Q2: Week 8 - No posts

Happy Sneaux Day!  We'll pick up blogging again in the third quarter.

Q2: Week 7 - No Posts for 12/4

Please devote this time to your literary analysis draft.

Q2: Week 6 - Posts for 11/27

1. You have put together a draft thesis.  For this post, include one piece of textual evidence that supports your thesis.  Explain the context of the quotation, what you think is important in it, and why it supports your thesis.  Make sure to include a page number for your quotation.  This will help you move toward your outline when we return.  It may be shorter than two paragraphs, but you should spend the same 15 minutes that you would spend on any post.

2. Free post!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Q2: Week 5 - Posts for 11/13

1. Symbolism: Write a brief story that uses symbolism in some way, using a word or object to stand in for an abstract idea.  At the end, identify any symbols you used and what they stand for (or what you wanted them to stand for).

2. LOTF Response: Choose a brief passage from any section through chp. 11 to analyze and respond to in 2 full paragraphs.  You will use the same close reading techniques that we have worked on in this unit, but write up your results in paragraph form rather than in notes on the text itself.  Make sure to pay attention to particular word choices, how your passage connects to overall trends or patterns in the book, and why this passage is significant in the book.  You may choose any of the following passages or one of your own.  Please include the page number of your passage.


Possible passage choices:

The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.  Once there was this and that; and now--and the ship had gone. [... Jack refusing to give Piggy the floor when he has the conch...]
"The rules!" shouted Ralph.  "You're breaking the rules!"
"Who cares?"
Ralph summoned his wits.
"Because the rules are the only thing we've got!"
But Jack was shouting against him.
"Bollocks to the rules!  We're strong--we hunt!  If there's a beast, we'll hunt it down!  We'll close in and beat and beat and beat--!" (91)

-----

[Piggy:] "I don't agree with all Jack said, but with some.  'Course there isn't a beast in the forest.  How could there be?  What would a beast eat?"
"Pig."
"We eat pig."
"Piggy!"
"I got the conch!" said Piggy indignantly.  "Ralph--they ought to shut up, oughtn't they?  You shut up, you littluns!  What I mean is that I don't agree about this here fear.  Of course there isn't nothing to be afraid of in the forest.  Why--I been there myself!  You'll be talking about ghosts and such things next.  We know what goes on and if there's something wrong, there's someone to put it right."
He took off his glasses and blinked at them.  The sun had gone as if the light had been turned off. [...]
"Life," said Piggy expansively, "is scientific, that's what it is.  In a year or two when the war's over they'll be traveling to Mars and back.  I know there isn't no beast--not with claws and all that, I mean--but I know there isn't no fear either."
Piggy paused.
"Unless--"
Ralph moved restlessly.
"Unless what?"
"Unless we get frightened of people." (83-84)

------

Ralph chose the firm strip as a path because he needed to think, and only here could he allow his feet to move without having to watch them.  Suddenly, pacing by the water, he was overcome with astonishment.  He found himself understanding the weariness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching one's feet.  He stopped, facing the strip, and remembering that first enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he smiled jeeringly. [...]

This wind pressed his grey shirt against his chest so that he noticed--in this new mood of comprehension--how the folds were stiff like cardboard, and unpleasant; noticed too how the frayed edges of his shorts were making an uncomfortable, pink area on the front of his thighs.  With a convulsion of the mind, Ralph discovered dirt and decay, understood how much he disliked perpetually flicking the tangled hair out of his eyes, and at last, when the sun was gone, rolling noisily to rest among the leaves. (76-77)

------

The chief snatched one of the few spears that were left and poked Sam in the ribs.
"What d'you mean by it, eh?" said the chief fiercely.  "What d'you mean by coming with spears? What d'you mean by not joining my tribe?"
The prodding became rhythmic.  Sam yelled.
"That's not the way."
Roger edged past the chief, only just avoiding pushing him with his shoulder.  The yelling ceased, and Samneric lay looking up in quiet terror.  Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority. (182)

Q2:W4 - Posts for 11/6

Note: you will have time to write one of these posts in class on Monday.

