Pre-Writing Outline

Pre-Write Outline:

I.               Thesis (One sentence that clearly states your claim)

Ex:  The United States needs universal health care now.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

II.  First Reason We NEED What You Propose.  (If your claim is for the status quo, than give us a reason why we don’t need change)

A)   Topic Sentence – clearly state this need in one sentence

B)   Supporting Fact (quote or summarized – be sure to know what source it came from

III.  Second Reason We NEED What You Propose.  (If your claim is for the status quo, than give us a reason why we don’t need change)

A)   Topic Sentence – clearly state this need in one sentence

B)   Supporting Fact (quote or summarized – be sure to know what source it came from

IV.  First Reason Your Proposal is of Value.  (Explain the satisfaction, value, or benefit your position or claim produces for others; your claim is not only necessary, but is beneficial or helpful for others.  If you are proposing the status quo, explain the value of keeping things the same and not changing).

A)   Topic Sentence – clearly state this need in one sentence

B)   Supporting Fact (quote or summarized – be sure to know what source it came from

V.  Second Reason Your Proposal is of Value.  (Explain the satisfaction, value, or benefit your position or claim produces for others; your claim is not only necessary, but is beneficial or helpful for others.  If you are proposing the status quo, explain the value of keeping things the same and not changing).

A)   Topic Sentence – clearly state this need in one sentence

B)   Supporting Fact (quote or summarized – be sure to know what source it came from

VI.  Counter Claim and Rebuttal.  Now it is time to consider a reason that the other side has for opposing your claim.  Concede that they have a valid point, but then you must try your best to rebut it or point out the flaw/problem with their argument.  You may say that they have a logical fallacy as a problem, or refute them with evidence.

A)   State a reason that the other side has.

B)   Point out a flaw with their reason.

V.  Conclusion with Call to Action.  State the specific call to action you believe we should do.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Article

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/06/28/sicko.fact.check/

Notes

Here are the notes from the film and terms.  The quiz will have you writing 1-3 paragraphs, using this information.  Be prepared.

Persuasive Organizer

Giant List of Topics

      Should the town of Stratham pass the teachers’ contract?

·      Should the second floor of the school be completed?

·      Should we eliminate summer vacation?

·      Should we eliminate standardized testing? (NWEA, NECAP)

·      Should New Hampshire repeal the death penalty?

·      Should we be vegetarians?

·      Should the government have more gun restrictions?  31-bullet clip?

·      Should the government do more to prevent illegal downloading?

·      Should the government do more to prevent homelessness, or is it not that big of an issue?

·      Should the hacker groups Wikileaks and Anonymous be arrested?

·      Should the government do more to prevent illegal immigration, or is it too expensive?

·      Should the government have more restrictions on genetically modified food?

·      Are we doing enough to prevent childhood obesity in America?

·      Does homework our school gives cause more harm than good for students?

·      Should we close all nuclear power plants in the U.S.?

·      Should the U.S. have more trade restrictions with China?

·      Should the U.S. immediately withdraw troops from Afghanistan?

·      Is too much of our nation's budget spent on defense?

·      Should we have levels in the middle school?

·      Should the U.S.  modify or repeal N.C.L.B. legislation?

Should we approve the Keystone pipeline project?

·      Should the U.S. drill in the Alaskan wildlife preserve for oil?

·      Do there need to be more restrictions on oil drilling in the U.S.?

·      Should the U.S. do more to prevent global warming?

·      Should economic sanctions be lifted from Cuba?

·      Should the president do more to close the Guantanomo Bay detention center?

·      Should major agriculture-producing countries stop producing crops for biofuel?

·      Is the Obama administration taking appropriate actions to reverse the recession?

·      Should the U.S. apply more pressure on China for human-rights issues?

·      Should the U.S. do more to coerce China to grant Tibet independence?

·      Should the U.S. put more pressure on Israel to have a peace agreement with Palestine?

·      Is the Obama administration doing enough to protect the environment?

·      Are our schools doing enough to prevent bullying?

·      Should our school start time be later?

·      Should N.H. keep the law allowing gay marriage?  (be careful to keep it fact-based, not opinion)

·      Should we keep the new health care legislation?  "Obama-care"?

·      Should American citizens boycott the sale of S.U.V.'s?

·      Should American citizens boycott Walmart?

·      Should plastic bags be banned in grocery stores?

·      Is the U.S. doing enough to reduce the stockpile of nuclear weapons worldwide?  (We just signed a new treaty with Russia)

·      Should people be allowed to own exotic/dangerous pets?

