EWRT 1A: Class 6

Me versus MyselfMe

• Me is an object pronoun, which means that it refers to the person that the action of a verb is being done to, or to which a preposition refers.

• They want me to study more.• Tell me a story.• Between you and me, he's right.• Carol wants to meet with John and

me tomorrow.• The book was written entirely by

me.• Please call Hillary or me with any

questions.

Myself• Myself is a reflexive or stressed

pronoun, which means that, generally speaking, it should be used in conjunction with the subject pronoun I, not instead of the object pronoun me.

• I bought myself a car.• I myself started the company.• I did the laundry by myself.• I feel like myself again.• Tired of waiting, I just did it

myself.

I versus Me• John and me/I went to the store

• Me went to the store• I went to the store

• John and I went to the store

• Maria went to the store with Chase and I/me.• Maria went to the store with I• Maria went to the store with me.

• Maria went to the store with Chase and me.

AGENDA• Presentation: Essay #2 Review and questions • Group Work/Discussion: Bragg: “Analyzing Writing

Strategies #1 p 36: Comparing• In-Class Writing:

• Similes and Metaphors• Time Transitions and Verb Tenses

• Integrating quotations MLA style• Preparing the complete draft: SMG 52-53

ESSAY #2Finishing it up!

Review• Introduction/Long quotation• Transition/Thesis• Intro to event• Description of places• Description of people• Climax (with sentence strategy)• Dialogue (or 2)• Significance• Concluding strategy

Metaphor: a literary figure of speech that describes a subject by asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated object.

All the world’s a stage

Simile: a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words “like” or “as.”

I’ve been working like a dog

Bragg: “Analyzing Writing Strategies #1 p 36

• In your groups, review “Analyzing Writing Strategies” #1.

• Locate the comparisons in paragraphs 1, 3, 7, 9, 13, and 16.

• Discuss the strength of metaphors and similes and how you might use them in your own writing.

• Formulate 5-7 metaphors or similes appropriate to your essay.

A WELL-TOLD STORYA Sentence Strategy:

Time Transitions and Verb Tenses

As you draft a remembered event essay, you will be trying to help readers follow the sequence of actions in time. To prevent readers from becoming confused about the chronology, writers use a combination of time transitions and verb tenses to help readers understand when the event occurred and when particular actions occurred in relation to other actions.

occurred when she went to the mall for “a day of last-minute Christmas sopping.” Early in her essay, Dillard identifies when the event took place: “On one weekday morning after Christmas . . .” (par. 3). You can also use calendar time to establish the time the event began; if your narrativeCovers several days, you might readers a series of time cues throughout the essay so we can easily follow the progression: “A year before his death”; “That August, I had turned 22”; and so on.

Cite calendar or clock time to establish when the event took place and to help readers follow the action over time. Writers often situate the event in terms of the date or time. Brandt, for example, establishes in the opening paragraph that the event

Use temporal transitions combined with appropriate verb tenses to help readers follow a sequence of actions. Writers can employ temporal transitions such as after, before, in the meantime, and simultaneously to help readers keep track of the sequence of actions:

When I got back to the Snoopy section, I took one look at the lines. . . . (Brandt, par. 3)

In this example, when signals that one action followed another in time: Brandt did not take a look at the lines until she got back to the Snoopy section.

• Here’s another example of a simple one-thing-and-then-another time progression:• We all spread out,

banged together some regular snowballs, took aim, and, when the Buick drew nigh, fired. (Dillard, par. 7)

In this example, the word when together with a series of simple past-tense verbs indicates that a sequence of actions took place in a straightforward chronological order: they took their positions, made snowballs, aimed, the Buick came near, they threw their snowballs.

Look for a paragraph (or paragraphs) in your essay that tells a part of the story that relies on order. Add temporal words to help the reader understand when events happened.

After, afterward, before, then, once, next, last, at last, at length, first, second, etc., at first, formerly, rarely, usually, another, finally, soon, meanwhile, at the same time, for a minute, hour, day, etc., during the morning, day, week, etc., most important, later, ordinarily, to begin with, afterwards, generally, in order to, subsequently, previously, in the meantime, immediately, eventually, concurrently, simultaneously

INTEGRATING QUOTATIONSMLA STYLEmake sure you have integrated your quotations correctly

According to the St. Martin's Guide, there are three main ways to set up a signaling phrase:

1. With a complete sentence followed by a colon. • The effects of Auld's prohibition against teaching Douglass to read were

quite profound for Douglass: "It was a new and special revelation" (29).

