Hello everyone! We covered a lot today, starting right away with the homework. As we start reading Macbeth, Mrs. Smith has created a post on the class blog called "Macbeth Act 1 Questions" where we can post questions and respond to others as you come upon phrases that are used often or quotes that you don't understand. The SAT exercises are all due tomorrow and be prepared to spell and define all the words for the test. Our thesis and outline for our " How can literature be a motivator for social change?" assignment is due on Tuesday. Also, don't forget about your individual conferences and to scribe on the day you signed up for.
We then got out our SAT vocab to go over any questions. There were questions about the fill in the blank section of exercise 3. To clear things up, in the first blank of the exercise, the word effusive is italicized. Start by breaking up the word. The prefix e means "out" or "from" and the root fus means "melt" or "pour out". By putting two and two together, you can tell that if you have an effusive personality, then it will all pour out of you. In the second blank of the first question, use the prefixes and roots to come up with a word that would make sense in the sentence. The answer would be diffuse because dif means "apart" and combines with fus which would fit in the sentence because motor oil will pour out.
For the remainder of the class period we went over how to write essays. The basic formula is still an intro, 3 body paragraphs, a conclusion, and works cited although the essays will be different from what we learned in middle school. As Mrs. Smith said, " This is a time to experiment with your writing".
The beginning of an essay should always begin with an introduction paragraph. Start with an attention getter, such as a fact, statistic, image or question.Follow up with an explanation for the attention getter and some background information. The background information should give a little information on the text, which in this case is Lord Of The Flies and Macbeth and should give the basic jest of the book.
Next comes the thesis, the map of what you want to prove. Remember that these are your opinions! The thesis should be the first, argumentative sentence in the paragraph and should give titles, authors, the point you are trying to prove and why. As you write your three reasons, try to avoid boring verbs! Make it interesting and accurate.
The format for the first body paragraph should be the same as the last two, just describing a different point. Each one should start with a topic sentence focusing on the first point from the thesis statement. Make sure to keep different paragraphs in order by which point comes first in the thesis. Then set up the first point. Describe a little of what is going on in the story and find a quote that shows what you are trying to prove. Lead into the quote by saying something like," His struggle was clear when he stated..." and site where it came from.There shouldn't be any punctuation inside the quotation marks unless there is a question mark or exclamation point in the text. There should be a total of four quotes in each paragraph, two from each source. For each individual quote, there needs to be an explanation as to how it pertains to the point. Explain what it is saying, connect to the point for the paragraph and connect to the thesis. Transition words are important for the different quotes and explanations to make the essay flow. Using "however" or " therefore" is important to accurately get the point across. Before moving on, finish with a concluding sentence to wrap up the point. Repeat with this format for the other two paragraphs.
Last but not least is the conclusion. Restate the thesis without copying exactly what you had said in the beginning. Review the body paragraphs and finish with a strong quote that fits in with your argumentative essay.
We answered questions up until the bell rang! Everyone packed up their stuff and put away their computers before heading off to class.
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