As we finish up reading the non-fiction novella/memoir
Night, we will begin reading several works of fiction that extend from some of its central issues and themes.
"Minority Report"First, we will read the (long, haha) sci-fi short story "Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick. If it sounds fami
liar, it may be because you've seen the movie starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell (yes, we will see the movie, ladies). This story follows John Anderton, a man that heads up the Precrime unit instituted in a futuristic United States. The aim of the Precrime office is to avoid murder by using three unlucky humans with the gift/curse of precognition (the ability to see the future). While the institution of Precrime has drastically dropped the murder rate, it also leads to some other issues; namely, people that have actually committed no crimes are locked away in prison, others are used by the government without consideration of their civil liberties, and a feeling of unrest among other segments of the government is escalating. Anderton has problems of his own, which only get worse when the precogs alert them of the next "murderer," John Anderton.
1984 
Then, we will read and work with the novel
1984 by George Orwell. The main character is Winston Smith, a man that lives in a society overtaken by a totalitarian government that dictates every aspect of their life, watches their every move, and demands absolute worship of its citizens. Most people in Winston's "superstate" of Oceania follow Big Brother with utter devotion and a complete lack of self or individuality. Personal love and friendship is shunned, as all of one's being should be devoted to one thing, serving Big Brother. Parents are even afraid of their children as they are taught from an early age to spy on their parents and other adults to report any crimes or "thought crimes" that they witness to the Thought Police. Winston, however, thinks he can remember glimpses of the past that didn't involve dutiful conformity, and he tries to seek out others that may share his opinion of the current state of affairs.
Other ReadingsWe will also read various articles, selections, and stories, including "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, articles about privacy violations in the modern world, and a few selections from different books. Furthermore, there you will complete some internet research about several topics, such as revisionist history and related issues.
Research PaperThis is to give you advance knowledge of the research paper you will be completing during the third quarter, so you can consider your topic options over the course of the second quarter. Essentially, the paper should stem from some point of interest from the literature during the first semester. More details will be provided later, but I wanted to give you some things to think about now as we complete the readings.
Literature to connect to in some way
The Catcher in the Rye
Night
1984
“Minority Report”
- A different instance of genocide in the 20th century (Armenian, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur) Another totalitarian government from the 20th century (Italy, Russia, China, North Korea, Iraq, etc.)
- A totalitarian dictator (Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Pol Pot, etc.)
- A key personality in the world of communism: Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro, Alexander Dubcek, Mikhail Gorbachev, Eric Honecker, Wojciech Jaruszelski, Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot.
- Issues that arose during the Holocaust
- Human experimentation (occurred in the US at the same time of late; see http://www.newstarget.com/019189.html), Nazi, Dr. Mengele and other German doctors at the time, Japan)
- Propaganda of WWII (Nazi, American)
- Nazi Germany vs. Oceania
- The Patriot Act 1984 and Today—Is Big Brother Watching You?” (Privacy in the US in 2007)
- Censorship versus freedom of speech
- Political prisoners: Leonard Peltier, Woo Yong Gak, Chia Thye Poh, Nelson Mandela
- Torture during war/terrorism: how far is too far?
- The role of the media in deciding and controlling what Americans know and believe
- Peaceful uprising in Tiananmen Square, China, by college students seeking freedom of speech from their communist government. Note the methods used by the communist government to end this uprising, especially the expulsion of all foreign journalists.
- Compare the freedom of speech in 2007 between the United States and other countries.
- The rights of hate groups such as skinheads, the neo-Nazis, and the KKK to have freedom of speech and public expression (Example: skinheads vs. Jewish community in Skokie, Illinois).
- The “real” past: Changing American history; what happened vs. what we think happened.
- Who were the first inhabitants, explorers, and/or settlers of North America (before Columbus)? Not just from Europe either...who came and lived here for thousands of years? (Leif Erikson, Vinland, Clovis culture, First Nations, Native Americans, migration via the Bering Strait, Inuit, etc)
- Utopian and Dystopian Societies: Past attempts at Utopian Societies in the US -Massachusetts (Hopedale, Roxbury-Brook Farms), Amish country in Pennsylvania, The Shakers, Rappites, Oneida, Communes of the 1960’s (counterculture, utopian vision)
- Problems with past utopian societies that caused them to fail—what would a utopian society need to function?
- Predetermination
- Eugenics, genetic engineering, racial purity
- Fleeing of Nazi officers to South America after the war was over (I find this very interesting to see how they lived after the holocaust).
- War Criminals, war crime trials
- Aftermath for the Jews (what did they do when they were released?)
- Theories of Racism/Discrimination (why does society act the way it does?)
- Reparations (the the Jewish people, after slavery)
- Nazi/US/Russian military vehicles (planes, tanks, subs, etc)
- What are people doing about the current genocide in Darfur? What forms of assistance are possible (individuals/governments)? What is happening to the people of Darfur?
- Spy technology
- The Hitler Youth
- Positive outcomes of privacy-violating technology?
