9-19 Bellringer

1. 9-19 Bellringer • English III • Of Benjamin Franklin’s thirteen virtues, which do you think you need to work on the most? • WHY?

2. 9-20 Bellringer • English I • In two columns, list three adjectives converted to adverbs simply by adding ly. • AdjectiveAdverb • Cautious Cautiously • Extreme Extremely

3. 9-21 Bellringer • The Fight of Your Life • Imagine that you are a soldier fighting in a war that will determine the fate of your homeland. Your family, friends, and way of living are all in danger. It is the middle of winter and you and the soldiers around you are all dressed in ragged clothes and only a few have shoes. Everyone is hungry and huddled in tents without floors. You were badly defeated in the last battle and everyone is thinking about home. • What spoken words would you provide to keep the desperate soldiers fighting? • Write a brief motivational speech that you would give the troops.

4. 9-22 Bellringer • Oh Yeah?! Oh Yeah?! • You’re never as witty and smart in the middle of a confrontation as you are after it’s over, when suddenly you can think of a million things you should have said. • Imagine you are back in the thick of an argument you once had, and write out the eloquent, intelligent remarks you should have made at the time.

5. 9-23 Bellringer • “The best education in the world is that got by struggling to get a living.” – Wendell Phillips • Many students sick of high school make arguments similar to Philliops’s. Do you agree with Phillips that hard work provides a sufficient education, or do you think success is more likely for those people who receive a traditional education?

6. 9-26 Bellringer English I • Personification is a literary device that gives a nonliving object the characteristics of a living thing. For example, a writer might say that the wind “sighs,” the rain “laughs,” and the leaves“whisper.” • “The fog comes on little cat feet.” • Write a second line, rhymed or unrhymed, to follow this line. • For Example: • The fog comes in on little cat feet. And creeps silently past my bedroom window.

7. 9-27 Bellringer • “What we call education and culture is for the most part nothing but the substitution of reading for experience, of literature for life, of the obsolete fictitious for the contemporary real.” – George Bernard Shaw • Someone who hates reading could use Shaw’s words to argue that books merely distract from real life. Whatever your feelings on the matter, write a response to the anti-reader, explaining why literature is an important part of life.

8. 9-28 Bellringer • September is National Book Month. A new type of book, an eBook, is making its way into homes and classrooms around the world. An eBook does not use paper and is listened to by the “reader.” • Would you rather read a paper book, listen to an eBook or a combination of both? • WHY?

9. 9-29 Bellringer • “Each of us has the right and responsibility to assess the road which lies ahead and those over which we have traveled, and if the future road looms ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting, then we need to gather our resolve and carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road and into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that one as well.” • Maya Angelou

10. 9-29 Bellringer cont… • What is Angelou saying about courage and decisions? • Do you think this is a helpful way to look at life? (Not just yes/no) • Talk about a time in your own life when you had to change courses.

11. 9-30 Bellringer • “An educational system is not worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but does not teach them how to make a life.” - Anonymous • React to this quotation by reflecting on how it applies to you and your future. Do you feel your education (thus far) has taught you how to make a living and/or how to make a life? • Will you rely on college to teach you about life, or do you feel your current level of education is sufficient?

12. 10-4 Bellringer • Different Drummer • “Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.” • Henry David Thoreau

13. 10-4 Bellringer cont… • Thoreau urges us to follow our instincts rather than mindlessly rushing to compete with our peers. Do you know someone (possibly yourself) who marches to the beat of a different drummer? • How does this person live differently from others? • Do other people consider this person weird or misguided?

14. 10-5 Bellringer • Musical Memories • Songs can invoke vivid memories; hearing a particular song can rocket you back to seventh grade or last summer. Write about a song that is really evocative of a certain time in your life.

15. 10-6 Bellringer • Standing Up… Laying Down • You just saw some upperclassmen picking on a freshman, who was crying. You’re kind of friends with these upperclassmen, but you are not totally comfortable with them. • Do you intervene or just walk away? WHY?

16. 10-10 Bellringer • From Passive to Active “We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice – that is, until we have stopped saying ‘It got lost,’ and say ‘I lost it.’” - Sydney J. Harris Harris uses grammar to make a larger point: that only when we start taking responsibility for our actions can we call ourselves adults. Write about a moment when you were tempted to use the passive voice (that is, to refuse to take responsibility) but ultimately decided to use the active voice.

17. 10-11 Bellringer • Copy the following sentences and underline all pronouns. • Waking suddenly, I heard something in the hallway. • I know how disappointed he felt, but I liked neither of the movies he rented. • These are the types of problems that make me want to scream.

18. 10-18 Bellringer English III • On this day in 1767, the Mason-Dixon Line was established. This line was very symbolic in the minds of the people of a young nation struggling over slavery. • Conduct a brief online search and discuss three facts that you found most interesting.

19. 10-18 Bellringer English I • If you don’t’ use it, why keep it? • Write about an item in your house, in your closet or the pantry etc… that no one ever uses but miraculously avoids being thrown away. • Why do you or your family keep this item around? • What would happen if you actually got rid of it?

