Creative Writing Packet

Here is a link to the Creative Writing (Unit 2) packet.  If you have misplaced or lost your copy, download it and reprint it for use in class.  If you just forgot your packet at school and need it for homework, you are in luck!

Library Wishlist

Exciting news: we have gotten some money from the PTA to add new books to our classroom library!

If you have ideas for books or series that should be added to our collection, fill out the Google form here.

Example Short Answer

Here is the example short answer I had up in class.  It uses the RACE(CE) format: Restate, Answer, Cite, Explain.

What is the theme of “Invasion from Outer Space”?

The theme of “Invasion from Outer Space,” by Steven Millhauser, is that people crave excitement, even if it involves violence.  Millhauser conveys this when the narrator notes that, when it is discovered that the alien invasion is only harmless dust, the townspeople “could sense the swell of [their] disappointment” (Paragraph 3). The fact that the characters are disappointed that the invaders are simply one-celled organisms demonstrates that they were hoping for something more exciting or even violent.  In fact, this desire for violence is directly demonstrated in the narrator’s explanation of what the townspeople had hoped for.  He observes “we had wanted blood, crushed bones, howls of agony” (Paragraph 4).  That the people of the town yearned for an invasion that involved such extreme violent elements as “crushed bones” and “howls of agony” again proves Millhauser’s theme that people crave excitement, even if it is possibly to their detriment.

Literary Elements HW

Sorry! Somehow I saved this as a draft, rather than actually posting it.  Therefore, I'll just make it officially due Thursday, November 21st.

Do ONE of these two options:

Create a fun graphic that conveys each of the six elements

• This could be a typical plot diagram (above), or something more creative.
• For each element, provide a quote from the text that demonstrates it.

Color code “The Veldt”

• Have a different color for each of the six elements and color or draw a line around the part of the text that corresponds to the element.
• Next to each color-coded section, thoroughly annotate why the author may have chosen to convey the element the way he did OR the effect of the author’s writing on the reader.

Here are the notes on literary elements, in case you missed any in class:

• Exposition: When the author sets up the story by introducing the setting and characters.
• Characterization: When the author reveals the emotional, physical, personality-related characteristics of the people (characters) in the story.
• Conflict:  This is the problem or problems presented in the story.  
• Rising Action: When the conflict gains steam and suspense. When tension or excitement begin to build.
• Climax: This is where the conflict explodes; whatever the problem was, it is front and center at this point in the story.  The outcome of the climax is usually what leads to the resolution.
• Resolution:  This is how the conflict “ends up.” It doesn’t mean the problem needed to be solved: it could be that the resolution is that there IS no resolution. Or it could be that the characters live happily ever after… or die (like in the story we just read!).

"The Veldt" Questions and Notes on Theme

Below are the questions on Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt" that should be completed by class on Monday 11/18.  Here is a link to the short story in case you forgot your packet at school.

1. What is the setting of this story (think time and place).  How do you know?
2. What do George and Lydia see in the “nursery”?  How is this possible?
3. How do Peter and Wendy feel about the nursery?  Provide at least one quote from the text to support your answer.
4. Explain what Lydia Hadley means when she says, “Why don't we shut the whole house off for a few days and take a vacation?”
5. How do Wendy and Peter interact with their parents?  What is their attitude like?  How do George and Lydia treat their children?
6. What did Bradbury want to convey by describing the house, after it had been shut off, like this: “The house was full of dead bodies, it seemed. It felt like a mechanical cemetery.”?
7. What effect does the last line have on the reader?  Why do you think Bradbury would conclude the story this way?
8. What is the theme of this short story? (i.e. What argument is Bradbury making?).  Provide at least one quote from the text to support your answer.
9. Bradbury wrote this story in 1950.  Does it feel out of date? Why or why not?

Note on theme:

Common Theme Confusions:

A theme does NOT relate directly to the details in the story.

• Example: The theme is that people in the town underestimated the dust.
• This is too specific.  A theme is a BIG idea that is based on the story but does not rely on the details.
• Better version:  The theme is that people often underestimate the power of small events.

Careful, though, not to be TOO general:

• Example: The theme is how people respond to certain events.
• This is too general—how DO people respond?  To what KINDS of events?
• Better version:  The theme is that people often respond with excitement to catastrophic events.

November Reading Logs

The November logs (3 due December 3rd) are now posted!  Congrats to Luke, whose prompt was chosen for this month's responses.

