Friday/Monday, November 2/5, 2018

Announcements and Reminders: Book-of-the-Month                          Bring your book and your collections of evidence for themes. You will write about a theme in your book (using the PEE format). You will then create a typed draft on MyAccess.  Hand in your handwritten draft and your goldenrod worksheet after you submit on MyAccess.   Not getting it?  See "Help and Enrichment" below. Don't forget to study your spelling for this week:  your/you're  and their/there/they're  The test will be on Thursday and Friday, November 8/9. Make sure you correctly spell the words  we've already tested on.  Q: Did you hear about the kidnapping at school?  A: It's okay. He woke up.

Targets for Today: I can recognize a theme in a novel, then write about that theme using evidence from the book and clear explanation.

Today’s  Agenda: Pick up an Outsiders book. Get out your Book of the Month worksheet.  B-Day B5 -- from    (page 45 track 1, minute 26:01) page 60, "left us sitting on the bed."  to  B6 --  from    (page 45 track 1, minute 24:44  )  page 60, top "It wasn't anything like that. . . ' to  B8 --  (page 45 track 2, minute 4:21) page 64, "you are, too."   to  Extra Credit Opportunity:  Memorize the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost. Recite it to the teacher.  You can find copies in the front of the English 7 handouts file.  A-Day only  Pick up a green literature book.  Make sure you have your worksheet for the Book-of-the-Month.  A2 --  Finish reading "Three Skeleton Key," and look at some PEE writing about a theme in the story.  \http://talestoterrify.com/tales-to-terrify-no-31-george-g-toudouze/ Book-of-the-Month:  Write your response on the outline provided, then type it into MyAccess under the prompt about theme.   "Theme in Literature" Make sure your theme is a complete sentence. Italicize the title of the book.  Your explanation should NOT just repeat your evidence.  Edit carefully.   Highlight your PEE writing with            Point - pink            Evidence - blue                                                                Explanation - green  Example of how to fill in your first sentence:  Point:   One of the themes in the novel ____The Outsiders________________________ by ___________S.E. Hinton __________________________________________ is “____Violence just creates more problems instead of solving problems_______.” Here is another example, then the PEE writing with that sentence and evidence and explanation. Example of a theme:  A single choice can have far-reaching effects. Point:   One of the themes in the novel ____The Outsiders_________ by ___________S.E. Hinton _______ is “____A single choice can have far-reaching effects._______.”    One of the themes in the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is "A single choice can have far-reaching effects."   "Darrell wheeled around and slapped me so hard that it knocked me against the door" (50). Ponyboy explained that "nobody in my family had ever hit me" (50).  When Darrell does, Ponyboy is so confused and angry that he decides to run away.  This one act leads to Ponyboy and Johnny being in the park when the Socs come, and even though it took just a small moment, that slap had far-reaching effects.   "I killed him," [Johnny] said slowly. "I killed that boy" (56).  It was the choice of a moment when Johnny stabbed Bob.  This was another single choice, a choice made by a boy who normally wouldn't hurt anyone.  He had decided earlier to carry a switchblade and to use it if needed, but he hadn't planned to kill anyone that night.  He hadn't expected to be in a situation where his and Ponyboy's lives were threatened.  Johnny made a single choice that led to Bob's death and to the other trouble and tragedy that followed, so his choice to stab Bob had far-reaching effects.   Grading on Your Book-of-the-Month: Point (theme) = 5 points  (Make sure you give the title of the book, the author, and the theme you have found.) Evidence = 5 points  (quote or paraphrase from the book -- cited) Explanation = 5 points Evidence -- a second piece of evidence for the same theme = 5 points Explanation = 5 points Extra evidence and explanation = 5 points Citations using parenthetical citation  = 5 points Goldenrod worksheet filled out = 10 points Hand in your handwritten draft and your goldenrod worksheet before you leave.  1.  Double check to make sure you have revised and edited your work. 2.  Read The Outsiders and answer the questions on your Reading Road Map. Hand in your handwritten draft and your goldenrod worksheet before you leave.

If You Were Absent: See Mrs. Dorsey about writing the Book-of-the-Month Assignment.

