Monday, April 23, 2007

English 9 Speak Essay Assignment

Due Thursday, May 1 in English 9

Write a five-paragraph essay that explores the tone and humor of the Melinda’s narration in Speak. You may also discuss the tone and humor of her dialogue.

Your five paragraphs should be structured like this:

Introduction
Body paragraph 1
Body paragraph 2
Body paragraph 3
Conclusion

Introduction

This must be a minimum of three sentences, but can be more. The introductory paragraph must contain these elements:

1. Hook – quick statement that gets the reader interested but doesn’t reveal much information

2. Topic – What you are going to write about; give the name of the book, the author and a brief summary of what concrete details are going to show up in your body paragraphs

3. Thesis – Tell the reader what you are going to prove. With each CD there will be two commentaries (opinions). That means you will have written TWELVE opinion sentences by the end of the essay! Think hard about what single statement can unify these opinions.

Body Paragraphs

Remember that each body paragraph should follow the format of the SHAPER (attached). That means each of these paragraphs has 8 sentences.

Conclusion

Restate your thesis, but don’t repeat the exact words. Take on more of a ‘see-I-proved-it’ tone in this paragraph. Help your reader connect all the thoughts you have brought up in your opinions and tell us what you have proven.

How you will be graded

Your essay is worth 60 points, which is a lot. Each paragraph is worth 10 points, for a total of 50. The remaining 10 points will be based on the following standards:

Formatting

Double-space, 12pt font. Use either Courier or Times. Your name, the name of this class and the date must be either in the top right or on a cover page if you choose to do one.

Hardcopy Presentation

At the beginning of class on the due date, you need to turn in a PRINTED HARDCOPY. If it is more than one page, the pages must be STAPLED.

Email Presentation

Simply email a file that can be opened with Microsoft word by the due date.

Proofreading

Points will be taken off if your essay contains errors that you could have easily corrected by re-reading your work before turning it in. These errors include:

· Obvious misspellings or typographical errors

· Your name being written in, instead of typed

· Computer or printer errors such as low ink, weird symbols that weren’t on your computer but show up on the printout, etc.

PERFECTIONISTS TAKE NOTE – if you find an error in your printout but don’t have a way to reprint it before the due date, you may neatly pencil in changes before you turn it in. If the penciled in changes are not extensive (four or less) no points will be taken off.

Body Paragraph #______________

Paragraph Topic: ______________________________________________

TOPIC SENTENCE
CONCRETE DETAIL 1	COMMENTARY
CONCRETE DETAIL 1	COMMENTARY
CONCRETE DETAIL 2	COMMENTARY
CONCRETE DETAIL 2	COMMENTARY
CONCLUSION

Friday, April 13, 2007

Block 5 English 10 - Catcher Comix

In-Class Assignment Block 3 English 10

Due Wednesday, April 18

Choose one chapter of The Catcher in the Rye and rewrite it as a graphic novel.

You do not have to be a good artist to do this. You can draw stick figures or steal clip art from the web if you can find it.

You should have a minimum of seven panels, spread out over three or four pages. The panels can be any size you like, but should not be smaller than 1/4 of a page. You can do more than seven if you need more panels to tell the story.

Look through other graphic novels to figure out what style you want to use. Some of the words can come out of people’s mouths in balloons, and others can be printed as narration at the tops of panels.

But the key requirement here is to tell as much of the story through pictures as you can. You can show that Holden is talking to two nuns by drawing them – then you do not have to say anything about the fact that they are nuns because we can see it.

Choose your chapter well. Do not choose the same chapter as another student, and make sure the action going on in the story is something you find interesting.

We will work on this in class on Thursday, April 12 and Monday April 16. The assignment is due at the beginning of class on April 18. You may have to do some of the work at home.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

English 10 and 10H -- Letter of Complaint (as Holden Caulfield)

Assignment for March 14, 2007

Think of something that has made you angry enough to write a letter that would hopefully change whatever is wrong.

For example, if ABC has just aired your favorite movie, but made a lot of cuts that pretty much ruined it, you should write to the president of ABC and speak your mind. Or if you bought a bag of chips that was advertised “so hot, your eyes will tear up” and yet it was as mild as oatmeal, write to Nabisco and let then know what is wrong with their product. You can write a letter about almost anything these days; the newspaper you read, the clothes you buy, the roads you drive on, the music the radio DJs pick to play most often, a software program

BUT DON’T JUST COMPLAIN – write persuasively to try and get whoever is responsible to change their ways.

And now – for all you reality show fans – here’s the twist: You must write in the voice of Holden Caulfield.

Your letter should be one full page in length, in regular business letter format. The paragraphs should have single spaced lines, but with a double space between each paragraph (like this document).

Use this worksheet to write your letter – you can do the worksheet before or after the letter, but make sure it is filled out.

Letter of Complaint

Organizational worksheet

I am going to complain about

This is a (circle one):

Product
Service
Political issue
Other

What is wrong with this thing or idea?

What would make this right?

What are THREE good reasons that would motivate the person to whom you’re writing to make these changes?

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Catcher in the Rye Reading Schedule

On this day	You need to be finished with these chapters
Tuesday, March 6	1-3
Thursday, March 8	4 and 5
Monday, March 12	6 and 7
Wednesday, March 14	8, 9 and 10
Friday, March 16	11 and 12
Tuesday, March 20	13, 14 and 15
Thursday, March 22	16 and 17
April	18 through 26 (end)

Animal Farm Reading Schedule

Chapter I (25 to 34) was read in class on February 27.

On this day	*You need to be finished* with these chapters**	Plan out your per-day reading schedule.
Tuesday, March 6	II and III (35 to 53)	You have 6 days to read 18 pages
Thursday, March 8	IV (54 to 60)	You have 2 days to read 7 pages
Monday, March 12	V, VI and VII (61-97)	You have 4 days to read 36 pages
Wednesday, March 14	VIII (98-113)	You have 2 days to read 15 pages
Friday, March 16	XI (114-126)	You have 2 days to read 12 pages
Tuesday, March 20	X (126-135)	You have 4 days to read 9 pages

Classwork for Friday, 3/9 and Tuesday 3/13

Write a confessional, in the style of a reality TV show, for one character from Animal Farm. Only refer to events that take place between chapters I and VII.

Requirements

You must refer to at least two things the character said or did in the book up to Chapter VII. (Like a concrete detail)
The character must tell us why he or she did or said these things (like a commentary, because it is more of an interpretation than a fact)
The character must speak in a way appropriate to the personality that has been described (unless of course he/she has been faking an on-air personality and saves his/her real self for the confessional)
Have fun with it – this is a creative writing assignment.

Shaper

For those of you who need a reminder of how the SHAPER works, here's the form. Remember, the sentences go in this order:

1. Topic Sentence
2. Concrete Detail
3. Commentary,
4. Commentary
5. Concrete Detail
6. Commentary
7. Commentary
8. Concluding Sentence.