Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful, restful break.

When you return we will begin reading All My Sons and working on research. We will study research skills and how to use and cite credible sources. By winter break you will have written a full research paper!

See you next Monday!

The Olden, Golden Days

Your job for tomorrow is to write a poem that contains:
10 lines
Free verse
5 examples of things/people from the olden, golden days
a modern/future setting.

Have fun with it!

This Weekend

Read for your own enjoyment!

**You will need to bring your outside reading book to class next Tuesday.

BLUE BOOK

Tomorrow is the ATPH blue book exam--be prepared.

Also, review the assignment sheet for the McCarthy-style hero quest. Make sure you have everything before you come to class.

Here's the Plan

Tomorrow: We will discuss the close analysis of Faulkner vs. McCarthy and discuss our lists of 5 essential stylistic elements in McCarthyesque writing. The five elements you list should definitely be employed in your own McCarthyesque hero quest. After TWISTing both passages, I came up with the following list (in no particular order):
1. Third-person POV
2. "He" or "she" to describe characters; no proper names, no other pronouns.
3. "Loose" sentences. Sequenced, ordered (but not necessarily well connected) sentences.
4. Punctuation: the period, period.
5. Imagery. Showing, not telling. For example: "Four Forty-Three" and "A cool wind."

After reviewing style, we will discuss blue book prep, and you will have some time to prep in class.

Friday: Blue Book Exam, ATPH; also, final hero quest, and all pieces listed on gold assignment sheet, are due.

Don't Forget!

We have a vocab. quiz tomorrow.

Also, the rough draft (the version in your style) of your hero quest is due tomorrow. When I talk about page requirements, I think of a page as approximately 300-325 words (the equivalent of a page of typed, double-space writing).

**I think we're going to have to move the blue book ATPH exam to Friday. You will get time Wed. or Thur. to work on prepping for the exam.

Busy Week

Tomorrow you will have some time to prep for the blue book exam on Thursday. The prompt is copied below. On Wednesday, you will have a vocabulary quiz; the rough draft of the hero quest assignment is also due on Wednesday. Thursday is the blue book exam. On Friday, your hero quest is due--be sure to follow the directions (the prompt is part of the previous blog post).

All the Pretty Horses In-Class Essay
Thursday, November 20th – 50 points


Preparation: You will be given one of the following questions on the day of the test. Make sure that you have prepped them all. You may bring in one side of one sheet of notes (handwritten) for each question.


A) What is the role of death in All the Pretty Horses? The novel opens with the death of John Grady's father and closes with the death of Abuela. Why do you think this is the case?


B) What role do horses play in the novel? Do they represent anything beyond what they are?

C) The dreams in this novel are suffused with images of horses. What do the dreams represent?


An “A” essay will include all of the following:
a clear and thoughtful thesis statement
an engaging introduction that is appropriately structure per class discussions
A satisfying conclusion that leaves the reader with something to think about and is structured per class discussion
3 main points for analysis
each main point must have a quote from text that is well-integrated per class discussion
appropriate and sophisticated transition statements
thoughtful and deep analysis
appropriate tense and tone
near-perfect use of conventions and usage
extremely neatly written so it is easily read and understood

Monday, Monday

So, we've worked on two pieces of McCarthy style imitation: an opening scene from a favorite teen book and a piece of dialogue from your outside reading book. Your first step is to make sure that you have completed a draft of each of these assignments in your notebook. Then, your homework for the weekend is the following (a word version is on Edline):

Homework due Monday, November 14th (20 points)

Type up your McCarthy imitation from 11/13.
o Put your name in the upper left-hand corner
o Label the piece “McCarthy Imitation - Setting”. Center this title.
o Make sure to revise and polish your work
o You will be graded on both quality and effort
o At the bottom left, (after your imitation) please write “Inspired by:” and then on the next line include an MLA citation for the book you imitated below that.


Type up your McCarthy imitation from 11/14.
o Put your name in the upper left-hand corner
o Label the piece “McCarthy Imitation - Dialogue”. Center this title
o Make sure to revise and polish your work
o You will be graded on both quality and effort
o At the bottom left (after your imitation), please write “Inspired by:” and then on the next line include an MLA citation for the book you imitated below that.


Warnings:
· You will lose points for not following directions.
· If you have printer problems, then you need to print this at the media center before school or during lunch on Monday. You could also e-mail your work to a friend and ask them to print it out for you.

I also gave you, and briefly discussed the work due next Friday (rough draft due Wednesday). Here it is (word version on Edline):

Hero Quest á la Cormac McCarthy
Due: Friday, November 21st


We’ve talked about the hero quest A LOT. And since most of us aren’t fluent in Ancient Greek (or how to translate it) we might be better off trying to imitate the wondrous writing style of Mr. McCarthy.

So here’s what we’re going to do…

1) Go back to your hero quest free write and REREAD it.
2) Also take a trip down memory lane and revisit your invocation.
3) Now, pretend we’re still talking about that same quest and think about how you would write it as a story.
4) Write the first page of that story in your own language.
5) Now, rewrite it as you try to imitate Cormac McCarthy’s language.

Do you see where we’re going with this?

Your assignment is to hand in ONE PAGE, the FIRST PAGE, of what would be your epic adventure (or hero quest) in the style of Cormac McCarthy.


