DUE DATE CHANGE: 'Unit 4- Persuasion, Reportage and Propaganda'

NOTE: THE DUE DATES FOR THE FINAL PROJECT HAVE BEEN MOVED FORWARD
- this is because the afternoon on 6/11 is the presentation to G6 but we must finish seeing all before the end of the week

A two-part project on a single theme:
- the theme will be a social or political cause that you, and your partner, agree about

- you will have a single partner, preferably of a different 'mother-tongue', gender, etc.

- you will only cooperate with your partner for the a/v portion, a single commercial, media message, poster...
- you present the commercial/piece made with a partner to the class

Due date for the partner-commercial:
- Monday, June 9
- we will finish showing all of the partner-commercials, so prioritize that (also to not let down your partner)
- those preparing a presentation for G6 should also be done that day

Individual Persuasive Piece:
- Due Wednesday, June 11
- have your own piece printed before class begins that day
- have your own piece emailed before class begins that day
- you will each write your own persuasive piece on the same theme
- an editorial or persuasive essay, 'letter to the editor' or to a politician/corporation, piece of reporting, anecdote or fictional piece
- in sentences and paragraphs
- your name and a title

- format is Times New Roman 12, black, double-spaced

- text is five to eight hundred words (not more, not less)

- you do not present the written piece made with by yourself

'Body Politics'

Degrassi High - s02e05 - "Body Politics... 投稿者 degrassiangee

Documentary and Propaganda

Some links for documentaries and propaganda, so you have more background before you make your video on a social issue.

Propaganda:

Propaganda is information that is not impartial and used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or using loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented.

WWII, American Anti-Japanese propaganda



WWII, American Anti-German propaganda



WWII, Nazi propaganda



WWII, American propaganda about Japanese-American internment



Cold War, American Anti-Communist propaganda



Cold War, Soviet Anti-Capitalist propaganda

Finally, a documentary without words, and not about war hot or cold: Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi: 'life out of balance'.

Punctuation

We may have time for a quiz on this before exams, but it will certainly be part of the exam.  I won't expect you to make no mistakes, but I do expect you to be good with the basics at grade seven!

In order of most to less important, it is essential to use these punctuation marks well:
- periods
- commas
- question marks
- apostrophes
- quotation marks
- colons
- hyphens

You can get by without these, and people use them too often and poorly besides:
- ellipses
- exclamation marks
- semicolons
- dashes
- parentheses

If you use the last five often, it more often means: your writing is poorly organized, so you've resorted to dashes and parentheses to make some sense out of it; your writing relies on exclamation marks instead of more exciting vocabulary; and you've used semicolons or ellipses to appear clever but it has failed.  When you are unsure how to use the last five, better to avoid using them at all; you cannot avoid using the first seven, so best to learn to use them well.

The links above are brief explanations which will keep you on track almost all of the time.  So will these quizzes help.  I still learn new punctuation rules at my age, but because I am (at least) as knowledgeable as the links nobody has found an error of mine in decades. Accurate punctuation, like good grammar and correct spelling, makes you look as intelligent as you truly are: anything else makes you appear less...

If you can find a free or cheap app to help you, so much the better.

If you are as odd as your teacher, you will enjoy this humorous book about punctuation, and how using it poorly makes you look a fool even if you are not: 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves'.  It is not required reading for our class, but at a few hundred yen in e-book quite good value.  Her rules are quite British, but often universal.  (On grammar and style, 'The Elements of Style' is a classic, invaluable, and also short.  His rules are quite American, but often universal.)

Here is a bit of a sample, but without the humour: 'An Educational Companion to EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES'.

Two of the better quotations from here:

In the family of punctuation, where the full stop is daddy and the comma is mummy, and the semicolon quietly practises the piano with crossed hands, the exclamation mark is the big attention-deficit brother who gets overexcited and breaks things and laughs too loudly.

