Writing your introduction:

“Maxine Hong Kingston’s 1975 memoir, The Woman Warrior, voices the challenges and promises of identifying with Chinese culture in an American setting.”

Consider the above example and include the following:

author
genre (memoir)
book title
2-3 sentence synopsis (not yet included in the above example)
thesis statement (not yet included in the above example)

Writing your conclusion:

Your conclusion should be an evaluation of Kingston’s choices, the themes that emerge from these choices, and questions that are raised for us as we read. I would like to see Kingston’s name and an evaluation of her choices in your conclusion!

Works Cited Page:

Use easybib.com to cite your sources or use this citation:

Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts. Vintage Books, 1989.

MLA Style:

Double spaced

12pt Times New Roman or Arial font

1″ margins

page numbers at the bottom of the page

See this example at Purdue University

Writing your introduction:

“Laura Esquivel’s 1989 magical realism novel, Like Water for Chocolate, follows the story of Tita De La Garza, the youngest daughter of her overbearing authoritarian mother, Mama Elena.”

Consider the above example and include the following:

author
genre (magical realism)
book title
2-3 sentence synopsis (not yet included in the above example)
thesis statement (not yet included in the above example)

Writing your conclusion:

Your conclusion should be an evaluation of Laura Esquivel’s choices, the themes that emerge from these choices, and questions that are raised for us as we read. I would like to see Esquivel’s name and an evaluation of her choices in your conclusion!

Works Cited Page:

Use easybib.com to cite your sources or use this citation:

Esquivel, Laura, et al. Like Water for Chocolate: a Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies. Anchor Books, 1992.

MLA Style:

Double spaced

12pt Times New Roman or Arial font

1″ margins

page numbers at the bottom of the page

See this example at Purdue University

Juniors!

After reading through these critical reading theories resources (all of them!), please provide a reply to the following questions:

1. Which critical reading lens do you understand best? What is it about this lens that is interesting and appealing to you?
2. What are you looking for through this lens?

Thank you!

Mr. Coey

p.s. to post your comments, please click on the “comments” sections of this post and go through the steps to reply.

Due: Thursday evening at 9pm

Dear Seniors,

It has been my sincere pleasure getting to know each of you. I know that at times we were driving each other crazy, and I’m sure you hope to never write another essay again. Still, I hope that you look back and think fondly of our time together. I know I will. You’ve worked very hard and you deserve a good, long summer.

Just remember what Polonius said to his son, Laertes, who was departing for university, “This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man” (I, iii).

Staying true,

Mr. Coey

Seniors!

NPR (National Public Radio) has compiled and published a list of the best commencement speeches ever. Some of the examples provide a video clip. I’ve seen Steve Jobs and J.K. Rowling’s speeches, which were great!

Next week I would like to view several of these with you. It would be great if you could review the list and make suggestions about which speeches you would like to see together.

Here is the link: Best Commencement Speeches, Ever

Just provide your suggestion in the comment section of this post!

Thank you!

Coey

Greetings Seniors!

On Wednesday, May 3rd we have our first IB English Paper One Exam at 1:00 pm in rooms H10, H11, and J1. This is a required exam. Do not miss it or be late!

On Thursday, May 4th we have our Paper Two Exam at 8:15 in rooms H10, H11, and J1.

I’m sure you’ll do great! We’ve been working hard for this opportunity to show our knowledge. Let’s remain positive and have the growth mindset as we embrace this challenge.

For other information about exam dates and times, please open the document below:

Exam Schedule May 2017

Thank you for all of your efforts!

Mr. Coey

Dear Seniors,

Remember that your Paper 2 essay is a compare and contrast essay that focuses on the “conventions of drama”– in other words, you are writing about the choices the playwrights have made and how that impacts what we think and feel as a result.

Our goal this essay is to NOT USE LONG QUOTES of a sentence length or longer. That was an approach I allowed when you were sophomores and juniors. Now, as seniors I expect you to weave your “small” concrete details into your summary and commentary so that you provide a “close reading” of the passage/scene/lines of each play. If you have a long quote in your essay, I will not score it. You’ll need to rewrite it.

Below is a variety of resources meant to assist you with writing a compare and contrast essay. Please review them carefully, and notice, especially, the integrated use of concrete details.

Paper 2 Sample Essay with Examiner Comments

Cheyla Reyes

Conventions of drama associated with

Paper 2 examiner comments

Paper 2 Higher Level

Paper 2 Introduction Example

Paper 2 Practice Essay

Paper 2 Sample Drama Prompts

3 pronged thesis examples

Using your books and your notes, write a developed, well-organized, compare and contrast essay
of 6-8 pages (1800-2400 words) based on one of the following prompts:

Speeches Achieve Purpose: “To succeed in creating a convincing character, the dramatist needs to give the audience a sense that characters have inner thoughts and feelings.” Explore the ways in which Shakespeare and Stoppard made use of monologs and/or soliloquies to develop characters/themes.

