Poetry

We start the Poetry Unit on Wednesday! (YAY!) But first I want to share some ideas that this professor at MIT has. I will show you some video clips of his tomorrow and we will discuss what he has to say.

I was wondering though...what do you think these two terms might mean: "The Illusion of Choice" and/or "Manufacturing Consent"?

These are 2 things we will talk about tomorrow, but what do you think they mean?

Blogging - Why Write?

Keeping your own blog makes you think about all the things you are doing in story form. How can you create a story about...? When you find the answer or the end of that question, then you have a topic for your next blog post.

A story about blogging...
Once upon a time a girl started blogging and she had a family with 4 children and those children grew and she grew and loved her family. She stayed at home and raised her children and washed the dishes and cleaned the floors and made delicious dinners while listening to music. She was beautiful, this girl.

Then she bought her husband flight lessons for his birthday. And this girl's husband flew. He flew himself until he learned how to fly others. When he could fly others, he flew this girl to a spot where she could buy cute moccasins she liked. The children stayed at home while she and her husband went to get the moccasins. They returned, but not by plane. Instead they went by way of an ambulance and a burn unit. Their plane had crashed. Click here for her blog and the rest of her story (she is currently in treatment for her burns, but she has an amazing story).

Wednesday

So I am returning on Wednesday of this week. I am not sure what Ms. Sevimli told you guys, but I will only be returning to teach 9H for the rest of the year (sorry 9G). It makes me sad that I cannot give 9G a proper good bye, so here is the goodbye! I will miss you! If you need anything, please feel free to email me or post/comment on the blog.

I will still leave all the links up for the blogs, but only 9H is now responsible for keeping up to date with their blogs.

Soo good

You guys have been getting so good at blogging! Your comments are getting smarter, you are paying attention to other people's comments more - way to go! Keep blogging yourselves and I will keep reading. Many of you have lots to write about - so keep thinking and keep writing. Nice job!

Another good thing -- I want you guys to do something nice for Ms. Sevimli before she goes. (shhh...don't tell her). Each class should get together and think of something they could do/buy/celebrate to thank her for all her hard work while I was away. Make sure it is unexpected though and something you all think she would like. I know I always like food, so start with that.

Exam - Week 2

This bit of info gives just a little insight into how to structure your article and what details it should contain. This information was on this great web site.

The role of a reporter is to find out what people are thinking of an issue and to report the opinions of different stakeholders of an issue. These comments make up most of the story. The narrative helps to weave the comments into a coherent whole. Hint: Stick to one particular theme throughout the story. You can put in different details but they all have to relate to the original idea of the piece. (e.g. If your story is about black youth and their relationship with the police you DO NOT want to go into details about the life of any one particular youth).

As a reporter, you are the eyes and ears for the readers. You should try to get a feel for the story. Having a feel means getting some understanding of the emotional background of the piece and the people involved in it. Try to get a sense of the characters involved and why they feel the way they do.

Exam - Week 2

What have you learned in the past week about writing a newspaper article? How has a writing process helped? How would this have been if it was just a sit down exam? Would you have learned more or less?

Exam - Week 2

Remember we talked about quotes a little bit? Here is some additional advice about using quotes from this great web site.

Using Quotes

The best quotes are short and bright. They surprise, shock or amuse. They reveal insights or secrets. They prove points. They allow experts to give perspective, and real people to air grievances. Don't quote simple statements of fact.

Problems to avoid when quoting people -

* Stutter quotes: Saying the same thing twice.

Mayor Bessie Chronopoulous said Tuesday she will seek a second term.
I intend to run for a second term," Chronopoulous said.

* Partial quotes: Often, it's less awkward just to paraphrase.

Weak: Smith said the money was "spent by me" in order to buy "better-looking plants for the office."

Better: Smith said he spent the money on better-looking plants for the office.

* Parenthetical info in quotes

Weak: "We can't get (the concrete barrier) to stay in one place because (La Tourette) keeps driving into it," Smith said.

Better: La Tourette's driving habits appear to be the main obstacle to keeping the concrete barrier from being moved.
"We can't get it to stay in one place because he keeps driving into it," Smith said.

* Junk quotes. Vague quotes. Quotes that say nothing.
* Stacking quotes. Just stringing a bunch of them together rather than constructing a story. You need to add your reporting.
* Weak lead quotes. Empty, boring, vague, repetitive.
* Weak end quotes. Using any old quote just to finish off the story. (Remember - I warned you against this.)

Peer Editing

How has Peer Editing been? Ar you learning something or is it slowing down your writing?

What has been the best part of the writing process?

Exam

What sorts of things are you revising?

Did you think about any of these?:

-sentence variety (length)
-reported speech phrases (attributions)
-specific/active verbs
-about 20-40 words per sentence
-at least 10 (5 direct + 5 indirect) quotes
-making sure the most important information comes first and least important information comes last


Make sure you are reading English web sites about newspaper writing and informing yourself about different techniques you can use to refine, revise, and rework your article.

Happy Editing!

Exam

Don't tell me TOO much about how today went, but how did it go? Were you able to finish the first draft in time? Was all the preparation we did in class helpful?

Now, the next few days will be used for revision of the work. Be sure to use the advice of your fellow students and what you know about newspaper writing to write a great article. Remember to avoid repeating information in your quotations that you have already reported. Also, make sure that lead is really good and DO NOT retell the story of the play. You need to use the story of the play to focus on the news story you are covering, but you definitely do not need to retell the story of the play.

Good luck out there!