Write a narrative account of your experience of the death of an animal, using specific details to show your readers why this death was significant to you.
Death of an Animal
Plinky Prompt
If your pet could talk, what would it say about you?
Plinky Prompt
When you need a good laugh, who/what do you turn to?
Eating Noises
I knew a man who went into a rage if anybody ate an apple within his hearing. I knew another man who was so disgusted by his son’s eating habits that he made him eat his dinner alone. Do you have such quirks about other people’s eating habits as you encounter them in restaurants and other public places? Write an essay about people with such habits. Describe your responses to them.
On the Sidewalk Bleeding
Read “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” by Evan Hunter
Respond to the following questions on the various aspects of the story:
- Who is the protagonist?
- What is/are the conflict(s)?
- The conflict is developed through the use of names that apply to the boy: Andy and a Royal. Skim the story to note how the names appear in critical places. What do these names represent?
- What effect does Andy’s jacket have on the people who find him in the alley?
- What are the reasons why these people do not help Andy?
- At what point does Andy realize he is dying?
- What does Andy do with the last of his strength? How is this important to the theme and to the outcome of the conflict?
- What is the climax or turning point? Sketch a Plot Diagram. Try this Plot Diagram Generator or find another.
Create a Plot Diagram
Plot Diagram created with Gliffy Diagrams from Chrome Webstore
- What is the police officer’s reaction to Andy? How does this contribute to the author’s message?
Assessment Activity: Who Am I?
Consider an essay planning map for this expository writing task
Consider your own identity: who are you, what makes you unique, how do others see you, what do you want others to know and see about you. Write a post in your blog that represents yourself: embed visual elements and/or other suitable medium.
You may wish to include some of the following elements:
- a personal motto or saying
- a symbol that represents something about you
- your attitudes about yourself
- your strengths and talents
- your hopes and dreams for the future
- what you most like about yourself
- what you are working on improving about yourself (with a positive focus) not what you dislike about yourself
Focus on the positive and create a post that makes you feel good about yourself while showing others all that is good about you.
Spend time reviewing the criteria from the assessment rubric.
Blog Post Rubric
Plinky Prompt
Where do you like to swim?
Plinky Prompt
Share the most important thing you learned this year.
Optimist or Pessimist
Are you an optimist, a pessimist, or something else?
Plinky Prompt
If you could read minds for a day, would you?
Seasons
For many of us the seasons are changing, bouncing unpredictably between cold and warm. Are you glad to be moving into a new season, or wishing for one more week of the old?
Plinky Prompt
Have you ever thought about starting your own business?
Smile
What makes you smile like nothing else can?
Cowboys and Indians
Write a poem about how a stereotype has influenced your life.
Reduce the Chance of War
Formulate a list of specific recommendations for political and social changes that might reduce the chance of war. Referring to current events in the world today evaluate the likelihood of such political and social changes coming about.
Palm Reader
You’re on a long flight, and a palm reader sitting next to you insists she reads your palm. You hesitate, but agree. What does she tell you?
Plinky Prompt
What city matches your personality? Why?
Silence
Write about a noise – or even a silence – that won’t go away. (We’ll let you interpret this in different ways?)
Decisions About Your Future
Who do you think should make decisions about your future? Do you think that women and men have the same opportunities to determine their own futures?
Vandalism
Write a post in which you explore your thoughts and feelings about vandalism.
Plinky Prompt
What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you as a result of procrastinating?
Wordle: Decisions
a Wordle created with a Mac or PC
a Togul created with a Chromebook
Search the net for a few quotes about decisions. Recall these focus questions to help you in your search.
Collect a handful of phrases that give you pause to think. Avoid anonymous quotes, note the author. (Keep the unharmed list safe in your notes somewhere.)
Go to wordle.net (on Chromebooks try tagul clouds while logged in with a google account) and and blast one, or some, or a whole pile into your own “wordle”. Try several attempts till you have something rich in thought, an inspiration to a deep thinker like yourself.
When you have a “wordle” you like, take a screen capture of it (Mac: command+shift+4 or Windows: Print Screen key) and upload the “png” to your blog and ….
Write a creative narrative (a short short story of about 500 words) that develops an idea about decisions inspired from your “wordle“.
Warning: the ideas you spawn from generators like these should be used with caution, seriously.
