Tuesday, November 14, 2017
92 minutes
Edit on Nov. 14/15. Final draft is due Nov. 16/17
1. Peer- and Self-Editing today! J
2. Get your chromebook and open up your
Google Classroom document. You will be sharing and editing with partners today.
3. Review and revise for correct MLA
formatting:
a. Heading: Your name, teacher’s name,
class name and period, date (double spaced, left hand top corner)
b. Header: right hand top corner: your
last name, space, page (insert: header Align right, hit enter once or twice,
write your last name, add a space, go to insert and then page number top right
corner)
c. Every mention of the book and film
title is in italics (use “find and replace” function under “Edit”)
d. Make sure that after every quotation
from your novel, you include a page number (34).
When talking to
her fellow former slave, Paul D, the two leave their conversations at surface
level in the beginning, too fearful of what may arise with the wrong question: “Saying more might push them
both to a place they couldn’t get back from. He would keep the rest where it
belonged: in that tobacco tin buried in his chest where a red heart used to be.
Its lid rusted shut” (72). Paul and Sethe hold quite a bit of history
between the two of them and their mere reacquaintance resurrects the
excruciating memories of their time on Mr. Garner’s plantation, Sweet Home, a
frighteningly deceitful name.
4. Create a Works Cited
page:
a. Begin on a new page at
the end of your document
b. At top, center the words
Works Cited
c. Double space
d. Create a hanging indent
e. List your novel in
alphabetical order by author’s name and list the film in alphabetical order by
its title. Follow MLA guidelines for listing books and films:
Basic
Book Format
The
author’s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first
name format. The basic form for a book citation is:
Last Name, First
Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
Films
or Movies
List films by their title. Include the name of
the director, the film studio or distributor, and the release year. If
relevant, list performer names after the director's name.
The Usual Suspects. Directed by Bryan Singer, performances
by Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, and Benecio
del Toro, Polygram, 1995.
The Pursuit of Happyness. Directed by Gabriele Muccino, performances by Will Smith, Thandie Newton,and Jayden Smith, Columbia Pictures, 2006
5. Share your document with 2 partners
and read and make suggestions and corrections based on the criteria sheet. (Everyone should read and give feedback on 2
essays.)
Give help on
these things:
· Make sure the introduction avoids
this kind of set up: “In this essay I will talk about….” Help the writer to
revise so that the introduction reads more like this: As Americans, we often take for granted that we have
certain unalienable rights, such as the rights to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. For some Americans, these rights that were promised in
the Declaration of Independence are not necessarily guaranteed, but must be
struggled for. Some Americans must struggle for these rights because of their
skin color. Although we like to imagine that all Americans have equal status,
the truth is that systemic racism has placed black Americans on an unequal footing
since the founding of this country. Economic and educational limitations are
two major drivers of this inequality, and we can see how these factors impact
the characters of Bigger Thomas in the novel Native Son and Chris Gardner in the film The Pursuit of Happyness. Both of these characters face seemingly
insurmountable obstacles in their pursuit of equality and freedom, but for one
character, Chris Gardner, the achievement of equality is realized, while for
Bigger Thomas, the promise of equality is, sadly, unfulfilled.
·
Does
each body paragraph begin with a topic sentence that focuses the reader on a
specific idea that is connected to the thesis? For example: Equality for Bigger Thomas was never
going to be achievable.
· Is each piece of evidence set up with
an introduction or context ? (Quotes should have lead-ins such as: When Bigger’s mother and siblings
visit him in the jail, he realizes that his actions impact others: “He had acted on the assumption
that he was alone and now he saw that he had not been. What he had done made
others suffer” (298.)
· Is the evidence (quotes or summaries)
analyzed and is it explained how it connects to the thesis? For instance: Here, Bigger begins to understand
that, although he acted alone, what he has done has far reaching implications.
· Is the evidence clearly connected to
the thesis? For instance: Although
Bigger had seen his murder of Mary Dalton as freeing and even as an action that
made him feel equal to white people, that freedom and “equality” were not
genuine because they were “earned” through the nefarious act of murder—an act
that has now caused the suffering of his own family. This is hardly what the
founders had in mind when they promised freedom and equality to Americans.
· Make sure the “eternal present” tense
is used. As in:
In King’s speech he argues for equality. He goes
on to say, “…etc.” Finally, King demands respect.
6. After looking at the feedback from
your partners, on the back of the Criteria Sheet, describe two things you did
well with this draft and two things you need to revise.
7. Work on revising and tightening up
your essay. Use transitions between ideas and paragraphs and make sure that you
are introducing and discussing your evidence.
HOMEWORK:
Revise and finalize your essay. It is due on Thursday, November 16. You will
submit it on Google Classroom.
Here is a
sample Introduction and body paragraph:
As Americans, we often take for granted that we have certain unalienable
rights, such as the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For
some Americans, these rights that were promised in the Declaration of
Independence are not necessarily guaranteed, but must be struggled for. Some
Americans must struggle for these rights because of their skin color. Although
we like to imagine that all Americans have equal status, the truth is that
systemic racism has placed black Americans on an unequal footing since the
founding of this country. Economic and educational limitations are two major
drivers of this inequality, and we can see how these factors impact the
characters of Bigger Thomas in the novel Native
Son and Chris Gardner in the film The
Pursuit of Happyness. Both of these characters face seemingly
insurmountable obstacles in their pursuit of equality and freedom, but for one
character, Chris Gardner, the achievement of equality is realized, while for
Bigger Thomas, the promise of equality is, sadly, unfulfilled.
Equality for Bigger Thomas was never going to be achievable. The racist
system that determines that he will live in a run-down one room apartment with
his mother and two siblings was not designed to guarantee freedom and equality
to black people. The racist system that limits his educational and career
options was not designed to offer freedom and equality to black people. And
although Bigger feels a momentary sense of equality with white people after
killing Mary Dalton, he ultimately ensnares not only himself but also his
family in a web that he created. When Bigger’s mother and siblings visit him in
the jail, he realizes that his actions impact others: “He had acted on the
assumption that he was alone and now he saw that he had not been. What he had
done made others suffer” (298.) Here, Bigger begins to understand that,
although he acted alone, what he has done has far-reaching implications.
Although Bigger had seen his murder of Mary Dalton as freeing and even as an
action that made him feel equal to white people, that freedom and “equality”
were not genuine because they were gained through the nefarious act of
murder—an act that has now caused the suffering of his own family. This is
hardly what the founders had in mind when they promised freedom and equality to
Americans. Bigger experiences only a fleeting and perverted sense of equality.
