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.