Writing with Sharon Watson-Easy-to-use Homeschool Writing and Literature Curriculum

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Who Is on Your Team?


HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Ender's GameYoung Ender Wiggin, in Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, is smallish for his age, smart, and a bit of a misfit. In the movie of the same name by Summit Entertainment, Colonel Graff wants Ender to remain a misfit and even manipulates events so the other young students will hate Ender. Graff doesn’t want Ender to rely on anyone and even cuts off his emails to and from home so the young boy can focus on his studies.

Despite the people in his life who try to keep Ender from forming relationships, he creates his own network of friends and allies as he moves through the classes and battle games. He realizes, as does the psychiatrist Major Anderson,

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Are You Proud . . . or Just Prejudiced?


HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Pride and Prejudice dancing and sniping Have you read or viewed Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

You’ll find a wonderfully ironic scene in chapter XVIII.  The setting is an elaborate ball.  All are dressed beautifully and are on their best behavior.  The dancing is organized in lines or circles, much like square dancing but much more sedate.

Against this metered backdrop we see the two main characters, Elizabeth and Darcy, dancing with each other—and arguing the whole time:

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What Would You Do with a Used Drone?


HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

093013-what-would-you-do-with-a-used-drone_100x100Do you have an old spy drone or aerial photography drone lying around? You know, those unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can be as tiny as a dragonfly or as large as small airplane.

The folks at Philadelphia’s Manayunk Cleaners have one. They’re using their pre-owned drone to deliver dry-cleaned clothes to their customers. Sure, they can only deliver one shirt at a time, but it’s the novelty that counts.

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When Was the Last Time You Were Attacked by Pirates?

When Was the Last Time You Were Attacked by Pirates?

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

No, this isn’t a fun-loving film about Caribbean pirates and Johnny Depp.  I’m talking about real pirates with lethal weapons who board your boat, take you captive, kill your crew, and hold you for ransom.  That kind of pirate.  They’re very real, and they’re very active off the shores of South America and Africa.

Being captured by real pirates is exactly what happened to Captain Richard Phillips in 2009.  Captain Phillips is a movie of his harrowing experience, featuring Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips.

What did Phillips think of his experience?  In a Parade interview, Phillips says this about fear

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