Davis English 9

Monday, September 21, 2009

After reading "The Scarlet Ibis" respond:


(Taken from The Language of Literature, McDougal Littell, 1997.)

The narrator says, "There is within me...a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love." Think about your relationships with people you love, especially in your family. Think about your response on the Google doc to the question: can love and cruelty coexist?

In a thoughtful paragraph, starting with a topic sentence, discussing specific details, and ending with a concluding sentence, write your response.

Here is my response:

In "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the author shows readers that love and cruelty can, and in fact, do coexist; this is relationship however that is inevitably going to fail. The narrator is embarrassed of his brother he nicknamed Doodle, wishing he had never been born; "It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow" ("Short Story Packet" 47). The narrator actually never acts on these plans and instead concocts plans to help him learn to walk, to swim, and to run. He becomes so proud of Doodle's accomplishments, that he even plans a surprise for his family showing them he learned to walk. The narrator struggles with the love he feels for his brother and his hatred at his brother being so different. In the end, though, it was the narrator's hatred and selfish behavior that led to Doodle's death; this is the destruction that was bound to happen. Cruelty should never be a part of love.

*** Make sure you are using at least 1 quote that has a lead-in prior to the quote.
*** Make sure to use in-text citations (see mine above)
*** Make sure to use proper capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Why is learning to write EFFECTIVELY important?


Parents, one of our focuses this semester is writing persuasively. We start with an effective paragraph with strong topic sentences and move to a multi-paragraph persuasive essay, literary analysis essay, narrative writing, poetry, summaries, and online writing.
We would love your input on how writing is important in your line of work. We greatly appreciate your thoughts and explanations knowing the time this takes to put together ideas for us. Please know that we appreciate your time and look forward to reading your thoughts about the importance of writing in today's world.

***You may type your answer in Word to catch spelling errors and then copy and paste it into the comment box, or type directly into the box. Once you have commented, your student will use his/her login to post the comment.

***Please put your answer in this format:

Michele's dad, Jim Hurley--lawyer: 
Michele's grandma, Sherry Hurley--stay-at-home mom:

***Please complete this by next Tuesday, September 22nd. Thanks so much! ~ Mrs. Davis

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Practice your topic sentence for "The Most Dangerous Game" here:

What attribute was the main thing that made Rainsford successful in General Zaroff's manhunt and how did it help him "win"?

In a 1 sentence, include the author, the title of the short story and an answer to BOTH the attribute and how it helped Rainsford win.

**** In your answer, write GROUP 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 and then your answer.

Example:

Group 1: In "The Little Red Riding Hood" politically correct story by Garner, Little Red Riding Hood uses confidence to verbally challenge the wolf and wood-chopper person and to create a resolution living happily with her grandmother and wolf.