Reflection Blog Task--due October 9

What three strategies from The Art of Styling Sentences do you like the most? Why? How are you working to enhance your sentence styling? Write 300+ words using examples.

Causal Writing Blog Task--due September 25

pakifashion.net

1.) Locate some extremely engaging, insightful causal writing--writing that explains the causes of a given phenomenon that currently exists (Phenomenon: Women are urged to wear their hair longer than men...Why? OR Phenomenon: 60% of Americans are lactose intolerant...Why? OR Gold exists...Why? OR Gold is valuable to us...Why? OR The Keystone XL Pipeline Project wants oil to flow through South Dakota...Why?). Link the writing you find and react, agreeing or disagreeing and critiquing the techniques employed by the composer.

2.) Summarize your goals with your causal essay.

3.) Select a sentence from your essay and explain its grammatical classification: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex, fragment. Examine your own grammatical classification variety.

Write 300+ total words for this blog task.

enjoydeans.com

Comparison-Contrast Blog Task--due 9/11

1.) Create a word like my "hebkillo" (hello) or the famous "ghoti" (fish) to demonstrate the beauty and confusion of the great English language.  "Phydeaux" (Fido) would be a cool name for a dog, eh?

2.) Find, read, and link some terrific comparison-contrast writing you discover online.  Discuss this piece of writing in 300+ words, analyzing its use of logos, ethos, and pathos (research these terms). Specifically explain about each: logos, ethos, pathos.

 

Britannica

Classification Essay Topic Possibilities

sheppardsoftware.com

What do you know best, but would like to explore more? Are you an expert observer in any certain realm? What possible classification essay topics are emerging in your brain? For this essay, you will have to become hyper-observant. For instance, I despise walking the Sioux Empire Fair, but always seek chances for my children to enjoy new experiences/thrills--and I simply love watching people, trying to figure out their motives for attending the greatest fair on Earth. (The Hesitant, the Harmonious, the Hasty, and the High-Flying--even the Hellbound...)

keloland.com

Literacy Autobiography--due December 12

As we prepare for the final exam and English 210: Introduction to Literature, reflect and type 300+ words about how you have become so extraordinarily literate.  Who read to you?  Did you perhaps read a single picture book a thousand times?  Which authors engaged you?  Where were you immersed in language?  Why did you agree to try to read?  Which gifted classmates did you envy?  Do you remember writing for the first time?  Becoming savvy with a keyboard?  Which elementary teachers empowered you the most?  Did you make significant literacy progress in middle school?  Who were your literacy role models?  Give us 300+ words to learn about you. 

Narrative Blog Task--due October 31

Ernest Hemingway

1. Type the sentence or two from your narrative essay where you have created your best literary device (symbol, setting, suspense...).  Be proud.  Explain the device, if necessary.

2. Write a six-word short story.  Ernest Hemingway's famous tale: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn"  Explain your story if you'd like.

Carson McCullers

3. Respond to another student's work, complimenting either their literary device created for their narrative essay or their six-word short story. Compliment a specific attribute.  You may have to post twice on this single task.  I will be impressed if you compliment a student you don't know particularly well.

Narrative Essay Work--due October 17

http://danielyagminjr.blogspot.com/2010/05/cuckoos-nest-drawings.html

What ranks as the best narration--fiction or nonfiction--you've ever read?  What three literary devices make this narration especially epic?  Write 300+ words with three or more literary devices of your own to vividly communicate with the rest of us, telling the story of your immersion into your favorite story.  (The image is of Chief Bromden, my favorite narrator, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.)


Book titles are italicized, while titles of shorter works are placed in quotation marks.

Causal Writing--due October 3

Click the picture for causal writing about whales and their suntanning.

After excavating all around online for expert journalism, select writing that works impressively to explain the causes of an existing effect/phenomenon.  You're looking for a terrific example of effective causal writing, essentially.  Write 300+ words about how the writer masterfully explains the causes, which are unknown and new to many readers, of a certain effect/phenomenon.  

Consider: argusleader.com nationalgeographic.com nytimes.com time.com

Hebkillo; Logos, Ethos, Pathos; C.H.E.S.S.--due Thursday, September 19

1.) Create a word like "hebkillo" (hello) or "ghoti" (fish) to demonstrate the beauty and confusion of the great English language.  "Phideaux" (Fido) would be a cool name for a dog, eh?

