Greetings!
We had a good week of classes this week. We started the class with a more active Quick Write.
Using the adjective cards from my game, Funglish, the students were
assigned to write sentences using the adjectives. When the first round
of sentences were written, we passed our cards down the table and wrote
new sentences using the new set of adjectives. Some students wrote
sentences that told stories (albeit very unusual) and some wrote
individual sentences for each adjective.
The students handed in their final drafts of their Cause/ Effect Essays. These essays have been very thoughtful
and I look forward to reading over them during the Spring Break.
Our next essay will be an Evaluation Essay. For this essay,
they are to explore the significance of a topic while writing about its
overall quality of a particular product, business, place, service, or
program. To develop an essay is this type, think in terms of a topics
value, impact, and significance, its strengths and weaknesses, and its
place in the scheme of things.
They have been given a worksheet that is a review of commas. The rules and
guidelines about commas are beginning to stick. We will go over some more
punctuation and end the semester with an exam.
We had a lively
discussion of our short stories. One that I've had some particular
interest in, Kate Chopin's "A Pair of Silk Stockings," has always
intrigued me because people have had such varied readings of the story.
The students seem to have one way of looking at Mrs. Sommers's actions,
and I read it differently. If you're interested, read it for yourself and tell me what you think.
I'm sure I don't need to remind you, but we don't have classes next week.
Assignments for April 3 (Week 10)
-- Read Pirandello's "With Other Eyes" (p. 149) and de Maupassant's "A Piece of String" (p. 134)
-- Fill out both sides of the 2 worksheets that were handed out.
-- Evaluation Essay Pre-writing. This will include some research along with an outline or mind-map.
This week's blog
Class Notes
Evaluation Essay
Master the Comma Review
Characters: The Actors in a Story
The Short Story
Analyzing the Theme in a Story
Analyzing the Setting in a Story
Have a great Spring Break!!
Mrs. Prichard
Friday, March 22, 2013
Master the Comma Review
Mastering the Comma Review
Punctuate the
following sentences.
1.
Throughout these four essays a theme of fitting into
society is found.
2.
Jim hand forgotten to change his watch to daylight
saving time so he missed the first meeting of the day.
3.
In the essay “Ring Leader” the writer does not try to
hide her peculiarities but becomes more forceful in making them apparent.
4.
He was speaking to me his sister as if I were a child.
5.
Nick told me that Joan was an employee of the college
the wife of a professor.
6.
When I looked the car over I saw that its tire seemed
to be losing air so I drove to the station on the corner and filled it up.
7.
From the start to finish the defense insisted that the
one and only issue in the case was whether the college had deprived Jane of her
right to free speech.
8.
The professor thought of Janet the only mother in her
classes who cooked in a diner all day and came to school at night worn out.
9.
She filed an official grievance which worked its way
through the institutional process.
10. Even
though Matt was angry with Carrie he decided to call her anyway.
11. I
realized that I could gain another 15 minutes of sleep if I went to class in my
pajamas but I noticed that my fellow classmates had made the same discovery.
12. From
changing our hairstyles to changing our physical appearances surgically some of
us have strong desires to conform to society’s demands to fit in.
13. Society
is no help for it tells us again and again that we can most be ourselves by
looking like someone else.
14. From
the moment I got out of bed and answered the phone today great things began to
happen.
15. She
was not in the popular group and she wished that she could feel accepted by her
peers.
16. The
paper which she finally decided to write on an aspect of the Civil War received
an A.
17. The
newspaper that covered the story misspelled my name.
18. My
aunt Mary Ann said that her inn was filled over the Thanksgiving holiday.
19. When
we bought the new house Josie helped paint all the downstairs rooms.
20. For
the reunion my family came from England France Italy and South Dakota.
21. While
the children sang in the recital their parents watched with rapt attention.
22. She
cared so much about the way others looked at her that she forgot what really
matters which is feeling comfortable with oneself.
23. He
rooted for his home baseball team and he wished it would win more often.
