Writing 2 Class Notes -- February 20 (Week 6)

Greetings!

Another good class this week.  I handed out some postcards and asked them to pretend they had been on a vacation to the place on the card.  For the Quick Write, they were to write a message to someone about their "vacation." Most of the postcards were from our summer trip to the North Shore, so they didn't have any exotic destinations to work with.

Our Latin phrases for this week were:

ad perpetuam rei memoriam -- for the perpetual remembrance of a thing (This was a common introit for papal declarations)

adsum -- I'm here or "Present"  (young Roman students responded with this when attendance was taken)

ad verbum -- to the word or verbatim (We discussed the connection of the the Latin word for "word" is verbum and our word "verb" which is the action word of a sentence.  Sometimes, the discussion of vocabulary and grammar can become a little philosophical)

advocatus diaboli -- the devil's advocate

Continuing with our study of the comma, we looked at how to use a comma in a series.  One wouldn't think that any type of controversy could arise in grammar, but you can find passionate users of the Oxford or serial comma; you will also find those who firmly eschew the final comma before the word "and" in a series.  (E.g. "I ate eggs, bacon, toast, and cheese for breakfast." uses the Oxford/serial comma following "toast.")  I explained to the class that many purists prefer the serial comma, and therefore I am teaching them to use it.  Those who are not strict adherents to its use, choose to use it only to avoid potential confusion, but otherwise feel that it unnecessarily breaks up the flow of a sentence.  Who knew that such a small bit of punctuation could be so news-worthy -- see Wikipedia, The Falmouth Institute,  or this grammar blog.

We took quite a bit of time looking at our next writing assignment, the Cause/Effect Essay.  We did some brainstorming about organization and the structure of this kind of essay using a variety of topics.  Rather than use the words "cause" and "effect," we discussed the ideas in terms of "something happened" and "something was the result.  As with all of our previous essays, this essay must have a thesis statement.  The students are familiar with my equation for a thesis:  Topic + Opinion/Stand = Thesis Statement.

Unfortunately, we took longer to discuss our writing this week and did not have time to discuss the stories.  With sincere looks of disappointment, they requested that we take extra time next week to discuss our reading selections.  I think we can make that work!

We do not have classes at CHAT next week.  The next time we have class is on March 6.

Assignments for March 6

-- Read Hawthorne (p. 73); Bierce (p. 10); and Poe (p. 156)

-- Fill out one side of one of the worksheets for each story.  

-- Cause/Effect Rough Draft

-- Grammar Worksheet

This week's blog

-- Class Notes

Have a great 2 weeks!  Enjoy your break.

Mrs. Prichard

Cause/ Effect Essay

Cause/Effect Essay

Definition

            Cause and effects focus on why things happen and what their results or consequences are.  Causes are the reasons why something happened.  They answer the question, “Why did the event happen?”  Effects are the direct results or consequences of an event; they respond to the question, “What happened because of the event?”  The study of causes and effects are central to many disciplines:  science, history, sociology, psychology, etc.  

Choosing a Subject

            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

            The topic sentence or thesis should present the event or phenomenon that will be analyzed and announce whether the causes, effects, or both will be examined. 

Organization

            Cause/effect essays generally focus on the causes of the effects of an event, problem, or phenomenon.  Some essays examine both causes and effects.  The topic sentence or thesis announces whether cause, effects, or both will be examined, and the supporting sentences or paragraphs develop those causes or effects.        

Tips on Writing

– Before you start writing, determine whether you will be covering the cause, effects, or both.

– List all of the causes and effects you can think of for the situation.

– Examine each cause or effect to determine whether it is a direct cause or effect of your event.  Keep in mind the difference between direct and indirect causes and effects.

– When examining causes and effects, decide the value and importance of each item.

– Clearly establish the relationships between the cause and the effect.

– Avoid mistaking coincidence for cause and effect.

– Avoid oversimplification.  

– Don’t confuse affect for effect

– Affect is a verb meaning “to influence.”

– Effect is usually used as a noun meaning “result.”

– When used as a verb, effect means “to make or to cause to happen.”

Essay Guidelines

– Due dates:  Pre-Write due February 20; Rough Draft due March 6;  Final Draft due March 20/

– Essay length:  700 – 900 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

Writing 2 Class Notes -- February 13 (Week 5)

Greetings!