I apologise if you all know this, but the point is many, many people do not. Why else would they open a large play area for children, hang up a sign saying "Giant Kid's Playground", and then wonder why everyone says away from it? (Answer: everyone is scared of the Giant Kid.)

Final Assignments

You may have one more grammar quiz: topic and date to be decided, if we have time for it.

You have these readings to complete:

- Nelson 7, unit 16, by Wednesday, 5/21

- 'Our Stock of Food and Clothes', Working Together Anthology, by Wednesday, 5/21
- 'The Martians are Coming', Mystery and Wonder Magazine, by Monday, 5/26
- 'Body Politics', Working Together Anthology by Thursday, 5/29

You will have one more book/novel review:
- Wednesday, June 04
- follow the same instructions as last time

You will have a unit project for 'Unit 4- Persuasion, Reportage and Propaganda':
- Wednesday, June 11
- more details will follow, but it will be a multi-part project on a single theme
- the theme will be a social or political cause that you agree with
- you will have a partner
- you will only cooperate with your partner for the a/v portion, a commercial or media message
- you will each write your own portion, an editorial or persuasive essay, 'letter to the editor' or to a politician/corporation, or a piece of reporting

You will have an exam.
- since I did not make you take many notes, the best way to prepare for this is to read over this website from the beginning, but especially from the beginning of the poetry unit in January
- the blog archive is at the bottom of this page
- you should review all grammar, especially your weakest points (passives and conditionals!) as there will be a grammar section on the exam
- apart from grammar, you will only be tested on the two units, poetry and persuasion
- you should review the types and techniques of poetry we studied as you will have to identify them on the exam
- review all the aspects and techniques of persuasion we covered as you will have to write a persuasive composition on the exam

Student Created Advertisements

Your task is to make an advertisement of your own.  You may work alone, in pairs, or in a group of three.  If three, you may not all have the same first-language.

You may advertise:
- a real product
- a fictional product
- a cause, such as anti-smoking, or for a charity

Your advertisement may be in the format of :
- a thirty-second TV commercial
- a magazine/newspaper page or a poster
- a thirty-second radio commercial
- a webpage
- it can be serious
- or satirical ('New Shimmer')
- should use several of the techniques we saw on the three videos in the previous post

Techniques:
- testimonial, celebrity endorsement, bandwagon, glittering generalities, emotional appeal, 'plain folks' appeal, scientific appeal
- altruism, anger, bandwagon, emulation, fear, friendship, humour, intelligence, pleasure, sex appeal (NO, DO NOT DO 'SEX APPEAL'), status

Contents must be:
- appropriate for a school
- entirely in English
- have a clear audience in mind (to whom you are selling)
- have a clear sales pitch and method to get the audience' attention
- planned in point form and shown to Mr. S before writing, filming or artwork is begun
- shared with Mr. S by the due date, text is optional

Due date:
- Monday, 5/19

Advertising: interesting or misleading

Common advertising techniques video link

Deceptive Ads of 2012

Generic brand video (one swear word)

11 Types of Advertising (see the second one against drunk-driving - excellent)

Post your real Advertisement
- advertisement can be any language you understand, but you'll have to explain it
- no partner
- reply to the 7.1 or 7.2 comment
- copy and paste the URL
- comment in point form about what is interesting about this ad
- and what is misleading
- put your name in initials
- you will present this Wednesday, 7.1; Thursday 7.2



Conditionals Quiz, Friday!!
- study here, or on apps


Field Trip!!
- 7.2, Wednesday P5/6
- 7.1, Thursday P4-6
- bring your forms on time, or you miss out
- if you lost your form, ask me and I can send it to you online, or use the picture file below (use the right one!)

Movie/TV Series Review

You have a two to four hundred word review to present on Thursday, 4/24, Friday, 4/25 (you can choose either!).  You must choose an English-language movie, or TV-series, that was released in Japan during this school year.  You may review anything that your parents allowed you to watch, even if it is rated for adults; however, you may not show any content unsuitable for twelve year old students.  For every swear word you will lose 5-10%; the same for violence to a person; nudity will be an automatic failure.

