Hi Seniors,
This post will be a compilation of resources you can (um, should?) use in writing your Orwell essay. For starters, here’s a digital copy of the research guide I handed out in class on Thursday: Using online journals for research
Here’s the citing guide I handed out in class last Thursday: MLA Format Guide for Essays
We’ve finished Macbeth! Onward to improving your non-fiction writing skills for college application essays or any creative writing you might be interested in doing in the future.
We started off class talking about three kinds of perspective/introspection in non-fiction pieces.
Level 1 – Very factual, not much analysis of the author’s life or world around them.
Examples:
“My relationship with Allison lasted for six hours: the two hours after school before The Rockford Files for three days in a row.” – High Fidelity
“Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, chief.” – Jaws
Level 2 – A sentence about “you,” “I” or “we” that offers some analysis or introspection about the world. It’s more than just a factual statement, it offers something deeper and meaningful. Examples:
“You know that was the time I was most frightened? Waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again.” – Jaws
“Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?” – High Fidelity
Level 3 – A sentence that offers an opinion about human nature, how the world works or other “big ideas.” It generally doesn’t have “I” in it. It’s complete analysis, introspection or study of something. Examples:
“Unhappiness used to mean something. Now it’s just a drag like a cold or having no money.” – High Fidelity
“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns and watching violent videos, we’re scared that some sort of culture of violence will take them over, but nobody worries about kids listening to thousands—literally thousands—of songs about heartbreak and rejection and pain and misery and loss.” – High Fidelity
We looked at three pieces: monologues from movies “Jaws” and “High Fidelity” and Peter Keane’s “Everyone Deserves Defense.”
We went through each piece writing down which sentence was what level. For Thursday, come to class with your college essay or piece of personal writing done the same way.
Did We Do Anything In English? 