12/16 Gerund/Infinitive Reinforcement

Gerund or Infinitive – Fill in the correct form.

1. Mary enjoys ___________________ to music. (listen)

2. I don’t mind ___________________ the washing up. (do)

3. Irregular verbs are not easy ___________________ . (remember)

4. Mathew is really good at ___________________ . (cook)

5. She waited ___________________ a movie ticket. (buy)

6. The doctor encouraged his patients ___________________ healthy food. (eat)

7. My flat is easy ___________________ . (find)

8. She is interested in ___________________ a doctor. (become)

9. He is saving money ___________________ a new car. (buy)

10. When I met her I couldn’t help ___________________ her. (hug)

11. My favorite hobby is ___________________ . (cook)

12. My father helped me ___________________ my homework. (do)

13. I’m sick of ___________________ hamburgers every day. (eat)

14. It is important ___________________ the net for more information. (surf)

15. She advised me ___________________ a doctor as soon as possible. (see)

16. I don’t feel like ___________________ English today. (study)

17. Isabel got Mike ___________________ her car (wash)

18. ___________________ sport every day is good for your health. (do)

19. At last they decided ___________________ the apartment. (rent)

20. I pretended ___________________ asleep. (be)

21. Sheila stopped ___________________ hello to her friends. (say)

22. It’s no use ___________________ over spilt milk. (cry)

23. The following questions are easy ___________________ . (answer)

24. She told us where ___________________ the necessary material. (find)

25. Would you mind ___________________ this letter for me? (post)

26. They suggested ___________________ by bus. (travel)

27. We plan ___________________ to Europe this summer(go)

28. It was hard for her ___________________ smoking. (quit)

29. We were all happy about ___________________ the New Year in Vienna. (celebrate)

30. It seems difficult ___________________ everything about the topic. (know)

31. Just avoid ___________________ unnecessary mistakes. (make)

32. Can you imagine ___________________ my car before we leave? (finish)

33. We are used ___________________ up early in the morning. (get)

34. She enjoys ___________________ . (paint)

35. I forgot ___________________ the door when I left. (lock)

36. I regret ___________________ you that your application was rejected. (inform)

37. We intend ___________________ you next spring. (visit)

38. I decided ___________________ more often. (exercise)

39. Mary keeps ___________________ about her problems. (talk)

40. Ireland doesn’t allow ___________________ in bars. (smoke)

41. Nancy seemed ___________________ disappointed. (be)

42. I can’t bear ___________________ so much responsibility. (have)

43. She is fond of ___________________ picnics. (have)

44. She promised ___________________ smoking. (stop)

45. They urge their citizens ___________________ more waste. (recycle)

46. John is thinking about ___________________ abroad. (study)

47. She considered ___________________ to New York. (move)

48. The aquarium needs ___________________ . (clean)

49. Tom agrees ___________________ me. (help)

50. She warned him ___________________ late. (not be)

12/15 Gerunds and Infinitives

Today, students watched the following video and completed the two exercises in the video.  They then went on to complete a worksheet on gerunds and infinitives.  You will find the questions below.  

In the blank space, insert the gerund or the infinitive form of the verb in parentheses.

1) I don't fancy  (go) out tonight.

2) She avoided  (tell) him about her plans.

3) I would like  (come) to the party with you.

4) He enjoys  (have) a bath in the evening.

5) She kept  (talk) during the film.

6) I am learning  (speak) English.

7) Do you mind  (give) me a hand?

8) She helped me  (carry) my suitcases.

9) I've finished  (cook) - come and eat!

10) He decided  (study) biology.

11) I dislike  (wait).

12) He asked  (come) with us.

13) I promise  (help) you tomorrow.

14) We discussed  (go) to the cinema, but in the end we stayed at home.

15) She agreed  (bring) the pudding to the dinner.

16) I don't recommend  (take) the bus - it takes forever!

17) We hope  (visit) Amsterdam next month.

18) She suggested  (go) to the museum.

19) They plan  (start) college in the autumn.

20) I don't want  (leave) yet.

12/8 - 12/10 Parallel Structure

Today students watched this video in class that will help them understand parallel structure.

I then had them look at the rules that they should follow when trying to identify if a sentence has parallel structure or nonparallel structure.

They then worked collaboratively, with a partner, to correct the sentences on a worksheet that I gave them.

Here are the rules:

For Finding and Fixing Errors in Parallel Structure

Understand the problem.

