Unpack this text

Students,
I want you to click on the link below and read Barack Obama's acceptance speech. As you are reading pay attention to how the words make you feel. Can you detect any rhetorical devices? What are they? Is he effective? If so how? What do you think his purpose is? Did he accomplish it? Why or why not? I want you to question why this Rhetoric works, and where it might fail.

Make a small comment on this post, just so I know you got the link, and give me a brief summary of his speech.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/us/politics/28text-obama.html

1st Writing Prompt!

Students: This is a homework writing prompt. I want you to write me a paragraph about either one of your most prized possessions, or someone who has had a big influence in your life. Make sure you post by Thursday, November 20th 11:59 p.m.!

Helpful website for research!

I know that Thanksgiving is coming up, but make sure that you are keeping up on your assignment.  Remember that the research for your My House has Stars assignment is due on Wednesday.  An internet cite that can help you is:

http://www.everyculture.com/ 

You can find everything from religious customs to the type of food they eat.  It would be very helpful for you as you gather cultural information about your country!

Here is an example of the My House has Stars assignment:

My house is made of cement blocks, that is so it stays cool from the hot sun.  When papa built it, he put in big windows with metal bars  "It is to let the wind in, but keep the robber out," he explains.

I work with mama and Rosita in the kitchen.  My hermanas, Maria and Augustina don't have to help in the kitchen because they are still too young.  Hot, sweltering heat.  That is the kitchen.  Always hot because we are cooking.  My papa and Raphael work at the market.  Before the light reaches the horizon they have left our house, and they do not come back until long after the sun has sunk behind the mountains.  At night I worry about them.  I am afraid that the black cadejo, who preys on night travelers, will take my papa and hermano from me.  I look out the barred windows, and pray that the white cadejo will protect my family.  I look into the sky and am comforted in knowing that they can see the twinkling stars above.  My house has stars.

My House Has Stars Assignment

We have read and discussed Megan McDonald's book My House has Stars; now you are going to practice research writing by researching one country in your heritage and writing about it in the way she did in her book.  All of our writings will then be compiled to create a class book.

As you Research consider the kinds of details we noticed as we studied the different pages.  Remember:  you are only going to write one page - about 250-300 words - so you don't need  a lot of facts, just some interesting ones, some that you know well, and at least two that most people wouldn't know. 

Before you begin to draft, we'll examine the organizational strategies you could use.  You will also want to consider some of the ways McDonald writes related to her sentence style and word choice.  We will discuss more of these in class so you can use them in your own writing as you revise.  

Your final draft should be typed or written neatly in ink.  YOu must also include some kind of colored illustration, either drawn, computer-generated, or copied and glued on at teh top or bottom of the page.  

Your final draft is due on Novemeber 29th.  I look forward to reading about the places of your heritage!

Welcome

Hello Class!

This is a blog that is just for our 10th grade English class.  This will be a reference for you throughout the semester.  I will post assignments here, examples of the assignments, rubrics, reminders for upcoming assignment due dates, news relevant to language and literature, and occasionally things just for fun.   At different times throughout the semester you will be asked to comment on these posts, so that I know you accessed the information.  This is also to help you engage with certain texts, and be able to respond to them in a written form.  These are assignments and are worth 5-30 points (based on the difficulty). You will know when these times are because I will let you know in class and send out an email.  

This is a post that I want everyone to respond to so that I know you know how to access the blog and know how to post.  So essentially this is a trial!  In your comment I want you to tell me about your favorite thing to do after you leave school.   The comments for this post will be worth 5 points.  Thank you so much and I look forward to reading your comments. 

P.S. Make sure you comment by 12:00 a.m. November 17th or else it will be counted as a late assignment and you'll only get 50%!