Scribe 9.08.09
Period 5
Today we started off with the weekly riddle, which can give you up to 5% extra credit on the final. The majority of the class was then spent on a diction worksheet. Diction, or word choice, is used not only in literature, but in everyday speech. Authors choose words for a specific purpose, as we saw in our example on the worksheet.
As a class, we also tried to define the term “society”. We learned that society is not a tangible thing, but rather all in our head. So, we need to avoid saying “society made me do it”, because society cannot make you do anything, only you can make you do something.
Lastly, we received a calendar of September and October. The calendar includes what we will be doing in class every day, and the work or reading that is due. In the Bedford Reader, after every story, there is a journal entry that we will be required to make. About every four weeks there is a “journal to essay” due. Whichever journal you felt most passionate about or you enjoyed writing the most is the essay you will write. The names of scribes are on the board, so check to see if you are up this week. And read chapter two from Bedford!
-Mackenzie
Period 6
So today we started our first (though actually it was #2) diction worksheet. After reading a sentence from Charlotte’s Web, we discussed the sun and its kindling effects.
- The first question asked about why the sun was being described as “kindling”. Ryan commented that the deer was actually being kindled by the sun to which Mr. Eldridge responded by threatening him with a call to PETA. Through other brave speakers and further discussion, the class came upon the conclusion that the connotations of kindle are gentle and tender corresponding to the innocent nature of the fawn.
- The second question asked whether the phrase “the sun weakly broke through” or “the sun burst through” was better. Though not everybody agreed, in the end, it was said that “weakly broke through” was the better phrase, as it was more parallel with the rest of the sentence.
- We reviewed the class calendar and various due dates
- Mr. Eldridge left us with a nice piece of advice regarding how long an essay should be:
Like a skirt, an essay shouldn’t be too long that it’s boring yet not too short as it still has to cover everything!
look! it’s a kindle!
Awww!! (Even though his eyes look kinda scary)
-Barazani
Filed under: Daily Scribe and tagged Diction, Ryan buring animals
Those are great notes, Sharon, but that’s not what I exactly said about the length/skirt comment. But not too bad. But it just goes to show how our minds recreate things rather than record them.
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Sorry for ruining your phrase Mr. Eldridge
What Mr. Eldridge REALLY said regarding skirts and essays is that:
An essay should be like a skirt. Long enough to cover the topic but short enough to keep it interesting.
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