Vengeance is Ours

Please read Jared Diamond's article, Vengeance is Ours, by Monday January 11th.

Brave New World Chapter 18

Please use these questions as a guide as you read Chapter 17. If you wish to answer them for extra credit, please post o your blog by January 4.

1. Where does John go to be alone?

2. What does John do when he is whittling his bow-stave? How does he react?

3. Who comes to see John? Why?

4. Who is Darwin Bonaparte?

5. To what extent is John's experience with the visitors similar to that of John Merrick when the nightwatchman brings his friends from the pub?

Brave New World Chapter 17

Please use these questions as a guide as you read Chapter 17. If you wish to answer them for extra credit, please post o your blog by January 4.

1. How does the controller feel about God? Why does he believe that the World State can be "independent of God" (p. 233)?

2. How does the controller feel about philosophy?

3. What does the controller mean when he says, "Christianity without tears-that's what soma is." (p. 238)?

4. What does John mean when he says, "Nothing costs enough here." (p. 239)?

5. Why does John claim the right to be unhappy?

Brave New World Chapter 16

Please use these questions as a guide as you read Chapter 16. If you wish to answer them for extra credit, please post o your blog by January 4.

1. What shocks John about Mustapha Mond, Resident World Controller for Western Europe?

2. Mond says, "Beauty's attractive, and we don't want people to be attracted by old things". (p.219) Was there a hypnopedic saying repeated by characters throughout the book that reinforce this idea?

3. What does Mond mean when he says that, "You can't make tragedies without social instability. The world's stable now. People are happy; they get what they want" (p. 220). Why does John respond to the media provided by stating, "But they don't mean anything." (221)?

4. How do you think John would respond to Flava of Love, The Bachelor, ESPN or reality shows like Survivor? What would Mond think of these shows?

5. What was the Cyprus experiment?

6. Why does Mond believe that "science must be treated as a possible enemy" (p. 225)?

7. What shift did mass production produce?

8. What is their punishment?

Brave New World Chapter 15

Please use these questions as a guide as you read Chapter 15. If you wish to answer them for extra credit, please post o your blog by January 4.

1. What does John mean when he says, "Like maggots they had swarmed defilingly over the mystery of Linda's death. (p. 209)"?

2. Why does John believe that "Linda had been a slave." (p. 210)?

3. What does John do to bring the Delta's freedom? Who joins him?

4. At the end of the chapter, who is taken away by he police?

Brave New World Chapter 14

Please use these questions as a guide as you read Chapter 14. If you wish to answer them for extra credit, please post o your blog by January 4.

1. What is happening to Linda?

2. What does John mean when he says, "when she told him those stories about the Other place, outside the Reservation: that beautiful, beautiful Other place" (p. 201)?

3. Who are the "filthy little brats" (p. 202) who anger John so much?

4. Please explain why "run along now and have your cup of caffeine solution" is problematic? I'm serious - I don't see the problem.

5. Why don't people in the hospital understand John when he says, "Oh, God, God, God" (p. 207)?

Brave New World Chapter 13

Please use these questions as a guide as you read Chapter 13. If you wish to answer them for extra credit, please post o your blog by January 4.

1. What does Lenina mean when she says, "For Ford's sake John, talk sense. I can't understand a word you say. First it is vacuum cleaners; then its knots. You're driving me crazy." (p. 191)?

2. How does John react when Lenina makes advances towards him?

Brave New World Chapter 12

Please use these questions as a guide as you read Chapter 12. If you wish to answer them for extra credit, please post o your blog by January 4.

1. In what ways does Bernard remind you of Dr. Treves or the nightwatchman in The Elephant Man?

2. Why does John have to use Zuni to express how he feels?

3. Why does Lenina feel "a sense of dreadful emptiness, a breathless apprehension, a nausea." (p. 174)?

4. Why doesn't Mustapaha Mond want "A New theory of Biology" not to be published? Does the work remind you of anything that we have studied recently?

5. Do you agree with Bernard's belief in the "principal functions of a friend" as described on p. 179? Why does he feel this way toward John and Helmholtz?

6. What does Helmholtz think of Shakespeare?

Brave New World Chapter 11

Please use these questions as a guide as you read Chapter 11. if you wish to answer them for extra credit, please post o your blog by January 4.

1. Why is Dr. Shaw glad "to have had this opportunity to see an example of senility in a human being." (p. 155)?

2. Why are people saying behind Bernard's back that, "He won't find another Savage to help him out a second time." (p. 157)?

3. Why do the Eton students in the Beta-Minus Geography room laugh at the religious activities of "savages"? Why do you think it significant that there are no twins at Eton? Do you think that is still true today?

