For Friday 12/14 and Monday, 12/17

1) Write a paragraph on ANYTHING!!!
- typed (to be handed in)
- underline your topic sentence
- squiggle line your explanation
- italicize your support (can be from anywhere - use quotes)

2) Read "The Cask of Amontillado" (p 410)
*think about the narrator
*what is your opinion of him?

Passage Analysis of "The Yellow Wallpaper"

1) Choose a passage from the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper". If you were not here, I would suggest the second to last paragraph of the story on page 189, starting " I've got out at last..."

2) You are to analyze the passage, explaining how it connects to the story as a whole or illuminates a certain aspect of the story. Your paper is to be no longer than one page, with at least 2 paragraphs; typed, 1 1/2 spaced.

For Tuesday and Wednesday

Homework: We went over your thesis statements and then you began your analytic essay organizer.

***You MUST finish it for homework.
**Bring your books to class!

Monday - B block

For Monday (B period)

1. Write a thesis statement based on your Characterization Worksheet and questions that we went over in class.

Wednesday 11/28 and Thursday 11/29

Today we continue to work on characterization, focusing on a character of our choosing from the short stories we have read. We went through the characterization analytical essay assignment and went about going through our notes and thoughts. (These notes and assignment are found on the right-hand column.) I also handed you an extension essay outline that will help with your organization and thoroughness of your essay. You MUST fill it out - no exceptions.

Homework: Complete the extensive essay organizer for your character.

For Wednesday and Thursday

1) Read "Yellow Woman"
2) outline the elements of literature for "Yellow Woman"
3) Fill in the character sheet for one of the following characters (Jackson Jackson, Mad Dog, or Yellow Woman"

For Friday 11/16 and Monday 11/26

Please check out the CHARACTERIZATION notes we discussed in class.

To your right, under "Important Documents," you will find the Character Inference worksheets and the True Colors Personality test.

Homework:
A) Read “Yellow Woman” (page 427)
B) Complete the Inferring Character handouts (on the right hand column of this blog).
     - this means I want you to read each page and the examples for that particular inference cue. Next to the sample character paragraphs, jot down a couple of characteristics you inferred about each character.

for Wednesday and Thursday

1) Read "I'm a Mad Dog biting myself for Sympathy."

2) In your journals, tell about a time where events just went horribly wrong and no matter what you do, you just kept digging yourself a deeper and bigger hole.

3) Finish the following statements in your journal:
       a) I don't understand......
       b) In reading the story, I didn't like ....
       c) I think the main character is like a "mad dog" because....

sorry...late posting...

For Friday and Tuesday,
1) Read Sherman Alexie's "What you Pawn, I will Redeem" on page 8 in your new reader
2) Create an extended metaphor about the main character, Jackson Jackson.

Dead Poet's society ending

You can check out the last five minutes HERE

Over the Long weekend - 11/3

We finished (hopefully) Dead Poet's Society in class. Over the weekend, you are to write your movie review (even if we haven't finished the movie, you can get a head start). It will be due the day after we finish the movie.

Be honest with your writing. It is okay to take risks in your writing and thoughts.

DO NOT use another's thoughts and ideas as your own. IF you DO look on the Internet, make sure to cite your sources!  You may check out Roger Ebert's review. Perhaps you want to challenge his ideas or reasons for his review - just make sure you quote and cite.

Next Assignment: Movie Review

We are going to spend the next couple of classes watching the movie Dead Poet's Society. Make sure you take notes while you watch; not only will you be writing a movie review, but also use the themes and content for another piece of writing.

Movie Review Assignment

for Thursday 10/25 and Friday 10/26

Please go to www.rogerebert.com and read 2 movie reviews.

In your journal, write a one page reflection on the reviews you read in your journal. What did you like? Didn't like? What did he tell you that informed your decision to see the movie or not? How did he begin his review?

For Tuesday 10/23 and Wednesday, 10/24

As we work on our Motif story, we will focus on our sentence structure, attempting to use appositive and participial phrases.

Participial Phrase handout HERE

Homework:
1) Finish participial phrase handout
2) Work on Motif story

For Wed 10/17 and Thursday 10/18

Please work on your motif pieces. We will spend much of the class working on our pieces and having conferences. Be prepared to work!

Appositive Worksheet

You can find it here

For monday 10/15 and Tuesday, 10/16

GREAT work on Appositives!

If you get confused, just remember that an appositive is:

• A noun phrase identifying a person, place or thing names in the sentence.
• They often begin with the words a, an, or the.
• They always answer one of the following questions:
• Who is he/she/they? (people)
• What is it/are they?    (places)

For Homework:
1) Finish the last two pages of the Appositive Handout - make sure to underline your main sentence (not the appositives) in the sentences you create. This will help you understand and maintain the main idea of your sentence.

2) Write in your journal:
       Choice A - free choice
       Choice B - Choose one of the following writing prompts:

• Create a how-to manual for something you can do well (clean a fish, change a flat tire, restring a guitar, make sushi, shop for groceries). Describe the process so that someone else could complete the task based on your directions. 

• Choose one of your summer photograph  and describe it in a way that suggests (but doesn’t specifically name) why it matters. (Remember the creative writer’s adage, “Show, don’t tell.”) Describe what happened either just before or just after the photo was taken.

• Create a story using words of one-syllable only, beginning with a phrase such as: 
• “The last time I saw her, she...” 
• “From the back of the truck...” 
• “On the night of the full moon...”
• “The one thing I know for sure…”

For Thursday 10/11 and Friay 10/12

Sorry to all who checked and the HW wasn't posted...my bad.

1) Write for 5 minutes about your name - what it means, why your parents picked that name, what you wish it could be and why...