2. With an incomplete sentence, followed by a comma. • Douglass argues that Auld's prohibition against literacy for him was a

profound experience, saying, "It was a new and special revelation" (29).

3. With a statement that ends in that. • The importance of Auld's prohibition to Douglass is clear when he states

that "It was a new and special revelation" (29).

Using Signal Phrases: • One common error a lot of people make when they include a

quotation is that they tend to put the quotation in a sentence by itself. Unfortunately, we cannot do this. We need to use what Diana Hacker calls a signal phrase to introduce the quote and give our readers a context for the quote that explains why we are taking the time to include it in our paper.

Take, for example, this section from a paper on Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself:

Incorrect: We can see Douglass’s marriage as an assertion of his ownership of himself. “What Douglass's certificate of marriage, which is transcribed in full in chapter 11, signifies is that the black man has repossessed himself” (Baker 170).

Correct: We can see Douglass’s marriage as an assertion of his ownership of himself, as Houston A. Baker, Jr. argues in his essay “The Economic of Douglass's Narrative”: "What Douglass’s certificate of marriage, which is transcribed in full in chapter 11, signifies is that the black man has repossessed himself" (170).

Long quotations

• For quotations that are more than four lines of prose, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. Only indent the first line of the quotation by an additional quarter inch if you are citing multiple paragraphs. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.)

For example, when citing more than four lines of prose, use the following example:

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her

narration:

They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in

their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing

of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By

chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr.

Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his

chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was

obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and

inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

When citing two or more paragraphs, use block quotation format, even if the passage from the paragraphs is less than four lines. Indent the first line of each quoted paragraph an extra quarter inch.

In "American Origins of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Movement," David

Russell argues:

   Writing has been an issue in American secondary and higher

education since papers and examinations came into wide use in the

1870s, eventually driving out formal recitation and oral

examination. . . .

   From its birth in the late nineteenth century, progressive education

has wrestled with the conflict within industrial society between

pressure to increase specialization of knowledge and of professional

work (upholding disciplinary standards) and pressure to integrate

more fully an ever-widening number of citizens into intellectually

meaningful activity within mass society (promoting social equity). (3)

Katniss thinks about how difficult it would be to get a meal like this in

District 12:

What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where

food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend

the hours I now commit to combing the woods for

sustenance if it were so easy to come by? What do they do

all day, these people in the Capitol, besides decorating their

bodies and waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to

roll in and die for their entertainment?

I look up and find Cinna’s eyes trained on mine. ‘How

despicable we must seem to you,’ he says. (65)

Katniss doesn’t respond to Cinna’s statement, but she agrees in her

head: “He’s right, though. The whole rotten lot of them is despicable”

(65).

Although our world does not really…..

SMG 52-53

Preparing the complete draft

The Essay: The Beginning • Do I have my quotation?• Have I explained it?• Do I have a transition to my own story?• Have I aroused readers’ curiosity?• Can my readers identify with me? Should I tell them a few things about myself?

• Should I do something unusual, such as beginning in the middle of the action or with a funny bit of dialogue?

The Story

• Should I follow strict chronological order? Or would flashback or flashforward make the narrative more interesting?

• Do I have narrative action and dialogue that intensify the drama?

• Can I add description to detail or dramatize the story?

• Do I have a climax that builds appropriately?

The Ending• In my effort to conclude with some reflections on meaning,

have I tagged on a moral? Do I sound too sentimental?• If I want readers to think well of me, should I conclude

with a philosophical statement, as Wolff does? Should I end with a paradoxical statement like Dillard? Should I be self-critical to avoid seeming smug?

• Have I emphasized the events continuing significance in my life? Have I contrasted my remembered and current feelings?

• Have I framed the essay by echoing back to my long quotation? Do I give readers a sense of closure?

HOMEWORK

• Read: Catch up on HG (You should be through chapter 12.

• Write: Complete Draft of Essay #2 • Endeavor to format it MLA style • Make a works cited page for your essay.

• Blog Prompt #6: Post two dialogues from your essay.

• Study: Vocabulary (1-7)• Bring: Two clean, complete copies of your draft; SMG