First Reaction for the Story, "A Man Like Him"

Choose one of the topics below and write a response in paragraphs (not an essay). Write a minimum of 150 words and a maximum of 200 words. Include at least one direct reference to the story through the use of a short quotation but do not quote more than 20 words total in your answer. Link to "A Man Like Him" full text at NewYorker.com

1.Write about something that surprised you, angered you, delighted you, or evoked any strong reaction as you were reading. Write about anything that stays on your mind after reading.

2. Explore a social or ethical issue raised in the writing. Judge the behaviour of the characters or the views of the author. Are they right or wrong in your opinion?

3. Does this work confront or confirm your personal beliefs? Explain.

NOTE: Please finish all work before your class on Wednesday, May 5.

Four Punctuation Demonstration Sentences

Choose four different sentences from your persuasive essay or travel article and revise them to include the following: a dash used to introduce; dashes used to enclose; parenthesis to enclose; semicolon to combine. Post your sentences at the blog before class.

Something New; Something Interesting; Something Puzzling

Share with us your thoughts on new, interesting and puzzling things you've encountered since we began our study in February. Write no more than 200 words in a single or multiple paragraphs. Due before class on Wednesday, April 21.

A Funny Thing Happened: Travel Anecdote

Travel often leads us into funny or humorous situations. Write about a time something funny happened to you while travelling. Keep it very short (no more than 200 words) and use story telling style: have people talking in dialogue, for example. Brad intends to offer a fresh anecdote from his computer in Europe. Make sure your anecdote is submitted before class on Wednesday, April 14.

Something "Socially Unacceptable": Your Wishes

Write about something that you wish would become “socially unacceptable” for people in society in a short paragraph of about 125 to 150 words. Describe the behaviour you dislike and explain why you would like it to stop.

Here are some sample topics:

cosmetic surgery; overusing limited resources; shopping for "recreation"; use of cell phones in public; paying too much attention to celebrities; loud Ipods on SkyTrain etc.

Online Resource on Quotations at University of Toronto

Courtesy of Linda: See if it becomes clearer reading this resource.

Using Quotations

Working with Quotations

Base your examples on works studied this term. Remember that you may quote words from Temple Grandin's speech at Ted.com, for example. Try using the interactive transcript at the right of the video window. I will post samples this weekend. In the meantime, try writing a few examples of your own for practice.

Write three examples as follows:

One sentence that introduces a quote, uses a comma to separate the quote and has the quote end the sentence.

One sentence that introduces a quote with a colon.

One sentence with the quoted words in the middle of a sentence.

Link to Facebook Album of Student Photos

Learning to See