Put commas where necessary.
The man in the long black coat stood somberly in the corner.
Robert is a warm gentle father.
People who obtain a college degree tend to earn more money than those that don't.
Langston Hughes who was a poet during the Harlem Renaissance wrote poetry that was concerned with racial pride and social justice.
Put commas, colons, and semicolons where necessary.
The weather this week may include hailstorms sun showers and overcast skies.
I am eager to read a number of books this summer The Ministry of Bad Taste by Jonathan Franzen Wolfe Hall by Hillary Mantel and Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre.
Are the following sentences grammatically correct? If not, fix them.
Most lions at night hunt for medium sized prey, such as zebra.
Many students graduate with debt from college totaling more than fifty thousand dollars.
Though not eligible for the clinical trial, John was still able to gain access to an experimental drug.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
Friday, June 5, 2015
IXL Info
11H English IXL Grammar Work
username: firstnamelastname651 ex: laurentarantino651
Password: 1234
Complete the following under Grade 10
KK1 U2 W3 K3 C3 B1 B2
These are the modules we did and that you will be responsible for on the quiz.
They cover the following:
-MLA Citations
-Misplaced/Dangling Modifiers
-Commas with Essential vs. Non-essential info
-Parallel Structure
-Commas, Semicolons, Colons
They cover the following:
-MLA Citations
-Misplaced/Dangling Modifiers
-Commas with Essential vs. Non-essential info
-Parallel Structure
-Commas, Semicolons, Colons
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Monday, June 1, 2015
Satire Examples
Modest Proposal: Texting and Driving
http://hhslitandcomp2014.blogspot.com/2013/12/modest-proposal-texting-and-driving.html
http://hhslitandcomp2014.blogspot.com/2013/12/modest-proposal-texting-and-driving.html
Friday, May 29, 2015
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Friday, May 1, 2015
Thursday, April 30, 2015
TTTC Reading Assessment Practice
Explain the significance of the following quotations. How do they highlight a key theme or idea from the book as a whole? Where does the quote come from - in other words, what is the context?
"In a way I wanted to stop myself. It was cruel, I knew that, but right and wrong were somewhere else. This was the spirit world."
"But you can't say that. All you can do is tell it one more time, patiently, adding and subtracting, making up a few things to get at the real truth. No Mitchell Sanders, you tell her. No Lemon, no Rat Kiley. No trail junction. No baby buffalo. No vines or moss or white blossoms. Beginning to end, you tell her, it's all made up. Every goddamn detail--the mountains and the river and especially that poor dumb baby buffalo. None of it happened. None of it."
"Because late that same night he borrowed a pistol, gripped it by the barrel, and used it like a hammer to break his own nose."
"Then he burned the two photographs...He realized it was only a gesture. Stupid, he thought. Sentimental, too, but mostly just stupid. Lavender was dead. You couldn't burn the blame."
Symbolism: Characters as symbols.
Consider how the men in the Alpha company function as symbols. How does Azar function as a symbol in the book? What sort of man does he represent? Think specifically about the situation with Bobby Jorgensen at the end of the book to help you.
What does Linda symbolize?
"In a way I wanted to stop myself. It was cruel, I knew that, but right and wrong were somewhere else. This was the spirit world."
"But you can't say that. All you can do is tell it one more time, patiently, adding and subtracting, making up a few things to get at the real truth. No Mitchell Sanders, you tell her. No Lemon, no Rat Kiley. No trail junction. No baby buffalo. No vines or moss or white blossoms. Beginning to end, you tell her, it's all made up. Every goddamn detail--the mountains and the river and especially that poor dumb baby buffalo. None of it happened. None of it."
"Because late that same night he borrowed a pistol, gripped it by the barrel, and used it like a hammer to break his own nose."
"Then he burned the two photographs...He realized it was only a gesture. Stupid, he thought. Sentimental, too, but mostly just stupid. Lavender was dead. You couldn't burn the blame."
Symbolism: Characters as symbols.
Consider how the men in the Alpha company function as symbols. How does Azar function as a symbol in the book? What sort of man does he represent? Think specifically about the situation with Bobby Jorgensen at the end of the book to help you.
What does Linda symbolize?
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
TTTC - Rhetorical Analysis Practice
Examine the last paragraph on pg. 143 in "Speaking of Courage" and answer the questions that follow.
