9. Comment on a Peer's blog

If your name is not listed under the CLASS BLOGS link list in the right sidebar - please see me with your blog's html address.

Each of you should have four blog posts complete as of today. If you do not have this done, it needs to become a priority over the weekend to get caught up!! ...... GET CAUGHT UP!!

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This week, instead of creating your own blog post, you will be writing comments on some of your peer's blogs.

Everyone will write three-four comments on THREE of their classmates' blogs this week.

WHOSE BLOGS?: Select the blogs that belong to the three students whose names are listed BELOW your name on the CLASS BLOGS list found in the sidebar to your right.

For example, if you were Holly you would write your comments on Isaac, Jason and Jerica's blogs. If you were Isaac you would comment on Jason, Jerica, and Jordan's blogs.

HOW DO I DO THIS?: You need to comment on what the person has said in the blog post you have selected. Read the rules below before proceeding......

Do not be rude.
Do not be sarcastic.
Do not just tell the blogger they are awesome or that it is the best blog post you have ever read. Do not make an inside joke.
Do not insult or otherwise demean the writer.

DO. . .
Genuinely look at what they have said about their books and respond accordingly.

Make an intelligent comment on the book, the topic or the ideas presented by the blogger.

Extend the blogger's thinking by linking their ideas to something else (another text, your personal experiences or the world).

Ask the blogger a question about what they have read or what they have said.

Offer a suggestion for another book they might like based on what they have read and the themes and ideas presented in the blog post.

Give the blogger tips for improvement (using quotations; checking for punctuation, spelling or sentence structure; adding length through further description or support; organization of elements on the blog).

You may also comment on the style or form of the blog itself (the design of it; the visual elements: colour, organization, font style and size; use of gadgets; readability; title and description etc.).

8. BP#4 Main Character

In this week's blog post you will concentrate on the protagonist (main character) in the novel you are currently reading. You will also learn how to embed a video from youtube into your blog post.

Remember to ALWAYS begin your blog post by identifying the text source of your post. You can do this by adding a visual (the book cover: we learned how to do this in the last blog post) or simply writing the book title (in italics) and author's name.

Your assignment for this week:
Write a brief description of the protagonist in your novel. Follow these three steps to complete your description:

a. Start by finding a direct quotation from your novel that you believe helps to reveal a significant character trait present in your main character. Include a proper citation following this quotation (Author, Title page#).

b. In approximately 50-60 words explain specifically what you have learned about the protagonist from this section of the story (relate specifically to the events presented in the selected quotation).

c. Now, based on what you know about your main character, make a prediction about the outcome for this character. What do you think will happen as the plot progresses? Do this in one or two sentences.

NOW....... add the video element.

a. FIND a video on youtube that you feel expresses or extends what you already know about protagonist - the video could represent the character's personality, mood, actions or key characteristics. The video could be a music video, a compilation video set to music, a film excerpt, a poem set to music etc...

b. INTRODUCE why you selected it in one-two sentences (connect in some way to the main character you have just described), then embed the video using the instructions below.

To embed this video into your blog post:
1. Once you have found the video - COPY the EMBED code (found below the video - you will have to click on SHARE and then EMBED). it will be long and complicated (it will start like this: < width = "480" height = "385"> param )

2. Go to blog post #4 on YOUR BLOG , click EDIT POST.

3. Click on EDIT HTML found in the top right corner of the blog post toolbar.

4. Go to the bottom of your blog post and PASTE the embed code into your post. Make sure that you hit the ENTER button after you have pasted the embed code.

5. To check to see if the video has been embedded, click on COMPOSE and then PREVIEW to see it before posting.

Good luck.... help each other, then ask me for help.

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STUDENT EXAMPLES:

STUDENT A: Here is a video that I selected to represent the SADNESS felt by my protagonist, William Thornhill in The Secret River by Kate Grenville, when he and his family are forced out of London, England in 1806. They are sent to New South Wales, Australia because of a crime he commits. (He steals wood he is delivering to the mainland in his small boat to try and make enough money to feed his ever growing family.) He misses his friends and is separated from his wife and children while on the long, uncomfortable journey across the ocean.

