Catching up...

We are four weeks into our blogging adventure.  This week will be a chance for you to take a moment to reevaluate your work thus far...

As you can see on the left hand side of this page, links to your blogs are now posted on our class blog.  If yours is not there, you need to see me so we can add it. 

For those of you who have not posted three blogs, use this time to catch up.  For those who have published three blogs, use this week as an opportunity to revisit your work and make some improvements.

In general, here are some suggestions for you based on the brief view I had of your blogs when adding them as links: 

• All book titles should be italicized.  i.e.   The Hunger Games 
• If you look at the rubric, you can see that proper use of language conventions will be evaluated.   Your blog posts should be written in full sentences with proper spelling, punctuation, and good word choice (specific nouns and vivid verbs). 
• If you would like a guideline of what merits a level 4, go to the page entitled "Posts:  Achieving a Level Four"  (look for the tab at the top of the home page) that has examples of Level 4 answers. 

 

• Be sure to read the instructions carefully and fulfill all the requirements.   Specifically...

          Blog Post #1:    Ensure that the quotation you chose appears under the name of your                     blog on the home page.   Instructions on how to do this are given.   Also, in addition to explaining the quotation's connection to your reading philosophy and habits, provide specific  details about your life as a reader, both now and in the early days.  

          Blog Post #2:     You are to have one paragraph giving a summary of the novel's            content; another paragraph should have a brief review.  Refer specifically to the novel as much as possible. 

          Blog Post #3:    For this post, perhaps experiment a bit with adding images like I have done on this post.   Add an image that represents your motif or your novel.   One of the requirements of the Independent Novel Study blog is to add media features like clips, images, and aesthetic elements.  

          

Blog Post #3: The Motifs

     With the creation and presentation of the posters, you now have a clearer understanding of 

the  motifs and how these patterns are found in ancient texts, as well as modern stories and 

film.  Now, see how these motifs are present in the novel you are currently reading.   

     For example, I have just finished reading the novel If I Stay by Gayle Norman. 

     In this story, the protagonist (main character) spends much of the novel in the hospital where her body lies in a coma after a tragic accident.   Her spirit agonizes over the decision to pass into the afterlife, or to continue her life here on Earth.   Therefore, the novel explores the mystique of life after death, and hypothesizes on the benefits of seeking peace in another world.  Although we do not see this novel's version of the AFTERLIFE, the motif certainly does influence the story line and the character's development.

     Refer to the list of motifs discussed in class (found in the handout "What is a Myth"?)  Discuss how one of these motifs is represented in your novel (represented indicates that it may simply have some link or connection in your novel, like my example above).  In your post include: 

• Name of the novel 
• Motif represented in the the novel 
• Context of the motif (how it fits into the story line)  
• Role and effectiveness of the motif in the story

                                                               

Blog Post #2: Summary and Review

As your second blog post you will be writing two short concise paragraphs about what you have read, or are currently reading.

Start by finding, saving and uploading a picture of the cover of your book. I am currently reading a novel called The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, pictured here:

 Source: http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2014583721_br27pariswife.html

Once you have found a cover picture online, you will need to: 

1.   Use the "SAVE AS" command to save the photo in your "PICTURE" folder of your "H drive". 

2.   Click on the "INSERT IMAGE" (little Picture) on the tool bar.  Upload the file from your H Drive.

    Make sure you copy and paste the source for the cover art - we want to credit any work that is not our own. I obtained the original image of this cover from searching Google Images. I then clicked on "Website for this image" in order to find the source of the picture. You CANNOT CITE GOOGLE IMAGES as the source for graphics, images, photos etc. Cite the website from which Google found the image.

(ANOTHER OPTION: I have also made the cover a link by adding the original site of the cover, using the "Link button"  on the toolbar.  Click on the cover and see where it takes you.

_________________________________________________________________

Once you have posted your picture you can begin Blog Post #2:

INTRODUCTION: In your first sentence identify the title and author of the book. Please note that you need to properly punctuate the title of your novel - use italics.

A SUMMARY: Your first paragraph should be a 50-60 word summary of the book. If you haven't finished reading your book yet, summarize what you have read so far. A summary is a brief description of the major events of the book. It is general and does not contain specific examples of any of the plot. Look Here for some examples of concise and precise summaries).

A REVIEW: Your second paragraph should be a 50-60 word review of the book. I would suggest that you take a look at the format and style of some reviews before you begin to write. You only have 50-60 words, so use them wisely. Your main purpose is to explain, with specific reasons, your views of the book.

Blog Post #1: My life as a Reader

Today we will begin blogging.

Please remember that all of your posts should go on your own blog, rather than the class blog. The class blog will be used only for instructional purposes.

Before you get started, have you done the following?

1. Read the pages on blog basics, etiquette and guidelines for blogging? (These are located at the top of the class blog home page, identified with tabs)?
 
2. Checked out the page entitled "Posts: Achieving a Level Four"? 
 
3. Added me as a reader to your blog? If not, go into your dashboard and select "Settings" and then "Permissions". Make your blog private, but add me as a reader with the email address msjraleigh@gmail.com. 

4.  On the layout page, have you added the gadget entitled, "Blog List" and added the class blog (eng1d2012.blogspot.ca).  This will allow you to access the blog each week with a mere click of the mouse! 

NOW, find a quote on the internet that displays well your feelings about books, or your relationship with books. Once you have found a perfect quotation, add it as the  subheading of your blog (give credit to the author of the quote as well). In my "Links" list, I have given you two websites that have lots of quotations.

HOW TO ADD THE QUOTATION:  You will need to go your dashboard where you will find your "'Settings" button. This will allow you to change your title and add the quotation as the description of the blog.

THEN as your first blog post , explain why you selected the quotation you have chosen.  Make a personal connection to the quotation and what it tells your readers about you and your relationship to reading. Be sure to include the quote itself as well as the author and a link to the source you borrowed it from.

Here's an example of a level four response to this assignment:

"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you." -Mortimer Adler 

I do not read books as if it's a competition to see who can get to the end the fastest. It doesn't even have to be books; they can be articles, myths or anything written. For you can read something quickly countless times, but still know nothing of what it is saying. Instead ,why don't you take a few extra moments, read it more slowly, then you take in all of what the words are saying to you and then later you don't keep having to flip back to the text saying: "I read this in this part, but what did it say"? Then you have to spend more time on it. I know people who race through many books a week and enjoy them, but then you ask them what it meant, and they don't know. Some people are okay with not knowing exactly what the book was trying to convey, but that's not me. I would rather read one book and take it apart word for word. If I don't do that, then I don't see a point. Books are written to serve a purpose. If books don't tell you something or if they don't give you that feeling that hits you deep down, then it's not the author's fault, it's yours. So search for it, and then let the meaning get through to you .

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/22395.Mortimer_J_Adler