That long promised Level Questions Example

We're going to skip the preamble tonight. Check it out next time as I have a bit to say about the new television show, Teach: Tony Danza.

Frosh
You worked on grammar when I was gone on Tuesday.

Wednesday, we finished going over the Elements of Fiction and you received the examples assignment. Remember that you'll be finding five examples of any of the elements we went over. You'll then fill out the following:

1. Element
2. Story
3. Quote from the text
4. 2 - 3 sentences explaining how the quote qualifies as that element

This will be due on Monday, October 18.

Today, we began going over the Elements of Theme, which is the final Element of Lit and the most important one.

Seniors
My jaw betrayed me on Tuesday, so I wasn't there, and you had a reading day.

Wednesday, we started going over level questions.

Mad Men

Today, you took the lit terms test that covered both sets of terms, and then we finished going over the level questions, an example of which is below.

Mad Men is an excellent show, and the episode that aired on August 29 provided the inspiration to complete a series of level questions.


Level 1 (explicitly from the text): Where did Don Draper first meet advertising executive Roger Sterling?

Answer: Don Draper met Roger Sterling at a fur store. The two later met for lunch where Roger offered Don a job, although the former was too inebriated to remember doing so. Many years later, Roger claims to have "discovered" Don.

Level 2 (implicitly from the text): Why is Don Draper interested in getting a job in advertising?

Answer: Dick Whitman took on the persona of his commanding officer, Don Draper, after the latter was killed in an accident during the Korean War. Whitman was unsatisfied with his life and felt like he did not belong with his family, so he took the opportunity to assume a new identity and craft a more preferable life. As Don Draper, he is able to mold himself into the man he wants to be. Advertising is a natural fit for this Don Draper; it is the one of the few arenas where someone is able to take a simple product and perfectly shape the image other people perceive, much like Draper/Whitman himself.

Level 3 (beyond the text): How does advertising reflect the people it targets?

Answer:  Advertising shows people the idealized version of the things they desire. In reality, the product never looks as good as the ad. Truly great advertising does not sell a product as much as it does a life style. People prefer to see themselves as the best possible version that they can imagine, regardless of if that is true or even possible. Advertising represents a lie that people sell themselves. It is meant to show human beings at their best but actually shows them at their worst.

Theme: A career provides a person with the opportunity for self-discovery.