Category: Passages

  • Vertigo

    Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Vertigo is a movie that explores the fear of heights. View the movie and critique how effectively the director portrayed the main character’s phobia.

  • Examine Popular Culture

    Choose a person, event, or thing that is part of popular culture. Write an essay outlining the reasons the event, person, or thing has become part of popular culture. As you develop your essay, use the following process: Write a brief outline stating your position on the topic. Jot down notes for three or four…

  • News Broadcasts Alarm

    View one or two news programs over several days, making note of the types of stories that are covered and how they are reported. Prepare an argument to support or refute the assertion that mass broadcasters are “pessimistic” and “tend, especially in news shows, to view the world with alarm.”

  • Order of Canada

    Write a proposal in which you nominate someone as a candidate for the Order of Canada. Justify your proposal with anecdotes, facts, or information from articles you’ve read about the individual.

  • Canadian Hero

    Write about a Canadian hero you wish to honour and praise. This hero may be a friend, a family member, a local hero, or a national hero, alive or dead.

  • Post-Industrial Leisure: Photo Essay

    Create a photo essay in response to the following: “The 21st Century was supposed to bring us a life of post-industrial leisure, with all kinds of high-tech, time saving gadgets to make life a little easier.” Serious Example: What the World Eats, Part 1 Radioactive Example: Nuclear Tests Bob Dylan Example: Desolation Row More Inspiration:…

  • Survival in Film: Fact or Fiction

    Numerous movies have been made about surviving physical ordeals. Sometimes these are biographical accounts of a situation; often they are fictionalized versions of an original story and sometimes they are just pure fiction. Make a list of movies dealing with physical survival. Are they fact or fiction, or a mixture of both? Decide on at…

  • Surviving Childhood Memories

    Write about a significant event in your childhood or about an experience that tested your survival skills. You will need to describe the situation fully, and include notes about how you felt, and how those around you acted or felt (you should use the first-person point of view and the past tense).

  • Survival in Film

    View at least two movies that focus on World War II. List three specific events that deal with survival in a war setting. What survival strategies do these movie characters use? Are there any lessons to be learned from these movies. Alternatively, view the movie Jaws. How does this movie deal with survival. What other…

  • Balancing Job And Family

    Interview a family member who works outside the home and takes care of a family. Find out how this person copes with the workload. how does he or she balance a job, family responsibilities, domestic work, and personal time. What is the biggest stress element. Present your interview using a format of your choice: a…