Final Activities

THE GLOUCESTER PROJECT FINAL CHALLENGE:

Come up with a name for your group that reflects the topic(s) about which the members have written. (For some groups this will be easy; for other groups you might need to use a bit of imagination.):

________________________________________

(title of group)

D-block you have until 8:50 to the following:

1.  Choose a short excerpt (a paragraph) from your multigenre paper to read aloud.

2. Use the blank paper provided to create a catchy advertising slogan and design for your group that can fit on a bumper sticker. The bumper sticker should be somewhat like a title and somewhat like a thesis. It should be short, memorable, and convey the essence of your group’s attitude toward the topic(s). Have fun.

3. Use the blank paper provided to create a tour of Gloucester related to your group’s topics. (Google maps might help.) Include a reasonably clear sketched map of the tour. Include at least five stops on the tour related to your group’s topics.

4. Use the lined paper provided to write a list of ten things Gloucester should know about your group’s topic(s). Order the list from least important to most important. What is relevant? What is essential? What will help the city understand who we have been, who we are, and who we will be?

5. Use the lined paper provided to make a schedule of events for a day celebrating your topic(s). (Special note: If you're group is related to Fiesta create a day of activities that could be scheduled before the actual Fiesta to entertain people while educating them on the aspects of Fiesta they might not know.)

You must schedule an event related to your topic (a speaker, a demonstration, a game, music, etc.) for each of the following times. Be creative! Write a few sentences explaining the event.

Remember, money is no issue, so how could you really teach/show Gloucester about your topic?

9:00am to 10:00am

10:30am to 11:30am

2:00pm to 4:00pm

6:00pm to 8:00pm

A couple Gloucester Project links

Click here for research-based argument reflection activities and questions.

Click here for personal experience essay directions.

Independent Reading Self-Assessment: Term Three

Independent Reading Self-Assessment: Term Three

What books did you read during term 3? How many total pages did you read during Term 3?

How much were you expected to read during term 3? Did you meet expectations? Did you fail to meet expectations? Did you exceed expectations?

Describe the book(s) that you have read. Tell me if you’ve read fiction or non fiction. Tell me the genre. Here are some examples of genres: sports biography, nonfiction narrative, memoir (which a true story about some part of someone’s life), fantasy novel, romance novel, science fiction novel, narrative poem, etc.

Describe the difficulty of the book(s) that you have read. Think about difficulty in terms of the language (vocabulary and sentence structure) and the content: Are there lots of characters to keep track of? Are the characters complex with no clear good guys and bad guys? Are there different story lines to follow? Do story lines intersect or follow non-chronological patterns? Are the themes explored mature and sophisticated? You might want to compare the book to Lord of the Flies, Brave New World, or other books you’ve read this year. Is what your independent reading more or less challenging than the other books?

Convince me you have been engaged in your reading. 10+ sentences about what you have gotten out of reading the book. Think of some of the purposes of reading: to be informed, to be persuaded, to be entertained. 

Brave New World and Today Argument Essay

Brave New World and Today Argument Essay

Click here to read the  by Stuart McMillan. (The comic by McMillan uses text from Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.) Also, consult the ten item list you have made comparing Brave New World to America today.

Then, in a well-organized essay examine the extent to which aspects of the World State, the society depicted in Brave New World, exist in American society today. Use relevant and specific evidence from the novel and from your experiences, observations, and study of the present day to support your argument.

Note: You should choose at least three but not more than five aspects of Brave New World to examine in relation to American society today. If you have any questions about this ask me.

Writing a Multi-Paragraph Essay (adapted from Palo Verde High School)

Introduction Paragraph

Lead-in Big Idea 

Designed to hook your reader and introduce your subject in a general, philosophical manner that attempts to convince the reader that the ideas in the essay matter. The big idea presented here need to match up with the thesis.

 

Transition

Bring up author and title to connect the ideas presented in the lead-in to the ideas in the novel. Also helpful to introduce the reader to Brave New World in a general way.

