Wednesday, 12/15: Prepositions, Vocab, 120, Interviews

“Prepositions, 12/15.”  PP or NO PP? Copy the boldfaced, underlined “phrase” and say PP or no PP. (LOL)

  1. As the llama rode down the street, he waved to all his fans.
  2. As the llama rode down the street, he waved to all his fans.
  3. The llama with pink fur ate a doughnut while playing Fortnite.
  4. The llama with pink fur ate a doughnut while playing Fortnite.
  5. That llama will be gone within a year or two.
  6. That llama will be gone within a year or two.
  7. The llama was going to skip on his way home from Gramma’s House.
  8. The llama was going to skip on his way home from Gramma’s House.
  9. The llama told us about the great vacation he had at lunch.
  10. The clock stopped by the drinking fountain at exactly 2:05 yesterday.

“Vocab, 12/15.”

  1. We were completely _____(ed) by the amazing acrobatic performance.
  2. Their argument probably would have become violent if the llama hadn’t _____(ed).
  3. Fifth period is often the scene of _____, and that is why they rarely get a “10” from a guest teacher.
  4. They separated all the people with _____ to an imaginary quarantine. (haha)
  5. After Johnny and Dally died, Ponyboy was ______(ing) in misery and self-pity, and Darry told him to stop.
  6. serenity : pandemonium :: benefactor : ______
  7. bore : mesmerize :: release : _____
  8. The root of this word was a fine for disturbing the peace. _____
  9. The root of this word meant loosened or released or paid. _____
  10. The roots of this word meant beneath the ribs. _____
  11. The roots of this word meant all demons. _____

120 Seconds.

  1. (1-6) Introduction-Presentation: How well done? Did reader give title, author, and genre of the book and brief setting of the scene? Did reader capture the audience’s attention immediately?
  2. (1-6) Mechanics: Reading Clarity. Is the pacing good? Are words pronounced correctly and easily understood? Are words read slowly enough for the audience’s understanding? Is there enough volume?
  3. (1-6) Stage Presence: Does the reader appear confident? Does the reader establish eye contact with the audience during the intro? Are gestures, if any, natural and appropriate to the reading? Does it look like she/he has practiced?
  4. (1-6) Reading Interpretation: Are characters identifiable/differentiated by your voice? Can you tell when it’s a question? Can you tell when description ends and dialogue begins? CAN YOU AVOID THE MONOTONE DRONE?
  5. (1-6) Quality of Selection:  Is it entertaining, whether dramatic, suspenseful, or funny? Does it make us want to read the book?
  6. (1-6) Audience Appeal: Is the reader holding the listeners’ attention? Overall impression?

Work on Interviews. CHROMEBOOKS! Final Drafts are due Tuesday, 12/21.

  • Introduction: Setting. Description of scene/setting. How it was set up. Why you chose this person. Relationship to this person.
  • Description of person. Show, don’t tell.
    • Looks. (Details.)
    • Voice and choice of words. Delivery.
    • Personality. (Bitter? Enthusiastic? Happy? Lost in memories? Crabby?  What?)
  • The intro/description should be 350+ words.
  • Interview.
    • Questions you asked, followed by answers and follow up.
    • You may summarize their answers, but please include at least three good quotes (word for word, as close as you can get) that use the person’s actual words.
  • Conclusion: Discuss what you learned, most surprising info, most interesting, change in attitude toward older people, etc. About 75-100+ words.
  • Come up with a creative title that sums up the interview.

___/10. Introduction: Scene setting, interview set-up, etc.
___/10. Personal Description: Physical, personality, etc.
___/10. Conclusion.
___/10. Essay organization.
___/20. Answers, Summaries, Quotes.
___/20. Language/sentence structure.
___/20. Mechanics.

___/100. Total


Intro Examples:

98 Years of Memories

“What was school like back in the day?” I asked. She replied with her somewhat stable and shaky voice, “The school I attended was a consolidated school. I was 12 grades in one building. On floor one, there were grades 1-8, and on floor two, there were grades 9-12.”  Well… that wasn’t exactly the answer I was expecting.

It was a somewhat breezy Sunday afternoon, just past lunch, around 12:30 am. After I got back home from running a few errands, I asked my mom if I could interview one of the people at my parents’ elderly care facility. She said I could, and we went to Joyce’s, the person I was granted permission to interview, room. 

The reason I wanted to interview her was because she was mentally sharp for her age of 94, and I thought that would make for a good interview. She was also the only resident free at the time with no visitors or her physical therapist. However, there was a catch, she had some hearing issues. I’ll get back to that later. 

She was sitting down in her chair, with her black and grey walker in front of her. She was watching the news on the T.V. Her bed was placed in the far-right corner from the entrance, with a nightstand with a picture of her kids on it. Her outfit of choice at that time was her pink, soft-looking, pajamas. She was wrinkly, however, it was rare for me to not see her smiling, so maybe that’s the reason why.

When asked if I could interview her, she looked joyed. The pros were that I had someone to interview and she seemed thrilled to do so. The con was that her responses were long, which was something I was not expecting. I considered it good content, but then again, that’d mean I’d need to write a lot more. At least she was happy. Let’s call it a win-win.


The Wise Words of Nana”     

I had just came home from school and was putting my stuff away when I remembered I had to do my interview. “Nana,” (that is what I call my grandma), “Remember that interview thing I told you about last week?”

     “Pardon me,” she said, she always says this when she wasn’t listening and couldn’t hear what I said. I repeated myself and she said, “Yes, I do, are we going to do that right now?”

     “Well, that’s what I was planning on doing,” I said.

     So we sat down on the couch in the living room. At the time my brother was playing video games and in the background we could hear him talking to the people he was playing with. He was eating popcorn and Max ( the dog ) was sitting next to him waiting for a piece to drop. Nana was very serious about the interview so she suggested we moved into the other room where it was quieter. 

     Nana is 74, but she looks pretty good for her age. She has short, blond dyed hair with hints of gray where the color is wearing off. She wears reddish-pink lip gloss, and she licks her lips a lot, I always wondered if it tastes good. She doesn’t usually wear glasses, only when she is reading, she likes ones with funny frames and whenever she gets a new pair she asks me what I think of them. She has very white teeth which she says is natural, but I think it’s from those whitening strips she uses. Either way, her smile is beautiful and always makes me feel good. Nana is about 5’ 2”, which is shorter than I am even with her high heels on. She has a slight british accent, but a lot of it has worn off after living in the United States for a long time, even so, I can always hear that slight hint of her home country and recognize her voice. Nana can be very serious, but she also has a sense of humor and loves to laugh. When I hear her laugh it feels like all is right in the world and nothing could go wrong.