Final Chapters

'No Man is an Island', by John Donne

No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as
if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in
mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.

"Join me Luke...wheeze... No man is an island!"

I am a Rock, by Paul Simon

A Winter’s day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
Its laughter and its loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don’t talk of love,
But I’ve heard the words before;
It’s sleeping in my memory.
I won’t disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

Task 1

Examine the texts "I am a Rock" and "No Man is an Island". Do you think John Donne would agree with the ideas and sentiments presented by Paul Simon? Using specific reference to the texts, defend your opinion. (1-2 paragraph(s))

Task 2

How might the theme(s) from the texts relate to the novel? Choose either Donne or Simon's text, and find a line or quotation in the novel that you feel develops a similar theme. Justify your choice.

Task 3

Post your compositions for Tasks 1 and 2. 

Chapter 7 and 8

You will be posting one comment on these readings. Be sure to place all required portions of your assignment on this single posting! No nick names or undue silliness!

Task 1

Step I

Use reciprocal reading in small groups to read chapter 7.

Step II

As a group, compose a CTS activity sheet on the chapter. Your worksheet should have three sections.

• Content Comprehension: four activities that begin with the words: tell, show, who, what, when, where, label, differentiate, quote, name (one mark each)

• Text Analysis: three activities that begin with: explain, describe, contrast, arrange, select, , infer, examine, compare or illustrate (2 marks each)

• Synthesize : two tasks that require the individual to evaluate the text. Begin with: assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, summarize (3 marks each)

Be sure that each member of the group has a copy of the CTS sheet, and feels comfortable completing each task.

Task 2

Step I

Read chapter 8 individually. While reading, answer the following:

• What tone is the author attempting to develop in this chapter? Gather ten words the author uses that help develop this tone.
• Post your answer to the comment board when you are uploading your response to Task 4.

Step II

Using the paper provided, design and a visual representation of how chapter 8. Your artwork should match the tone of the chapter. You may utilize a selection of the words you gathered in Step I. 

Task 3. 

Plan and compose a persuasive paragraph that explains how the author develops themes within her novel. Be sure to follow the Statement, Evidence, Explanation model. Successful responses will utilize some of the following:

• varied sentence starters
• a direct quotation
• triple modifiers
• a however, furthermore, nevertheless starter
• at least one good quality vocabulary term
• a clear "sometimes people..." statement
• a logical clinching sentence 

Task 4...Posting:

Step I: Read the paragraphs posted by your peers. Identify at least one thing you liked about someone else's paragraph.

Step II: Post your tone ideas.

Step II: copy your own SEE paragraph onto the posting board.

Chapter 6

The Writing Task:

This week, your challenge is to utilize the image below within your story line  in some way shape or form. Remember, try to use the writing tools taught in class to enrich your tale. Consider employing some of the following

• parallelism
• very short sentences (3)
• irony
• triple adverbs, adjectives
• compound and complex sentences
• a variation of the assigned sentence starters
• a 6 line piece of poetry
• useful vocabulary terms

"You sure can cuss good Dally" (pg 82)

This comment reveals a little of the hero worship Johnny has for Dallas. Such unrestrained adoration can be dangerous. 

Task 1

Step 1. Describe how placing heroes on pedestals can be disappointing in the long run.

Step 2. How does Johnny’s admiration for Dallas place him in danger?

Step 3. Explain how the idea of hero worship might relate to the poems “Ozymandius” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.

Step 4: Post your response.

Task 2

We will be reading this chapter together during class.

“You three are the bravest kids I’ve seen in a long time… are you just professional heroes or something?” (pg 95)

When we are young, our heroes are often idealistic or fantastic. Batman, Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones are terrific characters, but are they real heroes? What sorts of people can we consider genuine heroes. Visit the site below and complete the following steps.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C001515/design/

Step 1.
Visit the “how to select a hero” icon. Take point form notes describing the qualities and attributes associated with the four groups of heroes and heroism as identified by the site.

Step 2.
Return to the main link. Visit the “Heroes of the 20th Century” link. Scan through the list of heroes. Select one of the famous individuals that intrigues or interests you. Take notes on the following topics:

a. Early days
b. Accomplishments
c. Why is this person considered heroic
d. How can this person inspire you

Step 3
Take your notes and produce a summation of your findings in Steps 1 and 2. In what way does the hero and his or her accomplishment relate to the book? Post these findings on the comment board.

Chapter5

Task I

Read the chapter individually. After completing the assigned pages, produce an EAT sheet. This task will be submitted for assessment.

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said" "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away."

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Task II

Step One

Examine Shelley's famous poem using a TPCAST sheet. Use the theme you decide on as the statement for a SEE paragraph.

Step Two

Explain how the story Shelley tells in "Ozymandias" can relate to Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay"

Step Three

Describe how these two poems can teach us about our own lives today? In what way can this advice affect us in a positive way?

Step Four

Post your work from Steps One, Two, Three and Four.

Eat Sheet
17 marks
.

Examine
1. Summarize this section using a precis. Plan your precis by selecting the five most important items that occurred in this reading section. In your paragraph be sure to utilize an adverb starter, a prepositional phrase starter and a good vocabulary term. Identify each ( 5 marks)

Analyze
2. Choose four quotations from this section. Explain how the writer’s use of language makes this sentence effective. Describe how this line makes sense, enhances your understanding of the speaker, other characters or the plotline.

