Self-Editing Process for Paragraphs and Essays- Use this before submitting your work!

Step 1: Circle the use of the first person "I" in your essay. If it does not refer to a personal experience, take it out.

Find phrases like "I believe that" or "in my opinion" and eliminate them.


Step 2: Circle all instances of they, we, us, and you, and eliminate them.

Write instead the specific group or subject you intend to mention.

Step 3: Proper Pronoun Reference
1.) Circle "this" wherever it appears in your essay.
2.) Draw an arrow to the one word to which "this" refers.
3.) If there is no one word to which "this" refers, rewrite the sentence so that there is, or so that the word or a descriptive phrase follows "this."


Step 4: Eliminate Wordiness
1.) Circle the following phrases at the beginning of sentences:

There is
There was
There are
There were
It is
It was
It may be

2.) Rephrase your sentence to eliminate these weak phrases.

Step 5: Using Strong Verbs
1.) Circle any of the following passive verbs in your essay:
be
am
is
are
was
were
been
being

2.) Revise your paper to eliminate at least half of them, using active verbs.

Grammar Matters

MLA Format for Academic Paragraphs

Class,

For your assignments, please follow the MLA guidelines. You will organize your papers to similar to the following example. In the upper left corner of your paper please put the following:



Name
Instructor's Name
Class
Date

Center the Title

       Indent your paragraph and begin writing. Your first sentence makes your claim. The second sentence defines that claim. The third sentence gives textual evidence and "embeds the quotation" into the sentence rather than just dropping it there. Your fourth sentence will explain how that example fits with your claim. You can use more than one example, but always follow that example with another explanation. Finally, you will wrap up your paragraph with a conclusion that restates, in new terms, your original claim. 

*All writing is to be done in Times New Roman 12pt, including the title. Keep 1" margins all around the page. I will teach you citations when we move onto our novel next month. For now, this will be a great start to academic format and writing. See you Tuesday!

* Short Stories are in quotations, like poems and names of songs. "Harrison Bergeron," "Dulce Et Decorum Est,"  and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" are appropriate ways of referencing them. Longer works, like novel titles or names of albums, are italicized. To Kill a Mockingbird or Nevermind are examples.

Vocabulary Quiz next week!

Just a friendly reminder to study for the vocabulary test on Tuesday! You will also need to bring in your TWO academic paragraphs on "Harrison Bergeron." I will be posting a guideline for the proper formatting later this week.

2081 Trailer | Based on Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron"

Here's a trailer for a short film based on our homework. If you would like to watch this film, it is available on on Youtube. This is not necessary for your assignment, but if you like visuals to go with your stories, this is a nice adaptation. You can also find the audio story for "Harrison Bergeron" on YouTube, but be sure to also use the text for your assignment. You will need to integrate quotes into your academic paragraph. As always, if you have any questions or comments, you are free to use this space or to email me.

Short Story for September 20 homework assignment

Here is a link to the short story we will analyze for next week's homework assignment. You will write two academic paragraphs this week. Remember, you can choose to write on the theme, the most compelling, the most controversial, or the most confusing part of the text. The full text of this story is available through the link below.

https://archive.org/stream/HarrisonBergeron/Harrison%20Bergeron_djvu.txt

Poem for this week's homework

Dulce et Decorum Est

Related Poem Content Details

BY WILFRED OWEN

Audio Player

00:00

02:10

Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, 

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, 

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, 

And towards our distant rest began to trudge. 

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, 

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; 

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots 

Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. 

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling 

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, 

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling 

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—

Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, 

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. 

In all my dreams before my helpless sight, 

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. 

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace 

Behind the wagon that we flung him in, 

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, 

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; 

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood 

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, 

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud 

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— 

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest 

To children ardent for some desperate glory, 

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est 

Pro patria mori.

Notes:
Latin phrase is from the Roman poet Horace: “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”

Grammar Matters Week 3

JOHN COLTRANE Alabama

Grammar Matters

Class,

I had a great time yesterday! We managed to accomplish quite a bit in our 90 minute class. We learned some new vocabulary, practiced some editing and grammar rules, wrote an essay, learned about the academic paragraph, and even had time for some games!

This week, be sure to study over your notes and corrections on your grammar revisions. Many of those will continue to pop up on future editing assignments. Also, practice your new vocabulary each day. You will be given five new words this Friday, so don't let yourself fall behind!

Our next class will include some art, music, and poetry--so flex those creative thinking skills. Just like our cover on our syllabus, "C'esi  n'est pas une pipe," things aren't exactly what they appear to be on the surface. We will need to go deeper.

