Instructions for Friday, May 10

Reading about essay structure

After learning about essay structure this week, today's blog work is simply an opportunity to read about essay structure.  Follow the instructions to find a handy website all about essay structure.  Read the information given and then make note of the website for future reference.

Website address:  http://lklivingston.tripod.com/essay/index.html

Instructions:
Go to the website.
Click on Get Started!
Read each page right to the bottom then click on Go on to the next step.
When finished, click on Return to the essay home page.
Scroll down the home page.
Click on View a sample basic essay.
Read the sample.

Instructions for Post 5

Discussion of Character in your novel

Briefly, but using complete sentences, answer the following questions:
1.  Who is the main character of your novel?
2.  What do we know about this character?
3.  What do we need to know about this character?
4.  What are his/her major strengths?
5.  What are his/her major weaknesses?
6.  Do you trust him/her?  Why or why not?

Now:
Write a "perfect" paragraph in which you explain to me why you would or would not want to be friends with this character.  Remember:  topic sentence, three points with support for each, conclusion.

You are encouraged to incorporate direct quotations from the text which will help to support your opinion.

Reminder:  Always name your novel and author at the beginning of your paragraph AND give a bibliographic entry for your novel at the end.

Instructions for Post 4

Poetic Devices in Narrative Texts

            This week I want you to look specifically at the Poetic Style of your novel.

1.     Identify and define ONE poetic device used within your narration to add interest to the writing.  You will have to consult your poetic devices hand out to do this.

2.     Then, include the text excerpt that contains the poetic device and include a properly formatted in-text citation (Author, Title Page).

3.     Finally, explain the purpose of this device to the scene, character or theme of the novel.  Consider the significance of the use of the device.  You may choose to add an image here as well, but be sure to include the MLA style citation for its source.

You may find the page titled MLA Information quite helpful when citing sources and when creating bibliographic entries.

Blog Post no.3

Instructions for Post 3

Before you begin this week's post do the following:

1. Go to your dashboard (click on the blogger icon on the top left of your screen) and add the class blog address: ortellieng2dscss.blogspot.ca to your READING LIST.

HOW TO DO THIS...
While on your dashboard, scroll down to the bottom half where you will see 'READING LIST' Look for the button that says ADD - click on it and follow the instructions (once you have done this, it will be that much easier to access the instructions on the class blog, as you will only need to go to your own dashboard to get to the class blog.)

2. Finish your first two posts.....


BLOG POST 3

Define & Describe

This week you will be defining and describing.

As always, begin your blog post by identifying the novel you are currently reading.  Do this correctly using the MLA format for citations. You can use easybib.com - which is a great tool for creating correct MLA bibliographic entries.  See an example of a properly formatted MLA citation below:

Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.

(You may also choose to add a visual for the novel using the 'Add Image' icon found on your NEW POST toolbar. Be sure to include a citation for your borrowed image.)

Remember too that when you include a DIRECT quotation from your novel, be sure to you include an 'in text citation' identifying its source.

For example:
(Collins, Mockingjay 15)


INSTRUCTIONS
This week I want you to write about the theme of justice or revolution as it applies to your novel (the characters and/or the plot). Define the theme as you understand it, then describe how it is presented through your novel (relate your description specifically to character, plot, conflict, setting etc.). Use a direct quotation to help you provide evidence of this. Finish your post by explaining what you believe the character, plot, conflict or setting you selected to describe has TOLD you about your theme.

The following are two student samples of the response: 

http://thehungergames.wikia.com/wiki/Catching_Fire

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2009. Print.

When hearing the word revolution I automatically think of an over rising of the government and that people have been being treated unfairly so things need to change. Revolutions could be as simple as an argument over someone being bullied or could be as devastating as a war, which means serious change must have been in order.

"I'm taken aback by the directness and even the sincerity of this speech. As if his primary concern is the welfare of the citizens of Panem, when nothing could be further from the truth."(Collins, Catching Fire 22.)

This quote is what is starting of the revolution our what exactly is causing the stress in Panem. The president is not at all caring of the citizens and really just want to kill them.

"And if a girl from District Twelve of all places can defy the Capital and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same? What is to prevent, say, an uprising?"(Collins, 21)

This quote represents the beginning of the revolution and how one simple act by a strong girl can spark everyone else to get the courage to stand up for what is right.

