one more: http://t.co/vG0LZdp

Ms. Anna Stansky, a dynamic speech/language pathologist, and I came up with these tips for a specific student, but the more I read it, the more I think this will help everyone.

1. Read like a banshee at least 30 to 60 minutes daily. Choose books from the library and/or bookstore, but read in order to support your word fluency, vocabulary and general comprehension. Check the blog tomorrow as I’ll be posting the NYTimes.com’s annual Summer Reading Contest. Check out reading lists at: http://relaoutloud.tumblr.com/post/6222141725/summer-reading-makes-me-dance-no-really-it-does

• Be sure you reads books that are on your reading level (almost everyone has seen their SRI score, if not email me at monetc(at)gmail.com) aloud to you all so that you can catch any word mispronunciations and check for comprehension as well. Return to the text after correcting yourself and look for proof in the text.
• If you’re with a parent or friend, Read Alouds do not have to be formal. You can fix dinner, etc. and do it with each other.

2. You need to practice reading for critical understanding that moves beyond identification. So, after you read, go to any of these links for critical thinking questions he can respond to verbally or in writing.

• http://literacypathways.wikispaces.com/file/view/Bloom%E2%80%99s+Critical+Thinking+Cue+Questions.pdf (go to page 3)
• http://www.cambrian.k12.ca.us/OldSite/farnham/teachers/staffpages/room_07/ReadingCompStrategies-ForParents.pdf

3. After you finish reading a section (a few pages) or a chapter, discuss the book with a friend, parent (or email me). Then, answer some of the critical thinking questions above on paper. You can also do this comic strip below.

• Comic Strip Book Review

4. Next, edit and revise your writing. The links below should help.

• My Editing Checklist
• Revising Checklist

5. Present your writing to someone. Critique the presentation as much as the writing. Presenting is important because if you’re not speaking loudly and clearly enough to be heard, how are people going to know what you’re talking about? Go back and fix any mistakes you find.

6. Organizational Patterns is another area of concern. To that effect, complete a mini-project where you have to teach someone else something that only you know how to do. Then, complete any one of the templates below.

• My Procedure For…. 

• How To…

7. Persuasive Writing is also an area you can work on. Give yourself a goal: Try to convince a parent or guardian to allow you to do something you really want to do. You must PROVE that the goal is worthwhile with data and examples (primary sources), not just your own reasoning. If you does not have the PROOF (especially, primary sources) to support your opinion, then you cannot do it. Do it over and over again until you get it right. I’d also recommend that you use the librarians as a resource.

• Persuasive Writing
• Persuasive Writing Organizer
• Persuasive Writing Template

8. Your Conversations. When you discuss your goals for the summer or life, the mini-project, your reading fluency development, what your reading about, etc., the form below should help. You can ask some of the questions, just a few or all of them. Honestly, I’d choose three to five questions to ask yourself and go from there. The purpose of the Feedback document is to create conversation that enhances critical thinking.

• Feedback

Stay in touch! Ya’ll can always send me a NOTE on the blog and I’ll respond.

took a professional personal day to attend the 15th Achievement Gaps Symposium, sponsored by ETS and the Children’s Defense Fund. This year’s focus is addressing the challenges and the obstacles that face young black boys in their quest for educational attainment. It’s more of a policy discussion, but it’s great to be a teacher here and become reinvigorated about the work we MUST do to educate and prepare our children not just to enter college and the work force, but to change the socioeconomic, class, gender and racial dynamics that exist today.

As I type these words, the lectures and discussions are rich. This is the mission of educators: To not carry the status quo, but to defy it if it means educating our children, especially young black boys. Good stuff today. I’ll give some notes on what I learned and helpful links to continue the discussion.

When I return to school, I’m curious to know what you all think as students. This conference is really talking about your experiences in the educational system and how you can move forward in successfully achieving a college degree with excellence.

peace.

ms. cooper

OK, I have not yet posted Class-by-Class data. My apologies, between a field trip, closing exercises and grades data analysis has not happened in full. It will happen by Thursday. Thank you for your patience.

After you finish putting together your paragraphs, be sure you do revise and proofread your paper.

1. Read your paper aloud and check for any mistakes (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, MLA citation errors, confusing sentences that do not clearly communicate your awesome ideas). As soon as you spot the error, correct it!
2. See this informative link about in-text MLA formatting. Be sure it is done correctly!
3. Then, read over your paper one more time.
4. Email it to me at erin.cooper(at)pgcps.org.

