english2wer

Effective edits #1

#2

# 3

The 2 new elements you will need for your Portfolio:

1.  Reflections on the year, writer’s reflections, writer’s statement…you get the idea.  This can be  bullet points or in paragraph form.  I have examples of both.

2.  An Note About the Author:  the last thing in our Portfolio…write it in 3rd person; it can be fictitious, factual, or funny.  I also have examples of these.

In your portfolio envelop (a check list, and an exact copy of the writing you include in your “public” display):

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents (with or without page numbers)

Writer’s reflections on the year

3 critical pieces–each with the graded essay–you should include 1 intermediate revision (one must be Song of Solomon)

1 choice  (4 total)

Note about the author

Hopefully many of you were able to finish the novel this weekend.  Modernist novels, and Toni Morrison particularly, demand a great deal of readers.  Ambiguity is a hallmark of this  literaure.  There is no definitive “answer.”  While I know it is distressing, it is also exciting in that it enables you to really come to your own conclusions.  I know how you love to do that!

I am preparing a set of study questions for the last part of the novel as well as giving you my thoughts about particularly important pages to consider.

Please open an read the following:Portfolio Assignment

Please open the attachment.

All of the things you have learned this year: strong thesis statements, topic sentences that help you to develop your thesis in a LOGICAL and UNIFIED way moving from least to most important point, using quotations to strengthen your argument anf support YOUR ideas, but not simply to reiterate a point best made without a quotation, comment (exegesis/analysis) of every single quotation you use, either by careful integration of (the necessary words ONLY) the quotation into your own language, or using close reading techniques. If you include a quotation longer than 3 lines typed, you must use block quotation form. I will then expect you to use the quotation fully in the subsequent examination of the passage.

NOTE:

While I would prefer that you write your own topic, if the attached help you to focus, please don’t hesitate to use any of them. If you want help with thesis and outline, PLEASE ask early rather than later. It is MUCH easier to revise before you have a comeplete draft.

I HIGHLY recommend that you write a complete outline (with quotations) before you write a rough draft.  If this process does NOT work for you and you feel confident writing your draft without an outlie, go for it.

If you would like to discuss the possibility of writing on Milkman, you need to see me with a thesis or a clearly define topic BEFORE you start.  Because of the HUGE range of his character, I will not approve many individuals for this “project.”
Song of Solomon essay suggestions

Thank you all for being such good sports about the incredibly distracting circumstances today.

I owe you all a HUGE apology.  I just realized how many papers are sitting in my backpack.  Why has no one said something.  I’m really embarrassed.

I will be working on the plane both ways and hope to make a BIG dent int the pile.  My sincere apologies; I will try make it up  to you with, what else, FOOD!

We’ll talk.

Enjoy your reading and leading; I am really sorry that I will miss Monday/Tuesday.

OH…there will NOT be a vocab quiz Monday since it’s Passover and I don’t think it’s fair to give a quiz then; we’ll re-schedule.

Thanks to all,

Have a good weekend!

klein

Song of Solomon Discussion Leaders

When you lead class you must include what you and your partner consider to be significant quotations. It is often helpful to preface a questions with your partial insights into the part of the text you are talking about. Ask open questions…questions with more than one answer; the person who responds must be able to cite textual evidence. This means that when you are reading, you NEED to note important passages (with page numbers), and make a brief comment about that passage. Your blog entries should be a big help to you in this regard. Of course, you have to actually DO the blogs in order for them to be helpful! (Remember that if you do not have a blog up by 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, you will get a 0 for the first blog assignment. Because doing these blogs takes time, you only need to complete one per week. YOU need to have 3-5 quotations, cited, and both your understanding of their importance as well as 1-3 questions for each quotation. THIS WILL BE SOOOOO HELPFUL TO YOU WHEN IT’S TIME TO WRITE YOUR ESSAYS, WHATEVER THEY MAY BE.

Different things you could focus on with your partner: relationships, changes, influences, misunderstandings, character development with specific references to what has come before in chronological time.

3-30: klein

31-55: klein

56-89 Coco & Chelsea ; Cassidy & Colleen
90-135 Julie & Eun ; Maddie & Rosie
Brooke & Devin
152-172:Maya/Haley;  klein
173-216 (end Part I) Lindsey, Simi & Julianne;  klein
219-258 Sophie & Briana;  Faith, Jaci, and Cami

259-285 klein; Emily & Paris

286-304 Christina & Kayla; Shannon & Evelyne
305-337 (end) E:  klein  & Becca & Ali; F: klein & Maddie & Rosie–feel flattered, not flattened!  We will choose themes and characters to review.

ROUGH DRAFT OF SOS due: 5/12;  The final draft along with you other revisions will be due with your Portfolio on Monday 5/19

The following characters are the ones whom you may choose to follow throughout the course of the novel:

Macon Dead, Jr.

Ruth Foster Dead

First Corinthians Dead (Corinthians/Cory)

Magdalene called Lena (Lena)

Pilate Dead

Hagar Dead

Guitar Bains

Porter

YOU MAY NOT CHOOSE MILKMAN; however, because Milkman is the protagonist and is central to the thematic development of the novel, you should think about him as a foil–clarifying a character’s  changes as s/he relates to Milkman;  or,  elucidate a character by considering way(s)  s/he affects Milkman’s thoughts or behavior.  Keep the focus on the character who is not Milkman.

