Occupy Wall Street and Winter Break Paper Assignment

Advanced Occupy Wall Street : Warm-up (Pair Work)

1)    Have you ever been in a protest? If so, when?

2)    What is your top complaint about your country’s government?

3)    What would be the best way to fix this problem?

Occupy Wall Street Protests Spread

In mid-September [2011], a movement calling itself Occupy Wall Street (OWS) began in Zuccotti Park, New York City. Inspired by the spirit of the Arab Spring that saw the toppling of regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, participants in the Occupy movement are also out to send a message to their leaders. The protesters, calling themselves the “99 percent”, are protesting against the influence the wealthiest 1% of the population have on US laws and policies. Many attack crony capitalism, a system in which success in business depends on close relationships between businesspeople and government officials.

On October 15th, 2011, Occupy protests spread to other cities around the world. In Rome, anarchists and other extreme factions hijacked protests, causing violence. Protests were mainly peaceful elsewhere, however, and protesters say they will to continue protesting indefinitely.

While the leaderless movement seems unified in its attack on corporate greed, in America at least, OWS has faced criticism for lacking coherent demands. Protesters of differing political persuasions displayed signboards varying in message from “Banks are cancer” and “Arrest the 1%” to “Free Tibet.” Some call for an end to capitalism, some demand free university education, while others endorse killing the rich.

There is division among the protesters who believe the movement needs to elucidate a set of demands and those who contend that the public airing of grievances is a worthwhile end in itself. Kalle Lasn, an activist involved in organizing the U.S. movement, belongs to the latter group. Lasn says, “The messy, leaderless, demandless movement has launched a national conversation … that we haven’t had in 20 years. … That’s the magic of it." (320 words)

[Sources: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/15/world/occupy-goes-global/index.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Street]

Occupy Wall Street ESL Lesson Plan : Comprehension Questions [separate piece of paper]

1)    What is the inspiration of the OWS movement?

2)    Who is the 1%?

3)    In your own words, how would you define crony capitalism?

4)    True or False: Not all Occupy protests have been peaceful.

5)    What is the main criticism of the movement?

6)    Why does Kalle Lasn believe OWS is good?

A related site called We Are the 99% records stories from people around the country. : http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com

http://occupywallst.org

Character Analysis for Dark Knight Rises [2012]

Character Analysis

When you write a character analysis, you will be expected to describe a character's personality.

We get to know characters in our stories through the things they say, feel, and do. It's not as difficult as it may seem to figure out a character's personality traits based on his/her thoughts and behaviors.

You will receive clues about a character's personality through his or her:

1.            Words

2.            Actions

3.            Reactions

4.            Feelings

5.            Movements

6.            Thoughts

7.            Mannerisms

2.) Character Role

·      When you write a character analysis, you must also define each character's role.

·      In addition to having personality traits, characters also fill certain roles in a story. They either play a major role, as a central element to the story, or they play a minor role to serve a supporting role in the story.

3.) Character Development (Growth and Change)

When you are asked to write a character analysis, you will be expected to explain how a character changes and grows. Most characters go through changes as a story unfolds-otherwise, stories would be pretty boring!

Batman	Bane	Selina Kyle	Detective John Black

Name:                                                                                                             Date:

Assignment: Ideological Paper

I. Conduct research on the Occupy Wall Street Movement

Identify:

·      Cause of the Movement

·      Relevant Historical Background on the Movement

·      Important Figures in the Movement

·      The 99%

·      Have at least 4 newspaper/scholarly articles

II. Watch the Film: The Dark Knight Rises

Fill-Out:

·      Character Analysis Table

While watching the film think of how the characters could be a representation of ideologies or people from the Occupy Wall Street Movement

III. Assignment:

Write a 3 page minimum, 4 page maximum: paper utilizing the Dark Knight Rises and its relation to Occupy Wall Street. How does the movie parallel the movement? What social classes do the main characters represent? Does the film serve as a warning or an endorsement of the movement?