Blog Post no.3

In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, justice is one of the main themes in the novel. The story is about a 14- year old girl named Lily Owen's who is growing up in the deep and racist South of the USA in 1964. After her mother dies, her mean and distance father raises her on their family's peach farm with the help of Lily's African American "stand-in" mother Rosaleen. When Lily and Rosaleen run way from her father, they head to Tiburon South Carolina, the last place Lily can connect to her mother. Soon after arriving, Lily and Rosaleen are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters named May June and August. As the story progresses, Lily learns about justice and how her once racist society is about to revolved. Lily changes as she starts to understand what justice really means and how becoming more open minded can not only provoke changes in who you are but can also change a community. The theme justice presents itself in the novel when Lily and Zach ( August's apprentice and Lily's friend) go into town to get a car part for the "Honey Wagon". While in town, Zach's friends and some drunk racists get into a alteration. The men start to call the boys racist names which makes Zach stand up for him and his friends. This leads to the police being called who arrest Zach and his friend's even though they didn't do anything wrong. As it says in the text, " He turned his head and looked at me from the corner of his eye. Then he shrugged his shoulder slightly, and I knew it was over and done. He would never open his mouth. He was trying to say to me, I'm sorry but these are my friends. He chose to stand there and be one of them." ( Monk, Sue. The Secret Life of Bees.United States of America: Viking Penguin: 2002. Print) This shows justice because the rightness of the law and the rightness in morels were not held in this situation.


www.en.wikipedia.org

Identify & Sort

1. First, identify five main elements of your novel. Use your note "Elements of the Short Story" as a reference. (NOTE: Because this hand out is talking about good fiction - we can transfer our understanding from short fiction to longer pieces.)

2. Then, sort these elements according to importance for your engagement in your reading. Put the most important element at the beginning of your sorting list.

3. Once you have identified the most important element for your enjoyment, describe how this element has been used (or is lacking) in your novel. 

4. Use a direct quotation from a section of your book as evidence. Be sure to include a properly formatted MLA style citation following your direct quotation. Do not leave the quotation standing on its own - make sure that you explain its significance to the element you have selected as your top engagement feature.

MLA STYLE CITATION: (Author, Title page)

a sample student entry of the third and fourth activity for this week is below:

Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2011. Print. 

Imagery

This element is used quite often in my book. In my previous post, I had a quote where I think Imagery was used best to describe a hollow which is a flesh-eating soulless creature. I think Imagery is the most important because it projects an vivid impression of what is being described. It helps the reader to really imagine themselves in the scene with the characters.

"A vast, lunar bog stretched away into the mist from either side of the path, just brown grass and tea-colored water as fat as I could see, featureless but for the occasional mount of piled-up stones. It ended abruptly at a forest of skeletal trees, branches spindling up like the tips of wet paintbrushes, and for a while the path became so lost beneath fallen trunks and carpets of ivy that navigating it was a matter of faith." (Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children  78)

Even if I didn't want to imagine this bog, I couldn't help it after reading this excerpt. This is one of the less gag-inducing parts that I could have chosen. But it's true, sometimes you are happy to imagine a place of beauty and peace. But you might be forced to imagine a dreary bog, or a spine tingling creature. That's the best part about imagery, it's like real life because you can't choose what you want to see or however long that image lasts in your mind.

Begin Discussing your Novel

2.  Today you will begin blogging about your independent reading.

HELPFUL HINTS:

Adhere to the qualities of good writing at all times, and attempt to write level four answers (as indicated on the performance chart we used to assess "Bread" by M. Atwood questions).

If you wish to achieve a level four on this assessment, you must include the following details in EACH blog post.

1. Proper identification of the novel you are writing about (you can do this through an image; at the very least provide the title and author; an MLA style citation is preferred). Remember that book titles are to be written in italics.

2. Proper use of language conventions (punctuation, spelling, grammar, sentence structure).

3. Organized responses (topic sentence, body, closing sentence).

4. Use of the text as support for your ideas (direct quotations with proper MLA style citations are preferred over summaries).

5. Short responses (between 60-100 wds).

One of the skills you will need to use this year is correctly formatting citations using the format described by the MLA guide. Go to the page titles MLA Help!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR POST:

1. In the first part of your blog post, identify three qualities you expect from a 'good book'.

2. Describe whether the book(s) you have read so far has/have contained those three qualities you listed in the first part of your blog post.

3. Use the proper MLA style to identify the book(s) you described in 2.  (You are welcome to include more than one book here) but be sure to alphabetize by author.

Here is an example of MLA format for the book Catching Fire.  Notice, the second line is indented NOT the first!

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic
          Press. 2009. Print.

1.  Your Introduction as a Reader

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In the first part of your blog post, identify three qualities you expect from a 'good book'.

2. Describe whether the book(s) you have read so far has/have contained those three qualities you listed in the first part of your blog post.

3. Use the proper MLA style you reviewed in the exercise above to identify the book(s) you described in 2. (You are encouraged to include more than one book here) but be sure to alphabetize by author.

Here is an example of MLA format for the book Catching Fire.  Notice, the second line is indented NOT the first!

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic 

     Press. 2009. Print.