Alluring Alliteration

                                               

 for Elementary, Middle, High School
  
            Alliteration is one of the first writing tools I teach each year. It’s just too terrific to put on a back burner. All grade levels love tongue twisters, both bumbling when voicing them vociferously and when producing them on paper.  Alliteration is irresistible, even when incredibly annoying. 
    All year long I will ask the students to add alliteration— to odes, to description, to persuasive papers for memorability, to advertisements, to dialogues. Vocabularies grow, brainstorming blooms, and silliness agonizes and shines. 
    I give a handout, front and back plastered with twisters. I have 3 handouts, so I can use a different one each year for 3 years. One has traditional verse on it, like Peter Piper and Betty Botter. The other two list sentences, such as Toy boat. Toy boat. Toy boat. and A proper copper coffee pot.  We read the handout aloud, a verse or sentence per student, which is fully fun for all. Then we try to write one together on the board.
    I use a couple of different exercises for alliteration. Here’s a few to choose from for elementary writers:
1.   Write the longest sentence you can using words that start with the same letter.  A, T, and S are the easiest.  e.g. An aardvark ate Allen’s avocados. or Saturday, Silly Susan sat silently, sipping sarsaparilla soda.
2.   Write the longest sentence you can using words that start with just 2 letters. e.g. An afternoon class can always alliterate continually, causing craziness and absurdity.
3.   Write-around. This is fun for middle school too. With a write-around, each student signs his name on the bottom of the paper. He chooses a letter to use and writes that at the top. (My example below is a B.) Then he starts with #1. He passes it to be added on by the student to his right, who writes #2 prompt, and so on. When the prompts are complete, the paper is returned to the original owner, who creates a complete sentence or two out of all the additions.  This one can have other words added that don’t start with the main letter.
    1. Who: Character first and last name.   Brenda Bobolink
    2. What did the character do?  begged for banana brownies
    3. When?   before breakfast
    4. Where?  by a bayou
    5. Why?  because bananas taste better than broccoli
    6. How?  bravely

            Before breakfast by a bayou, Brenda Bobolink begged bravely for banana brownies, because bananas taste better than broccoli.

         For high schoolers in British Literature and for middle schoolers when I teach them about Old English, I use alliterative epics as the writing exercise. It works well with Beowulf, which is the first reading assignment in British Lit. I hand them an excerpt of Beowulf, showing them the 3 alliterations per line and explaining the storyline.

BEOWULF,   excerpt


Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,
leader beloved, and long he ruled
in fame with all folk, since his father had gone
away from the world, till awoke an heir,
haughty Healfdene, who held through life,
sage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad.
Then, one after one, there woke to him,
to the chieftain of clansmen, children four:
Heorogar, then Hrothgar, then Halga brave;
and I heard that—was—’s queen,
the Heathoscylfing’s helpmate dear.
To Hrothgar was given such glory of war,
such honor of combat, that all his kin
obeyed him gladly till great grew his band
of youthful comrades. It came in his mind
to bid his henchmen a hall uprear,
ia master mead-house, mightier far
than ever was seen by the sons of earth,
and within it, then, to old and young
he would all allot that the Lord had sent him,
save only the land and the lives of his men.


Then I give them a funny alliterative epic that I found online, Beocat: 

Grendel's Dog, from Beocat

Brave Beocat, brood-kit of Ecgthmeow,
Hearth-pet of Hrothgar in whose high halls
He mauled without mercy many fat mice,
Night did not find napping nor snack-feasting.
The wary war-cat, whiskered paw-wielder,
Bearer of the burnished neck-belt, gold-braided collar band,
Feller of fleas fatal, too, to ticks,
The work of wonder-smiths, woven with witches' charms,
Sat upon the throne-seat his ears like sword-points
Upraised, sharp-tipped, listening for peril-sounds,
When he heard from the moor-hill howls of the hell-hound,
Gruesome hunger-grunts of Grendel's Great Dane,
Deadly doom-mutt, dread demon-dog.
Then boasted Beocat, noble battle-kitten,
Bane of barrow-bunnies, bold seeker of nest-booty:
"If hand of man unhasped the heavy hall-door
And freed me to frolic forth to fight the fang-bearing fiend,
I would lay the whelpling low with lethal claw-blows;
Fur would fly and the foe would taste death-food.
But resounding snooze-noise, stern slumber-thunder,
Nose-music of men snoring mead-hammered in the wine-hall,
Fills me with sorrow-feeling for Fate does not see fit
To send some fingered folk to lift the firm-fastened latch
That I might go grapple with the grim ghoul-pooch."
Thus spoke the mouse-shredder, hunter of hall-pests,
Short-haired Hrodent-slayer, greatest of the pussy-Geats.

-- From Poetry for Cats, by Henry Beard.
Translated by the Editor's cat.


     Next we write a short epic together on the board, using 3 alliterations per line. And their homework assignment is to write an alliterative epic, at least 12-16 lines long (or longer, of course).  Here are three examples by my classes.

 Amazing Adam, the accountant,
 Manages a menagerie of much money.
 He thought skimming some shouldn’t hurt,
 As he pined for a purple pogo stick.
        ____

 Hefty, heroic hydra of Frankleburg,
The neon, knight-slayer Nolan.
In one perfect puny hand he holds a pencil
Writing hilarious haiku about himself.
          ____

Intelligent  I.D.K. is invisible.
Super slick and sly are her movements,
While eating a whole watermelon.
She collects crazy kites
And flies far, far away
To her perfect place, positioned
In the misty, mountainous middle of nowhere,
Baking delicious blueberry biscuits,
Giving them to green, girly gorillas.

Jeopardy Review

     I really had to wing it the first semester I taught. I made so many mistakes. Thankfully the students caught my enthusiasm more than the booboos. I assigned readings I wouldn’t assign today, and I conducted activities I wouldn’t repeat. However, I have kept two bits throughout my time teaching, the ice breakers and the Jeopardy review game.
    Back then, I didn’t know how to wrap up my first semester. I am not a fan of tests, so that was out. I looked for some engaging way to review all we had done during the semester. I was lucky enough to hit on a teacher’s website who used a Jeopardy game in his classroom. He had a link to a blank Jeopardy game on PowerPoint that I downloaded and have used ever since. (There are many templates on the internet now.) The game is perfect for a last class.
     I use the same categories each semester.  For elementary writing, the five categories are Words, Creative Writing, Examples, Definitions, and Miscellaneous.  This Jeopardy game is the most fun for me to create, because I use the students as characters in my slides.

For middle school English and high school literature, the categories are Literary Elements, Quotes, Authors, Characters, and Miscellaneous.

      I have written the games so that the windows from 100-500 are increasingly difficult. Often the students prove my guesses at difficulty wrong.  I attempt to be tricky too. I wrote a 500 Characters for Poe’s Raven as: An annoying being with limited speech who taunts a grieving man.  I have since found this one way too easy. When I wrote 300 Characters for Poe’s Montresor in Cask of Amontillado as A man with a trowel and a torch, leading a thirsty man, I found it was rarely remembered. The students chide me for it but all in jest.
      I also try to find the most entertaining examples possible. For instance, here’s my entry for Hyperbole under the Literary Terms category. I tell the class who Ms. Nadja is, of course (a vibrant violin player).
     Example (Tom Robbins, “Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg,” 2005) :

“ Play for us, you big wild gypsy girl, you who look as if you might
 have spent the morning digging potatoes on the steppes of Russia;
you who surely galloped in on a snorting mare, bareback or standing
 in the saddle; you whose chicory tresses reek of bonfire and jasmine;
 you who traded a dagger for a bow; grab your violin as if it were a stolen
 chicken, roll your perpetually startled eyes at it, ...; fidget, fuss, flounce,
flick, fume–and fiddle; fiddle us through the roof, fiddle us over the moon,
higher than rock ‘n’ roll can fly; saw those strings as if they were the log of
the century, fill the hall with the ozone of your passion; play Mendelssohn for us,
 ...play until the cherries burst in the orchard, play until wolves chase
 their tails in the tearooms; …” 

     To play, we either play as a group if the class is small, or we break up into 2 teams. I keep score (never revealing the numbers but telling which team wins). If a team guesses correctly, the points are awarded. If incorrect, the other team takes a shot at it. As we alternate teams, I ask different members to choose the slide. This way each person has some input. Anyone on the team can answer, but I ask them to consult the whole team first. Sometimes I give slight hints if they are on the right track. If it’s too easy, I plant a poker face. The game takes about an hour to play, so it’s important to watch the clock to keep the students answering -- or questioning, in this case with Jeopardy.

My Worth in Ink: Editing, Guidance, Grading

     The real worth of my classes is the student’s practice in writing.  I tell parents that to be good at anything simply requires practice and play. To be a good soccer player, one practices and plays with the ball. To be a good painter, one practices and plays with color and shapes.  To be a good writer, one practices and plays with words. My job is to steer students toward the play while they practice.
      I work hard to establish a rapport with each student, and I do it in two ways: attention in class and feedback on papers.  The students know I read their papers, often twice, because I write all over them. I feel it’s most important to compliment on each paper, to point out the positives.  I may write clever, or haha, or terrific simile.  But in the body of a paper, I also correct all spelling and punctuation, circle words to replace, write reorganization suggestions, and point out what is missing (usually a thesis if it's an essay). Then at the end of the paper, I again comment on positives and/or ask for specific revisions.  For high schoolers, especially, I ask all papers to be revised if they are not close to the best possible for that student. For middle schoolers, I ask that essays and stories are revised. I tell all students that they will learn the quickest if they revise their papers. I also praise them constantly.
        I only grade high school papers and only because charter schools demand it. I don’t agree with the distraction to learning that grade anticipation and fear evokes.  My students work hard, and I reward them with A’s for their labor, not necessarily for their finished products. I am focused more on that hard work at playing and practicing, for the eventual goal of proficiency or art. In my experience, it takes two years at word play to become proficient, a third year at moving proficiency into art.
      I should note that a very few students do not like me to write on their papers. This is often a younger child or a special needs child. Sometimes it is a parent who wants all papers written in a journal with pages that don’t tear out. For these students, I take a photo of their papers, print them, write on those, and return them to the student.
     Enthusiastic elementary writers often slide into the classroom, asking to share their homework with the whole class.  Sometimes middle schoolers do too. Rarely does a high schooler, but I can see the enthusiasm when students hand me their papers. They are excited for me to read them. Surprisingly, they like that I scrawl all over them.