Structures Cause Effects: Plays employ various kinds of structural divisions such as act and scene divisions, even carefully placed character entrances and exits. Discuss the dramatic uses made of these divisions in both Shakespeare and Stoppard’s plays.

Dramatic Irony: “As the action of the play unfolds, dramatic tension is often produced by the contrast of concealment and revelation.” Examine Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in light of this statement.

Genre: Despite both plays touching on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Stoppard takes an unconventional and comedic approach. Compare and contrast the differences between Shakespeare’s tragedy and Stoppard’s tragicomedy. How is each genre achieved?

1. Be sure to provide a “three-pronged” thesis statement so that you may discuss at least three effects. Examples of this can be found on our class website.
2. Use academic language and properly cited direct quotations with parenthetical references
   (Act, scene, lines).
3. Organize your essay around scenes, but also be willing to provide contrasting examples to highlight unique differences between plays.
4. Use the conclusion to provide an evaluation of the use of conventions, specifically evaluating the choices the two playwrights made. This is the “What, How, Why?” section of your essay.

The grading rubric is based on the following:

• Knowledge and Understanding
• Response to the essay prompt
• Appreciation of the literary conventions of the genre
• Organization and development
• Language

Format: typed, 1800-2400 word MLA style essay

Due: Wednesday, March 15th

Dear Seniors,

Tomorrow, Friday, February 24th, we will use our class time to upload our IB written assignments from the junior year. This is your Neruda, Murakami, or Ninh reflective statement and essay.

Unlike Microsoft Word, Chrome does not support grammar check, that is, unless you add a specific extension to your chrome browser. I’ve become confident that Grammarly is an effective tool for finding errors in grammar, punctuation, syntax, and usage. I strongly suggest that you add it.

Grammarly Extension on the Chrome Store

Once that is added, it may ask you for permissions and which documents you want it to scan. Make your choices.

Then, open your written assignment, and voila! It will check your document for errors. It’s very accurate, so I suggest that you make revisions as necessary.

Thanks again,

MR. Coey

Dear seniors,

Last week (Thursday and Friday) I asked you to read your junior year IB written assignment that you wrote for either Ms. Synhorst or me. From that reading, you were asked to create a new outline with an emphasis on “making a point” in each of your topic sentences. Also, I asked you to identify your thesis statement. I’m going to assume that you are still working on your outline, which is a good thing! Once you have your outline and thesis, please use it to revise and develop your IB written assignment about either Murakami, Ninh, or Neruda.

Remember, your junior year essay is worth 25% of your final IB grade, so it behooves you to give it a thorough review and possible revision.

Here you will find the Written assignment Rubric HL. Please read this and consider its descriptions when revising your essay. Per the IB rules, I am only allowed to read and comment on your essay one time, which I did last year. However, you are able to continue revising as long as I can verify that the essay is ALL YOURS and no part of it is plagiarized.

Given that all of the essays will be uploaded as digital files, the IB organization now automatically scans all essays and runs them through a sophisticated plagiarism checker. DO NOT plagiarize, or your IB essay will be invalid and not count towards your grade! OUCH!

Tuesday-Friday you have access to the computer lab in F8A (front section), so that should be ample time to revisit your essay.

Tuesday: Thesis, outline, reflective statement (300-400 words) Review the sample reflective statement, which demonstrates a high degree of thinking about how the research shared with the student shaped his/her interpretation of the work.

Wednesday: Work on your body paragraphs with an emphasis on “making a point,” context, concrete details that support your point, and commentary about the author’s choices. Use the “advanced paragraph” as a guide for organizing and developing your paragraphs.

Thursday: Using effective transitions, active voice VerbsforLiteraryEssays, Compound Sentences with Coordinating Conjunctions, parallel structure, and correct pronoun references.

Friday: Formatting your essay in MLA style (your candidate number goes in the upper right header, page number will go bottom/center of the page, a works cited page is required for the work you are writing about) MLA style from Purdue University.

You’ll need a Google Docs version of this essay for our final on Tuesday. The plan is to have small groups read and comment on each others’ papers. After that, perhaps additional revision will be warranted. We will convert the Google Doc to a pdf file (I’ll show you how) and then upload the file to the IB eCoursework page.

Resources to support you in the computer lab will be forthcoming!

In the meantime, I expect you to give your best effort while I am out of the office, and I’ll see you all very soon, perhaps even this Friday!

Kind Regards,

Mr. Coey