Memoir Unit
Week Four
2013
Welcome!!
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Peninsula Writers
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Ms. Lee Bradley
Mr. Rick Guilford
Ms. Sue Guilford
Ms. Shirley Neitzel
Ms. Marcie Woods
Ms. Cerise Fuhrman
Special Guests
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Dr. Paskewicz, Mr. Thomas, Mrs. Steelman
Stephen Dunning Small-Groups
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Select a timer (12 minutes per person)
While each person reads his/her piece, group
members read along silently and annotate text
After listening, wait a few minutes to formulate
thoughts about the piece
Discuss the piece as though the writer is not there
(authors should be taking notes)
Focus discussion on ideas and language
Author may “explain” or comment about raised
suggestions
Thank group members
Homework
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Minimum 3 pages
TWO COPIES!
AGENDA
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Poetry Announcement
Rhetorical Vocab (Comparison)
Partner Feedback Session
Choice Reading
Debriefing
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What did you learn from small-group?
What will change in your piece?
Final-Copy Questions
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MLA format
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Heading
Title
Double spacing
Page numbers
1. Final copy of memoir
due next class: October 9
2. Bring rough drafts:
1. YOUR copy from
Stephen Dunning (Mon.)
2. Your partner’s copy (Tues.)
Attention to rubric
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Diction, syntax
Ideas
3. Bring The Glass Castle
to return to IMC
Sentence Patterning
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On graph paper, make a graph that
represents the number of words included in
each sentence of two paragraphs.
We want a “heartbeat!”
Pair/Share
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With your partner, read your revised piece
“Stephen Dunning” style
Read-Around
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Choose a section
of your piece you
would like to read
to the whole group
Preface your
reading with a
one-sentence
synopsis of your
piece
Rubric for Memoir Assignment
Item Description
Total Points
Earned Points
Writing Process
Produces multiple revisions, making
thoughtful changes to original draft
Prepares for small-group sessions with ample
copies of a finished rough draft
Participates in revision activities with a focus
on writing improvement
5
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5
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5
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5
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5
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5
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Genre Characteristics
Focuses on unifying theme of one slice of
subject’s life
Includes relevant, genuine, and vivid details
of experience
Demonstrates empathy through a balance
of detailed accounts and privacy
issues
AGENDA
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Rhetorical Vocab (Balance)
Précis Summaries
Précis Summaries
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Highly structured four-sentence paragraph
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Assertion/Claim
Development
Purpose
Audience
Rhetorical Précis
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Assertion/Claim (who, what, when)
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Development (how)
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How the author “develops and/or supports”
Chronological Order
Purpose (why)
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Name of author (phrase describing)
Genre + title of work + date (2012)
Rhetorically accurate verb
“THAT” clause containing the thesis
The “author’s purpose”
Infinitive ( “ is to” + verb)
Audience (to whom)
 Intended
audience
 Relationship with audience
Rhetorically Accurate Verbs
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argues
suggests
states
proposes
declares
maintains
advocates
asserts
denies
refutes
proves
disproves
explains
The Glass Castle
1.
2.
In her poignant memoir The Glass Castle (2005)
Jeannette Walls suggests that even though her
upbringing was unstable at best, the end result
was hopeful.
She makes her claim by describing in great detail
the poverty in which she lived, the lies from which
she ran, the other kids from whom she hid, and
the parents on whom she relied.
The Glass Castle
3. Her sole purpose is to capture her own story by
writing it down in a way that is both brave and
haunting; she wants people to finally know her
without judging her parents too harshly.
4. Walls reaches out to an empathetic audience, one
who understands the complex mix of a family who
somehow withstands the fierce storms of living
together but still learns to forgive and love in spite
of the judgment of others and even of themselves.
Précis Summaries
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Gradual Release of Responsibility
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Model:
Partner:
Individual:
The Glass Castle
“Us and Them” by Sedaris (pg. 16)
Personal Memoir (pg. 17)
AGENDA
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Turn in memoir
Return TGC to IMC
Rhetorical Vocab (balance)
Group discussions
Didion: “On Keeping a Notebook”
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HOMEWORK: Precis Summary (typed)
Memoir
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ORDER: TOP to BOTTOM
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Yellow Rubric (ADD NAME on scoring side)
Final copy
Tuesday’s draft
Monday’s draft
Reminder: Write Michigan Contest!! Win MONEY!!
Rhetorical Précis
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Assertion/Claim (who, what, when)
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Development (how)
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How the author “develops and/or supports”
Chronological Order
Purpose (why)
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Name of author (phrase describing)
Genre + title of work + date (2013)
Rhetorically accurate verb
“THAT” clause containing the thesis
The “author’s purpose”
Infinitive ( “ is to” + verb)
Audience (to whom)
 Intended
audience
 Relationship with audience
Joan Didion
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American author best known
for her novels and her literary
journalism. Her novels and
essays explore the
disintegration of American
morals and cultural chaos,
where the overriding theme is
individual and social
fragmentation. A sense of
anxiety or dread permeates
much of her work.[ wikipedia]
“On Keeping a Notebook”
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Read and annotate thoughts
Keep in mind that you will be writing a precis
summary on this piece
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Summative:
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typed, double spaced due TOMORROW!
AGENDA
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Announcements:
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Scotland/England trip
Catching Fire movie trip
3rd Hour: Fill out Employability skills selfassessment
Finish “Currently” Journal
“Non-Fiction” Friday! On iPads
OR
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Choice Reading outside