Your job is to tell us what you think about what you watched, both the good and the bad.  Have a clear opinion whether it is good or not.  Avoid writing: "I think...", "In my opinion..."

Organization
- be sure both your introduction and conclusion state the movie/TV-series and your opinion clearly
- be sure the supporting paragraphs support these

- email me an attachment of the text

Audio-Visual Component

- is optional, but having short video clips from the movie will help your mark: no more than two minutes in total

- you may video your entire presentation, or do your own speaking in front of the class

Here are the details:
- 200 to 400 words
- Times New Roman 12, black, double or 1.5 spaced
- no paper or notes in your hand while you read, if you do in person

Standard Essay Format:

A simpler version

You may have one partner, or none.  If you have a partner you must write double: four hundred to eight hundred words.  You will get the same mark, no matter how well or poorly your partner did.  You may not double the time limit of movie clips: it remains no more than two minutes in total.

Here is an example: 'Grave of the Fireflies', the most depressing children's movie... ever.

Check ratings at websites.  For example, 'Despicable Me 2' gets mediocre scores at IMDb, Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes.  One of my favorites, 'Seven Samurai' (七人の侍) gets above ninety percent.  Do you think KS or your teacher chose a better film to like... ?

Passive Quizes

You have four!  They add up to 49; however, I will give you a mark out of 50: there is a one-mark bonus, 2%.

Like last time, do them all, and tell me all four marks.  Do not post the results or email them: write them and your name on a piece of scrap paper and give me the paper.

The first three are simple multiple choice:
- PASSIVE VOICE 2 (out of 10)
- PASSIVE VOICE 3 (out of 10)
- Passive Quiz (out of 15)

The last one is more difficult, even though it is multiple choice: the examples are correct, but you must choose why they are written in passive voice.
- Passive Quiz 2 (out of 14)


CONDITIONAL TENSES: 'If'
You can begin practicing for the conditional on your apps and here when you have finished the passive quizzes:
- British Council Conditionals 1, explanation and exercises
- British Council Conditionals 2, explanation and exercises
- Explanation of all types 

Conditionals

A conditional sentence is a sentence containing the word if. There are three basic types of conditional sentence:

1. if clause > present simple tense : main clause > future tense (will)
   • If you help me, I will help you.
   • If I win the lottery, I will buy a new car.
   • If it snows tomorrow, we will go skiing.
2. if clause > past simple tense : main clause > would
   • If you knew her, you would agree with me.
   • If I won the lottery, I would buy a new car.
   • If it snowed tomorrow, we would go skiing.
3. if clause > past perfect tense : main clause > would have
   • If you had helped me, I would have helped you.
   • If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a new car.
   • If it had snowed yesterday, we would have gone skiing.

Of course, it is possible to start conditional sentences with the main clause:

• I will buy a new car if I win the lottery.
• I would buy a new car if I won the lottery.
• I would have bought a new car if I had won the lottery.

Reviews

Reply to the correct comment with your link.  Put your initials, but comment anonymously.

Opinion Piece: relevant to grade seven students

You have a two to four hundred word opinion piece to present on Wednesday, 4/16.  I hope you've spent the weekend thinking about a topic...  Tell me your topic today.  It should be something relevant to everyone in the class every day: e.g. school uniforms, not nuclear disarmament.  Your job is to tell us what you think about the issue, and what should be changed.

Organization
- be sure both your introduction and conclusion state the issue and your opinion clearly
- be sure the supporting paragraphs support these

Here are the details:
- 200 to 400 words
- Times New Roman 12, black, double or 1.5 spaced
- no a/v component (you will read it in person)
- no paper or notes in your hand while you read

Opinions: compare and contrast

Your job, with your partners, is to look at three editorials and contrast and compare them.  You will present these to the class on Friday, 4/11.  Below are four choices and editorials; choose one, but not the same as other groups in your class.  You do not have to use these, but if you choose another topic, make sure that you find three opinion pieces on the topic to compare and contrast.

