Thanksgiving Break Extra Credit Blog

I hope you all enjoyed your two snow days and had a happy Thanksgiving.

Unbelievable as it may seem, more than one fourth of the school year has passed. For extra credit, write about the most important skill or concept you've learned in English thus far. Describe in detail what the assignment/unit was, what you learned and why it is important. The higher quality writing and reflecting you post, the higher amount of extra credit points will be awarded.

Due Monday, November 29.

Nature vs. Self-Reliance

Consider the excerpts from Emerson's Nature and Self-Reliance read and discussed in class this week. Which of the two essays do you think is more relevant to your own life?

Choose one of the two essays and write about its relevancy to your life. Think about the broad ideas contained in the essay and the implications it has to you. You do not need to discuss specific quotations or agree with everything Emerson says about nature or being yourself, just write about how you connect with the general ideas in one of the essays.

Write at least two paragraphs. You can include a photo to enhance your writing if you like.

Post by Sunday, November 21.

Essay Writing

This week you'll be writing your first formal essay of the year. As you think about and begin composing your essay, take some time to reflect on your development as a writer: how have your literary analysis and essay writing skills evolved over the course of your high school career?

Write at least two paragraphs about your growth and development as a writer since your freshman year of high school. One of the two paragraphs should mention specific literary analysis (writing about a play, novel or story) writing assignments that have helped you learn what it means to write an essay. The other paragraph should focus on yourself as a writer and the skills and tools necessary to achieve essay-writing success.

Due Friday, November 5