This week’s CommonLit.org homework assignment is “The Ten Commandments.” This text is included in our unit of study due to the literary allusions made in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, this text will be studied as a literary text and not in a religious manner. The text will be examined as it relates to theme, symbolism, parallel structure, etc. This is supported by the Common Core State Standards focused on “Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:”
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.7
Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.9
Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).
It is important for students to understand the connections between “The Seven Commandments” of Animal Farm and the biblical allusions created by Orwell as this enriches the text and allows students to develop additional levels of understanding of the novel.
If there are any questions or concerns regarding this assignment please contact me at lougha@dearbornschools.org or through the Remind App.