It shouldn't take you more than the two hours in the computer lab, and perhaps another hour together on Thursday.

Possible Topics

Scottish independence (from the United Kingdom) upcoming vote:
- "I will vote no to independence because I love Scotland"
- "The independence referendum will be a historic moment for young Scots"
- "Scotland is already another country"

Québec's independence party's failure in elections:
- "Good reasons Pauline Marois’s Parti Quebecois was hurled from office: Olive"
- "PQ’s Pauline Marois richly deserved voters’ rebuff: Editorial"
- "Sovereignty is overblown: It would bring less power, not more"

Global Climate Change:
- "In the Land of Denial"
- "The IPCC report takes us from alarmism to adaptation"
- "So, after the IPCC report, which bit of the world are you prepared to lose?"

Education:
- "How to raise a smart kid: live chat with author Amanda Ripley"
- "I teach high school on Chicago's South Side. What would you like to know?"
- "Why do people view teaching as a 'B-list' job?"


Presentation Content:
This is meant to be done in point form, to show your understanding of the different points of view.  For each, make sure you explain.
- the issue in brief
- each author's point of view
- each author's main arguments for that point of view
- where the authors agree
- where they disagree

Presentation Form:
What you do must be shown on the TV in the resource room on Friday, and be a good choice for compare and contrast.  You will all have to speak.  You should save this file, and share it with all members of the group, in case of absence: that is, not a USB or similar, but on 'the cloud', such as Google Documents.  If you cannot present on Friday, because you did not share it this way, all of you lose marks.

Some examples of how to present it visually:

Venn Diagram

Graphic Organizer

List

Make-up Quiz: Verbs / Passive Voice Quiz: 4/18

Do the four quizzes at the links.  You will send me the results, so do not lose or forget them.

Past Perfect 4

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/pastsperf4.html

Present Perfect 4

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/presperf4.html

Verb Quiz 4

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/verbquiz4.html

Verb Quiz 7

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/verbquiz7.html

Give me the five marks written on a piece of scrap paper.  This is what your comment or email should look like (with your own marks).

Modals 1,                    70
Past Perfect 1,             60
Present Perfect 1,         90
Verb Quiz 1,                50

I will input an average of these for your mark: the average of the above is 70%.

Passive Voice Quiz: 4/18

You will have a quiz on the use of the passive-voice in two weeks.  Once again, review using the apps on your phone, or you can try these tests.  Here is a longer explanation, and here is the shorter.  Read the shorter first.  Active is the regular way, and passive is less common and sounds weaker, but you use it to avoid saying who/what is doing the action.

                                  ACTIVE                                             PASSIVE

Simple Present	Once a week, Tom cleans the house.	Once a week, the house is cleaned (by Tom).
Present Continuous	Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.	Right now, the letter is being written (by Sarah).
Simple Past	Sam repaired the car.	The car was repaired (by Sam).

Opinion and Editorial - Assignments due

- Nelson 7, Unit 13

- Working Together Anthology, 'My home is not broken, it works'
- Working Together Anthology 'Meditation XVII', John Donne; 'I am a Rock', Paul Simon

- Newspaper editorials and comments sections

Wednesday, 4/02: Book Review
Thursday, 4/03: you will share an opinion/editorial about flight MH370, written or video/audio
Friday, 4/04 (or next Monday): verb re-test

TBA (to be announced), 4/10: short opinion piece.  Assignment to be described later, but soon decide on a topic you have a strong opinion about for the presentation.

Unit 4- Persuasion, Reportage and Propaganda

We have only one-quarter of the year to go!  Let's take a look at the last unit's subdivisions and readings.  Each of the four subdivisions of this unit will take about two weeks, and have a minor assignment; the unit will have a major assignment at the end, in June.

