Week 18

IMPORTANT REMINDER:
Next Thursday, February 27th, we will not have class.  I'll be attending the CiRCE Teacher Apprenticeship retreat.  We'll resume class on Thursday, March 6th.

Also, coming up March 14-15, Faith Bible Church is hosting a conference on Science and Faith.  They have a great low student rate of just $25!  Click on the image above the zombie to see the promo video. To register go to:
http://faithbibleonline.org/reasons2014
If you can't make it yourself, but would like to send your student, drop me an e-mail.  I'd be happy to fill my van!

This week we learned how changing verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech into nouns can turn lively active writing into a lifeless mob of words from the crypt, certain to put readers to sleep.  We watched an entertaining video that explains how this can happen - and how the damage can be reversed.  To watch the video, click the picture of the zombie on the left.

The Lost Tools of Writing explores 4 predictable patterns in which nominalizations commonly lurk.  We learned to recognize the first pattern and repair the damage. Nominalization pattern I introduces the nominalized form with the words "there is/was" or "there are/were".

Nominalization pattern I example:
There was a rustling in the bushes.
The verb rustle has been nominalized in this sentence (changed to a rustling) and is hiding what should be the subject.
To fix it:
1) change the nominalized word back to its former self, in this case a verb - rustle
2) invent a subject - the Jabberwocky
3) rewrite the sentence: The Jabberwocky rustled in the bushes.

 The DVD lesson can be found on disk 3 of your set, under lesson 5, elocution A.  You may or may not need to refer to the video depending on how easily you can move through the worksheet exercises.

Assignments

Writing:

• complete pages 74-80 of your student workbook (Nominalizatoin pattern I)
• Write essay 5 using the checklist and your Tempest outline.  Yes, you really need to check each box.  Don't skip anything (except the simile).  
• Outline Adler's Aristotle chapter 3, Man's Three Dimensions

Reading

• Read all of The King of the Golden River
• Use pink highlighters to highlight characters
• Use a green highlighter to mark any transitions you notice (usually setting or time changes)