2.) Find, read, and link some terrific persuasive writing you discover online.  Discuss this piece of writing in 300+ words, analyzing its use of logos, ethos, and pathos--along with the C.H.E.S.S. strategies (Contradiction; Hypothetical Solutions/Situations; Evidence; Stories; Statistics).  Which three specific sentences are most persuasive?  How are they used with particularly effective strategy?

Ode to a Classmate--due Wednesday, May 15

COMPLETE THIS TASK INSTEAD OF THE LAST OTHELLO BLOG TASK, WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY DUE MAY 9--

Mimicking the short--two to three paragraphs--odes I have shown you from Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People issue, write in praise about a laudable classmate.  Like the Wisdom Retreat, perhaps think about a classmate who isn't as widely-acknowledged as some, due to what our society has come to value and publicly praise the most.  Include (1) a category (Titans, Artists, Pioneers, Icons, Leaders are Time's--use one of these five or create your own category name), (2) her/his name, and (3)  brief tagline/catchphrase ("He gives us life in pictures" or "She gets results" or "Soul seducer" or "Our escort to the future" are examples from Time).  Specifics are better than vagueness, generality, or imprecision, so a time/date/place would make your writing more interesting.  Approach this task seriously or appropriately whimsically.  AND BECOME AN INFLUENTIAL PERSON OF STATURE!

College Writing--due Tuesday, Nov. 2

What will college writing assignments be like? What will professors demand? What skills must we/you work on this year? What have you heard from siblings/friends currently in college? To earn a great grade, research a college English/composition course by searching online for a college you're considering--you can fairly easily find a syllabus or site that will enlighten you. Include the link you found. (You may also click on the college links in the right hand column of this blog.) Write 300+ words answering these questions. Pictured is Dr. Brian Bedard of USD, one of my favorite writing instructors.

Life of Pi Test 4/16/09

Last year, the seniors created the test you will take this year. Here it is, almost exactly as it will appear in class.

Each of you will be assigned one chapter of Life of Pi. There are exactly 100 chapters. For your assigned chapter, you must create one content-based question/prompt (may be multiple-choice or true/false). For your assigned chapter, you must also create one essay question/prompt. In mid-May, you will take the Life of Pi test, which will have precisely 100 content-based questions and an essay question that you will select. Post your two questions/prompts here so you and your classmates can study. See my examples below.

Example of a content-base question/prompt: Chapter 95--Which of the following options was not part of the ordeal Mr. Tomohiro Okamoto and Mr. Atsuro Chiba went through on their way to Benito Juarez Infirmary in Tomatlan? (a) rented a car (b) suffered a flat tire (c) had monkeys steal their food (d) had their motor "cannibalized" of parts by a mechanic (e) were overcharged by a second mechanic

Example of an essay question/prompt: Chapter 95--How do these two men add authenticity to Martel's narrative--and how do they help us interpret Pi's story?

Student-Author Interaction: Yann Martel's Responses

I will post Yann Martel's direct responses to our questions here. These are his exact words, copied from emails I receive.

Partner in Thoughtcrime Project: Apply the Lenses to an Adult Short Story or a Children's Book--due Thursday, April 8

Type 400+ words here, analyzing your selected short story or book with the Critical Lenses. You may use any combination of the Marxist, Feminist, & Freudian Lenses.

Include both of your names and the title and author of your short story or children's book.

Analyze as deeply and critically as possible. Use at least five terms from the "Critical Lenses 101" yellow handout to earn more points. Indicate which exact lenses you are using. Indicate how the yellow handout helps you think more critically.

Analyze as deeply as I did with The Paper Bag Princess, I Know a Rhino, and Princess Smartypants. Go way beyond/below the obvious. A surface interpretation will not be accepted. Summarize very little--only when necessary to communicate your interpretations.

Perhaps you will analyze Edgar Allan Poe's master narrative, "The Cask of Amontillado" (picture above).

Anticipation Guide Topics--Due Tuesday, February 16

Select three statements from the "Anticipation Guide for Film Deconstruction Unit" handout you received in class. For each of the three statements you select, write 150+ words--for a total of 450+ words--explaining why you agree or disagree with the statements. To what extent do you agree with these statements? Why? Be thorough. Be scholarly. Prove you're thinking hard about your Team Presentation and Individual Essay. (A Marxist "reading" of Cinderella enlightens us and exposes a lot of underlying, subconscious meaning. The only/best way to get fame, power, and wealth--to climb the "social ladder"--is by being beautiful and having a Fairy Godmother? Be sure to use the critical lenses we have studied in your Individual Essay.)

