Welcome

Welcome to Mr. Lambie's Secondary 4 English blog. This is meant as a space to make assignments, information and general resources available to students in my Sec. 4 and 5 English classes at Richmond Regional High School (RRHS) in Richmond, Quebec.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Public Speaking Preparation


Types of speeches:

The three permitted forms of speech for the public speaking contest here in the Eastern Townships are:

  • Informative
  • Persuasive
  • Argumentative

In a word document, write a brief definition (50-75 words) in your own words of what each of these forms is.

Be sure to address the following questions in your writing:
  •  What is the goal of each type of speech? 
  •   What is the difference between a persuasive speech and an argumentative speech?
  •   What is not allowed by each type? (What should you not be doing in a persuasive/argumentative/informative speech?)
  •   What are the advantages of each type?

Upon completing your summaries, provide your answers to the following questions:

  1. Which type of speech do you find gives writers/speakers the most freedom to express themselves, why?
  2. Give an example of what you might see as an interesting topic choice for each form and explain why.
  3. Some topics, despite being interesting, lose their charm because people use them all the time. Give two examples of topics that have been "done to death."
  4. Toastmasters is a group that specializes in helping people become better speakers. Take a look at their list of the "10 Biggest Public Speaking Mistakes" and say
    1.  Whether you agree or not with the items on the list
    2. If there is anything you would add, from past experience.


When you have completed your summaries and answers to the questions, copy and paste your text as a response to this blog post and submit it

**Don't forget to put your name in your post**


Links:

Information on Persuasive and Informative speeches:

Toastmasters List:

Argument vs. Persuasion

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Concept Map Background

Everyone in this class should, at this point, have a rough copy of your concept map on the topic of abuse.

Our guiding question of this project has been :
"What is abuse and how do people deal with/respond to it?"

All of the information you have used so far is either drawn from your own existing knowledge, or scenes and ideas presented in Laurie Halse Anderson's novel Speak.

Today I want you to expand on that existing knowledge by finding sources and recording information to back up your statements.

Consult the following starter sites for details on Abuse in various forms.

Visuwords dictionary entry on Abuse

Resource defining abuse and different forms of coping:

Edmonton Police Department

Pamphlet on Victim Services 

Information Specifically on Sexual Abuse

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) In a word document, record quotes and details you see as being relevant to answering the guiding question. Be sure to record where your information came from. Have at least 5 quotes or new sources of information.

2) Write an answer to the guiding question in paragraph form to attach to your concept map. Use both the image you have already produced (your concept map) and the new information collected today. Your paragraph should include at least 1 example from the novel, and be at least 100 words long (NOT counting quotes)

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Fahrenheit 451 and Plato's Cave



Plato was an ancient Philosopher whose ideas have had a major impact on the world we live in today.

One of his most well known teachings is "The Allegory of the Cave", a video of which we will be watching in class today. (above)

An allegory is a form of metaphor; a story that teaches a lesson by taking the main ideas and showing them as symbols instead of saying them in a straightforward way.

As you watch, try to answer the following questions on a sheet of paper:

1)   Who are the different characters in the allegory?
2)  Describe or draw the setting of the allegory, based on what you saw in the video.
3)  The story happens in 4 steps:
a.   The Prisoner
b.   The prisoner is freed
c.    The prisoner is dragged outside
d.   the freed Prisoner returns.
Describe what happens at each step.

4) How could this allegory connect to the story of Fahrenheit 451? Which characters might be which? What could the cave be in the book?

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Fact, Fiction, and Opinion Links

The following links are to provide examples for you to use on today's Fact, Fiction and Opinion contrast Activity worksheet.

Factual reporting:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/index.html (a link to today's news stories)

Fictional Writing:
http://www.fictionpress.com/ (an archive of fiction writing with numerous examples)

Opinion Writing:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorials/index.html ( a link to today's editorials)
http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/index.html (a link to the overall opinion section)



Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Understanding Censorship

 Last week we started looking at the idea of Censorship because of its role as a major theme in Fahrenheit 451

Today I would like you to look deeper at the kinds of censorship that exist in our world, why people censor or ban things, and what effect it has on your life.

Most media in our world undergo some form of censorship, including but not limited to:
1)Movies
2) Books
3) Music

Pick one of these genres and research answers to the following questions (remember to let me know where your data comes from):

Who is in charge of banning of censoring this medium?
Why is this medium usually censored?
What has been banned?



 In this column, provide detailed information on what group or groups tend to want to censor your chosen medium.


 
 


 



Look at multiple examples and try to look for all the different reasons you can. Use this column to compare and contrast them


This column can be used to list examples you've found that support the ideas you put forward in columns 1 and 2


**Write your answers out in paragraph form on a sheet of paper and hand it in to me**

Starter sites: Use these site as starting points for your research, but try to find information of your own

Wikipedia on censorship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship (AS A STARTING POINT TO GUIDE YOUR IDEAS)

Books:

Music:

Movies:


**Remember that censorship is something people feel very strongly about, so there will be a lot of opinions out there. If you think material you are reading might be biased, be sure to mention that, should you decide to use it**

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Censorship and you


Having watched the two Video Clips; Internet Censorship and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on internet censorship,  please write a reflection that addresses the following questions.



1) What does censorship mean to you?

2) Where have you seen examples of Censorship in real life?

3) How is censorship portrayed in Fahrenheit 451?

4) Is the act of censoring something necessarily good or bad? Explain.

Each of these questions should feature a detailed and thought out paragraph-answer.

Please include with your reflection an image (with a reference) from the following Google search which you feel compliments your thoughts.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Setting in "The Chrysalids"

Now that we've read to the end of Chapter 5 of The Chysalids, we have been made aware of where in our world the story takes place. In a word document, write up a hypothesis as to why you think the Author, John Wyndham, might have chosen this location. When you have a complete idea, post it as a comment to this post.

Back up your hypothesis by researching the author and the location in question. Remember that The author has given us clues about other locations in the story as well. Now that we know the location of Waknuk, where might the fringes and the Badlands be? What do you think has made the world the way it is?

I've phrased this post vaguely so as to not give information away to people who have yet to reach this point in the novel, but please be specific in posting your responses.