Friday, December 21, 2012

Are we still here? Okay good.

Have a good break everybody. See you on January 7th.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Silent, Sustained, Satire

Good morning,

We are reading at the bell.

Then I am giving you most of the period to work on your satire draft. I'm giving you a draft grade tomorrow, so make sure you have something to show me. You will also have writing group time tomorrow, so make sure you have something to show your group.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Persistent, Prolonged Satire

Good morning,

As you know I am at a tech training today. I will have access to email, so please write to me if you have questions.

Your priorities today should be:

  1. Article of the week 12.  This is in your view only folder. Read it, write a two paragraph response in your English Journal, one paragraph to recap the article and one paragraph about your thoughts on the issue. (If you have no thoughts then read it again.) You can also find a PDF version of it here. (The PDF is formatted slightly differently and is numbered 15, but for you this is AOW 12.)
  2. Work on your satirical essay. Use the words you added to your document yesterday. Language is power. You need a completed draft by Tuesday. (not kidding)
  3. Read your book. Make sure you have a recommended book picked out for this grading period. 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Satire Utensils

Good morning,

We are reading at the bell.

One of the great tricks of satirists (people who write satire) is that they seem to have an immense (very large) vocabulary. They use this colossal catalog of words to reach new heights of specificity and astound their eager readers with their literary acumen, but the truth is they are all frauds. Their vocabulary isn't any bigger than yours or mine, but they have an extravagant ensemble of assets and I will share a few with you today. Can you guess what they are?

Asset #1: Word Hippo
Asset #2: InstaGrok
Asset #3: Visual Thesarus
Asset #4: Metaphor Assistance

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Serious Satire

Good morning,

We are reading at the bell.

Today I will give you some time to work on drafting your satirical essay.
Create a new document for your essay. (Name it correctly-- Period, Name, Satire)
Share it with me and also put it in your writing group folder.

At the end of the period you will be sharing your progress with your writing group.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Starting to think satirically

Good morning,

Today you will first tell me (in writing, on that piece of paper I just gave you) what you think you want to write your own satirical essay about.

I will share my topic with you and together we will generate some reasons to support my point.  The hard part is finding reasons that seem to support your point, but are actually funny or ironic. I'll give you some time to work on your own reasons and even start a draft of your essay.

HOMEWORK: Bring in at least a paragraph of your essay, on paper or in your EJ is fine. 

Friday, December 7, 2012

Satirical prompt...

Good morning,

We have been reading a lot of satire. It's time to think about what you would like to use for your satirical essay? What bothers you? What seems hypocritical? What needs to change? What's funny or pointless in our society?

Satire Prompt

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Is that satire?

Good morning,

Today I want to talk you through the process of assessing your own English Journal.

Write a sentence at the top of your EJ that says. "I believe the appropriate grade for my English Journal is a ______, because ______________________________________.

Use the English Journal Scoring Guide to help you figure out your grade.

Now for a few readings. For each reading figure decide if you think it is satire and what the central idea is.
Moonstruck
School Lunches


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Chief Red Jacket's Lecture to a Missionary


Two major questions today:
What is satire?
How do I explain how central ideas are developed over the course of a text?

My students are fond of the phrase "you got told" as a way of expressing that someone was just put in their place or taught a lesson.  The speech we are going to look at today is the best historical example of that I have ever seen. You are about to see how Chief Red Jacket used logic, well reasoned argument and a very respectful tone to tell a group of white missionaries to buzz off.

Chief Red Jacket's Lecture to a Missionary (1805)
Write an entry in your English Journal about his speech. Answer the questions below.

  1. Briefly summarize his speech.
  2. What do you think is his strongest argument? Why?
  3. Do you think he is right?
  4. How does Red Jacket feel about white settlers?
  5. Do you think this is an example of satire? Why or why not? 

Quick Quiz:  You may copy and paste these answers from your English Journal. Remember that spelling, grammar and punctuation count.