Table of contents entry:10/1/15 2.2 Green Packet Essay

Gold stamp sheet: 1st square on next row = Green packet essay

annotations

In today’s journal

• We’ll write and discuss in multiple steps today• First step: please skim back through your

chosen essay from the green packet (you did this for HW) and write for a few minutes on the following:– Basic summary of the essay’s main ideas– What made you choose this essay out of all the

four

Share what you have with your partner

• Any similarities? Differences in opinions?

Next step: author’s purpose

• Adding to the paragraph you’ve already started, please add a few sentences about the following question:

• What do you think the author’s purpose and message in this piece was?

• Example: Colleen Shaddox, in her essay, “Jazz is the Sound of God Laughing,” seems to be expressing and reflecting on the message that even after death, our families are connected by the interests that we share. She wants us to learn that nobody “leaves” us as long as we remember them.

Share what you have with your partner

• Any similarities? Differences in opinions?

Recap from last Thursday

• Last Thursday (10/1), you…– Summarized the basics of your chosen green

packet essay– Made a statement about what you believe to be

the author’s purpose and main message/theme • Today, in early preparation for this Thursday’s

in-class writing assessment (10/8), you will…– Identify what literary devices lead you to finding

your chosen message/theme

Final step: literary devices• Adding to the paragraph you’ve already started in your

journal for 10/1, please add a few sentences about the following question:

• What literary devices (think back to our white vocab sheet last week and your annotations) did your author use in this essay? Choose at least two and talk about what ideas they brought up in your chosen essay.– Ex: Shaddox uses sound imagery when she describes the

ways that jazz music affected her as a child under Uncle Charlie’s piano as well as when her young son “buzzed” the opening notes to a familiar song. She also uses metaphor in her title (“Jazz is the Sound of God Laughing”) as she compares the sound of jazz to a joyous religious experience.

Share what you have with your partner

• Any similarities? Differences in opinions?

Putting it all together: 1st preview of Thursday’s in-class writing assessment

• A big step to the skills I’ll ask you to show me in your writing on this Thursday is to:– Read and annotate a brand new, not-yet-seen

autobiographical narrative essay in the style of a green packet essay (you will receive this Wednesday)

– Write a short piece analyzing the essay’s purpose and message and how literary devices led you to that interpretation

Putting it all together: 1st preview of Thursday’s in-class writing assessment

• We’ve started practicing this over the past few days with the green packet essays.

• The next step is to practice coming up with a thesis statement to guide your argument about the essay’s purpose and message through the author’s use of literary devices

Thesis statements!

• An opinion and observation-based statement of what you will discuss in an argumentative piece.

• Basic formula, and then we’ll see an example

Author + purpose + use of a literary device = main theme/message you’ve interpreted Write this down on a new line in your journal area for today!

Author + purpose + use of a literary device = main theme/message you’ve interpreted

Here’s a full example of this equation in action

Colleen Shaddox, in her essay, “Jazz is the Sound of God Laughing,” expresses and reflects on how the bond her family shares within jazz transcends death through the use of sound imagery as well as metaphor.

(see how this sets up a road map for an explanation? How DOES Colleen Shaddox use sound imagery and metaphor to create this message? Your writing will explain this in detail.)

Author + purpose + use of a literary device = main theme/message you’ve interpreted

YOUR TURN!Colleen Shaddox, in her essay, “Jazz is the Sound of God Laughing,” expresses and reflects on how the bond her family shares within jazz transcends death through the use of sound imagery as well as metaphor.

Take my sample and make your own version of this for YOUR chosen green packet essay. You may borrow my wording and plug in relevant choices for author’s name, author’s purpose, author’s message, and your chosen two literary devices.

Share what you have with your partner

• Be ready to share a few examples with all of us!