Story Idea Generator (tv tropes)
Plinky Prompt
Do you think smoking should be banned in all bars and restaurants?
A Movie I Would Like To Be In
Describe a film you’d like to act in. What is it about? Who are the characters? Which character would you like to play?
Hero
Tell us about your hero.
Do you think money can buy happiness?
Do you think money can buy happiness?
Crossword Puzzle: “Who Am I?”
Create a “Who Am I?” crossword puzzle for your group/class.
- get every person’s name to fit somewhere
- get at least one descriptive adverb or adjective for each person in the group
- get at least one favorite activity listed for each person
Example clues:
Across:
- a friendly boy, when he’s not playing basketball
- Bob’s favorite sport
Use the following, or similar, crossword puzzle maker.
Attach a printable image(jpg or png) of your completed puzzle to a post in your blog.
Plinky Prompt
Skydiving. Would you do it? (Or have you done it?)
Plinky Prompt
Name a musical artist or group that you’d enjoy performing with.
Give up one sense
If you were forced to give up one sense, but gain super-sensitivity in another, which senses would you choose?
Plinky Prompt
Do you think aliens have ever visited Earth?
Comparison and Contrast
Compare and/or contrast one of the following pairs. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
1. A newborn and an elderly person
2. Front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive cars
3. The newspaper and the TV newcast
4. Cats and dogs
5. Renting and owning your home
6. Using credit and using cash
7. Touring bikes and mountain bikes
8. The novel and the short story
9. Any two martial arts
10. The classical music fan and the rock music fan
11. A Canadian city and an American city of the same size
12. A wedding and a funeral
13. Writing on paper and using a word processor
14. Natural and synthetic fabrics
15. The authoritarian parent and the permissive parent
16. Luxury cars and economy cars
17. Speaking and writing
18. Community college and university
19. The analogue watch and the digital watch
20. A team sport and an individual sport
21. Sales tax and income tax
22. Glasses and contact lenses
23. Driving a motorcycle and driving a car
24. Two newspapers(news channels or news sites) that you know
25. Large families and small families
Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some of these steps in writing your essay of comparison and contrast.
1. Spend enough time with the topic list to choose the item that best fits your interest and experience.
2. Draw a line down the middle of a blank page. Now brainstorm: jot down notes for subject “A” on the lefl and for subject “B” on the right. Join related items with lines, then take stock of what you have: Is A better than B? Is it worse? Similar? Opposite? Or what? Express their relationship to each other in a thesis statement.
3. Now choose either “halves” or “separate points” to organize your argument, depending on the nature and size of your subject, then work your notes into a brief outline.
4. Write a rapid first draft, leave extra white space, not stopping now to revise or edit.
5. Later analyze what you have produced. Does it follow your outline? If not, is the new material off-topic, or is it a worthwhile addition, an example of “thinking in writing”? Revise accordingly.
6. In your second draft cut all deadwood. Sharpen word choice. Add any missing examples. Strengthen TRANSITIONS.
7. Test your prose aloud before writing the good copy. Save the essay in case your teacher suggests further revision.
Create a Visual of Your Favorite Poems
Create a visual (canva or prezi) that captures the essence of some (3-5) of your favorite poems. Your work should contain appropriate visuals, brief quotations from the poem, and personal commentary that reflects your own perspective.
Use poems you’ve already studied, or discover more from poets.org:
Breakups and Heartbreak: Poems for Teens
Family: Poems for Teens
Gender and Sexuality: Poems for Teens
Grief and Loss: Poems for Teens
Heritage and Identity: Poems for Teens
Love and Relationships: Poems for Teens
Mental Health: Poems for Teens
Politics and Social Justice: Poems for Teens
Self: Poems for Teens
National News
Spend a week carefully observing news stories covered by the televised CBC news The National (10 or 11 p.m.) and the print daily newspaper The National Post.
Which stories were covered on TV, which significant stories were only in the newspaper? Which medium provided the deepest and most thorough coverage of particular events?
Write a post about your comparison and conclusions.
Dear God
Listen to the song Dear God by XTC. What do you think it is trying to say?
Dear God, XTC
Plinky Prompt
If you could wake up tomorrow and find that one thing had changed about the world, what would you have that one thing be?