The Silly Bus: Creating Curriculum

       The first academic class I ever taught was high school British Literature. Meeting in a beautiful craftsman home in Pasadena with a small group of closely-knit homeschooling families couldn’t have been more cozy or welcoming. I thank them all for their patience! One of the students was in a charter school, and lucky for me, his dad was a charter school teacher, called an Enrichment Specialist, or ES.  He helped me immeasurably for many years in creating curriculum and in acquiring technological savvy. I am extremely grateful to him for his guidance.    
     For that first class, I simply asked the charter school what textbook was required for their high school British Literature class. I bought an older, used edition, immensely cheaper, and methodically thumbed through the readings and writing assignments. The textbook allowed for no reading of full novels. It contained several short stories and loads of poems, but the rest were excerpts of novels or plays. I decided to pare down all the excerpts and stories and choose a list of novels the students could read for discussion. Reading a whole novel is more rewarding and satisfying. (Students are excited to attempt classic tomes, even though they can be intimidating.  I always give alternatives to a novel the class is reading. If someone is struggling or really does not like a novel, I give a list of other novels to choose from. “So many good books, so little time!”) I also perused my college literature textbook, looking for relevant poems, stories and lessons.
     Next, I divvied up the readings between the number of weeks I teach during the school year, which is typically 28. I accounted for holiday breaks and moved a few readings around, with longer tomes scheduled during holiday breaks, etc. Finally I looked at the readings and spread out my writing assignments that somewhat fit what we were reading. For instance, if we are reading Beowulf, I always use alliteration. If we are reading Edgar Allan Poe stories, I use mood or gothic genre prompts.
    Over the years I have learned to only assign 2 essays per school year; a grand total of one essay per semester. That essay will rumble through an outline to a rough or first draft on to a few revisions. I like the student to learn throughout the entire process, making that essay perfect. Knowing how to do that makes it so much easier to write the next essay. Alternatively, assigning too many essays glazes over minds.
     For all other assignments, we work on basic writing skills, although I do not present it that way. A business letter will have hyperbole in it; a story will have description and symbolism in it; and an ode will contain figurative language.
     For charter school students in high school, obtaining high school credit is confusing. There are several levels of that credit, ranging from lowest grade level credit (like English10 for 10th grade) to a-g classes (for a higher level Literature class that is accepted by CSU, UC) to AP classes. Often high schoolers attend community college to obtain credit for both high school and college. These community college classes are accepted by higher universities, so there is no problem about the level of class taken on the high school transcript. This system leaves no mercy for students who improve their writing skills in a lower level class, surpassing the skill of writers in a high level class. The student will not be able to apply to state colleges with this lower level class on the transcript. The worst scenario in my eyes is for a student to actually take an a-g class through the charter school. The amount of tedious work kills the love of the subject. I saw it happen to one of my students, who was already a terrific writer. As the semester progressed, she became less and less enthusiastic about writing and reading. It was heart-wrenching to watch. Writing is an art, not a mark on a curriculum checklist.
    This system of credit for high schoolers has caused me much grief. I have jumped through hoops to accommodate some charter school curriculum specialists. In the end I decided to shape my curriculum to fit my teaching style and what I found works best for the students. Stubbornly, I feel my job is to teach that art of writing, not to cater to another’s ideas of methods or copious amounts of paper products.
     Now, charter schools ask me for my syllabi every year. They approve the class for their high school students, who can then receive proper credit. Often the charter school instructs the ES to supplement my class with other materials, but not always. In truth, if students do all or most of the work in my class, they will become as or more proficient than students in an AP class, as far as level of writing mastery goes.
   The syllabi for middle school and elementary writing, I make up myself. At these grades, the charter schools are more concerned with the quality of student papers than the content of the class. This is nice for me, because I can teach what the students find interesting and what has been successful in previous years. I have 6 semesters of syllabi for these grades. Many of my students continue to attend my classes year after year, and I don’t like to repeat exact assignments. Keeping it fresh keeps it fun and hopping.
     For Middle School I always teach one Shakespearean play in the fall semester. The choices are usually confined to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, and Julius Caesar (this last during my Greek/Roman semester).  The rest of Shakespeare's plays are a bit more bawdy or heavy. The novels for the spring semester the students choose. I provide a list of classics as well as contemporary novels. I spend most of my summer months reading middle school novels to increase my book list and to keep up with relevant issues. (Please see my post, "Book Bones," for literary analysis sites.)
    For the Elementary Writing syllabi I have a long list of assignments. I choose a variety of those, making sure not to repeat one in 2 or 3 years. Every 3 years in the spring, we create a newspaper or newsletter, and that semester is spent with different articles and columns, teaching them different skills (persuasion for advertisements, 5 W’s for interviews, imagery for headliners, etc.).
      Here are spring semester samples of a few of my classes.

