English question

[Jeri Lynn]

Hi Folks,
My son is having some struggles in English.

He just had to write two essays on the book "Things Fall Apart".

He had to write an open response essay and a rich text analysis...

I've been out of school for almost 30 years and do not recall if I ever learned these terms...I don't think I have...

Could someone clarify them for me so that I can review his essays to see if he wrote them correctly.

Thanks!!

[ElenitaB]

Though I've been out of the teaching biz for a while, I do have a middle schooler. "Open response essay" is what back in the day we called "open book." If your son is writing an essay about a book, it would be logical that he can refer to the book in order to accurately quote from it.

I have a grad degree in literature, so I would imagine that "rich text analysis" would call for some analytical discussion of the author's use of words, dialog, etc.

Would it be possible to schedule some time or a brief call with his English teacher (or as we call them "language arts") to discuss your questions and concerns?

[Jeri Lynn]

Thank you so much.

My son is 16...he starts off with good grades and then they decline...everything else in his life becomes more important than boring school work...

We watch his grades closely and I keep in touch with his teachers if I see things declining. The school has a program where we can check grades online, but if the teacher does not update the grades we aren't sure where things stand until he does...His English grade went from a B to an F overnight because when the teacher updated the site my son had failed to pass in two major writing assignments and it killed his grade...he updated the grades this weekend, and unfortunately report cards are coming out this Friday...

My DH and I took his phone and ipod away and told him that unless his grades turn around and his effort improves, when he gets his license he will not be given a vehicle to drive.

It's hard, he is a good kid, does not give us any trouble (other than occassional sarcasm) and he is a big help to his Dad around the yard and with other projects. He is respectful to his teachers and is well liked by them.

He struggles in Math, and we have a private tutor for him.

I think in many cases he just gets lazy and if he isn't interested in the subject he gives no effort...he get irritated with me for staying on him, and I get irritated with him because at 16 years old I should not have to babysit him.

He can stay after school for help in any subject, but what is the fun in that? He'd rather be at home hanging out.

Parent's night is next week...it will be interesting.

Even though it is too late to get a grade on these two assignnments we are making him do them and pass them in anyways.

His school has block scheduling so he only has four classes...I can't imagine how he would handle a typical curriculum with 6 or 7 classes!

[Ian]

First off, let me just say that I read "Things Fall Apart" when I was in college at Temple and it's really a great book. Chinua Achebe is a terrific author.

Anyway, more to the point ... I'd suggest Googling those terms or heading over to Wikipedia.org to do some additional research.

I rarely don't find what I'm looking for on one of those two sites.

[PirateLover]

I thought rich text was a coding format you could save word processing documents in. I've honestly never heard the term used to describe a type of essay.

[Jeri Lynn]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I will be seeing my son's teacher on Wednesday at Parents night so I am going to ask him about the essay types...I have not been able to find much on the Rich Text Essay...so I'll just ask him.

Enjoy the day, finally some sunshine here in MA!

[Ian]

I thought rich text was a coding format you could save word processing documents in. I've honestly never heard the term used to describe a type of essay.That's the only context in which I'm familiar with "rich text", as well.

[murphy1]

Hey Jeri, I find with my Fourth grader, I'm learning and even re-learning many things!! And they are giving new names to all of the things we learned.