Mapping Out The Plot

Reading Times for September 29th

9/23	A&P	John Updike	30 mins
9/25	A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings	Gabriel Garcia Marquez	30 mins
9/27	Dry September	William Faulkner	30 mins
	In-Class Reading 3 days: I Am Number Four	Pittacus Lore	30 mins

Short Story Response

I have noticed that each story we read corresponded what we needed to annotate for. Like for example, in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: A Tale For Children by Gabriel Garcia Marquez had a lot of details about the setting in the story and that night for English homework our class was assigned to annotate specifically for setting. This was the easiest story to spot for setting. In other stories, I felt like it was a lot harder to annotate for specific things such as characteristics. I also found myself feeling like I understood the plot of the stories and then coming to school figuring out that my understanding of the story was completely wrong. I found that discussing the stories in class made my understanding of the stories a lot easier. If we would not have talked about them in class I would have been completely lost. 

A&P by John Updike was my favorite story for sure. It was easy to understand and the characteristics of each character were clear if you read the story. I found the story so interesting. I did not realize the class difference until Dr. deGravelles pointed it out to me in class. The jar of herring snacks that the three girls were buying immediately hinted that they were in a higher class than the 19-year old who lived with his parents and worked as a cashier. I still don't understand why the three girls would go out of their way to a grocery store that was located far away from the beach in which they were, just to get a jar of herring snacks in their bathing suits. If they have so much class why couldn't they put on a cover up.    

Reading for 9/23

9/18	I am Number Four	Pittacus Lore	10 mins
9/19	I am Number Four	Pittacus Lore	10 mins
9/17	Short Stories 1 & 2		40 mins
9/22 9/22	Short story 3 I am Number Four	Pittacus Lore	45 mins 20 mins

Reading Response to Short Stories

1. Reading Response - same guidelines as always, and you may write about short stories if you'd like.

Don't forget to include your reading/working times, including time you spent reading short stories this week.


Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is by far the weirdest story I have every read. I think the purpose of this short story was to show readers that being different and unique is very important. Although the story was weird, the characters were clearly developed. Hazel was very comical. Most of the things she said were just so ignorant, it was hilarious. Harrison Bergeron was also an amusing character. He is fourteen and perceived as a juvenile delinquent, declares himself emperor then made out with a girl on national television, which resulted in his murder, is humorous. Who would have thought?

A&P by John Updike is also a unique short story I read this week. The character's were very clearly described. For example, the main character, Sammy, is nineteen and works at a grocery store called A&P. He makes an impulsive decision to quit as a result of how his manager treated three three customer's, although they were breaking store policy. He most likely had a crush on one of them, as well. The three customer's described as "fat", "the queen bee", and "striking, but never quite makes it." The distinct characteristics of all of the character's in this short story makes it interesting and vivid. 

Write in the voice of the character

Tomorrow is a big day. Remember to project your voice and annunciate clearly. Walk in with courage and positivity. I need to show them what I am made of and that I am one of a kind. Don't eat a breakfast burrito. That always makes my stomach hurt. I might blow chunks in front of the casting agent. I had to ask for a lot of favors to get this audition. I can not blow this. This is my reputation on the line. Am I sweating? Why am I getting so nervous? I have been on a million auditions before, and I choose this one to be nervous about? I moved away from my whole family in Spain in which my whole life was planned out, but instead I choose to live in the U.S. at a women's shelter? No. I would have been miserable back home

My parents did not understand me. I want to perform more than anything. It is my dream. They did not support me. And no one can tell me I am not good enough. I want to prove them wrong. I am smart, ambitious, a hard-worker, and most of all, talented. I can sing, dance, and act. Right on the spot if need be. I want this so bad. I have to stay true to myself and give my dream all I have or I will never have any respect for myself. How could I live knowing I never tried? But, I am not backing down now. I have nothing to lose. They will love me. They will see that this is my life and nothing and no one can take it away from me.

