Want a good grade in English?

Then bring in a complete, typed rough draft on Monday. Completing a full draft for Monday will allow you the time to work on things like word choice, sentence fluency, and grammar/mechanics before you turn in a final draft. Also, completing your rough draft in a timely manner will ensure that you have some time to talk to me about your paper.

If you have computer/printer issues this weekend, work to resolve them yourself. Head to the public library, email your draft to a friend, or get to school early Monday morning to take care of it. Good luck!

Symbolism in AD

Codi's journey to find herself is complete. We've analyzed both the causes and effects of her literal and figurative return to Grace. How is symbolism related to this journey? Your homework tonight is to define a symbol of your choice (peacocks, coyotes, the afghan, night, Hallie's letters, transportation, etc.) in the context of the novel. Do this with a circle map. You should have at least 4 quotes in the frame of your map. At the bottom of the page, write a complete sentence about what your symbol represents. For example: "In Animal Dreams, peacocks represent ___________________________________________________."

Don't forget to study vocab tonight!!

It's Going Around...

So I was home today with a sick little boy. In class, you looked at Codi's emotional return to Grace. Finish the novel tonight to see how it all wraps up.

We'll spend some time on vocab tomorrow--the vocab quiz is Wednesday.

Finding home...

may be easier than Codi thought. In the reading for today, she discovers that she is a descendant of the Gracela sisters. Hallie is still missing and it doesn't look good. The good news is that we're near the end of the book, where all of these situations will hopefully be resolved. Your job this weekend is to read pages 285-323.

Also, don't forget to complete the blog assignment before you go to bed on Sunday night. Scroll down to find the assignment--it is described in the post entitled, "Blog It Up!"

Have a good weekend.

The Scream...

of the teakettle probably expresses Homero's feelings about his daughter's disappearance. Yep, Hallie has been taken by the Contras. Where is she and what will Codi do without the person she referred to as a god? Tonight's reading may give us the answers...

Read pp. 253-284 for tomorrow!

Finding Self/Finding Home

Today we started thinking more analytically about Codi and how she is changing in the novel. Tomorrow we will discuss the writing that you completed today. Don't forget the blog assignment due Sunday!

BLOG IT UP!

It's time to begin blogging on a regular basis. Our trip to the computer lab on Tuesday will give you some time to solve any problems related to the creation of your blog. Also, you may use the time to work on completing your first major blog assignment--due Sunday, September 21st.

The following is a list of requirements for your first blog assignment:

1. Add a list of your favorite books (minimum 3) to the side bar of your blog.

2. Post a 150-word paragraph about something you've read recently (other than Animal Dreams). Begin by naming the title and author of the reading. Then, provide the thesis of the piece (just as you do for Reading Minute). Discuss how the author proved the thesis. Do you agree with the author's position? Did you like the piece?

3. Use your character bubble map and character tree map to write a 250-word paragraph, comparing two characters in Animal Dreams. Focus on specific adjectives that either describe both characters, or show the differences between characters. Provide specific evidence from the text to support your comparison.
**Extra credit if you create a double bubble map of the two characters and post it to your blog (minimum of 10 total adjectives)

4. Comment on the blogs of 10 classmates. These classmates should be in your hour of English 10, and should be students with whom you do not regularly interact.

Again, the above should be posted to your blog by Sunday, September 21st. Happy blogging!