Category Archives: English 9

Grammar Video Project- Ampersand, Common and Proper Noun (Karla and Ellie)

Posted on by

Ampersand, Common and Proper nouns 

Some things we have researched deeper into, were some of these grammar concepts such as ampersands, proper and common nouns. First, ampersands. Despite appearances, the history of ampersand owes nothing to amp, or sand. Now what is Ampersand? An ampersand represents “And”, one of the conjunctions. Ampersands should not be used in normal text because they are a bit informal. People often use an ampersand when they want to save space. Furthermore, the word ampersand is a mix of Latin and English and a condensed version of the phrase “and per se and,” which means “(the character) ‘&’ by itself is ‘and’.” These are some examples of ampersands: “Mr. & Mrs. Johnson” and “Bath & Body works”. These examples use ampersand because it’s in a company’s name, which can use “&” instead of and. Moving on to common nouns, these are nouns (person, place or thing) that are not a specific thing. When we use common nouns, they don’t require to be capitalized, unless they are the first word of the sentence. Some examples of common nouns are mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, jam, pillow. Now for proper nouns, proper nouns are nouns, but they’re just perfect. Proper nouns and common nouns are very opposite. Proper nouns should always be capitalized because they are going to be named something. To demonstrate, there is Canada, In-N-Out, Mac Book, Math, Tesla, Pepsi that are proper nouns. These examples show how you would properly use proper nouns in sentences because the first letter is capitalized, and they are names of a country, company etc. 

 

Test Questions:

  1. What symbol is an ampersand?
  1. a) !      b) &        c)?
  1. What is the common noun used in this sentence? “He went to a movie at Cineplex.” 

 

  1. a) went   b) Movie     c) Cineplex 

 

  1. Companies can use ampersands in their company names.

 

  1. A) true             b) False          C) Depends

 

  1. Which of the following is the definition of proper nouns? 

A) nouns that are not specific but do require to be capitalized.

B) Nouns that are specific but don’t need to be capitalized.

C) Nouns that are specific and need to be capitalized.

D) Nouns that aren’t specific and don’t need to be capitalized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers: 

  1. B 
  2.  B  
  3. A 
  4. C  

 

 

 

On the Side Walk Bleeding

Posted on by

Write 4-6 sentences explaining their project and what they did to contribute.

This stop motion is about a 16 year-old teenager named Andy who seems to be apart of a gang called The Royals. One day, Andy gets stabbed in an alley in New York on a rainy day. Four witnesses came past Andy, but nobody helped him. Our group has achieved our goal of success by always communicating and sharing our ideas. We made a group chat on Snapchat to stay in touch and FaceTimed each other, even when we were miles away from each other. Overall, we had a lot of fun and learned a bit more about making a stop motion clip and editing.

The Sea Devil Questions and Vocabulary

Posted on by

1. Why doesn’t the man do fishing by night? How does this lead to the conflict with the ray? What is significant about the fact that he does not fish for a living?

The man fishes by night because he likes the loneliness, the hardship, and the man enjoyed being a hunter. He also fishes by night to feel different from doing his job and feel isolated. This leads to the conflict with the ray because when he was pulled overboard, nobody was able to see him or help him which gave him a higher possibility to die. People weren’t able to see him since he was so far away in the dark, which was even hard for the man to see the stingray, for it was too dark. The significance of how the man does not fish for a living is that the man knew that it was dangerous for him to be fishing in the dark by himself, but he still went fishing, all by himself in the dark. I think that the man went fishing by himself because he wanted to relieve his stress by staying by himself and hunting sea creatures.

2. Identify 3 examples of foreshadowing.

a) When the man was hauling in the mullets, while checking if there were any stingrays hiding in the mesh. This gives a hint that he was aware that stingrays were around and that they would be a part of the story. “He looked closely to make sure no stingray was hidden in the mesh, then raised the iron collar and shook the net out.” (pg.35)
b) When the man gives back the baby porpoise to its mother and saves it. This also gives us a hint that the porpoise would be included in the story as well as the stingrays since usually, when you do something good, something good will happen to you. “And the mother had swum alongside the boat and under the boat and around the boat, nudging the stout planking with her back, slapping it with her tail, until the man felt sorry for her and made the captain let the baby porpoise go.” (pg.33)
c) When the man goes out to go fishing at night in the dark, the story tell the reader that something is going to happen since most people fish during the daytime and not during the nighttime since it is harder to see fish and it it is more dangerous. Also, since it is during the nighttime, there won’t be many people who will be able to help the man when he gets into trouble. “In front of him, the bay stretched dark and silent, one of the countless lagoons that border the coast where Florida thrusts its great green thumb deep into the tropics” (pg.32)

3. Identify the following parts of the story’s plot: the complicating incident, a single crisis, the climax, the resolution, and the ending (what kind?).

