Literature, Don DeLillo's White Noise, test, essay, and discussion questions

Literature

Don DeLillo's White Noise

THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING:

➢ A test with 12 multiple choice questions and answers along with the page numbers

➢ Eight essay questions

➢ Six passages from the book for discussion (with page numbers)

➢ Questions aligned with ELA-Literacy CCSS 9-12 – in particular with the following standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Here is a brief description of the book from Google books:

“Jack Gladney teaches Hitler studies at a liberal arts college in Middle America where his colleagues include New York expatriates who want to immerse themselves in "American magic and dread." Jack and his fourth wife, Babette, bound by their love, fear of death, and four ultramodern offspring, navigate the usual rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. Then a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives, an "airborne toxic event" unleashed by an industrial accident. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladney family--radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings – pulsing with life, yet heralding the danger of death.”

TIME MAGAZINE included the novel in its 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.

I teach WHITE NOISE as a FULCRUM TEXT, TEXTURE TEXT, or a CONTEXT TEXT usually alongside THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA. It is an excellent novel to use when studying philosophical concepts including, but not limited to, the following: morality, ethics, sacrifice, and postmodernism.

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HIGH SCHOOL HOTS #1.

Copyright © 2013, jellycat-in-the-snow productions

All rights reserved by author

Permission to copy for single classroom use only

Electronic distribution limited to single classroom use only

Keywords: postmodernism; Don DeLillo; White Noise; CCSS; The Holocaust; philosophy; political philosophy; History; social studies; ELA; Literature

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Copyright © 2013, jellycat-in-the-snow productions

All rights reserved by author

Permission to copy for single classroom use only

Electronic distribution limited to single classroom use only

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