4. How do children in the World State learn about Death?

5. Why do lower-caste workers receive daily Soma rations? Do we do this today?

6. Why does John tell Lenina that, "I don't think you ought to see things like that." (p. 169)?

Brave New World Chapters 11-18

Over vacation, please finish Brave New World. I will provide guiding questions for each chapter, but YOU DO NOT NEED TO COMPLETE THEM FOR CREDIT. If you want to answer them for Extra Credit, please feel free. We will be discussing the book after vacation.

Also, please be prepared to discuss the following article when we come back from break.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_diamond

Prescribed Title #10 Outline

Please write a DETAILED Outline for the following May 2010 Prescribed Title:

What similarities and differences are there between Scientific and Historical Explanations?

In your Outline, you must clearly differentiate between your Opening and Body Paragraphs and your Conclusion.

Be sure that each paragraph deals with either/or:

*Key words from the question.
*Points from the ToK Rubric (i.e. counterclaims, implications, Knowledge Issues, Aok and WoK and self awareness).
*Specific Examples to justify your claims

No need to write in full sentences, but I must be able to understand your point.

Outlines MUST INCLUDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY!

Outlines must be turned in by December 23.

Brave New World Chapter 10

Please complete the following questions by December 15 for full credit.

1. Why does the director feel that Unorthodoxy is worse than Murder? What does the Director want to do with Bernard Marx?

2. What surprise does Bernard bring to the Director?

Abel Chapter 10: Scientific Explanations

Please read Abel Chapter 10 and answer the questions under Science on the right side of the page. Try to answer three questions a night. We will go over these questions every day in class, so be prepared. Please have all questions complete by Monday, December 14th for full credit.

Brave New World Chapter 9

Please read Chapter 9 of Brave New World and answer the following questions. Answers are due by December 7 to receive full credit.

1. What did Lenina do when she got back to the rest-house?

2. What does Bernard ask his Fordship, Mustapha Mond?

3. What does John say when he is by Lenina's bedside? Why is this significant?

In Class Essay

Please use the entire time on Friday to answer the following question. the Essay must be presented to me Monday, December 7th on your blog and as a hard copy.


"People need to believe that order can be glimpsed in the chaos of events" (adapted from John Gray, Heresies, 2004). In what ways and to what extent would you say this claim is relevant in at least two areas of knowledge?

Your will be graded based on the Sturgis ToK Rubric.
You do not need to hand in anything on Friday, but the complete paper (It should look like an essay, NOT an outline!) should be beautiful by Monday!

Brave New World Chapter 8

Please answer the following question. Answers are due on Nov. 30th to receive full credit.

1. How would you describe John's upbringing? Why do you think he says that he is "Alone, always alone." (p. 137). How does Bernard feel about John?

2. Why does John say at the end of the chapter, "O brave new world!" (p. 139)?

Brave New World Chapter 7

Please read Chapter 7 and answer the following questions. Answers must be posted by November 17th for full credit.

1. How does Lenina feel about their appointed guide?

2. How does Lenina react to "naked Indian"(p. 110)? Does it remind you of anyone else we have studied?

3. How does Bernard react to the pueblo of Malpais?

4. Who is Linda? What is her relationship to Tomakin?

5. Why does Linda believe that "everything they do is mad"(p. 121)? Please be specific.

Jared Diamond

Please read the Jared Diamond article and answer the questions on Hard vs. Soft Sciences by Friday, November 20th for full credit.

Brave New World Chapter 6

Please answer the following questions. Answers must be posted to the blog on Friday, November 13th for full credit.

Part I
1. Why does Lenina think Bernard Marx "odd" - please use specific references from this chapter in your answer.

2. Please provide more lines from Lenina that she learned from hypnopedia (there are some great ones in this chapter!). Do any of them remind you of sayings that we may use - please don't use commercial jingles. i.e. "1-800-54-Giant!"

3. What is Fanny's explanation for Bernard's behavior?

Part II
4. What did the Director tell Bernard about his own trip to the Reservation? Why did it initially make Bernard feel uncomfortable?

5. What does the Director threaten Bernard with if he doesn't change his behavior? Why does it elate Bernard?

Part III
6. How does the Warden describe the Reservation?

Nacirema

After the Nacirema exercise, please answer the following:
1. What happened yesterday? Why couldn't we recognize our own culture?
2. What does your answer say about the the strengths and weaknesses of the Social Sciences like Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology?

Think of what the Dragon told Grendel: "You are, so to speak, the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves (p. 73)."