Due Date: January 4^th, 2012

Content Rubric:

Course Objective	Demonstrates Excellence in the expression of this objective	Demonstrates Proficiency	Demonstrates Competence	Inadequately expressed/ Not present
A.    Use a historical and cultural framework and formal vocabulary in writing about film	4	3	2	1
Apply film language in the analysis of film(s)	4	3	2	1
Explain the larger social-historical contexts from which the chosen film(s) emerges	4	3	2	1
Analyze and describe the ideological implications of the film(s) written about in terms of one of the following: race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, nation.	4	3	2	1
E.     Write meaningfully about the formal and ideological issues of the film(s) written about	4	3	2	1

Writing Tips:

In many ways, writing a paper about film is no different from writing other kinds of papers in the Humanities. You need to focus your topic, write a good thesis sentence, settle on a structure, write clear and coherent paragraphs, and tend to matters of grammar and style.

In some other ways, however, writing a paper about film has some challenges of its own. Examine the collected tips here:

·      Don't simply summarize the film. I have seen the film; you don't need to recount the plot to me. I am looking for analysis, not summary.

·             Don't simply summarize the use of camera angles or editing techniques. You've annotated shot sequences in order to find something to say about them. Don't simply transcribe your annotation and call it a paper. Rather, posit something about what the director is trying to achieve, or the effect that this shot sequence has upon the audience.

·      Don't limit yourself to a discussion of plot and characters. Some students come to film criticism trying to employ the techniques they've used to analyze novels in their English classes. They focus on analyzing the characters, themes, and plot. Film Studies papers focus on different elements of composition.

·      Avoid the "I." It's too easy to slip into a subjective "reviewer's" stance when you use the "I" in your criticism. Try to find a more objective way of beginning your sentences than "I found" or "I feel."

·      You should be weaving the plot and characters of the film into your analysis of Occupy Wall Street.

Examples of Citations:

Film Citation:

Work Cited Entry:

        The Dark Knight Rises. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman,    

               Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Legendary Pictures, Syncopy Films, DC  

               Comics, 2012. Film.

In-Text Citation:

            Nolan’s ball dance scene acts as a warning to the upper class’ ignorance of the 99% evidenced by Selina Kyle comments to Bruce Wayne: “You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us”  (The Dark Knight Rises). 

Occupy Wall Street from Wordpandit

Ch. 17- Manifest Destiny & It's Legacy; Ch. 18 Renewing the Sectional Struggle

DBQ Tutorial

Part I- 

What is a DBQ?

Document-based questions (DBQs) are for all students, from elementary school through high school. They are a type of authentic assessment and a way for students to interact with historical records.

A DBQ asks students to read and analyze historical records, gather information and fill in short scaffolding response questions, assimilate and synthesize information from several documents, and then respond (usually as a written essay) to an assigned task, by using information gleaned from the documents as well as their own outside information.

DBQs help students compare and contrast issues from differing perspectives, reconcile differing positions, evaluate the strength of particular arguments, provide authentic opportunities at a high level of thinking, and develop life skills.

Ok first thing- the do's and don'ts of a DBQ:

DBQ Do's and Don'ts*

Do the following things with a DBQ	Don't do the following things with a DBQ
Read carefully and make sure you understand the question being asked.	Respond to a question that isn't asked.
Quickly jot down the major themes/events/people you associate with this topic or question.	Use "I" statements such as "I think that Document A portrays..."
Read over the documents, noting the year and author/source of each one. If the document seems to support or oppose a possible perspective or opinion on the question, note that in the margin.	Summarize the documents. The reader knows the content of the documents and is interested in how you view the document relating to the question.
Write out a preliminary thesis and outline of your major points.	Quote long passages from the documents. Use an ellipsis "..." if you need to quote.
As you begin to write, remember to weave the documents into your answer, always focusing on the thesis.	Try to impress the reader with big words that are used incorrectly. This has the opposite effect of what is intended.
Include your knowledge of the era along with your analysis of the documents.	Spend so much time reading and underlining the documents that you have to rush your writing when answering a DBQ in class.
Be sure to include your own analysis/perspective on the question.	Begin writing your answer until you have a good sense of your thesis and how you want to approach the question.
If you can knowledgeably quote or refer to an historian who has a perspective on this question, include his or her perspective.	Write "I ran out of time" on the bottom of your essay.
When answering a question in class, keep an eye on the clock so that you can have time to re-read your essay for any obvious technical errors.	Do not use exclamation points unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary.
Be as specific as possible when you include historical information.	DON'T BEGIN UNTIL YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION
Be assertive and forceful in making your points.

