The big thing with me is, of course, to follow the rubric with maniacal intensity. I get that my rubrics are wordy and often cumbersome, but I approach writing like I'm teaching you to fly a plane: if you don't follow the details, you might just crash and burn. Enough said?
Over the past two weeks there was only "one" required journal entry, so it was a measly one point assignment--BUT, if you wrote more than one, you were rewarded with dollops of extra credit points, so cheers to those of you who were rewarded for a bit of extra effort--plus it makes for a more interesting blog, so why be dull and do the bare minimum? Bear this in mind: it goes for commenting as well!
Now for "The Essay." (drumroll sounds) Yes, we are preparing to write an essay--and yes, I will have a nifty rubric for you to use, but first we have one more Literary Analysis Paragraph to write this week, so put on your maniac suit and get ready to go wham dammering. Download Literary Analysis rubric and really really really read it closely and attentively--e v e r y part of it. This assures you of more than a great grade: it assures you of a skill that will save you time and time again as you traverse the wide fields of academia which I am supposedly preparing you to traverse--and, if you master this so called rubric, you might even someday fondly remember your eighth grade English class, and you might even become a better frisbee thrower simply because you will have more time on your hands because writing things like literary analysis is not a big deal to you because you are "the master" of this tiny sub-topic of your life.
Hopefully, you have finished--or are very close to finishing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, [notice the italics: they're not hard to make] and just as hopefully, I trust it was a worthwhile notch on the stick of your life. Every good book is a notch to nick on your own adventure of life--as is every blog post--poem, ramble, story, review, Fitz-Style, Ewing-Style (sorry Kevin), sports report, memoir, reflection, essay, recipe or whatever floats your literary boat. You only get better by doing--and doing more than is expected of you. Very shortly you will no longer be an eighth grade boy at Fenn; you will be in High School, more than likely at a damn good private or public high school, and no matter what your academic challenges you are better off than ninety percent of the other kids in the world--many who can only dream of being in a place like Fenn with a literal smorgasbord of opportunity placed at your feet every day! The sooner you realize this--and embrace this--the better prepared you will be to do something truly profound and meaningful with your life.
It might not be polite to always say "give a damn," but I have yet to find a more practical solution to the problems of life, and giving a damn is something you can practice all day every day until maybe it becomes a habit that you don't have to think about before doing it. Twain does a great job of portraying every kind of person out there, and he paints his characters in unmatched detail. Every character tells a story in action or in dialogue.
What kind of character do you want to be. Sua-sponte, baby! It's a verb, not a noun.
Hit publish!