He did what he was told, never complained, and did his work with honor and dignity. The Battle of the Bulge along with the other battles and events that Mr. Wolfin was apart of undoubtedly changed his life forever. During the interview, it seemed, at least to me, that the Diabetes and other ailments that were taking a toll on his elderly body had all disappeared. The passion and pride that he took in his time in World War II is truly unbelievable. He remembered stories and quotes word for word and event for event. Julius Wolfin is no longer just a grandfather to me; he is now a role model in my life. The numerous stories and other events about my grandfather’s time in the war will probably be forgotten, but the man that my grandfather was and still is will definitely not. I’ll leave you with a quote from Douglas MacArthur: “Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” media type="youtube" key="jdeSSjZu9-M" height="344" width="425"


 * __ Book 3 Lesson: Torture Leads to Conformity __**