This is Halloween, this is....

Your sample sentences. Late. Old. But here as a study aid. Tomorrow, your quiz. Monday, some plot review of GE. Then we shall move onward...

Sample Sentences Unit 4

1.      Her transcendent ability to memorize over three hundred characters of Pi was credited to her photographic memory.  (Tiffany Van)

2.      My animosity for Twizzlers is so colossal; I can’t even smell them without gagging.  (Maya Windsor)

3.      South Park is a bawdy show and cannot be shown in school.  (AJ Schenker)

4.      Respect for one’s kindred has always been expected in most societies.  (Lynette Ruiz)

5.      The man showed great forbearance when he had to wait in line for hours at the DMV.  (Joseph Miller)

6.      The defendant attempted to exonerate his wrongdoings by making up lies; fortunately, it failed.  (Minh Vu)

7.      Jessica’s boyfriend tried to explain how he didn’t mean to kiss another girl, that it was inadvertent, but she wouldn’t believe him.  (Jaci Giordano)

8.      The police officers’ allegations about the kangaroos in the trunk of my car were totally untrue; the bouncing was merely due to a problem with my suspension.  (James Townley)  ****SPECIAL GUEST SENTENCE*****

9.      It seemed to be extremely humorous that when preschoolers saw a mouse scurry; they suddenly had an urge to scamper after it.  (Alex Peters)

10.  The green lichen that grows on trees ruin the elegance of nature.  (Colleen Carberry)

True dat, boo.

“One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you're maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.”
― Stephen King, On Writing

Late again.

Sorry: (  my pursuit of the perfect example caused my tardiness, as did a good ol' post-school day at the DMV. Instead of a solid example, I'm going to give you a few structural notes and links to view. Tomorrow's revision is a simple one, so don't stress.

Here is a common structure for editorials:

The Lead – Hook the reader with the opening. A personal story works. So does a shocking statement. Maybe it is speaking to the reader like he or she was in the room with you. Whatever you do, make sure you are honest, accurate, and specific. Once you think the reader will be firmly with you, indicate your topic and give a committal statement to what you believe.

The Concession – You might want to disarm your opposition by recognizing that their viewpoint has some importance. This is good because those who disagree with you will be thinking it anyway. Concede only the hardest point to argue against your thesis and and then add a but . . .

The Body – The body of the piece should include a strong argument for your thesis, followed by a stronger argument for your thesis, followed by the strongest argument for your thesis. Save the strongest argument for last because the reader will tend to remember the final argument longer and ending with a weaker argument just invites people to oppose your position.

The Conclusion – An effective ending to the essay is to leave the reader with a little something extra: a call to action, a vision of the future, or food for thought.

The length of an opinion piece and the number of paragraphs it has depends on how big a problem it considers, the amount of evidence it examines, and the number of possible answers it provides.


Here's a little piece by the Times that includes several editorial-style responses. 
Sports

Tonight, Tonight...

I'm asking you to complete a "quickwrite" of your essay topic that you gave to me on Thursday.  What does that mean?

It means that tonight, you should sit with a piece of paper, or at your computer, you should think about your topic, and you should write.  Don't think about statistics, or correct names or places; write what you know.  Write what you feel.  Sound like you.  This is the most important thing.

Of course, it's not THAT simple.  The success of an editorial piece does rest on sound reasoning and facts, but if the emotional aspect is missing, efficacy is lost.  We will spend the remainder of this week tweaking your "feelings" to make them more formal and fact-heavy.  I will show you the proper format for everything we will write.  On Monday, you will give me your final draft of this essay.

So get your write on, and don't forget--you also have a few chapters to read tonight: )  38, 39, 42

Stupid Blog! You go squish now!

I can't get the links on the right to work, so here's your sample sentences for the week: )

Sentences, yo.

Get your homework here!

You will find an editorial topic. It should not be about some trite topic--abortion, gay marriage, uniforms in schools--you get the picture.  You may have to search for a long time for something that really causes a reaction, but remember--your grade depends on it.  I will be going around the room tomorrow to hear your ideas, and you may be asked to explain your stance.

Here are some possible sites to try:

NY Times

Washington Post

USA Today  (I know, kinda lame).

Chciago Tribune

These are only a few options--any major paper is a good starting point.

Happy searching, and remember to come to school tomorrow with your topic chosen.

Celebrate good times, come on!

in 1492...

I'm sure you know the rest.

As I sit here, feet kicked up on this lovely start to Columbus Day weekend, I'm fondly remembering grade school.  Columbus Day wasn't just a day off--it was an event, a week-long celebration of everything explorer, an excuse for half the class to dress like Native Americans and for our teachers to throw us into make-shift canoes in the middle of the classroom.  Okay, maybe that was just my school, but for years, I blindly followed my teachers into believing Christopher Columbus was a hero.

Then I grew up, the world became more cynical, and I read Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States.  I would never again look at good ol' Chrissy the same.  Never heard of it?  Here's an excerpt:
Zinn . (You may stop on page 8, but continue if you'd like).

Today, I read this and thought, "Maybe I've been wrong to be angry for so long.  Maybe there's still something heroic left in the story of Christopher Columbus."

So what do you think?  Should we celebrate Columbus Day?  (And you know what I mean--there are no Columbus parties on my block, either.  I mean as a holiday.  Official.  On the calendar.)  Are there any other national holidays you find offensive?  Worthless?  Do you appreciate anything about today besides your lack of alarm clock?

Jot down some answers in the comment section below, use your best English skills, and be ready to discuss.  Tuesday.  No excuses.

And this Columbus Day, do what is expected in his honor: let's walk into someone's house and tell them we live there now.

Haha.  I think...

Big changes.

Tomorrow. Be there. Leave your attitudes at the door.

Me no happy.

This Week

Tuesday-Friday: Read sections as dictated on the reading calendar(now linked at right)

Wednesday-Blog response due.

Friday-Annotations are being checked.  I am not only making sure you have been annotating up to this point, but I am interested in variety within your annotations; I would like a nice mix of response, questions, vocabulary and insight.  I don't have a number in mind, but after this week, I will.

New vocabulary will be given next week.

Are you stupid?

Read the following article from Philly Magazine and respond to its content.  Are kids really stupid, as the author purports?  200 word minimum, due by Wednesday at midnight.

Kids are Dumb

For your consideration...

Shutdown breakdown

Welcome!

You made it.  If you're seeing this, you successfully joined blogger and are a member of this page. Yay you! I will open it for your parents to see once everyone has joined.  The shortcut for this blog is at the top of the page-write it down and bookmark it.  Your sample sentences are on the right ------------->  Study this weekend; your quiz is on Monday.