STUDENT B: I am about 5 chapters into The Penelopaid by Maraget Atwood. "I was a kind girl- kinder than Helen, or so I thought. I knew I would have to have something to offer instead of beauty. I was clever, everyone said so- in fact they said it so much that I found it discouraging- but cleverness is a quality a man likes to have in his wife as long as she is some distance away from him. Up close, he'll take kindness any day of the week, if there's nothing more alluring to be had," (Atwood, M, The Penelopaid 29). I feel as though this describes Penelope very well. She is very aware that she isn't as beautiful and radiant as her cousin Helen, but she has much more inner beauty and she is aware of herself. She isn't self absorbed like her cousin.


This video is a poem about the connection found between Penelope and Odysseus when first they met.

7. BP#3: This reminds me of.....

Before you get started on your next blog - just a few housekeeping items.

1. Make sure that you have completed the first two blog posts, before going on to this one.

2. Examine your own blog and the gadgets you have selected to display. I would like you to delete the gadgets that distract from the purpose of this blog. (ie. fish, games, advertisements, etc.). This is meant to be a collection of responses about reading and even the gadgets you select should reflect that.

3. Take a few minutes to vote in the poll found below the blog archive in the sidebar to your right (NOTE: you can add a reading poll on your own blog by going to your 'design page' and choosing the 'add a gadget icons').

4. Be sure that before you start your post, you are clear about the expectations. These will always be found on the class blog.

5. Go back over your first two posts looking for and correcting any spelling errors and typos (there are a lot out there). You can do this through the EDIT POST command (found by going to your DASHBOARD and selecting EDIT POST).

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Now, onto your third blog post.

Since the start of the year we have been examining different motifs and patterns developed in ancient stories and how these patterns are duplicated in our contemporary storytelling. These motifs and patterns help us to connect strongly to past and present stories. We will see this week how J.K Rowling connects her knowledge of ancient stories and history with details from her own life to create the fictional world of Harry Potter. The 100+ million readers of the Harry Potter series have certainly shown us that that can be a powerful connection.

This week I want you to write a blog post where you discuss a part of your book that reminds you of something else (a film, another book, a story, a personal experience...etc.). What you are doing is making personal, textual, and/or worldly connections to the novel you are reading.

AS PROCESS:
If you are not familiar with the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, watch this movie trailer:





Then watch this interview with Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief. Listen carefully for insights into the connections he has made to the reality of his own life, and then presented as fiction in his award winning novel.




NOW COMPOSE YOUR POST:

To begin your entry, select a brief quotation (20-30 words) from the section of your book that connects you to some other experience. Be sure that you use "quotation marks" around the direct quotation, and that you provide a proper citation following the quote using the correct format (Author, Title Page) .

In the body of your entry make the connection you have made clear to your readers (max 100 words). Here you are to explain with specific details the type of connection you are making to your novel.

To get you started, think about how you would finish this paragraph: The (character, event, place) reminds me of (a place, a real event, another person/character, another text, a real world situation) in the following ways . . . .

Here is a student sample:

I love multitasking!! This is not the book I last blogged about, but it is equally as good. It is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. "That's when it happens. The moment of death is full of heat and sound and pain bigger than anything, a funnel of burning heat splitting me in two, something searing and scorching and tearing, and if screaming were a feeling it would be this," (Oliver, 80)

The connection I have made is to the recently filmed movie I Know Who Killed Me with Lindsay Lohan. Don't get me wrong, it was a terrible movie but I found it made a good connection to this book. In this book, a girl name Samantha Kingston has it all, but when it comes to a sudden end in a car crash, weird things happen. She gets to re-live that day and find out what went wrong and who crashed into her car. The same thing happens in the movie. In the movie,someone kills her and she gets a chance to re-live her death and try to turn in her killer. They both have no idea what is going on. They both think they are going through massive periods of deja vu.

6. BP#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 book called The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Sutterfield (pictured below).

NOTE: Once you have found a cover picture online, you will need to use the "SAVE AS" command to save the photo in your "PICTURE" folder of your "H drive" and then the "ADD IMAGE" or "INSERT IMAGE" button on your "NEW POST" toolbar.

Make sure you copy and paste the source for the cover art - we want to credit any work that is not our own. I got the original image of this cover from a book blog called "Violet Crush" - the link follows: http://violetcrush.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/the-thirteenth-tale/

(ANOTHER OPTION: I have also made the cover a link by clicking on it and using the link button (5th button from the left in your create new post section of the blog). 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.