Today we began with a lesson on appositives. Then we discussed the last two chapters of Malcolm X, and read a few Langston Hughes' poems. We discussed their connections with the autobiography's literary themes and Zach began working on the outline for his Theme Analysis Essay. Lastly, we finished reading James Baldwin's essay "Notes of a Native Son." We discussed connections to the novel and Zach made notes for his outline. The first draft is due next week.

Today, we started by going over prepositions, and how to identify the object of the preposition and whether it is a prepositional adjective or adverb. Zach then identified them in a number of practice sentences. We then continued with our grammatical explication of "The Gettysburg Address." We are mapping the sentences out by grammatical form. We then discussed the assigned reading. Zach presented his chapter summary and began our discussion. We continued our discussion of how the theme progresses and changes throughout the autobiography, and Zach added a summary to his analysis writing. Next, we discussed an essay topic from his notes. We discussed what his thesis and main points would be. He needs to complete a first draft for homework. Lastly, we continued reading James Baldwin's "Notes on a Native Son" and compared the motif, literary elements, and them to "Malcolm X."

Today we started by reviewing simple and compound subjects and predicates. Zach identified them in a number of sentences. WE then started to read and explicate the Gettysburg address, identifying the syntax and grammatical structure that adds to Lincoln's persuasive rhetoric. Next, we discussed chapters 14 and 15 of "Malcolm X." Zach reviewed his notes from the novel and created subheadings for his prose on the developing themes. Then, Zach reviewed his vocabulary words on quizlet. Lastly, we began reading "Notes of a Native Son," by James Baldwin. We are using Baldwin's essay as an example of a masterful literary essay, and will compare it with Zach's personal narrative.

Zach continued to add scenes to his personal narrative. We discussed the narrative and literary arch of his personal statement as he went along paragraph by paragraph. I am encouraging him to continue to revise to add more imagery and dialogue to his writing.

Zach was absent today

We started with a grammatical exercise of identifying direct object and object complements. Next, we discussed and outlined the development of the theme in "Malcolm X". Zach added multiple paragraphs to his essay. Lastly, Zach continued to work on his personal narrative.

Zach and I discussed chapters 12-13. We discussed character development, instances of persuasive rhetoric, and the continuing trajectory of the multiple themes in the book. Next, Zach added another body paragraph detailing this analysis. Lastly, we watched a speech given by Cornell West.

After much discussion, Zach and I created a narrative arch for his personal narrative by plotting out the different scenes he would include. He then wrote the body of the narrative scene by scene.

Zach wrote and revised an article for the school newspaper.

Zach began by completing a grammatical exercise that covered direct and indirect objects. Next, Zach worked on an analysis essay which looked at the way Malcolm X develops as a character and the way the main conflicts in the story have many ways that they surface. We looked at these conflicts critically and analyzed Malcolm's character traits that influence the way his story is being told. Next, we discussed chapters 7-9 in detail and discussed textual evidence that supports the development of themes in the story.