Long Beach Writing Syllabus, Spring 2015
                                                        
1/20/15: Homophones. Puns, riddles. Create a pun or a riddle.
1/27/15: Adjectives. Word Choice. General vs. Specific Words. Syllables. Tanka poems. Write a tanka.
2/3/15: Fun writing.  Editing text. Editing marks.
2/10/15: Paragraph writing. What if paragraph. Running the Margin. 5 W’s in sentences. Write a paragraph.
2/17/15: Outlines. Bing-Bang-Bongo 5 paragraph essay.  Create an outline for an essay.
2/24/15: Essay writing. Transitions. Introductions. Conclusions. Write an Essay. 5 W’s.
3/3/15: Setting: Imagery. 5 W’s. Describe a place and time using all 5 senses.
3/10/15: Hyperbole. Tall tale.
3/17/15: One minute Play.
3/24/15: Characterization. Create a character. Assignment: Write a character sketch.
3/31/15: Dialogue punctuation. Dialogue writing.
4/7/15: Spring Break, Week Off
4/14/15: Story ideas. Victorian Write-Around.
4/21/15: Story ideas. Creative Write-Around.
4/28/15: Poetry: Nonet.
5/5/15:  Parts of speech. Sentence diagrams. Adjectives, Adverbs. Pangrams.
5/12/15:  Jeopardy. End-of-the-year party.


                _______________________________________


                       MIDDLE SCHOOL
               LITERATURE/WRITING
                              Los Angeles, spring 2015

                         SYLLABUS


Week 1.   Lecture: Overview of literature; Expectations of class. How to Read a Poem.
1/15/15    Discussion: 2 poems on writing, Sheiner, Holmes.  Poetry Madness voting.
          Activity: Tanka poetry writing. Novel list.    
          Assignment:  Read beat poem, listen to 2 SLAM poems on video. Read 3 short stories about wishes, Perrault, Panchatantra, Jacobs. Write 2 tanka poems.

Week 2.   Lecture: English Expressions.
1/22/15    Discussion:  poems, stories analysis. Story maps.
          Activity:  Beat poem game. SLAM poem. Listen to Robert Frost recite.
          Assignment: Read poems: Gwendolyn Brooks.  Listen to Mercury Theatre War of the Worlds. Write a beat or a SLAM poem.
   
Week 3.   Lecture: Radio drama. Adaptations. Poetry couplets.
1/29/15    Discussion:  Analysis poems, War of the Worlds. Share poems (optional).
          Activity: Couplet write-around.
          Assignment: Poems: Nelson, Hicok. Start Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Write a poem of couplets at least 12 lines long.

Week 4.  Lecture:  Outlines. Topics and Thesis.  Review: 5 Paragraph essay. Persuasive outline.
2/5/15    Discussion: analysis poems, Lord of the Flies.
         Activity:  Start outline on essay. Pros, Cons listing. Thesis building. 
         Assignment:  Poems: Henley, Millay. Continue Lord of the Flies .  Write a persuasive essay outline.

Week 5.  Lecture: Introductions, Conclusions, Transitions. Persuasive techniques. Rhetoric.
2/12/15   Discussion:  analysis poems, Lord of the Flies .    
         Activity:   Introduction grabbers. Conclusions. Rhetoric freewrite.
         Assignment:  Poems: Eliot, Lear. Finish Lord of the Flies. Write persuasive essay (due in 2 weeks).

Week 6.   Lecture: Spoonerisms. Riddles. Revisions.
2/19/15       Discussion: analysis poems, Lord of the Flies .
          Activity:  Play on words. 
           Assignment:   Poems: William Blake. Begin Julie of the Wolves. Write a spoonerism or pun. Finish persuasive essay.

Week 7.  Lecture: Characterization.
2/26/15   Discussion: analysis poems Julie of Wolves.
         Activity: Characterization exercises.
     Assignment: Poems: Blake, Cleghorn. Continue reading Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. Write a character sketch.

Week 8.  Lecture:  Dialogue punctuation. Dialogue purpose.
3/5/15     Discussion: poems analysis.
         Activity: Dialogue exercises.
         Assignment:  Poems: Oppenheim, London. Finish Julie of the Wolves. Revise persuasive essay. Write a              dialogue with a purpose. e.g. between characters that shows your setting or imparts information.

Week 9.  Lecture:  Story ideas. 
3/12/15     Discussion: Poems, Julie of the Wolves. 
         Activity:   Story exercises. Victorian Write-Around.
         Assignment: Poems: Longfellow, Browning. Start Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse.  Write a short story (due in 2 weeks).

Week 10.  Lecture: Story ideas.
3/19/15     Discussion: analysis of poems.
           Activity: Creative Write-Around. Story exercise: setting, character, conflict.
           Assignment: Poems: Niedecker, Pope. Continue Out of the Dust. Finish short story (due in 2 weeks).

Week 11. Lecture: Punctuation: Hyphens. Literary Elements.
3/26/15    Discussion:  analysis of poems.
         Activity: Lit Elements worksheet.
              Assignment: Poems:  Elizabeth Barrett Browning, cummings. Finish Out of the Dust.  Week 1 of Group Write-Around Story. Fill out Literary Elements worksheet on one novel.

Week 12:   Lecture: Personification. Nouns. Verbs.
4/2/15         Discussion: Opinions and analysis of poems, Out of the Dust.
            Activity: Personification poems. Nouns and verbs exercise.
            Assignment:  Poems: Tagore, Saxe. Start Maximum Ride by James Patterson.  Week 2 of Group Write-Around Story. Write a personification poem of at least 12 lines.