Post 1: Reading Response to Lord of the Flies, so far: Please don't summarize.  We are all reading the book.  Instead, tell us what you find interesting, what your reading focus has led you to notice, what is puzzling, etc.

Post 2: Vocabulary free post: Write a free post in which you use, correctly, at least two words that you've been working on in vocabulary.com.  Please make sure to identify the words, either by listing them at the bottom or bolding them in the post.

Q2: Week 3 - No Posts this Week

You have four chapters of LOTF due next week in our heaviest reading week of the book.  Please focus on that this weekend.  Blog comments for this week are also cancelled.

If you missed Week 1 of vocabulary, you may make it up this week only.  (When I check this week, I'll look for 20,000 points over the last three weeks to give credit for both week 1 and week 3.)

Q2: Week 2 - Posts due 10/23

1.  For Lord of the Flies, we are/will be thinking about human nature.  For this post, explain what you believe about human nature.  For example, do you believe that humans are fundamentally good, bad, flawed, loving, full of possibility, etc.?  For your second paragraph, explain what led you to these beliefs (such as your religion, family, experiences, reading, etc.).  As always, your post should be two well-developed paragraphs.

2. Write your own prompt: Write an interesting blog prompt and answer it, in two full paragraphs as usual.  You may want to ask a question, specify a topic, or specify the form of the response or a technique to use.  I will choose prompts written by students for a future assignment; if I choose yours, you will get to skip that post.

Q2: Week 1 - No Posts!

Congratulations, you made it to the end of the first quarter!  We are taking a week off of blogging this week.  Please use this time to complete your narrative review / reflection assignment and to prepare for the short story test on Thursday.  You do still have vocabulary and reading log (include time you spend reading short stories and reviewing for test).

Q1: Week 8 - Posts for 10/9

These are the final posts of the first quarter!  If there are any posts you have missed or would like to revise from earlier in the quarter, now is the time!  Please let me know what to look for.

1. Reading Response - you may respond to a short story or to your outside reading book.  Please develop your ideas in at least two full (5 sentences +) paragraphs, and avoid summary, particularly if you are responding to a short story we all read.

2. Fall Break Free post!  Remember that free post does not mean rambling stream-of-consciousness; choose an interesting topic and use the traits of good writing.

Remember each blog post should represent about 15 minutes of writing.  Set a timer, and try to focus on only that post for 15 minutes.  Use the timer to help you avoid sitting in front of a blinking cursor.  You are welcome to use Grammarly to help you catch editing issues if you'd like.

You have 60 minutes of assigned reading this week instead of 120.  Enjoy your break!

Q1: Week 7 - Posts for 10/2

Two posts for this week:

1. Reading response: You may respond to your outside reading book or "Harrison Bergeron" or "To Da-Duh, in Memoriam."  Please consider either identifying questions at levels 1, 2, and 3 (explanations here), describing the plot map so far , or analyzing characters in your outside reading book.

2. A Flash (short short) story - a fictional piece in about 100-200 words - Consider the ones we read in class or see 100wordstory.com for more.  How much story can you pack into this small number of words?  (Please keep it school-appropriate)

Q1: Week 6 - No posts this week

Because of the personal narrative, you do not have posts due this week.  You will have vocabulary and reading logs as usual.

Q1: Week 5 - Posts for 9/18

Our posts for this week:

1 - Reading response - push yourself for new things to talk about and use the sentence starters to guide you.  Alternatively, you can update us on your personal narrative (what you are excited about, what you are struggling with, what you have questions about, what you'd like advice on from your classmates), or you can respond to the reading or other work by Naomi Shihab Nye.