Vocabulary:

Help and Enrichment  Do you need help with theme?   Themes are big ideas about life.  Theme is the message about life or human nature that you learn from the story.  A theme could apply to many different stories. For instance, the theme "We shouldn't judge people based only on their appearance" is found in the books Wonder (about a boy who has severe facial deformities and in Firegirl (about a girl who is badly burned).  Here are some more examples of theme from The Outsiders:   Themes from The Outsiders And at these links you'll find more information and more examples for theme:  More About Theme Student Examples for Themes Another example of Theme Examples of Theme from Movies  Student Example for Essay about Theme More Examples of Theme from Students Additional Themes in Literature Themes in Deltora Quest: Forests of Silence Do you need help with PEE writing?  Samples: HP PEE presentation.pptx Here is a sample from Annie B. with some editing and parenthetical citations added:      For my book of the month, I choose Tangerine by Edward Bloor. This book is about a kid named Paul Fisher who moves to a new town called Tangerine. He discovers many strange things, and this book is filled with many twists and turns. Tangerine is filled with many themes, but the one that appears the most is "Not telling the truth, and not saying what's on your mind can leave you with a big burden."      In the book, there are two high schools, and one is called Tangerine High School. Antonio, their football star, doesn't live in the school boundaries, so technically he isn't allowed to play for Tangerine High School. However, he doesn't tell anyone this and it leaves him with a big burden to carry around. The author later states, " It's time to start telling the truth little brother, you know what i'm saying?" (260). Not telling anyone, not even his sister, leaves Antonio with a big burden. At one point in the book, his sister tells Paul that Antonio breaks down a lot and sometimes cries. Later in the book, Antonio comes clean and is a lot happier and doesn't have to carry around his burden anymore.        In the middle of the book, Paul Fisher watches his older brother and his friend hurt someone, and that injury later killed him. Paul is too scared to tell anyone, including his mom, what he saw. The author mentions how this hurts him many times in the book. At one point Paul thinks, "'. .  because Erik's a psychopath, Mom! Can you really not tell that?' but I didn't say anything"  (275).  "He turned and whipped the blackjack with a loud wack against the side of Luis head" (205).  This is what Paul Fisher witnessed, but he never tells anyone until the end of the book. During the book, there are many times where he wants to tell someone, but doesn't and the burden gets heavier and heavier. When he finally tells someone what he witnessed a big burden is lifted and he too feels happier, free, and not trapped by enormous lie. The following is from a student, Brielle B. One of the themes in the novel Restart By Gordan Korman is " Honesty is the best policy"  When Chase, Bear, and Aaron are sent to the principles office. Chase takes the easy way out and is faced with consequences. [This needs the page number.]   When they're sent to the principles office It would be a lot easier for the principle and Chase, if Chase would lie and go with Aaron and Bear's way. So Chase chooses to lie about what happened in the band room. While he is now free from consequences of "causing" what happened in the band room. He then is faced with losing his friends. Chase Is honest with the Judge. He doesn't lie. In the end everything works out.  [This needs the page number.]   Chase has everything lined up for him not to have to go to jail, But the judge asks him if he can promise to never go back to his old self. He (Chase) has a choice. He could either promise he'll never go back to his old self or he could be honest and tell the truth. He chooses to take the risk of being honest. He tells the judge that although he could try as hard as he might, he cannot promise he will never go back to his old ways. In this way he is honest. Everything works out fine, And Chase is able to restart without a guilty conscience Another sample: One of the main themes in Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is "Be yourself instead of trying to be someone else and you will be happier."  The author expresses this theme when he says, "So I just enjoyed the feeling and watched the once amorphous student body separate itself into hundreds of individuals. Ironically, as we discovered and distinguished ourselves, a new collective came into being - a vitality, a presence, a spirit that had not been there before" (41). This shows that the students of Mica High School were all very similar until Stargirl showed up.  They would separate each other into groups, but they were all basically the same. Once Stargirl showed up, they chose to be themselves and be different, instead of trying to be like everyone else. This made them much happier because if you be yourself you will be happier.  More evidence that shows this theme is stated when the author says, "'Why can't you be normal?' 'Why do you wanna be so different? "(67)  Stargirl was different than everyone else, but she was happier because of this. This is revealed when the author says, "She laughed when there was no joke, she danced when there was no music. She had no friends, yet she was the friendliest person in school" (15). Thank you, Adam F. ! Point: Pink or Red        Evidence: Blue          Explanation:  Green     Unhighlighted:   background information to help the reader understand         A theme expressed in the short story “Three Skeleton Key” by George G. Toudouze is  “"Don't let one bad experience stop you from doing what you enjoy.”    