4/9/15      SPRING BREAK WEEK OFF     

Week 13:  Lecture: Nonet poems.
4/16/15          Discussion:  analysis of novel, poems.
        Activity: Nonet poetry writing.
        Assignment: Poems: Dickinson, Bishop. Continue Maximum Ride. Week 3 of Group Write-Around Story.

Week 14:    Lecture: Poetry Review. Free Verse.
4/23/15             Discussion:  Poems.
             Activity:  Juxtaposition exercise for poetry.
             Assignment:  Poems:  We are More SLAM, Betjeman. Finish Maximum Ride. Write a free verse poem at least 16 lines long. Week 4 of Group Write-Around Story: Write your conclusion. All papers are due next week.

Week 15:    Lecture: Semester Review.
4/30/15             Discussion:  Poems, Maximum Ride.
             Activity: Poetry Madness Final votes. Group stories read aloud.
             Assignment:  All papers are due.

Week 16:      Literature Jeopardy.
5/7/15         End of year party.


                                          ___________________________________


            WORLD LITERATURE, SPRING SEMESTER 2015

Week 1:   Lecture:  India. Rig-Veda. Ramayana. Hyperbole. Word Play.
1/7/15    Discussion: poems. Book choices.
            Activity: Hyperbole exercise. Puns exercise.  Paraphrase Rig-Veda creation hymn. Read aloud Salman         Rushdie excerpt from Midnight’s Children.
        Assignment:  Poems: Tagore, Saxe, Sarojini Naidu. Choose novel.  Read Mahabharata and Ramayana plus short stories:
Hundred Questions from Mahabharata.
Ramayana excerpt.
The Kabuliwallah by Tagore.
Santha Rama Rau: By Any Other Name.

Week 2:    Lecture: East Asia.  Imagery. Description. Story Plan.
1/14/15     Discussion: poems and excerpts.
           Activity: Imagery prompt.
           Assignment:  Poems: Haiku and Tanka, Confucius, Tu Fu. Write up exercise from today or create new description. Write a story plan. Start reading All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Read short stories or excerpts:
Sei Shonagon: excerpt The Pillow Book.
Tao Chien: Peach Blossom Spring.
excerpt The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (oldest novel in world).
Yasunari Kawabata: The Jay.
       
Week 3:    Lecture:  Tanka and Haiku rules. Pantoum poems.
1/21/15     Discussion:  Stories, poems.
          Activity:  Haiku writing, rules and breaking. Pantoum writing.
          Assignment: Poems: Li Po, Tao Te Ching, Bei Dao, So Chongju, Shu Ting, Po Chui. Read Zen parables. Continue reading All Quiet. Write 2 tanka and 2 haiku.

Week 4:    Lecture:  Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Characterization. Character Conflict and Theme.
1/28/15      Discussion: analysis of poems. Character Conflict and Theme in readings.
          Activity:  Character Complications and Tension.
          Assignment:  Poems: Nguyen Trai, Judith Wright. Continue reading All Quiet . Write a character sketch. Write for the group story (optional).

Week 5: Lecture:  Story Complications. Setting. Dialogue review.
2/4/15     Discussion: analysis of poems., novel.
          Activity:  Dialogue prompts.
          Assignment:  Poems:  Oodgeroo of the tribe Noonuccal, Ruth Dallas, Nguyen Thi Vinh. Finish reading All Quiet  Begin writing story.

Week 6:    Lecture:  Europe. Class distinctions as character conflicts. Story writing. Symbolism.
2/11/15     Discussion:  analysis of poems, All Quiet.
           Activity:  Story prompts.
           Assignment: Poem: Marie de France, Song of Roland: Roland’s Pride and Death of Roland. Read story: Giovanni Boccaccio, Ragnarok: Norse myth. Finish reading All Quiet  Begin writing a short story.

Week 7:    Lecture: Story writing. Story checklist.
2/18/15     Discussion: analysis of poems, excerpts.
           Activity: Werewolf writing.    
           Assignment: Poem: Dante Alghieri. Read excerpt Cervantes, Candide by Voltaire excerpt. Begin reading Metamorphosis.  Finish writing story.
 
Week 8:     Lecture:  Rondeau, Triolet: French poems.
2/25/15       Discussion: Dante, Metamorphosis.
                   Activity:  Rondeau, Triolet poetry writing.
                   Assignment: Poems: Heinrich Heine, Victor Hugo.  FInish reading Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Write a rondeau or triolet.

3/4/15    NO CLASS

Week 9:      Activity:  play on video: The Doll’s House by Ibsen.  (2 hour film)
3/11/15       Assignment: Poems: Solzhenitsyn, Rilke, Akhmatova.Begin reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
                       Settle on a Persuasive Essay Topic.

Week 10:   Lecture: Irony. Persuasive Essay Topics.
3/18/15    Discussion:  analysis of poems, The Doll’s House. 
          Activity: finish play on video: The Doll’s House by Ibsen.
          Assignment: Poems: Symbolist poets: Baudelaire, Rimbaud. Continue reading  Life of Pi. Write a rough draft on a Persuasive Essay topic.

