9TH - Lit Circles Final Presentation

Our Theme: Who determines the worth of a human being?

Responsibility: Each group must give a 3 to 5 minute presentation on how their book illustrates the theme above. During the presentation, each group member must speak (and must speak as part of the main idea of the presentation, not just to say “yes” or “no” or “okay”). Each presentation must feature a created visual. (This visual can be a PowerPoint or a poster or a Prezi or a video, etc.) The visual should be an important part of the presentation.

As the presentation is only 3 to 5 minutes, all of the time should be used to intelligently explain how the book relates or explores the theme. Don’t waste time with really long summaries and be a little careful about revealing the end of the book. If the ending is so important that it must be divulged to answer the question, so be it. But, if you can avoid it, do.

Get with your group and try to come up with a clever presentation. I would start with discussing the theme and how you think your book deals with it. Make connections and expand to other themes if you can. Decide what sort of visual you want to make as well. Maybe a poster could show some of the ways the theme is addressed, maybe a PowerPoint with quotes from the book and you could flip through the slides and talk about what the quotes represent, or maybe a video reenacting the most important scenes where the worth of a human being is being judged, etc.

It’s all up to you. Feel free to chat with me about your ideas and remember that this is your final project so, though I will grade it quickly, make sure that you put the proper effort into it.

Thesis Practice for TMU - 9th

Here are two practice prompts. On the test, you will be asked to write a GOOD thesis for a few prompts. Think about what the prompt is asking you to do. Make sure that your thesis is specific, detailed, and ANSWERS THE PROMPT.

1. Write an essay comparing and contrasting Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. 
Make sure that your prompt explores details of both of their personalities and circumstances that are similar and different about Boo and Tom. Think: What is interesting about them both? What specific traits can I use in my thesis that I could then explore in the (fake) entire essay? 
**Stay away from "Tom and Boo are both similar and different." MUCH TOO VAGUE - HOW??

2. Should our school switch to year-round school?
Look at both sides of the issue and give solid reasons why we should or shouldn't have year-round school.
**Stay away from "Year-round school is not a good idea." (You can start with that, but you need to then give reasons.) Stay away from "There are good and bad things about year-round school." (You can say that but then get SPECIFIC in your thesis.)

MLA Format Practice

Directions: On the first five questions, write down whether the statement about MLA Format is True or False on the line following the sentence.

1.       You should always create a Title Page for your papers. _________

2.      The entire paper should be double-spaced. _________

3.    The Works Cited page should be on its own page. _________

4.      In-text citations should include author’s last name, the title of the work, and the page number the quote or paraphrase was taken from. _________

5.      The titles of longer works you reference should be italicized while the titles of shorter works should be in quotations. _________

Directions: After reading the examples of in-text citations and Works Cited entries below, write down what is INCORRECT about each one.

§      When studying the most intelligent pigs, Dawson recorded, “They never seemed to realize that rewards were being offered” (Dawson 93).

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§      Renfro, Frank. Crying to Myself. Boston: Penguin, 2003.

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§      Understanding poetry is a matter of “making yourself realize that you can get meaning out of it no matter what.” (Foster 101)

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Directions: Answer the following questions as accurately as possible.

1.     Why do teachers/professors require citations? _______________________

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2.     What is the last thing you list about a source in its Works Cited entry? ______

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3.     Name three pieces of information you need to try to find for your Works Cited page when you visit a website. ____________________________________

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4.     What goes in your header at the top right of your paper? _________________

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TKAM Race Essay - 9th Grade

Things I will be looking for in your essay:

1.     A thesis that is clear and that answers the prompt. (Do not just assume this is the case! Find your sentence(s) that you think is/are the thesis and really read it and see if it makes sense and if the rest of your paper is “in tune” with it.

2.     Each paragraph has a purpose and that purpose relates to your thesis. (Why are you writing each paragraph? Why did you organize it the way that you did?)

3.     It does not argue or explain the most obvious things. (We all know that discrimination, for any reason, is “bad.” Now, what insights can you give about our world today and the world in the 30’s? Is it a mature and compelling discussion?)

4.     Good transitions, word choice, and sentence construction.

5.     Grammar!! (Spelling, punctuation, etc.)

6.     MLA Format and quotes from the articles and from To Kill a Mockingbird. (Do the quotes flow well? Do they help support your main idea/thesis?)

Recording Poems for Extra Credit

You can type your poem into the Google document below for extra credit. Make sure that you put it under your class period and include your name and the format you wrote in. Thanks.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kg94TXrtxgMf8s6wyDE_RGfQHqXBK_YJo56TNdtNfuk/edit

Do it by Friday. :)

Westlake Track and Field Intersquad Meet

Here are the results. There may be small mistakes. Bear with us. We think they are pretty accurate. Thanks!! It was a great start.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vbKj0Dk-Cp2XvLpCnjk2OLeZJD5mWTo66JL2W00q84U/edit

Poetic Pantheon Word Document

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l0hmXXz5Lihwqt5rkogVzUBHzBR03egG5MDMtYXDfRc/edit

This is the link to the google document version of the Poetic Pantheon explanation. If you scroll down, it has some helpful links for Historian, Biographer, and Stylist. However, there are only links for some of the poets, not all. Good luck.

-Mr. Durham