The unnamed narrator of the story goes to work at a lighthouse on an island that is actually just a rock rising out of the sea twenty miles from land.   He volunteers to work there because the pay is high and he is saving his money to get married.  The island is said to be haunted, and the sea is shark-infested, but those details don’t bother the narrator.        The narrator tells us that “it was a nice life there,”  and that he and his two companions “liked it there” (66).   In other words, he enjoys it.  He has companionship, the work is not too hard, they have views of the ocean and, at night, of their huge light illuminating the sea.  They have plenty of provisions, a supply ship comes about every forty days, and each man gets shore leave every eighteen weeks.  For this young man who has chosen to work on lighthouses and who hopes to save up a great deal of money, it is the perfect job.       His experience there becomes not so perfect when a ship filled with starving rats wrecks on their tiny island, and the rats invade the island.  For almost two weeks the narrator and his two companions fight to survive the rat invasion.   What they go through Is horrific, the stuff of nightmares.  They cannot open doors or windows of the lighthouse which is literally covered with hungry rats.  Then the rats break in, and the men have to fight them off, and are bitten and scratched.  They are finally rescued, but one of the narrator’s companions dies and the other has gone insane.         Our narrator,  in spite of the horrors he has experienced, decides to return to the lighthouse after it has been cleaned up and repaired. He tells us this: “As for me—when they fumigated the light and repaired the damage done by the rats, I resumed my service there. Why not? No reason why such an incident should keep me from finishing out my service there, is there? Besides—I told you I liked the place—to be truthful, I’ve never had a post as pleasant as that one, and when my time came to leave it forever, I tell you that I almost wept as Three Skeleton Key disappeared below the horizon” (76).       The message seems to be that if people have a passion for something they should not stop doing it because they are afraid of past incidents. The narrator puts the past behind him, and continues doing what he likes.  In fact,  at the beginning of the story, he had revealed that he ended up working on lighthouses for thirty-five years (65).    Perhaps it is true that too often that people let less traumatic experiences place limits on the rest of their lives.  Here is an example of Point, Evidence, Explanation.  http://www.mysteryshows.com/5-Minute-Mysteries/Five%20Minute%20Mysteries%20(007)%20No%20Leg%20To%20Stand%20On.mp3  Point -- Evidence -- Explanation Point:  Mike Patterson killed his father. Evidence -- Mike Patterson said he was helping his father, they were facing traffic, and his father was hit from the right.  (There are no page numbers on the evidence because it is from a radio broadcast.) Explanation --  Mike's father used a crutch on the left side, and anyone helping someone with a crutch on the left would help on the right.  If they were facing traffic, Mike would have been on the right side and would have been hit by the car, so Mike is lying.  Also, [Evidence] Mike said his father was hit by a car with Florida license plates in front,  [Explanation] and Florida hasn't had front license plates for years, so Mike must have invented that detail.  A third piece of evidence is that the police officers saw blood on Mike's car.  [Explanation]  Blood on a car could indicate that the driver had hit someone or something. Because we also have evidence that Mike has lied about what happened,  it seems likely that he was the one driving the car that hit and killed his father.  Point:   One of the themes in The Outsiders is "Rather than solving anything, violence creates problems."  Evidence: In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton,  Johnny Cade is a teenage boy who belongs to a group of poor teens known as the Greasers.   "His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him" (12).   Explanation:  Beating a child doesn't solve any problems the parent may be having with the child.  When parents are so harsh with a child, he is apt to have more problems.   The narrator tells us that Johnny was like "a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers" (11).  He is most likely that way because he has been kicked or otherwise hurt too many times.  Evidence:  Ponyboy Curtis, who in the first chapter of the book is being followed by a group of Socs (the richer teens who hate the Greasers), remembers when Johnny Cade was beaten severely by a group of Socs.  "I had seen Johnny after four Socs got ahold of him, and it wasn't pretty.  Johnny was scared of his own shadow after that" (4).   Explanation:  Johnny has been beaten by his own father, then by another group of teens.  Of course it leaves him frightened.   Evidence:  Ponyboy later explains that "Johnny who was the most law-abiding of us, now  [after being beaten by the Socs] carried in his back pocket a six-inch switchblade.  He'd use it, too, if he ever got jumped again" (34).  Explanation:    Therefore, violence, rather than solving anything, has caused Johnny Cade to be afraid, and that fear has become intense enough that he is willing to commit violence himself.   The Outsiders shows us that violence has caused more problems, and could lead to more violence.