ERWC (Period 1,3,4 ) Assignments

Attached is the writing prompt for the Value of Life essay, due on Monday June 6. The essay must be typed, double spaced, MLA paragraph format, 12 point font, with a minimum of 1000 words. No late essays will be accepted. I am also attaching the four poems that may be used as resources, and my example of an opening paragraph.

The following resources will help you write a strong final essay on the Value of Life. Remember that your final draft, typed and properly formatted (remember to indent your paragraphs) is due on June 6. It will be my birthday present. :)

This is a reminder to all seniors that I am turning in Failure Notices for students who are failing my class as of Tuesday, May 24. To avoid failing, you must have your journal up to date and the introduction of your essay typed and turned in. The introduction must introduce your topic, identify the sources you will refer to and quote from in your essay, and contain a complete two-part thesis statement (a WHAT and a WHY--or HOW).

 

For your journal, you are responsible for having all of the Value Of Life Activities (VOLAs) that are posted here on the website. They begin with VOLA 1 on February 24 and end with VOLA 14 on May 20. You will NOT be responsible for having VOLAs 9, 11, or 12, as they are not on the website. However, you will receive extra credit if you have them. There is no VOLA 13.

You will find the complete text that responds to the steps in VOLA 14. Much of this writing can be used in your essay, probably at the conclusion. Just be sure to use summary statements (like those at the very end of Step 4) that reflect the sources you chose to write about in place of the summary statements about the sources I chose to write about.

To be considered for a grade of A on the final report card, you must turn in the book reports for your preapproved books that you registered with me earlier in the semester. The number of books you must report on will vary according to each book's length and level of difficulty. Anyone caught trying in any way to complete this assignment dishonestly (writing a report based on seeing the movie, copying a report off the internet, having a friend write your report, etc.) will receive a grade of FAIL in the class. To qualify for the A you must have a score of at least 84% on required class work, tests and essays, and then fulfill the prescribed independent reading assignment, turning in the completed report(s) on or before May 18. You will also be required to share your book with your class in a Book Talk that should last around 3 minutes. The Book Report Format guidelines and a sample are attached.

The writing for Steps 1 and 2 from VOLA 14 that we did in class is in the attachment below. Your response to VOLA 14 must appear in your journal, and you may use the work we did in class.

Attached is VOLA 14, an IDEA CHUNK assignment that should be 250-400 words in your journal. It is based on selected paragraphs from the article "What Is A Life Worth?" in the ERWC book.

A reminder that your extra credit poem is due in class today. See previous post for guidelines and instructions.

Attached is Christian Barrios's poem, which you may use as a model for formatting. You might also want to read it. It's not bad!

A complete, typed copy of your Response Poem must be turned in. Appearing on the draft that you submit must be your name, the title and author of your Classic Poem, and the title of your Response Poem, which should contain 200 words. All of this must be typed, not added i n handwriting. Your poem should be single spaced and formatted to a margin that is aligned on the left side.

 

Everyone is also invited to submit a second poem for extra credit that will be added to your grade at the end of the semester. This poem may be a "stream-of- consciousness" poem, a "power" poem, or any other authentic outpouring of who you are, what you observe, and/or what you feel.

 

Likewise, the extra credit poem must be typed, single spaced, aligned left, with name and period typed in the heading. This extra credit poem is due on Tuesday, April 26.

 

 

VOLA 10. Copy these vocabulary terms from Amanda Ripley's article "What is a Life Worth?" and their meanings.

Be sure you have read all of the Value of Life readings in the ERWC book by the time you return from break. You will be taking an exam on the readings on Thursday, March 31. The readings begin with Hamlet's soliloquy on p. 47 and go through page 71. Read them all.

Scan the article "The Human Life Calculator" and complete VOLA 7 and 8.

Read through the attachments and write a response poem draft.

Analyze Chris Jones's writing by completing the questions in VOLA 6.

We will be hearing poems and listening to my director's notes today, Thursday and Friday. You will be scored on memorization and presentation, with the expectation that as time moves forward, so does the quality of your performance. For those of you who are considering taking your performance to the next level, auditions for the Sylmar Slam, scheduled for April 22, will be held on March 16 and 17.

I have attached the first two questions of VOLA 5 with my responses to them, which you may use. Be sure to complete the rest of VOLA 5 on your own. I will check journals for the 10 week grade in class today and on Wednesday. 

VOLA 5: Respond to the questions that refer to Chris Jones's article about film critic Roger Ebert.

For today's Poetry Tuesday grade, you will be scored on both memorization and effectiveness of delivery. To deliver your poem effectively, you must practice saying it out loud and working on different intonations in your mind as you read and imagine different ways of pronouncing and intoning the words and sentences. You must also look up and ask others about the meanings of lines and words so that what you are saying makes perfect sense in your mind. Also, you must work on clear and well tempoed enunciation, being sure that a listening audience gets every word you are saying. Slow down your delivery and say each word distinctly, taking care not to run words together as we commonly do when speaking or reading out loud.

I will be checking journals for the following assignments. Your scores will count for the 10 week grade.

 

1. Handwritten copy of the complete RP essay.

2. Value of Life Journal Activity 1, Parts 1, 2 and 3

3. VOLA 2, 3 and 4

Be sure to have the first two parts of this journal activity in your journal--Part 1 should be 1 and 1/2 pages, Part 2 100 words minimum.

 

The third part will be discussed in class and must be in your journal by Friday.

Once again, you are working on the memorization of your poem, and for Tuesday you are aiming for 120 words for the A, 100 for a B, 80 for a C, 50 for a D. Having 25 words memorized will earn you a score of 50%.

 

Next week (March 1) you will be graded on both memorization and effectiveness of delivery. To deliver your poem effectively, you must practice saying it out loud and working on different intonations in your mind as you read and imagine different ways of pronouncing and intoning the words and sentences. You must also look up and ask others about the meanings of lines and words so that what you are saying makes perfect sense in your mind. Also, you must work on clear and well tempoed enunciation, being sure that a listening audience gets every word you are saying. Slow down your delivery and say each word distinctly, taking care not to run words together as we commonly do when speaking or reading out loud.

Have memorized the first 100 words of your poem. You will be graded as follows:

15-24 words, smooth, no help: D

25-39 words,      "         "      "  : C

40-59 words,      "         "      "  : B

60-89 words       "         "      "  : A

90+    words       "         "      "  : A+ (5 extra credit points)

Attached is the teaching copy of one of the model essays we wrote in class together. I highlighted the different steps that appeared in the instructions and highlighted with corresponding colors the essay text that fulfills each of these parts of the assignment. If you don't have the entire essay copied into your journal, you may copy this one, which will bring your failing grade back up to passing. You may also type it and turn it in for a score of 25/30 if you have it is all there and you type it yourself, a grade that will count toward the ten-week marking period. If you wish to score higher, up to 35/30, you must write your own essay that must contain significantly different content but equally satisfies the directions and the bullets.

A final typed draft of your racial profiling essay is due. Be sure to follow the instructions in the attachment and use this writing process to practice and become familiar with the five elements of the Classical Argument.

I hope all of you are happy with your poem selections. If you wish to explore further and make another choice, I'm posting the whole anthology. Remember, the poem you pick must contain at least twenty lines.

The information in the attachment below that identifies and summarizes the five parts of a Classical Argument is to be copied into your journal and serve as a reference to help ensure that you write strong expository essays.

The essay assignment for the Racial Profiling module is attached below. If you haven't yet, please complete the essay and turn it in.