Narrative Essay

Narrative Writing

You will be creating a narrative essay. The purpose of a narrative essay is to tell a story.  Typically, a teacher will ask you to write a personal narrative essay or give you a specific prompt for your essay; I am not going to assign a topic. You will get to determine what your essay will be about and develop your own story. This story can be a personal narrative or this essay can be completely fictional. It is up to you. Regardless of the focus of your essay, it must be completely original—do not reproduce the same ideas from another published work. Must be at least five paragraphs!

Grade Breakdown:

·        4-Square—15 points

·        Rough Draft—15 points

·        Final Draft —50 points

·        Total —80 points

Criteria:

Organization-your essay starts with an interesting hook; one idea or scene follows another in a logical sequence with clear transitions. There is an obvious plot structure.

Characters/Setting- Many vivid, descriptive words are used to tell when and where the story took place. Characters are fully developed.

Format- All formatting requirements (double-space, font size, dialogue, technical aspects) are met.

Creativity-The story contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author uses sensory details, strong descriptive words, and figurative language.

Grammar/mechanics- The story contains no grammatical and mechanical errors

STAR Reading

Directions:
1. Take the STAR Reading Test.
2. Do the bell-ringer (add to your other bell-ringers)
3. Interactive Grammar Exercises


STAR Reading
1. Go the STAR Reading website => click here
2. Your username is the student ID# (9600)
3. Your password is the first letter of your first name and the first letter of your last name (ex: J.T. Spivy would use js as his password)
4. Take the Reading Test for Mr. Spivy
5. Take your time; do your best.

Bell-ringer (the first of the 2nd nine weeks)
We are at the end of the first 9 weeks of your 8th grade year. I want you to go to your LiveGrades account and look over your grades. Then, answer the questions below with complete sentences.

1. Are you pleased with the grades you earned this nine weeks?
2. Which class was the toughest? Which was the easiest?
3. If you could do one thing different (and it does not have to be academics related), what would you do?

Grammar Exercises
Complete the grammar exercises below. These exercises were selected specifically for you based on the essay portion of the test. Do not rush through these; you learn nothing by clicking and moving on!
Fragments--click here 
Apostrophes--click here
Pronoun Agreement--click here
There, they're, their--click here
To, Two, Too--click here
Subject-Verb Agreement--click here

When are finished...
1. You can work on your essay (which is due tomorrow).
2. Go to freerice.com

Bell-ringer and Assignments

Agenda:

1. Bell-ringer

2. The Outsiders WebQuest

3. Free Rice


1. Bell-ringer:

Answer the word problem below. Show your work. You cannot use a calculator.


A test has twenty questions worth 100 points.  The test consists of True/False questions worth 3 points each and multiple choice questions worth 11 points each.  How many multiple choice questions are on the test?

2. WebQuest

click here==> WebQuest

3. Free Rice

click here to donate free rice to people around the world by answering simple vocabulary and English questions==> freerice.com

Tuff Time Journal Entry #4

Answer the following questions in paragraph form (must be at least five sentences). Make sure to answer the specific questions for each paragraph. Be thorough. Be honest.

Paragraph 1: What limits do your parents/guardians put on your freedoms? Which rule do you dislike the most? Why?

Paragraph 2: Why do your parents put these limits on you? Everyone has to follow rules in life (at school, at work, state/federal laws); why were these rules created? What would life be like if these rules did not exist?

Character Poem Template

Directions: Create a character poem for one character from The Outsiders. Follow the template below to create your poem. Words that are in quotation marks should be written within the poem. There is an example of a character poem below.

Line 1:             Write the character’s first name

Line 2:             Write four personality traits that describe the character

Line 3:             Write “Relative (or Friend) of _________________” (fill in the blank)

Line 4:             “Fan of ______________” (fill in the blank: a person, object or ideal)

Line 5:             “Who feels ______________” (list two items)

Line 6:             “Who needs ______________” (list two items)

Line 7:             “Who fears ______________” (list two items)

Line 8:             “Who gives ______________” (list two items)

Line 9:             “Who would like to see ______________” (list two items)

Line 10:           “Resident of ___________” (fill in the blank for where he/she lives)

Line 11:           Write the character’s last name

Example:

 Bob

Aloof, Leader, Unfriendly, Snob

Boyfriend of Cherry

Fan of jumping Greasers

Who feels lost and lonely in a world without boundaries

Who needs discipline and life lessons

Who fears he might lose Cherry and his popularity

Who gives orders for unwanted haircuts and baths

Who would like to see a world without those greasy rats

Resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma

Sheldon

The Outsiders: Vocabulary Squares II

Vocabulary for The Outsiders

Directions: Write the word, definition, original sentence, picture, and synonyms and antonyms

1.)          Implore-v. to beg for pity or mercy

2.)          Sullen-adj. gloomy or dismal

3.)          Elude- v. to avoid or escape through speed

4.)          Siege- v. the act of surrounding an enemy and depriving it of resources (no syn./ant.)

5.)          Indignant- adj. characterized by strong displeasure

6.)          Premonition- n. a warning anxiousness over a future event (no syn./ant.)

7.)          Hysteric- n. a fit of uncontrollable laughter, weeping, or both

8.)          Aghast- adj. struck with overwhelming shock or amazement

Sept. 11 Writing Activity

Narrative Response: Put yourself in the place of someone who was in New York City or Washington, D.C., on the morning of September 11, 2001. You can write your narrative as a journal entry or as an essay. This can be from the point-of-view of any person that could have been there on that morning. You can write this as if the events have just happened or like it was in the past.  

Your response should be at least three paragraphs. It can, of course, be longer. Take your time with this assignment. Do not make careless errors.

Persuasive Response: Put yourself in the place of a lawmaker at the time of the attacks of 9/11. After the events that have unfolded, write a speech that you will have to give to the public. In this speech, you need to convince the public why it is in the best interest of the nation to either go to war with Afghanistan or why we should not go to war. Set this up like it is a speech; use first-person pronouns and write as if you are speaking to a person.

Your response should be at least three paragraphs. It can, of course, be longer. Take your time with this assignment. Do not make careless errors!