For a list of actions or items, you must maintain parallel structure. To do this, use equal grammatical units. If the first item is a noun, then the following items must also be nouns; if the first item is a verb, then make the other items verbs as well.

Nonparallel structure looks like this:

At the garden store, Larissa bought  ,  , and .

At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, ceramic gnomes, and then she impulsively added a concrete mermaid to her cart.

Parallel structure, the correct way to write, looks like this:

At the garden store, Larissa bought  ,  , and .

At the garden store, Larissa  ,  , and .

At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, ceramic gnomes, and a concrete mermaid.

At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, rescued ceramic gnomes from the sale bin, and impulsively added a concrete mermaid to her cart.

Know the solution.

Once you discover a nonparallel item, you have two options. First, you can make it conform to the other grammatical items in the sentence. Look at this example:

We spent the hour in the waiting room reading old magazines, eating stale cookies from the vending machine, and we wiggled on the hard plastic chairs.

Reading old magazines and eating stale cookies are participle phrases; we wiggled ..., however, is a main clause. If we fix the nonparallel item, the sentence looks like this:

We spent the hour in the waiting room reading old magazines, eating stale cookies from the vending machine, and wiggling on the hard plastic chairs.

Or we can alter the first two items and have this version instead:

In the waiting room, we read old magazines, ate stale cookies from the vending machine, and wiggled on the hard plastic chairs.

Recognize these special cases.

Not only ... but also, either ... or, and neither ... nor all require special attention when you are proofreading for parallelism. These correlative conjunctions require equal grammatical units after both parts of the conjunction. You can have two main clauses like this:

Not only did Jerome buy flowers for his mother, but he also purchased a bouquet for Yolanda, his wife.

For a shorter sentence, use two prepositional phrases:

Jerome bought flowers not only for his mother but also for Yolanda, his wife.

Or you can have two nouns as this version does:

Jerome bought flowers for not only his mother but also Yolanda, his wife.

Here is the worksheet:

Name Date
Parallel Structure – Exercise 1

Directions: Determine whether the sentences below contain errors in parallel structure. Fix any
problems that you find.

1. Monica brewed espresso, steamed milk, and told jokes as she prepared Mike’s latte.

2. Natasha tried holding her breath, chewing a piece of gum, and poking her belly, but she could not quiet her empty stomach, which rumbled during the chemistry exam.

3. In the restroom, Tishena was brushing her hair, freshened her lip-gloss, and took deep breaths, trying to work up the courage to walk to her first speech class.

4. Celine looked behind the toilet, in the laundry basket, and checked under the bed, but she could not find Squeeze, her nine-foot albino python.

5. Not only did Dennis apply an extra layer of deodorant to his armpits, but he also polished each tooth with special care. He did not want to offend Malinda with any unpleasant odors.

6. For his first date with Malinda, Dennis bought not only a dozen roses but he also purchased a box of chocolates.

7. Not only did Malinda squeal at the sight of the beautiful bouquet, but she also was tearing open the box and eating chocolates all the way to the restaurant.

8. Dennis tried to be thoughtful and generous, yet Malinda refused to give him not only a kiss good night but also a single chocolate from the nut and caramel sampler.

9. Chelsea had to paddle past a school of jellyfish, kick a small sand shark in the nose, and untangle seaweed from her surfboard before she reached her favorite point break.

10. Spiders that bite, hissing snakes, and squealing rodents fill the aquariums in Desmond’s basement.

11. Class with Dr. Rogers was a nightmare: the clock seemed stuck in place, the air conditioner blew inadequate cool, and a fluorescent bulb buzzed overhead.

12. Ernie is too noisy as a seatmate. Crunching on apple slices, slurping hot coffee, and the rings of his notebook snapped open and shut all contribute to the cacophony.

13. Neither the scowls from her neighbors nor the disapproval of her husband will deter Larissa from painting her house hot pink with orange and white trim.

14. Larissa will either add a flock of plastic pink flamingos, or she will purchase a family of ceramic gnomes for the front lawn.

15. Until the Weavers arrived home at 5 p.m., the clock ticked, the refrigerator hummed, and the dog snoring in the otherwise quiet house.

16. Jessica has found that neither background music nor potato chips make writing her research essay any easier.

17. Mark looked under the bed, in the hamper, and he even searched his brother’s closet, but he could not find his favorite University of Florida T-shirt.

18. After you eat tuna salad from the campus cafeteria, not only will your stomach rumble, but you will also sneeze for hours from the generous addition of MSG.

