Seniors ~ Editorial

Your next assignment is to write a letter to the editor (or an editorial) regarding a local problem. By "local" I mean pertaining to your community -- school, city or state. Please follow the classical model for rhetoric discussed in your book on pages 13 and 14:

Introduction - introduces the subject, piques interest of the reader, establishes the authority of the author [appeal to ethos]
Narration - provides background, establishes the problem, connects to the audience [appeal to pathos]
Confirmation - develops the argument, provides evidence [appeal to logos]
Refutation - anticipates the opposition, lends credence, refutes claims [appeals to pathos and logos]
Conclusion - brings the essay to a satisfying close, answers the question "so what?" [appeals to pathos]

This should be between 400 and 500 words, formatted according to MLA. You may want to look on The News Star's "Voices and Views" page for recent examples, or to generate a topic.

Typed rough draft is due MONDAY 11/17.

Juniors ~ Restoration Period

For more on the Restoration Period, go to the homepage for the Norton Anthology of English Literature . Click on the picture below to go to Wikipedia's page on Hogarth's Marriage a-la-mode :

Seniors ~ Three (Small) Writing Assignments

As you work on your memory books this week and next, you should also be working on the end-of-year writing assignments. I've given you a handout (if you were on class): A letter to your future self -- imagine yourself four years from now...where will you be, and what will you be doing? Is it what you planned? What do you hope to remember about NOW? What's important? Address your future self in a letter (standard form), and enclose it in a self-address envelope. I won't read it, but I do need to know you've done it, so don't seal it. A reflective paragraph that will serve as the introduction to your memory book. What is your overall impression of your high school years? What do you want to remember most? Finally, write a poem about your senior class. The form and tone of the poem is up to you: funny, serious or sad; rhyming couplets, ballad, or free verse. However you write it, though, please take it seriously. A copy of this poem should go in your memory ...

Homework

Seniors Your exam is on Thursday, and your final essay is on Friday. I'll talk more about the essay in class tomorrow. Also, the senior auction project lacks one more important detail - your memories! We will spend a bit of time tomorrow in class writing down some of your fondest memories of your senior year, and the rest of your time at RO. Sophomores Read "Lines Composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey," and complete the questions at the end of the selection in your book. As always, please use complete sentences and cite frequently from the text.

river oaks [english]

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