20. 10-19 Bellringer • Taking Orders • If you were given an order by an authority (parent, teacher, law enforcement, the government, etc…) and you knew what you were asked to do was wrong and would not have a positive outcome, would you do it anyway?

21. 10-20 Bellringer • Copy each sentence. Find the error in each sentence and make corrections. • When I looked beneath the cushions on the sofa, I discovered the remote control, and two dollars in change. • Vintage clothes, for some odd reason, fetch higher prices now then they did when they were first for sale many years ago. • In the refrigerator is pizzas and hamburgers that are left over from last weekend’s party on the pier.

22. 10-24 Bellringer • Copy each sentence. Find the error in each sentence and make corrections. • Sometimes it seems that everyone in America has a cell phone except for I. • On our field trip last week, we went not only to the art museum but plus to the science and history. • Four Little League teams advanced to the state tournament one of them, the team sponsored by First State Bank, is from our hometown.

23. 10-25 Bellringer • Copy the following sentences and capitalize the proper adjectives. • While on vacation, we visited the aztec monument. • During the race, the american runner lost his balance and ended up with the bronze medal. • The african prince was fooled by the clever Anansi.

24. 10-26 Bellringer • America is dependent on foreign oil, a fact that dismays many Americans. Hybrid cars, most of which run of gasoline or diesel and electricity, can help America reduce its dependence on foreign oil. They also reduce pollution. Energy sources like electricity and solar power cut down on the harmful emissions that contribute to allergy-aggravating smog. Lobbyists say that eventually hybrid cars will be just as affordable as gasoline-powered and diesel-powered vehicles. However, the auto industry contends that the cost of research and development of hybrids will drive the price of the product higher than consumers will accept.

25. 10-26 Continued • The passage implies that many Americans… • A. dislike the fact that the U.S. depends on foreign electricity and solar power. • B. dislike the fact that the U.S. is independent of foreign countries. • C. appreciate the fact that lobbyists are working hard to reduce smog nationwide. • D. disapprove of America’s reliance on foreign oil. • E. have test-driven hybrids.

26. 10-26 continued • Which of the following is true about the author of this passage? • A. The author is probably sympathetic to the auto industry. • B. The author is probably in favor of the use of hybrids. • C. The author is probably annoyed by lobbyists. • D. The author has probably participated in studies on the effectiveness of hybrid cars. • E. The author probably knows someone who purchased a hybrid.

27. 10-31 Bellringer • Complete the sentence by choosing the best answers. • Von Trapp ____________ along the narrow mountain trail, never moving in the same direction for more than a few yards • A. rocketed • B. barreled • C. dashed • D. meandered • E. galloped

28. 10-31 continued • Theo’s friends ___________ him not to move to Idaho, but his mind was made up. • A. inveigled • B. demanded • C. implored • D. wheedled • E. pleaded

29. 11-3 Bellringer • Write about a time in your life when time seemed to go by very quickly. • What about a time when it seemed to go by very slowly? • What do you think caused the time to pass in such a manner?

30. 11-4 Bellringer • Once and for all… • In Romeo and Juliet, civil peace and order in Verona is repeatedly disrupted by fights between the Capulet and Montague families. • In a well developed paragraph, create a proposal for ending this feud. (How would you have them end it?/How would you solve the problem?) • Make sure you discuss past events as reason to end the conflict.

31. 11-7 Bellringer • a city bus or subway train • an unusual room • a child's secret hiding place • a bowl of fruit • an item left too long in your refrigerator • backstage during a play or a concert • a vase of flowers • a rest room in a service station • a street that leads to your home or school • your favorite food • a locker • an accident scene • a waiting room • a basketball, baseball glove, or tennis racket • a cell phone • a treasured belonging • a laptop computer • a favorite restaurant • your dream house • your ideal roommate • a closet • your memory of a place that you visited as a child

32. 11-8 Bellringer • Expository Paragraph • Write a “How To…” paragraph about one of the following topics: • How to send a text message • How to make a sandwich (any type) • How to play a sport • How to get a date • Check with Coach Roberts if you have an idea of your own!

33. 11-9 Bellringer • Persuasive Paragraph • Write a persuasive paragraph using one of the following topics: • Dieting makes people fat • High school graduates should take a year off before entering college. • Participating in team sports helps to develop good character. • The production and sale of cigarettes should be made illegal. • People have become overly dependent on technology.

34. 11-10 Bellringer • Literature and film are full of characters who fall in love at first sight. • Do you believe this kind of love is possible? • Do you believe two people can look at each other and fall instantly in love, knowing they are meant to be together? • Has this ever happened to you? • Explain how you feel about this idealistic notion.

35. 11-14 Bellringer • Define love in as many ways as you want.  Use examples to support your definition.  Or, write a poem.  However you want to do it is fine.

36. 11-15 Bellringer • Imagine you are Romeo/Juliet and write a letter to your parents informing them of your decision to get married without their permission. • Consider the following: the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, Juliet’s planned wedding with Count Paris, other family members (Tybalt), what the people of Verona will think, etc… • What will you say to avoid harsh consequences?

37. 11-16 Bellringer • Reflect on your current grade in this course. • Make a plan to keep your grade the same if you are satisfied with your grade. • Make a plan for improvement if your grade is not where you think it should be.