2 - Dialogue - your second post should be a dialogue between at least two people or characters.  It should be engaging and be punctuated and formatted correctly (like in fiction, not a script; this will be graded).  The length and substance should be equivalent to a regular blog post, though you will have more than two paragraphs if you are formatting correctly.  Here are some ideas for conversations:

• a conversation between two liars in which each line has a double meaning
• a conversation among three characters in which no line is more than three words long
• an exchange between two characters in which one character only asks questions and the other only answers
• a conversation between two characters from two different books or works (make sure to tell us who the characters are and what books they come from)

Q1: Week 4 - Posts for 9/11

For this week, you have two posts as usual.  Please review your comments on previous weeks and use them to raise your game.  A few notes of things I'm seeing frequently that you can avoid:

• commonly confused words (exiting/exciting, lose/loose, there/their/they're)
• missing apostrophes for possessive nouns or added apostrophes for plural nouns
• lack of formatting for book titles (italics)
• more than 25% of the post spent summarizing the book
• posts that don't reflect the prompt clearly

I am also working on a collection of great posts from these first few weeks that I'll be putting up in the next couple of days - stay tuned.

Your posts this week:

1. Reading Response: you may respond to an outside reading book, or you can respond to one of the narratives we have been reading in class.  As usual, limit your writing about what is going on in your book or in the narrative to a couple of sentences and keep the focus on your ideas.  

2. Dear ____-year-old: Watch the video "How to Age Gracefully" (from CBC Radio WireTap).  Write a letter of advice to someone at an age that you have passed, based on your experiences.  Make it interesting - try to avoid things they might hear frequently!  (Yes, it should be longer than the advice in the video - please make it the standard 2-paragraph length by choosing one or two pieces of advice and explaining them).

Q1: Week 3 - Posts Due 9/5

This week, blogs will be due Tuesday, September 5 because of the holiday Monday.  Once again, you will have two posts this week:

Post 1: Reading Response to your current outside reading book!  Two developed paragraphs with minimal plot summary (no more than 2 sentences).  If you are struggling with what to respond to, try reading as a writer: How does the author engage the reader's attention?  What do you notice about how the book is structured?  What examples do you see of personality, emotion, or vivid detail in the voice?  (Quote if appropriate)

Post 2: This week falls between the anniversaries of two major tragedies of the 21st century.  For your second post this week, please read or view something related to either Hurricane Katrina or September 11th and write a 2-paragraph response.  If you choose to read something (anything from a poem, article, or short story to a novel or nonfiction book), count all of the time you spend reading toward your 120 minutes.  If you choose to view something (like a documentary), you may count up to 30 minutes toward your reading time for the week.  Make sure to identify what you read or viewed (a link would be great, too) - this should not simply be a piece about your own experiences.  Also, please avoid conspiracy theory articles or videos about 9/11.

Alternatively, you may read or watch something about the Baton Rouge flood of 2016 or about Hurricane Harvey, following the same guidelines.

Reading Ideas: (suggestions, not requirements)

Katrina: Blood Dazzler (poems by Patricia Smith), A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge (graphic novel by Josh Neufield), Zeitoun (nonfiction narrative by Dave Eggers), Voices from the Storm (oral histories of storm survivors, edited by Lola Vollen and Chris Ying)

9/11: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (novel by Jonathan Safran Foer), several other possibilities

Q1: Week 2 - Posts for 8/28

Our blogging routine has begun! Once again, you will have two posts this week:

1. A reading response to either your current outside reading book or your second summer choice book.  Remember, don't summarize the plot; instead respond, react, notice things that stand out, etc.  Remember to include the title of the book in italics.

Beginning next week, I will ask you to log your reading with an expectation of 2 hours per week.  That can include the time that you read during my class if you meet certain requirements: you arrive in class with a book (whether yours, the library's, or one that you've signed out from my classroom library; NOT one that you've just picked off my shelf); you are already reading when the bell rings and you read the entire time (if you are running to the bathroom, water fountain, your locker, etc. during reading time, or you are still finding the book on your computer or chatting when the bell rings, you may not count that day's time).

2. For your second post, think about something exciting or story-worthy from the past week or two, or from the summer.  Limit your story to about a five-minute period, and tell it as a scene, using as much vivid detail and imagery as you can.  Try to make your readers feel like they are right there.  Again, no more than five minutes should elapse between the beginning of your story and the end.