Congrats are also in order for our top 20 readers for October:

1. Stina T. 2269
2. Benny H. 1844
3. Kathryn P. 1780
4. Jessica (JT) T. 1734
5. Grayce W. 1679
6. Tara K. 1488
7. Swara K. 1479
8. Max L. 1424
9. Madeline W. 1418
10. Miki M. 1344
11. Daniel J.1311
12. Alessandro C. 1268
13. Tymur K. 1232
14. Will B. 1182
15. Clementine D. 1181
16. Maya I. 1175
17. Maceo T. 1155
18. Oxanna S. 1152
19. Eric Z. 1136
20. Maya M. 1114

Prompts and Outline for Monday's Piece

Here is the outline I distributed in class, in case you decide to change your topic.

Here are the prompts that you could use for Monday.  Keep in mind that you can take any quote from the class packet or the "Worrier Warrior" article and build an argument off of that.

• According to Jean Paul Sartre, “Man is nothing else than his plan…he is therefore nothing else than the ensemble of his acts.”  What is your take on this quote?
• Are we the sum of what we have chosen to do in life, or is there something else going on?
• According to Jean Paul Sartre, “The full responsibility of [man’s] existence rest[s] on him.”  What is your take on this quote?
• Does this seem right or do you want to attribute responsibility for how you have turned out to other people, circumstances, experiences etc.?
• Sartre appears to believe that we always have a choice to accept or reject the influence of something on us.  What is your take on this concept?  Do we have a choice as to how we react to the people and things in our lives that could influence us?
• How have your choices created the person you are today?
• In your own experience, how much influence do parents have on their kids?
• Do your parents work with your “innate tendencies”?
• Do you and your parents agree on what high school you should go to?  Why or why not?
• Do you and your parents agree on your ideas for what career you’d like to pursue?  Why or why not?
• How “like” your parents are you?  Are you more like one parent than another?  Are you a combination?  Why is this significant?
• Do your parents treat you and your siblings differently?  Why?  Do you think this can be explained by genetic factors (or “inherent” personality)?
• Do you have any personality traits that you think were reinforced, changed, or subdued by your parents, friends, experiences etc.?  What does this prove?

Write a response to the "Worrier vs. Warrior" article

• Are you a worrier or a warrior? Somewhere in between?
• Write an essay in which you refute the worrier/warrior concept altogether.
• Write about members of your family as worriers or warriors: where you do think you get your traits from?
• Write about the effect of testing or grades on you:  think of SPECIFIC anecdotes/stories that show the reader how you felt, rather than just telling us about it.

Write a response to the ideas we've discussed this week (Rousseau, Hobbes, SPE, Milgram, etc.)

• How do you think you would you have acted had you been a participant in the Milgram or SP experiments? 
• How would you explain the results of the SP and Milgram experiments?  Why did people do what they did?
• How does civilization affect humanity?  Are we better off with it?  Worse off?  Both?  Neither?
• Why do “good” people do “bad” things?
• Write a response to Nietzsche's concept of the "Will to Power":
• What do people most want in the world?  Is there one essential thing that we all want?
• What do teenagers most want?  Adults?  Kids?  Is there a difference?  
• What do girls most want in life? Boys?  Is there a difference?
• Analyze how, if at all, money and power are related.

Updated Prompts for Your Nonfiction Pieces!

Here are the prompts I posted in class if you are feeling stuck.  Remember, you have a polished piece due this coming Friday, October 18th.  Here is the information on that.

Write a history of your life through… (pick one)

• Your favorite books growing up
• Important sports games or tournaments
• Your favorite songs growing up
• Games (video, board, both, etc.) growing up
• Homework assignments you didn’t do
• Your most memorable classes
• TV shows or favorite movies
• Another idea?

Write a "How To" manual that tells us something about who you are, what you believe, what you care about, how you view the world, what teenagers are like etc.

• How to ask someone out…
• How to master Minecraft…
• How to deal with loss…
• How to be you…
• How to trick your teacher into thinking you did a good job on your homework…

Write a response to the "Worrier vs. Warrior" article

• Are you a worrier or a warrior? Somewhere in between?
• Tell a (true) story (or stories) about yourself that demonstrate(s) your inner worrier, inner warrior, or inner inbetweener.
• Write an essay in which you refute the worrier/warrior concept altogether.
• Write about members of your family as worriers or warriors: where you do think you get your traits from?
• Write about the effect of testing or grades on you:  think of SPECIFIC anecdotes/stories that show the reader how you felt, rather than just telling us about it.
• Tell the story about a moment when you overcame anxiety.
• Tell the story about a moment when you were overwhelmed by anxiety and couldn’t make something happen (think stage fright, test anxiety etc.).

