Sample Student Vignettes

Hello All,
   As promised in class today, I am posting two sample vignettes from other students, to hopefully assit you in composing your own vignette. As always, e-mail me if you have any questions. Remember to include sensory details in your writing along with a minimum of 4 literary devices.

Student Sample #1:  Hairs Modeling

Lips

My mom says my lips are like my grandpa, her father.  My lips are nice and smooth like the skin of a shark or a ground with no cracks in it.  Everyone says that I am always looking mad like a mad dog.  To me, I feel as if I don’t have to smile unless something is funny or I want to.  My lips are sad most of the time because I am bored.

My sister says I have a big mouth, which is like saying I have big lips also.  Maybe it’s because of whatever comes out of it.  She says this and the word big reminds me of an ugly fish.  My mom says I talk too much and that everything that comes out of my mouth has to be a smart remark.  Maybe.  But I like my lips.  They describe me. 

Student Sample #2:  Hairs Modeling

Skin

Everyone in my family has different skin colors.  Even though we are family, our skin colors are different because we all come from at least three other places:  Africa, the Northern Plains, and Europe.  Black.  Indian.  White.  That’s why I think my family and I have different skin colors.

My grandmother on my mom’s side is light skinned like a fresh banana, mixed with black, white and Indian.  My grandfather on my mom’s side id dark skinned like a dark brown crayon and mixed with black and Indian.  Their child, my mom, is also dark like a dark brown crayon.  Black, white and Indian.

Both of my parents are mixed with black, white and Indian, which makes me light, lighter than both of them.

Even though we all look different, somehow we are as one.  After all the ancestry and the two sides of my family coming together, I was the one.  Togetherness.

The color of my skin reveals who I am, where I came from, what I am all about.  It is what identifies me.  My ancestry.  Where it all started. 

Cycle II Reflection

We have come to the end of Cycle II and it is time to do some self-reflection. As the year progresses, you should be seeing some type of improvement in your writing, reading comprehension, or critical thinking skills. I want to know which area(s) you are improving in(stregnths), and which area(s) you still need to work on(weakness). What are your goals for cycle III? What is your plan to achieve these goals?

     Cycle II looks like this:

   A= 0

  B=0

     C=2

   D=1

   F=15

Your post should include the following:

1. Your areas of improvement

2. Your areas of weakness

3.Goals for Cycle III/ Plan to achieve those goals

**Extra Credit**

This assignment will be counted as EXTRA CREDIT if you choose to accept =) The last day to post your response is 2-2-2011 (Wednesday)

"A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything."
Malcolm X

Controversial Social Issues

As we mature into young adults and pursue higher education, controversial social issues often begin to grab our attention and affect our view of the world.  Whether we choose to give up eating meat, avoid wearing furs, or stop driving gas-guzzling SUVs, most of us will eventually take a stand on a controversial social issue and examine, if not change, an important facet of our life. What controversial social issue has become important to you?

Write a multi-paragraph essay addressed to an admissions officer in which you discuss a controversial social issue that has become important to you or caused you to rethink how you live your life. Be sure to include specific details and examples to support your ideas. (3 paragraphs)

As you write, remember your essay will be scored based on how well you:

develop a multi-paragraph response to the assigned topic that clearly communicates your controlling idea to the audience.

support your controlling idea with meaningful examples, reasons, and information based upon your research or readings.

organize your essay in a clear and logical manner, including an introduction, body, and conclusion.

use well-structured sentences and language that are appropriate for your audience.

edit your work to conform to the conventions of standard American English.

**Extra Credit**

This assignment will be counted as EXTRA CREDIT if you choose to accept the mission =) The last day to post your response is January 2, 2011 !!!!!

"Do not let your life go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you derserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists...it is real...it is possible..it's yours."-Ayn Rand

1. Analyze the quote. What message is Ayn Rand trying to send through this quote?

2. Which character(s) does this relate to in Anthem? Explain

3. Do you ever get disappointed and give up? What do you strive to accomplish, that you will never give up on?

Anthem PowerPoint Notes =)

Hello Block 2,
      I told you I was going to post the notes from our Anthem powerpoint on the blog, so here they are. Also, there is a change in Monday's class. I will not be in school Monday, I know this is very upsetting for you! (lol jk) We will have our test Wednesday, at the end of class. This gives you even more time to complete reading the author's foreword and to finish completing chapter 1 questions.