Thesis

Contains the subject (literary work) and an idea of yours about the subject. The central focus of the entire paper must now be developed and supported.

Body Paragraphs (You'll have three to five paragraphs designed this way.)

(How many body paragraphs you have is dependent upon how many aspects of the Brave New World you are comparing to America today.)

Topic Sentence

Commentary that directly explores the extent to which a particular aspect of the Brave New World exists in America today. The entire body paragraph is now used to develop and support this statement.The opening sentence of the body paragraph should also offer a transition from the previous paragraph.

Concrete Detail from Brave New World

Introduce and then include a quotation, specific example, or paraphrase from Brave New World that establishes an aspect of the World State to compare with America today.

Commentary and Concrete Detail from America today

Explain how the CD supports your

topic sentence.

Concluding Sentence

The last sentence of a body paragraph. It gives a finished feeling to the paragraph and may provide transition to the

next paragraph.

Final Paragraph

Conclusion

Thesis

Restate the thesis and major ideas of paper using different wording from the introduction and body of the essay.

Transition

Shift from the specific thesis to the big idea at stake in your essay.

Lead-out

Final words

End by returning to the big idea. What's at stake? Why do the ideas in the essay matter?

Advertising Analysis Project Update

Update: Monday,, February 11
No School

I will not deducted a letter grade from advertising analysis responses turned in on Wednesday, February 13 instead of Tuesday, February 12.

However, be aware that you will have additional homework to complete Tuesday, February 12, so I recommend completing the advertising analysis work on time.

If you forgot your handouts at school over the weekend, click here.
You'll find the directions and the supplemental handouts at the link above.

Narrative Writing

Winter Holiday Narrative

Complete draft due Tuesday, December 18. 500-1000 words.

Final draft due Thursday, December 20.

• Tell a story (with characters, events, at least one significant object) in first person.
• Include vivid and suggestive details about character, setting, and events.
• Reflect on the meaning of the story. Explain along the way how the story reveals your understanding of “the true meaning” of the winter holiday season to you.
• Narrate with a lively, intimate voice.
• Create a title that suggests focus and/or meaning (literal or symbolic).

Special issues:

• Choose present or past tense. Stick with it! Don’t shift from one to the other.
• When you shift time, place, or focus, start a new paragraph.

Expository Essay on the Significance of Choices Made by the Director of the Film Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

You will write an essay on this prompt in-class on Tuesday (December 4).

Choose from the following choices made by Kenneth Branagh, the direct of the film Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and in a well-developed essay explain its thematic significance.

Thematic significance is the significance to the meaning of the film (or the ideas in the film or the purpose of the film), as opposed to dramatic significance which is the significance to the characters experiencing the film’s drama. So you’ll have to decide something about the meaning, ideas, and/or purpose of the film and then explain how the specific choice contributes that meaning, those ideas, and/or that purpose.

Here are some choices Branagh made in the film…

• the use of red, white, and dark colors
• the use of ice and fire
• the choice of how to depict Victor creating the monster (it’s symbolic, remember!)
• the choice to expand Waldman’s role
• the choice to change Henry Clerval’s character
• the choice to change the way Caroline dies
• the choice to change what happens after Victor promises to make the monster a companion
• the choice to include the sources of the bodies and brains for Victor’s creations
• the choice to alter the depiction of the De Lacey family
• [a choice you come up with on your own]

Here are some possible themes of the film…

• the power of extreme passionate emotion
• the dangers of pushing the boundaries of scientific exploration
• the perversion of nature by science and technology
• the struggle between competing passions (passion for a person versus scientific passion)
• the search for true companionship
• the struggle between living to be happy and living to be great
• the responsibilities of a nurturer (parent, creator, teacher)
• the sacrifices of a nurturer (parent, creator, teacher)
• the difficulty of overcoming prejudice
• [something else you come up with on your own]