Expository Essay

Today we practiced prewriting for the expository essay task on the HSPA.

Here are some samples:

Expository Writing Sample Prompts

- Friendship and companionship are important parts of many people’s lives. On the other hand, some people prefer to be “loners” who mostly keep to themselves. Using an example from literature, film, or your own experience, write an essay analyzing whether friendship is an important part of being a well-adjusted human.


- Some people believe that doing what’s best for yourself and minding your own business is the most beneficial way to go through life, while other believe that doing things for others and acting out against injustice is a superior way to live. Write an essay analyzing which of these viewpoints your prefer and use an example from literature, film, or your own experience to help show your point.


- Bill Gates stated, "I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication, they're tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user." Why might one argue that a machine can be life-changing? Using an example from literature, history, science, or your own experience or observation, write an essay about how a "machine"/"technology" can change your way of life.


- Many people believe that who you are is mostly based on where you come from. Others say that everyone has the freedom to become their own person, no matter their parents, family, or background. Write an expository essay in which you explain and support one of these views. Use an example from literature, history, film, and/or your own experience to support your points.

- Albert Einstein wrote, “If people are good only because they fear punishment and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” Some people believe that extrinsic motivation (like punishment or reward) is the most powerful way to motivate people. Others believe that intrinsic rewards (do it b/c you like it or it gives you satisfaction) are much stronger motivational forces. Write an expository essay in which you agree or disagree with Einstein. Use examples from film, literature, or your own experience to support and inform what you say.

Persuasive Essay

Yesterday and today were spent preparing for the persuasive essay task on the HSPA.

Students planned for several essays by writing T-charts. Today students wrote a sample intro and body paragraph for the following task:

HSPA Language Arts Tutorial Cluster 2: Writing to Persuade
Sample Persuasive Writing Prompt C
________________________________________
WRITING SITUATION
A frequently debated issue is whether or not violence in the media including video games, movies, songs, etc. has negative effects on young adults. Some people believe that there is a need for censorship and the elimination of many products while others believe it is unnecessary to ban potentially violent media and media products. Your school newspaper decided to devote an upcoming issue to this controversial topic.
You decide to write a letter to the editor of your school newspaper expressing your views about the effects of violence in the media.
WRITING TASK
Write a letter to the editor of your school newspaper with supporting or opposing whether violence in the media has negative effects on young adults. Support your position with reasons, examples, facts, and/or other evidence. Convince your readers to take your position seriously.

Beowulf Documentary

Students are working on the following assignment:

Beowulf Documentary-30pts

Your assignment is to film/produce/edit a documentary film chronicling the heroic exploits of Beowulf or a hero of your choice, using the Flip cameras provided by the English department. Your film should honor the hero. To complete this you must include the following elements of documentary films:

• Interviews
• Cutaways
• Chill footage
• Process footage
• Archive
• Narration

-Interviews
You must create people that can speak about the hero, his exploits, and the legacy he has left. This includes: experts, friends, strangers, subjects, girlfriends, etc. You will be these people. Questions and answers must reflect your knowledge of the text, genre, time period, and relevance of everything to modern culture.

-Cutaways
These are stand-alone shots, similar to still photography.

-Chill footage
Film your subjects doing normal things. They should pretend you are not there. For example, film someone writing or walking down the hall.

-Process footage
Film the making of your documentary. You will combine the behind-the-scenes footage with the actual documentary footage.

-Archive
These are old videos and footage of your subjects. A regular documentary uses footage that the creators did not film, however, you will film all of it. Still photos work. You will have to create some of your own archival footage of the hero.

-Narration
When interviewees are not speaking, someone must be explaining important information about the hero using voiceover narration. What important information do we need to know that was not revealed by the participants?


*You may edit your film using either Flip software or Windows MovieMaker. Your finished film should be between 3-5 minutes long.


Rubric

Beowulf HW

Students are to complete the following assignment for HW:

Beowulf dies after battling the dragon.
• What does Beowulf need while fighting the dragon, that he has not needed before?
• How will Beowulf’s death impact the Geats?
Use specific quotes to support your responses.

