Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Wk. 1 Vocabulary: Story can be posted here or turned in on separate paper.


Week #1 Vocabulary Writing
**Writing Grade**
Categorize all of the following words according to how well you know them and can use them:
Orneriness     welts          scalded           unperturbed         pious           sprawled       scorched                
agitation   Sashay          unperturbed           beseeching     consternation

strangers
acquaintances
friends







Story Writing:
You must choose at least seven words to use in a story based on one of the following story lines:
1.      Write a story about Rosaleen’s childhood with her mother (who sold baskets on the side of the road) and her siblings (there were six others).
2.    Write a story about T. Ray and Deborah’s marriage and life together before or after Lily was born.
3.     Write a story inspired by the topics and events we covered last week:
§  Warriors Don’t Cry (Do youth have the power to change society?)
§  Egypt’s Facebook Revolution (Is Facebook the Social Network or the Social Change Network?)
§  The Power of Nonviolence (Can there be social change without violence?)
Keep in mind that the nature and theme of these words is unpleasant so you need to plan your story accordingly so that it is easier to use them.  Start your story in class today (Wednesday) and finish it for homework.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Response Grades


What do fantastic/great/good/mediocre responses look like?

4 (A):
100%
"Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open." That voice gave her the courage to run away.  he had been thinking about it, but never had the guts to
do it. That one little voice gave her the push, to get out of her crazy
life.
---> Before she left her house she wrote a note to T.Ray. It stated not
to find her and that people like him should "rot in hell". She grabbed
her duffel filled it with clothes, and grabbed her mother's gloves and
black Mary. She decided she was going to make her way to Tiburon
because she thought someone had to have known her mother if she was
there because the inscription on the back of the photo said "Tiburon,
S.C.". Then she went and found Rosaleen. Rosaleen was in the hospital
getting stitches; there was a guard blocking her door, so no one could
see her. Lily made a clever plan, and called the hospital pretend there
was an emergency, and the officer had to go down to the station right
away. Then she fooled the nurse at the hospital by calling her
a "shitbucket" and ran into another room. She waited for the nurse to
leave the desk, and then the two of them bolted out the door.
---> They made their way down to Highway 40 and tried to hitch hike. A
colored man going to visit his sister in Columbia, (3 miles away from
Tiburon) took them. They got to a sign that said "Tiburon 3 miles" and
the man let them out. They walked awhile and made it to a bridge. They
decided to stay there and sleep by the creek; they would finish their
way to Tiburon the next day.

4--(A) 95%
June Boatwright has been cruel to Lily and Rosaleen ever since they arrived at the home of the “Calendar Sisters”. She refused to let them stay there, and if it wasn’t for August to come along, they probably would have been living in the streets now or still just wandering around Tiburon, South Carolina, looking for a home that consisted of people who would actually greet them in with open arms. “But she’s white, August.” (pg. 87) June said this while talking to her sister, trying to convince her that Lily and Rosaleen should be forcibly removed from their home. Being hated by June so much really confused Lily; she would wonder why a black person would hate a white one. Usually, back then, it was black people that were mistreated, but when someone non-black (like Lily) is treated the same way, it doesn’t make her feel exactly jubilant on the inside.

In addition, what also confused Lily is that if June does not like white people, then how come she wouldn’t let in Rosaleen, who is black? Even though whites and blacks are all EQUAL, June obviously doesn’t feel that way. But then, don’t you think that she should have at least let Rosaleen stay there? It is all completely wrong, and I think that there is a stronger reason behind why June doesn’t like them. Now, I just want to find out.
 

3 (B), 85%:
Being discriminated against is a very strange concept for her because she is white. She is surprised because she always thought that racism was a one way street, that whites treat blacks differently, not the other way around. Lily is used to being held as a normal person, at least when it comse to the color of her skin, but now she is being discriminated against for it. But yet, Lily is surprised of the hipocricy that they are mad about normally being discriminated against, yet now they are doing it to lily. "I wanted to march up there, flip a couple of tables over, and say, Excuse me, June Boatwright, but you dont even know me!" (87) She is also shocked to hear, that the sisters dont believe her story. THey saw right through her lies. "There's no aunt and you know it," (87) Lily thought that she had fooled the sisters into believeing her false story but she didnt fool them.

2 (C), 75% :
"But she's white, August."(pg 87) Lily "Williams" finds this so unusual because she not used have people not like her because she is white. Lily is so accustomed to having people look at Rosaleen weird not Lily. Lily is also so confused why June doesn't like her because she thinks that June has no reason to dislike her. Also she probably thinks that everyone should be nice to her just like she expected Rosaleen to apologize to the three white men.

