Ms. Olsen's College English

Your assignment for Thursday is to write an essay where you examine how your tastes have changed over the years in a certain area. 1-2 pages. Use examples.

This isn’t very educational, but we’re going forth with our party tomorrow. We’ll turn in your essays and take your quiz, and enjoy one another’s company the rest of class. Below is a list of what you signed up to bring:

Nikayla- Cheeseball

Hannah- Crackers

Aspen- Dessert

Jeslie- Soda and ice

Bailey- Non carbonated drinks

Randee- Fudge

Taylor- Cups (and a treat?)

Kelcey- Chips and Dip

Payton- Plates

Ean- Cookies

Kadan- Treats

Damian- Lil’ Smokies

Maddie- Chips (variety)

Gabi-

Abby-

Brandee- Fruit

Jose-

Spencer-

Kayli-

Morgan-

Logan-

Those of you with no assignment, please bring something (store bought or not). It takes a village to party. Everyone needs to contribute If you want to post in Facebook what you’re bringing, that’d be great.

See you tomorrow!

Here are two handouts. One is a list of possible topics for the essay, and the other is a handout about writing about literature. It’s all about argument. You have to make a claim about the book and defend it.

Final Essay Topics. docx or Final Essay Topics PDF

Writing about Literature .docx or Writing about Literature PDF

Here are the discussion questions and the calendar for November and December.

Les Miserables Discussion Info

NOVEMBER calendar ’12

Okay, here is the document of 10 possible essay questions. I won’t add anything to crazy. What ever the other questions look like, the essay question will be word for word from this sheet of possible questions.

Keep in mind, I included some questions we may not have absolutely discussed in class but that would make for interesting consideration for your test. It might be a good idea to meet in study groups to discuss some of the questions as preparation. Just sayin’

Good luck with your studying.

The Awakening Possible Essay Questions.docx

The Awakening Possible Essay Questions.pdf

The Awakening Possible Essay Questions.doc

Here are the section 3 questions of The Awakening. Keep in mind, once you read these questions you will know what happens in the end. So please read first and answer questions later. You have three file choices: one pdf, one older version of Word .doc, and the newest version of word .docx. One of them should open Happy reading.

section 3 PDF

section 3 .doc

section 3 .docx

Today we did a lot. First we played your vocabulary review game. Your quiz will be Thursday. I handed back your essays and you had time to meet with your writing groups to make a plan for revision. You’ll have about 30 minutes to work together for next class. (I recommend trading papers before Thursday and then meeting in class just to go over your notes. That will be the wisest way to use your time wisely. It might take you 30 minutes just to do the reading.)

I also passed out your assignment for The Awakening. You need to read to page 66 by Monday. The rest of the schedule and instructions are on the assignment sheet. If you have questions, just let me know. You can print the assignment below:

The Awakening Assignment

In class we talked about the essays I handed back. We worked on our vocabulary words, and then talked more about descriptive essays. We talked about concrete and abstract details and tone. Those are three things I really want you to focus on for the next essay (besides making sure you have a clear purpose, even if that purpose is to describe a meal in an enticing way).

The assignment: Describe a restaurant or meal that you love the most. It can be something you make at home or something you go out to get. Either way focus on the setting and atmosphere that surrounds the food. Don’t just describe the food. Talk about the location, who preps the food, and what makes it “The Best!” It might be cool to give little hints behind the making of the food, like in Ephron’s essay “A Sandwich.” For more details, check out your Short Takes book prompt #1. 1-2 pages and really good. Pay attention to the images and feelings your descriptions are eliciting.

Let me know if you have questions.

In class we took a pretty complicated vocab quiz. Though the bonus may have been more difficult than the actual quiz. We talked about 21 ones rules for commas and did a worksheet to practice. Then we talked about editing papers. You read your papers out loud to yourself and that was that.

Homework: Final papers due Monday!

Today in class we prepared for your vocabulary quiz that will be Thursday. You were also kind enough to keep yourselves busy so I could meet with each of you about your papers. All of you should have those back now (except Jose–come see me tomorrow).

Homework: Finalize your essays. Take all the suggestions and  your own ideas and finish the essay. I talked to most of you after school and said the finals won’t be due Thursday, but they need to be as final as possible. I am going to show you how to really edit your papers (just some tricks of the trade), and then they’ll be due first thing Monday morning.

We’re moving on next week to the Short Takes book, so make sure you have that with you in class Monday.

Today I talked more than I was supposed to talk. Sorry. In class we worked on a vocab worksheet that was pretty difficult. I passed out a worksheet from my favorite authors Strunk and White, a.k.a. The Elements of Style. If you ever see a copy of that lying around, it’s a pretty good read and fairly entertaining (you don’t believe me since it’s a grammar book, but they’re funny guys).

Mostly I took up time talking to you about your newly founded writing groups. These are important. The trust and rapport you need to build will be crucial over the next few weeks. You traded papers today and hopefully gave and received constructive feedback. Now take those drafts home and work on the tricky parts.

Homework: In class Thursday, we’ll talk more about revision and that process. You will need an updated version of your papers because you will be turning them in to me. You’ll get a day’s rest and then back to the essay. So bring your essay for me Thursday!