Tuesday, August 19th 2014

Punctuating Titles

This week we are going to be focusing on expository writing, or writing to inform. As we write on different topics, you will be asked to include information about the sources from which you collected ideas. An important lesson to have when writing about others' ideas and work is correctly punctuating titles.

In the examples below, use any prior knowledge you possess to choose whether to underline or use "quotation marks" around the given title. This is just practice, but do your best. For each question, type either QUOTES or UNDERLINE to show your answer.

1. Did you read the short story The Black Cat? 

 

2. I watched the opera Madam Butterfly. 

 

3. Do you still get the newspaper The Athens Banner?

 

4. We read about the ship the Titanic. 

5. One episode of The Closer called The Wedding was so funny. 

 

6. Justin Hayward was the lead singer on The War of the Worlds musical.

7. Judy Garland sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow. 

8. Come watch the play Othello. 

9. The movie Taken is really good. 

10. My magazine, Archeology, has not come. 

Monday, August 18th 2014

Welcome, Sophomore English students!

I am so excited to have you all in my class this year. One of the ways we will write and publish our thoughts is on this class blog. To start, you will need to log into your gmail account in order to post.

Here is the first prompt you will need to respond to. Please write 3-5 complete sentences:

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." 
~William Shakespeare

Now that you are Sophomores in high school, you should know that the Greek roots of the word "Sophomore" actually translate to wise fool. What does that phrase mean to you? When you consider the quote and the phrase above, what do you come to understand? How does the quote apply to life in general?

*Note: this is not meant as a put-down to you! I just wanted you to think about it :)

**Your post will need to be moderated, so it may not pop up immediately.