1 (D), 65% :
The unusual-nest in this situation is that she a little girl. Lily is surprised when the think someones after her. Rosaleen with her made her even more suspicious.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Wk. 1 Option #4 Paint Me a Picture

Prompt:
Sue Monk Kidd (the author of Secret Life of Bees) is a figurative language master. She uses a variety of literary and figurative language elements. These include:

* Simile
* Metaphor
* Personification
* Alliteration
* Allusion (biblical, historical, literary)
* Onomatopoeia
* Rhetorical Questions
* Foreshadowing


Response Requirement:
Find four examples of literary devices throughout your reading. Use your sticky notes to aid you in posting.

* Identify first THE ELEMENT, then the quote, the page number, and why you believe it is a specific element.

Wk. 1 Option #12 Ch. 2 Intro Quote

Chapter(s)  2

Prompt  
On leaving the old nest, the swarm normally flies only a few miles and settles.  Scout bees look for a suitable place to start the new colony.  Eventually, one location wins favor and the whole swarm takes to the air.  --Bees of the World

Response Required
  • How do the events of chapter 2 echo the chapter introductory quote?

Wk. 1 Option #8 Ch. 1 Introductory Quote

Prompt:
The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness. Man and Insect (Ch. 1)


Response Requirement:
--In what ways is this quote relevant to the first chapter? Analyze it metaphorically and include details from the text to support your analysis.

Wk. 1 Option #9 Writing

Prompt:
Lily seems to be a bit of a loner, so it comes as no surprise to the reader that she loves reading and writing--independent activities.

Response Requirement:

  • What is the importance of reading and writing thus far in the novel?
  • (text-to-text) What is the power of reading and writing for the Freedom Writers, Anne Frank, or Francis Cassavant?

Wk. 1 Option #10 Last Names and Family

Prompt:
Lily may have a last name (Owens), but it doesn't give her much of an identity. She may also have a family, but that doesn't give her much either.


Response Requirement:


  • Does Lily's personality and outlook surprise you at all based on her circumstance in life?
  • Make a text-to-text connection with Francis Joseph Cassavant (of Heroes) about his name and family.

Wk. #1 Option #11 The People in the Pond

Prompt  
Choose one of the major characters in the text so far: Lily, Rosaleen, or T. Ray.  Each of them played a significant role in the development of the novel's conflicts.



Response Required
  • Describe the character and how they have been shaped by their lives.
  • Make a text-to-text connection with another character from any of our stories this year.

Book Preview

"Secret Life of Bees" introduction

Wk. 1 Option #1 Themes

Chapter(s) #
pre-reading

Prompt:
This book presents many of the same themes that we have already been discussing this year.  Knowing these themes will help you develop text-to-text responses throughout the novel.  Themes to explore:
  • Secrets and secret lives
  • coming of age
  • search for identity
  • relationships with parents
  • resilience of the human spirit
  • man's inhumanity to man
  • discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, class structure (social class)
  • literacy--the role of writing
  • how death gives way to life

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.
  • Choose two themes from the list above.  We will be working with these themes in class this week so it is suggested that you put this off until that day.  Explain how each has been found in Heroes, Anne Frank, and/or Of Mice and Men.

Wk. 1 Option #7 True Life: I Chose to Kneel on Grits

Prompt:
In Chapter 1, T. Ray punishes Lily by making her kneel on the Martha Whites for an hour.


Response Requirement:
Kneel on the grits yourself. (no quotes necessary)

* What did you expect? What did they feel like?
* What does this punishment say about T. Ray? Lily's childhood and maturity?

Wk. 1 Option #6 Philosophy of Life

Prompt:
On page 16, Lily mentions how she wrote "My Philosophy of Life" for a school assignment. Sue Monk Kidd also had to write one when she was a little girl, maybe that's where she got the idea from.


Response Requirement: (Use a quote that supports one part of her philosophy.)

* Based on what you know so far, what would be her philosophy?
* What is your own philosophy of life?

Wk. 1 Option #2 Charm Bracelet

Prompt:
Lily wants a charm bracelet for her birthday.


Response Requirement:

* Speculate about what four charms she would want on her charm bracelet. Why? (Use a quote to support one of your charm ideas.)
* What four charms would you put on your charm bracelet?

Wk. 1 Option #3 Inequalities

Prompt:
Look for gender, race, or class inequalities and injustices.


Response Requirement:


* Provide a detailed example of equality/inequality appearing in our reading. Who has the power? How is it used?
* The book takes place in the 1960's, but is this inequality still present in society today? Explain.

Wk. 1 Option #5 What's going on in the pond?

Prompt:
There are bound to be some serious questions going on after reading Lily's fragmented flashback and reminisce of her time in T.Ray's house. What's on your mind?


Response Requirement:


* Write down a question (or two). Don't just ask the question. Supply reasons why you are confused.
* What is the line/quote you are reflecting on?