Lit. 12: Monday, Feb. 28

We studied three sonnets in class today and filled the board and our notebooks with notes. Be sure to borrow notes from a friend and read each sonnet several times. We are focussing on Renaissance attitudes to love and the conventions of the sonnet.

I collected the Renaissance notes.
Keep reading your novels.

English 9, Monday, Feb. 28

I collected the Feb. USSR forms and reviewed the criteria.
We did the vocab. test on words 1-24.
We edited the first 250 words of our stories.
Homework: Read, study, learn the purple handout: how to punctuate dialogue. There are strict rules. You must follow them.
On your quiz practice page, write out four lines of dialogue, punctuated correctly.
Practice using all the different variations for dialogue until you feel confident.

We'll work on our stories tomorrow in class.
Be sure to study your vocabulary nightly and continue to read your USSR book.

English 9, Friday, Feb. 25

We added words, 23 and 24 to our list: imminent and compelling.

Big test Monday on 1 to 24.

We practiced creative writing and I assigned the short story which is due Monday, March 7. See below for ideas and the criteria. Monday: Bring the first 250 words of your short story to class, typed and double spaced.

MONDAY IS FEB. 28TH. THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH MEANS:
It's time to submit your USSR forms to demonstrate all of the books you have read for USSR this month. We won't be continuing with 750 words.com during class for March but you are welcome to continue it at home as it is such good practice and a lovely way to express your feelings in a private forum.

Call your homework buddy to find out the creative writing prompts that we did today.
Here is the short story handout:

English 9 Short Story Writing Assignment

Due Date:___________Mon. March 7. ___________

Criteria

1. Length—900 to 1500 words, typed, titled, double spaced
2. Style—literary, similar to the stories studied in class
3. Character—dynamic protagonist that encounters a conflict
4. Elements—setting, description, dialogue all contribute to theme
5. Theme—show us something you have felt or wondered about the world
6. Detail—show don’t tell as much as possible, be unique, keep it real
7. Conflict—needs to be a problem that is somehow resolved (think of stories we read this year. What was the conflict? How did the story end?).
8. Style—proofread and proofread and proofread. It must be error free. Explore a style that suits the topic—short choppy sentences, fragments or long, intellectual phrasings. Point of view is key. Who is telling the story? Why?
9. Show Don’t Tell—be sure to have your characters doing and saying things. Let your reader infer. Don’t tell us everything.
10. Dialogue—you must have characters speaking. Remember: new paragraph for each new speaker.

Use your own ideas or one from the list below:

1.       Start the story with You don’t have to be good all the time. End the story with, The geese never returned to that lake and come to think of it, neither did I.

2.       Write a story about a piano teacher that really wants to be a flight attendant.

3.       Use a road trip as the setting. Take two characters heading somewhere but don’t let them get there. Each stop on the way symbolizes something about the relationship. Could be two friends, a married couple, a mother/daughter, father/son etc.

4.       Make your character a child. Have the child experience Sunday school with a family from across the street since the child’s parents don’t go to church. Explore the family, the church, the car ride etc. as symbols for whatever discoveries you make. 

5.       Make your character a child who lives on a cul-de-sac. Have a few kids meet to plan an adventure. Make one kid stand out. The narrator suspects something is wrong but is too young to figure it out but you hint at the problem throughout.

6.      Try a story that’s completely written in the second person. It will be weird. It could be funny. Ex., You start the new job tomorrow. The job that will last the rest of your life. You will have an office, maybe. A sign on the outside of the door with your name on it, Frank or Hilda, Mary Lou. (Eerie, isn’t it?).

7.       Set the story in another time period (past or future) or in another culture yet make the conflict be something readers today would be interested in—an arranged marriage, emigrating to a new country, dealing with economic hardship, fear of technology.

8.       Start with the line: Yvonne’s dog never knew what hit him. End with The summer really started that winter when we finally cried.

9.       Place your story at a baseball or hockey event. Have two characters in the stands who don’t get along, a dad/son, a boss/employee, two rookies, etc. As you describe the game and use dialogue, show but don’t tell what’s really going on between them. 

10.   Start the story with a theft. Don’t let us know what was stolen, by whom or why until right near the end. Write it from the point of view of the victims or two crows on a branch outside the door.

11.   Write a story about a character from one culture having to deal with another culture. Maybe in a family setting, the Croatian grandma moves in or the character goes to another country to visit family for the summer holidays. Use a lot of concrete detail to make it seem exotic. Have fun with dialogue, here.

12.   Write a story with a protagonist that you do not like but somehow you have to make the reader like him or her. A parolee, a bully, a mean girl, a coach, etc.

Lit 12, Friday, Feb. 25

We read our novels for the entire hour today.
Ensure that you read at least 60 pages for Monday.
Renaissance notes due Monday.

Thurs. March 3 is the regional slam poetry finals at Reynolds. We need a big fan base.
Let me know if you can come as we have 10 advance tickets to sell.

Next week: sonnets!

English 9, Thurs. Feb. 24

I collected the decorated Found Poems on the story, "The Sea Devil" by Arthur Gordon.

We read the story, "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury, page 101. If you do not have your book at home, google it, as you may find a copy on line.

Homework: finish reading the story. Post-it note a minium of THREE passages that you like. Be able to explain why you chose them and why you would want to imitate Bradbury's style in your creative writing.

Friday: We start creative writing. You begin writing a short story this weekend. Bring the first page, TYPED, and double spaced to class Monday.

I'll be handing out a criteria sheet Friday.

Lit 12, Thurs. Feb. 24

We took notes and notes and notes! If you were absent, make detailed notes on The Renaissance, pages 127 to 140. We also made notes on the origins of the sonnet, pages 152-153.
Finally, we made notes on writer, Sir Thomas Wyatt and we started taking notes on his sonnet,
"Whoso List to Hunt".

Notes on the Renaissance are due Monday. I've updated the marks. Ask to see them tomorrow.

Friday: novel study. Bring your novels and post-it notes. There may be a test. Make sure you've read at least the first third and you are eagerly post-it noting passages related to your theme.

English 9, Wed. Feb. 23

Due to the snow and so few students present, we did not do anything new. I collected the poems from the block 2 students. Bring your poems to class tomorrow.
Read at least 15 pages of your USSR book today and complete the 750words.com at home.
Study your vocabulary list. We'll have our test Monday.