If any student completed the TDQs (which were optional but strongly suggested) for Act III, I collected those. I can not promise that I will be able to get them graded for 5 week report comments, but I will take care of them as soon as I can.
We went over the essay. If students pick the central idea of "dreams are as necessary as food and shelter", then they need to decide which two characters best support that central idea (the class decided that Walter and Bennie would be best). The best literary terms that students could use for support are conflict and characterization. If students pick, "Family is the most important relationship in most people's lives", then Mama and Ruth would be the best options for analysis. Literary terms here could be symbolism, conflict, or characterization.
Students received the rubric for the essay (which is not attached. If you were absent, you'll get it tomorrow). I then showed students examples from an actual Regents exam and asked them to figure out how the central idea was supported and through which literary device. We looked at a 4, 3, and a 1. If you were not here, there's not a way for me to upload this, so I'm sorry you missed it.
Attached is a "breakdown" of each paragraph. I did not hand this out yet, but it might be helpful.
Tonight's HW is to create an outline for the essay. This does not mean to include complete sentences/paragraphs. If anyone comes in with a "rough draft", he/she will not be allowed to use it. Students will only have about 40 minutes to complete the essay in class, so having a good outline will help! It will allow for less time to be "searching" for things. Bring pens/paper to class (always).