Quotable Quotes: Sophomore Weekend Homework

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Sophomores!

Please read the short story "On The Rainy River" through page 630 for class tomorrow. You should consider the folllowing questions:

• Why does the narrator object to being drafted into the Vietnam War (versus any other war)?
• What is the conflict that we see begin to emerge as we complete reading page 630? How does this create rising action in the diagram of the plot?

Turnitin.com Tutorial for Period 2

Getting started with turnitin.com is simple.

Write down our class ID and password. You'll need it to create an account (along with a valid e-mail address).

Class ID: 2305994
Password: classof2012

This link should work. If it does not, go to www.turnitin.com and follow the directions for setting up a new student account.

Once you have joined our class, you will see an assignment for "Things Fall Apart." This is where you will either upload your essay or copy and paste it into an upload form (do this only if Turnitin.com does not support your word processor).

This video was designed to help you get started. Watch it with a parent at home if you need help.

Good luck! I look forward to reading your essays online! What a great way to save paper :)

For English 9H

MENU of Writing Topics for Things Fall Apart English 9H

Choice 1: Author Edgar Wallace once said, “Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake.” Fear is pervasive throughout the novel. How does fear affect the actions of Okonkwo? Of Nwoye? How does fear influence Okonkwo's relationship with others?

Choice 2: How does the plot in Things Fall Apart follow the conventions of the Western tragedy, such as when major actions of the protagonist or hero create disastrous outcomes? Is Okonkwo a tragic hero? Compare Okonkwo with Oedipus, who is punished for the inadvertent murder of his father. How do they attempt to escape their fate? What are the tragic flaws that cause their downfalls? How do they evoke both pity and fear?

Choice 3: In an interview shortly after the publication of Things Fall Apart, Achebe stated that his goal for writing the novel was: " ...to help my society regain belief in itself and put away the complexes of the denigration and self-abasement." Explain how he did or did not meet his goal.

Choice 4: Achebe's novel takes its title from the opening verses of "The Second Coming", a poem --by W.B. Yeat's s, an Irish poet, essayist and dramatist.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot bear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood--dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction,

while the worst Are full of passionate intensity

This poem captures Yeat's sense of the crumbling of the civilization of his time. How well does it contribute to our understanding of the historical moment Achebe describes in his novel? What aspects of Igbo tradition are "falling apart and what contributes to the disintegration of the society? Is the movement progressive (proceeding step-by-step)--or sudden? At what point in the novel does it occur to you that the disintegration of Umuofia is inevitable?

Choice 5: Develop your own writing assignment for Things Fall Apart. Your topic should include some element of critical thinking that requires you to formulate a thesis statement and defend it using details, facts, and examples from the text. SEE ME if you wish to choose this option, as your topic must be approved before you begin.

Tips for Personal Narrative Project

Check the next post for next week's Kite Runner study guide...

Click here to see a rubric.***

A personal narrative is an account of something that happened to you, something that you witnessed, or something that you heard about firsthand. Newspapers and magazines often print personal narratives about people who survived a natural disaster or witnessed an accident or a public event. Personal narratives can also be about ordinary experiences.

Your narrative should be submitted to turnitin.com no later than Monday, May 4th at 9pm.

If you need to make a new turnitin.com account, our class id is 2470888. The password is "proverbs"

You should have received an e-mail from noreply@turnitin.com today confirming your e-mail address. Please check the e-mail that you used to sign up for the service. See me immediately if there are problems. I will not accept hard copies of this essay.

The importance of employing good dialogue and quotations in your writing cannot be overstated. Using the spoken word in the context of your news story, magazine article, nonfiction book or fiction novel is certain to add flavor to your manuscript -- provided you use these quotes correctly.

PUNCTUATING QUOTES

Quotes are effective tools for adding flavor to your writing by defining the character or speaker, conveying information in a colorful manner, setting the mood and scene, and breaking up large chunks of narrative. But many writers, both novice and professional, sometimes have difficulty in knowing how and when to use quotes.

Let's look at three basic sentence skeletons for punctuating quotes:

· "Let's go," he said.
· "Let's go," he said, "before it rains."
· He said, "Let's go before it rains."

Notice the placement of the opening quote marks and the closing quote marks. Also check the capitalization and the use of the period and comma. All of these examples are correct.