Ad Analysis Research -- Due December 22

Click on a few of the sites under "Advertisement Analysis Links" on the right hand column of this class blog. Select two that are particularly enlightening and interesting. To earn points, type 300+ words describing and summarizing what you found. Also, discuss how and why these two links are enlightening and interesting--especially to your paper and your group's work.

Furthermore, search for links like these and post one web address for us to follow and be enlightened. What about this link that you found is enlightening and/or interesting?

Essay Introduction & Conclusion--due Tuesday, Dec. 15, before midnight

Type a draft of your introductory paragraph and the concluding paragraph here. Each should be five-seven sentences, right, to make a solid, standard paragraph?

A solid paragraph has a topic sentence, supporting ideas, then a clincher with a transition to the next paragraph.

An introductory paragraph should start with something that stimulates interest, that grips a reader. Your introductory paragraph must end with your thesis statement, which is the most important claim you want to argue throughout your essay. The thesis statement must be arguable, not factual. Then, throughout your paper, you provide evidence to argue and "prove" your thesis statement's validity.

A concluding paragraph should have a connection to the introduction. Your paper should start and end with a connection to a single reference or idea. Do not include "In conclusion...". Do broaden away from the specific points you have asserted throughout the body of your essay.

Be sure to include a few of each of the four sentence types. Label them clearly so I can find them quickly. Practice will improve your writing, I assure you.

(These gaming ads always look way more epic and sweet than the actual game, don't they? These ads also include text that basically tells/instructs young people to reject their parents, jobs, homework, and responsibilities to just play the game!)

Essay Extension--due Tuesday, Dec.1, before midnight

What else--other than the ad itself--will you discuss in your advertisement analysis essay? Psychology, sociology, history? What will your outline/plan look like? To earn points, type 300+ words here, expanding your ideas. Notice how Bridget Olson, Erik Hanson, Andrew Rogen, and Mallory Ageton look at larger cultural topics--their specific analyses of their selected ads lead to broader examinations of our cultural approaches and mindsets.

(Your paper should also include, if you were using the ad on the left for example, a discussion of Jennifer Lopez's film career & roles. Further, JLo's biography would help you examine the reasons she is chosen for this ad. What does JLo represent? Who is being targeted by this ad? When was this ad prominent--when JLo was truly popular, right? Who she's married to matters. The films she has been in matter. Maid in Manhattan, which is basically Cinderella or Pretty Woman, objectifies her rather blatantly. What makes her essential to Deseo? What symbols are present? How is the ad's form effective? At whom is JLo looking? What is she doing? What is happening in the ad? What is being conveyed/portrayed? What does the imperative (command) statement "let desire lead you" mean? Why is there a classy, urban floor beneath a natural, utopian setting? You have options, you see.)

Be sure to include a few of each of the four sentence types. Label them clearly so I can find them quickly. Practice will improve your writing, I assure you.

Student-Artist Interaction: Andrea Offermann's Interpretation and Artwork

Andrea Offermann--How are art and literature connected? How does the analysis of one help the analysis of the other? How were you able to transfer your reading of Life of Pi to the canvas? How does this book lend itself to visual creation? Please tell us about your reading and painting process. Thank you very much.

BVHS Students--Post questions for Ms. Offermann here, if you would like.

This is Offermann's painting "Pink Elephants". "This image plays with our belief of what is real. Which world is the real world? The world inside the elephant? Or the world around it? How do we prove which is real? And after all, what does real mean?" (www.tinyshowcase.com/artwork.php?id=670).

Student-Artist Interaction: Tomislav Torjanac's Interpretation and Artwork

Tomislav Torjanac won the global contest and was chosen to illustrate the new edition of Life of Pi. Tomislav Torjanac--How are art and literature connected? How does the analysis of one help the analysis of the other? How were you able to transfer your reading of Life of Pi to the canvas? How does this book lend itself to visual creation? Please tell us about your reading and painting process. Thank you very much.

BVHS Students--Post questions for Mr. Torjanac here.