1. Describe the primary purpose of this paragraph.
2. In the beginning of the paragraph, O'Brien writes, "he took pleasure in the steady sounds of the engine and air conditioning." Reflect on the "steady sounds" and how/why these may be a comfort to Bowker. How do these "steady sounds" connect to his constant driving around the lake?
3. Through Bowker's eyes, O'Brien describes how the town "looked as if it had been hit by nerve gas, everything still and lifeless, even the people." What does this perspective suggest about how the war has affected how Bowker views the world? Be specific. Think about his specific choice of words here and what they mean.
4. O'Brien repeatedly uses personification in this paragraph. Identify some examples of personification and the significance they have on the paragraph's tone and purpose.
5. O'Brien uses the adjectives brisk and polite twice at the end of the paragraph. To what purpose? Consider the connotations of these two words and their particular significance.
Now read the following paragraph from later in the chapter, on page 150.
A good war story, he thought, but it was not a war for war stories, nor for talk of valor, and nobody in town wanted to know about the terrible stink. They wanted good intentions and good deeds. But the town was not to blame, really. It was a nice little town, very prosperous, with neat houses and all the sanitary conveniences.
Think about these two paragraphs together and how they exemplify the theme of this chapter. How do these paragraphs explain Bowker's suicide?
1. Describe the primary purpose of this paragraph.
2. In the beginning of the paragraph, O'Brien writes, "he took pleasure in the steady sounds of the engine and air conditioning." Reflect on the "steady sounds" and how/why these may be a comfort to Bowker. How do these "steady sounds" connect to his constant driving around the lake?
3. Through Bowker's eyes, O'Brien describes how the town "looked as if it had been hit by nerve gas, everything still and lifeless, even the people." What does this perspective suggest about how the war has affected how Bowker views the world? Be specific. Think about his specific choice of words here and what they mean.
4. O'Brien repeatedly uses personification in this paragraph. Identify some examples of personification and the significance they have on the paragraph's tone and purpose.
5. O'Brien uses the adjectives brisk and polite twice at the end of the paragraph. To what purpose? Consider the connotations of these two words and their particular significance.
Now read the following paragraph from later in the chapter, on page 150.
A good war story, he thought, but it was not a war for war stories, nor for talk of valor, and nobody in town wanted to know about the terrible stink. They wanted good intentions and good deeds. But the town was not to blame, really. It was a nice little town, very prosperous, with neat houses and all the sanitary conveniences.
Think about these two paragraphs together and how they exemplify the theme of this chapter. How do these paragraphs explain Bowker's suicide?
Monday, April 27, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
TTTC - "Sweetheart..." Discussion Questions
“Sweet Heart of the Song Tra Bong” Discussion Questions
1. In “Sweetheart of
Song Tra Bong,” how does O’Brien set us up for Mary Anne’s transformation? What clues does he drop along the way?
2. O’Brien uses many items as symbols. Identify one tangible item that could be symbolic. What might it represent?
3. Find a specific
quote from the chapter that illustrate Mary Anne’s change. What does the quote
specifically signify about the nature of Mary Anne’s change?
4. Identify and discuss one theme that comes up in the
story. Remember that a theme is a big
idea that transcends literature and suggests something about real life. For example, a theme from the first chapter could
be that our emotions (fear, shame, regret) have a tangible weight that we must
carry.
5. Reread the cave
scene. What has Mary Anne become? Make a list of all of graphic imagery
(visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory) from that scene. What feelings do these images conjure up?
6. Reread the last paragraph of the story and analyze its
rhetoric:
But the
story did not end there. If you believed
the Greenies, Rat said, Mary Anne was still somewhere out there in the dark. Odd movements, odd shapes. Late at night, when the Greenies were out on
ambush, the whole rain forest seemed to stare in at them—a watched feeling—and
a couple of times they almost saw her sliding through the shadows. Not quite, but almost. She had crossed to the other side. She was part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink
sweater, and a necklace of human tongues.
She was dangerous. She was ready
for the kill.
What is the impact of this final paragraph? What choices does O’Brien make to create a
certain effect?
Think about DIDLS:
-What details does he include or exclude?
-What images does he create?
-Identify one or two specific word choices that have
significant connotations.
-What is the language like?
Does he use any figurative language?
To what effect?
-What is the syntax like?
Does he use repetition?
Meaningful juxtaposition? Long
sentences? Short sentences? Meaningful punctuation?
How do all of these elements contribute to the tone (attitude towards the subject) and
the mood (feeling) of this final
paragraph?
