ACT Prep/Grammar Girl Lessons

Directions

1. Listen to your assigned grammar girl podcast.
Josh- Episode 37- Lie vs. Lay-
B.J.- Episode 96- May vs. Might
Drew- Episode 41- What's the difference between a colon and a semicolon?
Seth- Episode 49- Run-on sentences
Kristin- Episdoe 51- Good vs. well
Pedro- Episode 58- Starting a sentence with 'however'
Terry- Epidsode 60- How to punctuation questions
Graham- Episode 92- Apostrophes
Rodrigo- Episode 93- Hyphens
Patrick- Episode 98- Who vs. Whom
Kenna- Episoda 103- Subject-Verb Agreement
Kelsie- Episode 121- Affect vs Effect
Brett- Episode 125- Comparatives vs. Superlatives
Brock- Episode 126- Thru vs. Through vs. Threw
Ethan- Episode 131- Collective Nouns- Singular or Plural?
Liz- Episode 100- How to Write Numbers

2. Write a summary/explanation of the concept/skill she talked about using your own examples to explain it.



3. Teach a mini-lesson to the class to help explain that concept. You'll be teaching the concept on Friday.


P.S. All of these potential will be part of the English component of the ACT.

Sentence Composing # 4- Opening Adjective- Practice # 3, # 4, and # 5;

Practice 3: Combining to Imitate

In the model, identify the opening adjectives. Next, combine the list of sentences to imitate the model. Finally, write your own imitation of the model and identify any opening adjectives.

Model: Dark, velvety, the beauty of his mustache was enhanced by his strong clean-shaven chin.
--Toni Morrison, Beloved

a. His cautionary steps were slow.

b. His cautionary steps were weary.

c. His cautionary were caused by something.

d. The cause was the surrounding overexcited horses.

Practice 4: Imitating

1. Identify the opening adjectives in the models and sample imitations. Then write an imitation of each model sentences, one sentence part at a time. Read one of your imitations to see if your classmates can guess which model you imitated.

Models:

1. Wordless, we split up.
--Annie Dillard, An American Childhood

Sample: Wet, the napkin fell apart

2. Cold, dark, and windowless, it stretched the length of the house.
--Jessamyn West, "The Child's Day"

Sample: Hot, humid, and muggy, the weather exhausted the stamina of the bikers.

3. Afraid that we might hunt for a cheaper apartment for the next two weeks and find nothing better than this one, we took it

Sample: Happy that we would escape to a lovely beach for the upcoming one month and have nothing but good time, we left home.

Practice 5: Expanding

The opening adjectives are omitted at the caret mark(^) in the following sentences. For each caret, add an opening adjective or adjective phrase, plending your content and style with the rest of the sentence.

1. ^, I begain climbing the ladder's rungs, slightly reassured by having Finny right behind me.
--John Knowles, A Seperate Peace

2. ^ and ^, he wandered about the many tents, only to find that one place as cold as another.
--Jack London, "To Build a Fire"

3. ^ and ^, my limited reading helped me to know something of a world beyond the four walls of my study.
Christy Brown, My Left Foot

Sample Paragraph

I would consider this a very well-developed and synthesize paragraph.

