Thursday, October 10, 2013

Presentations & a little Bible fun

Each student presents his/her work. 1-2 minutes each.

The Bible —our next piece of literature

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Project work day

1. Break into groups according to assignment
2. Discuss written piece with partners (if you have written piece, share and give feedback)
3. Discuss art piece with partners (share and give feedback of what you brought to class)

Take-Aways:
1. What's left to do?
2. How can you make this more intentional?
3. Does writing and art complement each other?

Friday, October 4, 2013

PTI: The end. It's all over. Junior is saved. Or is he?

Sentence Pattern #7

An introductory series of appositives (something names elsewhere in the sentence) with a dash and a summarizing subject. Key summarizing words include: such, all, those, this, many, each, which, what, these, something, someone.
Example: Identity, nature, personal responsibility — which serves as the novel’s central theme?

(Checklist for this pattern: commas between appositives, dash after the series; summary word at start of the main clause; all appositives are parallel in structure and related in meaning)

Discussion

ArchetypesHow is Arnold a warrior? What symbols/motifs does he use to express his worth? his overcoming fear? his courage? How does he fit into other archetypes? How do any of the other main characters fit into these roles?

Writing: Write Junior's moral code.

1. Junior's reaction to Mary's death.
2. Drawings on 213, 108, 91, 38.
3. p. 217: Junior's understanding of the American Dream and realization of his sense of place and purpose.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Day 13: PTI 179-198: Archetypes, Final Assessment & Discussion

Sentence Pattern 6: A series of balanced pairs (178)

Example: He likes chocolate and vanilla, strawberries and raspberries, cookies and cakes; he likes lots of sweet treats.


Discussion

  1. "And no matter how good I was, I would always be an Indian. And some folks just found it difficult to compare an Indian to a white guy. It wasn't racism, not exactly. It was, well, I don't know what it was," (181). If this isn't racism, what is it?
  2. Arnold wants to "embarrass my best friend" (183),  to "absolutely demoralize him" (192). What does this reveal about his character? Does this indicate a change in his personality?
  3. p. 195: What is the effect/intent of the repetition? What tone does it create? Content related: Is it okay for Arnold to momentarily lose perspective. How does this reveal his character?
  4. "I guess that's the only time that men and boys get to cry and not get punched in the face," (196). Gender roles Arnold struggles with.


ArchetypesHow is Arnold a warrior? How does he fit into other archetypes? How do any of the other main characters fit into these roles?

In-class writing
Keeping the archetypes in mind, identify a person in your life who has been an orphan, a wanderer, a warrior, an altruist, an innocent or a magician, and write about HOW they helped you overcome the fear of ______________ and HOW they helped you gain the virtue of _____________. Be specific in your writing yet creative in how you express the information.

Last writing!
The final assessment

Monday, September 30, 2013

Day 12: Stereotypes, Archetypes & the last assessment

Let's continue our discussion from the previous class:

1. Character talk: Stereotypes, struggles, and more.

2. ArchetypesHow is Arnold a warrior? How does he fit into other archetypes? How do any of the other main characters fit into these roles?

3. The final assessment

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Day 11: Part-Time Indian 159-178


Sentence
5. A series with a variation of and or or

Example: “Did you do history or English or science homework first?” asked mom.  “I did history and English and science before I got home,” replied the sassy daughter.

Discussion
We talked about how the different characters influence Junior, now let's look at them each a bit more closely.
1. Superficially, what have we observed about this character? What do they look like? Where do they live?
2. Looking more closely, what is this character struggling with? What stereotype does this character embody? What stereotype does this character fight against?

    • Rowdy
    • Penelope
    • Mary
    • Mom & Dad
    • Gordy
    • Roger


How is Arnold a warrior? How does he fit into other archetypes? How do any of the other main characters fit into these roles?

Writing
Keeping the archetypes in mind, identify a person in your life who has been an orphan, a wanderer, a warrior, an altruist, an innocent or a magician, and write about HOW they helped you overcome the fear of ______________ and HOW they helped you gain the virtue of _____________. Be specific in your writing yet creative in how you express the information.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Day 10: The second in-class writing

  1. Get a laptop
  2. Pick your favorite writing program (Pages, Word, Google Drive, etc)
  3. Set-up a document with name in upper left OR right corner
  4. Double space document
  5. Tell yourself YOU ARE AMAZING!
  • Prompt

First Paragraph: Junior realizes that “every moment of a life should be taken seriously” (95). At the same time, Gordy responds to him by saying, “But don’t take anything too seriously” (95). In addition, in this conversation, combining humor and seriousness, Junior calls his cartoons “seriously funny stuff” (95). Why, do you think, does Junior describe serious things in a funny way? Does his style take away from the seriousness of his messages?

Second Paragraph: Do you agree that every moment of a life should be taken seriously? What do you take seriously, and why? Do you ever, like Junior, combine humor and seriousness?

  • Pre-writing/brainstorming
This can come in the format of an outline, a mind map, a free write, etc. I just want to see some planning on your part before you write. I want to see your process. This NEEDS to be included with your writing.
  • Writing!
Get down to business. You can use the blog, the sentence patterns, an online dictionary and/or thesaurus to craft your ideas. You cannot use your book, any prewritten notes, any sources other than previously mentioned.

You do need to copy and paste the rubric into your own paper. Please include it at the end of your writing. An added note: the formatting will look great in Word and Drive, but it will look at a little wacky in Pages. That is ok.

  • Handing this in
1. Save the document as a PDF (this can be done under SAVE AS in Word or EXPORT in Pages or DOWNLOAD AS in google). Make sure you click the box that says "show extension".
2. Title the document as follows: Name_PTI_2_B/C.pdf
3. Email yourself a copy of the non-PDF version of writing.
4. Go to dropitto.me/mcollie to submit paper (Password: EnglishRocks).
5. Check in with Mary quietly to make sure she has received your paper.
6. Return laptop to cart and plug it in.
7. Quietly rejoice because you are finished. You can read ahead, do other homework, or otherwise relax. Regardless, you must stay in the room and you must remain silent. =-)