Main Text: Language and Writing 7, section IV
Supplementary Texts: selections from 'Mystery and Wonder' and 'Working Together', topical and historical reportage from different or opposing perspectives

Opinion and Editorial

- Nelson 7, Unit 13
- Working Together Anthology, 'My home is not broken, it works'
- Working Together Anthology 'Meditation XVII', John Donne; 'I am a Rock', Paul Simon

- Newspaper editorials and comments sections

Reviews of others' works

- Nelson 7, Unit 15

Advertisements

- Nelson 7, unit 14

Persuasion and Populism

- Nelson 7, unit 16

- 'The Martians are Coming', Mystery and Wonder Magazine

- 'Our Stock of Food and Clothes', Working Together Magazine

- 'Body Politics', Working Together Magazine

Minor Assignments for each of the four subdivisions:
- an opinion/editorial piece
- a review of a movie, etc.
- an advertisement created by you
- a persuasion piece

Unit Project: longer persuasive essay or opinion piece, video presentation opinion piece, etc. on a cause important to you

Grammar Quiz: Verbs

Do the five quizzes at the links.  You will send me the results, so do not lose or forget them.

Modals 1

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/modals1.html

Should and Must 1

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/shouldandmust1.html

Past Perfect 1

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/pastsperf1.html

Present Perfect 1

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/presperf1.html

Verb Quiz 1

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/verbquiz1.html

You can email me the results, or post them here as a comment (put your initials, not whole name).  When you give me the results, tell me the title of each or I will take 20% off.  This is what your comment or email should look like (with your own marks).

Modals 1,                    70
Should and Must 1,      80
Past Perfect 1,             60
Present Perfect 1,         90
Verb Quiz 1,                50

I will input an average of these for your mark: the average of the above is 70%.

In April we will try this again.  I will take the higher of the two marks; however, if you do not give me a second mark I will keep the first mark.  If you got below an 80% average for the five the first time, I suggest you use your grammar apps for verbs over the spring break, again.  You can also try more quizzes at the same website.

http://www.esl-classroom.com/grammar/gindex.html

Poetry Project Styles and Techniques

These are styles we have learned:
- blank verse
- ballads
- song lyrics
- couplets and quatrains

These are other styles you could use, if you read about them:
- sonnets (three quatrains and one couplet)
- limericks, a five-line humorous poem (be careful - some examples are very rude!)
- quintains (five lines), such as: cinquain, tanka and limericks
- English haiku or senryu

Many languages trade poem styles, so you may do the same from your own, so long as you write in English:
- haiku, senryu and tanka  are from Japanese

- ghazal from Arabic via Urdu

- sonnets  came from Italian
- Onegin stanza, or Chastushka from Russian
- various Spanish forms
- Chinese forms
- Korean forms like sijo
- Swedish, such as Old Norse forms (Viking war ballads!)
- Tagalog, such as tanaga

These are techniques you can use in many poems:
- metaphor and simile, descriptive adjectives and adverbs
- assonance, consonance and alliteration
- iambic and trochaic meter
- anapest and dactylic meter

MONTHLY BOOK REVIEW

IT IS NOT A SUMMARY!

Due: 4/02, 4/30, 5/28 (every four weeks on a Wednesday)

1. 500 to 750 words; ESL, 300 to 750 words

2. Two of the three books you review must be novels (fiction); the third one may be a book of short stories, poetry, non-fiction on a single subject, etc. or a third novel.  You may do these in any order.

3. The book must be more than 250 pages long; ESL, more than 150 pages, or a graphic novel.  It is a good idea to show it to me before you read very far.  You should show the class the book the day that you present it.

3. How do you write a review?  You tell your opinion, clearly, on all of the major elements of the story/book:
- a paragraph to introduce the book and state whether you like it or not
- a paragraph about what you thought of the plot
- a paragraph about what you thought of the characters
- a paragraph about what you thought of the setting or situations
- a paragraph about what you thought of the author's style of writing and genre
- a short reading from the book (#5)
- a paragraph to conclude everything that you have said

4. For the one book that you may choose that is not a novel, we can discuss what you should write about, because each style of book differs.

