Thursday Class Outline: Peer Feedback

1. Silent Reading
2. Computers (2103)
3. Peer Review Blog Posts:

1. Find a blog post of a classmate that is on characterization or plot. Make sure every classmate has at least 1 reviewer.
2. Read the blog post.
3. Fill out the reviewer checklist sheet for the post.
4. Read each sentence carefully and give the post a mark for writing conventions.
5. Create a comment for the blog (if the blog does not allow comments, you can write it on the back of the reviewer checklist). List 2 specific things you like about the blog post.
6. Give “next steps” feedback on the back of the checklist sheet. Give at least 1 specific thing the author could try to work on in this post.
7. Repeat for interest or another characterization/plot post.

Short Story Analysis: "Test," "Bluffing," and "Where the Borg Are"

Class Outline

1. Silent Reading
2. Hand in all remaining creative responses
3. Go over the short story analysis handout
4. Read "Test" together
5. Complete the worksheet for "Test"
6. Choose based on preference: "Where the Borg Are" or "Bluffing"
7. Complete analysis for the short story
8. Please hand in your completed work (due Friday)

Please note: tomorrow we will be assessing your blog posts on interest, characterization, or plot. Please finish your posts for homework if they are not already done. 

Monday Class

1. Get with a partner. One of you needs to read aloud the creative response to the other. Pause at each period. Check and fix any sentences that don't make sense!
2. Finish blog posts from Friday.
3. Work on ISU reading and tracking sheet.

Blogging Class Outline (Friday)

Class Outline

1. ISU reading
2. Blog post on characterization or plot structure (see the earlier post for options and details)
3. Finish blog post on an area of interest
4. Work on your creative response

Blogging: Characters and Plot

Blog Post Options

Please choose one of the following three options and write a blog post on it. Every blog post should include:

• a picture
• a title
• full sentences
• labels
• spell checked and proof read text

Blog Post Options (Choose 1 of the 3)

1. Profile one of you favourite characters from TV, literature, or videogames. Describe their character traits (personality) referencing at least one form of indirect characterization and saying how it is developed.
Example: 
Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice is a girl who is very intelligent, as often mentioned by her father. Unfortunately  Elizabeth is a very judgmental girl. She makes decisions and assumes to understand people based on first impressions. Jane Austin develops Lizzy's judgmental character through Lizzy's behaviour when she  decides early on the Mr. Darcy is her enemy and Mr. Wickham is completely agreeable. When Mr. Darcy proposes to her, Lizzy cruelly rejects him.  In fact, Mr. Darcy turns out to be a caring person and Mr. Wickham is a scoundrel. 

2. Read a short story online (or recall a story you have read or viewed and enjoyed). Summarize the plot by saying what was the exposition, a few points from the rising action, what was the climax, and what was the falling action and/or denouement.
Example:
In the book the The Cat in the Hat the story starts with the exposition where the kids are home alone on a rainy day in the cat arrives. The rising action is when the cat plays games that cause a mess like “UP-UP-UP with a fish” and “FUN-IN-A-BOX.”  Fish says cat is causing a mess and says to him, “You should not be here / When our mother is not.” Then, Thing One and Thing Two fly kites in the house and  the Fish warns, “Your mother is on her way home!” The climax happens when the narrator catches Thing One and Thing Two with a net and says to the 
cat, “Now you pack up those Things / And you take them away!” The falling action is when the cat packs up Thing One and Thing Two then leaves. The cat returns and cleans up the mess saying, “I always pick up all my playthings.” The resolution is when the mother returns from shopping and asks the children, “Did you have any fun?” (from Read, Write, Think)

3. Write a narrative paragraph where you create a character. Describe your character using direct and indirect characterization. At the end, show where you had the direct and indirect characterization.

Example
"She was a bold-looking girl of about twenty-seven, with thick dark hair, a freckled face, and swift, athletic movements. A narrow scarlet sash, emblem of the Junior Anti-Sex League, was wound several times around her waist of her overalls, just tightly enough to bring out the shapeliness of her hips."

Direct: bold-looking girl, athletic movements

Indirect: "emblem of the Junior Anti-Sex League, was wound several times around her waist of her overalls, just tightly enough to bring out the shapeliness of her hips" this is irony. It shows that she seems to be following the rules but she is a rebel. 

(This example is from  George Orwell's book, Nineteen Eighty-Four 12 please write your own character).

Short Stories: Plot Structure

Class Outline

1. ISU reading and tracking sheet

2. Characterization analysis for "Mirror Image" (this was homework, see handout in previous post)

3. Review plot structure

4. Analyze text for plot structure

5. Work on Creative Response (Due Wednesday)

Short Stories: Characterization

Characterization

Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality traits of a
character. Characterization is revealed through direct characterization and indirect
characterization.

Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is (his or her trait).

• Example: “The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered and did not disobey their mother.” Explanation: The author is directly telling the audience the personality of these two children. The boy is “patient” and the girl is “quiet.”

Indirect Characterization shows things that reveal the personality of a character. There
are five different methods of indirect characterization:

Speech: What does the character say? How does the character speak?
Thoughts: What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings?
Effect on others: What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do other characters
          feel or behave in reaction to the character?
Actions: What does the character do? How does the character behave?
Looks: What does the character look like? How does the character dress?(from Read, Write, Think)

Class Outline: Wednesday

1. Silent Reading and ISU work
2. Direct and Indirect Characterization Handout "Mirror Image"
3. Work on ISU creative response