2. Identify and Sort

Begin by identifying the book or books you would like to address for today's post. Use the MLA format taught last week to create a properly formatted MLA citation. You may also choose to include an image of the book cover to add further visual interest to your blog. You will find the add image icon on your post toolbar.

Today you will be identifying and sorting.

1. First, identify five main elements of your novel. Use your note "Elements of the Short Story" as a reference. (NOTE: Because this hand out is talking about good fiction - we can transfer our understanding from short fiction to longer pieces.)

2. Then, sort these elements according to importance for your engagement in your reading. Put the most important element to you at the beginning of your sorting list.

3. Once you have identified the most important element for your enjoyment, describe how this element has been used (or is lacking) in your novel.

4. Use a direct quotation from a section of your book as evidence. Be sure to include a properly formatted MLA style citation following your direct quotation. Do not leave the quotation standing on its own - make sure that you explain its significance to the element you have selected as your top engagement feature.

MLA STYLE CITATION: (Author, Title page)

1.Your first post - identify

Today you will begin your blogging about your independent reading.

Before you begin, go over the expectations listed below. In your posts, I expect that you will adhere to the qualities of good writing and attempt to write level four answers (as indicated on your performance chart we used to assess "Bread" by M. Atwood questions).

Remember to include all of the five elements listed below if you wish to achieve a level four on this assessment.

In EACH blog post I will expect to see the following:

1. Proper identification of the novel you are writing about (you can do this through an image; at the least provide the title and author; an MLA style citation is preferred).

2. Proper use of language conventions (punctuation, spelling, grammar, sentence structure).

3. Organized responses (topic sentence, body, closing sentence).

4. Use of the text as support for your ideas (direct quotations with proper MLA style citations are preferred over summaries).

5. Short responses (between 60-100 wds).

Many of you have read more than one book already. Today we are going to begin by IDENTIFYING.

One of the skills you will need to use this year is correctly formatting citations using the format described by the MLA guide. Go here to see the updated MLA guide.

Today, we will be using the format for citing NOVELS you should review this information before you begin; it is found here: MLA format for BOOKS.

As your first blog post:

1. In the first part of your blog post, identify three qualities you expect from a 'good book'.

2. Describe whether the book(s) you have read so far has/have contained those three qualities you listed in the first part of your blog post.

3. Use the proper MLA style you reviewed in the exercise above to identify the book(s) you described in 2. (You are encouraged to include more than one book here) but be sure to alphabetize by author.

eg. Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic Press. 2009. Print.