5. Choose a short interesting passage from the book that you will read to us, that will make us want to read it, or make us agree it is terrible: about fifty words.  Do your reading with appropriate drama.

6. Always edit your writing.  Times New Roman 12, black, double spaced (or 1.5 spaced).

7. You may present it simply as a speech; or you may also record it as an A/V presentation.  The speech should be close to memorized so that you have good eye-contact, etc.; an A/V presentation must be well edited and checked to see that it will play well at school.

Poetry Unit Project: due March 12, 2014

This is what I wrote about the poetry unit project back on January 26.  I have made a few changes:

Final Assignment:
- due March 12, Wednesday, 08:30, Tokyo time
- presented Wednesday through Friday of that week, this will give you the week to finish it if late, losing 5%/day if doing so, of course
- no partners
- format of the assignment is a poetry 'booklet', poster or movie: on paper, or online, video etc.
- contents must include either several different forms or styles of poetry, with different themes or emotions, or one long ballad (multi-stanza rhyming and rhythmic poem that tells a complete story arc)
- whether you do a booklet, poster, or presentation, you must hand in a separate printed copy of your poems labelled as to what type of poems they are, so I know what to mark for, and so I do not use pen all over a nice booklet or poster

Some suggestions:
- most of the mark, as always, is about the written content; however, there will be marks for your readings aloud and for pictures or video you have matched to it: pictures or video made by you are better.  Other than that, I'll give you a lot of freedom on how you present it, but check with me first.
- between 250 and 500 words, and be new poems: not ones from the minor assignments (except if you make a paper booklet - include these at the end); ESL may do 150 to 500 words.
- font and size is your choice this time, but it must be easy to read and leave room on the page for me to edit
- there will be a 10% bonus to your mark if it is good enough to show at 'Wednesday café': 80% would become 88%, 75% become 82.5%

Options: - a handmade poetry booklet, and reading in class (wouldn't work for 'Wednesday café')
- a web-based or computer file poetry 'booklet', and reading in class (might work for 'Wednesday café')
- a video online, or as a file: the video has to be more than just your face reading poetry, so match pictures/video to it from online or of your own - your own is better (would work for 'Wednesday café')


The Revolution Will Not Be Televised- Gil Scott... by larsen42

Blank Verse

Blank verse is poetry written in regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always iambic pentameters.^[1] It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century"^[2] and Paul Fussell has estimated that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."^[3]

From Milton's 'Paradise Lost':

The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less then he
Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th’ Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n. 

From Shakespeare's Hamlet:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.…….

Sound: Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance

Besides rhyme, there are other techniques using sounds, such as: alliteration, assonance, and consonance.

This short definition is copied from here:

ALLITERATION is the repetition of the beginning consonant of nearby words.

EXAMPLE

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Full fathom five thy father lies.

CONSONANCE is the repetition of the other consonant sounds of nearby words that do not rhyme.

EXAMPLE

I dropped the locket in the thick mud.
The dove moved above the waves.

ASSONANCE is the repetition of vowel sounds of nearby words that do not rhyme.

EXAMPLE

I made my way to the lake.
Hear the mellow wedding bells.

Longer definitions can be found here.  And much more detail can be found here.

'Tongue twisters' use which of the three above?

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck

If a woodchuck could chuck wood?

As much wood as a woodchuck could chuck,

If a woodchuck could chuck wood.

How is Assonance used in 'Daffodils' by Tennyson?

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Ballads

An option for your final project is a ballad.  There are too many definitions of 'ballad' to talk about them all, but in any case most are long narrative poems (tell a story) with a rhyme and rhythm pattern; they often have a refrain.  This is not homework, unless it is part of your final project.

We have already seen a few examples:
- Jabberwocky
- The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Tennyson
- The Destruction of Sennacherib, by Lord Byron

A few more examples are:
- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Coleridge
- The Raven, by Poe

Song Lyrics: due Thursday, 2/27

As we talked about last week, song lyrics are essentially poems with a refrain, set to music.  In fact, most cultures did, or do, set their poetry to music.

