Disco Questions

Johnny Got His Gun Discussion Questions:

1. What are Trumbo’s major and minor purposes in writing Johnny Got His Gun?

2. Dalton Trumbo chooses to use punctuation inconsistently throughout the novel. Pick a moment when his use of unconventional (or conventional) punctuation is particularly conspicuous. What is the effect of his punctuation and how does this effect fit into one of Trumbo’s larger purposes? [Note: you will notice that areas that are least conventionally punctuated are richest in rhetorical devices.]

3. Select a moment where Stream of Consciousness has a particularly powerful effect. How does this effect fit into one of Trumbo’s larger purposes?

4. Summarize Trumbo’s arguments against war in Chapter 10. Refute them.

5. Identify significant allusions from a variety of places in the novel. What is the effect of these allusions and how do they help Trumbo achieve his purposes?

6. Make a list of Joe’s major memories over the course of the novel. What does this list reveal about Trumbo’s values? How does Trumbo use these values to support one or more of his larger purposes?

7. An important part of Trumbo’s argument is the persona he creates to tell his story. Describe the persona. How does he craft this persona to make his argument more effective?

8. The novel is divided into two parts. How are they similar? How are they different? Why did he divide the novel the way he did?

9. According to Trumbo, what does it mean to be fully human?

10. Consider Joe’s departure from Los Angeles (pages 35-37). What is being juxtaposed in this scene? What is the effect of this juxtaposition and how does this effect fit into one of Trumbo’s larger purposes? Where else does Trumbo use juxtaposition in the novel? Are those examples similar or different to his use of juxtaposition in the departure scene?

11. Consider Trumbo’s definition of Joe’s father as a failure (last line of 103 to the middle of 107). What does this definition reveal about Trumbo’s values? How does this episode help Trumbo achieve one of his larger purposes?

12. What does the title mean?

Urgent Questions and Bold Claims, Per 4

Questions

Bold Claims

Why is there so much about Jesus’s birth in Ch. 17? Is there any significance to the references to “daddy” (228) and “father” (229)? What is it that Joe first says to the doctor in Ch. 19? How does Joe know that all the workers will be willing to turn and fight with him? At the end of Ch. 20, where will “we point the gun”? What does the last sentence on 242 mean? Is the end of the book foreshadowing something? Is Trumbo suggesting it is basic human nature to fight? What is the purpose of the Biblical allusions? Since Trumbo left no resolution for Joe, are we to assume there is no possible resolution for Joe? Why did the doctor ask Joe such a plain question? On 240, Joe compares himself explicitly to Christ. Why is it so explicit? Why say “by God and by Christ”? Why would the doctor let Joe finish his speech if he wasn’t going to listen? What’s the significance of Joe’s father? Why didn’t they just let him go outside? Who specifically were “the masters of men” on 243? Why did he choose this title? What did Joe ask that was against regulations? Why didn’t Joe ask for help from an outside organization? What was so special about the new nurse?

The imagery on 223 shows he’s stripped of his basic human rights. The nursery rhymes emphasize the effects of war on the innocent. The end of Ch. 17 shows that mothers should fear that their sons will go off to war. The doctors didn’t try to communicate with Joe because they were afraid of what he could have to say. The purpose of the book is to emphasize the impacts and perversions of war. All the “big guys” in the world keep secrets from the “little guys” to keep them doing what the “big guys” want. Joe’s name and condition are symbolic of his ordinariness and his condition symbolizes what you can lose from war.

Urgent Questions and Bold Claims, Per 5

Urgent Questions

Bold Claims

Does Trumbo believe all wars are bad or the way that we fight wars is bad? Why does Trumbo present his final message as a paradox? Why did Joe choose communication over time, something he thought was so valuable? Why is Book I called “The Dead”? What’s the meaning of the music on 187 and 207? Why does Joe not have the same ending as the characters in the allusions? Why isn’t there a positive ending? Is Joe being sarcastic in Ch. 19? What does Joe’s body symbolize? Is the coldness of the doctors exaggerated for rhetorical purposes? What overall purpose do the flashbacks hold? Why does Joe refer to the pro-war authorities as “you”?

