Weekly Agenda: October 26 – 30, 2009

Monday, October 26
In-class:
Unit One Exam
Brief introduction to next unit (Personal Narrative & the Writing Workshop)
- autobiography, memoir, and message
- the writing workshop process
HW: None!

Wednesday, October 28
In-class:
New vocabulary
Read “from Angela’s Ashes”
- read/discuss “Build Background” (p.243)
- Read story (pp.245-254)
- Answer post-reading questions #1 – 4 (independent work)
HW: None, unless you did not complete today’s class work, in which case it’s HW

Friday, October 30
In-class:
Debrief Unit One Exam
Discuss Angela’s Ashes excerpt
- the story of a boy
- audience, purpose and message
Brainstorming:

1. List any and all events that come to mind as narrative worthy (i.e. they not only are compelling in themselves, but also provide rich opportunities for making some kind of argument, comment, or observation about larger issues)
2. Circle two events that strike you as most interesting or insightful
3. Using clustering, generate ideas and associations for each idea, taking at least 5 minutes on each
4. Journal: Choose one o your clustered events and write one page outlining a synopsis. Include your thoughts on how this event might serve as a starting place for a commentary, either explicitly or implicitly

HW: None!