Skip to main content

In-Class Essays

These essays will be typed in class Thursday and finished up on Friday. You should begin typing when you get to class; leave all formatting until Friday. The essays will be typed on Google Docs using ChromeBooks, so you must have your Google Account to begin. The papers will auto-save to Google Drive, and I will ask all students to "share" their essays with me at the end of class. 

 Seniors
Your essay on Thursday will be a synthesis using four of the "This I Believe" essays - three from your book and one from the website (http://thisibelieve.org/). Your essay should be centered around a clear, arguable thesis, and each paragraph should connect to that central purpose. You must cite all four essays according to MLA guidelines - found here - and the essay will be written in class. In other words, come prepared on Thursday to write by outlining your paper and marking your book for content.

Sophomores
Your essay on Thursday is a literary analysis of Hound of the Baskervilles. I have given you three general topics to choose from, and we talked about turning one of those topics into a thesis question and statement. Your thesis should be included in the first paragraph, as well as the title of the novel and the author. Your support should come in the form of direct reference to the novel. This is NOT merely a summary of the plot; rather, it is a detailed look at some aspect of the book as related to its development.

Topics include the following:
  • The setting and how it relates to the atmosphere, mood and/or plot
  • Holmes's (and therefore Watson's) method of deductive reasoning
  • Characterization of Holmes or Watson, or another major character, focusing on both physical and non-physical details
You will be tempted to look up information online. Don't do it. This invariably leads to plagiarism, even if unintentional. In other words, use your own brain!

Reminder: to use the "find" function within a web page (like this one, for example), press CTRL-F.

Popular posts from this blog

O Brother, A Response Paper

Hello Freshmen... Your assignment for the weekend is to write a 250-word (one page) response paper on O Brother, Where Art Thou . Please type and format according to MLA. You may choose from the two topics below: (1) Respond to the lyrics of one song from the film. Using your lyric sheet (or the internet ), connect the lyrics of one song to the movie's characters/setting/events. In other words, explain how the lyrics are relevant to the film. (2) Choose one of the historically relevant elements of the movie and look up an article on Wikipedia . Print out the article; then, summarize it and connect it to the movie's characters/setting/events. Be careful not to plagiarize the article, which should be stapled to your reponse. Ideas discussed in class include The Great Depression, con artist, chain gang, Populism (George Wallace, Huey P. Long, W. Lee O'Daniel), Ku Klux Klan (William Joseph Simmons), and George "Babyface" Nelson.
Read more

ACT Prep

Good luck on the ACT tomorrow, those of you who are taking it. To help you prepare, and for future reference, here are some materials for you to work with at home: ACT Prep - from the official site - including sample tests Test Prep Review - has "self-assessment modules" in several subjects ACT Sparknotes ACT Test Questions
Read more

Career Search

A good place to start with your career search is a personality test. There are several online to choose from, and there are many career aptitude tests, as well. Generally speaking, my advice is to look for a career that combines your interests and your aptitudes (both in your personality and your skill set). Look through the following and see if any are helpful: 16 Personalities (based on the Meyers-Briggs ) Skills Profiler (from the U.S. Department of Labor) Princeton Review Career Quiz Free Career Aptitude Tests (a list from The Balance ) Later this week, we will try to match up your aptitudes and interests with a career by looking at College Board's BigFuture site. We will also look at the ACT in detail ( Planning Your Future e-book ). Finally, we will explore the Occupational Outlook Handbook to see more thorough descriptions and projections.
Read more