Second Semester Final, Easton's 3 Level English
Your final assignment is in two parts.
First, read and annotate the short story, “ Vaccine Season” by Hannu Rajaniemi. It is a science-fiction short story about a (dystopian or utopian, depending on your p.o.v.) teenaged Norwegian boy who enjoys the benefits of mandatory vaccination, and wants his grandfather to live a longer, more perfect, and happy life, too.
Remember when annotating, you should a) circle vocabulary, b) write out your questions, and c) keep thematic notes in the margins. For this text, pay attention to what the writer says about how technology changes the way we live. Are these medical advancements improving society, or destroying what it means to be human? Is the main character’s decision an act of mercy or one of selfishness?
Audio for the story is here.
PDF of the story is here.
Second, write a multi-paragraph response that answers the following question. Use everything we’ve studied about writing and paragraph structure to craft your response. Take time to pre-write and organize your ideas before drafting your response. If possible, leave time to proofread your response and to read your draft out loud, and make changes accordingly.
Does the Grandfather’s decision to leap into the churn—saving his grandson, and becoming “infected” the vaccine—change your view of whether or not it was right for the boy to come to the island in the first place?
You should submit both your annotations and your written response as separate assignments on Canvas. The annotations should be submitted as a file (either notability pdf, or a picture of your paper and ink notes via Genius). The written answer should be submitted as text, copied and pasted into the text submission box.
Questions? Mr. Easton will be in the classroom Zoom room during the final. ALL submissions are due NO LATER THAN 12:15 pm today (that’s 1.5 time, in case anyone has extended time via an IEP or 504).
Remember, these will only be graded IF THESE IMPROVE YOUR SEMESTER GRADE OVERALL.