WORKSHEET for Revision on Narrative

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Blog 4 - Practicing Narrative

Response due Wednesday October 2, 2013:

In the spirit of this week's assignment, think about the numerous events and memories that have impact on a person or character. Using your favorite story (book, video game, movie, folktale, etc.), demonstrate how the events shape the character in both positive and negative ways. Focus one paragraph on the experiences and the reactions of the character, as well as the lesson and change that occurs as a result. Focus another paragraph on the story telling aspect of the piece you've chosen. What makes this a good story, in your opinion? Think about the way the story is told, the emotions involved, the tone or atmosphere of the tale, along with any other aspect that make it unique and memorable.

Personal Narrative Assignment and Sample

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"Narrative Characteristics" handout.

Assignment

Genre: Personal Narrative

 A Personal Narrative is a form of writing in which the writer relates an event, incident, or experience in his or her own life. The events of a personal narrative are most often presented in chronological order, the order in which they actually occurred in time. The personal narrative incorporates vivid descriptive details as well as the thoughts, feelings, and reactions of the writer.

Directions: Choose one of the following and write a response that is at least five paragraphs in length (intro, body, and conclusion) and between 1.5 and 2 pages long, double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font. Try to demonstrate your best content and clearest organization. Grammar is a priority, so make sure to proofread your work. Include sensory detail that appeal to all five of the senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing).

Topic 1 – Write a first-person narrative about an experience in your life that has taught you a valuable lesson. Use enough details to recreate the event exactly as you remember it. Be sure to explain what the incident taught you.

Topic 2 – Recount the details of an accident or disaster to which you were a witness or a victim. Try to make your audience experience the emotional impact of this event by including descriptive details in the conflict.



CLICK on the image for the handout: Sample Narrative.

Structure: In the intro, describe the setting and “characters”involved in meaningful detail. Try to use figurative language, like similes and metaphors, to engage the reader. The bodyof the essay should develop the scene, elaborate on the experience, use sensory detail and explain the emotional reaction of the “character” (you). The conclusion should emphasize the lesson learned through this experience or the way that the experience changed you. Make sure to go back to the person you were before this happened and detail the exact change that occurred.

Personal Narrative PowerPoint

Narrative Writing from Lina Ell

Descriptive Writing (Narrative) Tricks and Tips Notes

Descriptive Writing Tricks

Magic 3 -- Three items in a series, separated by commas that create a poetic rhythm or add support for a point, especially when the items have their own modifiers.

“In those woods, I would spend hours listening to the wind rustle the leave, climbing trees and spying on nesting birds, and giving the occasional wild growl to scare away any pink-flowered girls who might be riding their bikes too close to my secret entrance.”

 

 

Figurative language – Nonliteral comparisons – such as similes, metaphors, and personification – add “spice” to writing and can help paint a more vivid picture for the reader.

“When we first moved into the house on Orchid Street, I didn’t like it. My room was hot, cramped, and stuffy as a train in the middle of the Sahara. And the looming skeleton-like gray and white frame of the place scared me. I dared not imagine living there, but the backyard, oh, the backyard. It was a huge, long mass of plentiful growing trees and blackberries.”

 

 

  

Specific Details for Effect – Instead of general, vague descriptions, specific sensory details help the reader visualize the person, place, thing, or idea that you are describing.

“It’s one of those experiences where you want to call a radio station and tell your problems to some guy who calls himself Dr. Myke, but who isn’t more of a doctor than your pet hamster is, one of those experiences where you want to read a sappy Harlequin novel and listen to Barry Manilow with a box of bonbons as your best friend, one of those experiences where you wouldn’t be surprised if someone came up to you and asked exactly what time yesterday you were born. Yeah, one of those.”

“Remember the time I worked all Saturday on an English paper? Sunday I accidentally left the only copy I had at your house. You politely handed it back to me the next day, first period, when it was due. But all over page one you’d drawn zombies; page two contained detailed pictures of yet-to-be-discovered worms; page three was visited by various space aliens; the fourth page featured scenes from Australia and Florida; and the last page was covered with ‘Mr. Jenkins is from the Stone Age,’ ‘English stinks,’ and ‘Mr. Jenkins is a four-eyed geek.’ Maybe that’s why he gave me a D.”

Repetition for Effect – Writers often repeat specifically chosen words or phrases to make a point, to stress certain ideas for the reader.

“The veranda is your only shelter away from the sister in bed asleep, away from the brother that plays in the tree house in the field, away from your chores that await you.”

 

 

Expanded Moment – Instead of speeding past a moment, writers often emphasize it by expanding the actions.