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The Things You Carry - Final Revision
As you put the finishing touches on your writing piece, consider the following:
-What dominant impression have you created of this particular role in your life? How have you considered DIDLS (details, imagery, diction, language, and syntax) in creating this impression?
-Do you want to show more than one side to this role? If so, have you done so?
-What choices have you made about how paragraphs are set up? Look back at TTTC for models. Do you have some paragraphs that focus on tangible items and some that focus on intangible items, or are the two mixed together? Does each paragraph focus on something specific, and does it begin and end with a deliberate image, detail, or idea?
-How have you begun your piece? How have you ended it? What impression does your beginning and ending create?
-What are your sentences like? Have you made active choices about punctuation (dashes, commas)? Have you made active choices about sentence length?
-Have you proofread your essay for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, comma usage, and all of the other conventions on your glossing sheet?
-Does your piece have a title?
-Do you have a proper MLA style heading?
-Have you double spaced?
-What dominant impression have you created of this particular role in your life? How have you considered DIDLS (details, imagery, diction, language, and syntax) in creating this impression?
-Do you want to show more than one side to this role? If so, have you done so?
-What choices have you made about how paragraphs are set up? Look back at TTTC for models. Do you have some paragraphs that focus on tangible items and some that focus on intangible items, or are the two mixed together? Does each paragraph focus on something specific, and does it begin and end with a deliberate image, detail, or idea?
-How have you begun your piece? How have you ended it? What impression does your beginning and ending create?
-What are your sentences like? Have you made active choices about punctuation (dashes, commas)? Have you made active choices about sentence length?
-Have you proofread your essay for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, comma usage, and all of the other conventions on your glossing sheet?
-Does your piece have a title?
-Do you have a proper MLA style heading?
-Have you double spaced?
Monday, April 6, 2015
A True War Story
Read the following article from the New Yorker, "The Scene of the Crime", about a true war story from Vietnam.
As you read it, consider ways in which it relates to what O'Brien tells us a true war story is.
As you read it, consider ways in which it relates to what O'Brien tells us a true war story is.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
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:
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
- 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.)
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
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
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.
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?
6. Do you have clear topic sentences in your paragraphs?
Thursday, March 19, 2015
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
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
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Friday, March 13, 2015
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!
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!
Friday, February 27, 2015
ICB Rhetorical Analysis
Many people have argued that Truman Capote's In Cold Blood blurs the line between fiction and nonfiction. If nothing else, Capote uses many of the literary strategies that a fiction writer would typically employ to tell his story. In your opinion, did Capote have an agenda other than relating the true story of a murdered family? What argument may Capote, consciously or unconsciously, put forth in this book? While you may see numerous potential arguments in this book, select the one that is of most interest to you.
In a 1-3 page rhetorical analysis, identify and explain one possible purpose Capote may have had in writing In Cold Blood. Use specific evidence from the text to support your analysis of this argument/purpose. Consider elements of DIDLS and SOAPSTone. In your analysis, you may want to consider how the text is structured, what Capote chooses to include and/or exclude, and how Capote uses ethos, logos and pathos. Your analysis should refer to a minimum of four specific references, whether directly quoted or paraphrased, from the book.
Due Date: Tuesday, 3/2, on turnitin.com
In a 1-3 page rhetorical analysis, identify and explain one possible purpose Capote may have had in writing In Cold Blood. Use specific evidence from the text to support your analysis of this argument/purpose. Consider elements of DIDLS and SOAPSTone. In your analysis, you may want to consider how the text is structured, what Capote chooses to include and/or exclude, and how Capote uses ethos, logos and pathos. Your analysis should refer to a minimum of four specific references, whether directly quoted or paraphrased, from the book.
Due Date: Tuesday, 3/2, on turnitin.com
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
ICB: Socratic Seminar Points
Consider the following points as you prepare for the Socratic Seminar. Bring in notes with specific points, page numbers, examples, etc. that you wish to discuss.
1. What image of America and/or the American dream does Capote portray in ICB?
2. Is Capote's style of writing objective or subjective? Defend/explain.
3. How does Capote build suspense despite the fact that readers know the ultimate outcome from the beginning of In Cold Blood?
4. In what ways is In Cold Blood like a fiction novel? How does Capote report the facts and allow different voices to speak without using a journalistic style?
5. Why do you think Capote split the narrative into four sections? Why do you think he did not describe how the murders happened until Dick and Perry were caught and gave their confessions?
6. How did Capote humanize the killers? Were you surprised by how likable they could seem despite the brutality of their crime and their lack of remorse until the end?