If you see this post and know that some of your fellow classmates have not, then let them know what's going on and the changes being made. Help them out =)
___________________________________________________________________

Ayn Rand Background
- Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on February 2, 1905.
-At age six she taught herself to read.
-At the age of nine, she decided to make fiction writing her career.
-Thoroughly opposed to the collectivism of Russian culture, she thought herself as an European writer.
-The final Communist victory brought the confiscation of her father's pharmacy and periods of near-starvation.
-When introduced to American history in her last year of high school, she immediately took America as her model of what a nation of free men could be.

Anthem
-1st person plural (Anthem is his diary) describes his society and his attitude towards it.
-Constantly barraged with propaganda from the leaders, who preach the glory of working for one's brothers and the duty of fulfilling "the needs of the society."
-Leaders recognize Equality 7-2521's ability and considered to be a threat.
-Even to think of these times has been forbidden
-"What is not thought by all men..cannot be true...What is not done collectively cannot be good."
-Conformity, obedience, and sacrifice are the cause of human unhappiness and destruction.
-INDIVIDUALISM V COLLECTIVISM
Society in Anthem is a collectivist society.
The subjugation of the individual to the group whether to a race, class, or state does not matter.
In such a society, the individual is owned by the group; he has no right to lead his own life, pursue his own happiness or use his own property.
The individual exists only as part of a group.
Worth determined by his service to the group.
Communism (1818-1926) is one kind of collectivism, where the desires of the group are more important than the desires of the individual.
Ayn Rand was a high school student in Russia when it became Communist. Her father's pharmacy was confiscated and her family almost starved.

Selflessness
-Self is destroyed in a collectivist society
-No one has a personal name(relate to ID numbers)
Individuals are interchangeable
-To prefer one person to another is to commit the cardinal sin(i.e, choosing friends)
FREE WILL v. DETERMINISM
-Free Will- People can make choices, can make up their own minds, can make decisions, can direct their own lives by the ideas and values they adopt.
-Determinism-People are by nature in the grip of forces beyond their control, that their beliefs and values are the result of some force such as God, other people, the stars, economic conditions, instincts or one's racial heritage. (pre-determined)

Poem by one of your classmates!!

One of your classmates wrote a poem and asked if I could post it on the blog. So here it is! Post comments so your classmate can get some feedback =) Enjoy and feel free to do the same!

“LOVE”

Even if it takes forever to see
What happiness really means to me
I understand love will always be
 There except for you and me 

One day you will come to know
That no matter how far you may go
The joys and sorrows that we have shared
Are just like a touch of your hair

Yet I can only say
This love for you will never fade away
I love you every single day
 In every single way

Pain runs through my veins
As I have to
See my love for you
Just fade away. . .
 

Thanksgiving Thanks!!

You were given this poem during class today, and asked to write down what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Here are some of your responses...

More Than A Day

As Thanksgiving Day rolls around,
It brings up some facts, quite profound.
We may think that we're poor,
Feel like bums, insecure,
But in truth, our riches astound.

We have friends and family we love;
We have guidance

We have so much more
Than they sell in a store,
We're wealthy, when push comes to shove.

So add up your blessings, I say;
Make Thanksgiving last more than a day.
Enjoy what you've got;
Realize it's a lot,
And you'll make all your cares go away.

By Karl Fuchs

-I'm thankful because I'm going to be with my family and enjoy it all together and have fun.

-I'm thankful to have food on my table each and everyday, and for a healthy family.

-My family, life, money, girlfriend, and for no school =)

-My family, friends, teachersk and the break coming up.

-My parents, my boyfriend, my family, food, school, teachers, and friends.

-I'm really thankful for the family that I have. They care and they are always there for me when I need them.

-I am thankful for my mother, sister,and grandma.

-My family,health, and the food I get to enjoy.

-I'm thankful for just being here, getting an education, someday it will pay off.

-I'm thankful for no school the next two days, family, friends, and turkey.