Today, Ryan and I did some exercises and comprehension questions to check for his understanding and retention of Liam O'Flaherty's short story "The Sniper". Ryan did well. He used his inference skills and process of elimination on some of the multiple choice questions that were challenging, and he got them correct. Ryan also took a vocabulary quiz on ten words that he learned from "The Sniper" and did well. We then began an extensive review of the elements of literature so that Ryan can use these terms to do literary analysis, which is a large part of 10th, 11th and 12th grade English class. As we discussed the elements, we applied them to both "The Sniper" and to Ryan's personal experience of having to go to the doctor to get stitches, which he was concerned about. We made a pact that he would focus on his friends coming over tonight during the doctor experience. Ryan has continued to keep his binder organized. We will continue tomorrow with the elements and begin our next story, "The Utterly Perfect Murder" by Ray Bradbury.