PART II:
DBQ Tips: the 12 Step Program

1.  The point of the AP US Document Based Question is to answer a question about American history in essay form, incorporating as many of the given primary sources as possible. Graders expect that most of your answer will come from your own knowledge. The documents are there to provide evidence and examples, not to be your main information source. Note that this is different from the AP European DBQ. It may help to think of the AP US DBQ as a Document Supported Question rather than a Document Based Question.

2.  AP US DBQs (and regular essay questions, as well) are graded on a scale of 0-9, with 9 being the best score possible. A score of 0 means you did not even attempt to answer the question.

3.  AP US DBQs do not get graded with a generic core scoring rubric. This, too, is different from the AP European DBQ. The AP US DBQs have individual rubrics that are unique to each question. This is "bad" because it means you cannot rely on memorizing a checklist formula. It is "good" because it means you will have freedom in answering the question and can tailor your answer as needed. You do not get to know the question-specific rubric in advance, because that would give away the question.

4.  Despite the above, you should consider the following to be cardinal rules in answering the AP US DBQ:

o  Use a majority of documents.

o  Have an explicit thesis sentence that directly answers the question and is not a rewording of it.

o  Answer all parts of the question.

o  Organize the essay and use your documents in a coherent manner.

o  Minimize grammar and spelling errors wherever possible.

5.  Question-specific rubric checkpoints are usually fairly intuitive, assuming you know your history. For example, if the DBQ asks you to assess the impact of the protest movement on Americans opinions of the Vietnam War, discussing the Kent State shootings should be considered a given. Don't be afraid of the "mystery rubric"! It's not really that mysterious if you use common sense.

6.  During the national exam, you will be given a 15-minute "reading" period for both the DBQ and the two regular essay questions combined. You are not allowed to start writing in the answer booklet until those 15 minutes are over. Make use of this time by marking up the documents with notes, creating an outline plan for your essay, and developing a thesis sentence.

7.  The number one mistake made by students taking the national exam is failing to answer all parts of the question asked. To make sure you don't become a statistic, the first thing you should do during the reading period is underline the action verbs in the question. Most AP US DBQ questions, like AP European DBQ questions, have at least two tasks you must complete. For example, the DBQ may ask that you describe the women's rights movement of Civil War era and assess the reasons for its lack of success. You must make sure you do both!

8.  To ensure the best thesis possible, it is recommended that you compose your thesis before looking at the documents. Doing it that way seems to result in a better essay because it guarantees that you are focusing on your own knowledge. (Remember, the AP US DBQ is a good essay with the documents thrown in to help develop the support. It is not an answer focused entirely on the documents you have been given.) Writing a thesis first also helps because it is then easier to see where the documents should be used in each support paragraph. Of course, once you look at the documents you might want to edit the thesis to take into account an idea you hadn't considered before, but students who know their material almost never need to do this.

9.  The best way to make sure your thesis statement is strong and appropriate is to imagine that it is the only sentence the graders will see. If the rest of your essay wasn't there, and your thesis had to stand on its own, would it still provide an answer to the question? If so, then it is a good thesis. If not, then you need to go back to the drawing board.

o  BAD THESIS: There were multiple reasons for politicians to feel uncomfortable ratifying the Constitution.

o  GOOD THESIS: Though the reasons for rejecting the Constitution were many, most of those against ratification focused on three primary issues: the Constitutional Convention's lack of authority to draft a new constitution for the nation, the perceived loss of states' rights, and the fear of tyranny in the form of the loss of personal rights.

10. AP US DBQs (and regular essays, as well) are not the place to do the following:

o  Get inventive with your essay format and organization.

o  Abbreviate words or use text-message shortcuts.

o  Use conversational slang ("so he was, like, totally upset").

o  Use first-person POV.

o  Crack jokes, good ones or otherwise.

o  Make parenthetical or margin comments to the graders.

o  Bring up obscure historical trivia your teacher gave you for fun.

o  Role-play conversations between historical figures.

o  Make references to current fads and pop figures like Hannah Montana and the Transformers.