EBook

I think it is really cool that we are making an ebook. It's going to be an interesting experience. It's pretty cool that the class of 2017 is compiling all of our work into one big book. Although I am confident in my personal literacy narrative, I feel that every student should have a one on one chat for 3 minutes or so with Dr. deGravelles about their writing if the student gets below a C on the assignment. It's important that everyone makes a significant contribution to the ebook. I don't really care who reads my essay because I am proud of my hard work and want people to read it!

I think it would be pretty cool if everyone got to put pictures of themselves in the ebook to make the narratives come alive. It would make the ebook more personal and memorable. This is like a yearbook documenting only us freshmen if we could include pictures too! We would keep them forever and look back on them to remind of us of all of the fun we had. I'm really excited to see what Dell designs for the cover page. I wish I was artistic.

10 minutes in class reading
2 hours total editing and revising Literacy Narrative Essay

Reading Response 9/16

Out of all of the literacy narratives I read in English class, Brooke Dillon's was the best. Her heart-braking story of her and her grandmother's relationship was vividly written. I felt like I was there. It was clear that reading and writing were significant in her paper. Them two emailing back in forth was a key aspect (which is writing and reading). My favorite part was when her grandma asked her how many toilet paper rolls she used because she was concerned that they might run out. It really makes me sad that they are not closer. I can relate because my grandma died before I was two. I wish I could have met her.

My second favorite paper was Mary Beth William's.  It was so funny. She talks about her experience on being the only freshmen in her journalism class. She doesn't know any of the upper-classmen, but finds them to be quite the characters. My favorite part was when she made up nicknames for some of the student's that stood out the most. The first being: "the hulk."She described him as tall, masculine, and scary. I found it so funny because it only took me one guess to figure out who she was talking about. The second being: "country boy." He had a thick southern accent, and wasn't the smartest. Turns out, he dropped the class and was never seen again.

Dialogue Post

"Hi, Mrs. deGravelles. I have a couple of questions about homework last night. Are block fours' blog posts due tonight?" 

"Yes, Katherine Ann. All blog posts are due by 11:59 PM on Monday nights." 

"Okay, thanks. Also, my literacy narrative would not post to turnitin.com because my computer crashed in the middle of my submission. I printed out the final draft before it crashed. Will you accept this as full credit?" 

"Sure, Katherine Ann; because you are my favorite student, I guess I could make an exception." 

"Awesome! That is so sweet. You are pretty cool yourself. That's my last question for today I promise."

Two days later. 

"Dr. D, I am really struggling on this one word, alacrity. I still don't know understand what it means." 

"It is a noun and it means promptness in responding or eagerness. For example: At the end of the school year, the students ran out the doors with alacrity." 

"Oh I understand now. Thanks. I think I am ready for my quiz. When are wordly wise vocabulary cards due for chapter three?" 

"They are due September 16th." 

"Okay, great!"

Reading Log :)

9/5	Dollhouse	Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe Kardashian	68 mins	209-277
9/8	I am Number Four	Pittacus Lore	60	1-49

Reading Response

I just started I Am Number by Pittacus Lore and I am obsessed. Lore starts off the novel with intensity and grabbed me with his first paragraph. I started this book and ended up reading to the sixth chapter in the first sitting! In the novel, there are eight children from the planet Lorien that have special powers. These eight children are now living on Earth, hiding from their enemies named the Morgadorians. According to a sacred Lorien charm, these eight children will be hunted down in order by the Morgadorians. The first three are dead and now the main character, number four, is next in line. Although, I said in the last two entries that I had wanted to read Mrs. Kennedy and Me, I changed my mind, and have become to adore this book. I have changed my question I want answered to: "How has the author made this book so addictive?"

I think I am doing really well with my personal literacy narrative. Mine is about how reading and sending letters at camp helped me overcome my separation anxiety from my parents in the fifth grade. I still feel like I still need to develop and edit my draft more. My description of me opening the first letter from my mom needed to be a lot more vivid. My opening paragraph also needs to grab the reader's attention, so that they will want to read the rest of my narrative.  I really like getting constructive criticism from other people. It makes me a better writer and helps me learn what I need to do better. Other than those minor edits, I feel like I am on the right path to a successful paper.