The Things You Carry

Think about yourself as an individual or as a member of a group (student, daughter/son, team member, member of your family, etc.).  If you are thinking of yourself as part of a group, you may highlight what other members of the group carry as well. Then think of the following:

- What do you carry? Make a list both literal and figurative (emotions, experiences, responsibilities).

You may consider

What do you carry every day in school?

What do you have to bring to work or to practice?

What things do you carry that are very visible to the world?

What things are more hidden?

What things are totally invisible, that is, abstract or symbolic?

What do others make you carry?

What things do you carry that you'd like to put down?
What specific memories do you have that are associated with this role in your life?

For example, I might think of my role as a mother. Then, I will think about the physical things I carry in this role and the emotional/figurative/symbolic things I carry (like sleep deprivation, responsibility for someone else's life, shameful memories that involve accidentally letting my son role off a bed, etc.)

Using Chapter 1 of TTTC as a model, write a 1-2 page essay in which you articulate the things you carry. You may choose to write in the third person (he/she/or they if you are thinking of yourself as part of a group). Your essay should have a mix of the literal and figurative. All items should have a clear purpose. Think of the rhetorical strategies O'Brien uses in his writing and try to emulate these strategies. Consider how you will begin and end your piece. Examine how he begins and ends certain sections of this chapter as a guide.

Due date: Tuesday, 3/7 on turnitin.com for period 2
Wednesday, 3/8 on turnitin.com for period 4

Citation Clarifications

Use this citation for the graphs in the packet.  Remember to indent any line after the first.  I can't get the indenting to work correctly here, so please just adhere to the proper indenting format.

Lopez, Mark Hugo. "Youth Attitudes toward Civic Education and Community Service        Requirements." Graph. The Center for Information and Research on Civic        Learning and Engagement 2002.

I also gave you some other misinformation.  I won't penalize you for not updating the following in this essay, but I just don't want you to be confused and/or have incorrect information going forward.


-If you are citing in text for a work that doesn't have a known author, within the parenthesis, put the shortened version of the title of the work in quotation marks if it's a short work such as an article, or put it in italics if its a long work like a book.

ex: ("Volunteer Work")


-If you are citing in text for a work with more than one author, you do need to provide all the authors' names.

ex: (Stukas, Snyder, and Clary)


I'm so sorry for the confusion this morning.

Final Tips for Synthesis Essay

Consider the following as you put the finishing touches on your essays:

1. Check your quotations

-Have you paraphrased the idea and included only the most important words or phrases?

-Have you incorporated the quotation into your sentence correctly?

-Have you cited your source according to MLA formatting?

2. Counterargument

-Have you addressed the other side of the argument?

3. Citations

-Have you cited all sources according to MLA formatting?

4. Commas

-Have you consulted your glossing rules sheet for all grammatical rules, especially commas?

5. Pronoun/Antecedent agreement

-Did you remember that indefinite pronouns are singular?  (someone, anyone, etc.)

6. Do you have clear topic sentences in your paragraphs?

Synthesis Essay

Here are the parameters for your essay:
Write an essay in which you argue for or against a mandate of community service for high school students.  Use the sources provided to you as a means of supporting your argument.  Your essay should
-be 2-3 pages typed, double spaced, 12 point font
-have a meaningful title
-have clear topic sentences
-use direct quotations when necessary (don't quote boring stuff!)
-paraphrase sources when necessary
-synthesize your idea at the end of each paragraph
-have a Works Cited page (see MLA link in previous blog post)

Essays are due Tuesday, March 24th, on turnitin.com

MLA In Text Citation Rules

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/

Synthesis Essay: Creating an Outline

Organizing your thoughts is an essential part of the process of writing a synthesis essay.  Before you begin writing, do the following:

1. Select which side of the argument you are on.
2. Formulate your thesis statement.  For the guided essay, you may use one of the thesis statements that you are given if you would like to.
3. Outline the points you want to make in your argument.
4. Come up with a topic sentence that articulates each point.
5. Identify the specific points within the various sources that support your points.  Highlight these points within the sources.
6. Identify possible counter arguments.  Highlight specific points within the sources that you could use to address or refute the counterarguments.
7. Create a detailed outline for your body paragraphs which includes topic sentences and source materials.

Only after all of these steps have been completed should you begin to write your actual first draft!