Do Now Make sure your Grammar HW is on your DESK to be checked. At the bell, begin to silently and independently work on your Do Now. HOMEWORK: Write 9 Grammar Sentences for Essay (3 appositives, 3 participles, 3 absolutes) Study for Grammar Quiz ONLY 5 SCHOOL DAYS UNTIL THE FIRST QUARTER INTERIM!

Objectives Draft body paragraphs for whether or not English should be the official language of America. Be able to create sentences using this week’s vocabulary words Identify and use appositive, participial, and absolute phrases in our writing.

Agenda Do Now: Interim Practice (10) Grammar: Phrases Review (15) Composition: Writer’s Workshop (30) Vocab (10) Exit Ticket (5)

Period 5: Absolute Phrases An absolute phrase is a sentence part that describes the rest of the sentence. Absolute phrases can occur as sentence openers, subject-verb splits, or sentence closers. It is important to note that absolute phrases must be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma because they are dependent clauses and cannot stand alone by themselves. Most absolute phrases begin with the words my, his, her, its, our, their (possessive pronouns) and can be changed into independent clauses by adding was or were into it.

GRAMMAR REVIEW APPOSITIVE phrases are noun phrases that identify adjacent nouns or PRONOUNS. They are an efficient way to COMBINE related ideas in ONE sentence. PARTICIPIAL phrases describe nouns or pronouns. Present participles usually end in - ING. Past participles usually end in –ED. ABSOLUTE phrases are sentence parts that describe the rest of the sentence in which they appear. Many, but not all absolutes begin with possessive PRONOUNS like my his, her, its, our or their. All of these phrases can appear as sentence STARTERS, subject-verb SPLITS, and sentence CLOSERS.

Composition: Thesis Statement Examples BASIC: English should (not) be the official language of America because…{list reasoning here) EMERGING: Through the personal examples of Myriam Marquez and Chang-Rae Lee it is clear that, English should not be the official language of America. EMERGING: Through the arguments of Greg Lewis and Dennis Baron, it is clear that English should not be the official language of America. TARGET: While Marquez and Lee make several convincing arguments why English should not be the official language of America, Lewis and Baron counter them by at least proving why the questions should still be up for discussion.

Composition: Essay Outline I. Thesis Paragraph A. Context – What does it mean to be American? B. Transition – Is speaking English a pre-requisite to being American? C. Thesis Statement – Should English be the official language of America? What are at least three specific reasons why? How do the authors of the text support or refute your claim? II. Body Paragraphs A. Reason 1 – with evidence & explanations from the text B. Reason 2 – with evidence & explanations from the text C. Reason 3 – with evidence & explanations from the text D. Counterarguments and Rebuttals – why might people feel differently from your claim? How would you refute their arguments. It would be great to use examples from the texts that would disagree with your viewpoint. III. Concluding Paragraph A. In a different way, restate the thesis. B. Create an extension that connects back to the context of your thesis paragraph and whether or not speaking English is necessary to be considered and America.

Body Paragraph Planning Reason 1 – Cultural respect for parents (Marquez, 4; Lee 6-7) Reason 2 – English does not equal patriotism (Marquez 10-11) Reason 3 – People should have the choice of when and where to speak English (Marquez 14; Lee 17-18) Reason 1 - English helps people succeed (Marquez 8; Lewis 5; Baron 3) Reason 2 – English is the most common form of communication in America (Lewis 5; Baron 1) Reason 3 – English helps to define what is means to be American (Lewis 12, Baron 11)

BODY PARAGRAPH EXAMPLE 1 Myriam Marquez, a Cuban American immigrant, argues in her Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public that while it is important to learn English in America in order to succeed, that it is still important to be able to speak Spanish in her home as “a matter of respect for [her] parents” as well as to provide “comfort in [her] own cultural roots” (paragraphs 4, 8). Chang-Rae Lee furthers this argument in Mute in an English-Only World by providing an example of his mother, who assiduously studied English, yet still struggled to communicate in society (8-9). While Lee’s mother wanted to be able to speak in English, she oftentimes felt more comfortable speaking her native Korean. Through these examples, it is clear that for both Marquez and Lee, English is something they believe immigrants should try to learn to help them become more successful in American society, but not necessarily a requirement for proving one’s ability to be an American.

BODY PARAGRAPH EXAMPLE 2 In his An Open Letter to Diversity’s Victims, Greg Lewis asserts that while it is important that people know about their cultural roots, that in order to succeed in America, it is important that all people learn English (1,5). This is because people who are not learning English will have “a much more difficult time achieving job and career success” and will not have the necessary tools “need to take advantage of the wonderful economic opportunities that would have been available to them had they been ‘forced’ to learn English” (Lewis 3). Dennis Baron extends this argument through his sarcastically written, Don’t Make English Official – Ban it Instead essay in which he points out that the increase in non-English speaking Americans has made English incomprehensible (7-8). While his criticisms are harsh, Baron brings up a good point that unless the country makes English the official language, there will be no pressure for people to learn how to speak and write it correctly in a way that will help them succeed in a society where “Standard” English is a necessity for opportunities like college and high-paying jobs. Therefore, as Lewis and Baron contend, English should be the official language of America so more people will have a fair opportunity to succeed in a country dominated by one language.

Vocabulary Ameliorate – to make the condition of something better You can ameliorate a someone who is sick, but not necessarily a bad meal. Baleful – harmful, with evil intentions Berate – to criticize vehemently Circumvent – to avoid something in a sneaky way that allows you to still get what you want Compunction – anxiety or nervousness caused by feelings of guilt

Exit Ticket UNDERLINE the phrases for each of the following: 1. Compose a sentence with an appositive phrase using the word ameliorate. 2. Compose a sentence with a participial phrase using the word baleful. 3. Compose a sentence with an absolute phrase using the word berate.