19. Natalia blinked her eyes, she wiped her glasses, and then squinted at the screen, but she could not decipher the small text crammed onto the presentation slide.

20. Neither the unhappy man with the cold soup nor the irate woman with an empty glass of iced tea could get Gloria’s attention, for this waitress was too busy flirting with Jose.

©1997 - 2014 by Robin L. Simmons

All Rights Reserved.

On 12/10 we exchanged papers and corrected them.

12/3-5 "The Street" by Ann Petry

Today we read more about figurative language from our grammar books.

 Students were to write three similes or metaphor or any combination of the two using one word from column A and one word from Column B.  They can use the words more than once.

Students read the story in pairs and then completed Exercise 4 #s 1-5.

Students then were given a worksheet on writing an essay on this article, using examples from the text.  You will find it below.  

This is how one would write an essay analyzing this text.  Students are not expected to write the Introduction and Conclusion as they are already given.  Instead, they will concentrate on the body paragraphs.  There are a few corrections for the worksheet though.  In the fourth paragraph...it mentions figurative language, specifically metaphors and similes, well, there are no metaphors or similes in this excerpt.  Instead, students will write a second paragraph using imagery.  The first imagery paragraph, I wrote...students should use this as a reference.  

     Petry uses visual imagery to describe the violent nature of the wind, “as it rattles the tops of the garbage cans.”  With the use of this imagery, the reader imagines the intense danger the pedestrians are encountering.  Further illustrating the wind’s fury, Petry makes “the wind wrap newspapers around the pedestrian’s feet” making it challenging for the people to continue with their daily lives. 

This is the first body paragraph for the essay.  Students will compose body paragraphs 3 and 4 for this essay.  The first should discuss and give two examples of personification used by the author and how each example affects the reader.  

The second body paragraph (since there are no similes and metaphors) should be another paragraph on imagery.  Students should choose different examples and different affects on the reader.  

12/2 Reading practice

I was out today, but students completed a reading assignment where they read and article and then answered questions.

12/1 Revisiting Antigone Anticipation Guide

Today I gave students the questions from the Anticipation Guide that we did at the beginning of the unit.  I asked them to look at the questions again, and re-answer, them using strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree.  Then I returned their original Anticipation Guides to them and they compared and contrasted them.  They looked to see if any of their opinions had changed and reflected on why they changed.  If none of their answers changed, they were to choose one of the questions and use examples from the text to support their claim.

Here are the questions again:

_______________1. Doing what you think is right is more important than following the

                                     law.  

 

_______________2.   It is impossible to change your fate.

_______________3. Being loyal to your family is more important than your loyalty to the

 government.

 

_______________4. It is okay to lie if telling the truth will hurt someone.

  

_______________5. Deliberately breaking the law is necessary.

_______________6.  A leader is only as good as he is popular and liked.

 

_______________7.  You should never go back on your word or promise.

_______________8. A good citizen is patriotic, loyal and never questions the government’s

                                      authority.

11/17-11/21 Antigone Plot Outline Worksheets

Today students were given Antigone Plot Outline Worksheets.  They will answer the questions up to where they have read.  I am giving them approximately 15 minutes of class time to work on these and then we will continue to read.  They should finish completing these worksheets at home.

You will find the worksheet below:

Name: _________________________

Antigone Worksheets

Prologue

1. What information does Antigone give to Ismene at the beginning of this scene?

2. What has just happened in the sisters’ family?

3. What does Antigone plan to do?  Why?

4. Does Ismene plan to join her?  Why or why not?

5. What story does the chorus tell in the Parodos?

Scene 1

1. Who has Creon assembled at the beginning of the scene?  Why does he say he has passed the new law?

2. How does the sentry act when he comes before Creon?  What does this suggest about Creon’s personality or reputation?

3. What news does the sentry bring? Who does Creon think is responsible?

4. What is the dramatic irony in this scene?

Scene 2

1. Who does the sentry bring before Creon?  How has the culprit been caught?

2. What is Antigone’s attitude toward death?

3. Whom else does Creon want to question?

4. What has he decided to do with the sisters?

Scene 3

1. Who has come to speak with Creon?

2. What does Creon say is the greatest evil that society faces?  (hint: lines 33-44)

3. What does Haemon ask Creon to do?

4. What is Creon’s response?

5. Haemon says in line 119: “Then she must die.  But her death will cause another.”  What does Haemon mean?  What does Creon think he means?

6. How has Haemon’s tone/attitude toward Creon changed from the beginning to end of scene 3?

7. How will Antigone be killed?

Scene 4

1. What is the chorus’s attitude toward Antigone?  How is this different from earlier in the play?

2. In lines 37-44, what feelings does Antigone express about her father?

3. What is happening at the end of scene 4?

Scene 5

1. According to Teiresias, what is the “new calamity” that Creon has brought to Thebes? (lines 25-31)

2. In lines 48 to 61, what does Creon accuse Teiresias of wanting from him?

3. What does Teiresias predict for Creon in lines 70-87?  What crime has Creon committed to deserve this?

4. What does the Choragus tell Creon that he must do to prevent this?
5. What is a Paean?

Exodos

1. What two people does the messenger say have died?  How have they died?

2. By the time Creon returns, who else has died?

3. What is Creon’s attitude at the end of the play?

4. Judging by the final speeches of the play, what do you think is Creon’s fatal flaw?  

11/13 and 11/14 Antigone by Sophocles

Today in class we started to read Antigone by Sophocles.

The play is located in the purple workbooks that every student has.  It starts on page 121.

In class, students volunteered to play the parts of the play, and we are reading it out loud.

Antigone Anticipation Guide

Directions:  Below are eight statements dealing with the world of Sophocles’ “Antigone” On the line beside each statement, write whether you strongly agree, agree, are neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statement. On the next page, select four statements to defend by explaining your thoughts about the statements with specific examples from your life, literature, etc.  

****This assignment will be graded, so please think carefully and try your best!

_______________1. Doing what you think is right is more important than following the

                                     law.  

 

_______________2.   It is impossible to change your fate.

_______________3. Being loyal to your family is more important than your loyalty to the

 government.

 

_______________4. It is okay to lie if telling the truth will hurt someone.

  

_______________5. Deliberately breaking the law is necessary.

_______________6.  A leader is only as good as he is popular and liked.

 

_______________7.  You should never go back on your word or promise.

_______________8. A good citizen is patriotic, loyal and never questions the government’s

                                      authority.

Directions:  Choose four of the statements from the previous page and support your stance by giving specific reasons and examples of why you hold that opinion. Please write at least three sentences to explain your position.

Statement #:  ______  Explanation of your opinion:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Statement #:  ______  Explanation of your opinion:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Statement #:  ______  Explanation of your opinion: 

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Statement #:  ______  Explanation of your opinion:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

(These papers will be turned in, graded for points, and revisited after finishing Antigone)

11/12 Second round of progress monitoring for Polk County.

Today we are taking the second round of the progress monitoring writing test for Polk County.

11/11 No School

Happy Veterans Day--no school!  Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

11/10 Greek Theatre and Oedipus Rex

Today we read about Greek Theater and it's origins.  We then read  a story about "Oedipus Rex" which is a prequel to Antigone.

All of the links that I have found are an actual play and the length is way too long.  I will copy the story from my textbook and post it later.  Thanks!

11/7 Literary Terms for Antigone

Students should copy the Literary Term and the complete definition for their notes, and then turn them in to be graded.


There are 2 definitions that you will be unable to read---they are posted below.

dramatic irony--noun --irony that is inherent in speeches 

or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but 

not grasped by the characters in 

the play.

In medias res--uadverb

uinto the middle of a narrative; without preamble.

11/5 & 11/6 Everyday Use by Alice Walker

On Wednesday and Thursday, we read Everyday Use

Before reading Everyday Use by Alice Walker, students complete anticpation guide questions.  Students should use complete sentences, or I will mark them wrong:

1.         Think about the objects in your home. Which objects have been passed down from other family members?

2.        Why do they continue to have a place in your home?

3.         If you were to move away to live on your own, which objects in your home would you want to take with you? Explain why for each object selected.

4.         How would your parent/guardian feel about you taking each item? Explain your response.

Here is a link to the story:

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/quilt/walker.html

We were going to complete character worksheets for the story, but we have to go on so that we can finish the Antigone Unit before Thanksgiving, so I am sure you will all be saddened that we did not get to do the worksheet...LOL yeah right!

11/3 & 11/4 The Masque of the Red Death

On Monday, we began to read Masque of the Red Death

Here is a link to the story:  http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/POE/masque.html


Students then answered the higher order thinking questions to go along with it.

