Bellringer Oct. 27 Complete the handout. It will be a grade. In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing. It was my great-grandmother's name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse--which is supposed to be bad luck if you're born female-but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong.

We are picking up reading “Only Daughter” today. As you read, notice the ORDER of details Cisneros uses. Think about how the impact on you would be different if she re-ordered her story. As you read, notice the CONTRAST of details she uses. Think about why she contrasts these specific images, tones, details. As you read, notice how she uses words to make it seem like she is a real, unique person. Think about the specific words which really show her personality.

Grammar check But that aloneness, that loneliness, was good for a would-be writer— it allowed me time to think and think, to imagine, to read and prepare myself.

Grammar check My father represents, then, the public majority. A public who is disinterested in reading, and yet one whom I am writing about and for, and privately trying to woo.

Grammar misunderstanding How Spanish creates plurals and how English creates plurals differs due to the gender use in Spanish. It is acceptable to say Siete Hijos in Spanish and mean both boys and girls – a Spanish speaker would understand you mean seven children. In English though, seven sons means seven boys. No girls. Someone who is learning English by it. as a second language could make this mistake and not mean anything

Moving On Have out your novels. On the attendance form, indicate in the margin by your number whether you have “PAPER” or “ELECTRONIC” for your copy of the book. Know that the page numbers could differ between the paperback and the electronic book. That would only be confusing during our discussions. TASK AND DUE DATES.

Exit Ticket How will you plan to meet each of the weekly deadlines with your notes and your reading? (PSST – waiting until the night before is silly and NO, I’m not sending out a remind for each week. You have to take the responsibility to plan accordingly.