His name was Wiglaf, he was Wexstan’s son
And a good soldier; his family had been Swedish,
Once. Watching Beowulf, he could see
755 How his king was suffering, burning. Remembering
Everything his lord and cousin had given him,
Armor and gold and the great estates
Wexstan’s family enjoyed, Wiglaf’s
Mind was made up; he raised his yellow
760 Shield and drew his sword. . . .
And Wiglaf, his heart heavy, uttered
The kind of words his comrades deserved:
“I remember how we sat in the mead-hall, drinking
And boasting of how brave we’d be when Beowulf
765 Needed us, he who gave us these swords
And armor: All of us swore to repay him,
When the time came, kindness for kindness
—With our lives, if he needed them. He allowed us to join him,
Chose us from all his great army, thinking
770 Our boasting words had some weight, believing
Our promises, trusting our swords. He took us
For soldiers, for men. He meant to kill
This monster himself, our mighty king,
Fight this battle alone and unaided,
775 As in the days when his strength and daring dazzled
Men’s eyes. But those days are over and gone
And now our lord must lean on younger
Arms. And we must go to him, while angry
Flames burn at his flesh, help
780 Our glorious king! By almighty God,
I’d rather burn myself than see
Flames swirling around my lord.
And who are we to carry home
Our shields before we’ve slain his enemy
785 And ours, to run back to our homes with Beowulf
So hard-pressed here? I swear that nothing
He ever did deserved an end
Like this, dying miserably and alone,
Butchered by this savage beast: We swore
790 That these swords and armor were each for us all!” . . .
. . . Then Wiglaf went back, anxious
To return while Beowulf was alive, to bring him
Treasure they’d won together. He ran,
Hoping his wounded king, weak
795 And dying, had not left the world too soon.
Then he brought their treasure to Beowulf, and found
His famous king bloody, gasping
For breath. But Wiglaf sprinkled water
Over his lord, until the words
800 Deep in his breast broke through and were heard.
Beholding the treasure he spoke, haltingly:
“For this, this gold, these jewels, I thank
Our Father in Heaven, Ruler of the Earth—
For all of this, that His grace has given me,
805 Allowed me to bring to my people while breath
Still came to my lips. I sold my life
For this treasure, and I sold it well. Take
What I leave, Wiglaf, lead my people,
Help them; my time is gone. Have
810 The brave Geats build me a tomb,
When the funeral flames have burned me, and build it
Here, at the water’s edge, high
On this spit of land, so sailors can see
This tower, and remember my name, and call it
815 Beowulf’s tower, and boats in the darkness
And mist, crossing the sea, will know it.”
Then that brave king gave the golden
Necklace from around his throat to Wiglaf,
Gave him his gold-covered helmet, and his rings,
820 And his mail shirt, and ordered him to use them well:
“You’re the last of all our far-flung family.
Fate has swept our race away,
Taken warriors in their strength and led them
To the death that was waiting. And now I follow them.”
825 The old man’s mouth was silent, spoke
No more, had said as much as it could;
He would sleep in the fire, soon. His soul
Left his flesh, flew to glory.

. . . And then twelve of the bravest Geats
830 Rode their horses around the tower,
Telling their sorrow, telling stories
Of their dead king and his greatness, his glory,
Praising him for heroic deeds, for a life
As noble as his name. So should all men
835 Raise up words for their lords, warm
With love, when their shield and protector leaves
His body behind, sends his soul
On high. And so Beowulf’s followers
Rode, mourning their beloved leader,
840 Crying that no better king had ever
Lived, no prince so mild, no man
So open to his people, so deserving of praise.

Beowulf

Students received a parent consent form today for a research project I am conducting. Please read and return a copy to me by Friday of next week.

Students are to complete the following assignment for Monday:

Beowulf battles Grendel’s mother.
• What challenges does he face besides fighting Grendel’s mother?
• How might this add to or detract from his heroic image?
Use specific examples from the text as support.

