Hello Guys,
Well, I'm sad to say that now that our class has come to an end, this will be my last post. I will be returning your last essays to you this week, as well as a progress report to your parents.
It has been a huge honor being your teacher, and I have enjoyed reading and discussing books with you over the year. I look forward to our summer class, we have some great reads ahead of us! Enjoy your break until that class begins. During the break try to read A Thousand Splendid Suns, its supposed to be amazing!
Take care,
Mrs. Severson
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Final Essay
Well, you made it through the year! You all worked so hard and progressed tremendously. I am very proud of you! I hope you realize all that you have learned over the year, and how many new books you not only read, but analyzed, discussed, and wrote about. The level of your work always impressed me, and I am excited about working with some of you over the summer!
Please post your final essay in the comments section here. Daniel read Kevin's essay, Kevin read Tyler's essay, Tyler read Daniel's essay.
I know you are all excited about this being your last essay, but I have to admit I'm sad about it. I am going to miss seeing them pop into my inbox every two weeks. I always thoroughly enjoy reading them. If you happen to write anything else, send it my way:)
Good luck with this final essay! Enjoy the process. Please let me know if you have any questions.
This is a picture of the Willamette River which runs through the Willamette Valley where I now live in Oregon. If you come and visit Jimmy and I will take you out on the boat!
Please post your final essay in the comments section here. Daniel read Kevin's essay, Kevin read Tyler's essay, Tyler read Daniel's essay.
I know you are all excited about this being your last essay, but I have to admit I'm sad about it. I am going to miss seeing them pop into my inbox every two weeks. I always thoroughly enjoy reading them. If you happen to write anything else, send it my way:)
Good luck with this final essay! Enjoy the process. Please let me know if you have any questions.
This is a picture of the Willamette River which runs through the Willamette Valley where I now live in Oregon. If you come and visit Jimmy and I will take you out on the boat!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Essay Question
For our last essay of the year, you will be able to choose from the different SAT Essay prompts below. Read through them all carefully and then make your choice. You will need to use examples from TWO of the books we have read this year as well as an example from your life.
Kevin and Daniel, you will need to write the essay in 25 minutes.
Please let me know if you have questions or if I can help in any way. I hope you enjoy this challenge! Your essay is due by midnight on Friday. Have fun!
Here are the four different prompts you may choose from.
Prompt 1
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Many people believe that our government should do more to solve our problems. After all, how can one individual create more jobs or make roads safer or improve the schools or help to provide any of the other benefits that we have come to enjoy? And yet expecting that the government—rather than individuals—should always come up with the solutions to society's ills may have made us less self-reliant, undermining our independence and self-sufficiency.
Assignment:
Should people take more responsibility for solving problems that affect their communities or the nation in general? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 2
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Most human beings spend their lives doing work they hate and work that the world does not need. It is of prime importance that you learn early what you want to do and whether or not the world needs this service. The return from your work must be the satisfaction that work brings you and the world's need of that work. Income is not money, it is satisfaction; it is creation; it is beauty.
Adapted from W.E.B. Du Bois, The Autobiography of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century
Assignment:
Is it more important to do work that one finds fulfilling or work that pays well? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 3
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
The education people receive does not occur primarily in school. Young people are formed by their experiences with parents, teachers, peers, and even strangers on the street, and by the sports teams they play for, the shopping malls they frequent, the songs they hear, and the shows they watch. Schools, while certainly important, constitute only a relatively small part of education.
Adapted from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, "Education for the Twenty-First Century"
Assignment:
Is education primarily the result of influences other than school? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 4
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
If we are dissatisfied with our circumstances, we think about changing them. But the most important and effective changes—in our attitude—hardly occur to us. In other words, we should worry not about how to alter the world around us for the better but about how to change ourselves in order to fit into that world.
Adapted from Michael Hymers, "Wittgenstein, Pessimism and Politics"
Assignment:
Is it better to change one's attitude than to change one's circumstances? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Kevin and Daniel, you will need to write the essay in 25 minutes.
Please let me know if you have questions or if I can help in any way. I hope you enjoy this challenge! Your essay is due by midnight on Friday. Have fun!
Here are the four different prompts you may choose from.
Prompt 1
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Many people believe that our government should do more to solve our problems. After all, how can one individual create more jobs or make roads safer or improve the schools or help to provide any of the other benefits that we have come to enjoy? And yet expecting that the government—rather than individuals—should always come up with the solutions to society's ills may have made us less self-reliant, undermining our independence and self-sufficiency.
Assignment:
Should people take more responsibility for solving problems that affect their communities or the nation in general? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 2
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Most human beings spend their lives doing work they hate and work that the world does not need. It is of prime importance that you learn early what you want to do and whether or not the world needs this service. The return from your work must be the satisfaction that work brings you and the world's need of that work. Income is not money, it is satisfaction; it is creation; it is beauty.
Adapted from W.E.B. Du Bois, The Autobiography of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century
Assignment:
Is it more important to do work that one finds fulfilling or work that pays well? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 3
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
The education people receive does not occur primarily in school. Young people are formed by their experiences with parents, teachers, peers, and even strangers on the street, and by the sports teams they play for, the shopping malls they frequent, the songs they hear, and the shows they watch. Schools, while certainly important, constitute only a relatively small part of education.
Adapted from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, "Education for the Twenty-First Century"
Assignment:
Is education primarily the result of influences other than school? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 4
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
If we are dissatisfied with our circumstances, we think about changing them. But the most important and effective changes—in our attitude—hardly occur to us. In other words, we should worry not about how to alter the world around us for the better but about how to change ourselves in order to fit into that world.
Adapted from Michael Hymers, "Wittgenstein, Pessimism and Politics"
Assignment:
Is it better to change one's attitude than to change one's circumstances? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Essay
I really enjoyed seeing you all this week! Great job discussing Kite Runner and reviewing all the books we have read so far.
Please post your Kite Runner essay here in the comments section. Tyler, please read Kevin's essay, and Kevin read Daniel's essay, and Daniel read Tyler's essay. Of course keep in mind that Kevin and Daniel had only 25 minutes to write their essays!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
See you there?
Well, today is my last day in Chicago! Tomorrow I head to Pennsylvania and then will be in San Luis Obispo! Your moms are working out a time for us to all meet and discuss Kite Runner and your overall experience this year. I am really excited about having a "live" discussion with you and getting caught up.
In preparation for this Tuesday I want you to come up with your question for me about Kite Runner as well as the essay question you want to answer for your essay. Remember, for this essay, you are writing your own question. Come to the meeting with your essay question written down, and I will give you my feedback regarding it. We will finalize each of your essay questions during our meeting, and then you will e-mail me your essay like always.
Bring Kite Runner to the discussion, just in case you need to reference it during our chat. I am looking forward to seeing you all again, and know that we will have a great discussion about this wonderful book!
See you Tuesday!
In preparation for this Tuesday I want you to come up with your question for me about Kite Runner as well as the essay question you want to answer for your essay. Remember, for this essay, you are writing your own question. Come to the meeting with your essay question written down, and I will give you my feedback regarding it. We will finalize each of your essay questions during our meeting, and then you will e-mail me your essay like always.
Bring Kite Runner to the discussion, just in case you need to reference it during our chat. I am looking forward to seeing you all again, and know that we will have a great discussion about this wonderful book!
See you Tuesday!
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