Knowing Our Fate TECHNOLOGY AND UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES IN “TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW” BY KURT VONNEGUT

If you could, would you like to live forever? What do you think? If you could, would you like to live forever?

Before we begin Things I need to know about the text Literary terms I need to know

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Kurt Vonnegut Literary concepts to review: Science Fiction Theme Characterization Irony

Science Fiction A genre of fiction that features imaginative content such as space or time travel, speculation about the future, the impact of technology or scientific discovery. In addition to focusing on the extraordinary, science fiction (sci-fi) is usually used to explore subjects like human nature, greed, power, morality, and society. Sci-fi authors are frequently using the fantastic to create a theme about the world we know.

Theme It’s not Revealed through a combination of: Plot Outcome the possible statement an author is making about an issue (or issues) contained within the text It’s not Revealed through a combination of: Plot Outcome Character outcome Title A direct statement from the narrator or a character The subject (e.g. Love, Hate, Greed) Theme Frozen The Avengers Possible Theme: it is better to face one’s problems with loving support than to try to conceal it out of fear Possible Theme: It is important to put ego aside and work together for the greater good.

Characterization The process of creating a character. It’s not Direct Just describing something superficial that can’t be used to identify personality When an author just states a character’s personality Characterization Indirect When an author shows a character’s personality though their… Speech Thoughts Effect on Others Actions Looks

Irony It’s not Irony Verbal Dramatic Situational characterized by a contrast between what the expectations of a situation are and what is really the case It’s not Something merely funny or unfortunate Irony Verbal Dramatic Situational When someone says the opposite of what is meant When the audience knows something a character doesn’t When an actual outcome is a reversal of the expected one

Summary time! Count off by three! Ones: Come up with an example of theme! Twos: Come up with an example of irony! Threes: Define indirect characterization! Form a group with all three numbers and share your results!

Listen, Read, Discuss For working with today’s text, we are going to be using a Listen, Read, Discuss framework. Listen, Read, Discuss involves three steps (guess what they are?) Listen: I will give you a quick, but thorough summary of the text. Read: You will read the text on your own. Discuss: We will discuss the text using a number of prompts for help. We are also going to add some writing on the end to see what you learned.

LISTEN Summary: Em and Lou are on the 67th floor talking about Gramps. Gramps is the oldest member of the family and owns all the stuff. Since he takes anti- gerasone and doesn’t age they don’t think they will be rid of him. He makes the family miserable by taking the best room and food. Em and Lou reminisce about the good old days before everything got too crowded. They even wish there were diseases to kill off people. Gramps constantly changes his will as a way to make the family do what he wants. Lou sees a relative try to water down gramps’s anti-gerasone to try and kill him. Lou tries to stop him, but breaks the bottle and Gramps sees him. Gramps leaves and says they must share his inheritance equally. The family immediately begins to fight. They all end up in jail, but Em and Lou are happy because jail is more spacious then home. Gramps is seen sitting watching an ad for Super-Anti-Gerasone, which will make him young again. He is excited to see what happens next.

Read: Okay! Now we are going to read the texts on our own. We will be shooting to finish the text in 30 minutes. While reading, pay attention to: The way Vonnegut builds the characters Focus on dialog and action Any examples of irony What Vonnegut is saying about: Family Technology Human nature power

Discuss: Now we are going to process all that we read by having a student lead discussion. First complete the following tasks on your own (5 minutes): What passage best captures Gramps personality? Why? If you were in Gramp’s position, would you act any differently? What are the top two examples of irony in the text? Pick a word that best describes what this story is about. Form two circles on the inside and one on the outside and make sure you have a partner in the other circle. Share out responses to question 1. The inner circle must decide what is the best passage.

Discuss: Swap circles and answer question 2 as a group. Enjoy! Inner and outer circle partners, come to an agreement about the top two examples of irony. Inner circle explain and discuss your choices. Swap circles and repeat the process with item 4. Take a moment and compare your notes with your circle partner.

Vocabulary accommodated strife consternation insufferable incredulous

Accommodated DEFINITION: to provide for (frequently, in terms of living arrangements) EXAMPLE: The new addition to the house accommodated the new triplets. IN TEXT EXAMPLE: Six mattresses and four sleeping bags were dispersed in the hallway and living room, and the daybed, in the living room, accommodated the eleventh couple, the favorites of the moment.

Strife DEFINITION: A vigorous or bitter conflict EXAMPLE: I needed a vacation to escape the family strife. IN TEXT EXAMPLE: “The document was, Lou reflected, a fifty-year diary, all jammed onto two sheets—a garbled, illegible log of day after day strife.“

Consternation DEFINITION: Feelings of anxiety or dismay EXAMPLE: The clown couldn’t hide his consternation at the theft of his clown car. IN TEXT EXAMPLE: “Lou’s great- grandnephew, Mortimer, who had just married and brought his wife home to the Schwartz menage, looked at Lou with consternation and surprise. “

Insufferable DEFINITION: too much to bear, unbearable EXAMPLE: The kid who was talking on his cell phone made sitting on the train insufferable. IN TEXT EXAMPLE: He couldn’t let Gramps take the mousetrapped anti- gerasone; but if he warned Gramps about it, Gramps would certainly make life in the apartment, which was merely insufferable now, harrowing. "Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber," - what he wrote in the guest book at Anne Frank’s museum. REALLY!!!!.

Incredulous DEFINITION: being unwilling or unable to believe something EXAMPLE: The teacher was incredulous after finding that the students had painted his house. IN TEXT EXAMPLE: The Schwartzes contemplated Lou in incredulous silence for a moment longer, and then hurried back to the living room, as though some of his horrible guilt would taint them, too, if they looked too long.

Write Remember to use your new words! We are now going to answer the lesson question using the information we just discussed. How does Vonnegut create his theme about technology and human nature in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow? Think about our four discussion questions: Technology and its effects Characterization of gramps The use of irony The most important word