Kate Tierney’s Language Arts Classes

Students and Parents,

Term 1 grades will be posted soon. I’m still catching up on grades from when I was out sick. Please be patient. They will be posted by Monday morning at the latest.

-Kate

In class on Wednesday, you will answer ONE of the following questions. You may prepare an outline ahead of time if you wish, but you must write the essay in class on November 4.

Guidelines:
1. Underline thesis statement
2. Five paragraph format
3. Topic sentence for each supporting paragraph
4. Each answer must include specific evidence from the novel.

Option 1:
The following is a quote by William Golding: “The theme of Lord of the Flies is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature.” By citing three (3) incidents and comments from the book, prove that this is indeed the theme of this novel.

Option 2:
In “loss of innocence” novels, we see the protagonist first as innocent. Then we watch him as he undergoes a crisis or crises; finally, we observe him either gradually change or have a sudden moment of insight. Using this model, trace Ralph’s loss of innocence in this novel.

Option 3:
This novel is filled with irony. Identify and explain the final note of irony on which this novel ends. Be sure to include the idea of the island as a microcosm of the larger world.

Option 4:
State what you believe to be Golding’s view of the nature of man. Relate how civilization (and its institutions) functions to keep this essential nature in check.

Study Questions LOTF

On Friday, October 23, the English department at Sheldon High School has scheduled a project day to work on department goals and curriculum-related activities. Students have been given meaningful work that must be accomplished on Friday, but they will not be attending class. They will, however, be required to report their progress to me via e-mail (tierney_k@4j.lane.edu), which they can do from campus or from home. This is also a prime opportunity for students to work on their next writing project. If you have any questions, please call 790-6600.

research-paper-eval.doc

res-paper-checklist.doc

College Now Writing:

Don’t forget to register for WR 121, 122, 123*. Email me (tierney_k@4j.lane.edu) for the course numbers so that you can collect your credits.

*Disclaimer: you must pass the classes with a B or higher in order to earn credit.

In answer to Stephanie’s question:

Here’s an outline that might help:

Intro: summarize the subject, and then show how the article you are analyzing fits into that context. State the article’s thesis (claim). Your thesis makes a claim about how successful the argument is in light of the entire subject.

Body:

1: What is the structure of the argument? Why? Does it work?
2: On what is the author basing his/her claim? Is this effective?
3: Does the author appeal more to emotion? Logic? His/her own credibility? Point out the appeals.
4: What about word choice and sentence structure? The author’s voice? Is it academic or comical? What SPECIFICALLY makes it seem this way? Is that an attempt to appeal to logic, emotion or credibility?
5: What is the author’s intended audience (age, race, gender, social class, etc.) and how do you know?
6: What might the author be missing? Does the author appropriately address an opposing argument?

Conclusion:
Does the article offer a valid perspective on the topic? Fundamentally, what aspect of the topic is addressed in this article? (Move somehow poetically back into the realm of context.)

Remember:

Context, text, context.

“There is no such thing as a neutral education process. Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate the integration of generations into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes the ‘practice of freedom’, the means by which men and women deal critically with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”
—Paulo Freire

Since we read “How I Trumped Rudolf Steiner…” which appeared as the introduction to the 2007 edition of Best American Non-required Reading this week, I thought it would be nice to share some music. This is from the album Illinoise and the song is “Decatur or Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother!”

I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpdL2DLshf4

Due Friday:
In the Essay Connections book, part one is called “On Writing,” and it includes essays about writing. You need to choose two of the first three essays in that section, read them and journal about what you have read. Another part of the book is called “Determining Ideas in a Sequence” (I don’t have the book with me, so I can’t tell you the page number, but if you look in the table of contents, you will find it). You need to choose any two essays in that section and read them and write a journal entry about whatever you choose to read. Additionally, you need to outline a rhetorical analysis about any of the essays in either section. You may choose to outline one of the essays you wrote about, or you may choose a different one. For the outline, you need to provide information about the following:

Author, audience, purpose, structure (see today’s handout), and appeals (ethos- appeals to outside sources or author’s credibility, pathos– appeals to the audience’s emotion, logos– appeals to audience’s sense of logic) to evaluate the essay’s success or failure.

Also due tomorrow are journal responses to Beginner’s Mind, How I Trumped Rudolf Steiner, and The Politics of Language.