Station 1: Sonnet
Write the following definitions into your comp book in the general work section, and then
glue in a copy of the example.
Definition: A poem, often about love, consisting of 14 lines in iambic pentameter with rhymes arranged
according to a fixed rhyme scheme.
Rhyme Scheme: The end word of each line of poetry rhymes with other end words in a specific
pattern.
Sonnet Example: Let me not to the marriage of true minds (a)
Admit impediments, love is not love (b)
Which alters when it alteration finds, (a)
Or bends with the remover to remove. (b)
O no, it is an ever fixéd mark (c)
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (d)
It is the star to every wand'ring bark, (c)
Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken. (d)
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (e)
Within his bending sickle's compass come, (f)
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (e)
But bears it out even to the edge of doom: (f)
If this be error and upon me proved, (g)
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (g)
Activity:
Recreate the sonnet by arranging the lines of the poem into a logical order based on
meaning and rhyme scheme. Check in with your teacher when you’re done.
Station 2: Propaganda Techniques
Write the following definitions and examples into your comp book in the general work
section.
Definition: Techniques used to persuade or influence opinions. They often use manipulation, avoiding
the truth by leaving out or distorting significant information.
Examples:
Bandwagon – urging someone to follow the crowd so you’re not left out. Join in because
“everyone is doing it.”
Name calling: Attaching a negative label to a person or a thing. Rather than explain what they
believe in, try to tear their opponent down.
Testimonial: When "big name" (famous) personalities are used to support a product.
Either/or fallacy: (Black-and-white thinking") Only two choices are given. You are either for
something or against it; there is no middle ground.
Activity:
Number your paper 1-15. Then place a “B” for “Bandwagon,” “N” for “Name-Calling,” “T”
for “Testimonial,” or “E” for “Either/Or Fallacy” next to the number.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
You see on tv that everyone is buying mustangs, so you want one.
Every person is either wholly good or wholly evil.
That judge is a “liberal activist judge.”
Tiger Woods lends his name to Nike.
My opponent is a “flip-flop” man who cannot make up his mind. He changes mind with the
breeze! How could anyone follow such a weak-willed flip-flopper?
6. Either you're for me or against me.
7. Oscar Meyer created an ad for its food products using George Foreman, a recognizable
boxer, as the celebrity providing a testimonial for the product. Michael Jordan is the most
commonly used sports figure for testimonials.
8. "Millions of women are using the new Mineral make-up foundation"
9. He is acting very unprofessionally.
10. America: love it or leave it.
11. Bill thinks that welfare is needed in some cases. His friends in the Young Republicans taunt
him every time he makes his views known. He accepts their views in order to avoid rejection.
12. First lieutenant Milo Radulovich of Dexter, Michigan, a 10-year Air Force veteran, was
accused of associating with "Communists" and eventually lost his job with the Air Force.
13. “Four out of five dentists surveyed preferred Crest toothpaste.”
14. Either support Meech Lake or Quebec will separate.
15. “Everyone else is camping overnight without chaperones, so why can’t I?”
Station 3: Genre
Write the following definitions and examples into your comp book in the general work
section.
Definition: A kind or category of literary work, generally divided into fiction and nonfiction.
These categories can be further divided into sub-categories.
Examples:
Poetry – a literary work composed in rhythmical verses.
Novel - a narrative of considerable length portraying characters and usually presenting a
sequential organization of action and scenes.
Short Story – a piece of fiction usually under 10,000 words
Tragedy – A type of drama dealing with a serious theme, usually resulting in a dreadful, or
fatal event
Comedy - a of drama of a humorous nature with a happy or cheerful ending
Activity:
Number your paper 1-10. Then place a “P” for “Poetry,” “N” for “Novel,” “S” for “Short
Story,” “T” for “Tragedy,” or “C” for “Comedy” next to the number.
1. “The Giver” is a book about a Utopian Society.
2. We laughed through the entire movie, “Date Night.”
3. Limerick There was an old man with a beard
Who said, “It is just as I feared!”
Two Owls and a Hen
Four Larks and a Wren
Have all built their nests in my beard!
4. “Cinderella,” along with most fairytales, would be an example.