            Why do seemingly good people suddenly commit evil acts? Edgar Allan Poe seems to confront this issue head on in his popular short story The Tell-Tale Heart. In The Tell-Tale Heart Poe writes of a man who seems innocuous, but eventually admits to murdering his neighbor because of his “vulture eye” (283). The narrator, whose name and gender remain unknown to the reader, confesses to the act as evidence of his sanity, but appears all the more insane because of why he did the crime and his admission of guilt to the police. Poe uses repetition to illustrate how manipulative and normal the nature of evil can be, while the imagery forces the reader to feel fascination and repugnance at the narrator’s devious deed. These devices become metafictional techniques Poe uses to create tension in the narrator’s actions, while also problematizing the ways in which evil can appear benign, confusing sanity and insanity.

           While the narrator tells the story as an example of his (or her) sanity, the repeated words and phrases, prove quite the opposite. The repetition is more than a tool the Poe uses to emphasize a point in the tale or the narrator’s idiosyncratic behavior; it insists that evil and insanity go hand in hand. Throughout the text the word “very” is repeated in couplets. “Very, very” at the beginning of the story to underscore how nervous he was in the commission of the crime. He repeats it again to assert how circumspectly and deliberately he implemented his plan, be it moving “slowly” (281) so as not to disturb his victim’s slumber or explain how covert he was in uncovering the lamp in order to see the eye and kill the old man. The repetition emphasizes the way in which the speaker meditates on his actions leading up to the murder and shortly after. His premeditation not only speaks to the deliberateness of the act, but also its malevolent nature. Poe uses repetition to complicate the idea of evil. For a deed to be evil, and the narrator considered guilty, does one have to be sane? The repetition here indicates the speaker’s sanity and guilt. The crime and confession appear to be the work of a madman — he dismembers a man who “had never given me insult” (281) because of an evil-looking eye. Yet, in telling how he committed the crime, he is very sane, using the same word to underscore the methodical nature of his crime. I argue that the speaker attempts to manipulate the reader into believing he is insane, although in reality he (or she) is lucid enough to plan the perfect crime — and wickedly evil enough to get away with it without being put to death. Here Poe confuses what evil is and is not, what connotes guilt and what does not. Evil is not a vengeful murder in the Paris catacombs (Cask of Amontillado). Evil is not the theft of a valuable letter (The Purloined Letter), evil is manipulative, unhurried and violent (The Black Cat).

             (PARAGRAPH #3 Honors Only, remember what we did in class. I did not fill this in because we did some of this together): While Poe’s imagery works in a variety of ways — foreshadowing the old man’s impending doom, building suspense, and compounding the eerie, foreboding mood — these devices become metafictional techniques Poe uses to create irony in the narrator’s actions. The irony problematizes the ways in which evil can appear harmless, but is very dangerous, confusing what it means to be sane and insane. Proof: What proof from the text should I use to support my thesis and finish my analysis? What’s my final analysis?

            Poe’s repetition and imagery confuses the reader into believing the narrator is insane by emphasizing the narrator’s deed, not the cunning required to execute the murderous task.  These metafictional techniques build suspense, while also problematizing the ways in which we think about sanity and insanity. However, by closely examining the words and phrases used to describe the planning and execution of the acts, one can arrive at the conclusion that though the acts committed are insane, the narrator is very sane. Poe’s works have always been interested in the human psyche. What drives someone to murder and brutalty? While the act of violence itself may seem the evidence of a demented mind, Poe’s explorations rest not with the perpetrator of the crime, but rather with what the observer thinks of the perpetrator. The Tell-Tale Heart is a story told in first person, much like a confession. The repetition builds to a frenzy in the end as the heartbeat becomes “louder, louder” (285). The imagery of EXAMPLE HERE from PARAGRAPH #3, creates a revulsion because the reader wants to turn away from the spectacle of blood and gore before us on the page. Yet, now the reader is now involved in the question of the perpetrator’s sanity and insanity and cannot turn away. Poe uses the imagery to create suspense and thus force the reader to continue reading to make a judgment about the character’s deed and mental state. The Tell-Tale Heart is a social commentary on both how we think about violence as symptomatic of something evil, but also how we judge someone (or something) as reflective of abhorrent behavior and something deeper than that, something very evil.

Remember to start with your outline

HONORS: Four Paragraphs

GENERAL: Three Paragraphs

I. INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

A.   Introductory Sentence/Lede: Why do seemingly good people suddenly commit evil acts? Edgar Allan Poe seems to confront this issue head on in his popular short story The Tell-Tale Heart.