Each week, you will choose approximately 3-5 quotations about one of the characters above.  Your blog should begin a series of reflections on the characters: what qualities do you see in  behavior?; how does she/he interact with other characters; what changes do you begin to see in a character as the novel unfolds.

Eventually, you will be choosing one individual and will be writing your final essay on the development/evolution of the character and the influence the character has on others in the novel.

Tuesday:

We will listen to a folktale called “The Flying Africans.”  You need to make sure to have read  1-30 in Song of Solomon.

Speeches will be 3-5 minutes.  Be sure to practice enough so that you do NOT READ the speech; a speech is NOT read, it is spoken to you audience–with careful thought given to expression and  emphasis on particular words/phrases to create a solid connection between you and you audience.  You will need to have a copy for me as well as one you will use on the podium.  The length of the speech is less important than  the content.  I imagine the written speech should be approximately 3.5 -5 pages, double spaced.  Practice it so that you know how long it will take you.  Try to be mindful of speaking slowly; often when you are nervous, you tend to speed up.  This is not helpful.

I will be using a rubric to grade you: 100 points divided among

Introduction: something to grab your audience’s attention: 20
Topic focus and articulation of your position: 20
Organization: 20

Balance between emotional content and factual information.  20

[You should use facts to support your primary argument.  Emotion should only be used at the outset and in the conclusion]

Pace and Articulation: 10
Closing: Returning to your initial argument and reasserting your position with a clear and powerful ending: 10

Dear All,

Just to make sure everyone has the same information:

1. Your speech, letter, or monologue should be ready to go the first week back from vacation. Each presentation will be 3-5 minutes. Even if you are writing a letter, I will ask you to read it (with expression) at teh front of the class.

2. On Thursday, you must give me a HARD COPY of a close reading of a passage of your choice, from material related to the Harlem Renaissance, Sonny’s Blues, Martin Luther King, Jr. or John F. Kennedy. The same expectations apply: an attached work sheet with the words you have looked up and have thoughtfully considered the writer’s choice of that particular word. The exegesis (analysis) should be approximately 500-750 words (2-3 pages.)

3. If our faithful friend brings The Great Debaters, we will be watching it. When L is attached, please plan to stay in to watch.
MLA citation for the passage, as well as words or phrases FROM the passage that you use in your analysis must also have proper punctuation.

Long passage: intent 2 tabs; if it is the start of a paragraph, 2 tabs + 5 spaces. The double indent should include the entire left side of the excerpt. (Not, if the excerpt is aligned with the normal paragraph indention, it is incorrect.)

-no quotation marks; final punctuation is followed by the author’s last name and page number (no comma between) if it is the FIRST citation only. If it not the 1st citation, only use the page number in th parentheses.

. (Baldwin 25)

When you use a word or phrase from the passage, you simply put quotations around the words; do NOT give page number again. BUT, different from citation, periods and commas go INSIDE the quotation marks : or “………..blah blah blah.” or “………..blah blah blah,” ………..blah blah blah.

If you include other quotations (not from the long passage) you cite it like this:

1st: “………..blah blah blah” (Baldwin 25).

or “………..blah blah blah!” (25).

or “………..blah blah blah” ( 25).

If you make any of the above errors, your will lose 3 points. I will not be writing any of this again this year. You need to refer to this or print it out.

Also, please go back to the first materials of the year and review the information about appropriate help from tutors. I am happy if you have a tutor and s/he is helping you. However, YOU must be the one learning this process; if you can’t write an in class essay with relatively the same ease with organization and use of quotations as you have when you are working with your tutor, it isn’t getting you where you need to be. If you are working with a tutor, please acknowledge her or him on the last page of your essay.

Example:

Acknowledgement: Joe Schmoe, Brainiacs, Inc. Los Angeles, CA. 213-622-9006.

THESE ARE SUGGESTIONS.  FEEL FREE TO COME UP WITH ANY TOPIC THAT SUITS YOU; IT MUST BE PERSUASIVE/ARGUMENTATIVE (i.e., You are taking a side and arguing that side with persuasive facts and your own opinions.  It must be a balance of the two; as well, you must combine logical as well as emotional appeals.)
Persuasive Speech Topics

Interracial Adoption
Animal Rights
Breast Feeding in public
Beauty is more than skin deep

Books are a thing of the past
Campus Issues – Friends and Cliques
Campus Issues – Dating
Campus Issues – Student Life
Campus Issues – Technology
Censorship of Internet
Conservation and Recycling: Is it Important

Deferring college acceptance for a year
Does Dieting lead to Eating Disorders
Divorce: Does it destroy children
Drinking Age
Eating Less Meat

Increasing the number of Students of Color at Marlborough
Gay Marriages

Immigrants and Illegal Aliens
Mothers should stay at home

Pressure to Over-Achieve

Should American companies go overseas for workers?
Technologies’  impact on young people and communication
What parents think they know about their daughters.