7. Capote seems to paint Perry in a more sympathetic light than Dick. He seems sensitive and even kind at points; however, by the end you find out that Perry committed all four murders. Did that surprise you? Did you sympathize with Dick more than Perry at any point? Or did you not buy any of the kind characterizations? Did your opinion change when you found out Perry was the true killer?
8. Do you think Dick and Perry were sane? Did the psychiatric analysis of them and descriptions of other cold blooded killers surprise you? Scare you? Make you think differently about violent crime or the death penalty?
9. Did reading this book change or influence your opinion on the death penalty or the criminal justice system in any way?
1. What image of America and/or the American dream does Capote portray in ICB?
2. Is Capote's style of writing objective or subjective? Defend/explain.
3. How does Capote build suspense despite the fact that readers know the ultimate outcome from the beginning of In Cold Blood?
4. In what ways is In Cold Blood like a fiction novel? How does Capote report the facts and allow different voices to speak without using a journalistic style?
5. Why do you think Capote split the narrative into four sections? Why do you think he did not describe how the murders happened until Dick and Perry were caught and gave their confessions?
6. How did Capote humanize the killers? Were you surprised by how likable they could seem despite the brutality of their crime and their lack of remorse until the end?
7. Capote seems to paint Perry in a more sympathetic light than Dick. He seems sensitive and even kind at points; however, by the end you find out that Perry committed all four murders. Did that surprise you? Did you sympathize with Dick more than Perry at any point? Or did you not buy any of the kind characterizations? Did your opinion change when you found out Perry was the true killer?
8. Do you think Dick and Perry were sane? Did the psychiatric analysis of them and descriptions of other cold blooded killers surprise you? Scare you? Make you think differently about violent crime or the death penalty?
9. Did reading this book change or influence your opinion on the death penalty or the criminal justice system in any way?
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
ICB: Part 4 Reflection
In Cold Blood Part 4 Review
- How do Dick and Perry’s escape plans differ? Why/how is this difference significant in characterizing them?
- Perry imagines that two young men are going to try to help him escape. What do you make of these young men? To Perry’s reaction to them?
- Reread Perry’s autobiogaphical account of his own life. Consider DIDLS. What do you notice/find significant? (273-276)
- Do the same for Dick’s. (277-279)
- Reread Perry’s confession to Don Cullivan on page 290-291. What strikes you about it?
- Dr. Jones’s testimony is not permitted at trial, but Capote chooses to include it anyway. What purpose does this testimony serve?
- How do both sides use religion in their arguments?
- How does Capote’s portrayal of some of the other death row inmates compare/contrast with Dick and Perry?
- How do you think Capote feels about the death penalty? What evidence in Part 4 supports your answer? Be specific.
- Consider the very ending of the book. Why do you think Capote chooses to end the book this way? What lasting impression does it leave? Why not end with the hangings?
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Argument Essay: Tips for Revision
As you revise your essay for submission, consider the following tips:
1. Consider your audience.
-Who is your intended audience?
-Have you considered your audience in taking into account elements of DIDLS?
2. Review your thesis.
-Do you have a clear argument?
-Where do you state your thesis? Is this the most effective place? Do you give it away too soon?
3. Review your evidence.
-Do you have SPECIFIC, clear, vivid examples, anecdotes, and direct quotations that illustrate your point?
4. Consider the counterargument.
-Do you address the counterargument somewhere in your essay?
4. Consider transition words and phrases.
-How do you move from one idea to the next?
-Do you use transition words and phrases to show contrast when addressing your counterargument? (ex: however, in contrast, on the other hand, on the contrary, nevertheless)
-Do you use transition words or phrases to emphasize a point or add on additional points? (ex: additionally, furthermore)
5. Have you made intentional selections about your diction, syntax, and language? How do these choices contribute to your tone?
-What connotations do your words have?
-Have you used any figurative language? If so, to what effect?
-Have you varied sentence and paragraph lengths? Do you italicize words, use parenthesis, dashes, and/or quotation marks?
-Do you use powerful verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs? (Note: powerful does not necessarily mean big and fancy.)
6. Have you edited for comma rules, punctuation, capitalization, parallel structure, subject/verb agreement, pronoun/antecedent agreement, apostrophes, spelling, etc.?
1. Consider your audience.
-Who is your intended audience?
-Have you considered your audience in taking into account elements of DIDLS?
2. Review your thesis.
-Do you have a clear argument?
