Jan 27-28
Intro to The Alchemist
I can apply grammar rules.
I can identify a personal legend.
I can recognize a fable and an allegory.
I can demonstrate comprehension of a text.
Bell Ringer- Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
 The job of a pronoun is to refer back to an existing noun.
We call this the antecedent.
Example:
 President Lincoln delivered Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in
1863.
 We do not talk or write this way. Automatically, we replace the
noun Lincoln's with a pronoun. More naturally, we say
 President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address in 1863.
 His refers back to President Lincoln. President Lincoln is the
antecedent for the pronoun his.
Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement
Rules- Write under your grammar section!

A phrase or clause between the subject and verb does not change the number of the
antecedent.
What is the subject? What
is the verb?

Indefinite pronouns as antecedents
 Plural indefinite pronoun antecedents require plural referents


Plural: several, few, both, many
Compound subjects joined by and always take a plural referents.
•
Compound subjects joined by neither or
nor the pronoun agrees with the antecedent
closer to the pronoun.
EX: Neither the director nor the actors did
their jobs.
Just a little more…
 Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.) may be singular or plural,
depending on meaning.
 Titles of single entities: (books, organizations, countries, etc.) take a
singular referent.
 Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular referent. (news,
measles, mumps, physics, etc)
 The news has lost most of its sting the last two days.
 The number of vs A number of before a subject:
 The number of volunteers increase its ranks daily.
 A number of volunteers are offering their help.
Your Turn…
 Pronouns should be the same in number as the nouns they refer
to.
 Here’s what to do:
1. Find the pronoun
2. Find the antecedent- what the pronoun is referring to
3. Determine if the antecedent is: singular or plural/masculine or
feminine (or neither), possessive or not. If it agrees, great! If
not, change it so it does.
Complete the following
1a. Explain the function of a pronoun in a sentence.
1b. What does the term antecedent refer to?
2. In each pair of sentences below, determine the number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, or neutral) of the bolded pronoun.
Singular
A) Drake is a popular rapper
from Canada. He started his
career on the Canadian drama
Degrassi.
B) Rihanna is from Barbados.
She and Drake have recorded
several duets.
C) 106 and Park is BET’s video
countdown show. It is one of
the network’s most popular
programs.
D) Many of today’s most
popular hip-hop artists perform
on the show. They know it is a
good outlet to reach their fans.
Plural
Masculine
Feminine
Neutral
Check your answers
 1a. refers to or replaces a noun
 1b. the noun a pronoun refers to
 2a. singular, masculine
 2b. singular, feminine
 2c. singular, neutral
 2d. plural, neutral
Just a reminder…
1. Find the pronoun
2. Find the antecedent- what the pronoun is referring to
3. Determine if the antecedent is: singular or
plural/masculine or feminine (or neither), possessive
or not. If it agrees, great! If not, change it so it does.
Complete the practice handout.
Give it a shot
 Complete the questions on the handout on your own paper.
 Don’t forget, you need to justify your answer!
Check your answers
 Answer Explanation
1. B The singular pronoun it refers back to the antecedent town.
2. F The singular pronoun it correctly refers back to the
antecedent ordinance.
3. C The use of the pronoun it is unclear; the sentence does not
clarify what is being referred to. Therefore, we should use a noun
instead of a pronoun. The noun fine makes the most sense based on
the rest of the passage (notice that the previous paragraph discusses
the implementation of a fine).
4. F The plural possessive pronoun their correctly refers to teens.
5. D The plural pronoun they should be used to refer back to the
antecedent lawyers.
WFA 3.1 Happy Shirts
 Read the text carefully and then answer on a scrap piece of
paper and then put answers into the clicker.
 This is timed!
Finish…
 You will have about 15 minutes to complete (if not already)
the following based on Waters of Babylon (page 82 in the
Holt Reader):
1. Sequence handout
2. Elements of literature handout
3. Think in 3s handout-plot, character, setting connect to
create theme.
Introduction to The Alchemist
What Is a Personal Legend

Discuss what comes to mind when you think of a personal legend? What happens? Why must people have a personal legend?
Think about what you wrote as I read the Introduction. Did you have the same idea as the author?
What do you Know?
Answer the following questions with a partner.
1. What is alchemy?
2. What is an alchemist?
3. Who is Narcissus?
4. What is a fable?
5. What is an allegory?
Answers: Add to your Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Alchemy is the ancient practice of trying to turn lead into gold.
An alchemist can be defined as a profession/person that practices
alchemy which is the quest of searching for a way in which to
turn metals into gold.
Narcissus is a character from Greek mythology who loved his
beauty. He would look at his reflection everyday in the water.
One day, he drowned. His love of his own beauty was his tragic
flaw.
A Fable is a short imaginary tale that teaches a moral or a lesson.
The story can be in prose or verse.
An allegory is a narrative that has two levels of meaning: a literal
one and a figurative or symbolic one.
Fable and Allegory: add to your Notes
The Alchemist is a fable. In fact,The Alchemist is subtitled "A
Fable about FollowingYour Dreams." Like most fables,The
Alchemist has a theme/moral that reflects a universal truth
concerning life and human existence. The universal point this
story makes is that everyone has a special destiny, and yet not
everyone tries to achieve it because it takes hard work.
Reaching one's destiny requires leaving behind familiar
surroundings. It also demands courage, persistence, the
ability to change when appropriate and the willingness to
respond to omens that point the way.
Fable and Allegory: add to your Notes
Also, like many fables, the story told in The Alchemist does not make its
universal point directly, or in so many words, by the author telling
the reader in plain language what the moral of the story is. Instead,
the story of the main character in The Alchemist is what we call an
allegory. An allegory is a narrative that has two levels of
meaning: a literal one and a figurative or symbolic one. As a
reader, your challenges with this fable are to watch for and try to
interpret symbols (symbolism=something that is itself but
also represents something else or something deeper).
Remember, most anything in a story can havesymbolic meaning,
including objects, characters, places, names, events, etc.
Prologue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9okcHqdQdA
Independent Reading and questions
Read pages 3-25 and answer the questions on your own paper.
In order to study for the test, you will be responsible for
keeping up with all your work with The Alchemist unit .
Catchup Work
Check to see what you are missing. I have taken a grade on the following:
1. Man in the water letter
2. Hero Acrostic
3. Sword in the stone questions
4. Archetype Review Handout
5. Coat of Arms
6. Grammar Handout- Subject verb agreement
7. I will be taking a grade on the 3 handouts: sequence, elements of lit.,
and think in 3s.
Man in the Water Letter
 IF you turned in your letter, you have partial credit for
completing the letter.
 However, you need to revise in order to get full credit.
 You were to write a letter, as one of the survivors, to the man in the
water family.
 It is to be 5 paragraphs- as is anything that we formally write.
 This time I am looking for organization (intro, body, conclusion) and
transition words (try to be a little more creative/sophisticated than first,
next, lastly, finally).
 IF you did NOT turn in the letter the first time, you need to
complete and can now only earn partial credit-you will need to
have the requirements!