·      Are we, as a nation, doing well enough to educate our students?

Examples to study

To study

Present:  study, studies
The students study their verb examples.

Past:  studied
The students studied for an hour.

Future: will study, shall study
The students shall study on a regular basis.

Present Perfect: has studied, have studied
The students have studied a lot for this quiz.

Past Perfect:  had studied
The students had studied before they played their video games.

Future Perfect:  will have studied, shall have studied
The students will have studied before they play their video games.

Present Progressive: is studying
She is studying her algebra homework.

Past Progressive: was studying, were studying
They were studying their French sentences in study hall.

Future Progressive:  will be studying
Mr. Stowell's class will be studying tonight!

Present Perfect Progressive:  has been studying
He has been studying for seven days.

Past Perfect Progressive:  had been studying
He had been studying when his dog ate his homework.

Future Perfect Progressive:  will have been studying
We will have been studying for three hours by dinnertime.

Verb Notes

Here are the notes we took today on the verb tenses and progressive verb forms.

Progressive Verb Forms

Presentations All Week

We are presenting our short stories in class all week.

Finishing the Short Stories

Period 5: you will have different iPads on Monday to finish your projects.  I know, very sad.  We cannot have the SAME iPads on Monday, but I have moved any presentations to Dropbox.

Everyone else: you will have to make sure you have finished and uploaded your project by the end of the day on Friday, for we will present on Monday.

Please fill the below form out immediately!

Epic Rap Battles Winners

Finally!  After much waiting and nagging....the results are in!  Claim your prize tomorrow

Period 1: The Friends Girls
Period 2: Oprah vs. Ellen
Period 5: Perry vs. Doofenshmirtz vs. Candace
Period 6: Sonic vs. Road Runner
Period 7: Bane vs. Joker vs. Penguin     tied with      Ozzy vs. Robert Plant

Writing the Short Story

Today we began the process of writing the short story.  Please see the handout description below.

Homework:  Pictures (if you are using Storybird) / typed rough draft due Friday.  Final project due the following Friday.

Create a Short Story!

You are going to create a short story to show us that you know what a good short story takes.  Once you create your story, you need to share it with us in one of three ways:

1)   By creating a Storybird using www.storybird.com (you turn it in through that website)

2)   By creating a picture book using Keynote (and emailing it to me through the app)

3)   By recording it with Garage Band to make an audiobook (and emailing it to me through the app)

Word Count:

            Academic: Minimum of 300 words (Storybird = 10 pages)

            CP:  400 – 500 words (Storybird = 16 pages)

            Honors: 500 + (no maximum, but try and keep it under 700 please!)

The Writing Process:

The way you go about doing this depends on what you want your final product to be.  If you are making a Storybird, you would be best to start choosing your pictures first, and then writing the story to go along with them.  Then, go the STORY WORKSHEET and make sure you’ve hit everything before revising your Storybird.

If you are going to make a Keynote book or Garageband audiobook, then you should start by outlining your story (see the STORY WORKSHEET).  That way you will have a basic idea of where to go.  Then, go ahead and type out your story.  After that is finished, you can add pictures through Keynote, or just read it aloud on Garageband. 

Short Story Rubric

Elements you must demonstrate in your story

(50 points)

Your teacher fills out the following!

­­­­______  /  5      A consistent and describable narrative tone (intelligent, innocent and naïve, dark and pessimistic, matter-of-fact) and point of view for your narrator

(1^st pers., 2^nd person, 3^rd pers. omniscient, 3^rd pers. Limited, 3^rd pers. Objective)

______  /  5      A Protagonist (or two protagonists, maximum) that is ROUND and DYNAMIC

           

______  /  15      Each of the parts of the plot diagram is obviously addressed, including inciting incident and climax, there is a sense of a complete/whole story, and you clearly chose ONE of the 36 PLOT LINES

______  /  5      An object, color, name, or season that has obvious symbolic meaning and fits into your story

______  /  5      Some obvious foreshadowing early in your story to the resolution of your primary conflict.

______  /  5      At least ONE type of irony obviously used (verbal, dramatic, or situational)

______  /  5      A repeating phrase, image, object, sound, or idea as a clear motif

______  /  5      It is professionally edited for spelling and punctuation

36 Plot Lines

When you are finished with the quiz, check out the 36 different plot lines to choose from.  Tonight's homework is to post which one you want to write on Edmodo....but it is first come, first served.  You will be able to decide by 3:30 pm today.

http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com/2012/10/36-plot-ideas-for-your-novel.html

The last two short stories

Read "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" here.

