Wednesday, January 8, 2014

English 11, Blocks A, C and D January 8th, 2014

January 7th, 2014

Exams were returned. Students are required to write out correctly any sentence which has been marked as having a mechanical error.

Blocks A and D are due Thursday, January 9th. C Block will get their exam essays marked in detail on Thursday and corrections are due On Monday, January 14th.

Homework:

Essay (due:Friday, January 17th): Personal composition: "In life we experience regrets"

Essay must be multi-paragraph and at least 300 words in length and not more than 500. Ideally you will use a computer, but if you do, make sure you print out your essay before class. Remember to staple pages in advance.

Be sure to use the required heading and to put your name and page number on all pages after page 1.

Reminders:

a. It is best either just to tell a story (in which case you must omit any preachy commentary before or after telling it) or start by telling a story and then using this as a basis for discussion. If you adopt the latter approach, do not merely keep repeating in different (or even worse, the same) words. Discuss the idea fully as if you were giving a speech on the topic. Remember to make your introduction "attention-grabbing" - "Well begun, is half done!"

b. At no point should you use the words of the prompt. A prompt is simply an idea which is to be the basis for your essay. You may use the word "regrets," but especially if you tell a story your should be able to avoid the word "regret" altogether. After all you story should be about someone regretting something and the person may not ever actually use the word.

c. In the exam, there was an alarming tendency to commit the following errors: failure to write in proper sentences (far too many run-on sentences or sentence fragments); changing of tense (If you start in the present, stay in the present. If you start in the past, stay in the past!); spelling errors (Use Spellcheck if you are word-processing your writing); change of person (try to avoid you; use only one person (I, we, he, she, it or they - one of them only!).

Speeches

Topics

You should start thinking about your speech topic. You must submit your speech topic on Wednesday, January 15th. Do not take this task too lightly - your topic will be the basis for four assignments and will constitute much of the homework for the remainder of the school year.

Your speech must reflect some research having been done by you. When you submit your speech in term-paper format, you will be required to quote from three sources. These will provide the basis for your Bibliography. (More information will be given later with regard to term papers.) Eventually your speech will be the basis of an audio-visual presentation.

A good source is the website "501 Writing Prompts". The first 200 are possible topics for speeches.
The teacher reserves the right to disallow any topic on the grounds of unsuitability or because it has already  been covered far too often. If two students choose the same topic, a toss of the coin will decide who will be allowed to give it.

Further Reminder

You are required to have 30 AR points for this half year reporting period.
The last date for taking an AR test will be January 23rd. Don't throw away 8 percent by not completing your AR requirement. Most of you can't afford it!