As before, please dedicate about 15 minutes per blog post.  Set a timer if you need to.  You may write informally, but please use standard spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc.

Happy writing!

Welcome to English I!

Welcome to English I!  I am looking forward to our year together!

As you know, blog posts will be a routine assignment in my class.  They will be an opportunity to share and think through our reading, to try out new genres and writing strategies, and to communicate with each other and with me about how our work is going.

For this week, you will make two posts, due Monday, 8/21 (you may post at any time before the end of that day):

1. A free post.  This is a good opportunity to introduce yourself and your blog, and to discuss your expectations, goals, or concerns about the course, but you may choose another topic if you'd like.

2. A response to one of your summer reading choice books.  Remember that a plot summary is not a response.  For examples of responses, click here to read some of my responses and some strong student responses from previous years.

As with all blog posts, you should have two well-developed paragraphs in each post, and you should spend about 15 minutes per post.  Set a timer if you need to, and do the best work that you can within that time period.
Here are some response sentence-starters that might be helpful to you:

•One thing I noticed was…•I wonder why…•What I liked (or disliked) most was…•Something that surprised me was…•What I find confusing is…•As I was reading, I…•The author wants us to think…•…This is important because…•…I can relate to this because…•…This is similar to…•One strategy I used was…

Q4: Week 5 - Posts for 4/24

1. Hits and Misses: Our last class project will be a portfolio in which you consider the work that you've done over the course of your ninth grade year in English.  As part of that project, I'll ask you identify your "hits and misses" for the year: what were the pieces of writing you enjoyed, felt successful with, or grew the most on?  What were the pieces that you struggled with, that tortured you, or for which you feel you didn't learn as much as you could have?  Why?  (The portfolio will ask you for three of each - for this post, you can approach the question in any way you want to.  You may include major essays, blog posts, or any other kind of writing you've done for this class.)

2. Anticipating our next book: Consider the eight statements below, and decide whether you disagree strongly, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, or agree strongly.  Then, respond to two of the statements, explaining your opinion in a standard-length post.  Use examples from your experience and, if you like, from things you've read.

1. Ambition is a positive, desirable trait in a person.
2. If you are in a position of power, you are happy.
3. Everyone is capable of lying, betrayal, and violence, which are basic parts of human nature.
4. Who we are--our essential character and temperament--is fixed and unchangeable.
5. Women are more compassionate and less violent than men.
6. Sometimes you have to do things other people consider wrong to get ahead.
7. Some things are destined or fated to happen.
8. If something is destined to happen, it will happen without your interference.

Happy Spring Break!

Q4: Week 4 - Posts due 4/10

1. Choose one of the prompts from this New York Times list of personal and narrative writing prompts and respond to it in a 2-paragraph blog post.

2. We are reading a challenging book.  What strategies are you using to read it successfully?  What has been most effective for you so far and why?  What challenges are you finding?  How might you address those challenges?

Q4: Week 3 - No blogs this week

Please put your time towards reading Purple Hibiscus.

Q4: Week 2 - Post Due 3/27

Please read a current political article from the source of your choice and respond to it in a 2-paragraph blog post.  Because of the reading element, this single post will be worth 20 points instead of 10.

To get the most possible credit, you should:
- Include a link to the article (Hint: selecting your text and pressing ctrl / cmd -K allows you to insert a link without it looking like an ugly link).
- Summarize and explain the author's main point(s) fairly, whether or not you agree.
- Provide your opinion / response.  You may want to acknowledge issues that you don't have enough background knowledge to adequately respond to and consider how you might learn more.
- Explain how you chose your article, both the topic and the source (website or newspaper).

Other Requests:
- Stay focused on the issues in the article.  Resist the temptation to dive into a rant.
- Be civil and understanding of people who may have different views (this applies to comments, too) while being clear.

Q4: Week 1 - Posts for 3/20

2 Posts this week:

Reminders: You should spend about 15 minutes on each post.  Though posts don't need to be perfect, they should be edited.  Use Grammarly if you need to, read out loud, and take special care with capitalizing (particularly "I") and apostrophes.