“But no, I had to go to school. And as I said before, I had to listen to my math teacher preach about numbers and letters and figures…I was tired of hearing her annoying voice lecture about ‘a=b divided by x.’ I glared at the small black hands of the clock, silently threatening them to go faster. But they didn’t listen, and I caught myself wishing I were on white sand and looking down at almost transparent pale-blue water with Josh at my side…I don’t belong in some silly math class. I belong on the beach, where I can soak my feet in caressing water and let the wind wander its way through my chestnut-colored hair and sip Doctor Pepper all day long. I want to grip a straw all day, not a mechanical pencil that will try unsuccessfully to write the answers to unsolvable questions.”

Humor – Professional writers know the value of laughter; even subtle humor can help turn a “boring” paper into one that can raise someone’s spirits.

“He laughed? I’m nothing. I’m the read end of nothing and the devil himself smiled at me.”

Hyphenated Modifiers – Sometimes a new way of saying something can make all the difference; hyphenated adjectives often cause the reader to sit up and take notice.

“She’s got this blonde hair, with dark highlights, parted in the middle, down past her shoulders, and straight as a preacher. She’s got big green eyes that all guys admire and all girls envy, and this I’m-so-beautiful-and-I-know-it look, you know, like every other super model.”

“The teacher gave me her I’ll-speak-to-you-after-class look.”

Full Circle Ending – Sometimes students need a special ending that effectively wraps up the piece. One trick is to repeat a phrase from the beginning of the text.

“Now Justin sits behind me in math with his neon-green and orange striped shoelaces and pulls on my old frazzled ones. He still draws zombies on my homework, but he hasn’t dumped another pitcher of Kool-Aid on me –not yet at least. Oh, and by the way, in case you’re wondering, his first words when he opened his eyes were. ‘It was James Kenton who hid your clothes and made you walk around in a chicken suit…I’m not that mean.”

Blog 3: Rules at Home

DUE Tuesday, September 24, 2013

"A great parent knows how to say no. Many parents find that it’s tough to be firm with their children. They can’t set rules. They threaten but don’t follow through with consequences. ‘No television for a week,’ a mom may tell her child in the afternoon, only to make an exception that very night. But the fact is, if we relinquish our parental authority, we are doing a disservice to our kids." Parents, May, 2011, p.113.

Assignment:
What is your view of the idea that parents need to be firm in disciplining their children? Plan and write a 2-paragraph response that explains your ideas as persuasively as possible. Support your position with an argument and examples for each paragraph you develop. Use two detailed and specific examples. Elaborate with sensory images whenver possible.

Sensory Details PowerPoint

Narrative writing from Chiara Ojeda

Audience and Purpose PowerPoints and Videos

Audience and purpose from Mandy Davis

Persuasive

Informative

Audience and Purpose from Lina Ell

Blog 2 - Technology

DUE TUESDAY September 17, 2013
The root of the word "technology" is the Greek word tecknos, which means "art." Technology has been linked to art for centuries. For example, it took almost four years for Leonardo Da Vinci to paint the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world. Today, it would take a graphic artist using a computer about five minutes to reproduce her. Howard Sparks, a well-known author of the 20th century, suggests that, "the art of our era is not art, but technology.  Today, Rembrandt is painting automobiles; Shakespeare is writing research papers; Michaelangelo is designing more efficient bank lobbies."  

^{Source: Howard Sparks, Quote Cache Website, http://quotes.prolix.nu/Technology}

^{Assignment:
What is your view of the idea that today’s art is technology? Consider carefully the excerpt above and write a 2-paragraph response in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Include both reasons and examples in each paragraph you develop. Examples can be taken from your readings, studies, current events, or your own observations, but make sure they are detailed and specific. I suggest use one example per paragraph and explain.}

Introduction.

            My name is George Angelo Lescano. My career goals are to firstly graduate from college with possible a Master’s in Automobile Engineering and hopefully get a job in a well-known company like Nissan or Ferrari if possible. In the next the 5-10 years hopefully I see myself in college, almost done with my bachelors or master’s degree soon. How I plan to get where I want to be 5-10 years from now is by studying hard and staying in school. I also to get high grades and maintain a high GPA in school.

            I consider myself pretty sociable with everyone. I think this because I have plenty of friends and practically in every class I have I have at least a couple of friends in them. I am most of proud my accomplishments I have succeeded throughout my school years. I have maintained honor roll for all of middle school year and becoming president as well. In my free time I like to play games, play soccer or chill with my friends. I enjoy being with my friends and playing soccer because I can loosen up and relax a little from my school work. My hobbies is practically only playing soccer because I like playing with my friends.

            My favorite thing about school is seeing my friend’s everyday. I think if I had no friends in school then I would be miserable in this school. Thankfully I have friends, like Casey. My least favorite thing about school is seeing idiots in it. Sometimes they can annoy me so much and can almost drive me insane, I swear. My favorite class last year was art. I drew so much and made many artworks that I feel good about.

