Mr. Moshé’s Critically Thinking . . . Are You?

As you all know, the Approach Paper assignment for the 3rd Quarter was cancelled to give you time to work on your Argumentative Research Projects.

I did not cancel the Approach Papers for the rest of the year . . . . . . only for the 3rd Quarter.

This means you should all have some form (fiction or nonfiction) of personal book length reading that you are doing for the 4th Quarter.

Your 4th Quarter Approach Papers are due May 15th.

Outlines for the assignment are available in the classroom, and at the following p[age on MY website (the very website you are at right now).

• Approach Paper – Fiction
• Approach Paper – Nonfiction

The Approach Paper Requirements

An approach paper that is longer than 1.25 pages long is too long.

Here’s how you’ll be graded – SCORE LA Rubric.

Lose 10 points for every day late.

Use the following Font etc. – Times New Roman, 12 pt, Single Space.

SECTIONS

•I. Proper Heading: Your Full Name, The Date, The Class/Block, The Book Title, The Author’s Name, The Genre.

•II. Summary Paragraph: A four or five sentence paragraph which explains the ENTIRE book or play using as much detail as you can manage. To encourage your writing style, you may not use semi-colons or colons in this paragraph, and every sentence must start out in a different way. This helps make your writing more interesting to read. This is often the most difficult section of the approach paper to write. It will take some time to condense the happenings of the book/play into these few sentences which all start differently.

•III. Character Descriptions: Choose three or four main characters in your book or play. For each character, supply: Character’s Name, Four or Five words which describe the character distinctly. This is a good time to think about vivid vocabulary words we use in class, check the dictionary, thesaurus. If you use a particular word to describe one character, you may not use that same word to describe another character.

•IV.                 Discussion/Essay Questions: Write three questions that a teacher might ask you about the book or play either in class or for an essay. These questions should be high level and thought-provoking. They almost always take more than one line to type because they ask readers to combine more than one idea. Just writing these types of questions helps you to anticipate what questions might be asked of you in class discussions or on a test and encourages you to think more insightfully about the book or play.

•V.                   Key Passage: Choose the most important passage in the book or play (in your opinion). Type it up word-for-word in the approach paper. Make sure to identify the speakers.

•VI.                 Key Passage Explanation: In a fully-developed paragraph, explain why your chosen passage is important to understanding the book or play. In your explanation, make sure you integrate quotes (actual words or phrases from the book or play) from the key passage to strengthen your explanation. Often, this selected passage will offer clues to the book or play’s themes. Explain any mentioned or inferred themes connected to the key passage.

•VII.               Your Opinion: In two to three paragraphs, write about what you liked/disliked most OR least about this book. This can be about the author’s style, characters, themes, settings, literary devices, etc. Be sure to explain by using details to support your response. Tell why you would or wouldn’t recommend this book to someone.

Due Dates

1st & 2nd Blocks: November  24th , December 5^th, 19^th, January 11^th, 25^th, February 8^th, 22^nd, March 7^th, 21^st, April 11^th, 25^th, May 9^th

4th Block: December 19^th, January 18^th, February 8^th, 29^th,  March 21^st, April 11^th, May 2nd