Ch 19 and 20 are climactic in the way that Joe exposes what war is for. Our enemies are not with others but with authorities who tell us what to do. Because Joe is his main character AND a messiah of war, Trumbo must be in favor of religion. Young people who don’t have control of their lives need to point the gun at those responsible. The book is anti-religious. War turns things that are holy into “manure.” With all the Biblical allusions, Trumbo must be religious. War is the best way for government to control people.

Agenda, March 4

Due Now: Johnny Got His Gun, Chapters 1 through 20.                    
Due Friday: Your submission to the Greenfield Peace Writing Scholarship.     
Due Monday, March Nein: Post a however sentence to Vocab? Nein!    
Due Monday: Common Place #1  
Due Monday: Synthesis Revision. If your grade is C+ or lower, you need to add a well-developed body paragraph (or more). 

1. SAT QOD
2. Urgent Questions and Bold Claims

Agenda, March 3

Due Tomorrow: Johnny Got His Gun, Chapters 1 through 20.                  
Due Friday, March 6: Your submission to the Greenfield Peace Writing Scholarship.   
Due Monday, March Nein: Post a sentence to Vocab? Nein!  
Due Monday, March 9: Common Place #1
Due Monday, March 9: Synthesis Revision. If your grade is C+ or lower, you need to add a well-developed body paragraph (or more). 

1. SAT QOD
2. WHAT DO YOU WANT?
3. Chapters 13 - 16
4. Chapters 17 and 18

Common Place Assignment

You might want to bookmark this page:
 
1) Find an editorial or opinion article about the subject of your choice. Make sure it's interesting to you and about a significant subject.
2) Write a one paragraph summary. Your topic sentence should include the author, the title, the source, and the purpose of the piece. Follow MLA for formatting titles.
3) Below your summary, create a t-chart that lists the author's purpose on one side and a counterargument on the other side. You'll probably need to invent the counterargument.
4) For the author's purpose, list three pieces of evidence or arguments the author provides and label each as ethos, pathos, or logos. 
5) For the counterargument, list three arguments against the author's claim and label each as ethos, pathos, or logos. These may come from the piece itself or you may need to invent them. They do not need to refute the arguments in favor directly. 
6) At the bottom of your document, cite the article in MLA format.
7) Type it. You may single space your summary. Be sure to double space your citation.

Agenda, February 30

Due Tomorrow: Johnny Got His Gun, Chapters 17 and 18               
Due Now: Post a "however" statement to Vocab Ate.            
Due Now: Develop one of your outlines into a complete essay of 800-900 words. Attach your outline to the back of your essay.              
Due Friday, March 6: Your submission to the Greenfield Peace Writing Scholarship. 
Due Monday, March Nein: Post a sentence to Vocab? Nein!
Due Monday, March 9: Common Place #1

1. SAT QOD
2. MC Practice Answers
3. Vocab Problems
4. Allusions in Chapter XI
5. Become a chapter expert, 13 - 16

Vocab? Nein!

  Due Monday, March 9

OPTIONAL: Provide the definition of the following words. Include the dictionary definition and a translation of the dictionary definition into your own words. Write an original sentence for each word. 

REQUIRED: Post one sentence as a comment below. The sentence you post must be a single complete sentence interrupted by a "however" surrounded by commas. For example: Many people, however, failed to understand the task.

Go With the Flow

Words for the Weak Willed

1. Assimilation
2. Consensus
3. Context
4. Derived
5. Incumbent
6. Inevitable
7. Malleable
8. Subdue 

Feeling at Home

Words for the Comfortable

1. Inherent
2. Innate
3. Inveterate
4. Omnipotent
5. Proximity