September 26, 2011

Parts of Speech 2Making a Point: Topic Sentences

Housekeeping

• Website:

– Dominic, Raymart, Manouchehr, Iman

• Books:

– Dominic, Raymart, Ysaura, Mohammed, Manouchehr, Omid, Arezoo

• Green Box:

– Marked Work

– Handouts

Parts of Speech Review #2

Articles

Articles are a type of adjective that appear before nouns:

– the (definite)

– a, an (indefinite)

Ex: Please give me the book.

(Which book? That specific book over there.)

Ex: Please give me a book.

(Which book? Any book, I don’t care!)

PronounsPronouns take the place of a noun to avoid repetition and/or add variety:

Ex: Sally likes to ride Sally’s bicycle.Sally likes to ride her bicycle.She likes to ride her bicycle.

However, careless use can cause confusion.

Ex: Sally likes to ride Shari’s bicycle.She likes to ride her bicycle.

Prepositions

Prepositions are words that specify position, direction, or time:

• She looked around the room.

• I hid behind the door.

• He slept during class.

• She walked toward the door.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are joining words:• and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet

They help form compound subjects and verbs:Amir and Jack ran and jumped.

They help join independent clauses:Amir wrote the paper, and Jack presented it.

Interjections

Interjections are words or phrases that show strong emotions.

Ow! Wow! Oh, no! Ssh! Yuck! Hey!

Challenge

• noun• verb• adjective• adverb• article

• pronoun• preposition• conjunction• interjection

Make a sentence that contains all 9 parts of speech and is grammatically correct.

Example

• Wow! That old woman sings sweetly and Int. adj. adj. noun verb adv. conj.

dances frenetically around the room. v. adv. prep. art. noun

Student Sentences

• Smart Jack was going towards the cinema and he quietly said, “Wow!” because he had seen a big cat.

• I saw a lion was playing with a little sheep very calmly instead of eating it and I said “Wow! That is impossible.”

• Well, Dominic, you have to actually write the small paragraph that she asked us for just now.

Effective Writing

Good writing has

• unity (a single focus)

• support (details and examples)

• coherance (clear and logical)

• sentence skills (grammatically correct)

Review of Paragraph Structure

• Start with a topic sentence that clearly defines the main point of your paragraph (unity)

• Give three reasons to support your point; (support)

• Provide specific details or examples for each reason (support)

• Use transition signals to show the relationship between ideas (coherance)

Begin with a Point, Page 47

To understand this idea of “unity” or “focus,” let’s look at some examples in our text.

Begin with a Point, Page 47

Complete the following statement:

Paragraph _____ is effective because it makes a clear, single point, in the first sentence and goes on in the remaining sentence to support that point.

Discuss your choice with a classmate.

Topic Sentences

• should be the first sentence in the paragraph• contain the main point of a paragraph• give focus to the paragraph (unity)• are a promise to the reader about what the

paragraph will be about

Effective Topic Sentences should

• state one main idea or opinion that could be supported with specific evidence

Ex: I hate my Ford Escort.

Effective Topic Sentences have

• two main parts– the limited topic– the writer’s attitude about the topic

Ex: I hate my Ford Escort.

Ex: My girlfriend is very aggressive.Ex: Voting should be required by law in Canada.

Topic Sentences should not

• “announce” the topic

Ex: I want to talk about my Ford Escort.

Topic Sentences should not

• be too broad

Ex: Many people have problems with their cars.

Topic Sentences should not

• be too narrow

Ex: My car is a Ford Escort.

Activity 10, p. 65

• Read sentences 1-5.

• Identify (on your own paper) the topic and the idea about the topic (expressed in key words)

Activity 10, p. 65

1. Billboards should be abolished.2. My boss is an ambitious man.3. Politicians are often self-serving.4. The apartment needed repairs.5. Television commercials are often insulting.

I hate my ford escort.

Activity 12, p. 68

• Read each group of supporting details and then try to write a topic sentence for them.

(Ask yourself what general topic they have in common and what idea or view about that topic they seem to support.)

• Do as many as you can in the next 10 minutes. Do not worry if you do not have time to do them all.

Activity 12, p. 68

1. (Some/our) neighbours don’t like to communicate with others.

I don’t like my neighbours.

My new neighbours have an unfriendly attitude.

2. The dance I went to was a disaster.

Last night I hosted a messed up dancing party.

An event that I attended was a disaster.

3.I would not go to the restaurant that I went to last night ever again.

That greek restaurant has a problem with their management.

The restaurant we went to was terrible.

The service we had at that restaurant last night was disappointing.

Activity 12, p. 684. My unforgettable negative experiences during my

elementary grades.

I had always struggled with learning English.

My childhood til now is a memory of poor memories about school/English.

English has always been my worst subject.

5. The movie I went to wasn’t worth my money.

The stupid movie stole my time.

The movie had a bad production.

The film is rather a B movie/low budget.

Homework

• Review Online lessons on Parts of Speech - be prepared for a brief quiz on Monday!

• "All Grown Up and Still in Tow” � for this Wednesday (next class)

– Re-read the article as many times as you need to to understand it

– Vocabulary paragraph for “All Grown Up . . .” (assigned last Wednesday)