5. "Shindler's List" is a very sad movie about the Holocaust.
6. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is one of Shakespeare’s funnier plays.
7. He is talking
Am listening
“I’ll change,” he says
But it’s nothing I want here
I have heard it all before
Tick-tock-tick-tock
All the lies
All the tears
I am tired of fighting
Pack my bags and go
But there is something about him
I can’t let go
Maybe this relationship…
It’s not as bad as it seems.
8. Although “Holes” was made into a movie, it was first written as a ___________.
9. It is devastating when both of the main characters die in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
10. “I loved reading that! It was only a page long!”
Station 4: Anecdote
Write the following definition into your comp book in the general work section.
Definition: A genre that is a short account of a particular event that is told to make a point, and is
usually interesting or amusing.
Activity:
Number your paper 1-5. Read the following examples, and write down what you think is
the main point of the anecdote.
Examples:
How High Can You Jump?
Flea trainers have observed a predictable and strange habit of fleas while training them. Fleas are trained by putting
them in a cardboard box with a top on it. The fleas will jump up and hit the top of the cardboard box over and over and over
again. As you watch them jump and hit the lid, something very interesting becomes obvious. The fleas continue to jump, but
they are no longer jumping high enough to hit the top. Apparently, Excedrin headache 1738 forces them to limit the height of
their jump.
When you take off the lid, the fleas continue to jump, but they will not jump out of the box. They won't jump out
because they can't jump out. Why? The reason is simple. They have conditioned themselves to jump just so high. Once they
have conditioned themselves to jump just so high, that's all they can do!
Many times, people do the same thing. They restrict themselves and never reach their potential. Just like the fleas,
they fail to jump higher, thinking they are doing all they can do.
If You Think
If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't! If you want to win, but think you can't, It's
almost a cinch you won't. If you think you'll lose, you're lost; For out in the world we find Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of the mind. Life's battles don't always go To the stronger and faster man, But sooner or later the man
who wins Is the man who thinks he can.
A Short Course in Human Relations
The six most important words: I admit that I was wrong. The five most important words: You did a great job. The four
most important words: What do you think? The three most important words: Could you please. . . The two most important
words: Thank you. The most important word: We. The least important word: I.
Blurred Vision
A businessman was highly critical of his competitors' storefront windows. "Why, they are the dirtiest windows in
town," he claimed. Fellow business people grew tired of the man's continual criticism and nitpicking comments about the
windows. One day over coffee, the businessman carried the subject just too far. Before leaving, a fellow store owner
suggested the man get his own windows washed. He followed the advice, and the next day at coffee, he exclaimed, "I can't
believe it. As soon as I washed my windows, my competitor must have cleaned his too. You should see them shine."
Confucius once declared, "Don't complain about the snow on your neighbor's roof when your owm doorstep is
unclean."
"If I Had My Life to Live Over"
If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I'd limber up. I would be sillier than
I've been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously, take more chances, take more trips. I'd climb more mountains, and
swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer
imaginary ones. You see, I'm one of those people who lived seriously, sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my
moments, and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere
without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than this
trip. If I had my life to live over, I would start going barefoot earlier in the spring, and stay that way later in the fall. I would
go to more dances, I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.
Station 5: Parody/Satire/Farce
Write the following definitions and examples into your comp book in the general work
section.
Parody
Definition: A genre that is a humorous imitation of a serious piece of writing, often making fun of it.
Satire
Definition: A genre in which sarcasm or ridicule is used to make fun of certain aspects of a society.
Farce
Definition: A genre that is a light, humorous play used to make fun of a certain situation.
Examples:
Saturday Night Live often makes fun of famous people or certain stereotypes.
The “Shrek” movies parody many of the popular fairytales.
Activity:
List ten character traits of Americans that could be parodied. Examples: Eating habits,
shopping habits, accents, styles, hairdos
Station 6: Connotation Vs. Denotation
Write the following definitions and examples into your comp book in the general work
section.
Denotation
Definition: The most specific or literal meaning of a word; the dictionary definition.
