1984 Multimedia Project



Dystopia Project

1984 is one of the most influential books of the 20th and 21st century. It has introduced vocabulary and concepts that we hear and use every day – ever hear of Big Brother, for example? And between the information age, social media, even class warfare, drone strikes and perpetual wars, many argue it becomes more salient and relevant every day. Likewise, Handmaid’s Tale, written in 1986 is proving to have the same prescience 30+ years later. Indeed, one of the purposes of dystopian literature is to use an alternate reality or setting to exaggerate some problem in our current society. By exaggerating that problem we are then able to see it more clearly in our everyday life.

For this project you will look into the influence and foresight of 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale. To do this, you need to find:

1) A news article that reminds you of a scene or theme in 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale (you may use sources published electronically, but avoid unknown blogs or otherwise potentially specious sources). DO NOT use articles about 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale, rather use articles that illustrate the conflicts and problems in modern society that the novel critiques. Once you get into the novel and start thinking about it, you might be surprised how easy these articles are to find. In fact, Margaret Atwood has binders full of articles of things that have happened since she published Handmaid’s Tale that were predicted by and related to the novel.

2) A song or video that reminds you of a scene or theme in 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale. Feel free to be creative. It doesn’t have to be as overt as Radiohead’s “2+2=5,” but be sure you can defend your argument about its similarity. Try to find something you listen to or come across naturally. Don’t just Google “1984 song.” I’m really sick of “California Uber Alles,” “Somebody’s Watching Me,” and “2+2=5.”

3) A photograph, painting, sculpture, or other work of art that reminds you of a scene or theme in 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale. Again, please dig a little deeper than ten seconds of Google image searching. I want art, not clip art or memes. I will offer five points extra credit if you actually go see the piece of art in person (i.e. at a museum, gallery, etc).

If you are an artist or a musician, you may elect to create either the song, the video, or the work of art!

The project must be completed and organized as follows:

o Cover Page: A creative cover page with your name, an original title for your project (i.e. not just “1984 Multimedia Project”) and an image(s) to convey the themes discussed in your project.

o Article

o Article Analysis: A one-page explanation detailing and analyzing with cited quotes from both the novel and article how the article relates to 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale.

o Song Lyrics If you make your own song, please include a CD or link so that I can hear it; if you use a video, briefly summarize the video and send me a link.

o Song Analysis: A one-page explanation detailing and analyzing with cited quotes from both the novel and song how the song or video relates to 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale.

o Picture of the work of art (the original may be submitted if you create your own artwork).

o Art Analysis: A one-page explanation detailing and analyzing with cited quotes from the novel and references to specific details from the art how the work of art relates to 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale.

o MLA Works Cited Page a URL is not a proper citation, do not even try. Don’t forget to include the book!

Your project will be scored based on creativity, writing quality, and thoughtfulness in making connections between the works. It should show significant insight and attention to detail.

You must submit your written analysis, if not the entire project, to turnitin.

***No projects will be accepted that do not meet the requirements, including a properly formatted MLA works cited page and in text citations***

The project is due on or before March 9th.

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|Rubric: |

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|Criteria |

|Points |

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|F |

|D |

|C |

|B |

|A |

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|Cover Page |

|No Cover Page |

|Cover Page is missing some of the required information or the image |

|Cover page is missing one of the requirements or represents lackluster effort |

|Cover Page has required information and an image |

|Cover Page has required information and creatively portrays the assignment |

|____ |

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|Article |

|No Article and/or Connection |

|Article and/or connection offers little insight into the themes of the novel or is plagued by poor writing |

|Article and/or connection has circumstantial similarities or little insight is offered. Writing may have some problem areas or show lack of effort |

|Article and/or connection offers some insight into the themes of the novel; connection has few grammatical mistakes |

|Article and/or connection offers significant insight and shows attention to detail; creatively addresses the assignment |

|____ |

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|Song |

|No Song and/or Connection |

|Song and/or connection offers little insight into the themes of the novel or is plagued by poor writing |

|Song and/or connection has circumstantial similarities or little insight is offered. Writing may have some problem areas or show lack of effort |

|Song and/or connection offers some insight into the themes of the novel; connection has few grammatical mistakes |

|Song andconnection offers significant insight and shows attention to detail; creatively addresses the assignment |

|____ |

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|Work of Art |

|No work of art and/or Connection |

|Work of art and/or connection offers little insight into the themes of the novel or is plagued by poor writing |

|Art and/or connection has circumstantial similarities or little insight is offered. Writing may have some problem areas or show lack of effort |

|Work of art and connection offers some insight into the themes of the novel; connection has few grammatical mistakes |

|Work of art and connection offers significant insight and shows attention to detail; creatively addresses the assignment |

|____ |

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|MLA Works Cited Page |

|No Works Cited Page |

|Works Cited Page is missing a work |

|Works Cited Page is complete but does not follow MLA format in some two minor areas |

|Works Cited Page is complete but does not follow MLA format in some minor area |

|Works Cited Page is neat and 100% properly formatted |

|____ |

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|Holistic Assessment/ Evidence of Effort and Thoughtfulness |

|Looks like it was started the night before it was due or indicates that you probably didn’t read the book |

|Not bad, but you can do better |

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|Basic: Meets the minimum requirements, but struggles to do much else. |

|Pretty darn super for the most part, but stale in some aspect – same song or image that everyone uses because it pops up right away in an internet search, |

|mediocre analysis, etc. |

|Super Duper Awesome – totally original, provocatively insightful, or simply mind blowing |

|____ |

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|Total----> |

|____ |

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