Welcome, Students!

Hello Everyone and welcome to week one of Diana's Literature class. Spend this week getting to know blogger, and its layout. You may fill in your profile and post to this blog. We will be (1) introducing ourselves this week and (2) practicing blogging by creating a post in response to the first part of The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Assignment one:

due: Before Saturday, April 3 at noon.

Respond to this post with an introduction of yourself in the comments. Tell us a little about yourself including who is in your family, what are your hobbies and special talents, and what your plans for the future are. Please also tell us why you are taking the gifted class and what you hope to learn from it. You may respond to other students' introductions if you like!

Homework assignment two:

due: Before Monday, April 6 at 11 p.m.

Create a new post responding to p. 3-50 of The Road. This post should be a minimum of 500 words (one page typed--you can use a word processor to check yourself). You should complete one or more of the following:

1. Create a time-line of the events for this section of the book. Include everything that happens and all of the characters that are involved. Try to include as many specifics as possible. Include page numbers for reference.
2. Find a character or situation in the book that reminds you of someone you know, something that has happened in your life, or something you have read/seen before. Explain in detail what about the book reminds you of something from life and how it is similar or different from what you know about in life.
3. Ask three insightful, open-ended questions about the chapter you have read to this point. These questions should not be easily answered by looking in a dictionary or
   encyclopedia, but rather questions about the ideas and characters in the text itself. Try to answer each question based on your understanding of the text to this point. Support your answer with details from the text and page numbers.
4. Write down three quotes from the chapter that you read that appeal to you and the page on which they appear. Explain in a paragraph for each quote what is happening in the text at this point, what the quote means, and what about the language of the author appeals to you.
5. Draw picture of a visual image/event from the chapter of the text you have read (you will need to upload it to blogger somehow). Try to label specific things from the text in your picture with the author’s words, ideas, and page numbers. Write a response to the event or image you have captured visually.
6. Write a letter to a character in the book or to the author about this chapter. Don’t just summarize, give a reason for why you felt compelled to write him/her a letter about some event or word in the book.

Homework assignment 3:

You should read and thoughtfully respond to two or more other students' responses before class on Wednesday night. A thoughtful response says something meaningful, not "great job!" It should be clear from what you say that you have read and considered their ideas. You can ask questions, add ideas, disagree, or support their points.

Blogging etiquette is that you should try to respond to people who respond to you.

Meeting the minimum of blogging requirements is a minimum grade. Try to respond to everything you find interesting.