I returned the section 3 mock essays. They were really well done and I enjoyed reading your interpretations of the question. Be confident. You are ready for this exam.
TODAY:
We read our essays and made notes and offered suggestions to our peers. If you were absent, be sure to read at least two essays by your peers. Make notes of their strengths. Style you want to imitate. Quotes you want to memorize.
Next, I handed out an annotated version of the Death of a Salesman prose passage test we did on Monday and a copy of a student sample essay. Study both sheets as you prepare for the exam.
Next, we read a new prose passage from the 2013 exam and annotated it for 15 minutes. We did not start writing the essay until we had done a number of things:
- annotated the question
- looked for literary techniques
- created a 3 column chart to prepare our ideas and examples
- created a TICK chart to be sure not to overlook key themes
- written and re-written a thesis
It is amazing how long 15 minutes is when you are truly focused on the TEXT and not on your fear of TIME or on your dread of a poor mark. FOCUS.
You need a plan for this exam.
Over the next four days, we will be finalizing our plans. This is not a time to MISS class.
If you missed today, my wish for you is that you could have been here.
Next: We wrote the essay response to the passage in 25 minutes.
Focus on what you can do to prepare not on wishing the exam or your life was different. ha ha ha
By changing the focus, you change your perception, and the exam suddenly becomes a way for you to get first year university credit and save a thousand dollars and demonstrate your competency, which is way above the global average.
Yeeee haaaaaa
Tonight: Review the elements of the Petrarchan sonnet and read some good examples in your text book so that you will be prepared to write a poetry essay during class tomorrow. I will return your poetry essays tomorrow and your prose essays on Monday.
