Monday, January 25, 2015 9th Lit Warm-Up: Read the paragraph and answer the questions. Write the WORD, not the letter. What is the author’s purpose in the paragraph? To inform To describe To persuade To explain What is the yellow sentence an example of? Metaphor Simile Personification Onomatopoeia How do you know? My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped blond guitar--the first instrument I taught myself how to play. It's nothing fancy, just a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and finger-printed. At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a silver tuning key. The strings are stretched down a long, slim neck, its frets tarnished, the wood worn by years of fingers pressing chords and picking notes. The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that was slightly damaged in shipping. The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard fell off years ago. No, it's not a beautiful instrument, but it still lets me make music, and for that I will always treasure it.

The Blond Guitar This paragraph is an example of descriptive writing. The author’s purpose is to describe. “The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that was slightly damaged in shipping.” This sentence includes a simile. We can identify the simile because the author uses the word “like” to compare two different things—the guitar and a pear.

Elements of Fiction in “Thank You, Ma’am” Group Activity “Thank You, Ma’am” Groups: PLOT CHARACTERS CONFLICT THEME SETTING 3rd Edwin Madelyn Abner Mario David Kenia Kevin L. Anastasia Perla Claudia Kevin Z. Maynor Devanic Estefani Blany Elsa Irving Ronald Kelvin Jose C. 4th Kirian Cruz Christian Haziel Nefisimi Laura Esteban Karla Alvaro Justin Jackye Karolay Melani Melany Jose Raul

“Thank You Ma’am” Groups Plot: Create and illustrate a detailed plot diagram for the story. Characters: Create “body biographies” for the two characters in the story. Label your pictures with details of each character’s words, actions, and appearance. Conflict: Identify one example of external conflict and two examples of internal conflict in the story. Write and illustrate a new ending showing a different way that the conflict could have been resolved. Theme: Choose one of the themes from the story, explain and illustrate how it is shown in the story, and provide three examples of this theme from real life or other stories. The importance of empathy, kindness, forgiveness, self-respect, role models, etc.; theme should be stated as a sentence Setting: List all of the details of the setting that you can find in the story, and draw a picture of one of the two places depicted in the story. Make an inference about the time period based on details from the story and what you know about the author.

Citing Textual Evidence Each group’s poster should include a minimum of TWO direct quotes from the story, with parenthetical citations. Example: Roger appears to be “fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and blue jeans” (Hughes 1).

Group Presentation Guidelines Each group member must introduce yourself Show which part of the poster you completed Ask the audience if they have any questions (if they do, answer them) Don’t conclude with “that’s all;” say “thank you”

Characteristics of Good Public Speaking Enunciation: Pronouncing your words clearly so the audience can understand you Projection: Speaking loudly enough that everyone can hear you Inflection: Varying your tone of voice Eye Contact: Connect with your audience Body language: Good posture and appropriate use of gestures and facial expressions (smile!) Visual Aids: The use of software, posters, or props to add visual appeal

Summarizer Which of the following characteristics of a good presentation do you think is most important and why? (Choose ONE) Enunciation: Pronouncing your words clearly so the audience can understand you Projection: Speaking loudly enough that everyone can hear you Eye Contact Body language: Good posture and appropriate use of gestures Visual Aids: The use of software, posters, or props to add visual appeal Content: Including information that is interesting and relevant to your audience