Masson's Musings for Government: November 2006

ANIMAL FARM WAC NEWSPAPER ASSIGNMENT

You are about to begin watching reading an allegorical movie, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. An allegory is a story that uses fictional characters and situations to illustrate a factual situation or particular idea. Animal Farm represents the Russian Revolution as well as key Russian figures. The author, George Orwell, wrote the book after World War II at the height of Josef Stalin’s reign in Russia.

It is important to understand the historical background of an allegorical story before reading/watching it. Therefore, you are about to embark on a project delving into Russian history before and during the Communist era. At the end of this project you should have a good understanding of the key figures in the Russian Revolution. You should also have a firm grasp on what Communism was, what it was intended to be, and what it became under Stalin. Finally, when you read Animal Farm, you will be able to make connections between the characters in the book and the actual historical figures.

The Task
Welcome Comrades, to Pravda, or “truth”. This is an underground newspaper dedicated to forwarding the ideas of Communism and promoting the leaders of the glorious Revolution.
· You will be working in groups of 5 to create an issue of Pravda.
· The goal of this issue is to explain Communism and let the people know who the leaders of the Russian Revolution are.
· Each person in the group will be responsible for one section of the newspaper.
· Each section must contain one article with historical information as well as photographs. Your sources for the newspaper should be well documented.

The Process
To accomplish the task, you will need to do the following:
1. In your group, choose who will do what section of the newspaper: Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Communism, or The Bolsheviks and the revolution.
2. Once you've picked your section, you will need to begin researching your topic. Use the websites following these instructions to help you on your search.
3. Once you have gathered your notes (Please make sure you have documented your sources), you will need to begin writing your articles.
a. You will write one historical article using the facts you discover on the web. Your article should be approximately 5 FULL paragraphs long.
b. You will also want to include some photographs for your section of the newspaper.
4. After writing your articles and gathering your photographs, you will get together in your groups and peer-edit each other’s work. You will also decide how you want to lay out the paper. Choose someone to be the chief editor, someone to be the chief designer, someone to be the final presenter. The other two group members will be responsible for helping design and edit.
5. Each group member will finalize his or her article and the group will create their newspaper.
6. The group will present their paper to the class for review. Grades will be given based on class evaluation as well as teacher evaluation and group evaluation.

Resources:
V.I. Lenin http://history1900s.about.com/cs/leninvi/index.htm
Tzar Nicholas II http://history1900s.about.com/cs/nicholasii/index.htm?terms=Nicholas+Romanov
The Trotsky Archive http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/russ/rusrev.html
The Russian Revolution http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/russ/rusrev.html
The Bolsheviks and Workers Control http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshevik
Stalin Reference Archive http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/index.htm
People's Century Red Flag Tatiana Fedorova http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/episodes/redflag/fedorovatranscript.html
People's Red Flag Chernitzky http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/episodes/redflag/chernitzkytranscript.html
Russian Culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_Soviet_Union
Leon Trotsky http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/index.htm
Lenin Archive http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/
Lenin and the First Communist Revolution http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/his1c.htm
Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/index.htm
History of Communism http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/history.htm
The Path to Revolution http://www.geographia.com/russia/rushis06.htm
Freedom and Revolution http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/rbr/freerev.html and http://www.factmonster.com/search?fr=fmtnh&query=russian+revolution&x=17&y=7
Did Lenin Lead to Stalin? http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2419/lensta.html
In Memory of Trotsky http://history1900s.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trotsky.net%2Ftrotsky_year%2Fin_memory_of_trotsky.html
Russian Revolution Q&A http://history1900s.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.barnsdle.demon.co.uk%2Fruss%2Frfaq.html
A Russian Revolution, 1917 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Russian-Revolution.htm

Evaluation
You will receive two grades for this project. You will get a group grade based on the completed newspaper and an evaluation from each group member. You will also get an individual grade based on your articles.
Article Grading Rubric

Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4
Score
Content
Factual Article

Article is less than 5 paragraphs in length and contains little factual information.
Article is less than 3 paragraphs in length and has some factual information.
Article is 3 paragraphs in length and contains factual information from research.
Article is 4-5 paragraphs in length and contains factual information from research.

Content
Opinion Article
Article is less than 3 paragraphs in length and contains little factual information.
Article is less than 3 paragraphs in length and has some factual information.
Article is 3 paragraphs in length and contains factual information from research.
Article is 4-5 paragraphs in length and contains factual information from research.

Voice (Opinion Article only)

Reflects only the voice of a modern high school student.
Does little to reflect the voice of a revolutionary writer.
Somewhat reflects the voice of a revolutionary writer while maintaining factual information.
Reflects the voice of a revolutionary writer while maintaining factual information.

Mechanics
X 2

Contains many grammar, spelling or punctuation errors.
Contains fewer than 10 grammar, spelling or punctuation errors.
Contains fewer than 6 grammar, spelling or punctuation errors.
Contains fewer than 4 grammar, spelling or punctuation errors.

Format
X 2
Incomplete
Article is handwritten and may be missing information and does not look neat or may be in pencil.
Article is handwritten neatly in pen and has proper title and author information similar to a newspaper article.
Article is typewritten and has proper title and author information similar to a newspaper article.

Total

Group Evaluation Rubric

Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4
Score
Content

Project has no pictures and may be missing an article or two.
Project may be missing an article or two or may have very few pictures.
There are two articles for each section as well as 1 picture drawn or printed out and identified for each section.
There are two articles for each section as well as 2 pictures drawn or printed out and identified for each section

Design

The newspaper is laid out more like a report.

The newspaper is laid out like a newspaper and shows some creativity and thought

Total

Group Member Evaluation

Each group member will evaluate the other members of the group based on participation, quality of work, cooperation, etc. This ensures that no one person does the work for everyone in the group and shares the credit for the assignment.

Conclusion
After completing this project, you should have a better understanding of the history of the Russian Revolution as well as the people behind it. You should also understand more about what Communism was intended to be. Knowing this information will allow you to read George Orwell’s Animal Farm as an allegory instead of just a story with talking pigs.

Masson's Musings for Government

Saturday, November 18, 2006

ANIMAL FARM--COMMUNISM PROJECT

Thursday, November 09, 2006

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