In punctuating quotes, periods and commas always go inside the closing quotes as in the above examples. Colons always go outside the closing quotes. Other punctuation marks, such as the dash, semicolon, question mark or exclamation mark, all go within quotes when they apply ONLY to the quoted material. They go outside the quotes when they apply to the entire sentence.

For quotes within direct quotations, use single quotation marks. For example:

· "I saw the movie 'Twister' last night," she said.

Quotes that are longer than one paragraph don't take closing quotes until the end of the entire quote. Each new paragraph starts with opening quotes, but does not end with closing quotes. Also remember that long quotes should start with the name of the speaker or source, and that attribution need not be repeated until the speaker has changed.

COMMON PITFALLS IN USING QUOTES

Most readers don't even see the word "said" when reading effective dialogue, and many times "said" is the best choice. Don't try to find an alternate word if "said" will do. WHAT is said is far more important. If you have written a good exchange of dialogue, the reader will KNOW just how it was said. You needn't be redundant. Many times tags are not necessary and can distract readers from well-written dialogue.

Another common mistake is knowing how to use a dialogue tag. For example:

· "You look beautiful tonight," he smiled.
· "I sure am tired," he yawned.
· "I've have a cold for over a week," he coughed.
· "Please get me a glass of water," he hiccuped.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I find it very hard to smile a quote, yawn a quote, cough a quote, or hiccup a quote. In each of these sentences, the "he" should be "He" and a period should replace each comma before the closing quotes.

· "You look beautiful tonight." He smiled.
· "I sure am tired." He yawned.

It is correct to write "You look beautiful tonight," he said with a smile.

Many writers of fiction and nonfiction are often guilty of "echoes": quotes that repeat what has previously been stated in the narrative. For example:

· Johnson has been recovering from a pulled back muscle.
· "I pulled a back muscle, but I'm recovering," Johnson said.
Usually echoes are not quite this obvious, but be wary of them.

What you need to remember about writing quotes:

Fiction writers routinely employ dialogue to relay important information. This is a fine example of showing rather than telling.

However, caution should be used in writing fiction dialogue, too. If the dialogue does not advance the plot, set the mood or define the characters, the writer should reconsider its value.

No matter what kind of material you are writing, each speaker gets his or her own paragraph. In reporting, make certain the attribution is given at the beginning of the sentence to signal a change of speaker. This technique avoids confusing the reader.

The Kite Runner Study Guide

Here are the study guide questions for chapters 11-12 (due Monday)


1. Amir opens Chapter 11 with the acknowledgement that Baba liked the idea of living in America, but what was it about actually living in the US that bothered him?
2. Why does Baba get upset with Mr. Nguyen? What does Amir do to try and intervene?
3. What happened to Amir in the summer of 1983? How did Baba react to this?
4. What gift did Baba give Amir as Amir was preparing to start college?
5. What is Baba’s reaction when Amir tells him that he wants to be an English major and write stories?
6. What “work” did Baba and Amir begin in the summer of 1984? Who does Amir meet as a result?
7. What does Baba warn Amir about on page 145?
8. What seems to be occurring between Amir and Soraya Taheri in Chapter 12? What obstacles do they face?
9. What bad news does the doctor give Baba?
10. What problem did Baba have with Dr. Schneider?
11. What does Amir ask of his father on page 161?
12. What was the General’s response?
13. What is the secret that Soraya needed to share with Amir? Why did she think it was important?
14. How does Hassan react to her secret? Does he think any less of her as a result?

Analyzing Quotes from the Qur'an

Attention Sophomores:

Many versions of the Qur'an can be found in print or online. The USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts Web site (http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/) has an indexed and searchable version of the Qur'an that can be used as a source for your homework.

Remember, you're looking for quotes that explain the Islamic view of:

• The Power of God (Allah)
• The right way to live
• Charity
• Other religions
• Gender roles
• Family values

You may use some of the following verses to help you:

3:95 4:3 4:23

4:24 4:129 4:172

4:173 5:5 5:72

5:73 16:97 24:2-10

24:31 24:32 25:74

30:21 33:35 33:40

33:59

9H: I know you're waiting for it...

An extra credit assignment for quarter 3 will be posted soon.

Enjoy your break!