Example Words: Walk, Stroll, Waddle, Trot
Denotation - to move on foot from one place to another
Connotation
Definition: Implies or suggests an additional meaning for a word apart from the literal or main
meaning based on feeling or tone.
Examples of Connotation:
Stroll - to move in a slow unhurried way
Waddle - short steps causing the body to tilt slightly from one side to the other
Trot - faster paced (faster than walking; not as fast as running)
Activity:
1. Make a copy of the following chart on your paper, and complete it.
Word: Laugh
A. Write down the Denotation (Dictionary Definition) of the word “laugh”:
Synonyms: Choose 5 synonyms for the
word, ”,” and list them below.
Connotations: Give the suggested meaning,
feeling, or tone the word portrays.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
2. Write as many connotations as you can for the word dark.
3. Write as many connotations as you can for the word rest.
Station 7: Paradox/Irony
Write the following definitions and one example into your comp book in the general work
section.
Paradox
Definition: a statement that seems self-contradictory or absurd but actually expresses a possible
truth
Examples: "'Take some more tea,' the March hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
'I've had nothing yet,' Alice replied in an offended tone, 'so I can't take more.'
'You mean you can't take less,' said the Hatter. 'It's very easy to take more than nothing.'"
(Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot."
(Henry David Thoreau, Walden)
Irony
Definition: Something happens that is out of place from what might be expected to happen, and often
seems absurd, humorous, or laughable.
Examples: An ambulance driver rushes to the scene of an accident, only to run the victim over,
because the victim crawled into the middle of the street in the darkness of night.
In 1912 the Titanic was touted as "100% unsinkable", and yet the ship sank on its maiden
voyage.
Activity:
Number 1-10. Write a short explanation of how the statement is ironic or paradoxical.
1. Nobody goes to that restaurant; it's too crowded.
2. Don't go near the water until you've learned to swim.
3. The man who wrote such a stupid sentence cannot write at all.
4. If you get this message, call me; if you don't, then don't worry about it.
5. If a person says about himself that he always lies, is that that the truth or a lie?
6. "War is peace.”
7. "Freedom is slavery."
8. "Ignorance is strength." (George Orwell, 1984)
9. "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." (C.S. Lewis to his godchild,
Lucy Barfield, to whom he dedicated The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
10. "I do not love you except because I love you;
I go from loving to not loving you,
From waiting to not waiting for you
My heart moves from cold to fire."
(Pablo Neruda)
Station 8: Memoir
Write the following definitions and glue the example into your comp book in the general
work section.
Definition: A genre that is an (auto)biographical account of a specific time period or event written by
a person having intimate knowledge of them.
Memoir Example:
Excerpt from “The First Moment of… The Sixties”
By: Joseph Duffy
I was sure when The Fifties would come to an end. They would end on December 31, 1959, at the stroke of
midnight. I was a young boy of eleven at that moment, and my twin brother Jim and I were helping my Mom
baby-sit for my sister Betty, who lived across tiny Agate Street from us. It was a big deal, as the decade
would be changing, something I had never experienced, as I was too young the last time this happened…
Activity:
Write a short (5 sentence) memoir about a specific event in your life. Here are some
ideas to help get you started.
