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Mr. Smith
Gold Omnibus Prompts
What is an Omnibus?
Although the term “omnibus” has several definitions, it is defined in the Quick definitions section of Refdesk.com as an anthology of the works of a single author. I have also heard it defined as a compilation of writing by a single author. In our class, an omnibus contains a collection of writing/essays on various topics over a one month period. It is designed to allow the student to experiment with writing full essays on a variety of topics, edit and rewrite the same, and then select the best of his/her month’s writing for an individual grade. The rest of his/her essays are then graded as a whole. The student will receive two 100 point grades per month. One grade for the selected or individual omnibus and one general omnibus grade reflecting the overall quality of all of the non-selected essays taken as a whole.
NOTE: Omnibus prompts should be written on the night that they are assigned. The purpose of giving students a month to turn in their omnibus is to allow for editing and writing conferences.
Click here for omnibus cover sheet
Omnibus due dates are as follows:
Period 3: Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Period 4: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Omnibus Prompts:
1) Review the following quote from the book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull: “Such promises are only for the gulls that accept the ordinary. One who has touched excellence has no need of that kind of promise.” Is this true? I.e. is it okay to break a promise to yourself? Why? Prove your response with evidence and reasoning.
2) Should there be limits in Heaven? Why or why not?
3) Should Jonathan go back to Earth? Why or why not?
4) Choose one of the following two prompts. You may do both for extra credit. However if you do so, you must mark one of your entries as extra credit.
Can the “flight of ideas” possibly be as real as the “flight of wind and feather”? OR What does our author mean by the following quote, “Each of us is in truth an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom”?
5) What does this book “mean”?
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