Introduction
This project is not a WebQuest for a change. Students may
use Web resources to do the project, but the whole job (once you look at this
assignment, anyway) can be done without even booting your computer.
The point of this project is to look at the idea of success and really think about
what it means to live a successful life. Two of our literary protagonists, Jay Gatsby
and Willy Loman, die tragic deaths, in part, because of their confusion on this point.
Although confusion doesn't necessarily carry a death sentence, people
can waste at least a part of their lives by living in a delusion.
The authors of the above works imply that something about America leads people
into this kind of confusion. This country, known as "The Land of Opportunity"
around the world, is the home of "The American Dream," however one defines that term.
These national attributes (and oddities) show up in stark relief when seen from
foreign shores; seen from our own perspective, their effect can totally elude our
notice, but their influence is wide ranging and far reaching.
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The Task
This project should be a favorite of the arts-and-crafts crowd. We're going to
make a collage! And no, that won't be the whole project.
The collage should be a collection of images that obviously connect the idea
of success with material wealth--a common trend in our culture. They won't be very
hard to find, but finding the best ones for your collage may take some time.
The second part of the task is to write down your reflections on the whole
question of what success means in this country and why that may be a shallow,
dimensionless view. Surely you can think of a few other things people might want
to succeed at than accumulating money and things.
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The Process
Magazine advertisements offer a good place to start in your search for images.
Look for the kind of image that clearly tries to attach the idea of success to
the idea of purchasing the (usually very expensive) product in the ad. Cut them
out and arrange them attractively on a piece of poster board. As you do, give
some thought to the billion-dollar industry that does nothing else but make you
want stuff. They are very good at what they do!
NOTE: Good collages minimize the amount of background showing
through by overlapping images in a creative way.
The reflection essay that accompanies the collage should show that you have given
some thought to the issue of success outside the usual material sense of the word.
While it is fine to utter platitudes (look it up!),
this project asks you to think seriously about yourself and your relation to the
people around you. Think it through!
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Resources
You may want to try the the image search features of
altavista and
google for this project.
This may not work out too well, though, so don't spend too much time on it.
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Evaluation
The students who create the best collages and have the most obvious depth
of thought in their essays will get the highest grades. Simple, right?
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Conclusion
If this project saves someone from being a modern-day Jay Gatsby or
Willy Loman, it will have done its work. With all the voices on the
materialistic side of the issue, another voice should have a chance
to speak--your "inner voice" should be quite adequate!
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Designed by Michael Byers
Orange High School
Hillsborough, NC
Last updated June, 2008.
Based on a template from
The WebQuestPage