I couldn’t believe it when…
I’ll never forget when…
My favorite childhood memory is…
The worst injury I’ve ever experienced was…
The most difficult time in my life was…
Sonnet Key
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accurséd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O, kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
Propaganda Techniques Key
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
B
E
N
T
N
E
T
B
N
E
B
N
B
E
B
Genre Key
1. N
2. C
3. P
4. S
5. T
6. C
7. P
8. N
9. T
10. S
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accurséd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O, kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
Sonnet: Let me not to the marriage of true minds (a)
Admit impediments, love is not love (b)
Which alters when it alteration finds, (a)
Or bends with the remover to remove. (b)
O no, it is an ever fixéd mark (c)
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (d)
It is the star to every wand'ring bark, (c)
Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken. (d)
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (e)
Within his bending sickle's compass come, (f)
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (e)
But bears it out even to the edge of doom: (f)
If this be error and upon me proved, (g)
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (g)
Sonnet: Let me not to the marriage of true minds (a)
Admit impediments, love is not love (b)
Which alters when it alteration finds, (a)
Or bends with the remover to remove. (b)
O no, it is an ever fixéd mark (c)
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (d)
It is the star to every wand'ring bark, (c)
Sonnet: Let me not to the marriage of true minds (a)
Admit impediments, love is not love (b)
Which alters when it alteration finds, (a)
Or bends with the remover to remove. (b)
O no, it is an ever fixéd mark (c)
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (d)
It is the star to every wand'ring bark, (c)
Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken. (d)
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (e)
Within his bending sickle's compass come, (f)
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (e)
But bears it out even to the edge of doom: (f)
If this be error and upon me proved, (g)
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (g)
Sonnet: Let me not to the marriage of true minds (a)
Admit impediments, love is not love (b)
Which alters when it alteration finds, (a)
Or bends with the remover to remove. (b)
O no, it is an ever fixéd mark (c)
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (d)
It is the star to every wand'ring bark, (c)
Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken. (d)
Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken. (d)
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (e)
Within his bending sickle's compass come, (f)
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (e)
But bears it out even to the edge of doom: (f)
If this be error and upon me proved, (g)
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (g)
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (e)
Within his bending sickle's compass come, (f)
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (e)
But bears it out even to the edge of doom: (f)
If this be error and upon me proved, (g)
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (g)
Memoir Example:
Excerpt from “The First Moment of…
The Sixties”
By: Joseph Duffy
I was sure when The Fifties would come
to an end. They would end on December 31,
1959, at the stroke of midnight. I was a
young boy of eleven at that moment, and my
twin brother Jim and I were helping my
Mom baby-sit for my sister Betty, who lived
across tiny Agate Street from us. It was a
big deal, as the decade would be changing,
something I had never experienced, as I
was too young the last time this happened…
Memoir Example:
Excerpt from “The First Moment of…
The Sixties”
By: Joseph Duffy
I was sure when The Fifties would come
to an end. They would end on December 31,
1959, at the stroke of midnight. I was a
young boy of eleven at that moment, and my
twin brother Jim and I were helping my
Mom baby-sit for my sister Betty, who lived
across tiny Agate Street from us. It was a
big deal, as the decade would be changing,
something I had never experienced, as I
was too young the last time this happened…
Memoir Example:
Excerpt from “The First Moment of…
The Sixties”
By: Joseph Duffy
I was sure when The Fifties would come
to an end. They would end on December 31,
1959, at the stroke of midnight. I was a
young boy of eleven at that moment, and my
twin brother Jim and I were helping my
Mom baby-sit for my sister Betty, who lived
across tiny Agate Street from us. It was a
big deal, as the decade would be changing,
something I had never experienced, as I
was too young the last time this happened…
Memoir Example:
Excerpt from “The First Moment of…
The Sixties”
By: Joseph Duffy
I was sure when The Fifties would come
to an end. They would end on December 31,
1959, at the stroke of midnight. I was a
young boy of eleven at that moment, and my
twin brother Jim and I were helping my
Mom baby-sit for my sister Betty, who lived
across tiny Agate Street from us. It was a
big deal, as the decade would be changing,
something I had never experienced, as I
was too young the last time this happened…
Memoir Example:
Excerpt from “The First Moment of…
The Sixties”
By: Joseph Duffy
I was sure when The Fifties would come
to an end. They would end on December 31,
1959, at the stroke of midnight. I was a
young boy of eleven at that moment, and my
twin brother Jim and I were helping my
Mom baby-sit for my sister Betty, who lived
across tiny Agate Street from us. It was a
big deal, as the decade would be changing,
something I had never experienced, as I
was too young the last time this happened…
Memoir Example:
Excerpt from “The First Moment of…
The Sixties”
By: Joseph Duffy
I was sure when The Fifties would come
to an end. They would end on December 31,
1959, at the stroke of midnight. I was a
young boy of eleven at that moment, and my
twin brother Jim and I were helping my
Mom baby-sit for my sister Betty, who lived
across tiny Agate Street from us. It was a
big deal, as the decade would be changing,
something I had never experienced, as I
was too young the last time this happened…