-be sure to write the quotation in its entirety, and list the page number it can be found on.
/8
Theme
3. What message, symbolism, theme or moral lesson can you take from the section you have read so far? Using a SEE paragraph, examine how the story contains underlying values that enhance the story. Ideas you might wish to explore include:

o Sometimes people...
o How does a character(s) relate to a character in another text?
o How is the situation facing a character relate to you and your life?
o How does the author use symbols?
o How does the author enrich the novel through setting?
o How are stereotypes developed by the novel?
o Other

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Activities

Task 1: 

While reading the chapter, compile notes on the following quotations concerning the:

• Context of each quotation (action in the plot surrounding the quotation)
• Significance of each quotation (why is this moment interesting or important?)

a. "I couldn't have gotten much cooler without turning into a popsicle. (53)

b. "He was as white as a ghost and his eyes were wild-looking, like the eyes of an animal in a trap" (54)

c.  "...he was watching the moonlight glint off Bob's rings with huge eyes" (55)

d. "...trying to figure out what there was about this tough-looking hood that a girl like Cherry Valance could love" (59)

e. "...He still reminded me of a lost puppy who had been kicked too often" (63)

f. ""Shoot," Johnny said with a grin, "you are too." (64)

g. "It was a small church, real old and spooky and spiderwebby." (66) 

be prepared for a quote quiz on a selection of these quotations

Task 2: 

This week's writing task is to compose a story in which the following line can be found. You can use these words as the first sentence, or include them as part of the body of your story. 

"The dawn was coming. It was lightening the sky in the east and a ray of gold touched the hills."

Step 1: Produce a prewriting plan that details:

1. The beginning, middle and ending sections of your story
2. Details relating to the setting
3. Details relating to the character and point of view

Step 2: Edit your first draft such that you include a selection of:

1. Good vocabulary terms
2. Sentence starters (adv, pp, sub.clause, -ing, however, nevertheless etc...)
3. Sentence enhancers (vss, metaphor, simile, parallelism, personification, onomatopoeia etc...)
4. Sentence Enhancers

Task 3:

Step I

Examine the poem below. What ideas does the poem convey to you? Summarize your ideas as a "Sometimes people... " theme statement. Then, produce a SEE paragraph that describes how this theme is found within the poem.

Step II

Examine the theme you used for Step I. Produce a second SEE paragraph in which you describe how this same message can be discovered in our novel. Be sure to utilize specific evidence from the text.

Plan and edit your work to ensure that is up to your highest standards (include elements of structure and style)

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost

Step III. Post the paragraphs you produced in Steps I and II on the comment board.

Chapter 3

Task 1

For this section, we'll be reciprocal reading. In your small groups, you will nominate someone to serve as:

1. A Chairperson (who identifies the reading goals, timelines and keeps things moving)
2. A Reader (who reads the assigned section)
3. A Speaker (who summarizes the reading section, and identifies key lines)

The roles of Reader and Speaker should alternate during each class. All members of the group should serve as a Chairperson at least once during the week.

Step 1: Set reading goals for each of the three reading sessions.

Step 2: Group members will create SQ3P notes at the completion of each reading session. These sheets will be available in class.

Note: This means that each group member will have three SQ3P reports completed by the end of the third reading class.

Task 2

Step 1

Read the section of Barack Obama's Inauguration Address. Identify as many of the following writing techniques as you can in the selection:

• parallelism
• metaphor 
• simile
• allusion
• strong adverb
• vocabulary terms
• symbolism
• other

Step 2

What ideas or theme do you think the speech is developing? Use a web to gather your ideas. Select your favorite idea, and write it as a thesis statement.

Step 3

Examine the image above (also available on your speech sheet). Use the words you find to help you write a poem that develops the thesis statement you identified in step 2. (minimum of 8 lines). Try to utilize one of the techniques you found in Step 1.

Step 4

In what way(s) does your poem relate to the novel The Outsiders? Write your ideas in a paragraph.

Step 5

Post Steps 3 and 4 on this comment page.

Chapter 2

During Chapter 2 Ponyboy describes his interactions with his peer group. He describes himself as he "...chased two junior-high kids across a field for a few minutes" (pg 20), and later relates Dally's efforts to bully Cherry Valance. Clearly, bullies play a large role in Ponyboy's social environment. 

Construct a note (worthy of submission) for the following tasks:

Task 1

Read the message below. Then visit the website that follows. Summarize what you learn in a precis.

http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2008OTP0041-000246.htm

Task 2

Visit the following site:

http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/school_stuff/bullies.html

Build notes on the following headings:

1. Why Bullying is a Big Deal
2. Why Bullies Act That Way
3. How to Handle Bullies
4. What Happens to Bullies

Task 3

Use your knowledge of bullies to complete the following writing task:

• Write a paragraph that details the five most important things you learned about bullies and bullying.
• Write a paragraph in which you describe the role of bullies and bullying in our novel thus far? Are some characters bullies? What motivates them? How do characters react to bullies? Predict what will happen to these bullies as the novel progresses.

Task 4

Posting:

• Read several of your classmate's postings
• Build your own posting in which you discuss something you liked in one of your peer's comments, then publish your own compositions for Task 3

Chapter 1 Photo Summary

Activity 1:

Select five of the pictures from above. Copy them onto a Word document and match each with a quotation from the novel. Explain the context and significance of this quotation to the novel thus far.

Activity 2:

Select three of the quotations below. Add them to your Word document, labeling the page number. Explain the context and significance for your selection.

a. "Darry's always rough with me without meaning to be." (6)

b. "he doesn't need to. He gets drunk on just plain living" (8)

c. "And you can't win against them no matter how hard you try" (11)

d. "He had been a real popular guy in school" (16)

e. "He's just got more worries than somebody his age ought to" (17)

f. "I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me" (18)

Activity 3:

Make a list of the qualities associated with a good parent. Is Darry a good parent? Compose a persuasive paragraph in which you support your statement with direct evidence.

Post your paragraph on the comment board. Be sure to use your best, most appropriate writing style. Place your first name in the comment only.