Sentence Scavenger Hunt

We are going on a scavenger hunt. Your mission, since you have no choice in accepting it, is to look through your favorite books--and not so favorite books, to find sentences that are interesting.

What does interesting mean? It means the structure of the sentences is interesting. Your sentences could be very long and complicated or they could be shorter but filled with solid strong vocabulary.

An example from The Glass Castle:
"I loved The Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the flies, and especially A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I thought Francie Nolan and I were practically identical, except that she had lived fifty years earlier in Brooklyn and her mother always kept the house clean. Francie Nolan's father sure reminded me of Dad. If Francie saw the good in her father, even though most people considered him a shiftless drunk, maybe I wasn't a complete fool for believing in mine."

These sentences are interesting because of the lists and the way the author interrupts her own writing with her thoughts.

This is what I want you to do. Find a small passage from a book that you have read, look at the sentences, determine what makes them interesting, and then tell us, the blog audience, why?

It's a very special time of year. Just as the summer reaches its optimum temperature, it is time to climb out of bed, put on jeans and funnel into the building with all of the others who have abandoned sleep.

I love to sleep in. Coming back to school takes 4 hours of sleep away from me. I cannot drink my pot of coffee each morning. I cannot sit and read for hours. I cannot just lay around. Now, I have two daughters, so the sitting around and doing nothing is not normal. Running the girls around and watching them engage in many new opportunities keeps me busy.

School is also about so many wonderful opportunities. Think about what you sacrifice as a result of school starting, but also think about what opportunities you gain. I gain new conversations, new friends, a new appreciation for learning and my passion is ignited. To everything, there is a pro and a con. What are the pros and cons of coming to school and educating yourself. What are you sure that education can and will do for you?

Be sure to speak to pros and cons!

Helping each other out!!!!

Use this opportunity to help answer each other's questions about the multi-genre essay. Do not give each other answers:(

Feel free to ask for revision help.
Feel free to ask about a specific genre.
Feel free to ask for opinions on word choice.

Do not ask for answers or for someone to write for you.
Do not ask for someone to think for you.

Enjoy working and helping each other.

Truth

It is interesting to me how we "spin the truth." We add details, leave them out, embellish. How do we know "the truth?"

One author that I adore, makes reference to the idea that truth is a matter of perspective. No matter where you are standing, your perspective determines what you see, feel, know. I saw a car accident once. I was getting ready to pull into the intersection and a car ran the red light. I was lucky. I was distracted and did not pull into the intersection as quickly as normal. The car across the way, however, got nailed.

My sister-in-law and I pulled over to call the police. We were both in the front seats and yet, both of us saw something different. Does her account of the story make mine wrong?

How do we know when the truth stares us in the face? Is the truth a logic based ideal or is it rooted in the heart and we know the truth by how guilt free our heart feels?
Does the truth ever evolve?

Books, books and more books!!!!

To begin with, hello to Ashley in Wooster. Feel free to continue to blog with us. I hope all is well. To those who like to criticize Mrs. Perrin on the blog, please find a new hobby.

My daughter made fun of me this past summer because I constantly had a book in my hand. She called me an addict. I am addicted to reading. Everywhere I go, I have something to read. The summer is the time when I read all of the books I have been waiting for during the school year. I try to pick a book that is considered by the academy as academically sound and then I fill the rest of the reading time with what I want.

How do you pick what to read? Do you only read what the teachers dictate? Do you pick because your friends recommend a book to you? Or do you read the backs of books to find what would interest you?

My favorite book is Atlas Shrugged and I love it because it makes me think about my place in the world and the role of "the mind" in the way society flourishes or fails.

Synopsis--from Barnes and Noble

"Who is John Galt?" is the immortal question posed at the beginning of Ayn Rand's masterpiece. The answer is the astonishing story of a man who said he would stop the motor of the world—and did. As passionate as it is profound, Atlas Shrugged is one of the most influential novels of our time. In it, Rand dramatizes the main tenets of Objectivism, her philosophy of rational selfishness. She explores the ramifications of her radical thinking in a world that penalizes human intelligence and integrity. Part mystery, part thriller, part philosophical inquiry, part volatile love affair, Atlas Shrugged is the book that confirmed Ayn Rand as one of the most popular novelist and most respected thinkers of the 20th century.

Write about your favorite book and why? What does it make you think about, dream about, or what action does it make you want to take?

Education

I have always lived by the belief that "education is the way to reach dreams and make them come true." As a little girl, I can remember my mom saying every time my father left for his three weeks military training, or any other military training that he did out of duty, "What will happen to us if he doesn't come home or his plane crashes and we are left alone. We have no money, and I have no skills that would provide for five kids." I knew at a young age that the song she sang when my dad left was a song I never wanted to learn. I wanted to grow up and be educated well enough to not have the fear of not being able to support myself. As a child, all I saw was that those who had an education were the ones who had more and could do more. This motivated me to push myself to acquire an education.

For as long as I can remember, a debate has begun in our country about the best type of education: public, private without religious ties, or a parochial school. I always wanted, as a kid, to attend CVCA--Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. My parents could not afford it. Instead I attended Akron East High School, a public city school. Oh, the stories I could tell. I do not think I got the short end of the stick. I learned so much from the many different cultures I was involved with and I was able to see life from some very different goggles, not the rose colored kind.

Think about all of the opportunities that you have been privy to by attending a public school, living in a world that is so unpredictable, and meeting the many people who walk in and out of your life. In Sheepskin, by Fisher, a battle of what it means to be educated arises. Where do you feel your education comes from and where will that education take you? How do you see your idea of education changing over the next several years? What would be your school appropriate mantra about education?

Fate

Fate--a life planned without an individuals consent. (I would hate to be so lame as to use the dictionary definition again.)

Romeo says to his friends, "He that has the steerage of my course, direct my sails. On lusty gentlemen." (Rough citation) This begs the question, "How much choice do we have in the way our lives turn out?" Do we direct our sails or is it the wind that pushes our vessel out to sea or to the nearest shore and we are simply the riders waiting out the ride?

I have always believed that everything happens for a reason. President Obama became President to silence the others, you got the luck of the draw of having Mrs. P as your teacher, bell bottoms went out of style and oh so many other events. What does fate have to say? Does fate exist? Are we pawns? Or, is fate a scapegoat for our fear of taking responsibility?

Write out your thoughts on fate.