Blog #2 - Fiona Chen - Period 1- 2/5/2020

February 5, 2020
Fiona Chen
Period 1

Aim: How can active reading be applied to interpret writers' choices that create a narrative voice?

Do Now: What does it mean to you when you hear the phrase to: "come of age"?

• A common response about "coming of age" was that it meant to not only grow older physically, but mentally. Many times, we associate this term with both aging and maturing. As we get closer to reaching adult status and becoming more established, the way we think and act is more sensible.

___________________________________________________________________________

Double- Entry Journaling
A double-entry journal is a note-taking strategy for actively reading a text. You can connect  your own experiences to those of the characters, share your opinions about what is happening, trace the development of the characters, and comment on the writer’s choices that create the voice of the narrator.

• Consisting of 2 columns, the left side is where you cite your text, while on the right, you jot anything that you want to comment on, whether it's your opinion, writer's choice, or even any questions.
• Using sentence stems may help with your analysis, examples below:
  
  
  
  
  Following this discussion about using double-entry journals and what you can include in your analysis of the text, we read an excerpt passage from Speak, where our narrator Melinda experiences her first day of high school.
  
  As we [spirit] read this passage together as a class, we highlighted quotes, focusing on the writer's diction, imagery, and syntax.
  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  From Speak
  by Laurie Halse Anderson
  1       I find my locker after social studies. The lock sticks a little, but I open it. I dive into the stream of
  fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.
  
  
  2       I know enough not to bring lunch on the first day of high school. There is no way of telling what the
  acceptable fashion will be. Brown bags—humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear? Insulated lunch bags—hip way to save the planet, or sign of an over involved mother? Buying is the only solution. And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner.
  
  
  3       The hot lunch is turkey with reconstituted dried mashed potatoes and gravy, a damp green vegetable, and a
  cookie. I’m not sure how to order anything else, so I just slide my tray along and let the lunch drones fill it. This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe. Must study this further. I follow the Basketball Pole into the cafeteria.
  
  
  4       I see a few friends—people I used to think were my friends—but they look away. Think fast, think fast.
  There’s that new girl, Heather, reading by the window. I could sit across from her. Or I could crawl behind a trash can. Or maybe I could dump my lunch straight into the trash and keep moving right on out the door.
  
  
  5       The Basketball Pole waves to a table of friends. Of course. The basketball team. They all swear at him—a
  bizarre greeting practiced by athletic boys with zits. He smiles and throws a Ho-Ho. I try to scoot around him.
  
  
  6       Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the
  entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas. I will be forever known as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day.” The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can’t read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.
  
  
  7       I motor so fast out of the lunchroom the track coach would draft me for varsity if he were around. But no,
  Mr. Neck has cafeteria duty. And Mr. Neck has no use for girls who can run the one hundred in under ten seconds, unless they’re willing to do it while holding on to a football.
  
  
  8       Mr. Neck: “We meet again.”
  
  
  9       Me:
  
  
  10     Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”? Not a chance. I keep
  my mouth shut.
  
  
  11    Mr. Neck: “Where do you think you’re going?”
  
  
  12     Me:
  
  
  13     It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about
  communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.
  
  
  14     Mr. Neck makes a note in his book. “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you. I’ve taught here for
  twenty-four years and I can tell what’s going on in a kid’s head just by looking in their eyes. No more warnings. You just earned a demerit for wandering the halls without a pass.”
  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  
  
  Using the provided chart, we recorded four of our annotations/responses in a graphic organizer, noting things we saw about narrator's choice of words.
  As we did this, we also exchanged with our partners to write about their reaction to our comments/annotations.
  
  
  
  
  
  ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  
  
  Reflection:
• Today I learned how to identify different parts of the text to analyze the writer's choice. With different pieces of evidence from the text to support our analysis of the author's diction/word choice, syntax, and portraying imagery. Through the use of a double entry journal, I recorded text evidence and an opinion/question about it. Using graphic organizers and this way of note taking helped me better focus on not just what the story is about but also how it is written, specifically the writer's style and choice of words to better fit the character's experience. With this, I can analyze texts, recording down any connections with my own experiences to better understand the text and engage in it.