Notes and links for Banned Book Research!

We read "Darkness Too Visible" together in class to study how readers can make meaning from lengthy and challenging texts and the craft moves authors use convey those ideas:

Here are links to those articles, as well as the ones available to you during our independent reading research  periods that you can use as support in your argument essay or read to broaden your knowledge of the topic:

Age Rated Books: Right or Wrong?  from BBC News

Man from Ministry Bans Potter from The Boston Globe

Darkness Too Visible from The Wall Street Journal

Has Young Adult Literature Gotten Too Dark? from Salon.com in response to Darkness Too Visible

Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian, responds to Darkness Too Visible 

Ellen Hopkins' Banned Book Manifesto

Yes, teen fiction can be dark, but it shows teenagers they aren't alone, The Guardian's response to Darkness Too Visible

Megan Cox Gurdon's follow up to Darkness Too Visible: My "Reprehensible" Take on Teen Literature in the Wall Street Journal

Reading Improves Empathy from The Guardian

Sick Lit Books Aimed at Children by The Daily Mail

The Guardian's response to "Sick Lit" article from The Daily Mail

Perks of Being a Wallflower removed from the Chicago Tribune

Students ask school board to reconsider Perks of Being a Wallflower from The Chicago Tribune

Perks of Being a Wallflower reconsidered from the Chicago Tribune

Creating Community Through the Comment!

Part of the reason why we love posting reading responses online rather than just having them live in your notebooks is because it enables us to easily share about our reading lives.  We believe that by reading one another's work, great things will happen.  For instance: 

• You can get book recommendations
• You can get into conversations about books you have read, too, or topics that are interesting to you
• You will become a better writer because not only are you reading work, but you will begin to care more when you know that people are reading your work

So, in order to create a tighter knit reading and writing community, you are now required to create a "blog list" (if you haven't already) of the blogs that you want to keep up with regularly.  You are required to thoughtfully comment on at least 2 blog posts from your class when we have a post due (more information as that happens).  Our hope is that you will get to know each other better as readers and writers AND that you will learn from one another.We  will be checking these responses.

A good, thoughtful blog comment might:

• praise interesting ideas in the original post, specifically (don't just say "nice job")
• ask for clarification of any unclear parts of the original post
• add the responder's own thoughts to original ideas to build strength
• contradict or challenge (respectfully!) by explaining another aspect or asking a question to further dialogue
• contain connections (to the self, the world, another text, or another part of the same text) to deepen thinking about the post

Sample starters: 

• When you said __________ I thought________
• I love the line ____________ because___________
• When you said ____________ it got me thinking about________

***  AND good, thoughtful blog responses  always

• are respectful
• use standard vocabulary, spelling, and grammar (so that everyone can understand)
• show consideration of the original blogger's work and thought

Additionally, as a writer, you will want to begin crafting your blog posts with your audience in mind.  Think about how you might invite people into the ideas you are writing about.  For instance: 

• how could a creative title draw people in? 
• how can the use of questions invite people to comment?
• how can you craft your blog post so that it sounds less like a boring homework assignment and more like a conversation people are dying to join? 

Are dystopian heroes usually male or female? (And other interesting tidbits)

Goodreads just posted these interesting graphics about YA literature: http://ebookfriendly.com/young-adult-fiction-infographics/

What kinds of questions do they make you ask? What kind of infographic could you design?

Does Grammar Matter?

This week we're interjecting some grammar into our lessons with a focus on reviewing the parts of speech. Check out these videos for some thought-provoking (and funny) ideas about why and when grammar is important. 

(And the answer is "yes", grammar does matter. It just matters more in certain situations (i.e. written assignments, interviews, important conversations) than others (i.e. texting, note-taking, social media conversations with friends).