-Where do you state your thesis? Is this the most effective place? Do you give it away too soon?
3. Review your evidence.
-Do you have SPECIFIC, clear, vivid examples, anecdotes, and direct quotations that illustrate your point?
4. Consider the counterargument.
-Do you address the counterargument somewhere in your essay?
4. Consider transition words and phrases.
-How do you move from one idea to the next?
-Do you use transition words and phrases to show contrast when addressing your counterargument? (ex: however, in contrast, on the other hand, on the contrary, nevertheless)
-Do you use transition words or phrases to emphasize a point or add on additional points? (ex: additionally, furthermore)
5. Have you made intentional selections about your diction, syntax, and language? How do these choices contribute to your tone?
-What connotations do your words have?
-Have you used any figurative language? If so, to what effect?
-Have you varied sentence and paragraph lengths? Do you italicize words, use parenthesis, dashes, and/or quotation marks?
-Do you use powerful verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs? (Note: powerful does not necessarily mean big and fancy.)
6. Have you edited for comma rules, punctuation, capitalization, parallel structure, subject/verb agreement, pronoun/antecedent agreement, apostrophes, spelling, etc.?
Thursday, February 5, 2015
DIDLS: The Tone Acronym
When establishing or determining the tone of a piece of writing. readers and writers should consider five key elements.
Diction - the connotations, or associations, of word choices
Different words for the same thing often suggest different attitudes toward that thing. For example, what is the difference between happy and content? How about happy and ecstatic?
Imagery - vivid appeals to understanding through the five senses
The images a speaker/writer chooses to present suggest her attitude toward her subject. For example, if a narrator visiting a farm describes the awful smells rather than the beautiful countryside, her description would tell us something about her attitude.
Details - specifics that are included or omitted
Details are most commonly the facts given my the author or speaker as support for the attitude or tone. The speaker's perspective shapes what details are given. For example, how might child's report of details from a car accident differ from that of a parent or a police officer?
Language - 1) the overall use of language such as formal, colloquial, clinical, or casual, etc., or the use of dialect or jargon
An ambassador speaks differently than a teenager who speaks differently than a farmer who speaks differently than a soldier from the Civil War. The type of overall language contributes to the tone.
Language - 2) figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, etc.
A figure of speech names on thing in terms of another. The way in which a speaker compares something to something else can tell us something about the speaker's attitude. For example, if I compare her black hair to soot or to onyx, the connotation would be very different.
Syntax - sentence structure and the use of punctuation
Long, flowing sentences give the reader a different feeling than short, choppy sentences. If the narrator uses awkward sentence structures or grammatical errors, we might think that he is uneducated. The use of dashes, italics, run on sentences, short sentences, capital letters, etc., all contribute to how we read and process the information in a passage.
Diction - the connotations, or associations, of word choices
Different words for the same thing often suggest different attitudes toward that thing. For example, what is the difference between happy and content? How about happy and ecstatic?
Imagery - vivid appeals to understanding through the five senses
The images a speaker/writer chooses to present suggest her attitude toward her subject. For example, if a narrator visiting a farm describes the awful smells rather than the beautiful countryside, her description would tell us something about her attitude.
Details - specifics that are included or omitted
Details are most commonly the facts given my the author or speaker as support for the attitude or tone. The speaker's perspective shapes what details are given. For example, how might child's report of details from a car accident differ from that of a parent or a police officer?
Language - 1) the overall use of language such as formal, colloquial, clinical, or casual, etc., or the use of dialect or jargon
An ambassador speaks differently than a teenager who speaks differently than a farmer who speaks differently than a soldier from the Civil War. The type of overall language contributes to the tone.
Language - 2) figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, etc.
A figure of speech names on thing in terms of another. The way in which a speaker compares something to something else can tell us something about the speaker's attitude. For example, if I compare her black hair to soot or to onyx, the connotation would be very different.
Syntax - sentence structure and the use of punctuation
Long, flowing sentences give the reader a different feeling than short, choppy sentences. If the narrator uses awkward sentence structures or grammatical errors, we might think that he is uneducated. The use of dashes, italics, run on sentences, short sentences, capital letters, etc., all contribute to how we read and process the information in a passage.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Essay of Argument
Click here for the product descriptor and rubric for the argumentative essay.
This essay is due on turnitin.com by 11:59 pm on Friday, February 13th.
This essay is due on turnitin.com by 11:59 pm on Friday, February 13th.