1.)  occult.


2.) buttress.

3.) herculean.

 4.) megalomania.

5.) interloper.

6.) vitriolic.

7.) soporific.

8.) slovenly.

9.) querulous.

10.) gauche



         ~Cierra Spry.

Ms. Mott (this is your example)

Vapid

Organized

Quiet

(No, I didn't do all of your words for you.. this is just an example of how your one word essays should look!)

One Word Essay Due 3/29 by 3 PM

TENACITY

Hi Gang,   YOU WILL NEED TO CREATE A NEW POST TO DO THIS BLOG.. YOU CAN'T JUST COMMENT LIKE ALWAYS... JUST HIT "NEW POST" AND FOR THE TITLE, PUT YOUR NAME.. SEE ME WITH QUESTIONS
 
What you see above is a "One Word Essay".  If you had never heard the word, "tenacity", you should be able to derive its meaning from the context of the picture.  For that climber to get where he is took tenacity.  It took determination, nerve, moxie, resolve, etc.  What you will be doing for this blog (due by 3 PM on Friday, the 29th) is to choose any ten of our vocabulary words from the list below and create a series of One Word Essays of your own.

This does mean your posts will be longer than usual, but other than your ten words, the only other writing will be at the end when you sign your name.  Your photos must be school appropriate and MUST NOT include any writing.  There were tons of photos that had the word, "tenacity" in them or that had other writing; if you include any images with words in them, they will not be counted in your grade.  Obviously the grading of this assignment is pretty subjective; if I comment on your blog with a question about a particular image and you don't respond back to justify your choice of image, you won't receive credit for that image.  It will be worthwhile to check back on your post to see if there are any comments noted.  Here are the words you have to choose from, all from your vocabulary book this year:

abominate          winsome          buttress          fractious          megalomania          interloper

abstemious        sedentary        slovenly           sangfroid        vitriolic                    heinous

bedlam             paragon            querulous        straitlaced      vapid                      unwieldy

desecrate         corpulent          fetter               imperious         herculean              stalwart

disconsolate    equitable          petulant           soporific            tenuous                 sanctimonious

gauche            nonplussed      ostentatious      scurrilous          precocious             grandiose

recondite       provincial          obdurate          resilient             occult                    pernicious

Good Luck!

  Ms. Mott

Biopoem Blog

Hi Gang,
  You've had a couple of pretty easy weeks here, so it's time, as we approach our short poetry unit, to kick it up a notch.  For this blog, you'll be creating a Biopoem.  Like Haiku, Biopoems have a very specific format, though with these, it's more about content and less about syllables.  Biopoems will not require advanced science degrees or consultation with Mrs. Zaczek, they refer to the other "Bio" we sometimes talk about in school, the Biography.  This poem is about YOU.  Please follow the format below exactly and you will have created a Biopoem worthy of "wordle-ing"...... but more on that in a minute...
                 

(First name)- (Four adjectives that describe you) Son or Daughter of (your parents names) Lover of (three different things that you love) Who feels (three different feelings and when or where they are felt) Who gives (three different things you give) Who fears (three different fears you have) Who would like to see (three different things you would like to see) Who lives (a brief description of where you live) -(last name)

As with all blogs, you must be careful with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization, and you must sign it.  You will receive a poor grade for typos and errors in any of the above and a zero if you do not sign your post.

This blog offer bonus opportunities; if your English grade is low and you'd like to improve it, take your responses from the poem (the things in parentheses) and make them into a "Wordle".  Go to wordle.net, copy and paste your words into the box, do the editing; play with colors and fonts, and  then hit "create wordle".  Print it out and get it to me by Tuesday the 19th by 4:15 PM, and I will give you an extra 15 points on your blog.  This process takes no more than about 10 minutes, but it is a good way to play with words, with online publishing, etc.  I'd like to have a bunch of these to hang in the room for the rest of  the year. (Please see mine on the hallway wall.).  Remember, blogs count twice, so the bonus points will too.. pretty nice!

If you're having trouble with any part of this blog, I'm here after school Tuesday and Thursday until 4:15 and can be found in my room most other days B, D, G, H, and I blocks.  I will not accept Wordles after 4:15 on Tuesday the 19th or blogs posted after 3 PM on Friday the 15th.