If you have any questions this week, feel free to contact me.

Kindly,
Heather Chandler

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes

Audree sent this fantastic little parody to me yesterday. Have a look and enjoy a laugh.

English Composition Fall Syllabus

“The Treachery of Images” by Rene Magritte (1928-29)

Contact information: heatherchandler75@gmail.com

Course Description:

This course is designed to help a student write effectively for both college and the work place. We will use a variety of texts and critical approaches to providing both practice and models for essay writing strategies, structure, and research methods. Our focus will include grammar, vocabulary, analysis, rhetoric, and MLA citations. Students will compose academic paragraphs, argumentative essays, a research paper, critical analysis, a resume, a business letter, and a PowerPoint presentation. Our class will meet once a week for 90 minutes, but we will also have a class blog to continue our discussions, questions, and information throughout the week. Parents are always welcome to check in and see what the students are learning. $60/month. Class meets Aug-May, Tuesdays mornings 10:00-11:30. No classes in December.

Objectives:

Students will learn to organize thoughts into clear, grammatically correct sentences. They will organize those sentences into paragraphs that expand a central thought. Those paragraphs will then be organized into essays that communicate ideas to readers. The students will learn to cite any sources used in research. They will progress and demonstrate close reading skills and analysis of a variety of texts, evaluate research as it makes and supports academic arguments, and develop strong thesis statements. But here’s the thing: They will actually enjoy this process. I will not assign letter grades to their work unless explicitly asked by the parent. The only competition is their previous assignment. I will provide detailed feedback geared toward your child’s current level and help them to become a better writer.

Course Texts:

Assorted poems, short stories, and articles will be handed out in class

Elements of Style by William Strunk

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Watson’s Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Hatchet by Gary Paulson

Night by Elie Wiesel

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Our final book will be selected by the students

Other Supplies Necessary:

Folder

Three Ring Binder with plenty of college-rule paper

Pens

Highlighters

Colored Pencils

Post-It Notes

Access to class blog online for discussions or questions between classes.

Class Schedule for Semester 1:

September 6- Introduction, syllabus, grammar, vocabulary, in-class writing assignment, introduction to the academic paragraph and topic sentences. Elements of Style.

September 13- grammar, vocabulary, introduction to literary terms, music, poetry and art analysis, in-class writing assignment, poetry reading assignment and academic paragraph assigned for homework. Elements of Style.

September 20- grammar, vocabulary, in-class writing assignment, literary terms, review of the previous assignment, short story assigned with academic paragraph for homework. Elements of Style.

September 27- grammar, vocabulary, in-class writing assignment, literary terms, short story in class, thesis statements. Assign The Hatchet Chapters 1-5 for October’s reading assignment. Vocabulary Quiz lists 1-3.

October 4- grammar, vocabulary, in-class writing assignment, literary terms, Introductory and Concluding paragraphs, beginning MLA citations, class discussion over The Hatchet, short writing assignment and Chapters 5-10 for homework.

October 11- grammar, vocabulary, transitions, MLA citations, class discussion over The Hatchet. Chapters 11-15 assigned with academic paragraph using MLA citations.

October 18- grammar, vocabulary, cohesion and organization, class discussion over The Hatchet. Chapters 15-end of the book assigned. Re-Write and correct previous assignment and add another MLA cited paragraph. Study for vocabulary quiz next week!

October 25- grammar, vocabulary, revision, class discussion over The Hatchet. Putting it all together into a five paragraph essay with MLA citations due next week. Vocabulary Quiz over lists 4-7. Introduction to The Giver by Lois Lowry and dystopian and utopian literature. Read Chapters 1-5 for next week.

November 1- grammar, vocabulary, gathering textual evidence. Discussion over The Giver. Read Chapters 5-10 for next week. Write two academic paragraphs demonstrating textual evidence and MLA citations.

November 8- grammar, vocabulary, intro to rhetoric. Discussion over The Giver. Read Chapters 11-16 for next week and pick one of last week’s paragraphs to revise and one to argue against also using textual evidence.

November 15- grammar, vocabulary, organizing the essay with outlines. Discussion over The Giver. Read Chapters 17-22 (end of the book). Complete your outline and revise returned paragraphs.

November 22- In-class workshop on critical analysis. Bring your book, paper, outline, and revised paragraphs. You will complete this essay over the week and turn it in November 29.

November 29- Vocabulary quiz/game. Turn in your 3 page paper over The Giver.  Writing proper emails. Analyzing Christmas Carols. NO HOMEWORK OR READING ASSIGNMENT OVER CHRISTMAS BREAK!