warm up: what does this quote mean to you? “a society that puts equality...ahead of freedom will...
TRANSCRIPT
Warm UpWarm Up:
What does this quote mean to you? “A society that puts equality...ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom.”
Today’s Agenda: 10 minute
readings (no library today)
Explanation of Post its (do not take them off your desk, please)
Introduction to Anthem
“A society that puts equality...ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom.”
-Milton Friedman
Anthem (1939-1946)Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand• Born in St. Petersburg, Russia
in 1905. • She witnessed both the
Kerensky and Bolshevik Revolutions during her teenage years in Russia.
• The communist victory in Russia resulted in the confiscation of her father’s pharmacy and periods of near starvation for her family.
• When introduced to American history in high school, she immediately took to what a nation of freedom looked like.
• She left Russia in 1925, to visit relatives, and she never returned.
Ayn Rand Philosophies…
Objectivism Collectivism vs. Individualism
Objectivism The idea that focuses
on “man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity.”
Has four principals: Reality exists as an
objective absolute. Reason is man’s only
means of perceiving reality and his basic means of survival.
Man is an end to himself.
Laissez-faire capitalism
What is objectivism to you? Write on your post it what Ayn Rand’s philosophy means to you.
Knowing all of this….
Collectivism Idea based on what
you do is what is best for others…your purpose is to serve others without any care for your wants or desires. Being “altruistic”, but someone else tells you how to be…
Can you think of some examples where you may have experienced some form of collectivism in your own life (at home, the classroom, etc.)?
Your Turn…
Individualism Regards every man
as a sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from his nature as a rational being.
Imagine if our society was an individualist society. What do you think would be different? Given the kind of democracy that we have, do you think individualism could even work here? (Ideally we do have individual freedoms, but does how much of our society is individualist?)
Your Turn…
Individualism The individual…
Has rightsWill not run anyone
else’s life, nor let anyone run theirs
Will not rule or be ruled
Will not be a master or slave
Will not sacrifice themselves to anyone, nor sacrifice anyone to themselves.
The individual…Is owned by the
groupHas no right to a
private existenceHas no right to lead
his own life, pursue his own happiness, or use his own property
Exists only as a part of the group
Individualism vs. Collectivism
Collectivism
Anthem Written in America
in 1937Type of Literature -
Novella: Genre- Dystopian:
the world presented as it should NOT be (ex. 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm)
Anthem Narrator: Equality 7-2521 writes
the journal of the events as they transpire over the course of several months
Point of View: Equality 7-251 speaks in the first person (plural) referring to himself as “we” instead of “I.”
Tone: Equality 7-251 records his thought and actions in a straightforward manner, with no trace of irony.
Tense: present, with some past-tense narration
Setting (time)- sometime in the distant future, after the collapse of the social order becomes of the common acceptance of collectivist values
Setting (place)-an unidentified city; much of the first half of the novel, is narrated from a tunnel where Equality 7-2521 is hiding.
Protagonist- Equality 7-2521Symbols- light; the forest; manuscripts
Anthem