2) Read the Mcdonald essay "View from the Bridge" page 124

3) Free Write in journal - 2 pages (if your journal is small, write 4)

Homework for 10/9

Homework:
1) scavenger hunt - find writing in unexpected places. Bring in sample.
2) 128+ word sentence - Spend time creating a sentence (that makes sense and has a point). Think about using -ing words and prepositions.
3) Read "My Name" handout.
4) Find an author's writing that you find interesting, exhilarating, etc.... Bring in a sentence or two.

Homework for 10/2 and 10/2

Review the sheet RADAR (replace; add; delete; and reorder) and apply the concepts to your "The most Important Day" essay.

Make sure you revise with the Before & After house photo in mind...your original essay will work and be sufficient, but you can make it better. There has to be movement from your first draft to second - aka significant improvement and changes to your written work.

Your paper must be printed and ready to be submit BEFORE you get to class.

For Friday 9/28 and Monday 10/1

Homework:

A)     Read “Anxiety” (p 94-98)
B)     Complete writing activity #1 on page 88.

• Title - be creative and have it connect to your topic
• subject - this does not need to be a huge life-altering event - think small; think about family stories; think about memories (those that stick with you have importance)
• Thesis - Helen Keller’s thesis was her first sentence and her intro paragraph was only 3 sentences long. Collier placed his thesis at the end and had it be a cumuluating thought.
• Body Paragraphs - Show, don’t tell. Think about your diction and tone. Look at how you or the subject was before and after this particular day. What changes occurred?
• Re-read the 3 essays and look to see how they structured them. They are all precise, clear and unified.
• This is to be either handwritten or typed as it will be handed in.

Please fill out the following survey

Homework for 9/25 & 9/27

Homework for Tuesday and Thursday

• Final draft due 
• printed
• typed
• 1 1/2 point font
• 2 page max
• Include:
• rough drafts
• peer review for YOUR paper
• a photo of the place (optional)

Friday 9/21 and Monday 9/24

Today we worked on our rough draft for the "Writing about Place" assignment.
Check out the notes for Diction.
If you missed class, you need to have your rough draft peer-reviewed. The handout can be found HERE.

For Wednesday(9/19) and Thursday (9/20)

Our next project will be writing about place. Check out the handout HERE

For class on Friday and Tuesday

You completed your in-class essay and then wrote in your journal, taking an observation tour around the school.

Homework - none :) - write in your journal if you feel so inclined

For next class - bring Models for Writers and your writing journal

in-class essay

HW: Re-read the quotes chosen in your group. You may use those quotes chosen or chose another quote independently. Make sure to bring your book and notes to class. You may use the graphic organizers as tools to organize your thoughts or use an outline. Remember – you are only analyzing ONE quote in class.

How to analyze a literary passage:
- What mood does the passage evoke? (positive, negative, sad, remorseful, etc…)
- What words stick out to you? Are they important? Do they have double meaning? Do they add to the tone?
- Do any images remind you of an image elsewhere in the book? Where? What's the connection?
- Are there any metaphors? Do any objects represent something else?
- How does the passage make us think of the characters? Is a character speaking to someone else?

Discuss what happens in the passage and why it is significant to the work as a whole.

Wednesday/Thursday
There are two parts to your essay.
Part A
1. Write your chosen quote on the top of the page, under your essay heading. Make sure you properly cite the quote, using the author’s name and the book page number.
2. Write a one page analysis on your quote.

Part B

Please choose ONE of the following options:
1. Respond to your quote in a creative way: a poem, a sketch, picture, or a reflection that depicts how the passage made you feel, illustrating what you thinking when you read it, etc….
2. From your passage and the rest of the book, create a “found” poem, using only the words and images from the text.
3. Write an extended version of the passage from another character’s perspective that addresses their values, thoughts, characteristics.
4. Write a review for the book (like the ones found on Amazon.com) that may include star rating, summary, thoughts, likes and dislikes, etc…

In Class Essay assignment

Mon/Tues:
Today we got in groups based on the summer reading book you chose -  check out the sheet that we went over in class: In Class Essay

Make sure that you prepare for your essay. Ultimately, what I am looking for is your authentic voice discussing a book or part of a book.

Weekend Homework

Today (Thursday or Friday) you received A Pocket Style Manual; it is expected that you will hang on to this handbook for the next several years. We will go through several chapters and then use some online assessments to see where we stand. Make sure to bring your handbook to class.

For the weekend,

1. Make sure to review and bring your summer reading book to class on Monday/Tuesday. We will prepare for our in-class essay.
2. If needed, make sure you take plenty and a variety of photographs. 
3. Read Plagiarism in A Pocket Style Manual (p107-112)(sections 30-31A)
4. Get some sleep.

1st Day

What a great first day of class! It was a pleasure meeting all of you and I know it is going to be an exciting year. As a recap, we went over the course expectations and such, and then did a brief in-class writing in your journals.
1. write about what you were thinking last night (1st person)
2. Write about what you (or another) were thinking during the opening/handshake ceremony
3. What are your feelings, fears, expectations, etc...for writing this year?

Homework: write one page in journal (your choice of topic)

*Please note the calendar link to the right( you will directed to a calendar spreadsheet that starts in January. Click on the bottom of the page on September - it may say Sept 11 - and it should direct you to the right page)

Welcome and Summer Work!

Welcome to Composition 10 with Ms. Strickland!

Dear all students,
               I hope you are all having a wonderful, relaxing summer! Sophomore English Writing Intensive (Composition 10 for short) is going to be a lot fun this year. Make sure you are taking your pictures and reading your summer book! Any questions, just email me: jstrickland@mph.net.

See you soon-
Ms. Strickland

PS: In case you don't have your summer assignment, click here