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Given the nature of the 2011 summer reading program, you had significant autonomy in selecting the books you would read. While you were responsible for completing a proposal, you were not given other assignments to complete over the summer. As indicated on your proposal form, you are required to write a letter to your 2011-12 Language Arts teacher that demonstrates your thoughtful reading of your book. We have chosen to break this down further into three focused "Power Paragraphs" for two reasons, one, to introduce you to the idea of a power paragraph, and two, to assist you in covering all aspects of the assignment.

__ Prompt for Paragraph One - A Reflection of Your Choice __ ** click edit and paste your response here ** Reading George Orwell's __1984__ had been my dream since I first heard about the book in sixth grade. Unfortunately, I found the book to be awful; I hate books that have sex scenes in them. The middle section contains a large number of scenes in which the main character, Winston, has sex with a cooworker, Julia; in fact the main method of Winston's rebellion against the Party is having sex with Julia. The large number of sex scenes solely contributed to my dislike of __1984__.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **

I understand your reaction, but you should try to understand why Orwell chose to include these scenes. There is a deeper meaning behind the choice. Why did you want to read this book in the first place? Explain this a bit more. __ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __ ** click edit and paste your response here ** The idea of having the ability to control history has always interested and kind of scared me. In __1984__ the all-powerful government, the Party, has an entire ministry devoted to changing records of the past to suit its needs; this made me think about the possibility of that actually happening in today's society. "'We, the Party, control all records and all memories. Then we control the past'" (Orwell 248). The Party's ability to control all records allows them to keep the people in check; and as I read I wondedred, "could it be happening now"?
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **

Orwell, George. //1984//. 1977 ed. London: Penguin, 1949. Print.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __ ** click edit and paste your response here ** When I first heard about the book __1984__ it sounded like the ultimate "rebellion against the evil government" story; unfortunately for me, the chase scenes and action-packed story line I was expecting failed to appear. However, if you enjoy reading less-action-packed books, George Orwell is a great author; if you read and enjoyed __Animal Farm__, you will probably enjoy __1984__. The most action in the book occurs when Winston is being arrested by the thought police, but even that action pales in comparison to action in nearly every other book I have read. The perfect reader for __1984__ would be one who is not expecting a lot of action and who enjoys George Orwell's writing style. Can you be more clear/specific about the type of reader who would like this book? I don't think any reader looks for "less-action-packed books."
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Sunday, 8/28 **


 * Scoring: Your three paragraphs will be given one overall grade, and the timeliness of your posts will be reflected in your "timeliness" grade. **

// An outstanding response to the prompts will include the following: //
 * A strong topic sentence that clearly establishes the focus on the prompt
 * Evidence that clearly supports the topic sentence I like your personal responses, but try to be more specific to the book as well.
 * Correct use of internal citations and a properly formatted MLA citation for your book (put this citation at the end of paragraph one)
 * Strict adherence to the Power Paragraph format This is a challenging format, be sure to include words/phrases that are directly in support of the prompt
 * Mechanics are clean and do not detract from meaning