Are you persuaded by that?

Do Now:  (Answer in your Writer's Notebook.)  What is your favorite commercial? Describe it. What do you like about it? Does it make you want to buy the advertized product? Why or why not? (Prepare to be randomized.)

The Art of Persuasion

Good morning,

Today we begin a new unit on persuasive writing.  To start you will write a persuasive letter so I can see what you already know about persuasive writing. Since the prompt is just one page this time I thought we'd save another 60 sheets of paper by viewing it on the netbooks.  Please write your response by hand on notebook paper. (No typing on this one.)

Persuasive Diagnostic Prompt

To those of you following along at home and wondering what we did Monday, we were finishing the on-demand compare/contrast writing from Friday. (Yes, we have been writing a lot.)

Evaluation Day

Good morning,

It is time to evaluate your essay.  Open your essay in Google Docs and read it over one more time.
Use this Rubric Form to self score your essay.  Use the comments section to explain why you scored your essay the way you did.


After you have evaluated your essay it is time to get started with our on-demand writing assessment. You may write the essay by hand on paper or type it. If you type it you will need to print it when you are done for it to be submitted to me.

You can view the prompt and the materials for the essay as a word doc or ask me for a hard copy of the prompt.  On-Demand Writing Prompt

Absolutely MLA

DO NOW:
Write an imitation of this sentence in your WN.

1.I saw the mouse vanish in the general direction of my apartment house, his little body quivering with fear in the great open sun on the blazing concrete. – Loren Eiseley, "The Brown Wasps”

Good morning,

Lets say your teacher/professor/camp counselor tells you that your paper needs to be formatted in MLA style?

1. Figure out how to do that, hint google it.
2. Make YOUR comparitive analysis paper fit MLA style.
3. Write a post in your WN about how you did the two things above.

Good morning,

   Today you will share your comparative analysis with your writing group.

1. Find the collection in your google docs that is shared with your group. Check "collections shared with me".
2. Drag your Response To Lit doc into that folder
3. Move yourself to your writing group.
4. Follow the writing group procedures.
5. Use "Insert/Comment" to add comments about the papers you read.

Note: Make sure your paper has a full heading, Name, Date, Period (Right justified) and a title (centered) 

Examples and Outlines

Good morning,

By now you should have three comparison paragraphs for our essay prompt. I promised you that today we would look at introductions.  There are two new documents shared with you in your view only folder. One is an example comparison essay and the other is another version of the sample outline.  You might also like this document abut the language of comparison.

Take a look at the example essay, particularly the introduction. 

1. What elements does it have that you will need in your introduction?
2. This example essay is different because it is about comparing characters. Your essay is about comparing techniques the author and director use to show theme, mood and irony as well as the roll of greed in the two texts. How does that affect your introduction.
3. Your introduction should also include a BRIEF (1-2 sentence) summary of the story and the film.
4. Draft your own introduction.

Note: Check out the pictures below from our work yesterday.

Homework: Write a conclusion for your essay. If you don't have internet access at home ask for an advisory pass to come work on it here.

Comparative Analytical Writing

We have been working on the essay prompt below (see post from Friday below this one.)
By now you should have 2-3 of the body paragraphs drafted. By Wednesday you need all three. We will work on the introduction in class on Wednesday.

These pictures show the work we did together on the board today.

Don't forget you need to have two independent books read and reviewed in February. Get reading.

Comparing Text and Film:

Good morning,
 Today we begin tackling our process prompt:

Writing Task:

Consider the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and the movie The Night of The Hunter (1955) directed by Charles Laughton. What is the theme and mood of both pieces? What techniques did the author and director use to create the theme, mood, and irony?

Write a comparison/contrast essay discussing the similarities and differences between these two works. Keep in mind how the authors use various techniques to create mood, theme, and irony, and how greed plays a role in the stories.

Tool Box:

Quotes and analysis from "Cask of Amontillado" 

Scenes and analysis from Night of the Hunter 

You will be writing this essay in a new Google Doc that you will share with me. 

1. Create a new document
2. Name it  #NameResponseToLit  (i.e. 3MarkArmstrongResponseTo Lit)
3. Share it with me (hint: use my gmail address)
4. Copy and paste the prompt above into your new document.
5. You should also copy and paste the links to our evidence.

Night of the Hunter: Theme, Mood, Irony

Do Now:
   Write about what you think the theme is in "Night of the Hunter" now that you have seen the whole film. Be prepared to share.

While the film is still fresh for you we need to compile a list of examples of irony, mood and theme from the film. You will work with a partner of my choice to complete this form. Remember to use complete academic sentences like you would in an essay.

We will publish our results to assist you with essay writing next.

Night of The Hunter -part 3

Good morning,
     Today we will watch the conclusion of Night of the Hunter, but before we do lets discuss some of the possible themes you are seeing in the film.

Night of the Hunter

Good morning,

Today we will take our knowledge of cinematic techniques to the next level. We will begin watching "Night of the Hunter," a film directed by Charles Laughton  in 1955.

Evidence

Good morning, Take out your homework and share it with a partner sitting near you. Make any needed changes. (5 minutes) 

We have looked at the film and film techniques. Today we will look back at the story once more. With I partner of my choosing you will complete a form using quotations from the story and your own explanations of those quotations. Your answers (without your name) will be public, so that everyone will have a resource for evidence.

Click Here>>>    Finding Irony, Mood and Theme in                    "The Cask of Amontillado"
The published version of our spreadsheet is here.

Cinematic Technique

Do Now:  Take out your homework.  Also copy the chart in my writer's notebook into your writer's notebook.

We are going to look more closely at the film techniques used in the short film of "Cask of Amontillado". (If you are absent you are missing out on this and I can't help you with that.)

Homework: Write a paragraph explaining one of the cinematic techniques used in the film "Cask of Amontillado" and the effect of that technique on the viewer.

Film: "The Cask of Amontillado"

Good morning,

Today you will have a bit of time to finish your story boards.  Then we have an little interview activity to get to know the characters even better.  We will watch a film version of "The Cask of Amontillado". You will take notes on the ways the film is the same and different from your story board.

Homework: Compare (in writing) the film version with your storyboard version. How was your storyboard the same as the film. How was it different.