SL/Speak Project Due Dates

SL and Speak Unit Projects/Values/Due Dates

Blogs:  (20 points each)

            2 posts

1. A post relating your choice reading with SL and Speak.  Previous blogging rubrics apply—writing sytle, unique voice, interesting, multimedia, links, tags,

            Due Monday Dec. 6^th (midnight)

2. A post which describes your personal feelings about the effectiveness of guilt or shame as a punishment technique.

            Due Monday Dec. 13^th (midnight)

Edmodo     (30 points)

-5 posts total.  1 per week.  Make them meaningful. Prompts will be given on site and explained in class.  2 posts will be included in your portfolio at the end of the unit. 

Glogster     (50 points)

-Your job is to create a poster that explains the changing meaning of a symbol throughout the novel.  You can pick one symbol by itself and show how it evolves, or you can trace how a symbol gets combined with other symbols to change its meaning.  

The requirements for the assignment will be
Quotes--at least 4.  Not long.  Maybe 1 word will do.  
-The quotes can be interpreted or explained with pictures, with short phrases, with video.  The quotes should be FELT, not analytically analyzed.  Play with font, color, orientation

Media--effective visual representations of the symbol and their changes
-This doesn’t have to be literal--pictures can substitute for emotions, etc...  Be creative as possible here

A clear sequence or timeline of ideas.
-You must show how the symbol evolves, changes, or is combined with other symbols to alter its meaning

With the glogster will be an accompanying write-up in which you do the following:
.  Cite all the media you use in your glog--website urls will do
.  Cite all the quotes you use from Speak

            Due Thursday Jan. 6th

Wiki Portfolio    (50 points)

            Your portfolio will be a printed out, stapled accumulation of wiki additions.  They will include:

                        3 close readings of the text

                        2 comments that build and synthesize other student’s ideas with your own

These will be graded as formal writing.  Take time to revise them if you need to.  These must be part of the wiki to count towards portfolio. 

            Your overall participation grade on the wiki (25 points) will also be totaled on this date

                        Due Monday January 10^th

Formal writing  (310 total pts)

          Essay will be a thesis of your own choosing, but should focus on one of the following topics

Symbolism: How a symbol changes or combines with another symbol or character.  The emphasis here is on seeing the symbol not as a static entity, but one with meaning that evolves throughout the text.

Characterization: How a character changes or combines with another character or symbol.  The emphasis is not on understanding the character as a static entity, but understanding the subtle relationships between characters and symbols and how those relationships can change the characters. 

Thesis—posted to wiki            (20 points)

Introduction—posted to wiki   (40 points)

First Draft—submitted to turnitin.com and shared on google docs with me and your writing partner  (60 points)

            Must include questions for writing partner in the form of comments

            Due Tuesday, December 14^th

Partner Revision—done via google docs (40 points)

            Meaningful revision, questions, suggestions in our partner’s work

            Due Tuesday January 5th

Final Draft—submitted to turnitin.com            (150 points)

                        Due Thursday January 13^th

Speak Loudly

  I know we haven't done a lot of reading in this book, but I think it's important to understand the power of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak.  The book may not be Moby-Dick in terms of writing style, but it has touched many lives.

Here's a small example.  Feel free to contribute to "Speak up about Speak" if you want.

Credit: World Wide Lens Photography

 This small title has become a cultural phenomenon.  You must ask yourself: "Why?" "Why do so many people see themsleves in this book, even if I don't."


  Yes, the book's subject is Melinda and her rape.  But it's more than that.  It's about pain.  It's about silence.  It's about the false construction of ourselves we put into the world every day.  It's about how terrified we are to express who we really are, what we love, what we want to be.


  The book is sad.  The book is triumphant.  The book is a typical expression of what growing up is like for many students just like you.  


  Do not be afraid.  Speak Loudly.

SL/Speak Wiki

We will be using this wiki page in order to collaborate and comment on the numerous symbols in Speak and The Scarlet Letter.

A symbols is defined as: A physical object that represents something greater than it's physical presence, an idea, an emotion, a time period, a belief.

Great symbols are like jewels: they shine differently in different light.  A symbol could have one meaning in one part of the book, but be given a different meaning as the book progresses.

Classic symbols:
Sunlight


Dove:


Ring:

Junot Diaz! Straight outta Jersey...

Photo Credit: Artculture.com

Fast Food Nation Pre-Reading

The power of education!!! Is it that powerful?

Douglass Questions

What to the American Slave is the 4th of July?