Life in Prison

I must say that today's 'research' was a poor showing. We had a lot of "my uncle told me" and "I heard from someone" information. When we do research we want it to be two things:

A) Quantitative (showing numbers, ratios, etc)
or Qualitative (showing the quality of something)

B) from a credible source

If your uncle is a police officer, then the best thing to do is to write down his exact statements in an interview. You should ask questions that will give quantitative or qualitative answers.

We'll be doing some more work on this in class as you need to be prepared to do research next year in high school.

Here's some links you can check out for info on life in prison:

Pakistan: Ministry of Interior

Execution looms for Briton after 17 years

Death without a sentence: 108 prisoners die in Punjab jails

Human Rights Watch: Prison Bound (Special Report on Pakistan)

Human Rights Watch: Background to Pakistan Criminal System

Try googling the following phrases and see if you get any informative sites:

lahore prison

pakistan jail

pakistan justice

lahore juvenile

pakistan prison

pakistan court system

Solitary Song

This poem was found on a web blog for Black Poets. Think about the following questions as you read it:
1) Who is the author?
2) Who is 'you' in the poem?
3) Is the author happy with his/her current situation?

Solitary Song

You cage me up
Like a wild animal
Claiming to
Rehabilitate me
Then wonder why
I can’t find a job
Wonder why
I’m crazier than
When I went in
Why not educate me
Before I break the law
Why not give me opportunities
Before I turn to a life of crime
Strike one
Strike two
Strike three
Now I’m caged up for life
A life wasted
A life lost forever
Here I sit
Wondering who I could have been
All the things I could have done
If you had just given me the chance
You cage me up
And wonder why I
Can’t fly
When I’m set free
Sitting here looking at
My momma
My wife
My daughter
Through a glass plate
Trying to feel like a man
Not a wild beast
Waiting for you
To rehabilitate me

Poem: Solitary Song [Community] - nicholldenice - ndm01@bc.edu

http://homepages.wmich.edu/~d2baker/monsterplans2.htm

Don't forget the book and the journal

Reminder - Make sure to buy the book Monster and get your journal ASAP.

Reading quiz pages 1-46 will be on Friday.

Spring Break

Have a great Spring Break!

Please bring a journal with you when you come back next week. It should be smaller than a Scarsdale notebook (copy book) and something that you can easily carry with you. We will be using it for our literature journal as we read Monster.

Also, remember to bring 500 rupees for the book on Monday March 24th.

*Thanks to Anoushe & Ushna - My husband and I tried the Arizona Grill last night and it was great! He had the French Onion Steak and I had the beef Chimichanga. Mmmmm. We had to get our fill of beef before crossing the border.

Quiz Results

Today's quiz may have seemed easy, but there were 44 mistakes to correct. Here's the class averages for the quiz (out of 44 marks, compared to a test out of 100 marks).

Grade 8A - 85%

Grade 8S - 80%

Let's see which class gets the higher average on Friday's test.

Grade 8S - please do WB+ page 106 if you have not completed it.

Grades Due Friday March 14th

Reminder:

Compare & Contrast Essay Final - due Weds March 12th

All late work - due Weds March 12th

Standardized Test - Friday March 14th

Punctuation Quiz - TOMORROW March 7th

Late work will not be accepted as I will not have time to grade it before the spring break. As I must turn in all the marks on Friday at 12:40pm, I can not be reading your papers at the last minute. Do not miss the standardized test on friday! If you know you will be absent for reasons due to travel, etc. please ask your parents to come make an application to Ms. Lualdi so you can take the test on Thursday March 13th.

Quiz on Friday

Reminder that there is a quiz on FRIDAY on punctuation and capitalization. You should know Unit 9 Section 1-4.

Peer Editing - Compare & Contrast

We'll be using these questions for our peer editing sessions. While writing your rough draft you should look to see how you're doing in all the areas mentioned.

1. Does the topic sentence show the main point? How could it be improved?

2. Does the topic sentence catch the reader’s attention?

3. Is there a clear compare & contrast pattern in the paper? Is it AABB or ABAB?

4. Does the paper show the author’s personality?

5. Are specific examples used to support points made in the essay? If yes, cite one example. If no, cite one place where the author could use a concrete detail to make his/her point stronger.

6. Are wording and ideas fresh and interesting? How could it be improved?

7. Name three things you liked about the paper.

8. Give three comments or suggestions that you think would help improve the paper.

Compare & Contrast Grading Rubric

If you want to know what I'll be looking for when I grade your C&C essays, see here

Compare & Contrast Essay - Self-Revising Checklist

Revising
1. Have I used consistent point of view?
2. Have I used consistent verb tense?
3. Have I used a variety of sentence structures?
4. Does my personality come through my writing?
5. Do I show rather than tell?
6. Does my topic sentence show the thesis & main idea?
7. Does my topic sentence catch the reader’s attention?
8. Are features or subjects discussed in the same order?
9. Is the order features are discussed logical?
10. Are specific examples used to support ideas?
11. Are my wording and ideas fresh and interesting?
12. Are compare & contrast clue words used?

Proofreading
1. Have I corrected run-ons?
2. Have I corrected fragments?
3. Have I used indentation and paragraphing?
4. Have I used proper capitalization and punctuation?
5. Have I corrected spelling mistakes?

Format
1. Double spaced
2. Font size 12
3. Font Arial or Times New Roman
4. 1 Column
5. Title in Header
6. Written my name in bold italic on the first line
7. Justified the lines