1. Free Post!  Reading responses are welcome, but you may write about any school-appropriate topic.

2. Learning Reflection: Now that we are 3/4 of the way through the year, what have you learned about yourself as a student / reader / writer and how you learn best and are most productive?  How will you use that information to do your best work this last quarter?

Q3 Week 7: Posts due March 6

Post 1: Analyze a Song
For your first post, analyze a song of your choice.  Your analysis should identify the major techniques being used, how those techniques are used, and what effects they have in the song.  How do these techniques contribute to your overall interpretation of the song?  Your post should be at least two developed paragraphs in length but may be longer. Make sure to include the song's title, author/artist, and a link to the lyrics.  You may also want to type out any particularly relevant sections (this doesn't count toward the length).

You may choose any song you'd like if it is school-appropriate and the lyrics are available online.  Make sure you choose a song that has poetic devices in it for you to analyze.  End rhyme and a repeated chorus do not count - find a song with other techniques.  Your analysis should identify the techniques being used, how they are used, and what effect they create--you are making claims about the song and supporting them.  Consider aspects of the song such as tone, theme, diction, speaker, and purpose.  As always, your analysis must be your own, but you may look up any allusions that you need to.

If you are having trouble finding a song, here are a few suggestions:

"I Must Belong Somewhere" by Bright Eyes - Lyrics, Song
"You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon - Lyrics, Video
"Dark Turn of Mind" by Gillian Welch - Lyrics and Video (scroll down)
"Love" by Mos Def - Lyrics, Song
"Float" by Aesop Rock - Lyrics and song (scroll down)
"Umbrella" by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z - Lyrics 

Post 2: Free Post - Remember, a free post has a topic.

Q3: Week 6 - Posts for 2/20

Post 1: Write a post in which you correctly use at least 3 vocabulary words that you have learned through your work vocabulary.com this year.

Post 2: Write a poem that uses at least three tools or techniques from the Big List of Poetry Terms.  Shoot for at least 10 lines, and spend about the same 15 minutes you would spend on any post.  List the techniques that you include below the poem.

Q3: Week 5 - No Posts this Week

Because of the research paper, there will be no new posts this week.  If you have missed a post this quarter, please take this opportunity to catch up.

Q3: Week 4 - Posts for 2/6

1. Reading response to Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  You should be at least through p. 101.  If you have read ahead, please NO Spoilers!

2. Research: What are two things (skills or information about doing and using research) that you have learned during our research work so far?  What is one thing we have worked on that you don't feel comfortable with, have questions about, or would like to learn more about?

Please include time spent working on research outside of class in your reading details this week.

Q3: Week 3 - Posts due 1/30

1. Reading response to Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  You should be at least through p. 53.  If you have read ahead, please NO Spoilers!

2. Free post!  Remember a free post has a topic.

Reading details for this week: Include time spent on your research project outside of class in addition to reading.

Q3: Week 2 - Posts Due 1/23

As usual, you have two posts due this week.  Remember, your posts should represent 15 minutes of focused writing per post, should include two strong (5+ sentences) paragraphs, and should be as well edited as possible within the 15-minute timeframe.

1. Post 1: Reflect on something you learned last semester about yourself as a student or about being a student in high school more generally.  How will you use this information to make this semester (even) better?

2. Post 2: Last week I asked you to update us on the research process.  This week, please tell us about your topic.  Your classmates are the primary audience here.  Explain why your topic is interesting and important.  Draw us in with engaging stories or facts.  Why does this issue matter?  Make sure to include either your research question or your tentative thesis.

Q3: Week 1- Blogs for 1/17 (Tuesday)

Welcome to your 2017 blogging!

Two posts this week:

1. Research Update: How is your research?  What has been going well?  What has been difficult?  What do you need help with? (You are not limited to these questions - they are just for guidance)

2. Free post: You may choose your topic.  Martin Luther King Jr. Day or the winter break could be possibilities.

Your posts are due Tuesday because of the holiday.