The complicating incident in the story when the man decides to only let his net go when he sees two or more swirls. A single crisis of this story would be when the man got pulled into the water by the Sea Devil. Quickly, the man tries to untie the rope around his wrist but he can’t do it quick enough and the man gets dragged and thrashed around violently.The climax is when the man decides to use the barnacle on the stake to cut the rope around him and safely survives. The resolution of this story is when the man decides to free the mullet back into the ocean. Lastly, the type of ending of this story is a happy ending since the man is successful in surviving the Sea Devil.

4. One of the conflicts is between the civilized and primitive world (define these two words first). What is the purpose of the references made to the plane, the causeway, and the man’s wife at home?

The definition for civilized is when a something is considered to be advanced in a way; to be polite or well-mannered. The definition for primitive is relating to the character of an early stage in the evolutionary or historical development of something. I think that the purpose of the references made to the plane, the causeway, and the man’s wife at home, is that everything is man made. A plane, causeway, and houses their wife stays at, are all man made.

5. What does the man learn at the end of the story? Why does he release the mullet?

At the end of this story, I suppose that the man learns that catching sea creatures is ruining their lives and ending it for them, and that good deeds recompenses in a way. He also learned to not go fishing at night by himself. The man let go of the mullet because he had just been in the same position as the mullet with the Sea Devil. Also, he didn’t need the mullet since he wasn’t going to eat it, nor did he fish for a living.

6. Find 3 examples of descriptive language – this will lead into a discussion of figurative language.

a) “He liked the clean taste of salt when he gripped the edge of the net with his teeth as a cast netter must.” (pg.33)
b) “Down to the southward, the lights of a causeway made a yellow necklace across the sky.” (pg.34)
c) “A school of sardines surfaced suddenly, skittering along like drops of mercury.” (pg.36)

Vocabulary:

1. sullen (pg.32)
To be bad-tempered and sulky; gloomy.
2. weltering (pg.33)
To rise and fall or toss about in or with waves.
3. elemental (pg.33)
To have the power of force of nature.
4. sinewy (pg.33)
Tough and difficult to cut.
5. hoisted (pg.33)
To raise something by using ropes or strength.
6. phosphorescence (pg.34)
Luminescence that is caused by the absorption of radiations.
7. cordage (pg.34)
The ropes in the rigging of a ship/boat.
8. exhilaration (pg.34)
Feeling of great happiness and excitement.
9. atavistic (pg. 35)
A recurrence to a past style, manner, outlook, or activity.
10. centrifugal (pg. 35)
Moving away from a centre.
11. gauntly (pg. 35)
Barren/desolate
12. impeding (pg. 37)
To slow the movement, progress, or action of something.
13. tenaciously (pg.37)
Very determined to do something.
14. respite (pg. 38)
A period of temporary delay.
15. equilibrium (p. 38)
A state of balance, one force is not stronger than the other.
16. imminent (pg. 39)
Something that will happening soon.

A Mountain Journey Questions

Posted on by

A Mountain Journey questions: 

  1. What was Dave Conroy doing out in the wilderness?  

Dave Conroy is a man who traps and he was bringing fifty pounds of fur for the market, which took him six weeks. In a way, it seems like Dave Conroy is out in the wilderness for another reason. He seems like he wants to prove to himself that he can overcome nature. I think this because when he could’ve stopped and made a fire to warm himself up and spend the night, but instead, Dave Conroy decides to miss that opportunity and hike another 3 miles until he arrives at the cabin. He also said that mountain traveling was not dangerous if a man knew how to take care of it. 

2. At what point does the reader know the protagonist is in serious trouble and not likely to make it to MacMoran’s cabin? 