- Brainwashing—how governments or cults brainwash people; techniques; cases, etc
- Psychological profile of Adolf Hitler or another well-known public figure (dictator, murderer, etc)
- Bataan Death March (Japanese war crime in the Philippines in 1942 against American and Filipino POWs) or other war crimes
- The role of women during WWII (what did they do while their husbands were off at war
- The Manhattan Project (the project to develop the first nuclear weapon)
- Censorship in Nazi Germany (book burning, propaganda overloads, etc)
- Kamikaze (Japanese suicide attacks by military aviators against Allied ships)
- Why was the world silent during the holocaust? When and what did they know?
- The creation of the state of Israel (national home for the Jewish people with 3000 year old roots); conflict with Palestinians over the area; West Bank and the Gaza Strip
- Concentration or death camps; Gestapo
- What happened to Elie Wiesel after his liberation from Buchenwald?
- Stolen assets (property stolen from the Jews during the holocaust, art, etc)
- The reclusiveness of J.D. Salinger (won’t go out in public, at all)
- Addiction (teen addiction to drugs or alcohol)
- Runaways
- Personality disorders (antisocial, borderline, avoidant>ones that could apply to Holden)
Maybe I’ll merge the following list with the above one, but it’s just a continuation for now in a different format.
Mental Illness/Psychology
*Public perception of mental illness in the past**Public perception of mental illness today* *Grafton State Hospital—state “insane asylum” was in Grafton from 1901-1973**FBI Psychological Profiling (serial killers)* *Scientology’s view on psychiatric treatment* *Psychiatric treatments in the 1800’s* *Psychiatric treatments in the 1900’s* *Psychiatric treatments in modern era* *State mental hospitals (insane asylums) of the past* *The closure of state mental hospitals* *The history of psychology* *Child psychology* *Combat Disorders (mental illness/soldiers)* *Mentally ill leaders in history**The criminally insane* *Mental illness in the US (prevalence, stigma?, treatment options)**View of mental illness in other countries* *Noted psychiatrists: Sigmund Freud, known as the father of psychoanalysis, made his only trip to the U.S. in 1909 to Clark University in Worcester. Also, B.F. Skinner, Carl Jung, Jean Piaget, etc.*
Mental Illnesses: Can study one of the following in more detail:
Mood Disorders -Depression -Bipolar Disorder (formerly manic-depression) -Cyclothymic Disorder -Dysthymic Disorder Cognitive Disorders -Delirium -Dementia -Amnestic Disorders
Anxiety Disorders -Phobias
-Generalized anxiety disorder
-Social Anxiety Disorder
-Panic Disorder
-Agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house)
-Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (severe is like TV detective Monk)
-Post-traumatic stress disorder
Personality Disorders -Eccentric
(e.g. Paranoid personality disorder, Schizoid personality disorder, Schizotypal personality disorder) -Dramatic or emotional
(Antisocial personality disorder, Borderline personality disorder, Histrionic personality disorder, Narcissistic personality disorder) -Fear-related
(Avoidant personality disorder, Dependent personality disorder, Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder).
Psychoses
(disorders that occur when people lose touch with reality)
-Schizophrenia: the person has lost touch with reality in some way, shape or form and suffers from hallucinations, delusions, and/or hears voices -Schizoaffective disorder: a combination of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, and mood disorders such as mania or depression -Mania: extremely elevated mood, energy, and unusual thought patterns -Delusional (Paranoid) Disorders -Delusional: person believes things that are obviously not true: being the Queen of England, an alien -Delusional AND Paranoid: suspicious of everyone/everything -Psychotic Depression
Dissociative Identity Disorders
(severe disturbances of their self-identity, memory and general awareness of themselves and their surroundings) such as Depersonalization disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder itself (multiple personality disorder, or "split personality").
Factitious Disorders
such as Munchausen syndrome, also exist where symptoms are experienced and/or reported for personal gain/attention.
Others -Sleep disorders (narcolepsy, insomnia, night terrors) -Gender identity disorders (think you’re born in the wrong body), -Impulse control disorders (pyromania, kleptomania, etc.),
Teen Addiction/Issues (The Catcher in the Rye)
*How and Why Teens Get Addicted to Drugs and/or Alcohol* *The Short and Long Term Effects of Drug and/or Alcohol Addiction* *Ways to try to keep teens away from drugs and alcohol*
*Treatments for Teenage Addiction* *Teenage Smoking *Dangers on the Internet* *Sexual Orientation * *Teaching Sex Ed.—Abstinence versus Prevention* *Runaways* *Child/Teen Abuse and/or Neglect*
Others
*Conspiracy Theory--AIDS is a manmade tool of genocide*
*Holocaust Denial*
*Topics related to the changing of American History
-What were one or more of the preseident really like?
-How were African-Americans treated between 1860-1960 beyond what is common knowledge?
-Native Americans: Truth/legend
-What "well known events" never actually took place or happened completely different than we know understand them?
*Lie Detector Tests*