For the PROCESS of this assignment, you need to submit:
A photocopy of your notebook page with the free write on it (3 points)
A new print out of your invocation (2 points)
The draft of your first page that it is in your own language (10 points)
- the draft can be handwritten or typed, but it has to serve as what you are “translating” for the final piece
- this means that it should be at least a page in length
Reflection piece (to be completed in class on 11/21) (5 points)

For the PRODUCT of this assignment, you need to submit:
The final draft, i.e., the McCarthy version (30 points)

Manana

Talking about McCarthy's style is one thing, but today you applied your understanding as you rewrote Harry Potter of Twilight. We will do more style imitation writing tomorrow.

For tomorrow, finish All the Pretty Horses. Also, don't forget to bring your outside reading book to class tomorrow!

Having Qualms About the Myriad Vocabulary Words?

Well, get going so you can get it done before tomorrow.

Here's a little help: a soogan is a ranchworker's blanket. A javelina is a small, wild hog. A lechugilla is a plant native to Mexico with pointed leaves and a tall flower spike.

For the rest, you're on your own.

Don't forget to blog tonight!!!

Bye-Bye, Blevins...

Scott's theory of Blevins's resurrection aside, we had to say goodbye to Blevins at the beginning of chapter three. What new adventures will the incarceration of John Grady Cole and Rawlins bring?

...read through page 217 for tomorrow to find out...

Don't forget--vocabulary is due Wednesday.

And another thing...

Don't forget that vocab is due Wednesday. Here it is (word version on Edline):

Homework Assignment
Locate the words on the vocabulary list from the text and complete the following on index cards.
Ø Find and write a dictionary definition of the word.
Ø Write your own definition - paraphrase the definition from the dictionary.
Ø Create a mnemonic device.
Ø Create and write your own sentence using the word, demonstrating your understanding of the word.

qualms 84
loam 69
soogan 30,81
galvanized 96
bastante 22
vaqueros 91
nopal 23
arroyo 71
tenantless 30
gerente 94
supplicant 3
chaparral 71, 85
espaliered 73
lechugilla 61
candelilla 65,73,75
primogeniture 7
firmament 26,81
marauders 25
effigy 65
secular 5
ardenthearted 6
malignant 19
translucent 19
javelina 31
dais 30
myriad 42
balefully 57
traversed 57
palisades 81
ribald 3

Pick a novel, any novel

Start looking for a novel for this quarter's outside reading. As you can see on the outside reading assignment below, your first response to the book will be due on Wednesday. Here's the assignment (a word copy is also available on Edline):

Our second quarter outside reading assignment is for you to read a novel of your choice. The novel should be at least 250 pages, and should challenge you as a reader.
Assignment Due Date
Blog #1 Wed. November 12
Blog #2 Wed. November 19
Blog #3 Wed. November 26
Blog #4 Wed. December 2
Blog #5 Wed. December 9
Blog #6 Wed. December 16
Blogs #7, #8, and #9 Wed. January 7
Blog #10 Wed. January 14
Book Presentation Thur. January 15 & Fri. January 16

You must post ONCE a week (for our purposes a week is from Wednesday to Wednesday). I've explained below what should do in the post. You should have 10 weeks of posting. Posts are due Wednesdays in the am (i.e. before school) on 11/12, 11/19, 11/26, 12/2, 12/9, 12/16, and 12/7, and 12/14.

Free Response
A thoughtful response—to whatever text you are currently reading outside of school—of approximately 250 words. You must cite the selection, author, and page you're referring to as well. Some possible ways to respond to texts include: pick a quote and comment on its significance, make connections to the book (self, text, world, media), analyze the protagonist, pretend you're writing a letter—or blog response—to the author or main character, identify the thesis and supporting evidence (of nonfiction) and discuss the arguments from your perspective, etc. There are many, many ways you can do this.

Book Presentation
On either Thursday, January 15, and Friday, January 16 (your specific date will be assigned), you will give a presentation, to the class, about your book. You will use your blog as a visual aid during this presentation. You will receive more specific information about the format and grading of the book presentation.

You must attempt to use correct spelling and punctuation and capitalization

**NOTE: If you finish your book, you must continue to read outside of class and complete the blog assignments.




BLOG GRADING: Here's how the grading will work out of 50 points.
A -
You have all of the posts.You have always posted on time.You post a thoughtful comment to a peer’s blog each week.
Your response was always highly thoughtful and reflective.
You used correct mechanics almost all of the time.
B -
You have all of the posts.You mostly posted on time.You post a comment to a peer’s blog each week.
Your responses were mostly thoughtful and reflective.
You used correct mechanics most of the time, but there are some glaring errors.
C -
You have 8-9 of the posts.You sometimes posted on time.You post a comment to a peer’s blog most weeks.
You responded to the book.
You have several errors in mechanics.
D -
You have about 6-7 posts total.You rarely posted on time.You occasionally post comments to peers’ blogs.You somewhat responded to the book.
Your responses do not make an attempt to use proper mechanics.
F -
You have 0-5 posts.You did not do what was asked of you in the post.
You do not post comments on the blogs of your peers.
Your responses do not make an attempt to use proper mechanics.

BTW, don't forget the reading assignment for All the Pretty Horses!

The Election

Tonight's the big night! Hopefully we'll know the name of our new president before bedtime. Enjoy watching the television coverage of this amazing American process...NO READING HOMEWORK!!

Tomorrow we have vision testing. So wear your glasses and prepare to read as we sit outside the nurse's office for most of the hour.

Jimmy Blevins...

...is that your real name? This mysterious character is definitely going create some drama for Cole and Rawlins! Read through page 96 for tomorrow.