“The Masque of the Red Death” Annotation Guide

1. What is the main characteristic of the Red Death?

2. How quickly does it kill its victims?

3. What is the significance of the name “Prospero”?

4. What is the outlook of Prospero and his courtiers regarding the Red Death?

5. On the back of this page, draw an aerial-view picture of the suites in which Prospero and his courtiers are partying.

6. How does the final chamber differ from all the rest?  What is the significance of this difference?

7. What is the significance of the narrator’s observation that Prospero’s “conceptions glowed with barbaric luster”? (p. 344)

8. What is the effect on the reader of the metaphor of the masquerade as a dream? (p. 344-345)

9. What happens at the stroke of midnight?

10. Why does Prospero react negatively to the figure of the Red Death?

10/28 Read new Article then write essay answering the prompt.

Today, students were with a sub, they were to read the article below, then they are to answer the prompt in an essay.

LI woman remembers Halloween she got poison with candy

By Candice M. Giove

October 30, 2011 | 4:00am

Modal Trigger

NOT SO SWEET: Stories of Helen Pfeil, a Long Islander who gave arsenic to kids in ’64, stirred parents’ worries of tainted candy.Photo: AP

(Shutterstock.com)

(
)

Razor blades in apples and poisoned candy have been the stuff of Halloween lore ever since the very first trick-or-treaters.

But in one Long Island town almost 50 years ago, every costumed kid’s worst nightmare actually came true.

It was Oct. 31, 1964, when Elise Drucker, her sister Irene and a school pal set out along Salem Ridge Road in Greenlawn to fill their sacks with goodies.

“We were hobos,” said Elise Gray, 60, then a teen enjoying one of her last Halloweens.

When they arrived at Helen Pfeil’s house, it started as a typical interaction between candy seeker and candy giver.

“Aren’t you a little old to be trick-or-treating?” Pfeil, then 47, softly teased.

The housewife — a mother of teenage children herself — dropped what appeared to be a load of sugary loot into each of the three bags.

The youngsters had no way of knowing that arsenic pellets had been mixed in with the candy, wrapped in napkins.

It wasn’t until the girls returned home that the sinister truth was revealed.

Gray, now married and living in Maine, said her mom dutifully spread the colorful treats out on the table at their Centerport home to investigate.

And it’s a good thing she did.

Inside a napkin was a bottle-cap-shaped ant trap with the warning “poison.”

“It would have tasted awful,” Gray said. “Somebody older like me, I would have spit it out.”

The arsenic never found its target, but the woman who put it there immediately became one for the police.

Cops set out on a manhunt with the young trick-or-treaters.

Church leaders and volunteers combed through treat bags throughout the area to look for other potentially lethal tokens. Cops found 19 pellets.

Pfeil was arrested that night.

“They went into the house, and they found what they were looking for,” Gray said.

Pfeil’s husband told cops the whole thing was “a joke.”

The housewife said she had passed out poison only to those three teens because they were “too old” for trick-or-treating.

Her own sons, 15 and 16, were out trick-or-treating.

Police sent Pfeil out for a mental evaluation at Central Islip Hospital, and she was subsequently charged with two counts of child endangerment.

She pleaded guilty in the middle of her trial, and a judge suspended her sentence in 1965, cops said. She faced two years.

“It really was what started checking candy,” Gray said.

The incident is credited with sparking the Halloween urban legend of evil people giving out toxic treats — although there are a few earlier cases, including a post-World War II incident in which a sadist in Texas heated pennies on a skillet and scorched children’s palms.

On Halloween and the three days that followed in 1982, 12 incidents of candy tampering were reported across the nation, but no children died.

“We don’t believe in ghosts and goblins,” said sociologist Joel Best, who studies Halloween sadism

“We believe in criminals. We have revised what the Halloween menace is — [from] the homicidal maniac [to] a person so crazy that he poisons the candy of strangers.”

Gray said the scare spooked her off the holiday forever. She never wore a costume again.

“That was the end of Halloween for me.”

When finished reading the article, students should begin planning their essay to the prompt 

Write at least a 5 paragraph essay to answer the following prompt:

How do the authors evoke emotion within the reader by using tone, imagery, and character?  

Remember to include an introduction, a conclusion, and at least three body paragraphs.  Hint:  Each body paragraph should have one of the literary devices as its topic.  Example body paragraph one should be all about tone, body paragraph two should be all about imagery,body paragraph three should be about character.  You should give one example from each text for each of the body paragraphs.  These will be due on Friday 10/31.