All Boys, All Blogged: November 7, 2012

Focus: Clearing up any confusion and moving onward and upward to the body paragraph

1. Warm-up: Grade my introduction!  Google share with the other people in your membership grid group; use the rubric below to assess others' introductions and give feedback:

Introductory Paragraph: _____ / 10 points

Engaging opening sentence

• Does it grab your attention?
• If it's a quotation, is it famous, said by a famous person, or from one of the texts?
• If it's a question, does it sound sophisticated (and avoid "you" or "I")?
• If it's a statement or story, is it powerful?

Mentions titles and characters from both works

• The introduction should do this before you even get to the thesis statement.

Develops two traits of the hero’s journey

• Does it define the two traits?
• Does it explain why the two traits are important?
• Does it briefly explain how your two heroes embody these traits?

Transitions from opening sentence to thesis

• Does it ease you smoothly into the thesis statement?
• Is the thesis statement the last sentence of the introduction?

2. Revise your introductions based on your group's feedback.

3. Dissecting the anatomy of a body paragraph using yesterday's sample rough draft.

4. Time to compose body paragraphs.

HW: Finish revising your introduction and composing your entire first body paragraph; bring either an electronic version or a hard copy to class tomorrow.