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.