The Grapes of Wrath and The Worst Hard Time Argumentative Project Assignment Sheet AP Communication Arts 11 Mrs. Coats Date Assigned: March 4/5 Date Due: March 21/22 Unit Objective: Students will be able to read a variety of texts, including timeperiod fiction, non-fiction and comics, to help form an opinion and create an argument that includes a claim, evidence and warrant(s). Purpose: You are doing this unit because being a successful adult sometimes means you need to make an argument (a set of reasons and warrants) to get a job, get into college, and to be successful once you are in those places. It is very important to know how to argue properly. This unit coincides with the content you are learning in your American History course. Overview: This assignment asks you to pull together the information you learned in The Grapes of Wrath and The Worst Hard Time to form an opinion about one of the following prompts below. You will be required to write an essay and create a digital piece that supplements your writing. Writing Prompts (based on the essential questions): 1. Throughout this unit you have been reading The Grapes of Wrath and The Worst Hard Time, various eyes past print articles, and viewing brief video clips of “The Black Blizzard.” Each piece has exposed you to the struggles people faced during the 1930s and how beneficial government aid can be. **To answer this prompt, you must argue whether or not the Joads and Wilsons really needed government aid. To do so, you must conduct research and document important aspects of each government program that would have been beneficial to the Joads and Wilsons. To gain complete points, you should consider yourself a member of the Joad family and make a decision. Take into account your pride, your core values, and what it would mean to accept government aid in a time when aid was not available (or socially acceptable). Think about the role the government was playing during the 1930s. 2. Throughout this unit you have been reading The Grapes of Wrath and The Worst Hard Time, various eyes past print articles, and viewing brief video clips of “The Black Blizzard.” Each piece has exposed you to how people could impact their communities, whether it be their own family, spouse, or an entire roadside camp. **To answer this prompt, you must argue whether or not the Joads or Wilsons were impacted by an actual individual/group. You must also determine whether or not the Joads were a group that impacted the larger communities that they joined throughout the novel. Take into consideration the real, hard facts (of the time period) that Egan presented you with in The Worst Hard Time. To do so, you must conduct research and document positive and negative impacts of an individual/group on a community. Consider what it means to impact a community from the familial, town, and national level. 3. Throughout this unit you have been reading The Grapes of Wrath and The Worst Hard Time, various eyes past print articles, and viewing brief video clips of “The Black Blizzard.” Each piece has exposed you to how gender roles aligned themselves. Remember--a gender role is a model for what a “man,” “woman,” (and even child) must do. Their roles are apparent in determining what their “job” is--within the family and community. **To answer this prompt, you must argue whether or not men and women had specific gender roles. To do so, you must conduct research and document what gender roles are and investigate their shifts over time. Take into consideration what kind of information fiction (Grapes of Wrath) and non-fiction (The Worst Hard Time) gives you. Consider that fiction might have presented a different picture of what gender roles were like (overall) during the 1930s. Digital Supplement Options: (See your teacher for other ideas) 1. Rewrite a chapter of The Grapes of Wrath (preferably one with dialogue and character interaction), in Tweets. 2. Write a children’s book edition of The Grapes of Wrath in an online creator, Storybird. 3. Create your own rap like the one shown in class. 4. Create a comic strip of a chapter of The Grapes of Wrath in an online creator, Bitstrips. Guidelines: You must follow the research process: Known Information: • • • • Summarizing Synthesizing Using quotes Making connections New Information: • maintaining/updating your annotated bibliography • turned in your project proposals in memo format • Drafting in class Timeline of Important Due Dates: March 5/6: Project Proposals due March 7/8: CRAP testing due March 11/12: Annotated Bibliographies due March 13/14: Complete Drafts due March 15/18: Revision March 19/20: Editing March 21/22: Final Drafts due Assignment of Points Project Proposal CRAP Testing Annotated Bibliography Complete Draft Proof of Revision - letter to your teacher Editing Final Draft Digital Supplement TOTAL 10 points 10 points 30 points 25 points 15 points 10 points 150 points 100 points 350 points Requirements: You essay must have: • valid claim and counterclaim. • 3-4 pages, double spaced in 12 point font. • shown active thought and analysis. • use of four different sources: The Grapes of Wrath, The Worst Hard Time, and two scholarly journals • • • • • • • • a minimum of 5 quotes or paraphrases one quote from each source; the remaining quote from any of your sources. include a definitive introduction, body with supporting details and conclusion. a clear, concise thesis statement a works cited page correct MLA in-text citations and formatting, including your heading show audience awareness no second person pronouns like “you,” “your/s” or “yourself” and minimal use of personal pronouns like “I,” “me,” “my” or “mine” • an original title