Writing Friday: College Essay - Introductions

During our Writing Friday today, we discussed the introduction to the college essay. After our vocab practice during our warm-up, we discussed ALL of the things we remember about writing introductions to essays from all of our English classes.

Why?

Because there is no outline for this essay!



That's right, this is a chance for you to break the mold. You don't have to follow an outline, a formula, or a set of arbitrary rules. You only have to make sure your writing is between 1 1/2 - 2 pages and make sure it demonstrates the best of you and your writing skills.

But, all that freedom can be kind of scary.

Now, before you say, "But, Miss Hamman, I don't know what to write!", please understand that you have had 11 solid years of English education. Your past teachers have been packing your tool box with all of the tools you need to craft a paper that shows off the best things about you.

YOU just have to decide what it is you want to build and how.

It may feel, at first, like you are aimlessly wandering with your essay. You may feel like you want to erase everything and start over. DON'T. Just write. You don't have to keep every sentence. You don't have to keep every word. But keep them on the page until you feel you've made your point. Then go back and get rid of the stuff you don't need.



Your essay, like all essays, will have a thesis. That thesis should state why you deserve to be accepted to the university of your choice. This could be a trait you possess, a talent you have, or a perspective you could bring to the campus.

In the powerpoint below, you'll see suggestions of things to use to write your introduction from all of my classes. Look through them if you need ideas.



After we discussed the tools we all have, we then talked about how to start using them. I decided to pick prompt #2 for MY essay: "Most students have an identity, an interest, or talent that defines them in an essential way. Tell us about yourself."

So, I started to think about what I felt most shaped me as a person - who/what I identify with, what I'm passionate about, or what I'm good at. Ultimately, I narrowed it down to my identity. More specifically, I focused on how a particular EVENT involving my identity shaped me.

Below are the notes I took on part of my graphic organizer that we reviewed together as a class.



From these notes, we deduced that my identity shaped me by making me more adaptive. I identify myself as a teacher with supportive friends from the Midwest. When I moved to Texas, that shaped me as a person by forcing me to adapt to new surroundings and my career.

We decided to start with an attention grabber/hook of some sort. In some classes, we began with a quote. In others, we began with a question. One class wanted to start with dialogue. Ultimately, how you make your reader care is up to you.



From there, we decided to elaborate a little on our hook. What was it referring to or why was it significant to the essay. It usually involved me reflecting on or explaining how I had gotten to where I was in the moment I described in my hook.

Finally, we tied it all together in my thesis. Now, I don't just want to come out and say "I think I should be accepted to ___________ University because I know how to adapt." First off, that's kind of boring and a little too direct. Secondly, it doesn't really show that I know how to adapt, BECAUSE IT'S JUST A COOKIE CUTTER THESIS. Is it okay to write a thesis like this in your rough draft? MOST DEFINITELY. However, eventually,  you will probably want to change it in your final draft. 

Take a look at some of the examples our classes came up with below.



Your assignment this weekend is to write YOUR introduction. You may type or handwrite. 
BONUS: send it to me this weekend. You can send it via email, you can snap a picture of it, you can read it aloud and send me the audio. However you choose. (This is not a grade, nor is it extra credit, but it helps YOU and ME by giving me an idea of where you are heading with your essay and allowing me processing time to give feedback)



Have a GREAT weekend and GO EAGLES!

Beowulf Vocab and Study Questions; Notes over "Grendel" and "Beowulf"

On block day, we began our reading of Beowulf by taking notes over selected vocab that we will cover on the Beowulf 1 test on Wednesday and Thursday, September 12th and 13th.

Below is the vocab chart, followed by a powerpoint with a slide for each word.





Then, we began our reading of "Grendel" and "Beowulf." We also completed study questions from the handout below as we read. The first page of this packet is for you to keep track of who characters are and their role in the story. Most classes got through just "Grendel." A few classes also completed the chapter entitled "Beowulf."



Now, when we read these chapters, here are a few of the takeaways:

• Grendel is a monster of pure evil - yes, pure; he is described as being born of demons who mated in slime and who are directly related to Cain from the bible story of Cain and Abel. You know, the one about the very first murder ever? So, Grendel is a pure evil guy who gets irritated by the Danes singing and celebrating in the mead hall, Herot.
• Grendel only attacks when the Danes have fallen asleep, which they are prone to do after a long night of drinking mead, singing, and partying at Herot. He kills 30 men on his first trip and takes them back to his swampy, marshy lair. 
• In the very first stanzas of this epic, we can already see some of the Christian values being sprinkled into this epic.
  
