The new marking period is almost here. I know we will be switching gears to persuasive writing soon, but I wanted to give you all another shot at explanatory essay topics. Our next type of reading is non fiction / biography. I would like you all to think about a famous person, living or dead, who has had an influence on your life. