Supporting your thesis statement Writing Essays Supporting your thesis statement

What have we learned so far? What do you remember from our last mini-unit?

Building Strong essays (cont’d) Essay writers need to make sure that the evidence they are using to support their thesis is relevant. To do this they look back at their drafts and ask, "How does this support" my thesis? What is Relevant Support? It EXPLAINS why the thesis is correct

Identifying relevant support 1. Make sure the thesis is clear (there is no confusion about what it means) 2. Look at each paragraph or bullet (Each should have only piece of evidence) and ask: How does this explain, or support the thesis? 3. If you cannot answer that question it is irrelevant evidence. If you can answer that question, the answer should be in your paragraph.

video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vL8Jtz59sw

Techniques for outlining evidence Boxes and Bullets: Make a claim that needs to be supported

Boxes and bullets

Your turn Using the worksheets provided, choose one of the following topics, write a thesis and then come up with evidence to support that thesis Is the school day too short? Should students be able to skip grade 12? How should schools address bullying? Does class size matter? Once completed, trade with the person next to you – that person will evaluate if your evidence is strong or weak and will make suggestions At the end we will share your findings as a class

Intro to Shakespeare unit Over the next 7 weeks we will be reading Hamlet Here is what the assessments will look like: Journals and questions Group Presentations Quiz Final in-class essay

presentations In groups of 3-4 you will be assigned a scene. Your job is to act out the scene to the class in Shakespearean English and then again in modern English. In modern English you should: Change the setting to somewhere that exists today Characters should speak in an English according to the setting (accents, slang, etc) Write a script that you will follow in your presentation (memorization is not required, but they should be read as little as possible). The script should have both spoken lines and stage directions. This will be handed in for grading at the end of the presentation. Presentations will take place according to where we are in the play

Presentation order (based on our current schedule) Act 1, Scene 1 – group 1 – Jan 12 (Bl 7) Jan 13 (Bl 2) Act 1, Scene 2 – group 2 – Jan 14 (Bl 7) Jan 15 (Bl 2) Act 2, Scene 1 – group 3 – Jan 22 (Bl 7) Jan 25 (Bl 2) Act 3, Scene 1 – group 4 – Jan 26 (Bl 7) Jan 27 (Bl 2) Act 3, Scene 3 – group 5 – Jan 28 (Bl 7) Feb 2 (Bl 2) Act 5, Scene 1 – group 6 – Feb 9 (Bl 7) Feb 12 (Bl 2) Act 5, Scene 2 – group 7 – Feb 11 (Bl 7) Feb 16 (Bl 2)