24. As
she grew older Anna found that her home and garden became more important to
her.
25. Leah
and her suitemates Carla Heather Jessica and Samantha went skiing during winter
break.
Evaluation Essay
Evaluation Essay
Definition
In an essay of evaluation, a writer acts like a roving
critic, exploring the significance of your topic. The purpose of an evaluation essay is to
demonstrate the overall quality (or lack thereof) of a particular product, business,
place, service, or program. To develop
an essay of this type, think in terms of a subject’s value, impact, and
significance; its strengths and weaknesses; its place in the scheme of things.
Choosing a Subject
An Evaluation Essay explores a particular event, a
current trend, an extended project, a recent decision, a new product, and so
on. Consider recent experiences,
conversations, and headlines for possible ideas. It can focus on current events, political or
social events, or developments in medicine or technology.
Thesis Development
While any evaluation involves
injecting some form of opinion, if an evaluation is done properly, it should
not come across as opinionated. Instead,
the evaluation should seem reasoned and unbiased.
Organization
In
order to give a clear representation and reasonable, unbiased discussion of
your topic keep the following elements in mind:
- Critera – This refers to the elements or qualities that demonstrate an ideal for any similar situation. Having clear criteria establishes your paper with facts and details so that it does not appear to be only an opinion. For example, if evaluating a restaurant, you would choose the common characteristics of menu items, cleanliness, staff, prices, etc.
- Judgment – This establishes whether or not your topic meets the appropriate criteria that you’ve chosen to consider in your evaluation. Using the example of a restaurant, if you’ve chosen as a criteria the quality of food, the judgment states whether or not the particular restaurant offers food that meets or exceeds this stated quality.
- Evidence – These are the details that support your judgment of the criteria. Again, in the restaurant example, if you have determined that the quality does not meet a certain standard, give an explanation that serves as evidence.
Generally,
each body paragraph of an evaluation essay is going to focus on one specific
criterion, which should be fully explained, followed by the judgment and a
variety of evidence offered as support.
Because of this, it is important that any evaluation contains several
different criteria, judgments, and evidence.
Essay Guidelines
–
Due dates: Pre-Write due April 3; Rough Draft due April
10; Final Draft due April 24
–
Essay
length: 800 – 1000 words (between 3 and
6 pages)
–
Rough drafts can
be typed or hand-written, but must be double-spaced.
–
Final draft
format:
–
Typed (if this is
not possible, please let me know)
–
1 inch margins
–
Name and date on
the upper right hand corner
–
Number the pages
on the lower right hand corner
–
Title centered
above the text of the essay
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Evaluation Essay
Evaluation Essay
Definition
In an essay of evaluation, a writer acts like a roving
critic, exploring the significance of your topic. The purpose of an evaluation essay is to
demonstrate the overall quality (or lack thereof) of a particular product, business,
place, service, or program. To develop
an essay of this type, think in terms of a subject’s value, impact, and
significance; its strengths and weaknesses; its place in the scheme of things.
Choosing a Subject
An Evaluation Essay explores a particular event, a
current trend, an extended project, a recent decision, a new product, and so
on. Consider recent experiences,
conversations, and headlines for possible ideas. It can focus on current events, political or
social events, or developments in medicine or technology.
Thesis Development
While any evaluation involves
injecting some form of opinion, if an evaluation is done properly, it should
not come across as opinionated. Instead,
the evaluation should seem reasoned and unbiased.
Organization
In
order to give a clear representation and reasonable, unbiased discussion of
your topic keep the following elements in mind:
- Critera – This refers to the elements or qualities that
demonstrate an ideal for any similar situation. Having clear criteria establishes your
paper with facts and details so that it does not appear to be only an
opinion. For example, if evaluating
a restaurant, you would choose the common characteristics of menu items,
cleanliness, staff, prices, etc.
- Judgment – This establishes whether or not your topic
meets the appropriate criteria that you’ve chosen to consider in your
evaluation. Using the example of a
restaurant, if you’ve chosen as a criteria the quality of food, the judgment
states whether or not the particular restaurant offers food that meets or
exceeds this stated quality.
