snowflakes

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day?

Personify death. What does Death look like? Write a dialogue in which you negotiate a bargain with Death.

Interview an older relative or friend about the changes that have occurred in his or her lifetime. Consider going to a senior citizen’s home and asking if any of the people there would like to share their stories with you. Prepare your questions ahead of time.

Ask open-ended questions such as:

• What changes have occured in modes of transportation in your lifetime? How do you feel about these changes?
• What was your daily routine like when you were my age?
• What has remained constant throughout your life?
• Do you have any advice to share about adapting to a changing world?

In your report on your interview(s) discuss which responses were most interesting. Were you surprised by any of the changes described? Why or why not?

What were the must-have toys when you were a kid?

Throughout the history of the world, writers have tried to conceive better worlds than the ones they actually lived in. Look up the word “utopia” in Wikipedia and read about the various attempts at conceiving the perfect society. Do you think these efforts were worth the time and energy the authors put into them? Or do you think the world would have been better off if theses authors had tried to do something concrete to improve the actual world they lived in? Take a position and support it.

It has been said that society has to adjust to its geniuses rather than geniuses adjusting to society. This means that special individuals (the world’s geniuses) have the effect of changing society. Agree or disagree with this observation. Support or reject it.

Do you know how the Halloween tradition originated? Explain.

In your opinion, how much of what you learn in school really prepares you for situations that you encounter in real life? How helpful have people been who have given you advice about the way you should handle a difficult problem? Relate an incident to prove your point.

“As in the Beginning” by Mary di Michele is a grimly realistic retelling of events that express regret, anger and bitterness.

Theme:

A person’s loss of limb can never be adequately recompensed with money; when someone we love is injured, his/her pain can become ours.

Techniques:

• parallel structure
• simile
• alliteration
• personification
• understatement

Issues:

What makes us whole?

Why does the speaker describe the “man” so objectively in the first nine lines of the poem.

How does the tone of the poem change after the first nine lines?

To what extent does the speaker understate or overstate the emotions associated with his/her father’s situation?

Which lines or phrases do you think express what the speaker is feeling most powerfully? What do these lines convey to them?

What is the significance of the title?

Suppose you had a friend who felt he or she was of no value; that is, he or she had low self-esteem. What would you do or say to help your friend feel more worthwhile?

What’s your least favorite cliché?

What are people surprised to learn about you?

Imagine you and your partner are about to enter an important competition against strong opponents. What would you say to your partner just before the match?

If you could bring one fictional character to life for a day, who would you choose? Perhaps someone from a book, a movie, or a TV show?

Think of a contemporary or historical person who has dedicated his or her life to a cause.

• What difficulties did he or she encounter while promoting the cause?
• What were the results of his or her efforts?
• Did the person experience any failures in representing the cause? If so, how did he or she handle them?
• What successes did the person achieve?

Do you feel younger or older than you really are?

What’s your greatest achievement?

Discuss the best road trip you’ve ever taken.

Is chivalry dead?

Describe a movie you think is a fairly realistic depiction of your life, or the lives of people your age.

Alternatively, think of some movies that are aimed at your age group and explain how they are not realistic.

Do you have a preference? Do you think movies reflect who we are or who we want to be?

If one of these traditional or popular sayings expresses an important lesson you have learned about life, illustrate it in an essay developed through extensive use of example. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
1. Experience is the best teacher.
2. Money cannot buy happiness.
3. The best defence is a good offence.
4. You have to like yourself before you can like others.
5. Practice makes perfect.
6. True wealth is measured by what you can do without.
7. If you try to please the world, you will never please yourself.
8. Time is money.
9. Virtue is its own reward.
10. No pain, no gain.
11. Beauty is only skin-deep.
12. Money is the root of all evil.
13. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
14. The more you have, the more you want.
15. Love is blind.

If your answer to one if the following is based on strong experience, support it in an
essay developed through extensive use of example. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
16. The (best/worst) program on television is _______________.
17. _______________ is the best book I’ve ever read.
18. The (best/worst) spectator sport of all is _______________.
19. One kind of music I really detest is _______________.
20. _______________ is the (best/worst) restaurant I’ve ever tried.
21. My favourite newspaper is _______________.
22. _______________ is the most practical computer for my needs.
23. My favourite musician is _______________.
24. The very (best/worst) film I have ever seen is _______________.
25. _______________ is my favourite holiday spot.
26. _______________ is my best subject this term.
27. The radio station I prefer is _______________.
28. _______________ is the best teacher I’ve ever had.
29. The political leader I most admire is _______________.
30. _______________ is my favourite city.

Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some ojthese steps in developing your essay through examples (your teacher may suggest which ones).
1. Choose a topic you think you like, and try it out through brainstorming or freewriting. Do you have something to say? Can you supply examples? If not, try another topic.

2. Visualize your audience: What level of language, what TONE, what examples, will communicate with this person or persons?

3. Do a rapid “discovery draft,” leave extra white-space. Do not stop now to fix things like spelling and grammar; just get the material down with pen or keyboard.

4. The next day, look this draft over. Are there enough examples? Or: Is your one long example explained in depth? If not, add more. Does each example support your main point? If not, revise. Are examples in order of increasing importance? If not, consider rearranging to build a climax.

5. Check your second draft for TRANSITIONS, and add if necessary. Test your prose by reading aloud, then revise awkward or unclear passages. Now reach for the dictionary and a grammar book(buttons, menus or tools) if you need them.

6. Proofread your final copy slowly, word by word (if your eyes move too fast, they will “see” what should be there, not necessarily what is there).

Do you believe in luck?

When you’re feeling down, what music cheers you up?

Create a poster that celebrates individual differences.

Write a short story that features a character wearing a physical mask.

The person at the wheel is a tough leader. He knows what he’s doing and he can handle adversity. Describe a leader you know. It may be your father, mother, teacher, coach, even the Prime Minister! Describe what he or she does to deserve the name of leader.

Imagine you are on a tour of an art museum. The guide stops your group in front of a painting, “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asks. You look at your friend Alec and shrug your shoulders. He says, “Whatever.” The guide is determined to get you to agree with her, so she says, “See how bright the colous are.” Alec responds, “I see the colours, but I don’t see the beauty.” The guide grows frustrated: “But, see how energetic the lines are.” Alec responds, “I see the lines, but where is the beauty?” The guide has one last try: “Look at how the composition is balanced.” Your friend says, “OK, I see balance, but I still don’t see any beauty.” Would there be any way to convince him?

Do you feel obligated to finish all books you start reading?

What’s the longest you’d want to live without internet access?

What’s the best type of music to play while driving?

You get to make a guest appearance on any TV show of your choice. What’ll it be?

What’s your favorite candy, and why?

What do you do to stay healthy?

Name something intangible that you never want to lose.
Explain why you’d hate to lose it.

What’s the oldest thing you own?

Look around your own home to find items that have been marketed with excess packaging. Use your research for the basis of a post on household waste. You may include specific product references to excess packaging.

Select one of the products you identified above. Write a letter to the manufacturer expressing your concerns about the excess packaging used to market this item. In your letter, offer suggestions on how the manufacturer might use environmentally friendly packaging. Remember, business letters should be polite, economical, and firm.

If you could speak to one family member who has passed on, who would you pick?

How do you deal with your fears? How might you help others to deal with theirs? What are some of the effects that fear can have on people?

Plato, in his Republic, says that revolutionary poets and musicians will be banned from his utopian state because their new ideas will disrupt society and upset the stability of the state. Do you agree with the idea of banning music under these circumstances? Explore your opinion in an essay.

Describe a situation in which you have taken desperate measures to avoid doing something you really didn’t want to do.