. . . He leaped into the lake, would not wait for anyone’s
Answer; the heaving water covered him
Over. For hours he sank through the waves;
At last he saw the mud of the bottom.
And all at once the greedy she-wolf
575 Who’d ruled those waters for half a hundred
Years discovered him, saw that a creature
From above had come to explore the bottom
Of her wet world. She welcomed him in her claws,
Clutched at him savagely but could not harm him,
580 Tried to work her fingers through the tight
Ring-woven mail on his breast, but tore
And scratched in vain. Then she carried him, armor
And sword and all, to her home; he struggled
To free his weapon, and failed. The fight
585 Brought other monsters swimming to see
Her catch, a host of sea beasts who beat at
His mail shirt, stabbing with tusks and teeth
As they followed along. Then he realized, suddenly,
That she’d brought him into someone’s battle-hall,
590 And there the water’s heat could not hurt him,
Nor anything in the lake attack him through
The building’s high-arching roof. A brilliant
Light burned all around him, the lake
Itself like a fiery flame.
Then he saw
595 The mighty water witch, and swung his sword,
His ring-marked blade, straight at her head;
The iron sang its fierce song,
Sang Beowulf’s strength. But her guest
Discovered that no sword could slice her evil
600 Skin, that Hrunting could not hurt her, was useless
Now when he needed it. They wrestled, she ripped
And tore and clawed at him, bit holes in his helmet,
And that too failed him; for the first time in years
Of being worn to war it would earn no glory;
605 It was the last time anyone would wear it. But Beowulf
Longed only for fame, leaped back
Into battle. He tossed his sword aside,
Angry; the steel-edged blade lay where
He’d dropped it. If weapons were useless he’d use
610 His hands, the strength in his fingers. So fame
Comes to the men who mean to win it
And care about nothing else! He raised
His arms and seized her by the shoulder; anger
Doubled his strength, he threw her to the floor.
615 She fell, Grendel’s fierce mother, and the Geats’
Proud prince was ready to leap on her. But she rose
At once and repaid him with her clutching claws,
Wildly tearing at him. He was weary, that best
And strongest of soldiers; his feet stumbled
620 And in an instant she had him down, held helpless.
Squatting with her weight on his stomach, she drew
A dagger, brown with dried blood and prepared
To avenge her only son. But he was stretched
On his back, and her stabbing blade was blunted
625 By the woven mail shirt he wore on his chest.
The hammered links held; the point
Could not touch him. He’d have traveled to the bottom of the earth,
Edgetho’s son, and died there, if that shining
Woven metal had not helped—and Holy
630 God, who sent him victory, gave judgment
For truth and right, Ruler of the Heavens,
Once Beowulf was back on his feet and fighting.
13
Then he saw, hanging on the wall, a heavy
Sword, hammered by giants, strong
635 And blessed with their magic, the best of all weapons
But so massive that no ordinary man could lift
Its carved and decorated length. He drew it
From its scabbard, broke the chain on its hilt,
And then, savage, now, angry
640 And desperate, lifted it high over his head
And struck with all the strength he had left,
Caught her in the neck and cut it through,
Broke bones and all. Her body fell
To the floor, lifeless, the sword was wet
645 With her blood, and Beowulf rejoiced at the sight.
The brilliant light shone, suddenly,
As though burning in that hall, and as bright as Heaven’s
Own candle, lit in the sky. He looked
At her home, then following along the wall
650 Went walking, his hands tight on the sword,
His heart still angry. He was hunting another
Dead monster, and took his weapon with him
For final revenge against Grendel’s vicious
Attacks, his nighttime raids, over
655 And over, coming to Herot when Hrothgar’s
Men slept, killing them in their beds,
Eating some on the spot, fifteen
Or more, and running to his loathsome moor
With another such sickening meal waiting
660 In his pouch. But Beowulf repaid him for those visits,
Found him lying dead in his corner,
Armless, exactly as that fierce fighter
Had sent him out from Herot, then struck off
His head with a single swift blow. The body
665 Jerked for the last time, then lay still. . . .

Today students completed the open-ended question that was handed out yesterday. We then read chapters 8-9 and discussed the following:

In these chapters Unferth challenges Beowulf. What are his arguments against Beowulf? Do you see any validity in them? How does Beowulf put him in his place? Who would you side with if this were a modern argument and why?

Beowulf

Today we read chapters 3-6. Tomorrow we will complete the following task in class:

Beowulf
Open-ended questions
20pts


Beowulf boasts that he will fight Grendel and that he will use no weapons.
• What has Beowulf done that makes him worthy of fighting Grendel?
• Will Beowulf be successful and live up to his promise to fight Grendel without using weapons?
Support your responses with examples from the text.

