All Boys, All Blogged: February 23, 2015

Focus: How can make our essays stylistically strong?

1. Warming up with happy Monday thoughts!

2. Enjoying a brief mini lesson on verbs with Ms. Leclaire:

a. Look through your essay for this verb construction: is/are/were/was ___________-ing

Examples:

Lady Macbeth is trying...
Macbeth is thinking...
The witches were deceiving...

Try to eliminate the "to be" verb and the "ing."

Fixed Examples:

Lady Macbeth tries
Macbeth thinks
The witches deceived

Try fixing this one: 
She is trying to keep Macbeth calm after the murder, reassuring him that everything is fine. But she is also changing Macbeth, making him feel like murder is acceptable.


b. Try out the "Verb Tense" assignment on www.noredink.com

Look through your essay and make sure all verbs are in the present tense.

Example:
Macbeth started his spiral of self destruction when he killed King Duncan.

Fixed Example:
Macbeth starts his spiral of self destruction when he kills King Duncan.

Example:
Macbeth had disregarded the witches in the first act, but he later changed his mind.

Fixed Example:
Macbeth has disregarded the witches in the first act, but he later changes his mind.

3. Giving your essays a final, thorough edit with the slides linked here

HW:
1. Continue working on your draft. Before you come to class on Thursday, you need to submit your essay to the "Final Macbeth Essays" folder in www.turnitin.com. You do not need a hard copy unless you're feeling nervous about it.

2. Banned books need to be finished in exactly one week.

3. If you'd like additional feedback on your essay, please e-mail me with something specific to focus on.