While it may seem as a paradox, Beowulf has the aptitude for being a willful warrior and erudite speaker, blending the two perfectly as an epic hero. Slaying monsters at will with the strength of thirty men, Beowulf shows those around him that he is a man of action; however, his wielding of words reveals he is far from superficial. For example, Beowulf fetters himself from physical confrontation with Danes around him by instead employing rhetorical skills. When the Geats first reach the land of the Danes, they are confronted by a hostile guard wanting to know their business. Recognizing the delicate situation, Beowulf preempts a potential fight by reassuring the guard that they have come to help Hrothgar. Further along in story, Beowulf shows he is impervious to personal attacks from Unferth over his swimming match with Brecca. Facile with effort, Beowulf delivers the compelling story of how he slew giant leviathans of the deep and proceeds to reprove Unferth not only for his vindictive manner, but also for killing his own brother and not being able defeat Grendel alone. Through this, Beowulf shows he is above trivial skirmishes with people like Unferth since he can defeat them through a contest of wits. Similarly, Beowulf edifies others from the depths of despair into action. After Grendel's mother attacks Herot, Beowulf convinces Hrothgar that he must not capitulate to the will of the monster or languish in mourning, but instead Hrothgar must
coalesce his forces and attack back immediately. Using his powers of persuasion, Beowulf helps to expedite the demise of Grendel's mother. Finally, Beowulf seems to know when it is time remain silent. Before leaving for Geatland, Beowulf delivers much approbation of Hrothgar and the Danes, declaring that concord will continue between their two peoples; however, upon returning to Geatland, he publicly declares to Higlac, his own lord, that he sees nothing but troubles ahead for Hrothgar. As a model of what an Angl0-Saxon guest should be, Beowulf saves face for Hrothgar instead warning of potential perils ahead. Beowulf is not a paradox; His roles a both a fervent fighter and skilled speaker blend beautifully into the model Angl0-Saxon hero.

Beowulf Argumentative Paragraph

Due September 15th

Directions: As a college prep class, making arguments and developing analysis about the text we read is a skill we're going to try to hone. Instead of having you write a complete essay, I'm going to have you write a well-developed paragraph where you make a claim about Beowulf and support that claim using evidence from the text.

Guideline

1. Examine Beowulf holistically as a text or examine a certain part. Make a claim/argument about some aspect that isn't obvious and literally. A bad argument for a paragraph would be Beowulf helped Hrothgar by ridding two monsters for him; It's obvious and doesn't allow much room for any critical thought.

Here are some potetial topics:

-Gender Roles and How Beowulf tries to teach the listener/reader how an Anglo-Saxon woman should or shouldn't behave

-Functions of the "side stories" with in the Beowulf text

-Beowulf as a Christlike figure

-Beowulf's transformation to aider to Hrothgar toward inhabiting the role of Hrothgar himself

-How Beowulf fulfills/doesn't fulfill the Anglo-Saxon hero model

-Message Beowulf tries to deliver about life and death

-Beowulf as an evangelizing tool to pagan listeners

-Is pride Beowulf's downfall?

-Use of foil character to teach lessons about codes of behavior for Anglo-Saxons

- Beowulf's biggest strength is not in brawn but his brains and wit

-Beowulf doesn't want to be king that a follower

-Messages and Meanings of Heirlooms in Beowulf

-Analysis of Beowulf and Lord of the Rings as comparative texts

-Hospitality and gifts contrasting with vengeance and violence

-Fatalism within Beowulf

-plus, many more that I know you can think of

2. Organization- While there isn't a formula for writing this paragraph, here is a structure that might work well.

Topic Sentence- Argument; Complex or Compound Sentence probably

Introduction of example/reason 1-

Illustration to support example/reason 1 from text

Introduction of example/reason 2 from text-

Illustration to support example/reason 2

Introduction of example/reason 3

Illustration of example/reason 3 from text

Tie Up Sentence to for paragraph


If you use a comparison/contrast or cause/effect structure for your pargraph, you're orgainzation will be different. Use appropriate transition word depending on the structure you use; Use specific examples from the text, not generalities i.e. Beowulf was a brave guy.


3. Sentence Structure-Vary your sentences; Try to use structures that we've model in our sentence composing strategies. Specifically, try to use introductory adjective or adjective phrases.

4. Vocabulary- Use at least two of the vocabulary words from Group 1. Boldface these within the paragraph.

5. Tone- Write using a formal voice. What does this mean? Avoid using "you" or "I" in the paragraph; don't use slang or colluquialisms i.e. Beowulf was "the man", he was "cool", Grendel thought he was "all that a bag of chips", and Beowulf gave scoop about Hrothgar to Higlac.