B.   Summarize: In The Tell-Tale Heart Poe writes of a man who seems innocuous, but eventually admits to murdering his neighbor because of his “vulture eye” (283). The narrator, whose name and gender remain unknown to the reader, confesses to the act as evidence of his sanity, but appears all the more insane because of why he did the crime and his admission of guilt to the police.

C.   Thesis

1.    Style element/literary devices: repetition, imagery, metafictional techniques

a.    Poe uses repetition to illustrate how manipulative and normal the nature of evil can be, while the imagery forces the reader to feel fascination and repugnance at the narrator’s devious deed. These devices become metafictional techniques Poe uses to create tension in the narrator’s actions, while also problematizing the ways in which evil can appear benign, confusing sanity and insanity.

II. BODY PARAGRAPH #1

A.   Thesis Statement: While the narrator tells the story as an example of his (or her) sanity, the repeated words and phrases, prove quite the opposite. The repetition is more than a tool the Poe uses to emphasize a point in the tale or the narrator’s idiosyncratic behavior; it insists that evil and insanity go hand in hand.

B.   Proof: Throughout the text the word “very” is repeated in couplets. “Very, very” at the beginning of the story to underscore how nervous he was in the commission of the crime. He repeats it again to assert how circumspectly and deliberately he implemented his plan, be it moving “slowly” (281) so as not to disturb his victim’s slumber or explain how covert he was in uncovering the lamp in order to see the eye and kill the old man.

C.    Analysis (your opinion): The repetition emphasizes the way in which the speaker meditates on his actions leading up to the murder and shortly after. His premeditation not only speaks to the deliberateness of the act, but also its malevolent nature. Poe uses repetition to complicate the idea of evil. For a deed to be evil, and the narrator considered guilty, does one have to be sane? The repetition here indicates the speaker’s sanity and guilt. The crime and confession appear to be the work of a madman — he dismembers a man who “had never given me insult” (281) because of an evil-looking eye. Yet, in telling how he committed the crime, he is very sane, using the same word to underscore the methodical nature of his crime. I argue that the speaker attempts to manipulate the reader into believing he is insane, although in reality he (or she) is lucid enough to plan the perfect crime — and wickedly evil enough to get away with it without being put to death. Here Poe confuses what evil is and is not, what connotes guilt and what does not. Evil is not a vengeful murder in the Paris catacombs (Cask of Amontillado). Evil is not the theft of a valuable letter (The Purloined Letter), evil is manipulative, unhurried and violent (The Black Cat).

III. BODY PARAGRAPH #2 irony metafictional techniques, imagery

A.   Thesis Statement: While Poe’s imagery works in a variety of ways — foreshadowing the old man’s impending doom, building suspense, and compounding the eerie, foreboding mood — these devices become metafictional techniques Poe uses to create irony in the narrator’s actions. The irony problematizes the ways in which evil can appear harmless, but is very dangerous, confusing what it means to be sane and insane.

B.   WE DO Proof: What proof from the text should I use to support my thesis and finish my analysis?

C.   WE DO Analysis: What’s my final analysis?

IV. CLOSING PARAGRAPH

A.   Restate thesis. Poe’s repetition and imagery confuses the reader into believing the narrator is insane by emphasizing the narrator’s deed, not the cunning required to execute the murderous task.  These metafictional techniques build suspense, while also problematizing the ways in which we think about sanity and insanity. However, by closely examining the words and phrases used to describe the planning and execution of the acts, one can arrive at the conclusion that though the acts committed are insane, the narrator is very sane.

B.    Analysis: Poe’s works have always been interested in the human psyche. What drives someone to murder and brutalty? While the act of violence itself may seem the evidence of a demented mind, Poe’s explorations rest not with the perpetrator of the crime, but rather with what the observer thinks of the perpetrator. The Tell-Tale Heart is a story told in first person, much like a confession. The repetition builds to a frenzy in the end as the heartbeat becomes “louder, louder” (page number here). The imagery EXAMPLE HERE, creates a revulsion because the reader wants to turn away from the spectacle of blood and gore before us. Yet, now the reader is now involved in the question of the perpetrator’s sanity and insanity and cannot. The Tell-Tale Heart is a social commentary on both how we think about violence as symptomatic of something evil, but also how we judge someone (or something) as  reflective of abhorrent behavior or something deeper than that, something very evil.