Autobiographical Writing Assignment

First draft due Monday, Oct. 5.
Paper should be 750 words (max), typed and double spaced.
First draft will receive points but won't be graded.
First draft will be peer edited on Monday in class.

Structure:
Introduction
*Focuses on "key word," which leads in to your story.
Don't write about yourself in this intro.
125-150 words.

Body
* "what happened"
*400-500 words

Conclusion
* What you learned or why it matters
*125-150 words

Week 7: 9/27-10/2

Mon: Quiz will be Thursday on vocab from "The Sniper," "The Necklace," "The Interlopers," and 24 Greek roots. Greek roots 13-24 were reviewed in class today.

Additionally, outside reading choices are to be brought in on Friday.

Tues: Autobiographical writing assignment was given. Class reviewed pp. 66-70 in Holt Anthology. There is a separate post which deals with the assignment. Also, class copied 2 quotes from "The Sniper" which they felt "mattered," and wrote explanations.

Wednesday: Theme was defined; Students were introduced to "how to write theme statements"; Class compared American attitudes toward war with Liam O'Flaherty's attitude toward war; some classes wrote conclusions to the story "The Sniper"; Finally, all classes checked out Of Mice and Men from the bookroom.

Thursday: Vocab Quiz #3 today. After, students practiced writing introductory paragraphs for their autobiographical narrative papers. From the point of view of the protagonist in "The Sniper," students wrote the introduction focusing on a key word.


Friday: Students brought outside reading choices for check-in. Also, we discussed and practiced the 6 English verb tenses. (Holt Handbook, pp. 160 exs. 4 and 5)

Week 6: 9/21-25

Mon.Students studied 12 Greek roots and came up with sample words and definitions for each root.

Tues. Students reviewed challenging vocabulary from the story "The Necklace," then read the story. Page 170, #1,2,3, and 6 were assigned, as well as pg. 171, Comparing Synonmyms.

Also, the "Someone wants...but...so..." formula was discussed, along with 3rd person limited narration.

Wed.

Thurs. Students attended an assembly.

Friday: class discussed quotes: Get the words right, quote for a reason, blend the quotes into your thoughts. Assignment: choose an outside reading book and bring to class next Friday. the book should be fiction. After, class listened to "Regretting What I Said..." by Christine Lavin, wrote paragraphs on it, then "passed the paper" to peers, thereby seeing examples and giving feedback.

Week 5: 9/14-18

Mon. We reviewed Friday's quiz and completed two in-class assignments. Students completed pg.176-177 in the Holt Handbook (2 exercises on pronouns), and were introduced to the vocabulary to the story "The Interlopers" on page 150 of Holt Anthology. At the end of class students chose two vocabulary words from pg. 150 and wrote sentences using them.

Tues. We reviewed the vocabulary more carefully on page 150 and also reviewed clauses...groups of words with a subject and a verb. The class then examined the first 4 or 5 paragraphs of "The Interlopers" as we read it.

Wed. Homework assignment: finish reading "The Interlopers" and complete pg. 157, #1,3,5,and 7. Class worked on developing autobiographical timelines and quickwrote for 12 minutes on one of the items on the timeline.

Thurs. Class discussed homework assignment.

Fri. Holt Handbook: two exercises on verbs were completed. Topics included helping verbs, main verbs, and linking verbs.

Week 4: 9/8-9/11

Tuesday- We started working on autobiographical writing this morning with an activity called "The Memory Thief." Following that quickwrite, we started reading a short story called "Helen on Eighty-Sixth Street," focusing on direct and indirect characterizations of Vita and her mother.

Wednesday- Reviewed pronouns, nouns, and adjectives (pg. 14 HH). Quiz postponed to Friday.

Thursday- After Mr. Harrison's presentation, all classes finished reading "Helen on 86th Street," from the Holt Anthology and discussed aspects of it.