Sunday, December 10, 2017
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Thursday, November 16, 2017
How to Get the Most Out of Yourself
Alan Loy McGinnis in his essay " How to Make the Most of Yourself," writes the way to be successful and productive is through strengthened self-image. What are his main points--and do you agree or disagree with him? Use your own experience and reference the text.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Short Story Ideas
11.
A babysitter is snooping
around her employer's house and finds a disturbing photograph...
12.
At a Chinese restaurant,
your character opens his fortune cookie and reads the following message:
"Your life is in danger. Say nothing to anyone. You must leave the city
immediately and never return. Repeat: say nothing."...
13.
Your character's boss
invites her and her husband to dinner. Your character wants to make a good
impression, but her husband has a tendency to drink too much and say exactly
what's on his mind...
14.
It's your character's
first day at a new school. He or she wants to get a fresh start, develop a new
identity. But in his or her homeroom, your character encounters a kid he or she
knows from summer camp...
15.
Your character has to
tell his parents that he's getting a divorce. He knows his parents will take
his wife's side, and he is right...
16.
At the airport, a
stranger offers your character money to carry a mysterious package onto the
plane. The stranger assures your character that it's nothing illegal and points
out that it has already been through the security check. Your character has
serious doubts, but needs the money, and therefore agrees...
17.
Your character suspects
her husband is having an affair and decides to spy on him. What she discovers
is not what she was expecting...
18.
A man elbows your
character in a crowd. After he is gone, she discovers her cell phone is too.
She calls her own number, and the man answers. She explains that the cell phone
has personal information on it and asks the man to send it back to her. He
hangs up. Instead of going to the police, your character decides to take
matters into her own hands...
19.
After your character
loses his job, he is home during the day. That's how he discovers that his
teenage son has a small marijuana plantation behind the garage. Your character
confronts his son, who, instead of acting repentant, explains to your character
exactly how much money he is making from the marijuana and tries to persuade
your character to join in the business...
20.
At a garage sale, your
character buys an antique urn which she thinks will look nice decorating her
bookcase. But when she gets home, she realizes there are someone's ashes in
it....
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Friday, October 20, 2017
My First Conk
Do you agree or disagree with the statement that Malcolm X's message of racial self-degradation still applies today? Use your personal experience--and make sure to quote the essay as well.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Quiz: Araby
Names of places, names of people, can be important when creating your piece of fiction. Why do you think the name "Araby" is used in the short story. What are its implications in the story?
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Friday, October 13, 2017
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Creative Writing Prompts
What if Harry Potter came to your house for dinner? Write this scene as if you were a teenager, he’s new to your school and you’re introducing him to your parents. Also, after dinner, he makes a request of you. What is it?
They are creating an episode of The Game of Thrones centered around you--how would it play out?
They are creating an episode of The Game of Thrones centered around you--how would it play out?
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Friday, October 6, 2017
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Black Elk
In the essay “Black Elk Speaks: The Offering of the Pipe,"
by shaman Black Elk, this Native American spiritual leader expresses a great
deal of humility for a person of his stature. Throughout the essay Black Elk is
open about his failings as a leader and makes it clear that he is just a man
like others.
One way his humbleness
is exposed is by the way in which he introduces his talk with John
Neihardt, an oral historian who recorded their discussion. Black Elk states, “ My friend, I am going to
tell you the story of my life…and if it were only the story of my I would not
tell it…So many other men have lived and
shall live that story, to be grass upon the hills.”(1). It is obvious that Black
Elk does not separate himself from the common man.
Black Elk-- when reviewing his life-- admitted his failures in a very frank and humble way. In this passage Black Elk reflects, "........................" (2).
Respect for the common man, for nature, and the small role man plays in the scheme of things is indication of the humbleness of this man. When Black Elk tells his story of the Bison God he reveals, "............................" (3.) This certainly speaks to the fact that Black Elk does not consider himself a man who controls nature, but he is a man who is in sync with nature.
In conclusion......
Black Elk-- when reviewing his life-- admitted his failures in a very frank and humble way. In this passage Black Elk reflects, "........................" (2).
Respect for the common man, for nature, and the small role man plays in the scheme of things is indication of the humbleness of this man. When Black Elk tells his story of the Bison God he reveals, "............................" (3.) This certainly speaks to the fact that Black Elk does not consider himself a man who controls nature, but he is a man who is in sync with nature.
In conclusion......
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Cathedral
Do you agree or disagree that the blind man can see, but the sighted man can't? Refer to the text, and use your own personal experience in defending your position.
In Raymond Carver's short story "Cathedral" the blind man can metaphorically see and feel more about the world than his sighted companion. Carver wrote in an essay for the New Yorker that "The blind man obviously had more in-sight than the hapless husband." (36). The blind man's enhanced senses helped him see the world more fully. In one passage....
In my own life I have seen how blind and deaf people can have more of a sensitivity to the world around them. Like Carver's blind character I had a best friend who understood me even more than my sighted friends..
In conclusion....
Friday, September 15, 2017
Memoir essay--Mint Snowball
http://www.flippedoutteaching.com/lessons/eng3/unit6/Mint%20Snowball.pdf
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Common Grammar Mistakes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNYXPuWf13 Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNYXPuWf13Q
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Lucien Freud
In the first paragraph, focus solely on description. In the following stanzas, take your own approach: you can continue to describe, impose a narrative on the scene, or reveal something about yourself or the artist. Try to represent all of the senses in your description.
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Poetry Based on Art
In an interview, Mary Jo Bang described her own approach to
ekphrastic poems: “I am taking an existing work of art and rewriting
over it. I’m imposing a new narrative on it, one that is partially
suggested by the artwork itself and partially by something that comes
from within. Sometimes that thing is an autobiographical moment,
sometimes it’s a larger concern, social or political or intellectual.”
Write a poem in three stanzas that is based on an image or work of art. In the first stanza, focus solely on description. In the following stanzas, take your own approach: you can continue to describe, impose a narrative on the scene, or reveal something about yourself or the artist. In revision, pay careful attention represent all of the senses in your description.
Write a poem in three stanzas that is based on an image or work of art. In the first stanza, focus solely on description. In the following stanzas, take your own approach: you can continue to describe, impose a narrative on the scene, or reveal something about yourself or the artist. In revision, pay careful attention represent all of the senses in your description.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Friday, April 21, 2017
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Argument Paper Checklist
Persuasive
Essay Editing Checklist
Introduction
Content
______
Begins with a “hook” grabber
______
Contains 2-3 sentences that provide background about the subject
______
The last sentence provides a thesis for or against the subject
______
Provides three reasons that clearly support the position of the
subject
Body
Paragraph
1
______
Provides a transition in the first sentence
______
States what your first reason is as to why you are for/against issue
______
Has 2-3 examples that support the first reason
______
Contains a closing sentence
Paragraph
2
______
Provides a transition in the first sentence
______
States what your second reason is as to why you are for/against
issue
______
Has 2-3 examples, facts, details etc. that support the thesis
______
Contains a closing sentence
Paragraph 3---Anticipate Objections and answer them. You can use a transitional statement "Some might say, but I say....
Conclusion
Paragraph 3---Anticipate Objections and answer them. You can use a transitional statement "Some might say, but I say....
Conclusion
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Friday, March 3, 2017
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Friday, February 10, 2017
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Memoir writing Checklist
Memoir
Writing Peer Review Checklist
Memoir Writing Peer Review Checklist
Writer's Name ______________Reviewer's
Name ________________________ |
Questions
|
Yes
|
No.
|
|
Has the writer narrowed the topic to one item and focused
on the purpose?
|
.
|
.
|
|
Is there evidence of an individual voice? Can you
"hear" the
writer? |
.
|
.
|
|
Does the piece begin in an interesting way?
|
.
|
.
|
|
Does the piece develop ideas by using interesting or
important experiences of the writer? |
.
|
.
|
|
Does the piece include sensory details (things for the
reader to
hear, see, smell, feel, and taste)? |
.
|
.
|
|
Can you "see" the location?
|
.
|
.
|
|
Can you tell the time period of the experience? Is
it framed?
|
.
|
.
|
|
Does the writer place ideas and details in meaningful
order?
|
.
|
.
|
|
Does the writer provide the reader with a natural flow
and
sequence to the story? |
.
|
.
|
|
Does the writer use imagination and creativity?
|
.
|
.
|
|
Can the reader understand the purpose of writing about
the
incident in the writer's life? |
.
|
.
|
|
Can the reader understand the importance of the
relationship
between the writer and the subject of the writing? |
.
|
.
|
|
Does the ending leave the reader wondering? Does the
ending
go on and on? |
.
|
.
|
What is your favorite part of the story?
Questions?
Comments?
____________________________________________________
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