Class Minutes for Thursday October 14th - Personal Composition.

1. Prayer

2. Literary Device Quiz

** note: We did the following in different orders depending on the block. However, all the content is the same.**

3. Sources for A PC

The students ranked a list of possible sources of information for a PC from most important to least important. We then had a class discussion about which sources were more persuasive than others. Some key ideas are that anything specific is going to be better than a generalized account. In addition, classic literature, unique personal experiences, and current events are good examples while tv shows and other references to pop-culture are not.  The pop-culture references do not have any clout (good reputation) behind them, so they do not add any intelligence or authority to the writer's persona.

4. PC Thesis statements

Ms Meakes demonstrated the process of moving from a prompt to creating a thesis statement. Key ideas were to focus in on an arguable claim, to put the claim in your own words, and to add developmental points (supporting information).

5. PC Outline

While reading through the provided outline, we added a few notes. They were as follows: the introductory paragraph needs a general statement in addition to the thesis.  The concluding paragraph should have two sentences, one summarizing each body paragraph, followed by the concluding statement.  Each student should choose two or more rhetorical devices to incorporate into their writing. These can include any from the list that Ms Meakes gave out and/or repetition for effect and the power of three.

6. Trouble Stories - Independent Corrections, Spelling Demons, and Writing Log

Based on feedback from Ms Meakes, students filled out their independent corrections and spelling demons for their trouble stories assignment.  After completing corrections, the students received their feedback (based on the style section of the rubric) and filled out their writing log.

7. Homework: fill out the PC outline so that you are ready to write your PC next class.  You may choose any of the prompts from the silent conversations list. (Posted on Moodle) If you need help, email Ms Meakes or see her Friday after school.