English 10 Work

1.    Complete this worksheet about the elements of fiction. You will need to use theReadWriteThink link to find your answers. Please note, the elements are in a different order on the website than they are on the worksheet.

2.    Learn about the different types of literary genres with this slideshare presentation. As you go through the presentation, take notes answering the following questions:

1.    What is a genre?

2.    Which genre do you find most appealing and why?

3.    Focus in on some of the oldest forms of fiction: myths, legends, fables, folktales, and fairy tales. Visit the following websites and create a good definition for each of the terms: http://www.ability.org.uk/mytholog.html,http://classiclit.about.com/cs/10th14thcentury/a/aa_definemyth.htm.

• myths, 
• legends, 
• fables, 
• folktales, 
• fairy tales

The People's Pie

See if you can balance the federal budget! Play People's Pie. Make sure you show your results to your teacher to get credit.

Autobiographical Memoirs OR Realistic Fiction Pre-Writing

Week 12:

1. I want you to think of some ideas for your own autobiographical short story.  Think about your own experiences.  "Write what you know" is a famous piece of advice.  Start out by writing a piece called “I remember.”  This piece is a brainstorm, free flow of thoughts that can work as a prewriting strategy.  If you handwrite, this should be 30 lines at least.  If you type, this should be 15 lines at least (12 point font).  If you get stuck, just write “I remember” and restart.  You may write about just one memory the whole time or a bunch of different memories.

2. Next, think of at least FIVE ideas of stories that have happened to you or someone that you know well that you can retell in a short story (creative license is fine here to fill in some details). 
So that you have some other options, write down THREE more ideas in which you can be a little more creative. That is, you don't have to write about an actual instance in your life, but base it on what you know.  Nathan Englander explains that sometimes, “'Write what you know’ isn’t about events… It’s about emotions. Have you known love? jealousy? longing? loss? Did you want that [video game system] so bad you might have killed for it? If so, it doesn't matter whether your story takes place in Long Island or on Mars – if you’re writing what you know, readers will feel it.”

3. Choose your top THREE story ideas from above.  For each of those three story ideas, write a descriptive paragraph that focuses in on a character or a setting within that story idea, using imagery. 

The Great Gatsby Vocabulary

View the PowerPoint and copy the words and their definitions on your vocabulary packet.

Death of a Salesman Vocabulary

View the PowerPoint to complete your vocabulary packet on key words from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

Introduction to Diction, Imagery, & Memoirs

Week 11:

1. Finish publishing your myth.

2. Expand your vocabulary by learning about Greek and Latin roots.  View and complete the following worksheet that will expose you to and give you practice with 14 common roots.

3. Read the following imagery-rich passage, paying attention to details that make you see, hear, smell, taste, and/or feel that which is being described:

“The hot July sun beat relentlessly down, casting an orange glare over the farm buildings, the fields, the pond. Even the usually cool green willows bordering the pond hung wilted and dry. The low buzzing of mosquitoes hung about us.  Our sun-baked backs ached for relief. We quickly pulled off our sweaty clothes and plunged into the pond, but the tepid water only stifled us, and we soon climbed onto the brown, dusty bank. Our parched throats longed for something cool—a tart strawberry ice, a tall frosted glass of sweetly sour lemonade.
“We pulled our clothes out of the crackling underbrush, the sharp briars pulling at our heavy, wet clothes.  We wriggled into our damp jeans and ambled toward the watermelon patch. As we began to cut open the nearest melon, we could smell the pungent skin mingling with the dusty odor of the dry earth. Suddenly, the melon gave way with a crack, revealing the deep, pink sweetness inside.”

4. Then, list ten examples of phrases from the passage that show imagery & classify them by the sense to which they appeal (sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch).

5. Then, I would like you to read and react to ONE of the following autobiographical short stories: "Hair" by Malcolm X OR "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros.  Your reactions should be about a paragraph long each and should briefly summarize the story as well as discuss what you notice about Malcolm X’s or Cisneros’s writing style that you liked and that could help you in your own writing. These stories are acting as mentor texts, examples of autobiographical (or semi-autobiographical) realistic writing that can help you think about your own story and voice.

6. Next, I want you to think of some ideas for your own autobiographical short story.  Think about your own experiences.  "Write what you know" is a famous piece of advice.  Start out by writing a piece called “I remember.”  This piece is a brainstorm, free flow of thoughts that can work as a prewriting strategy.  If you handwrite, this should be 30 lines at least.  If you type, this should be 15 lines at least (12 point font).  If you get stuck, just write “I remember” and restart.  You may write about just one memory the whole time or a bunch of different memories.

7. Last, think of at least FIVE ideas of stories that have happened to you or someone that you know well that you can retell in a short story (creative license is fine here to fill in some details). 
So that you have some other options, write down THREE more ideas in which you can be a little more creative. That is, you don't have to write about an actual instance in your life, but base it on what you know.  Nathan Englander explains that sometimes, “'Write what you know’ isn’t about events… It’s about emotions. Have you known love? jealousy? longing? loss? Did you want that [video game system] so bad you might have killed for it? If so, it doesn't matter whether your story takes place in Long Island or on Mars – if you’re writing what you know, readers will feel it.”

Shh! We're Writing the Constitution Video

watch the video "Shh! We're Writing the Constitution." 

Bank Runs & The Federal Reserve

Before the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), people's savings accounts were not insured if the bank went bankrupt. During the Great Depression, people all wanted to get their money from the banks at the same time, but the banks didn't have the money and many people lost part or all of their savings. This was called a bank run. The film, It's a Wonderful Life depicts what a bank run looked like and explains why the banks didn't have the money on hand.

Watch the video about the Central Bank of the United States to provide some background knowledge about the Federal Reserve ('The Fed").