Week 11:   Lecture: Review grabbers, 5 paragraph essays. Petrarchan sonnets. Rhetoric. Parallelism.
3/25/15          Rhetorical questions.  Outlines. Literary Elements.
          Discussion: analysis of play, stories.     
          Activity: Rhetoric, Parallelism exercise.
          Assignment: Poems: Frederico Garcia Lorca, Czeslaw Milosz, Pessoa, Hikmet. Continue reading  Life of Pi. Write a Petrarchan sonnet. Outline Persuasive Essay.


4/1/15      SPRING BREAK: 2 WEEKS OFF 
4/8/15               “

Week 12:  Lecture: Analogies.
4/15/15      Discussion:  analysis of poems, short stories.
           Activity: Analogies exercises.
           Assignment: Sonnets: Julia Alvarez, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz,  Petrarch, Louise Labe.  Finish reading Life of Pi by Yann Martell. Write Persuasive Essay. Write a petrarchan sonnet.   

       
Week 13:  Lecture: Grammar. Essay Checklist. MLA Citation. Petrarchan sonnets.
4/22/15        Discussion: poetry analysis. 
            Activity: Grammar.  MLA Citation.  Sonnet writing: Shakespearean vs. Petrarchan.
            Assignment: Poems:  Alexie, Langagne, Jose Marti.  Continue Life of Pi. Finish writing Persuasive Essay. Read Voyage of Christopher Columbus; Mayan creation story from Popol Vuh.

       
Week 14:  Lecture: Cultural idioms. The Americas. Popol Vuh: Creation Hymn.
4/29/15       Discussion: poems, excerpts.
           Activity: Stream of consciousness exercise.
           Assignment: Poems: Bodet, Paz. Finish Life of Pi. Finish writing Persuasive Essay.
Read selected short stories:
Julio Cortazar: The Night Face Up
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World
The Nose by Nicolai Gogol

Week 15:  Lecture: Latin America. Magic Realism. Style. Tone.
5/6/15       Discussion: analysis of poems, novel, and stories.
           Activity:  Magic Realism writing.
           Assignment:  Read poems by Atwood, Neruda. Write up Magic Realism exercise from today (or new).
Read 3 short stories:
Luigi Pirandello: War
Martin Guerre by Alexandre Dumas.
Anton Chekhov: The Bet.

Week 16:  Lecture: Description Review.  Revision.
5/13/15      Discussion: poems, short stories.
           Activity:  Free verse poetry. Final Poetry Madness vote.
           Assignment: Poems: Atwood, Neruda. Revise Persuasive Essay. Finalize all papers, due next week.

Week 17:  Lecture:  Globalization. Semester Review.  Guest Author.
5/20/15      Discussion: poems.
           Activity: Magic Realism write-around.
           Assignment: Poems: All final papers are due.

Week 18: Jeopardy Game.    
5/27/15     End of year party. “One World” cultural and historical icons.

Grading Criterion:
25% Writing assignments
50% Critical and analytical explorations and discussions in class
25% 5 paragraph essays

Assignments:
1. Persuasive Essay
2. Narrative: Story
3. Magic Realism
4. Narrative: Description
Poems:
Rondeau or Triolet
Pantoum
Haiku
Petrarchan sonnet
Free verse

Book Bones: Literary Analysis

           I love reading. It’s the salsa of my burrito, the birdsong of my morning; no-can-do without it.   I have to stack no less than 4 books on my nightstand, many of whom patiently wait through several rounds of unfurling and slumber. When I finish a book, I don’t like to immediately pick up another tome. I need to sit with the last one until I soak up the snare the author has laid for me. I don’t always connect dots, sometimes having to re-read sections to understand something I missed. One perk to teaching is reading the same books for high school literature several times over.  I like to have novels fresh in my mind, but the main benefit is catching something new each time.  
        I first became interested in lit analysis during book clubs. My daughters and I were in a mother/daughter book club. I have also attended several women’s book clubs and a mystery club at a bookstore. I love the issues that come up to discuss, such as immigrant rights in The Tortilla Curtain, deception to survive in A Gentleman in Moscow, and spirituality in The Secret Life of Bees.
      Unlocking a book’s or poem’s layers is something I’m learning along with my students. I’m not the greatest at figuring out certain aspects of literary analysis, and that’s why the internet is incredibly helpful, expert analysis at our fingertips! My favorite two sites of the moment are
Shmoop and Cummings Study Guide. There are other sites like Sparknotes and Cliff Notes. And there are blogs by folks who are in college or who are avid readers. Sometimes I read their takes when I can’t find enough information or my regular go-to sites don’t have the particular novel I’m looking for. This mainly happens with middle school novels.  Some of the publishers offer a list of discussion questions, especially Scholastic, but I find these fairly empty. They focus a bit on comprehension, which is demeaning after a certain point.
      Plot analysis is the easiest to peg. Using the inverted pyramid instantly illustrates plot elements. I draw the party hat lines a few times during the course of a month while the students are reading a book. We revisit that exposition each time, because it is often forgotten when the reader is immersed in a good book. For example, The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, a favorite of middle schoolers, begins in a lab with test tubes. Often the reader forgets that the protagonist, Matt, is a clone, and this plot map shows them the crafting art of the author. The foggiest part of plot elements is the climax, the highest point of tension. I tell my students that no one is ever wrong in naming the climax.
     In fact, I tell students no one is wrong in naming most of the elements.  Scholars argue about many elements, like who the protagonist is in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: Caesar or Brutus. Analysis is interpretation, and each of us interprets from our own perspective and life experience. I’m reading as a senior citizen, having gone through life raising children, through two separate careers. I want my students to be free to find elements that speak to them, not worrying about being right or wrong.  
     Discussion can take up a fair amount of time, and I discuss the poems and the readings during each class. If we’ve just finished reading a book, we usually have a lengthier discussion. Often a bio on the author helps to understand a book, so I will have given that information the first week or so of our reading time.  I also like to point out the writing style early on, so the students can notice as they read. Books and poems are clearly great models for writing.
     I have a handout that explains all the literary elements to look for in a book: plot elements, character archetypes, point of view, tone, mood, irony, symbolism, etc. I also have a Fill-in Worksheet that I use once a year in my middle and high school classes. Every other year I teach and assign a Literary Analysis Essay. I like the students to write about 3 different themes, but they often write about 3 different characters or three separate elements, like protagonist, point of view, and setting.
     Ironically, students find a theme as daunting a concept as a thesis; I’m not sure if that is an ancient Greek mental block or what. I find it ironic because students understand the issues brought up reading a novel but they don’t equate them to “theme.” For instance, Maus by Art Spiegelman is obviously about prejudice, war, and survival, but students sit silent and stymied if I ask specifically for themes instead of issues.
    A friend of mine gave me a formula that I use to teach themes. I found some fairy/folk tales analyses on the net to illustrate the formula.


