English 9

Today, your "Father" para. correction sheets were due. Instead of collecting them, however, I want you to use them as a guide for the paragraph you are now writing on the story, "Penny in the Dust".

Today, we discussed how to pick out the key parts of a question before you start to re-read the story to find evidence. The question is Write a 250 to 350 word (13 steps) literary paragraph. discuss the relationship between the father and son and what the son's discovery of the penny in his father's suit pocket reveals about the love they have for one another.

Create a chart
What?                                                                                            So What?
(This column is for evidence from the story.                                This column is for your inferences.
Evidence may be a quotation, an event, a symbol.)                       Explain what the evidence reveals
                                                                                                        about your topic.

" ' ... it's the only time I've seen Father upset' " (197).                   -- just the thought of something
                                                                                                       happening to his son upsets him
                                                                                                       -- shows his love through actions not
                                                                                                        words
                                                                                                          -- demonstrates how caring he is
                                                                                                          -- kind father, rarely upset
                                                                                                         -- family/love are important
                                                                                                         -- family more important than chores
                                                                                                         -- love is not spoken about though

Aim to have three of the best pieces of evidence you can find on your "What?" side.
Aim to have at least 3 bullets on the So What? side--brainstorm, push yourself to make connections, a strong inferences on the so what side will guarantee your paragraph will be filled with insight.

Remember: a literary paragraph never re-tells the story. A Literary para--offers your insight in an organized and well-supported manner.

Step 1: Read the question. Circle the parts of the question that you MUST answer
Step 2: Create a dynamic what/so what chart that offers insight and cites evidence correctly
Step 3: Write a thesis statement which answers the question and offers insight. Once you feel your thesis is strong, provocative, insightful, begin writing the paragraph

Step 4: Follow our 13 steps; Thesis, Opinion, Evidence, Elaboration, trans Repeat trans Repeat Conclude

Edit and revise: check for diction and sentence variety and clarity. Double space, arrive Wed. with your copy for peer editing.
Bring your correction sheet so that you can make NEW mistakes. No sense continuing to make the same old mistakes.

Writing 12

Great work in the lab today. We'll meet here again next day.

Copies of your story are due March 8th. If you are not sure who is in your workshopping group. Ask.

Be sure to read and re-read the criteria so that your story matches them all!
Yay.

English 9

I collected all of the Feb. USSR response forms. Thank you.
Several students handed in a re-write of the "Father" para. as well. Good for you.
We read Ernest Buckler's story, "Penny in the Dust" and talked about how this image might represent a father/son relationship. We speak more about it on Monday. Finally, we did a literary must-haves quiz and the entire class scored 100%. It was a miracle! And we witnessed it, together.

Homework:

Finish reading the story and post-it note all the examples you can find of how this father and dad really do love each other.


Finish correcting "The Father" para. Make all of the corrections on the handout. A copy of the handout is pasted below.  Submit the paragraph and the correction sheet, Monday. You do not need to re-write the paragraph unless you want a higher mark. The important aspect of this exercise is to make sure that you understand where you need to improve and to be able to point out the strengths in your writing.

Paragraph Correction Response Sheet

Title of Assignment: ___________________________  Date: ________________________________

Mark I was expecting:   __________________________

Mark I received:             __________________________

The definition of insanity is expecting change to result from making the same mistakes.

CHOOSE YOUR TOP THREE PRIORITIES

In order to improve for next time, I want to learn how to:

1.       ______________________________________________________________________________  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.       ______________________________________________________________________________  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3.       ______________________________________________________________________________  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The literary must-haves that I forgot to include were

1.       _____ present tense for all verbs, I used contractions,

2.      _____ sentence variety (using short/long/medium sentences, varying the type and varying                                                    how  the sentence begins)

3.       _____ using synonyms for words that repeat a lot in the paragraph

4.       _____ using pronouns such as this is or this means or it shows etc.

5.       _____ forgetting the page number or not citing correctly

6.       _____ forgetting that quotes can’t float so needing to integrate quotations

7.       _____ forgetting to check for wordiness or slang

8.       _____ forgetting the 13 steps (especially elaboration and transitions) 

9.       _____ sufficient evidence to prove my thesis

10.   _____ insightful responses to the evidence I had gathered (or too-obvious observations)

AP Lit

We took notes on the absurdist hero, the sun motif, and chapters 1 and 2. If you were away, be sure to read Chapters 1 and 2 carefully as these two chapters set the inital conflicts, characters, and setting. Borrow the notes from a classmate. Next, we read the next 4 chapters.

Chapter 3, you will meet key characters.
Chapter 4, read it slowly as it's a key chapter. (It's a short chapter). How do our beliefs colour our experiences? Why doesn't Meursault love Marie? Is he "using" her?
Chapter 5 is mostly plot so you can read it quickly.Why do people fear change?
Chapter 6 is key to PART II of the book. You will find it bewildering. (spoiler alert--why does Meursault shoot the Arab? Arrive next class with your answer. Once you have your answer, try this one, Why does Meursault shoot the Arab four more times--four shots into a lifeless body?

HMMM?

ps
Bonus question: Will Jen quit school to become a busker who works at McDonalds or will she be incarcerated for stealing a flute?

English 10A

If you wish to re-write the literary para. on the Crozier or Owen poem, please do so this weekend. Staple it to the original version and hand in on Monday.

This weekend, imitating the style of poet, Stephen Dobyns, where each image is described in two to three subsequent lines, write a poem using the following words: cabin, scissors, egg, gumboots and canvas. After you use each word, elaborate so that the reader is more invovled in the action.

Monday: We will write poetry all class.

Lit 12

Meet in the South Computer Lab Monday. Arrive with the introduction and first two body paragraphs completed. Read the handouts I gave you so that you are aware of the criteria.
Monday: complete body para. 3 and the conclusion
Wed: Bring the best first draft copy you can muster to class for peer editing (Double space)

AP Lit

Read the first two chapters of Camus. Use post-it notes or write down examples of actions which are based on societal scripts and actions based on nothing but impulse (responding to the moment).
We'll discuss the character of Meursault on Friday.