Write a response to the ideas we've discussed this week (Rousseau, Hobbes, SPE, Milgram, etc.)

• How do you think you would you have acted had you been a participant in the Milgram or SP experiments? 
• How would you explain the results of the SP and Milgram experiments?  Why did people do what they did?
• How does civilization affect humanity?  Are we better off with it?  Worse off?  Both?  Neither?
• Why do “good” people do “bad” things?
• Just react to what we’ve been talking about this week:  freewrite about your responses, thoughts, questions, confusions, critiques, conclusions… 

Write a response to Nietzsche's concept of the "Will to Power":

• What do people most want in the world?  Is there one essential thing that we all want?
• What do teenagers most want?  Adults?  Kids?  Is there a difference?  
• What do girls most want in life? Boys?  Is there a difference?
• Analyze how, if at all, money and power are related.

Class Booklet and Milgram

If you misplaced your class booklet, here is a digital copy.  Please download it and print it (if you don't have your original copy) so that you can refer to it in class.

Here is the link to the Milgram Experiment video.

Study Questions for this Friday's Quiz

Make sure you have the following questions answered in your notebook.  This is what you should study from for your Quiz on Friday.

There will be extra help at lunch on Thursday if you are feeling... unnerved by the quiz!

Thomas Hobbes

1. Why does Hobbes believe that mental and physical equality lead to conflicts between people? 
2. According to Hobbes, what are the three causes of quarrels between people?  Do NOT just use the same exact words he does: make sure you explain what each means. Give an example of each from modern day life.
3. Why does the state of war keep people from making progress?  
4. What are your overall thoughts on Hobbes’ ideas?  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Somewhere in between?  Explain!

Philip Zimbardo (Stanford Prison Experiment)

1. Describe Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo’s famous “Stanford Prison Experiment”:
2. Why did the guards become “sadistic” or “evil,” according to Zimbardo?
3. What is Zimbardo’s argument about human behavior AND what evidence does he use to prove this?
4. According to Zimbardo, how is it possible for us to change our inclination towards sadistic behavior?
5. What are your thoughts on Zimbardo’s work and findings?  This can be directly related or anything else that comes up for you.  Write at least 3-4 sentences:

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

1. According to Rousseau, in what ways are humans and animals similar?  In what ways are they different? 
2. According to the author, what problems have humans brought on themselves? 
3. Describe how Rousseau views the natural state of humanity.  
4. According to Rousseau, where or how did inequality between people begin?
5. What is Rousseau’s overall view of human nature/behavior?
6. Compare Rousseau’s view to Hobbes’ and Zimbardo’s

Stanley Milgram (Milgram Experiment)

1. Describe the Milgram experiment.
2. What does the Milgram experiment apparently demonstrate about human nature and behavior?
3. Explain how Milgram’s experiment fits in with Hobbes, Rousseau, and Zimbardo?  
4. What is your view of Milgram’s work?  Does this experiment tell the “real story” of human behavior, or are his conclusions flawed or misleading in any way?  Explain.

Vocabulary on Friday's Quiz

The quiz this Friday is 18 questions and multiple-choice/matching.

You are allowed to create a "cheat sheet" for the quiz: just write the 5 words you are having the most trouble with and their definitions on an index card.  You may use that index card on the quiz.

acclimate:  adapt or get used to
accountable: held responsible for something, having to explain or justify something
adrift: lacking aim or direction
antidote: a remedy (a cure for a poison, but also metaphorically something that can fix a situation).
buffer: a shield or cushion used as protection

emerge: to come into existence or arise

ill suited: inappropriate, not correct

ingrained: firmly fixed or established

inoculate:  to protect someone from a disease by introducing it into his system (metaphorically, to protect someone from harm by getting them used to something little by little)

lackadaisical: without interest, lazy, indolent

manifestation: an outward indication, expression, or symptom of something

optimal: most favorable, BEST

physiological: having to do with the physical body (chemical and biological processes)

predisposed: having a prior inclination or tendency

proliferate: to increase and spread (often excessively)

propensity: an inclination or tendency

recurring: happening over and over again

underwhelming: making no positive impact, disappointing

unflappable: not easily upset or confused; imperturbable; calm in crisis

unnerved: deprived of courage, strength, determination

concur (v.): to agree with
to endeavor (v.): to attempt to do something
solitary (a.): lacking companionship, alone
brutish (a.): beastly, animalistic
idle (a.):  (1) not active (2) pointless
savage (n.): member of an uncivilized people
diffidence (n.): lack of self-confidence
awe (n.): feeling of great respect mixed with fear or wonder
sentiment (n.): feeling or emotion
subsist (v.): to support oneself at a very basic level
affliction (n.): state of great suffering
perpetual (a.): never ending
excess (a.): exceeding the necessary amount of something (too much)

Syllabus

If you misplaced your syllabus (which should be signed by tomorrow, Wednesday 9/18), you can find it here.  This is also where the list of supplies is (and supplies are also due tomorrow!).