The story informs the reader that the protagonist (Dave Conroy) isn’t going to be able to make it to MacMoran’s cabin when Dave Conroy got so cold that he thought that snow was warm when he sat down. Also, in the story, it tells us that he heard an odd noise, such as horse bells when there weren’t any horses around, especially in the wintertime. Adding on, near the end of the story, it said that he was under the snow like a blanket, which would help us figure out that he is covered in snow. Dave Conroy was also kept hallucinating. He imagined that MacDonald was giving him a frowning face and said something that he couldn’t hear. He thought that if he waited there, lying down in the snow, someone will come pick him up to get him to shelter. He seems as if he fell asleep in the snow covering his whole entire body and passed away. 

3. What three critical mistakes did Conroy make? What are some of the things he could have done to prevent himself from freezing?  

One of the critical mistakes that Dave Conroy had made was going trapping all by himself for six weeks. It would’ve been so much easier for Dave Conroy to survive six weeks trapping in the middle of February with a partner, since having another person by your side can help you decide if you should go another mile or rest (for example). Another mistake that Conroy had made is that he didn’t stop to make a fire, dry off, and warm himself up. Conroy kept on going because he was less than three miles away from the cabin and he didn’t want his desire for warmth to stop him. I also noticed that he made a mistake of sitting in the snow to take a rest. If he hadn’t lied down on the snow, he wouldn’t have become covered in snow and ultimately ended his life.  

4. Determine the elements of plot in this story: exposition, complicating incident, 3 crises, climax, and the denouement. 

The exposition of this story is that a guy named Dave Conroy, is on his way to MacMoran’s cabin and the market because he is delivering fifty pounds of fur to the market and it takes about six weeks for him to get there by trapping. He is outside in the cold wilderness and he seems to want to prove to himself that he is capable of handling the wilderness and we get to see if he is capable of making good decisions throughout the adventure.  

The complicating incident of this story would be when Dave Conroy did not take a break underneath the tree when his whole body was extremely cold. Instead, Dave Conroy decided to go another three miles until he reached his destination (MacMoran’s Cabin). If he had stopped and warmed himself up, he wouldn’t have been so tired and froze to death. 

The first crisis would be the moment when Dave Conroy had fell into an airhole of a river and was in great need of heat/fire so he could warm himself up, but he decided to continue with his journey, for he had less than three miles left until the cabin. The second crisis would be when he started to hallucinate, such as when Dave Conroy heard horse bells when there were no horses nearby(etc.) and I suppose that that has happened due to how cold he was. The last crisis is when Dave Conroy had needed fire because he was extremely cold, he couldn’t light his lighter because of how cold he was. I consider this situation as a crisis because if he was able to make a fire and warmed himself up, he wouldn’t have ended his life underneath the blanket of snow. 

 The climax of this story would be when Dave Conroy arrives at his cabin, but he realizes that it’s all burnt down, so he decides to hike to another 10 miles to get to the other cabin to spend the night. While he was on the way, he got tired and lied down to take a rest then he fell asleep, then died from the low temperature. 

Finally, the denouement of this story would be that Dave Conroy passes away underneath the cover of snow because he made the decision of continuing this route instead of warming up and spending the night under the tree. 

5. Describe the setting – how does the setting affect the plot and the theme of the story? What is the theme – write a theme statement for this story. 

The physical setting of this story is in Canada, western B.C/Alberta during the wintertime in mid-February. Dave Conroy is on the mountains near Terrace Creek, etc. The setting affects the plot by showing us what Dave Conroy does with his pride and decisions in the wilderness. The setting also affects the theme, which I think is to always listen to your guts, by showing us what decision Dave Conroy will make. Will he listen to his guts and warm up his body or will he keep going because there’s only few miles left? 

6. Find one example of symbolic setting (concrete place that represents something abstract) and explain its meaning. 

One example of a symbolic setting are the horse bells that Dav Conroy “heard” when he was laying down in the snow. I suppose that this indicates that the year of when this story is taking place is sometime between the 1890’s and the 1910’s. I think that because if he “heard” horse bells, that means that using horses as transportation was common at that time and people commonly used them in-between the 1890’s and the 1910’s 

7. Quote four images from the story that make effective comparisons (figurative language: simile, metaphor, and personification) 

Simile: “Stiff branch-less trees, like a parade of skeletons climbing up the mountainside” (p.95). 

