I can apply grammar rules. I can identify a personal legend. I can recognize a fable and an allegory. I can demonstrate comprehension of a text. Jan Intro to The Alchemist

Bell Ringer- Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement The job of a pronoun is to refer back to an existing noun. We call this the antecedent. Example: President Lincoln delivered Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in We do not talk or write this way. Automatically, we replace the noun Lincoln's with a pronoun. More naturally, we say President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address in His refers back to President Lincoln. President Lincoln is the antecedent for the pronoun his.

Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement Rules- Write under your grammar section! A phrase or clause between the subject and verb does not change the number of the antecedent.phraseclause Indefinite pronouns as antecedents Indefinite pronouns Plural indefinite pronoun antecedents require plural referents Plural: several, few, both, many Compound subjects joined by and always take a plural referents.Compound subjects Compound subjects joined by neither or nor the pronoun agrees with the antecedent closer to the pronoun. EX: Neither the director nor the actors did their jobs. What is the subject? What is the verb?

Just a little more… Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.) may be singular or plural, depending on meaning. Titles of single entities: (books, organizations, countries, etc.) take a singular referent. Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular referent. (news, measles, mumps, physics, etc) The news has lost most of its sting the last two days. The number of vs A number of before a subject: The number of volunteers increase its ranks daily. A number of volunteers are offering their help.

Your Turn… Pronouns should be the same in number as the nouns they refer to. Here’s what to do: 1. Find the pronoun 2. Find the antecedent- what the pronoun is referring to 3. Determine if the antecedent is: singular or plural/masculine or feminine (or neither), possessive or not. If it agrees, great! If not, change it so it does.

Complete the following 1a. Explain the function of a pronoun in a sentence. 1b. What does the term antecedent refer to? 2. In each pair of sentences below, determine the number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, or neutral) of the bolded pronoun. Singular Plural Masculine Feminine Neutral A) Drake is a popular rapper from Canada. He started his career on the Canadian drama Degrassi. B) Rihanna is from Barbados. She and Drake have recorded several duets. C) 106 and Park is BET’s video countdown show. It is one of the network’s most popular programs. D) Many of today’s most popular hip-hop artists perform on the show. They know it is a good outlet to reach their fans.

Check your answers 1a. refers to or replaces a noun 1b. the noun a pronoun refers to 2a. singular, masculine 2b. singular, feminine 2c. singular, neutral 2d. plural, neutral

Just a reminder… 1. Find the pronoun 2. Find the antecedent- what the pronoun is referring to 3. Determine if the antecedent is: singular or plural/masculine or feminine (or neither), possessive or not. If it agrees, great! If not, change it so it does. Complete the practice handout.

Give it a shot Complete the questions on the handout on your own paper. Don’t forget, you need to justify your answer!

Check your answers Answer Explanation 1. B The singular pronoun it refers back to the antecedent town. 2. F The singular pronoun it correctly refers back to the antecedent ordinance. 3. C The use of the pronoun it is unclear; the sentence does not clarify what is being referred to. Therefore, we should use a noun instead of a pronoun. The noun fine makes the most sense based on the rest of the passage (notice that the previous paragraph discusses the implementation of a fine). 4. F The plural possessive pronoun their correctly refers to teens. 5. D The plural pronoun they should be used to refer back to the antecedent lawyers.

WFA 3.1 Happy Shirts Read the text carefully and then answer on a scrap piece of paper and then put answers into the clicker. This is timed!

Finish… You will have about 15 minutes to complete (if not already) the following based on Waters of Babylon (page 82 in the Holt Reader): 1. Sequence handout 2. Elements of literature handout 3. Think in 3s handout-plot, character, setting connect to create theme.

Introduction to The Alchemist

What Is a Personal Legend Discuss what comes to mind when you think of a personal legend? What happens? Why must people have a personal legend? Think about what you wrote as I read the Introduction. Did you have the same idea as the author?

What do you Know? Answer the following questions with a partner. 1. What is alchemy? 2. What is an alchemist? 3. Who is Narcissus? 4. What is a fable? 5. What is an allegory?

Answers: Add to your Notes 1. Alchemy is the ancient practice of trying to turn lead into gold. 2. An alchemist can be defined as a profession/person that practices alchemy which is the quest of searching for a way in which to turn metals into gold. 3. Narcissus is a character from Greek mythology who loved his beauty. He would look at his reflection everyday in the water. One day, he drowned. His love of his own beauty was his tragic flaw. 4. A Fable is a short imaginary tale that teaches a moral or a lesson. The story can be in prose or verse. 5. An allegory is a narrative that has two levels of meaning: a literal one and a figurative or symbolic one.

Fable and Allegory: add to your Notes The Alchemist is a fable. In fact, The Alchemist is subtitled "A Fable about Following Your Dreams." Like most fables, The Alchemist has a theme/moral that reflects a universal truth concerning life and human existence. The universal point this story makes is that everyone has a special destiny, and yet not everyone tries to achieve it because it takes hard work. Reaching one's destiny requires leaving behind familiar surroundings. It also demands courage, persistence, the ability to change when appropriate and the willingness to respond to omens that point the way.

Fable and Allegory: add to your Notes Also, like many fables, the story told in The Alchemist does not make its universal point directly, or in so many words, by the author telling the reader in plain language what the moral of the story is. Instead, the story of the main character in The Alchemist is what we call an allegory. An allegory is a narrative that has two levels of meaning: a literal one and a figurative or symbolic one. As a reader, your challenges with this fable are to watch for and try to interpret symbols (symbolism=something that is itself but also represents something else or something deeper). Remember, most anything in a story can havesymbolic meaning, including objects, characters, places, names, events, etc.

Prologue

Independent Reading and questions Read pages 3-25 and answer the questions on your own paper. In order to study for the test, you will be responsible for keeping up with all your work with The Alchemist unit.

Catchup Work Check to see what you are missing. I have taken a grade on the following: 1. Man in the water letter 2. Hero Acrostic 3. Sword in the stone questions 4. Archetype Review Handout 5. Coat of Arms 6. Grammar Handout- Subject verb agreement 7. I will be taking a grade on the 3 handouts: sequence, elements of lit., and think in 3s.

Man in the Water Letter IF you turned in your letter, you have partial credit for completing the letter. However, you need to revise in order to get full credit. You were to write a letter, as one of the survivors, to the man in the water family. It is to be 5 paragraphs- as is anything that we formally write. This time I am looking for organization (intro, body, conclusion) and transition words (try to be a little more creative/sophisticated than first, next, lastly, finally). IF you did NOT turn in the letter the first time, you need to complete and can now only earn partial credit-you will need to have the requirements!