Achieving a Goal
Sometimes, achieving a goal we have longed for does not make us feel as happy as we expected. Why do you think this is so? Share your ideas.
Ultimate Superhero
Describe in great detail your ultimate superhero. What is their unique super power? Get creative!
Online Journey
Tell us about another blogger who has influenced your own online journey.
The Difference Between Winning and Succeeding: John Wooden
What is the difference between winning and succeeding? Write a post about leadership in which you feature John Wooden’s presentation at ted.com.
Plinky Prompt
You get one hour in a time machine. Where to?
Giving Up Personal Freedoms
Name some examples of people giving up personal freedoms in a time of war. Can you think of an instance when this can become problematic?
Awkward pause
You’re on a first date. Awkward pause ensues. How do you break the silence?
Plinky Prompt
If tattoos only lasted for one year, would you want one?
Autobiographical Story
Write an autobiographical story that reveals who you really are.
Dream
What’s your dream tourist destination – either a place you’ve been and loved, or a place you’d love to visit? What about it speaks to you?
Plinky Prompt
What new hobby would you like to try out?
What’s your favorite summertime sound?
What’s your favorite summertime sound?
Success of Failure
Recall a time when you wanted something so badly that nothing else mattered but achieving your desire. Did you succeed or did you fail? How did you feel about what happened?
Plinky Prompt
What’s the minimum amount of sleep you can get by on?
Share something you wish you had done differently.
Share something you wish you had done differently.
Plinky Prompt
In a thousand years your blog gets dug up and put in a museum. What does the general description on its shiny brass plaque say about all of the posts within?
Traumatic Screenplay
Suppose you are writing a screenplay about someone your age who has a mental breakdown as a result of a traumatic experience. Write about what that person’s appearance, conversation, and actions would be like.
“Womanliness” and “Manliness”
Describe a women who best represents your idea of “womanliness.” Describe a man who best depicts “manliness.” Are there any similarities between the two descriptions? Why or why not?
Mars Base 2050
Imagine that you are living in the first settlement on Mars. Write diary entries for one week describing your activities, experiences, and feelings. Have your outlook, values, and priorities changed since you arrived on Mars.
Could It Be Love?
The two following poems express different attitudes toward love. The first poem, “How do I Love Thee?,” was written in the nineteenth century and the second one, “First Person Demonstrative” was written in the twentieth century.
"How do I love thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of everyday's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with a passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.
"First Person Demonstrative" by Phyllis Gotlieb (1926-2009) I'd rather heave half a brick than say I love you, though I do I'd rather crawl in a hole than call you darling, though you are I'd rather wrench off an arm than hug you though it's what I long to do I'd rather gather a posy of poison ivy than ask if you love me so if my hair doesn't stand on end it's because I never tease it and if my heart isn't in my mouth it's because it knows its place and if I don't take a bite of your ear it's because gristle gripes my guts and if you miss the message better get new glasses and read it twice
- How did you feel after reading “How Do I Love Thee?” How did you feel after reading “First Person Demonstrative”? Which poem do you like better? Why? Which do you think is the more appealing poem?
- Compare the thoughts and feelings of the two poets. How do the poems differ? How are they similar? Does this comparison change your feelings toward either of the poems?
Picasso: The Two Saltimbanques
Advantages of Over-confidence
Think of someone you know or have heard about who did something foolish because he or she was “over-confident.” Why is confidence an advantage and over-confidence a disadvantage?
What Do You Know About Canada’s Prime Ministers?
Research the Canadian Prime Ministers. Rank the top three according to how much information is available about them. Consider public and private contributions.
Focus on one and compare your knowledge of them with the knowledge that is available.
Inside Report
Describe in full detail the contents and condition of your school locker or that of a friend.
Survival in Film: Fact or Fiction
Numerous movies have been made about surviving physical ordeals. Sometimes these are biographical accounts of a situation; often they are fictionalized versions of an original story and sometimes they are just pure fiction.
Make a list of movies dealing with physical survival. Are they fact or fiction, or a mixture of both? Decide on at least two you want to see and view them. Does it make any difference to you whether survival stories are based on real events? Why?
Three Parts
Draft a post with three parts, each unrelated to the another, but create a common thread between them by including the same item – an object, a symbol, a place – in each part.