Read "Harrison Bergeron" here.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Today we read the story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."  Find the whole story here.


Homework:  Take the reading quiz on Edmodo tonight.  If I don't see it in there by this morning, it is a zero.

Soooo...Alfred Hitchcock is a TOTALLY awesome director...and he tackled this famous story...in three parts.  He does change the plot...a little...so make sure you read the story, not JUST watch the videos.

Tomorrow's Reading

Here are some links to short stories that you should know to get the most out of this weekend's story!  Click on the picture to find out even more information about the nursery rhymes!

Here is the story itself:  "The Case of Four and Twenty Blackbirds"

Georgie Porgie

Georgie Porgie pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.

Here is a nursery rhyme link to "Who Killed Cock Robin" ... that gives away the killer!

Doctor Foster
Went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain.
He stepped in a puddle
Right up to his middle
And never went there again!

Here is the one that the story is based on and explains what happened to the queen (Four and Twenty Blackbirds)

And of course, here is (Humpty Dumpty)

Now, for further investigation, here is the link for "film noir" a genre of film, and stories, were there is usually mystery and murder, and it is always rainy and dark out.

Monday - SST trip

Good morning, Tsunami!

We are only meeting with Period 2 today because of the SST trip.  So, period 2 - check out the previous posts.  The rest of you fine people - new story Tuesday, "The Case of Four and Twenty Blackbirds."

All Summer in a Day

Today we read "All Summer in a Day"  Read the story again here.  Then we started filling out a grid of how all the terms fit in all the stories for the final test at the end of next week.

Homework:  Quiz on Edmodo due Monday.  The terms you are looking for are: Narrator type, irony type, conflict type, symbolism.

Literary Terms

Today we went over the quiz for "The Cask of Amontillado" and briefly discussed the story you read yesterday, "After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned."

Then we got some new terms (see the flashcards in previous post).

• 1st-person, 2nd-person, 3rd-person omniscient, limited, and objective narrator.

• static vs. dynamic, and flat vs. round characters

• foreshadowing

Homework:  take the "After I Was Thrown ..." quiz on Edmodo.  You have 10 minutes, so be ready for it!

Metaphor

Nothing New Under the Sun: 36 types of short story

They say there are no new stories, just variations.  Some say all stories can be related to the Hero's Journey.  Some say all stories are either comedies or tragedies.

There is another popular theory out there that all stories can fit into one of 36 categories.  We'll be talking about those 36 categories on Wednesday in preparation for your final task: to write a short story.

Click here for explanations of those 36 categories.  We will go over many of these in class.

To help you with this task, we'll be reading several cool short stories along the way.  Most of the reading will be started in class and finished at home for homework.  Here are the terms you will be responsible for:


At the end of this unit, you will have a short story test, and will have written a short story!

Tonight's homework:

Read "After I Jumped in the River and Before I Drowned".

The Cask of Amontillado

Today we read a story about revenge.  We will also learn some more literary terms: irony, verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony, AND symbolism.

You can read the story online here, if you prefer.

For a huge list of symbols in literature, and what they often refer to, click here.



Homework:

Finish reading "The Cask of Amontillado" and be able to identify the terms we mentioned in class today

check out these videos....

 

 

Here is what the Parisian catacombs look like:

Id, Ego, and Superego

I always get the Id and Ego mixed up ... but here's a link.

Today's Class

Today in class we discussed the poem, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens.

We also shared your imitation poems from yesterday.

Homework:  Write a response poem, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a (_________)."  It must have the same number of stanzas, and lines per stanza as Wallace's poem.  See the post below for the full poem.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

I

Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the black bird.

II

I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.

III

The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.

IV

A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.

V

I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.

VI

Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.

VII

O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?

VIII

I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.

IX

When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.

X

At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.

XI

He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.

XII

The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.

XIII

It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs. 

Wallace Stevens

The Second Coming

  William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

       THE SECOND COMING

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.

    Surely some revelation is at hand;

    Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
    The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
    When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
    Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
    A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
    A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
    Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
    Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

    The darkness drops again but now I know
    That twenty centuries of stony sleep
    Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Ozymandias of Egypt and Nothing Gold Can Stay

Ozymandias of Egypt
by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away. 

Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost
Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.

Poems

Marginalia by Billy Collins

I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Emily Dickinson

Hope Is a Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson

My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun by Shakespeare

O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

Fire and Ice by Robert Frost

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

The Spider and The Fly by Mary Howitt

The Lake Isle of Innisfree by Yeats