Sentence Composing # 4- Opening Adjective- Practice One and Two

An adjective at the opening of a sentence. An adjective is any descriptive word that can fit into the this blank. Sam is a (blank) student.

Here are a few possibilities to describe the student: happy, sad, angry, glad, smart, sneaky, polite, disruptive, etc..

An opening adjective may be a single word or the first word in an adjective phrase. An adjective phrase being with a n adjective and then continues the description. Here are examples: happy to graduate, sad because her pet died, angry at not getting the job, glad about winning the spelling bee, smart as Einstein, sneaky at times, polite with elders and children, disruptive because he was beside his best friend, etc. A comma following an opening adjective where a single word or phrase.

Sentences can contain single or multiple opening adjectives.

Single opening adjective: Powerless, we witnessed the sack of our launch.
--Pierre Boulee, Planet of the Apes

Multiple opening adjectives: Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring among themselves during the last century.
--Armstrong Sperry, Call It Courage

Opening adjective phrases: Numb of all feeling, empty as a shell, still he clung to life, and the hours droned by.
--J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Practice 1: Matching

Directions: Match opening adjectives with the sentences. Write out each sentence inserting the opening adjectives

Opening Adjectives

A. Alive

B. Hot and justy and over-wearied

C. Lonesome

D. Able to move now

E. Frantic, never turning my head-- because the water buffalo had started his charged

Sentences

1. ^, I wanted to run away and be gone from his strange place.
--Keith Donahue, The Stolen Child

2. ^, I felt behind me, my hand pleading with the rifle
--Theodore Waldeck, "Certain, Sudden Death"

3. ^, the elephant was worth at least a hundred pounds, but dead, we would only be worth the value of his tusks, five pounds, possibly
--George Orwell "Shooting an Elephant:

4. ^, he rocked his own body back and forth, breath deeply to release the remembered pain.
--Lois Lowry, The Giver

5. ^, he came to our door and eases his heavy pack and asked for refreshment, and Devola brought him a pail of water from our spring.
--Bill and Vera Cleaver, Where the Lilies Bloom

Practice Two: Unscrambling to Imitate

Directions: In the model and the scrambled list, A. identify the opening adjective. B. Next, unscramble and write out the sentence part to imitate the model. C. Finally, write your own imitation of the model and identify the opening adjective.

Model: Speechless, Bryson scanned the small living room, frantically.
--Robert Ludium, The Prometheus Deception

a. hopefully

b. spotted the soft inviting sofa

c. Kendra

d. uncomfortable

Sentence Composing # 3- Combining to Imitate

These exercises ask you to combine a series of plain sentences into just one varied sentence by changing the plain sentences to sentence parts resembling the model sentence.  As you do these exercises, you'll become aware that plain sentences can easily be changed into sentences parts of better, more varied sentences.

Directions: 1. Combine the following sentences to create a sentences that has the same order of sentences parts of the model. 2.  Then write your own imitation of the model.

1. Model: Twisting and punching and kicking, the two boys rolled across the floor.

--Lois Duncan, A Gift of Magic

a. The winning team was laughing and yelling and celebrating.

b. The team cavorted.

c. The cavorting was inside the locker room.

Own Sentence:

2. Model: He fell back exhausted, his ankle pounding.

--Raplh Ellison, "Flying Home"

a. She raced fast.

b. She was determined.

c. Her lungs her bursting

Own Sentence

3. Model: Alone, Tom looked around the room and knew that he was a stranger here.

--Hal Borland, When the Legends Die

a. Clark was afraid.

b. Clark walked down the alley.

c. Clark hoped something.

d. Clark hoped that he was alone there.

Own Sentence

4. Model: The room was empty , a silent world of  sinks, drain boards, and lock cupboards.

--Frank Bonham, Chief

a. The arena was full.

b. The area was a huge cavern.

c. It was filled with fans.

d. It was filled with bright lights.

e. And it was filled with exciting music.

Own Sentence