Student Survey

Please fill out this student survey by the end of this week.  NOTE:  This is the same survey as the one on Eboard/for Ms. Cinquegrana's class, so if you already did this once, don't to it again.  Thanks!

National Press for Class of 2013's Book!

The class of 2013's book, Halfway to Infinity, was featured in this month's newsletter from the U.S. Department of Education.  Check it out!

STUDENT WRITING INSPIRES

Age 13 and Published

Recently a New York City public school teacher, Vanessa Snowden, wrote to Arne Duncan, "If you give teachers the space we need to cultivate a context for the standards that speak to students, you will see all the ways in which we can create success." As evidence, she sent him a book, the product created when Snowden gave her students the room "to be people." The results are powerful: Halfway to Infinity is an anthology crafted and published entirely by students, from cover to contents, and its 305 pages exhibit a compelling array of literary forays. Each entry offers insight into the complexity and depth of the human experience from the remarkably sophisticated perspective of eighth graders. A few of our favorites (among the many) include "Easy and Completely Accurate Stereotyping: Bigotry for Simpletons"; "A Synopsis of the Modern World in Under Two Hundred Words"; "#thatawkwardmoment When You Can Relate to a Dog"; and "Our Nature Shoved in a Poem."

Summer Reading Logs & Full Assignment

Dear Incoming 8th Graders,

Welcome to ELA 8!  Here is a link to the reading logs you should complete this summer.

If you want to check which books you logged go here.  Hit "Command" (for Macs) or "Control" (for PCs) and "f" then do a search for your OSIS number.

Also, in case you happened to have misplaced it, here is a link to the full Summer packet.  Please make sure to DOWNLOAD it before printing (there will be a button in the top right corner of your screen that says "Download"), otherwise it will print out rather funkily, like when you try to print out a web page.

As always, if you have questions, you can email me at snowdenELA@gmail.com.

Final Round - Graduation Speaker

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FrtC6pYaAZ2kcURrk-nCD433XAnhC5i63Q4oYNCGJwY/viewform?pli=1

Graduation Speaker Vote

Click here to vote for the graduation speakers!

Halfway to Infinity Facebook Page

Check out the Halfway to Infinity Facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/HalfwaytoInfinityBook

Road - Cover Design 1

Mountain - Cover Design 2

Star - Cover Design 3

Tree and Space - Cover Design 4

Sunset - Cover Design 5

The Poetry Packet

Here is the poetry packet I handed out today.  If you have lost it, you can print it out by clicking on the link below, then clicking on "Download" (if you print it directly from the link without clicking "Download," the formatting will be off).  On some computers, the preview of it might not show up, but don't worry, if you just click on "Download," it will work.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3qvjxnwcp6oqa6y/PoetryPacket.pdf

Artists: A5 Paper

Anyone interesting in creating art/comics etc. for the book can find the correct paper size here.  Just click on "download" and print.  I will also have copies of this in class.  Good luck!

Creative Writing Packet

Here is a link to the Creative Writing Project Packet:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lnak1ekd69ifw7o/Creative_Writing_Project_Packet.pdf

If you lost your copy and need to print it, I highly recommend you click "Download" to (duh) download the PDF file, THEN print it (otherwise the formatting will be off).

If you just forgot your copy at school and need it for homework, I recommend you write or type your annotations on a separate piece of paper (if you don't want to reprint the packet).

Milgram Experiment BBC Videos

Quite a few people asked for links to the rest of the BBC videos on the Milgram Experiment. I've pasted them below.  Comment on this post with your thoughts!

http://youtu.be/BcvSNg0HZwk

http://youtu.be/IzTuz0mNlwU

http://youtu.be/CmFCoo-cU3Y

Back to the Land

As promised, here's the full version of Maira Kalman's really cool illustrated-essay-like thing:

http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/back-to-the-land/