As always, we had a good class this week.  We began the class with our Quick Write.  Each week it seems that this activity could take more time than I give it.  And that's a good thing.  One of the best ways to become a good writer is simply to write a lot.  This week our Quick Write assignment was to either 1) Write a literary love letter; or 2) Write about your Lenten plans.  For the love letter, the students could choose an author, a book, a character, a bit of punctuation, a part of speech, a literary device, etc.  We had a heart-felt ode to the semicolon and an affectionate note to "There is."  Another student alliteratively expressed appreciation for alliteration.  Some of these will be posted on the class blog.

Our Latin Phrases for this week were as follows:

ad hoc -- "for this purpose" refers to a group or activity that is for a specific, limited reason

ad infinitum -- "for infinity; never-ending" refers to something that goes on and on and doesn't seem to end

ad litem -- "for this suit/case"  is a legal term that is usually used in regards to a guardian ad litem, which is a person who is assigned to help a minor is a legal situation

ad nauseum -- "to sickness"  Like the term ad infinitum, this refers to an activity that continues to the extent that you feel bodily sick.  Literally, nauseum means seasickness.

We've started in our new book, Great Short Short Stories, and for this week they read stories from the Russian writers, Anton Chekhov, Alexander Pushkin, and Leo Tolstoy.  We discussed plot, characterization, and themes.  For next week we'll read some short stories by the British writers, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, and H. H. Munroe.  They have charts to fill in for these stories.

Their next essay is a Cause/Effect Essay.  We discussed how this is similar to the Problem/Solution essay which they just finished.  This is a two-part essay; in this kind of essay, the writer must explain both the result (effect) and what caused it to happen.  The Pre-Write is due next week.

We're still working to develop a "Comma Expertise," and they have a worksheet on appositives and parenthetical expressions.  Next week, I'm planning on having the students give mini-grammar lessons that I will record as videos.  I'd like to put them on our class blog, but I want to make sure that I have permission from parents.    Let me know if you DO NOT want any videos of your child posted.

On the class blog, I posted a video of Dr. Ben Carson's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast.  While this is not specifically writing-related, I was impressed by his forthrightness and integrity and wanted to share it with my students and their families.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read the following stories

      Dickens (p. 45); Wilde (p. 189); Kipling (p. 101); Munro (p. 140)

-- Fill out one side of one of the Short Story worksheets per story

-- Pre-Write for the Cause/ Effect Essay

-- Grammar Worksheet on Appositives and Parenthetical Expressions

This week's blogs:

Class Notes

Dr. Ben Carson at the National Prayer Breakfast

Comma Worksheet

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard

Commas: Appositives & Parenthetical Expressions

1.6 – Appositives

An appositive renames the noun or pronoun it follows.  If omitting the appositive would change the meaning of the sentence, then do not set it apart with commas.  If the “renaming” does not change the meaning, then use commas.

1.7 – Parenthetical Comments

Parenthetical comments are those which can be left out but are included to add color or personality to the sentence.

Exercises:

Insert the commas for the appositives.

1.      Pride and Prejudice a book by Jane Austen is one of my favorite novels.

2.      Houston the largest city in Texas was named after Sam Houston.

3.      The speaker who had risen from his chair to begin his talk fell off the platform.

4.      The athletes for whom the party was given broke into singing the school song.

5.      The dog that ran under the chair was the one who had eaten her shoe.

6.      The truck that changed around the corner finally broke down across the street.

Insert commas for the parenthetical phrases.

1.      Believe it or not I haven’t been home a single night this week.

2.      I know Susan was at the party I spoke with her myself bu she may have left early.

3.      Then I thought oh dear I’ve lost my wallet.

4.      I have an idea let’s call Robert and Jill and take them out for dinner.

5.      Your mother called an oh yes she said you left your history book at home.

Misc. Sentences

1.      The clock which had been ticking very loudly burst a spring and flew off the wall.

2.      Down in the valley where the grass is greener than it is anywhere else you can see the men on tractors and other equipment.

3.      My friends Hannah and Rebecca whom I haven’t seen for six years are coming to visit me this week.

4.      The old car that sat in the driveway all winter was finally hauled away.

5.      The man who broke into our house while we were away was arrested.

Dr. Ben Carson at the National Prayer Breakfast

Many homeschoolers know who Ben Carson is.  He's one of those success stories that we love to give to our children to encourage and inspire them.  Our family has read a couple of biographies and seen the movie Gifted Hands.  We even had the opportunity to hear him speak at a college in our town.

