Superb work today. Can't wait until the course really gets going.
Thank you for checking the blog. It can help to keep you on track.
Today, we signed up to present review questions to keep the previous lesson alive. Thanks to brave Orla for going first. You create questions based on the previous lesson's or lessons' material (you may go back as far as you want!!) in order to keep the terms, characters, and themes fresh. Be sure to add some beyond-the-lines questions, too. If you were away today, pick up the handout.
Next, we chose a question, 2 or 8, to guide the reading of Beowulf, and post-it noted and made notes on key passages that will help us to write our first paragraph. I handed out a guide called Literary Must-Haves (which summarizes the blue poster at the front of the room) to review the basics of paragraph writing.
Homework: Create a what? (evidence) and so what? chart to organize your evidence and ideas to write a paragraph during class on Friday. You need at least 3 pieces of evidence (including one quotation cited correctly) (Beowulf (in italics) 55) for the first quote and just the number for any subsequent quotes. We use MLA style in the English department. You may use a combination of quotations and paraphrases to prove your point.
Remember: Who is your audience? In other words, who are you addressing as you write?
A reader who wants your expert advice. A reader who wants to know your interpretation of the work, the epic poem in this case. Assume the reader has read the piece so you do not have to explain the plot. You start with a strong thesis and you prove it with sufficient evidence from the text. Use formal diction since a literary paragraph requires formal writing.
See you on Friday.
