For Feb. 4 class

Class,

Here's this week's assignments. I am off to Monterey for a business appointment. The late essays from this week that were turned in late will be graded and returned on Monday.

Fictionalized Journal Entries essay

This week’s assignment is ongoing from today until Tuesday. Between today and Tuesday, you are required to write four journal entries, all one page in length. I will check for your four journal entries on Feb. 4. All four must be dated. For all four entries, you will follow the pattern discussed in class and on the worksheet.

This is a part of a short term in which we will cover fictionalized writing, but in stages. Next will be characterization sketch. On Tuesday, you will pick your favorite journal entry and type it in as your Fictionalized Journal Entry essay, due Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 10 a.m., sent to me by email. Under my new grading Rubric, turning in the assignment on time is worth 2 points, zero if it’s late. It’s an either/or situation. If you are sick or are unable to complete the assignment on time, I expect an email or phone call from your parents stating the reason. Otherwise, it’s unexcused.

Your essay should be approximately 5 paragraphs in length, but no longer than 2 pages typed, in 12-point Times Roman, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. If you write longer than 2 pages, you will receive a deduction of 2 points per page. Some of you are going 3-4 pages on your 5-paragraph essay assignments, and your paragraphs are too long and have multiple ideas.

Make sure you slug your e-mail attachment properly, with your name and assignment listed: for instance, Meadjournal.doc. That is worth 2 points on the Rubric, zero if you simply slug it something like: fictionalizedjournal.doc. On the interior, you are expected to have a 3-line header typed thusly:

Your name
Date
Assignment

The header should also be in 12-point type, single spaced, with a space between your header and essay. You may title your essay any way you want. Failure to include the proper header is a deduction of 2 points on the Rubric. The essay is worth 30 points, and your prewrite notes are worth 5 points. From now on, your prewrite will be turned in at the beginning of class every Thursday. I realize you’re writing your notes on notebook paper, and it’s awkward asking you to retype them and file them with your essay.

We are now in the second semester of working together, and half the assignments are done wrong, and it’s wasting my valuable time. I want to focus on grading your essays and giving you helpful comments on how to improve your writing, not renaming your files and typing in the headers myself. I estimate spending 30 minutes doing your work. I can’t have 12 assignments turned in with the same slug. Every essay you send me must be distinguishable from your other essays, as well as those sent by other students.


Journals are due at the beginning of class on Thursday. This week, four journal entries are due. Please date each one.

The following vocabulary list is due Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. We will have a quiz on the terms on Thursday, Feb. 4.

benign
bequeath
berate
debunk
deliberate
demagogue
demur
denounce
explosion
extenuating
instigate
insurgent
integrity
intermittent

That's it. Have a good week.

Mr. Mead