All Boys, All Blogged: April 4, 2013

Focus: Turning your outline into a rough draft

1. Warm-up: Which quote is better?  Finding the right match for YOU!

Pretend this is the topic sentence of your first body paragraph (thanks, Adam):

Both Sylvia and Clarisse help show the main characters that there is a different way to life by telling them what is not the right way of living.

Which example from The Truman Show would work better for this paragraph?

*When Truman holds the slicer/dicer/can opener up to Meryl's throat
*When Sylvia and Truman run down the hill and stand right by the ocean

Gold star: What could you analyze in this example?

Which quotation from F451 would work better for this paragraph?

*When Clarisse asks Montag, "Are you happy?" (Bradbury 10)

*When Montag broods over Clarisse's question, thinking to himself, "Of course I'm happy. What does she think? I'm not? he asked the quiet rooms. He stood looking up at the ventilator grille in the hall and suddenly remembered that something lay hidden behind the grille, something that seemed to peer down at him now" (Bradbury 10).

Gold star: What could you analyze in this example?

2. Finishing your outline if you have not finished it yet

I will start checking them off today, and I will continue to give you feedback via Google docs (or a good ole fashioned conversation).

3. Drafting your introduction and first body paragraph

Please see the sample introduction and first body paragraph at the bottom of this post (it was written by one of you last semester!).

HW:
1. Final round of persuasive speeches tomorrow
2. Tomorrow is the end of 12 weeks; make sure you have submitted all make-up work.
3. A COMPLETE rough draft of your introduction and first body paragraph are due Monday.  If you didn't have your outline done in class today, I will be checking those as well.

Sample introduction and first body paragraph from last semester:

A hero is not made in a day. Instead, it is a lifelong struggle. Heroes define themselves by their actions. They accept the call to action and go through the most difficult trials to train and prepare themselves for the difficulties they will face. A powerful hero, such as Amir from The Kite Runner, is one who accepts his call to adventure and faces many trials. Similarly, Bruce Wayne from The Batman Trilogy must bravely carry out his responsibility to save Gotham and endures battle after battle to do so. Both Amir from The Kite Runner and Bruce Wayne from The Batman Trilogy take these two significant steps, showing that compelling heroes will accept the call no matter what trials that they may face, known and unknown, because this is what defines their bravery.

Many people in their daily lives may be called to action, but whether one accepts or refuses the call will define one as a true hero; Amir and Batman are no exception to this. With the call to action, there often comes bad news or horrible events. Amir gets the call when he is told by Rahim Khan some news that he does not want to hear or even know. But after reconciling it in his head, he returns to Rahim Khan’s apartment. Amir reveals, “Then I told him I was going to Kabul. Told him to call the Caldwells in the morning” (Hosseni 227). Amir has to spend time reconciling in his head why it is worth going back to the land that has haunted his dreams. Although he doesn't understand why Rahim Khan refuses to just hire someone to go in and get the boy, Rahim Khan is a close family friend. Amir knows that his father would wish him to help. Also, Amir finally realizes that this is finally his call to be a true man by standing up for the friend he let down so many years ago. So he accepts the call, not knowing that he is now embarking on a journey to become a hero, a man who understands his place in the world. Batman’s call to action, however, is much different. Batman is called to action to fight crime when he is a child. A man with a gun threatens his parents and then shoots them both. This call just sits in the back of his head for many years. For years he thinks about how can he get back at the man that killed the people he loved. But that man is shot before he can do the job himself. The call is then re-ignited when he realizes that the League of Shadows, the ninja clan that has been training him, is corrupt. He burns down their domain, symbolizing that he is ridding himself of other's laws. The fire symbolizes the death of his former life but the birth and acceptance of his new life as a hero--as Batman. These two heroes are called to take action. They realize the importance and the devastating effects that would ensue if they refused the call. Answering the call is the only way to start the journey.