The first quarter's Aardvark asks you to do two things.  First, show that you know and understand the major themes of  the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  Second, showcase your major talent or interest!  The Aardvark is a compilation of these two things.

    I am forcing you to get away from the academic routine of "teacher tells you what to do and you do it".  Your guiding thoughts are that an outside person should be able to walk away from your Aardvark saying "this person had profound knowledge of the novel on a number of different levels AND has presented to me that knowledge while displaying a personal talent or interest".

    The Aardvark can take many different forms: videotaped or live performances, 3-dimensional models, written documents, etc.

For example (or, Aardvarks that you CANNOT choose to do):

1.  Design a skateboard park where each curve represents a turn in Pip's life.

2. Trace a round of golf as it would mirror Pip's life using images, symbols and phrases from the game of golf.

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC

There are three major categories that you should keep in mind when preparing your personal Aardvark: presentation, substance and complexity.

Presentation:    *is your work clean and meticulous?

                                                *does your work indicate supreme effort on your part?

                                                *is the “vehicle” for presentation (video, surface for writing, backdrop, etc.) well thought out?

*does its presentation add to overall meaning?

*(this does not mean “in person” presentation)

 _________ 40 points

Substance:       *does the Aardvark indicate your supreme knowledge of the novel on a number of different levels?

                                                *does your Aardvark subtly stress things like theme and  character relationships?

*does your Aardvark look at “big picture” issues from the novel or does it just focus on some small element? 

_________ 40 points

Complexity:     *does it indicate that you have done some very deep level thinking? 

                                             *basically, to what level of thought have you taken this Aardvark?

 _________ 20 points

Total: __________ /100 points