Edgar Allan Poe: Revenge in Our Lives

This week you have been reading The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe, which deals mainly with revenge. As you could tell by reading, the story uses suspense and tone to create eerie, dismal tone of revenge. Most of us how experienced some type of revenge in our lives – whether it deals with getting revenge, someone getting revenge, or some revenge being done to you.

Your Task Today:
Today, you are going to tell us a story of revenge. You may discuss a time when you got revenge on someone, someone got revenge on you, a “revenge” that happened to your friend, or simply, make one up. At the end, be sure to discuss a “lesson learned” or how you felt about the entire experience.

While writing your story, keep a few things in mind:

• The elements of Plot
• Strong Vocabulary Words
• Effective Sentences
• Pretend you are talking to your friends!

Rubric for Story of Revenge:
Proficient – story is 2+ paragraphs long, story uses strong vocabulary words and effective sentences, story deals mainly with revenge (in some way or another), and story has elements of plot
Non-Proficient – story is less than 2 paragraphs, there are no strong vocabulary words or effective sentences, story does not deal with revenge, no elements of plot

Reconstructing Sentences

This week we have been studying the different types of sentences to avoid in our writing. Today, we are going to go back over our previous blog entries and edit them. This should help you understand your own difficulties in writing, as well as give you the opportunity to work with your peers.

The 3 Types of Sentences we have been learning to avoid are:

Empty Sentences - Repeat thoughts, no opinions
Example: “I had a great meal for lunch and it was really delicious.”

Padded Sentences- Use too many words to say 1 thing
Example" “I believe that this story represents life because it is cool.”

Overloaded Sentences - Run-Ons
Example: “The boy went to store to buy some Doritos but the manager told him they were out of Doritos because a truck was robbed by the Doritos bandit, and he said that the FBI was now looking for the man or woman but there was no sign he would be stopped anytime soon, and the boy was sad because he really wanted some Doritos.”

Your Task Today (and Possibly tomorrow!):

1. Read your own and the blog entries of your peers posted on previous weeks and look for these three types of sentences to avoid.
2. When you have found examples of these sentences, copy them into a word document, and re-construct the sentences to be more effective.
3. When you have identified and reconstruct 5 sentences, copy and paste the word document as a comment for this entry.

All for one, one vs all?

Often times in our society, people act different when they are amongst their peers. This is similar to what happens in All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury, when all of the students gang up on Margot to put her in the closet.

For this blog entry, consider the following questions:

1. How important is the group feeling for the plot of this story?
2. Do you think that the children would have treated Margot as they did if there had not been many against one?
3. What has your own experience, or your reading of this piece, shown you about group behavior versus individual behavior?
4. What are the dangers – both in the story and real life – of being a part of big groups?

Rubric:
Proficient – all questions thoroughly answered, each answer is supported with evidence from the text or your life that is cited, each answered with 4 – 6 sentences
Non-proficient – all questions are not answered, each answers lacks support with evidence, answers are less than 4 sentences

Anton Chekhov: Gossip's Impact on Society

One of the big ideas in the story A Slander by Anton Chekhov has to do with gossip. Gossip is something that most of us deal with in our lives all the time, but we often fail to think about its impact on the people around us or why we partake in it.

For this blog entry, consider the following questions:

1. Why do you think the wedding guests do not believe Ahinyenev’s story about the kiss?
2. Do you think they prefer scandal?
3. Do you think this quickness to gossip is a common human trait? Why or why not?

When answering the questions, be sure to use examples from the story and your life to support your reasoning.

Rubric
Proficient – all questions thoroughly answered, each answer is supported with evidence from the text or your life that is cited, each answered with 4 – 6 sentences
Non-proficient – all questions are not answered, each answers lacks support with evidence, answers are less than 4 sentences

Telling Your Tale

Often times in our lives, certain events, people, or moments have defined who we are as individuals. Your task today is to write a narrative story about a moment in your life that helped make you who you are.

Your story is going to be written in NARRATIVE form, so it should be told like a story NOT a letter.
Requirements for your story:

1. 3 – 5 paragraphs long


2. Story includes a beginning, middle, and end


3. Use 3 – 5 words from Context Clues


4. Use Subject-Verb Agreement


5. Tell the story about something, sometime, or someone that influenced you!

Rubric for Story:
Proficient – 4+ paragraphs, identify the major points of your life (events, people, etc), is written in narrative form, written in clear, logical sentences, student utilizes at least 3 new words
Non-Proficient – less than 4 paragraphs, not written in narrative form, writing is not clear or logical

Context Clues and Your Reading

This week we have been talking about using context clues to figure out unfamiliar words and confusing passages while you’re reading.

Today, your task is to answer the questions:

1. Why is it important to identify and understand words you didn’t know?
2. How does increasing your vocabulary help your understanding of the world around you?
3. List 3 (or more) words from your PCR book that you used context clues to give meaning to, and explain how that helped you understand the book more completely.
4. What do you think this mean – “You can never use a new word until you ‘own’ it.”

Blog entry Rubric:
Proficient – 2 paragraphs entered in class blog about their this week using context clues consciously, during their entry students must utilize at least 3 new words that they learned from reading this week
Non- Proficient – less than 2 paragraphs entered in class blog, students use less than 3 new words that they learned this week from reading

**Once your blog entry is completed, read this short selection. **

Using Tone in Your Writing

We have been working with tone for the last few weeks in class, and it is time to start utilizing tone in your writing.

Before we begin, please recall that tone is the overall “attitude” or “feel” of a writing piece. Tone is made up of three main components: 1) Diction 2) Imagery 3) Figurative language. So, as you complete the task listed below be sure to utilize these three writing strategies.

Your Task Today:
Compose a blog entry in which you utilize tone. Describe a time you and a friend went to a sporting event that started off really fun, but quickly turned sour. Write two paragraphs. The first paragraph should be in a “happy” tone and the second in a “negative” or “upset tone.” Use Diction, Imagery, and Figurative Language to create the tone.

(Note: If you cannot think of a time when you and your friends went to a sporting event, make one up!)

Rubric for Writing in Tone:
Proficient – 2 paragraphs entered in class blog about their experience in a sports event, the 1st paragraph is composed in a happy tone, the second in a sad tone – students should utilize words, images, and fig language to create a specific tone, each paragraph is a least 5 sentences.

Non- Proficient – less than 2 paragraphs, paragraphs do not differ in tone, and students do not use words, images, and fig language to their advantage, each paragraph is less than 5 sentences.