In short, you need to write a by-the-book essay. Spend your energy on making sure your information is thorough and well-organized, not being "cute" for the graders. Cuteness won't be appreciated and in most cases will hurt your score.

11. Please do try to do the following, to maximize your chances of success:

o  Use five-paragraph format.

o  Underline your thesis so that even an exhausted grader will have no trouble identifying it. 

o  Refer to documents directly by letter (Doc. C) rather than making subtle and easily missed references.

o  Use as many of the documents as possible.

o  Make sure your conclusion is strong and memorable.

o  Avoid re-stating your thesis in the same words in the conclusion.

o  For the love of all that's divine, take at least a few minutes at the end to proof-read your essay. It is foolish to assume that you are so smart that you can write an entire essay without at least one mistake. That one mistake could cost you your score.

12. The best way to make your conclusion strong and memorable is to point out how the subject of the essay fares later in history. For example, if the subject of the essay is the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, point out in your conclusion that the movement inspired other rights movements in the 1970s -- such as the American Indian Movement (AIM), the gay rights movement, and the feminist movement -- by providing proven tactics and a blueprint for movement organization. This shows the graders that you understand the importance of the subject matter to the overall passage of history.

Part III- Sample 9 DBQ for World History AP

Sample “9” DBQ

Spread of Buddhism – AP World History

            As Buddhism spread from India to China beginning in the first century C.E., it was met with mixed results.  Many Chinese accepted Buddhism and defended its policies while others scrutinized Buddhism’s absence from past texts and used it as a scapegoat for political and social problems.  Still others remained indifferent, wishing to meld the aspects of belief systems in China to create a unique Chinese culture.  Documents 2 and 3 defend and support Buddhism in China, while documents 4 and 6 scrutinize it and discourage its spread.  Documents 1 and 5 neither encourage nor discourage the religions spread, but provide a third perspective on how it should be dealt with.  An additional document that shows the actual numbers of converts to Buddhism during this time, preferably in a graph, would be useful in determining whether or not the worries of the authors in documents against Buddhism were grounded.

            Documents 2 and 3 defend and support the spread of Buddhism in China during first century C.E.  Document 2 speaks of the many joys of joining the Buddhist religion.  However, the author, Zhi Dun, is of the upper class of China and as such, his testimony does not tell how lower classes felt.  Yet, in a time when Asian steppe nomads were invading northern China, Zhi Dun could have easily targeted Buddhism as a means of foreign corruption, but he does not.  Document 3 counters the scrutiny of anti-Buddhists with logic.  However, Since the author is anonymous, his bias in this document is difficult to pinpoint, yet his role as a scholar certainly dictates a slight upper class bias, as in document 2.

            Documents 4 and 6all discourage the spread of Buddhism in first century C.E. China. Document 4 ridicules Buddhism as “a cult of barbarian peoples,” citing Confucian sayings as the truth amongst Buddhist lies.  Han Yu’s position in the imperial court certainly makes his ideas a standard in the state, yet the Emperor acts otherwise and the peasants might not share the same opinions.  Document 6 presents Buddhism as the cause for the numerous problems in Chinese society.  Since the author is Emperor Wu himself, it is likely that his opinions carried a lot of weight in his nation, yet many times citizens will adopt prohibited acts merely in an attempt to rebel.

            Documents 1 and 5 neither discourages nor encourage Buddhism’s spread in China, but attempt to make a compromise.  Document 1 is directly from Buddhist tradition, laying down the basic principles to attaining a happy and enlightened life.  Since the document is taken straight from sacred texts, it is certain that all other Buddhists shared these same beliefs.  Document 5 attempts to create a compromise among the conflicts of belief systems in China.  Although Zong Mi’s intentions may seem unbiased,  he is himself a Buddhist scholar, so his ideals might simply be an attempt to defend Buddhism.

            The spread of Buddhism in China during the first century was met with many different responses.  Conflicts such as this that arose in China due to foreign ideals were the main reasons for China’s isolationist policies later in its history.