I hope to see some creative writing here.. good luck!

Ms. Mott

Erudite Insults!

Hi Gang,

  I’m not sure why this topic makes me laugh, but it does.  I love the idea of “smart” insults.  When someone really irritates me or when my brothers and I get together, we enjoy verbal sparring.  I’m not a fan of vulgarities, I don’t like swearing, and I enjoy leaving people scratching their heads wondering if they’ve just been insulted.  I’ve collected several erudite insults from famous people to give you a few examples.  Check these out:

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."· "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."·

 "He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr·

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -Winston Churchill· "

I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow·

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).·

 "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas·

 "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain·

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.." - Oscar Wilde·

 "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill·"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second ... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.·

 "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." -Stephen Bishop·

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright·

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -Irvin S. Cobb·

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." -Samuel Johnson·

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating·

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." -Charles, Count Talleyrand·

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker·

 "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain·

 "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West·

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -Oscar Wilde·

 "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)·

 "He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder·

 "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." – Groucho

For this week’s blog, you need to share at least three “smart” insults.  They can be your own creations, or something you have found from another source.  If they are from another source, be sure you credit the source, as done above. 

The rules:

1. You must have three separate insults
2. You must credit the source – if, like many above, you can share who the insult was intended for too, please do
3. You must use language appropriate for MY 90-year old grandmother (no vulgarities!)
4. You must spell check and grammar check your post
5. You must sign your post

 Have fun with this!

  Ms. Mott

Your Personal Bucket List

Hi Everyone!

  A "bucket list" is a term used to catalogue all the things you want to do before you die.  It first came in prominence in the 2007 movie of the same name starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.  I have seen "bucket list" apps, questionnaires on Facebook, emails, and greeting cards.  Like most people, I have somet things I most definitely plan to do before I die and some I think about, but can't be sure I'll ever accomplish.  Katrina Lester suggested that we do our own bucket lists for a blog and it seems like a good time to do it so, here are the requirements:

• Your list must be formatted like a list (note how these requirements are in list format?)
• Your list must contain at least fifteen things that anyone can accomplish in their lifetime
• Your list must contain at least ten things that would be difficult, but not impossible to accomplish
• Your list must be believable
• Your final item may be something that is entirely improbable, impossible, but you would still like to try
• Your list must be spell checked and grammar checked.  *I am no longer going easy on you if you can't be bothered to do this.  If you have misspellings or are still not capitalizing your name, the pronoun "I", and other items like that, you will not receive a passing grade for this blog.
• You must sign your blog.  If you don't, you will receive a grade of zero.

Have fun with this one!  It is due by 3PM on Friday, February 15.  I know we don't have school then, but it is still the deadline.

For your response to a peer, due by 3PM on Friday, February 22, please comment specifically on at least five items on a peer's bucket list.  Again, spelling, grammar, and signing your name can make or break you on this one.

Ms. Mott

Goal Setting... Again

Welcome back Everyone!

  We've had a little time off for writing and I know you're all busy with you projects for My Jim, so this is an easy blog this week that will hopefully get you on track to sail through the end of the school year.  By Friday, I want each of you to make a "To-Do List" that is a bit more meaningful than the one pictured above.  Please set three realistic, achievable goals for yourself for the second semester.  Along with each goal, I'd like you to provide at least two concrete steps you will take to achieve that goal.  I don't have a specific word count, what I'm looking for here is for your goals to be meaningful, well-written, and achievable.  For your final paragraph, please write how you will evaluate your success at the end of the school year.  I will do this assignment so you have a basic template to follow.

For next week's response to a peer, provide feedback to a peer about their plan.  A response like, "Great goals, Ms. Mott, I hope you can do it!" just won't cut it.  You have to either comment on the methods your peer has chosen to achieve their goal, the goal itself, maybe provide some other steps they can take to achieve it.  Make it meaningful.  Many of you are not happy with your first semester grades in English; a lot of that has to do with skipping, or submitting poorly written blogs.  I know you can all do a better job.

Good Luck!  Ms. Mott