Beowulf
Prologue

In your notes it is stated several times that Beowulf contains both Pagan and Christian values. Read the following and make note of any examples of these. You must provide at least 3 lines for each and explain how they exhibit Pagan or Christian beliefs.


• Pagan

• Christian


1

. . . A powerful monster, living down
In the darkness, growled in pain, impatient
As day after day the music rang
Loud in that hall, the harp’s rejoicing
5 Call and the poet’s clear songs, sung
Of the ancient beginnings of us all, recalling
The Almighty making the earth, shaping
These beautiful plains marked off by oceans,
Then proudly setting the sun and moon
10 To glow across the land and light it;
The corners of the earth were made lovely with trees
And leaves, made quick with life, with each
Of the nations who now move on its face. And then
As now warriors sang of their pleasure:
15 So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall
Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend,
Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild
Marshes, and made his home in a hell
Not hell but earth. He was spawned in that slime,
20 Conceived by a pair of those monsters born
Of Cain, murderous creatures banished
By God, punished forever for the crime
Of Abel’s death. The Almighty drove
Those demons out, and their exile was bitter,
25 Shut away from men; they split
Into a thousand forms of evil—spirits
And fiends, goblins, monsters, giants,
A brood forever opposing the Lord’s
Will, and again and again defeated.

2

30 Then, when darkness had dropped, Grendel
Went up to Herot, wondering what the warriors
Would do in that hall when their drinking was done.
He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting
Nothing, their dreams undisturbed. The monster’s
35 Thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws:
He slipped through the door and there in the silence
Snatched up thirty men, smashed them
Unknowing in their beds, and ran out with their bodies,
The blood dripping behind him, back
40 To his lair, delighted with his night’s slaughter.
At daybreak, with the sun’s first light, they saw
How well he had worked, and in that gray morning
Broke their long feast with tears and laments
For the dead. Hrothgar, their lord, sat joyless
45 In Herot, a mighty prince mourning
The fate of his lost friends and companions,
Knowing by its tracks that some demon had torn
His followers apart. He wept, fearing
The beginning might not be the end. And that night
50 Grendel came again, so set
On murder that no crime could ever be enough,
No savage assault quench his lust
For evil. Then each warrior tried
To escape him, searched for rest in different
55 Beds, as far from Herot as they could find,
Seeing how Grendel hunted when they slept.
Distance was safety; the only survivors
Were those who fled him. Hate had triumphed.
So Grendel ruled, fought with the righteous,
60 One against many, and won; so Herot
Stood empty, and stayed deserted for years,
Twelve winters of grief for Hrothgar, king
Of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door
By hell-forged hands. His misery leaped
65 The seas, was told and sung in all
Men’s ears: how Grendel’s hatred began,
How the monster relished his savage war
On the Danes, keeping the bloody feud
Alive, seeking no peace, offering
70 No truce, accepting no settlement, no price
In gold or land, and paying the living
For one crime only with another. No one
Waited for reparation from his plundering claws:
That shadow of death hunted in the darkness,
75 Stalked Hrothgar’s warriors, old
And young, lying in waiting, hidden
In mist, invisibly following them from the edge
Of the marsh, always there, unseen.
So mankind’s enemy continued his crimes,
80 Killing as often as he could, coming
Alone, bloodthirsty and horrible. Though he lived
In Herot, when the night hid him, he never
Dared to touch king Hrothgar’s glorious
Throne, protected by God—God,
85 Whose love Grendel could not know. But Hrothgar’s
Heart was bent. The best and most noble
Of his council debated remedies, sat
In secret sessions, talking of terror
And wondering what the bravest of warriors could do.
90 And sometimes they sacrificed to the old stone gods,
Made heathen vows, hoping for Hell’s
Support, the Devil’s guidance in driving
Their affliction off. That was their way,
And the heathen’s only hope, Hell
95 Always in their hearts, knowing neither God
Nor His passing as He walks through our world, the Lord
Of Heaven and earth; their ears could not hear
His praise nor know His glory. Let them
Beware, those who are thrust into danger,
100 Clutched at by trouble, yet can carry no solace
In their hearts, cannot hope to be better! Hail
To those who will rise to God, drop off
Their dead bodies, and seek our Father’s peace!

Here is the PowerPoint presentation that was given in class today.