            My most recent language arts were in 8^th grade and I had Honors language arts, and I felt proud because I felt kind of advanced from others. My favorite book is called “Ghost Man” because it is a story based on money chase and many other cool and dangerous aspects of living the criminal life. I mostly like to read action books, or books that tell or convey a message to us. I like to learn very amazing and weird facts. Books that have those very weird but surprising/interesting facts are cool, like the “Guineas World Record Book.” Other than that I really do prefer action stories.

            If I could go anywhere I would like to travel to Dubai. The reason is because the life culture over there is very wealthy like. The police drive in Ferrari and Lamborghini’s, and the reason is not because cars over aren’t fast and they need cars like Ferrari’s, they just have them to look showcase such a bravura and fancy car. I learn the most when teachers tend to keep the class entertaining and interact with his/her students. A teacher who sits down and doesn’t do anything but give students packets to do is not a method of learning at all. After high school I will probably try to achieve to get into a very good college and work straight ahead for my Bachelors at the professional I have probably chosen by then. My ideal job is to design the outlooks of the future cars. I would like to create the structure and how each part connects to each other to create a very unique design that will grab driver’s attentions. Three adjectives that others might use to describe me is probably exultant, hilarious, and kind. Exultant because I can be in a very crummy mood, but then jump into happiness because being sad isn’t worth being at all! Then hilarious I would say because I can say some very random things and make very corny but laughable jokes. Lastly they would say kind because I don’t tend to get on anyone’s nerves. Most of the time I see ways to become everyone’s friends, unless you’re annoying then I would despise you. My definition of Language arts is the study or education of grammars and other aspects on the field of reading and writing. 

Cube Test

The Cube Personality Test Questions from Lina Ell

Blog 1 - Introduce Yourself - MULTIPLE PARAGRAPH FORM AND COMPLETE SENTENCES

Goals
·        What are your career goals?
·        What are your educational goals after high school?
·        What do you see yourself doing in the next 5-10 years?
·         How do you plan to get to where you want to be 5-10 years from now?

Personal Information

·       Do you consider yourself a social person? Explain.
·       What are you are most proud of?
·       What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Why?
·       What extracurricular activities are you involved in?
·       What are your hobbies?

Attitudes towards school

·      What is your favorite thing about school?
·      What is your least favorite thing about school?
·      What was your favorite class last year?  Why?

Educational background

·      What was your most recent language arts course?
·      What is your favorite book/story? Why?
·      What is your least favorite book or story? Why?
·      What do you most like to read or learn about?

Writing ability (writing prompts)

·       If I could go anywhere, I would...
·       I learn the most when the teacher...
·       I learn the most when I...
·       After high school, I will probably...
·       My ideal job would be...
·       Three adjectives others might use to describe me are...
·       My definition of language arts is….

Welcome to Understanding Writing 2013-2014

Since another school year is upon us, I'd like to take the time to welcome the familiar faces as well as extend a salutation to those of you who I don't yet know. I'm hoping this year will be one of creativity, community and collaborative conversation about life and literature.

Reading and writing are essential skills both in the academic and professional realms; those that are able to use the English language successfully generally excel at their chosen career. Understanding Writing is a course aimed at developing critical thinking and writing skills in students so that they can become strong writers in high school subjects across the curriculum. In this course, students will write for a wide range of purposes - ranging from persuasive essays to formal research papers. Each assignment will work on developing each writer's unique voice and perspective.

Writing well requires rewriting. Students will draft some pieces several times, with attention to audience, thoughtful content, and acceptable mechanics. A writing portfolio will be the best evidence of the student's progress as a writer.

Grammar instruction will be embedded within the writing process with a focus on developing fluency in new contexts and mastering conventions. The ultimate goal of this course is to prepare students for the writing components on the HSPA, SAT, and in upper level courses.

The purposes of this blog are multi-faceted. Often, assignments and prompts will be available for perusal on the blog and supplementary materials and creative inspiration posted by the teacher. The blog is also a venue to communicate with your classmates in reference to constructive criticism, to introduce assignments you would be interested in doing, as well as posit specific prompts of your own. As we move through the year, I would like to encourage you to post your reactions, thoughts and analysis assignments on the website – either in comment format or as a new post. Feel free to post any art, music (lyrics), poetry or pieces of pop culture in general that are reminiscent of the themes and topics of the material covered in class. Oftentimes, when I am connected to my work, I will find echoes of it in songs I listen to or movies I watch. Browsing the posts of the previous class and other students is encouraged, as long as you maintain originality in your own posts and use the work of others as a spring-board for your ideas and a medium to engage in academic discussion. Please, remain respectful and academic in your tone and intentions - use proper grammar, complete sentences and support in your responses.