- Evidence – These are the details that support your
judgment of the criteria. Again, in
the restaurant example, if you have determined that the quality does not
meet a certain standard, give an explanation that serves as evidence.
Generally,
each body paragraph of an evaluation essay is going to focus on one specific
criterion, which should be fully explained, followed by the judgment and a
variety of evidence offered as support.
Because of this, it is important that any evaluation contains several
different criteria, judgments, and evidence.
Essay Guidelines
–
Due dates: Pre-Write due April 3; Rough Draft due April
10; Final Draft due April 24
–
Essay
length: 800 – 1000 words (between 3 and
6 pages)
–
Rough drafts can
be typed or hand-written, but must be double-spaced.
–
Final draft
format:
–
Typed (if this is
not possible, please let me know)
–
1 inch margins
–
Name and date on
the upper right hand corner
–
Number the pages
on the lower right hand corner
–
Title centered
above the text of the essay
Analyzing the Story's Theme
ANALYZING A STORY’S THEME
Title of Selection: _________________________________________________________________
Author:
_________________________________________________________________________
|
Questions
to Help Clarify Theme
|
Responses
& Examples from the Story
|
|
1. Does the title signify something about the
story? Does it point to truth the
story reveals about life?
|
|
|
2. Does
the main character change during the course of the story? Does the main character realize something
he or she did not know before?
|
|
|
3. Are
any important statements about life or people made in the story, either by
the narrator or characters in the story?
|
|
|
4. Is
the theme ever directly stated? If so,
where is it stated?
|
|
|
5. In
one sentence, state the story’s theme.
Do you agree with the theme? Is
the writer presenting a truth about life or forcing us to accept a false
view?
|
|
The Short Story
THE SHORT STORY
Title of Selection: _________________________________________________________________
Author:
_________________________________________________________________________
|
Elements
of a Short Story
|
Elements
of This Story
|
|
Characters: the people or animals who are in the story
|
|
|
Setting: the time and place in which a story occurs
|
|
|
Plot: the action and problems that occur in a
story
|
|
|
Conflict: struggle(s) the character faces
|
|
|
Theme: the story’s statement about life of the
human condition
|
|
|
Point of view: the vantage point from which a story is
told.
|
|
Analyzing Setting in a Story
ANALYZING SETTING IN A STORY
Title of Selection: _________________________________________________________________
Author:
_________________________________________________________________________
|
Questions
to Ask About Setting
|
Responses
from the Story
|
|
1. What is the setting? Historical period? Country or locale? Season of the year? Weather?
Time of day? What are the
sights? Sounds? Tastes?
Smells? What other details
establish a sense of place?
|
|
|
2. Are
the characters in conflict with the setting?
What do the characters want?
Does the setting keep them from getting what they want?
|
|
|
3. What
does the setting tell us about the characters? What feelings or attitudes do the
characters reveal toward the setting?
Fear? Pleasure? Challenge?
Dislike? Respect? Other feelings or attitudes?
|
|
|
4. How
would you describe the atmosphere or mood created by the setting? Is it gloomy? Cheerful?
Mysterious? Threatening? Other descriptions?
|
|
Characters: The Actors in a Story
CHARACTERS: THE ACTORS IN A
STORY
Title of Selection: _________________________________________________________________
Author:
_________________________________________________________________________
|
Types
of Characters
|
Examples
from the Story
|
|
Round characters are complex and multidimensional,
like real people.
|
|
|
Flat characters are one dimensional and
superficial; they can be described in a single sentence.
|
|
|
Dynamic characters change in an important way because
of the story’s action
|
|
|
Static characters do not change much or at all during
a story.
|
|
|
Stock characters are predictable stereotypes of
people.
|
|
|
Motivation
of Round Characters
|
Examples
from the Story
|
|
Motivation is the underlying force(s) that
causes a character to act a certain way.
|
|
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