English 10B: Day 22 Activity
Monday, November 1, 2010
Assignment for Today: (10 pts)
Create a well-organized first draft of your paragraph of about 150 words, stating the main idea of the short story “The Fan Club” by Rona Maynard. Relate enough of the story details to support your interpretation of the writer’s main idea. Conclude with your agreement or disagreement with the writer’s point. Support it with personal observations from your experiences.
TODAY’S CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES: Development of theme/characterization
1. In fiction: Main idea is called “theme”
· Topic + what the author is saying about that topic
· The theme is a general comment about life or people in general, not the about the characters or action in the story.
· The theme is based on the writer’s beliefs, observations, and experiences.
· The theme is supported by events in the story and character actions, thoughts, beliefs, and words.
· You find a theme/ main idea in a fictional story by pinpointing the main character and what the character learns about him/herself or life in general through the events of the story. OR what the reader learns about life or human nature through the actions of the main character.
2. Understanding Characterization
· Development of the main character is always very important to theme.
· Laura’s Thoughts--Reread: p. 44 Par. 2-3. Why does she dislike Diane Goddard and the in-crowd?
· Laura’s thoughts--Reread p. 46 Par 5. What is ironic about the two?
· Laura’s thoughts—Par 2, p. 46, Col. II (“So it was her turn….)
· Laura’s words—Par 5-6/ (Laura cleared her throat…)
· Laura’s words—P. 47, Par 2/4/6 (“A lot…ourselves…But I…denied…Most of us…our country free.)
· What does the reader learn about Laura’s beliefs from her speech?
· Laura’s dilemma/actions---Page 48, Par 6, Col II, to…And Laura began to clap.
· What do you learn about Laura when you compare/contrast her actions and her thoughts/beliefs?
3. Understanding theme:
· Writers discuss an important idea about life or human nature.
· What is “human nature?”
· The theme is NOT about Laura or what she says or does.
· Theme is about what the reader learns about human nature through the actions, words, thoughts, and beliefs of main character.
· Based on Laura’s speech how it contrasts to her actions, what idea about human nature do you think the writer is suggesting?
4. Understanding Point of View:
· What is the point of view of the whole story?(first person, third-person limited, third-person omniscient)
· Based on what the author was trying say, why does this POV work better than the other two?
5. Revising a First Draft: (150 words --tops)
A. Content:
*In a one-paragraph essay about a literary piece, always introduce the genre, title, and author in the first sentence.
*Based on the main character’s feelings in the beginning of the story “The Fan Club” and the choices she made in the end, what is the main idea of this story?
· What is the topic and what is the writer saying about this topic?
· What is the author trying to say about human nature?
· Do you agree with the writer’s point?
· From your own experiences and observations, do you agree?
· Give enough of the story to allow the reader to understand the plot and the character’s personality and the change that occurs.
B. Writing:
· Organization: Topic sentence/3-4 supporting ideas, including direct quotes from the story, transitional devises to link the ideas in order of importance, concluding transition.
· Unity: Make sure you have no ideas that are not directly related to the development of the theme.
· Sentence Fluency: Revise sentences to improve variety of structures, lengths, and beginnings. Revise any awkwardness of wording
· Word Choice: Revise wording to make your writing more exact and more interesting.
· Conventions: Check for capitalization/punctuation/usage/ and spelling errors.
Assignment for Wednesday: (50 pts) See Rubric
1. Create a well-organized first draft of your paragraph of about 150 words, stating the main idea of the short story “The Fan Club” by Rona Maynard. Relate enough of the story details to support your interpretation of the writer’s main idea. Conclude with your agreement or disagreement with the writer’s point. Support it with personal observations from your experiences.
2. Do handouts on bandwagon/snob appeal.