First and fifth periods began working on applying the Schaffer model to writing about literature.  We looked at the non-standard English examples from Nightjohn we’d developed yesterday and used those as concrete details for short paragraphs. As an example, I came up with the following chunk:

In addition, Sarny creates novel usages like “bigger money” (22). A speaker of Standard English might say, “larger denominations” or “more valuable currency” as these options would be more grammatically and economically accurate. For slaves like Sarny, though, money is simply money, and she has no concept of denominations or bills. She sees it simply as “money,” and adds the logical adjective of “bigger.”

We’ll continue with some more modeling tomorrow.

Second and fourth periods looked at narrator and voice. We determined some ways a narrator might be unreliable and read Maria Elena Llano, “In the Family.” Available here are second and fourth period notes.

Homework

• First and fifth periods: none.
• Second and fourth periods:
  • Review “In the Family”:
    • determine what’s the most logical explanation for this narrator’s odd story;
    • find five previously unknown words;
  • review what “magical realism” is.