Making (and taking) the Cake

1. Making (and taking) the Cake English 101 Honors Summer Reading and Writing Seminar: Food Network Style Just call me boss because my writing is like the icing on top of Mrs. Sullivan’s half birthday cake!

2. What do we like to do? REVIEW… REVIEW!!!

3. Yesterday, you were like Mike…(chael)… You were practicing critical thinking during the day and continued working on how to communicate that thought last night…

4. Tuesday, you can be like Mike…(chael)… So you will perfect your craft and bring your “A” game to class on Tuesday—and celebrate your Sullivan style success!

5. Practice like you perform.Perform like a champion. PRACTICE is where you perfect your FORM, make mistakes, and grow as a learner. FORMATIVE Assessment = 10% of your grade.

6. Practice like you perform.Perform like a champion. PERFORMANCE is where you put the SUM of your efforts to the test and reveal your true success. SUMMATIVE assessment = 90% of your grade.

7. The “Write” Recipe The key ingredient to any tasty treat is the glue that holds it all together… • The “T” (the actual cake) is the glue that holds the entire masterpiece together. • The “T”opic and “T”ransition sentence lets your audience know what they will be enjoying without actually saying “this cake used ½ cup of sugar, 3 cups of flour, 2 egg beaters—”…you get the idea. • Instead, it uses its strong flavors to make a claim about it’s flavor and ingredients.

8. Let’s Look at Last Year’s Finalists… With his admirable example, Doc reveals to Peekay and readers alike that true knowledge is not learned from books, but instead, stems from what the mind already knows. Through her struggle to find love in a house full of pain, Lily shows readers that family is defined not by a roof but by a relationship with oneself.

9. The “Write” Recipe. Yet another key ingredient to any tasty treat is the little extra’s that add flavor and enhance the foundation…. • The “E” (fabulous filling) is the necessary “filling” that makes your cake anything but average, and your claim anything but false. • The “E”xample sentence supports your original cake (or claim) and makes it taste that much better…without it would be too plain!

10. Let’s Look at Last Year’s Finalists… Doc explains to Peekay that a “brain has two functions; it is a place for original thought, but also it is a reference library,” reinforcing the idea that true knowledge comes from what is already known within (Courtenay 102). August helps Lily to realize that all people must “find a mother inside {themselves}…even if {they} already have a mother, {they} still have to find this part of {themselves} inside” (Kidd 201).

11. The “Write” Recipe. The V.I.P. ingredient that puts the icing on the cake is analysis! • The “A” (icing on the cake) is the critical element that transforms a plain cake into a delectable masterpiece, leaving everyone’s palate satisfied. • The “A”nalysis sentences are vital to any recipe because they offer your own personal wisdom, insight, and ideas, further evaluating how your example justifies your original claim…or why your filling compliments the frosting.

12. Let’s Look at Last Year’s Finalists… Knowledge, then, doesn’t come from teacher’s lessons or textbooks, but from the information deep inside us, information that can be discovered with the right experience and proper exploration. Like Lily, those struggling to find a place in their family must first overcome the struggle to make peace with themselves. A person must be confident in their own identity in order to become an intricate piece to a whole puzzle; they must believe that the piece fits, and then, with true ease and minimal effort, it will.

13. Now, young grasshopper, show that cake who is boss. Aw man, Billy always gets the best assignments! I want to bake a writing cake for Mrs. Sullivan’s class! Mmm..meat. Our Billy’s going to be the next William Cakespeare…I just know it!