Sheehy English 9

The first assignment for you to complete as you read your book is to predict what you think will happen. In one sense, predicting is an easy thing to do, since it’s hard to be criticized for being wrong when you’re trying to predict the future. Who among us can predict the future with confidence?

In another sense, though, it’s not that easy, because you want to predict well, to make logical sense; you want to predict the future based on what you know from the present, not separate from it. If a weatherman came on TV and told us it was going to be 98 degrees tomorrow (Dec. 15), we wouldn’t believe him unless he could explain what he’s seeing in the present that makes him think it will be so hot. Or, to jump into the sports world, if an ESPN analyst predicts that BHSU is going to win the NCAA Tournament in March, we’d think he was a looney who should be fired, because his prediction ignores the current information that suggests otherwise.

All that said, how do you make your predictions legitimate, and how do you stretch them out to 250 words? The key is to base your predictions off what you know so far. You’ve read a quarter of your book, so explain what you know, and then project from there.

There are two basic ways to organize your article. One is to say, “These are some key things that have happened so far” and list them. Then, having said those things, you transition to a batch of predictions: “Having said those things, this is therefore what I think will happen.”

Another way to organize this article is to explain and predict one element at a time. This would be like saying, “Here is one detail I’ve read so far, and here is what I predict will happen, given that detail.” From there, you move to the next detail, and so on: “Here is another detail I’ve read, and what I think will occur based on that detail.”

Still having trouble understanding how to arrange it? Maybe this diagram of those two ways of writing will help you.

One important tip I want to mention is that you do not want to over explain what you know and end up summarizing everything you’ve read for us. That’s boring for us to read, especially for the people in your group who have read the same thing and are well aware of what happened. The point of your article is to predict, not summarize. I would think that around half your article should be devoted to predictions and not explanation of plot events that have happened.

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Attribution:

Original image: ‘And We Have A Fast Moving Front Of Funky Grooves Approaching The East Coast…‘  by: Alex Erde

Original image: ‘let-me-out!‘  by: Esther Simpson

Now that you’ve read “The Necklace” and discussed its irony, I’d like you to consider the main character in the story, Mathilde Loisel. While I realize she is an adult, I’d like you to pretend that she is your age (but with all the same characteristics she has in the story). Further, pretend she has now begun to attend Central High School. Please describe to me what she would be like if she were here at Central. With whom would she be friends? What would she be like in class? What would your reaction towards her be? Consider everything you can and paint a picture for me of what Madame Loisel would look like as a student in our class.
As you write, remember to reference the story. That is, if you say she’d be a loud-mouthed class clown, defend your claim with an incident or detail in the story that makes you confident you’re right. Also, don’t forget that Madame Loisel was a dynamic character – you may want to reference her change in your character sketch.

Please write your entry to be, minimum, 250 words in length.

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Attribution:

Original image: ‘something I didn’t leave in a hotel!‘ by: Marta Crowe

You have made your arguments for why you and Odysseus are similar, and I think your essays amply address the question we posed for this unit: Is it possible for you to connect an ancient Greek epic to your lives in some sort of interesting way? The answer is yes, and you have done so by identifying the characteristics of the epic hero and relating them to your own lives, and you did so by examining the characteristics of the monsters and forming analogies between them and your own lives.

Now that you’ve received your essays back, I’d like you to look over them and write a short blog article about what you did well and what you can improve for next time. I’d also like you to address the things you said you needed to improve after the last essay (remember when we wrote a similar reflection?). I’ll write some specific guidelines for writing the reflection in a moment, but first I’d like to list a few things I thought were worth discussing as a group. They’re things we need to improve or things we would do well to learn:

1. With numbers under ten, spell them out – Don’t write 8, write eight.
2. Know the difference between have and of – Don’t write “I could of gone with you.” Write “I could have gone with you.”
3. Be careful about punctuation for quotes – know the rules we discussed in class.
4. Know what to do about long quotes – If the quotation reaches four lines, put it in its own paragraph, don’t use quotation marks, and indent the entire paragraph by a half inch on the left and right margins.
5. Many of your papers struggled at times with the “flow.” You may have had trouble with transitions, or maybe you got tangled trying to write a sentence that makes sense at times. You can improve at this by taking all your assignments seriously, even those on the blogs, because the more you write and think, the easier the process becomes. So to improve at this, try hard!

Okay, here are the instructions for writing this article. They’re copied directly from the reflection you wrote after the previous essays:

The first thing I want you to do is read over any comments I put on your essay and the scores you earned on the rubric. Figure out what went well and what went wrong. Then turn to your blog and write about it. Tell us where you did well and what you’ll need to improve for next time.

When you tell us what went well, quote from your essay. Consider putting your strongest paragraph right into your blog article (copy and paste!). If you do not have a full paragraph that was strong, give a line, like a topic sentence or an attention grabber, and explain to us why it is strong. Don’t cut this article too short. I realize the temptation is to jot two sentences and quit. I’d like to see 5-7 sentences of reflective writing and a quote from your essay.

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Image Attribution:

• Original image: ‘Odysseus Taunts Polyphemus‘ by: GR L
• Original image: ‘some cats love sinks‘ by: Kevin Steele

You’ve taken the survey, now answer the question: What are you going to do when you grow up?

When I was in high school, I thought I was going to be a radio DJ, but everybody else told me I should be a teacher. The teacher thing was a pretty cool idea because then I could coach soccer or baseball easily.

Sophomore year, I did a survey like the one you folks just did and discovered that radio announcers have trouble paying rent, their salaries are so measly. I dropped that idea and moved on, thinking I could write advertising or be a spokesman for a company or something. Then, in college, I decided I could solve the measly pay thing by living in a cheap apartment and eating nothing but pasta and rice – my ticket into the radio gig.

The rice was good for a while, but then I thought it might be nice to eat some chickens that had already hatched, if you know what I mean. So here I am as your teacher, eating the occasional chicken dinner and enjoying myself thoroughly. I guess all those folks were right about me.

All that said, what is your story? What did the little computer program say you should be? What are those all-too-practical careers it suggested? Will you make enough money to live? Then, what I really want to know is, what are your dreams? What would you do if there were no official profiles and recommendations and pressures to make money? Would you return to your third grade choice – a fireman or cop? Answer the question – what do you want to do when you grow up?

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Image Attribution:

• Original image: ‘1986‘ by: Raffaella
• Original image: ‘My New Mic ‘ by: Kieran Connellan

You and Odysseus are similar, and while that will soon be the subject of an essay you’ll write, I’d like to stop before we get there and write a reflective blog article about how the monsters Odysseus encounters are similar to “monsters” in your own life. You are going to make an analogy between The Odyssey and your life.

Choose five monsters from the seven that Odysseus encounters in what we read (Lotus-eaters, Cyclops, Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, Helios, and the Suitors). Explain at least two characteristics of each of your five monsters, and then explain how those two characteristics are similar to a monster in your life.

This will be a long blog article, but it will not be graded on length. You’ll get 5 points for each monster you discuss. Make sure you mention two characteristics and clearly link those characteristics to both the Odyssey’s monster and yours. Total points = 25.

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Image Attribution:

Original image: ‘Grampa was never what people would call good-looking‘  by: Trey Ratcliff

Now that you’ve had your first two essays returned (assuming you handed them in), I’d like you to take a moment to think about them and to think about how you might improve at writing essays.

Notice that I said think about improving at writing essays, not think about improving that essay. In a sense, you are thinking about how you could improve at writing that one essay, but the idea is to generalize your thinking so you can get better at writing. Your goal is less to write a good piece than it is to become a good writer.

So the first thing I want you to do is read over any comments I put on your essay and the scores you earned on the rubric. Figure out what went well and what went wrong. Then turn to your blog and write about it. Tell us where you did well and what you’ll need to improve for next time.

When you tell us what went well, quote from your essay. Consider putting your strongest paragraph right into your blog article. If you do not have a full paragraph that was strong, give a line, like a topic sentence or an attention grabber, and explain to us why it is strong.   Don’t cut this article too short. I realize the temptation is to jot two sentences and quit. I’d like to see 5-7 sentences of reflective writing and a quote from your essay.

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Image attribution:

Original image: ‘FH000006.jpg‘  by: Bernd Brägelmann

You have now studied the basic construction of a story and the basic construction of an essay. How are they similar and different? Please identify examples of when each one would be the best form of writing to use. Considering that readers of your blog may not know what you’ve done with essays and stories over the past month, explain in your article how you have written both formats in the last couple weeks, and how the two pieces you wrote ended up being different but also similar.

In a sense, I’m asking you to weigh in and cast a vote for the best way to write, but I want you to consider different situations instead of simply declaring one better than the other.

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Image Attribution:

Original image: ‘Don’t forget‘  by: Sue

And here ends our first unit of study.

Before we move on, I’d like you to pause a moment and consider what you learned. Peek at the unit’s webpage if you need to revive your memory, and then explain where you learned things.

Realize that when you’re looking to explain what you learn, you should not consider only the material I as a teacher explained in a lecture. You may have learned something from a classmate (say, how to use Power Point better), you may have learned something about reading (maybe a strategy about how to pay attention), and you may have learned something about yourself (for example, how well you can explain what you read). The list can go on.

Basically, what I’m looking for you to do is think back on the last month and explain how you are different now than you were at the beginning of the unit. Take some time to think about it and articulate your thoughts as best as you can. Try to reach between 7 and 10 sentences.

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Image Attribution:

Original image: ‘A True Story – June 2007 – PHOTO 10‘ by: Ron

When you finish the story, please react to it in a blog entry. Consider addressing the following types of questions:

• What is your immediate reaction to the story?
• Were you surprised at all by the ending?
• Did you find anything confusing?
• How did you feel about the characters? Did you like them or find them intriguing?
• Would you have changed anything about the story?
• What was the most intense part of the story? What made it intense?
• Would you recommend the story to anyone? To whom?

Make your article about 10 sentences, and please include a link back to this blog article.

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Image Attribution:

Original image: ‘Tarzan Vines‘ by: Aga

Describe the team story activity. What was difficult about taking over someone else’s story? What kinds of restrictions did you have as you wrote? What did you notice happened to your story? How do you feel about the direction your story took? Do you agree with that direction, or does it seem like it got worse than you imagined? If you’d like, post your story to your blog beneath your reflection.

Please make your reflection 7-10 sentences long.

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Image Attribution:

Original image: ‘to lose you.‘ By: Aleks Schürmer