Lesson One - Swimmers

Introduction

Lesson One - Personal Response to Text
Duration - 3 blocks (3 x 80 min + homework)

"Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul." - anonymous

Much of literature explores the diversity of ruling passions that influence people's lives and relationships. In this unit, through the reading of various pieces of literature, we are going to consider the question, "What idea does the author develop regarding the significance of ruling passion in an individual's life?"

In the first lesson of this unit, we will consider the ruling passion that people may have to continue to live a joyful and vibrant life.

You will also review how to write a personal response to text. In this lesson, the examples provided are from a visual text, and you will be responding to a second visual text, but the "rules" regarding a personal response apply to any type of text - visual, multimedia, or print.

Resources

NOTES
HOW TO WRITE A PERSONAL RESPONSE TO TEXT
The Hybrid Approach

RUBRIC
Personal Response to Text

VIDEO TUTORIAL

Website
Techniques for Analyzing a Visual Text

Lesson 1

Study the text "Swimmers".

Read and study the notes on WRITING A PERSONAL RESPONSE TO TEXT. 
Read and study the notes on "The Hybrid Approach".

View the tutorial on writing a personal response to text

Assignment 1

For this assignment, you will answer the question, What does this text suggest to you about the significance of ruling passion in an individual's life?

It is important you know how to "decode" the question.

Follow the steps below.

1. Open and save this document: thesis planner
   
2. Type the question at the top of the page after the word TOPIC. Leave the space after THESIS blank for now.
3. In the middle column, type the keywords. in this case, those words are "significance", "ruling", "passion", "individual".
4. Use a dictionary and define each of the keywords. Put those definitions in the left-hand column.
5. Use a thesaurus and find at least two synonyms for each of the keywords. Put those synonyms in the left-hand column, too.
6. Now that you have defined and found synonyms for the keywords, think about how those keywords are represented in the visual text "Swimmers". THAT is your textual evidence you will put in the right-hand column.
7. Think about what you have written in the various cells. How would you answer the question asked at the top of the page? Answer it now, by writing a thesis statement that addresses ALL the keywords.
   Write your thesis statement after the word THESIS at the top of the page.

Lesson 2

In the first part of this lesson, you studied the visual text "Swimmers" and worked through the steps involved in crafting a thesis statement in response to the question, "What does this text suggest to you about the significance of ruling passion in an individual's life?"

Now that you have your thesis statement written, you are going to write a personal response to the question (topic) and the poem (text).

Although you have many options when writing a personal response to text - you may use any prose form you wish and write from a personal, creative, or analytical perspective - the amount of choices available can be overwhelming.

ELA 20-1 is an excellent opportunity for you to explore a variety of different prose forms to determine which one best suits YOUR writing style.

Keep in mind that the hybrid approach is also an option, which is a combination of analysis of a text and discussion of a personal experience.

Assignment 2

(40 marks)

Open a new Word document. Label it E201U2L1.2surname
In this document, write the good copy of your personal response to text as outlined below.
Submit this assignment using the Dropbox for U2L1 Swimmers PR

Your response should be between 600 and 1200 words.
Historically, on the ELA 30-1 diploma exam, students who write 600 words tend to score around 50%. Those who write closer to the upper range of 1000-1200 words tend to reach the Standard of Excellence, which is 80% or higher. View 1200 words as a cap, however, and not as a target. Writing MORE than 1200 words does not necessarily improve your mark. It may, in fact, do the opposite. Choose your words judiciously. 

• Consider the ideas present in the visual text.
• What does this text suggest to you about the significance of ruling passion in an individual's life?
   Support your idea(s) with reference to the text presented and to your previous knowledge and/or experience.
• Use the work you did in the first assignment to help you with this second assignment. That first step helped you to break down the question to ensure that you discuss it in its entirety.

In your writing you should

• carefully chose a prose form and a perspective
• discuss ideas and impressions that are meaningful to you
• consider how you can create a strong unifying effect

Your assignment will be marked using the "personal response to texts" rubric.

Conclusion

Through your study of "Swimmers", you may have arrived at the conclusion that a ruling passion may take many forms . . .