Now that you have completed your literacy narrative, your first major paper assignment for the course, begin thinking about which essay, chapter, or chapter excerpt you have read (“Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “The Day Language Came into My Life,” the excerpt from To Kill a Mockingbird) that might serve as the subject of your second major writing assignment. Before you draft your analysis on February 11, we will study three additional texts that may serve as your subject, but you should begin thinking about which one we’ve studied so far that you may want to explore further.
Review “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “The Day Language Came into My Life,” and the excerpt from To Kill a Mockingbird, and ask yourself these questions:
- Of the three texts, which one has the most striking details, or details that have lingered in my mind the most?
- Do I want to explore those details further, to consider what they imply, and how they relate to the rest of the text?
Record your answers in your journal, and ask yourself those questions again when we study “The School,” “Back Story,” and the opening paragraphs of “The Falling Man.”
In a Word . . .
In the Coming Soon notes below, I mention that your short reading for Monday (part of which is pictured above) serves as a prelude to both Monday’s in-class writing and your upcoming analysis. Those words about words may guide you to your subject: the text you will revisit for closer study.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Dictionary and World Builder pages on the Scrabble website, or the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review the blog posts devoted to Scrabble.
Coming Soon
For Monday, read these short sections of Writing Analytically: “Focus on Individual Words and Sentences” (48-49) and “Words Matter” (49-50). Those word-focused readings serve as a prelude to Monday’s in-class writing assignment and the analytical writing you will produce for your second major paper assignment.
In class on Monday, you will read a designated classmate’s literacy narrative on his or her blog, and compose a response that you will submit as a comment on the writer’s post. Bring your laptop to class, and also be sure to bring Writing Analytically and your journal with your completed exercise on “Amanda Petrusich on Katy Grannan’s Photograph of Taylor Swift” or an assigned reading of your choice. Do not remove the exercise from your journal before class. I will not collect the assignment; I may simply conduct a check for it while you and your classmates are working on your blog exercise.
Jane Lucas 