Determining Character Conflict and Behavior ---->  Theme


Character_______Wants______But______So_______



 
The Tortoise and and The Hare:
character conflict of tortoise = man vs man, man vs self
character conflict of hare = man vs man
tortoise wants to win but he's very slow so he keeps going with determination
hare wants to win but he's far ahead so he takes a break with a nap because he is lazy, not concerned, internal bad attitude
Themes = attitude (hare is arrogant), determination (slow and steady wins the race)


Cinderella:
Cinderella = man vs man, man vs society, man vs self
Cinderella = wants to be loved by her family but they don’t love her and treat her like a servant so she obeys but longs to be included
Cinderella = wants to go to the ball but her stepmother locks her in her room so a fairy godmother magically helps her to attend
Looking deeper in "but" section: why does her family treat her poorly: father’s title (class), money, cruelty.
Themes = class, family, greed, good vs evil, wealth, luck, supernatural, femininity

Brain Blocks: Brainstorming Techniques

      My students have been good-natured guinea pigs, showing me what writing exercises work and what falls flat. If the assignment does not contain any spark of surprise or delight or mystery, then I need to pass it up.  Sometimes I use the same or similar exercises with the elementary, middle school, and even high school students. Everyone comes up with something unique. High schoolers have more life experience and will write something completely different than an elementary student or my much older self. I have found that writing alongside students encourages them and rejuvenates me.
    Every prompt or restriction creates a challenge and offers a brainstorming technique. Ideas are sparked from places I don’t suspect. My daughter wrote an entire 200 page book, starting with a first line I gave her. She asked me for a sentence prompt, and out of the blue I said, Walking along the sidewalk, she was startled to notice something slimy had passed in front of her. 
       Freewrites are, hands down, the most popular brainstorming tool my students enjoy. They must write for 5 minutes straight in complete sentences, without stopping.  It does not have to be cohesive; the ideas can be willy-nilly about the subject. If students are stuck after completing a sentence, then rather than sit idly, they must write the last sentence again. Usually by the time they are writing the repeat, they think of something else to write. The time constraint forces them to focus. I almost always give them a choice of a few things to write about, just for fun, to show students how to write one. Having a silly topic like mud, caves, Girl Scout cookies, socks, or soap,  makes freewriting fun and memorable. Anytime a brain is niggled to produce something clever, a student is hooked.
          Lists are my personal favorite brainstorming tool. I use it every time I write with the class on the board. Almost every week I model the homework assignment on the board. Besides watching exactly how to do the assignment, the students find it is not that difficult.  I write all their ideas on the right side of the board as a list, and then we use them in our exercise.  I use lists for writing poetry as well as essays.
    Rhyming is a terrific ideas tool. Having to create rhymes for a poem means the poet must find and fit an idea between end rhymes. This is fairly easy with rhyming couplets, but sometimes even freer with a rhyme scheme like ABCB. Students find it helpful to find rhymes online from rhyming dictionaries like Rhymer or Rhymezone.
    This brings me to different poem forms. There are so many different forms with structure and rhyming constraints. These too beef up brainstorming. In a swap quatrain, the rhymes are laid out in the first line. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the rhyme scheme has to be ABABCDCDEFEFGG.  In a sestina, the end words do not usually rhyme, but they are in a specific order,  wringing notions from the poet. —-
    I also like graphic organizers. I draw bubble outlines for essays and a pyramid for mapping plots. Some of my students use a diagram for creating or analyzing a character, and some prefer a fill-in worksheet I give them.
    One of my favorite assignments is an ode or a free verse poem in which I hand out a descriptive chart. It’s really just a list of figurative language types or literary devices.  I ask the students to fill it in on their subject and write a poem using as many as possible. This list includes imagery of each sense, metaphor, similes, onomatopoeia, personification, repetition, rhyming, allusion, etc.  The poems written using this list turn out beautifully!
    I have a handout for Writers Block or Brain Freeze.  I give this out each year to my middle and high schoolers. This has more ideas about preparing to write. Vary the place you write, on your bed, outside in a swing. Vary your font. Deal with a troubling problem before writing. Schmooze with a friend or Mom. Set realistic goals. Walk away from a paper and return later or the next day.
    There are many more brainstorming tools. It’s normal to become stuck sometimes. It’s also nice to be able to discuss a subject with someone else. I always encourage my students to call or email me. No need to become stymied, when I can help. I want them to succeed.