Simile: “They were like two sticks of wood on the ends of his arms.” (pg.96)

Metaphor: “The cold was an old man’s finger’s feeling craftily through his clothes” (p.91) 

Personification: “His shadow became a burden, something that he would pull beside him in the snow.” (pg.97)

 Vocabulary Words:

  1. eternal p.92 

Everlasting; doesn’t have end or beginning 

  1. immobility p.93 

Something that is motionless 

  1. opaque p.93 

Something that is not able to be seen through  

  1. reverberation p.93 

 echoing noises/sounds 

  1. momentum p.93

The amount you move  

  1. cadaverous p.94 

Corpse that looks pale, thin, or boney 

  1. congregated p.95 

gather into a crowd or mass 

  1. inundation p.95 

Overwhelmed 

  1. beggared p.95 

One who begs habitually or for a living 

  1. filched. P.96

To steal something in a casual way  

Gender Inequality Article

Posted on by

What is the article about?  Who does it involve?   Why did you choose this article?  How does this news article relate to the story we are reading- The Friday Everything Changed?

The article that I chose is about a female who experienced gender inequality while growing up. Her name is Dame Stephanie, who was born in Vera Buchthal in the German city of Dortmund in 1933. Dame Stephanie excelled in school, mostly in mathematics. Since she was very good at math, she went to a local boys’ school for math lessons because girls learned things at a lower level than the boys did. Dame Stephanie also wanted to go to a university to study more math, but that course wasn’t available for women. Therefore, she started to work at the Post Office Research Station (PORS) in 1951. At that time, she had changed her name to Stephanie. Stephanie enjoyed working, and at work, she also fell in love with her future husband named Derek Shirley, and she was ground down by gender inequality of all time. Stephanie’s boss didn’t put her up for promotion because she was a female. This article can relate to the story we are reading, The Friday Everything Changed, because Alma Niles and the other girls cannot go for the water bucket because people assumed that girls were “weak.” In this article about Stephanie’s gender inequality experience, Stephanie wasn’t allowed to put up for promotion because she was a female who was “weak.” Long story short, they both experience gender inequality.

Article

Questions of The Friday Everything Changed

Posted on by

1. Why are the boys so upset at the idea of the girls carrying the water bucket?

The boys are upset at the idea of the girls carrying the water bucket because the boys knew that as their thing, which proves the other people that they are manly.

2. What strategies do the boys used to pressure the girls to give in? How did the girls react?

The boys pressured the girls by throwing paper notes that read threatening messages at them, targeting them, beating them up, etc.

3. Who is telling the story? What do you think of Ms. Ralston in the conflicts over the water? From what point of view of the story told?

The narrator of the story is the one telling the story. I think that Ms. Ralston was 40 percent on the boys side and 60 percent on the girls side, since she is also a female. Also, i would consider this as a first person or third person perspective.

4. What is the setting (provide evidence). What kind of conflict is it? Provide evidence for each conflict.

The physical setting is in a school that is located in the cold area. The emotional setting of the story would be intense and tension. The evidence for the physical setting is that the classroom seemed to have a furnace/stove in their class which tells us that the school is located in a cold area. The setting intensifies the conflict, for it is in a school and it is with students, but if it was with adults (for example), the story would have been a bit different. The conflict that I consider for this story is character vs society because Alma Niles, the character, is trying to make the society be more equal with genders. The evidence is that the boys carry the water bucket because people assume that boys would be more stronger than girls.

5. Who is the protagonist? How do you know?

In this story, Alma would be the protagonist because she is the one who first asked the question, why girls cant carry the water bucket, and she never gave up on carrying the water bucket. She went through a lot, starting from boys targeting her to boys beating her up. She technically is the hero of the story and she fixed the inequality of her school.

6. In what way has everything changed on that Friday? What is the significance of Ms. Ralston’s actions in the last paragraph? what is the message (theme) the author is exploring?

On Friday, the teacher changed the inequality of the class/school which was that the boys would only carry the water bucket and miss 30 minutes of school, and the girls weren’t allowed because they were too “weak.” The significance of Ms. Ralston’s actions in the last paragraph is that in the story, it says, “She swept her hand over the top of her desk and tiny dust motes danced in the slanting sun.” and that represents to us that the past (dust) and have a fresh new start by treating every gender equally. The theme of this story is that every gender should have equal rights, opportunities, and be treated the same.