Fiction Reading

Read Rip Van Winkle pages 2-17 and answer questions1-4 on page 17

Read Black Cat pgs. 33-41 and answer questions 1-3 on page 41

Read The Revolt of Mother pgs. 43-55 and answer questions 1and 2

From pages 56 and 57: Vocabulary section for each story and answer Rip Van Winkle composition #1 and Black Cat composition. Each composition should be about one typed page, double-spaced; do your best writing and thinking or you will have to do it over.

Read The Lottery pages 75-83 and answer the questions on page 84

Read Tell Me How Long the Trains Been Gone pages 85-100 and answer questions 1-4 on page 100

From Page 115: Complete the composition for both stories. Each composition should be about half of one typed page, double-spaced; do your best writing and thinking or you will have to do it over.

FICTION UNIT WRAP UP: Good story writing "takes the reader there" with the author. The author must help the reader experience the story through the five senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. For each of the 5 stories you read in this section you need to complete a "mini-analysis."
In a word document, create a 6x6 table (ask if you don't know how). One side should be labeled with the story titles and the other side with the five senses. It might work best to turn the page to landscape view. You will go back to each story and look for an example of how the writer used language to help the reader experience each of the 5 senses. Type the quote and page number in the box to show what you found. For each story you should have at least 3 quotes. Try to have each sense used at least once. Here is an example:

Staple all of this unit together - make a title page with your name, class name and unit title and turn it in!

Descriptive Writing Assignment

Read pages 116 and 117. Imagine the best or the worst day you can remember. Try to name the one emotion you remember most vividly. Now, using the skills you learned above, write a 2 to 3 page paper, double-spaced, that tells the story of that day. Do NOT use phrases like "and then, and next, and then." Picture the day in your mind and DESCRIBE it using all of your senses. In addition to the story, you must turn in a PREWRITE. Brainstorm how you can describe your scene. Use a table like the one above or a web. You will not get credit without the prewriting step. Do your best writing and thinking or you will have to do it over.

Non-Fiction Reading

From Early America...

Read Speech to the Virginia Convention pages 120-121 and answer the three questions on page 121.

Read The Declaration of Independence pages 122-124 and answer the three questions on page 124.

Read the letter Abigail Adams sent to her husband while he was working on the Declaration of Independence. Answer these questions:

1. What self-evident truth does Abigail refer to?
2. Abigail warns her husband that the "Laidies" might rebel if what doesn't happen?
3. Look back at the Declaration of Independence. Rewrite the line(s) that you think Abigail would like to have changed.
   

Read I Have Heard Talk and Talk on page 148. Answer these questions:

1. List some of Chief Joseph's complaints in your own words.
2. What does Chief Joseph mean when he talks about rivers running backwards?
3. Chief Joseph makes a promise at the end. In exchange for freedom, what does he promise?
4. In your opinion, were the Native Americans treated fairly as white Americans moved west?

EARLY AMERICA WRAP UP: These first four readings are a peek at America as the country was growing up. What does each piece tell us about early America and Americans? Write or type each title, underline it, and then list what we can learn from each writing. Think about what people believed, hoped for, wanted, didn't want, etc.

Now, think about America today. You can write in any style of the above pieces (a passionate speech, a declaration of indepence from something or someone, a letter or a poem). Compose a piece that offers a glimpse into America and Americans of today and what we face and hope for. Do your best writing and thinking or you will have to do it over.

From Contemporary America...

Read The Day of Days, December 5 pages 182-189 and answer all three questions on page 189.

Read A Puerto Rican Pilgrimage on pages 196-203. Answer both questions on page 203.

Read First Hour on the Moon pages 205-213 and answer all the questions on page 213.

CONTEMPORARY AMERICA WRAP UP: Each of these three stories gives a personal take on a major historical event. Often this type of personal history is more powerful than the generic version found in textbooks. You will be writing a personal history piece. You have two options.

1. Interview someone who participated in or lived through a past historical event. Get enough info to write their story. (Grandparent in WWII, parent who remembers the Cuban missile crisis, etc.)
2. Consider a major event you lived through like the attacks on September 11, 2001 or the wars that followed, the tsunami in Asia or the Hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read page 216 BEFORE you start to write. Use the suggestion of making an informal outline. You will turn the outline in with your writing. Do your best writing and thinking or you will have to do it over.