BRAIN FREEZE -- WRITER’S BLOCK

If you get the writing willies try these ideas:

Get something on paper.  Brainstorming, freewriting, spider webs, cluster outline, regular outlining, even doodles about your subject to christen that white paper.

Schmooze with a friend briefly.  Tossing around ideas can get you thinking creatively.

Ignore factors such as sentence length or word count when you first start out.  Concentrate instead on getting a draft in place.

Write the draft out of order, starting with the parts you find easiest.  For instance, start with the conclusion, move to the body paragraphs and end with the introduction.

Vary your method: use the computer keyboard with different fonts, print while sitting on your bed, hand write on the porch swing outside.  If using the computer, turn it off and just focus on your thoughts for a while.

Figure out what’s keeping you from writing,  Deal with the problem, and then go back to writing.

Set aside a specific amount of time and make yourself write for all of it.  Don’t worry about the product.

Set realistic goals, such as one paragraph or a page at a time, not an entire essay or novel in one sitting.

If you write without a net or plan or outline (or even if you do), look for links among your ideas.  Remember you are not obligated to use all or part of your draft.  This realization can free you to explore new directions.

Ask reporter’s questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

Schedule and Safety

         

         Because I teach homeschoolers, I only meet with them once a week for 1 - 1.5 hours. I cram in as much as I can in that time, making sure each student understands for the most part. 

     Each of my classes follows the same format or schedule. When the students arrive they pull out a pencil, and I hand them the ice breaker slip of paper. I ask the ice breaker question and give example answers, If you had wings, where would you fly to?  As high up as possible. The top of the Los Angeles US Bank building at night with its lights on. Over the mountains to the desert. (For ice breakers explanation, please see my post of Ice Breakers, Jan. 2018.)

      Next I ask the students to take out the poetry handout I gave them the previous week. They read the poems as homework, and now we discuss them fully and have our Poetry Madness vote. Poetry is a quick package as a model for writing and literary analysis. (Please see my post of Poetry Madness, Jan. 2018.)

     I have also assigned a reading. It might be an act from a Shakespeare play or a few chapters of a novel. We discuss this as much as possible, and I give them background on the author, the novel, or a character. For instance, many novels contain dragons. I will give them historical background on dragons and tell them what a dragon represents or symbolizes. Or I might concentrate on a character, discussing strengths and weaknesses, archetype, and character conflicts.

I tell the students with poetry and literature analysis: they are never wrong because it is interpretation. It’s better to guess than to not try. Analysis takes practice too, again hard work and diligence.  I do allow the students to discuss issues with opinions.  Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell bring up many issues that we face today, and the discussions can be lively.

  Finally we reach the writing portion of class. Here’s where I introduce a writing tool, skill, or formula. I often give a handout and model on the board, using student ideas. Then the students practice it.  This is when I try to walk around and see if everyone understands, brainstorming where needed. At home, students will  incorporate the skill into their homework assignment.  

     One of my goals as a writing teacher is to create a safe environment in the classroom to share writings. I know how difficult writing is; it takes focus and diligence.  In class we are at this phase: hard work, so the writing is not perfect or refined when I am asking the students to share.  In a group the ones who offer to share first are the extraverts. I try several ways to soften each class into one in which a quieter person can also feel comfortable to share. The ice breakers work miracles toward this goal. Everyone shares, and everyone is heard and noticed. Rarely does a student not participate in the ice breaker; it’s usually when he/she can’t think of an answer to write down. The ice breaker does its job: serves as an easy, fun way to get to know each other.  Pretty quickly a bond forms between the whole class; they all are eager for the ice breaker when they walk in the door. It almost becomes a game, like Apples to Apples, guessing who might write which idea.

    I do not allow comments on content. I constantly remind the students of this for the first few weeks in class, but they usually understand by the time we are well into the semester.  Peer pressure aids me in this. The students want to hear others’ writings and ideas. 

    Sharing your writing among others requires a safe environment. Writing can be art or from the heart, and baring either is risky. I always point out the best parts of the writing or simply whoop. I want the sharing to be positive. 

      Sometimes putting the students in groups helps the fear of sharing. If they have to present at the end of class, commiserating makes it less frightening.  I don’t use groups that often, because writing is personal and,  really, a solitary activity. However, the students do learn from others in a group, even if they are not offering much. And I feel the presentations hold value for safety.

   Last, I don’t push students to participate in anything; I believe this also helps in creating a safe environment. Some students need to observe first before deciding to join in. During the classes with group activities, some students prefer to work on their own.

    There are the rare students who will not feel safe to speak up in class or share writing. I do not comment on this. I ask gently, and I take “no” for an answer. I believe this builds trust between us. After all, they are handing me their papers. They know I read them intently, and this is a safety issue in my eyes too.