  In the beginning, we are told the warriors are singing about God's creation of the Earth. However, it is unlikely that Scandinavians in 500 AD would be singing about such a thing. It is more likely that they were just singing about war and victory. The monk copying this story likely added this in to make it more Christian-friendly. 
• Grendel forces the Danes out of Herot by constantly attacking them and killing them. He eventually hunkers down and squats there for 12 years. Despite having the superior strength, he does not go after the king, Hrothgar, due to his position as king - a position that is supposedly bestowed upon him by God.
• Hrothgar, however, is not what Christians would consider devout. In fact, in an attempt to find a solution to Grendal's terror, they resort to pagan rituals and sacrifices to pagan gods. 
• Grendel's actions effectively turn Herot, which was once a place of safety, community, and peace, into an abandoned hall of fear, silence, and death.
• The story of Grendel's attacks spread far beyond Denmark and reaches the kingdom of Geatland, where Beowulf resides.
• Beowulf, upon hearing of the story, decides to grab his best men and head to Denmark for fame, glory, and to help out the Danes. (Mostly for the fame though)
• When Beowulf arrives, he is greeted by Wulfgar, a Danish guard, who tells him that Hrothgar knows of Beowulf's honorable status and welcomes him. 

That is about as far as most classes proceeded in the text. Make sure to fill out your study questions and add to the first page as necessary. 

College Essay Brainstorming Day

Today, after we set up our binder, we went over a couple of example college application essays in class. You can read them below:

Poor Essay

Here are some things to notice about this essay:

• The writer has no MLA formatted heading
• Initially, the writer says the essay will be about himself, but then suddenly switches over to focusing on Barack Obama
• While the writer claims President Obama has a major role in his life, at no time does he specify what that role was beyond just being a role model for an undisclosed reason
• The writer highlights what could be considered negative character traits ("I am not the type that has role models..." or "I am the type that lets life pass me by an [sic] not really go after anything.")

Good Essay

Here are some points to highlight about this essay:

• The author has decent grammar and a partially complete MLA heading
• While the writer details the heart-wrenching experience of watching her brother almost die, she does not wallow in that dark pit of despair. She eventually lifts us out of it by focusing on how she has changed for the better at the end
• She details SPECIFIC changes she has made in her life and to her character as a result of her experience ("I try my best to spend more time with my family; I am staying on track in school...")
• She focuses more on her reaction to her brother's situation than the details of what led up to the situation. She hints at what happened to her brother mostly in the introduction.
• There is a great level of detail, including the use of DIALOGUE and a variety of sentence types

Strong Essay


Here are some things to highlight about this essay:

• The writer has a complete and correctly formatted MLA heading
• The writer uses idioms and turns of phrase that demonstrate not just their book smarts, but their street smarts.
• The writer gives specific details about her aunt and mother, focusing on the challenges they faced and what made them strong/weak, not just their personality or other extraneous information
• The writer makes a specific connection to the college experience by relating the skills she has learned from her aunt to the skills she believes one needs to make it through college
• The writer references the specific program and college she is applying for. This shows a commitment and an investment in the university itself. 

Writing Friday: College Essay Brainstorming and Graphic Organizer

Today, we began the writing process for our first summative grade of the year: the college essay. First, we discussed the assignment itself. You can see the assignment sheet below. It was copied onto purple paper in class.



Here are the most important points from that handout:

• Review the due dates listed
• Your essay should be only 1 1/2- 2 pages long
• The outlines I provided in class and that are posted on this blog are for the ApplyTexas application which is used by pretty much every Texas university. Out of state universities typically use the Common Application, which uses different prompts. You may use one of these prompts, but must clear it with me first. 
• Yes, you have to write an essay, even if you aren't planning on attending college. Just pretend for 3 weeks.

After we discussed the expectations for the assignment, we broke down the prompts and reviewed some possible ideas for what to write for each one. You can find that information in the powerpoint below:

Then, we moved on to the task of selecting a prompt to write about. Each prompt asks you to focus on a different aspect of your life. You may want to write about all three, BUT YOU CAN'T. You must choose ONE.

If you're having trouble, just consider:

Out of all of the forces that have shaped you as a person - your surroundings, your identity, your personal goals - which one has had the strongest influence or which has made you the best person you can be?

Once you have decided, you will select one of the three graphic organizers below to begin brainstorming and outlining your essay. You may not use all of the ideas you put into the graphic organizer, but we want you to complete it all the same.

You don't have to write in complete sentences for this. You can do a bulleted list, flow chart, mind map, etc.

Prompt 1: What was the environment in which you were raised? Describe your family, home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it shaped you as a person.



Prompt 2: Most students have an identity, an interest, or talent that defines them in an essential way. Tell us about yourself.



Prompt 3: You've got a ticket in your hand - Where will you go? What will you do? What will happen when you get there?

Kennings

On Thursday, we discussed a type of figurative language called a kenning. Kennings are sort of like a metaphor where an object is described indirectly, usually by focusing on its qualities or properties.



There are numerous examples listed in the powerpoint at the end of this post, but here are a few others:

• breaker-of-trees = wind
• winter-spear = icicle
• bone-beak = axe
• wave-swine = ship

Kennings are used mostly in Old Norse and Old English poetry, most likely as a way to make certain ideas fit into the poetic structure of the epic, but also as a metaphor of sorts. It draws a circle around an idea and forces the reader to focus on both the idea and that circle.

In other words, it reinforces a particular aspect of the idea. For instance, the term winter-spear makes icicles seem dangerous rather than beautiful natural features of ice. Wave-swine makes a ship seem somewhat dirty, uncomfortable, or even "bloated" possibly with sailors. 

As a class, we completed the handout below. Part 1 is a practice in creating kennings on your own. Consider what we typically associate each of these individuals with and how you view them. If you need some additional help, there are some examples listed in one of the powerpoint slides. 

Next, in Part Two, we looked at some actual kennings we will see in Beowulf. Some of the answers are actually listed in the powerpoint!

Finally, in Part Three, we read some passages from Beowulf and tried to find the kenning in each excerpt. 

Just a few notes about these passages before you begin reading them:

• In the first excerpt, our hero, Beowulf, is speaking to Hrothgar who is king of the Danes. He is literally speaking to a king/lord. He is talking about how he will help Hrothgar by killing the monster, Grendel.
• In the second excerpt, Grendel is killing the Danes and taking over their mead hall, Herot. He is almost like the embodiment of pure evil, having been born of Hell. He does not, however, try to challenge or get rid of Hrothgar as king, despite having taken over Herot. Focus on why that might be.
• In the third excerpt, Grendel is residing in Herot, which has been deserted by the Danes. How long has it been empty?

Epic Hero Notes

On Wednesday, we discussed epics and epic heroes.

Epic heroes, as you see in the powerpoint below, are characters that represent the best of a culture and symbolize the values that culture holds dear.

In this class, we will be reading "Beowulf," an epic written originally in Old English about the exploits of Geat warrior named Beowulf as he tries to save the Danes from a monster named Grendel.

So, what makes someone a hero? 



In class, we discussed who we personally consider heroes. Some people mentioned historical figures, movie characters, or even general groups of people such as firefighters and military members. Then, we determined what characteristics all of these people share. Here are a few of their responses (you can also see the lists for each class in the powerpoint attached to this post):

• Fearless
• Determination
• Selfless
• Humane
• Brave
• Never giving up

Now, what sets an epic hero apart is their symbolic nature. An epic hero reflects the values of the culture they are derived from. Odysseus, for instance, was exceedingly clever at times. This is due to the fact that the Greeks highly valued education and intelligence.

Beowulf, however, as an epic hero for the Danes, does not possess any great gift of intelligence. That is because the Anglo-Saxon people did not highly value education as a part of their culture. They were more about strength and grit.



So, the characteristics of an epic hero that are listed in the powerpoint below are mainly reflective of Anglo-Saxon cultural values. These were a people who highly valued bravery, strength, glory, and, eventually, Christianity.

Yes, that's right. The original tale of Beowulf as it was passed down through the oral tradition, contained many pagan values and traditions. It wasn't until the story was written down by Christian priests and monks later in history that the Christian values were added into the tale.

Finally, we ended class by practicing inferencing using the image on the last slide. We completed a chart that helped us elaborate our inferences using these 3 categories:

• Say - what does the image SAY? (What details do you notice?)
• Mean - what do these details MEAN? (what can we say about the person in the picture or the nature of their actions?)
• Matter - why does this MATTER to us right now? (Which of the 4 main characteristics of an epic hero does each detail/inference connect to?)

We took all of the notes from the powerpoint below in our notebooks and entitled them "Epic Hero Notes." If you happened to miss class, please be sure to review the powerpoint and add them to your notebook or the paper in your binder.

School Email Login Info

If you are having difficulty logging in to your school email account, it may be due to some changes made to your log-in name. Your school email and username is now:

first3lettersofyourfirstnamefirst3lettersofyourlastnamelast4digitsofyourstudentID@humbleisd.net

So, for John Smith ID 123456, his email would be:

johsmi3456@humbleisd.net

If you have any problems logging in to access your student survey, feel free to message me on Remind!

Team Name and Social Contract

Today, we laid the framework for our classroom culture for the year. In groups, we came up with potential team names and mascots for each individual class period. I will review the submissions and we will vote at some point early next week.

Afterwards, we compiled a list of our expectations for the class to create an outline for a social contract. I will also review each student submission and compile it into a social contract to be posted in our classroom.

Don't forget!
Binders and notebooks for class by 8/24
Student survey by 8/31

Below is the powerpoint which also includes announcements and our warm-up for the day.

1st Day Powerpoint - Expectations and Policies

Today, we reviewed the general expectations and procedures for the class. You can find the powerpoint we went over together below along with the 1st quarter syllabus calendar and the course info. These documents can also be found on the pages "Course Calendars" and "Course Info" respectively.

Student surveys have been sent out to student email addresses. Please be sure to complete it before Friday, August 31st for your free bathroom pass!

I look forward to an awesome year with all of you!

Welcome!

Welcome to Ms. Hamman's English 4 blog!

This blog will be used to post classroom assignments and calendars, provide links to download handouts, and share updates from our class.

If you are looking for English 2 resources from the 2017-18 school year, you can find them at my archive blog here.

Please keep an eye on this blog throughout the year!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me: christine.hamman@humbleisd.net