Though this video is not about literature or writing, I felt Dr. Carson was so eloquent about values and about education that I wanted to share it my students and their families.  Follow this link to my personal blog for the C-SPAN video.

Active & Passive Sentences

As young writers work to make their thoughts into sentences that combine into clear essays, they often have a tendency to use too many words in the process.  A common mistake that they make is using passive verbs and writing weak, wordy sentences.  Briefly, in an active sentence the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb.  In a passive sentence, the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb.




Examples
Active:  Mrs. Prichard ate lunch.  (The subject is doing the action of the verb.)
Passive:  The lunch was eaten by Mrs. Prichard.  (The verb is receiving the action of the verb.)

Active:  The dog chased the cat.
Passive:  The cat was chased by the dog.

Below are some other on-line resources for further explanation
Purdue's Online Writing Lab
English Club --- has some nice charts
Grammar Girl -- a longer article which addresses stylistic characteristics of active and passive voice.
Wheaton College Writing Center --- includes a section on when to use passive voice.

Writing 2 Class Notes -- February 6 (Week 4)

Greetings!

We began our class with a discussion about the story behind Groundhog Day.  According to folklore, if a groundhog sees its shadow (in other words, it's a sunny day), he will be frightened and go back into his hole, and winter will last another 6 weeks.  If the day is overcast and the groundhog sees no shadow, we'll have an early spring.  Of course, this is all a moot point in Minnesota where winter sometimes lasts until May!


For our Quick Write, I asked the students to choose an animal and create a national holiday that revolves around that animal.  We had days dedicated to bears, pandas, hamsters, and monkeys.

Below are our Latin phrases for today.  Since we've done a few of these, some words were a bit familiar.  They are also getting the hang of recognizing derivatives and cognates of the Latin words.  I gave them extra credit if they knew any of the words in the phrases.

acta est fabula -- literally means "the act is the story;"  used as a "The End" for open air plays; related to the words fable and fabulous
a Deo et Rege -- from God and King;
Adeste Fideles -- literally "come faithful ones;" the Latin title for "O Come all ye Faithful."
ad gustum -- to (ones) taste; a term used in old cookbooks

I handed back the rough drafts of the Problem/Solution Essays.  As a combined Grammar and Writing lesson, we discussed common errors in the papers.  We spent quite a bit of time talking about active and passive sentences.  Sentences written in passive form usually use more words to say the same thing than one written with an active verb.  These sentences are not incorrect, but most young writers have to be careful about bogging down their sentences.

The final drafts of their Problem/Solution Essays are due next week.  In addition to including their rough drafts, on a separate page I would like them to write the thesis statement for this essay and the reasons for 5 corrections made from the rough draft.  IF they make corrections/improvements that I didn't mark, they should make mention of those and I will give extra credit.

The students had read the final two stories in our Sherlock Holmes book.  They've enjoyed the stories and have expanded their clue-finding skills. We only read six stories.  If you're interested in more, Dover Publications has a good selection at very reasonable prices.  They were alert, involved, and insightful.  I'm enjoying their ability to think carefully about literature. We are beginning a new book for next week, Great Short, Short Stories.  We're starting with stories by Russian writers.  They were given worksheets, and they are to do one worksheet per story.  They are to ignore the backside of one of the sheets about characters.

A note on assignments:  Sometimes circumstances keep students from handing in assignments in on time.  Computer and printer issues are pretty common problems.  Busy schedules and illness also play a role.  Since we only meet weekly, it's important that students not get behind, especially with assigned essays.  If a student cannot hand in a paper at class time, I would like them to e-mail their papers to me as soon as they can. In the case of rough drafts, I can then get them corrected, scanned, and returned. However, if assignments are too late, they will not be counted.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Final Draft of the Problem/Solution Essay

     -- Include rough draft, thesis statement, 5 reasons for corrections

-- Read Pushkin (p. 16), Tolstoy (p. 169), Chekhov (p. 26)

-- Fill out one worksheet per story

This week's blogs:

Class Notes

Passive/Active Sentence Resources

Have a great week!  Stay warm & make wise choices.

Mrs. Prichard