Need a writing topic, Share a writing topic

[Kendall]

I may be the only one, but I have such a hard time quickly (or slowly!) coming up with a writing assignment topic. I wondered if anyone would be interested in a thread (maybe even weekly or monthly?) where we post our children's current topic or assignment or thesis statement.

 

I'll start. If no one replies then this idea can quietly die:)

 

 

8th grade son: Last week(I assigned it) - Boys should learn housekeeping skills.

This week- (he came up with this one) - We should remove the shower in the basement bathroom.

 

 

10th grade son(both ideas findirectly from an Ethics class) Cheating in this way [giving the name of art to that which isn't art ]hurts everyone involved in the art, but no one as much as the cheater himself.

 

(This one hasn't been written yet) Those who mourn are blessed.

[Jan P.]

Kendall,

 

Last week I had my dd write a dialogue between Pippin of the Lord of the Rings and the Shire folks. I wanted to see where my dd would go with Pippin trying to persuade the Hobbits that there was an evil force out there trying to take over their world. THis is an aside, but I have seen how WWII and Hitler affected Tolkein's story so much. I never paid attention to that before.

 

My youngest (7th grade) is doing the Middle Ages IEW history study with our local co-op. This week her teacher gave a basic story line and she has to rewrite it in her own words.

 

If you want more examples, I could look up writing examples from my ds's work in the past.

[Karen in CO]

Here is my son's essay topic for this week:

Compare Grendel and Frankenstein. Explain their roles in their stories.

 

This is our discussion topic for the week:

Describe Shelley's allusions to Paradise Lost in Frankenstein. What is their purpose? What characters are linked through these allusions?

[Michelle in MO]

My youngest is going to write a book report on The Hobbit.

 

My middle daughter (13) is working on a research report on Queen Elizabeth.

 

My oldest is doing an author project (i.e. research on an author and a critical book review) on C.S. Lewis.

 

Does that help? What do you use for writing, Kendall?

[Leah]

Compare Achilles and another hero from history/literature

Compare the Biblical account of the Exodus to the story in "The Prince of Egypt"

Fun essay-Should our county have an In-n-Out? (student picked!)

[PixieKris]

I'm having my daughter work on an essay for a contest - the topic is what can we learn from Holocaust survivors. It's going slowly - a lot more challenging than a typical animal report, country report, history narration, or book report for some reason. But I'm glad she's doing it.

 

Kris

[Kelli in TN]

IThis week- (he came up with this one) - We should remove the shower in the basement bathroom.

 

 

.

 

May I be nosy? Why does he think you should remove the shower? Can any family have too many showers? :confused:

[Kendall]

Showers and what I use for writing

 

Shower:

 

It is a strange bathroom, very roughly finished, about 12 x 14 with an icky shower(which we have never used because it is not near the bedrooms). It is mostly used as an art room. I LOVE it as an art room. Having the toilet and sink in there is great. My husband thinks we should turn the room next to it into a bedroom but so far no one wants to sleep down there. You have to go through an unfinished part of the basement to get to it and the room and bathroom are very rough finished and that was probably done 40 years ago.

 

My son's reasons were : it would be fun, it would be educational, we could then move the toliet to that area which would also be fun and educational and would create more space.

 

This semester, instead of science, he is spending 2-3 days working through Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and the other days working on "Home Maintenance and Repair". The shower project was his idea and isn't likely to be approved by us:).

 

 

Michelle, What I use for writing: I've stumbled around with writing - it is NOT my area. I've used Classical Writing Homer, Aesop, and started Diogenes. My 10th grader worked through Writing to the Point (Kerrigan is the author I think) and the 8th grader is part way through it, Last year I worked through some of Lost Tools of Writing, occasionally we do some of the writing assignments in Rod and Staff. I think my 3rd child might get acceptable writing instruction when all is said and done, maybe by the time my 8th is few I might be able to say he/she received great writing instruction. My oldest is going to take an online class next year in hopes of redeeming writing for the rest of his high school years. Sigh.

 

Thanks everyone for sharing what your children have been writing.

 

Kendall

[Laura K (NC)]

I wrote this on my blog back in December and forgot about it. My son hasn't done any of these yet:

 

I'm reading a book that discusses literary features in the gospel of John... the role of the narrator, the sense of time, the plot, character development, etc. In the chapter on plot I found what might be an interesting writing assignment. 6 Plot types in Aristotle’s Poetics were discovered by Seymour Chatman. I think these would each make interesting writing assignments. In fact, looking over this book, Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel by R. Alan Culpepper, I can envision a whole (high school) year's composition work based on the elements of writing that he brings out of this Gospel.

 

So here's the assignment: Write a short story of fiction in which:

 

1. An unqualifiedly good hero fails: this is shockingly incomprehensible to us, since it violates probability.

 

2. A villainous protagonist fails; about his downfall we feel smug satisfaction, since justice has been served.

 

3. A noble hero fails through miscalculation, which arouses our pity and fear.

 

4. A villainous protagonist succeeds; but this causes us to feel disgust, because it violates our sense of probability.

 

5. An unqualifiedly good hero succeeds, causing us to feel moral satisfaction.

 

6. A noble hero miscalculates, but only temporarily, and his ultimate vindication is satisfying.