Week 5 Work--Due Wed., September 27th

Week 5 Vocabulary
bovine
facetious
contrite
erudite
anomaly

Presentations
10:00--Ellen, Holden, Marytaylor
12:15--Lori, Tabi, Ethan

Since we talked about learning styles in class, I'd like you to complete the following assessment as part of your homework. It may help you better understand how you learn and think:

Learning & Thinking Styles Assessment

1. Personal Narrative Essay

This week, your written work will be the first draft of your Personal Narrative Essay.  Note: the first draft should be your best quality work, as if it were due next week.  It should be typed and meet all criteria. BRING YOUR DRAFT TO CLASS.  Also please share your draft with me via Google Drive (Directions: when you have your document pulled up, look at the top right corner and click the blue share box.  Make sure you grant me permission to comment then put my email in the box (elizabethjprice@gmail.com).  When a box appears that says "add note," please put the phrase "personal narrative essay" in the box, then hit send. Thanks!)

Please see these overviews I handed out in class if you were absent:

Personal Narrative Essay Prompts
Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay (a suggested way to format one, though you have some flexibility)
Five/Seventeen  (this is the example essay we looked at in class)

Avoid getting bogged down in too many details as you tell your story.  Make your story vivid; paint a picture. However, remember that the story is not the end goal, but a springboard to the change/lesson/larger meaning.  There should be some type of epiphany (a turning point) that turns the essay to focus on the meaning and impact.  Also use chronological transitions, flashbacks, foreshadowing, and suspense as applicable to guide the reader through the story and keep a lively pace.  Your unique personality, perspective, and voice should shine through in this essay.  Pick a meaningful topic and it will!

As promised, here is an example of the first page of an essay following the MLA format.  You may wish to print this and keep it in your class folder under handouts for easy reference:

MLA first page example sheet

For those who like details, example essays, and more information on how to make this type of essay shine, here are some resources:

BlogPrepScholar
Although this is geared specifically to college application essays  (and we are just using their prompts/format for our  narrative essay), it has many links to great examples of effective narrative essays along with good analysis on how to write one.

I especially like their analysis/breakdown of Example 1 "Breaking into Cars."  You can learn a lot by looking at the analysis of that essay.  If you scroll down about halfway, you should find it.

22 Excellent first sentences from essays (to give you ideas for your "hook")

2. Reading about The Age of Reason and the Revolutionary Era

We will continue our chronological readings in The American Experience.  There will be no written work from the book this week, but we will have a quiz on the material during class.  Be sure to WRITE IN YOUR BOOK (ANNOTATE) as we discussed in class.  This will help you digest and understand details. Circle vocabulary that's unfamiliar.  Develop a system that works for you--bracketing, underlining, asking questions, etc.  

Benjamin Franklin
Read p.140. p.142-150

Oladudah Equiano 
Read pp. 156-164

View The Atlantic Slave Trade (0:00-5:40, you don't have to watch the entire video)

Thought for the week from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack: