|
October 19-23 Skills, Lessons, and Resources!
Hello to our RW3 Classes! I hope you are having a great week! I have lots of new skills and review work planned for the days ahead, so let's get started right away! Part One Literary Terms: Epiphany and Personification Directions: Some of our students were in class when we talked about the term epiphany, while others may have been testing. We will review this term first and move on to personification right after! Epiphany: a moment of realization, which often happens suddenly, and causes you (or a character in a story) to change your thinking after this surprise feeling! Example: Tom thought he could play football forever. When he got to be a certain age, however, he started scoring fewer and fewer touchdowns. After one especially low-scoring game, he had an epiphany; he would have to retire from football by the end of the year. Short Writing Piece: Have you ever had a life-changing moment such as this one? Take a few minutes to write about such a moment, event, or situation that caused you to think differently about something from that point onward. Write about what things were like before and after your epiphany--what happened to cause such a change? If you cannot think of one, perhaps you know of a character in a book, TV show, or movie who changed in this way. You can write about this character instead! #2 Personification: the art of giving human qualities to inanimate objects Note: Inanimate = not alive, as in books, doors, chairs, and anything else that is not human! Example: The streetlight winked at me as I made my way down a city street one evening in winter. Think out loud and discuss: A streetlight is not a living thing! If the writer is saying it winked, what exactly is the streetlight doing? What image was in your mind as you read that sentence? Let's discuss this with a classmate before we talk about it as a class! Directions: Please find an example of personification in each of the sentences below! 1. My alarm clock screeched at me to wake up this morning! _____________________________________________ 2. The piece of chocolate that remained on my table just begged to be eaten. _______________________________ 3. The tires on my car squealed as I rushed off to work. _________________________________________________ 4. That poem spoke to me; it was filled with emotions I often felt. ________________________________________ 5. The humid air smothered me; I could not seem to escape from the heat on that July day. ___________________ 6. The beautiful fall tree welcomed me back home! _____________________________________________________ BONUS: Which two sentences contain a semicolon? ____________________________________________________ BONUS 2: Can you add a second part to sentence #6 using a semicolon as a connector? ______________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Part Two. Grammar It's and Its Explanation #1: The word it's is a contraction. A contraction is a word created by putting two words together to make one new word. It's is made up of two words: it is We would put them together: itis We would then take out the middle i and place an apostrophe in its place: it's Note: The apostrophe almost always takes the place of the missing letter or letters! Other examples of contractions include: are not = aren't ________________________ did not = didn't ________________________ is not = isn't ________________________ Now go back and fill in the missing letter from each of the contractions above on the line that follows. We know which letter it would be because the apostrophe took its place! Explanation #2: The word its is a personal pronoun that is showing ownership or possession. This means that an object (a noun) that was later used as a pronoun has something belonging to it that we want to talk about. Examples: The table was on its side so that we could move it more easily. The owner had a flat tire on his car; he had to use its spare tire in order to drive home. Jana's water bottle was nearly empty; she turned the bottle over so that she could drain the rest of its water into the sink. In the examples above, the word its refers to a noun that precedes (or goes before) it. The noun is shown in bold print. Notice that the word its does NOT have an apostrophe. The apostrophe is only used in the contraction it's because that word means it is. Now let's see why adding an apostrophe incorrectly would NOT make sense. If we wrote that "the table was on it's side," this would mean that the table was on it is side. This does NOT make sense. Use this method when checking to see if you have used the correct form of the word. Directions: Please select the correct form of its or it's in the sentences below. Try to use the way we checked the sentence above to see if you have made the right choice! 1. (Its, It's) a great day for a barbecue! 2. The box was on (its, it's) side when I found it. 3. The dining room table was missing one of (its, it's) legs, so we did not buy it. 4. Using the correct word can be fun; (its, it's) also a good way to ensure your writing is clear and effective! 5. Did you see where I left my phone? (Its, It's) a gold iPhone X that I purchased several years ago BONUS: I bet you know what this will be! Go back to sentence number one, add a semicolon instead of the exclamation point, and write another part to this sentence! Always remember that the words before and after the semicolon could be sentences on their own! They are separate sentences that we decided to join with a semicolon because they both talk about the same idea! Part Three. Writing Persuasive Essay Introduced! Every type of writing involves persuasion of some type.
Writing a persuasive essay, then, should have one specific goal: to have the reader agree with your point of view. How do we do this? We begin with a solid sentence that states exactly what you believe. Example: Hospitals should not charge a fee of any kind for visitors. Example: Masks should be required for both pitchers and batters during all baseball games. These statements are opinions, but they are presented as facts!! Notice also that there is no reason given within this opening sentence. The reasons will follow this sentence; they are never to be placed in the first sentence you write! Directions: Think about a topic that is important to you and create an opening sentence that states your point of view as we've seen above. Do NOT say "I think" or "I believe." Do NOT even say "In my opinion..." We need to know exactly where you stand from the very beginning of your essay! Possible topics from which you can create opening sentences are: your main thoughts about recycling your favorite season cellphone use while driving what it means to pass the HiSET how you feel about taking vacations your opinion about taking a nap during the day Here's something that happened to me that sparked an idea for a persuasive essay: The other night, I needed to run to the local mall to buy a few extra presents for a birthday. I was shocked to see that the mall was closing at only 8:30 PM. I have not visited the mall often since the pandemic began, so I am not sure how long these closing hours have been in effect. But I do know that I did not like it! My opening sentence may be: Shopping malls should stay open until midnight every day of the week. Notice I have not yet explained WHY I feel this way in this sentence. But now that I have taken a stance, I am going to list at least three reasons why shopping malls should stay open later. 1. Customers may be working longer hours these days, and they might not make it to the mall before it closes. 2. Closing so early may not allow customers enough time to find the perfect gift, and they may choose the first store they see because they may feel rushed. This could cause stores tucked away in the mall--especially those located on the second floor--to suffer. 3. Stores may lose business because customers will turn to online shopping on websites such as Amazon because they are open all the time and are more convenient. Now think of a final closing statement that has to do with your opening topic sentence (and the reasons you provided as support) that can serve as both an ending to your essay as well as a place to make your final comment about the shopping situation. Example: If malls keep cutting their business hours, customers may eventually cut physical stores out of their lives and turn to online services for a smoother shopping experience. Another example could be to ask a rhetorical question: How long do you think people will put up with the inconvenience of shorter hours at the mall before they pull out their laptops and go on a shopping spree without leaving the comfort of their own homes? When you have completed all these parts of your opening paragraph, you will just need to put them all together in the most interesting way! Remember that we are not done yet! We are going to try to create five paragraphs, so we will have four more to go in the days ahead! I will guide you through each one in this same manner! Good Luck!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2025
|