Your task will be to rewrite lyrics to a song of your choice, that is written with poetic devices.  You must match the song's stanza structure, rhyme scheme and rhythm as closely as possible.  Change the content entirely.

You may record you reading, playing and reading, or singing the music.  You do not have to sing it, but that would certainly help your presentation mark.  If you sing, but only if you sing, you may work with a partner, but you must work on two songs then.  Otherwise work alone on one song.

Written Work (the cake)
This is the most important and must be finished for Thursday.  You will print it (Times New Roman 12, black, double-spaced), post it, and present it as before, but try to memorize!  Due Thursday, 2/27.  If you do not have any music to sing or play, you may have to present on Thursday, and if everything is not ready you will get late marks.

Music (the icing)
If you sing, or play and read, this will certainly help your presentation mark; however, the writing is more important.  If you do this, you have until Friday to prepare.


Here's an example of a song and lyrics.

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit Lyrics

Load up on guns, bring your friends 
It's fun to lose and to pretend 
She's overbored and self-assured 
Oh, no, I know a dirty word 

Hello, Hello, Hello, How Low (x3) 
Hello, Hello, Hello 

With the lights out, it's less dangerous 
Here we are now, entertain us 
I feel stupid and contagious 
Here we are now, entertain us 

A mulatto 
An albino 
A mosquito 
My libido 
Yeah 

Hey... Yay 

I'm worse at what I do best 
And for this gift I feel blessed 
Our little group (tribe) has always been 
And always will until the end 

Hello, Hello, Hello, How Low (x3) 
Hello, Hello, Hello 

With the lights out, it's less dangerous 
Here we are now, entertain us 
I feel stupid and contagious 
Here we are now, entertain us 

A mulatto 
An albino 
A mosquito 
My libido 
Yeah 

Hey... Yay 

(Guitar solo) 

And I forget just why I taste 
Oh, yeah, I guess it makes me smile 
I found it hard, it's hard to find 
Oh well, whatever, nevermind 

Hello, Hello, Hello, How Low (x3) 
Hello, Hello, Hello 

With the lights out, it's less dangerous 
Here we are now, entertain us 
I feel stupid and contagious 
Here we are now, entertain us 

A mulatto 
An albino 
A mosquito 
My libido 

Yeah a denial 
A denial! (x9)


Here is a parody of the same song.

Weird Al Yankovic – Smells Like Nirvana

What is this song all about?
Can't figure any lyrics out
How do the words to it go?
I wish you'd tell me, I don't know
Don't know, don't know, don't know, I don't know!
Don't know, don't know, don't know...

Now I'm mumblin' and I'm screamin'
And I don't know what I'm singin'
Crank the volume, ears are bleedin'
I still don't know what I'm singin'
We're so loud and incoherent
Boy, this oughta bug your parents
Yeah!

*belch*

Hing!

It's unintelligible
I just can't get it through my skull
It's hard to bargle nawdle zouss 
With all these marbles in my mouth
Don't know, don't know, don't know, I don't know!
Don't know, don't know, don't know...

Well, we don't sound like Madonna
Here we are now, we're Nirvana
Sing distinctly? We don't wanna
Buy our album, we're Nirvana
A garage band from Seattle
Well it sure beats raisin' cattle
Yeah!

Moo..

Baa...

And I forgot the next verse
Oh well, I guess it pays to rehearse
The lyric sheet's so hard to find
What are the words, oh nevermind
Don't know, don't know, don't know, I don't know!
Don't know, don't know, don't know...

Well, I'm yellin' and we're playin'
But I don't know what I'm sayin'
What's the message I'm conveyin'?
Can you tell me what I'm sayin'?
So have you got some idea?
Didn't think so 
Well, I'll see ya
Sayonara, sayonawa
Ayonawa, hodinawa
Odinaya, yodinaya
Yaddayadda, yaaahyaaah
Ayiyaaaaaah!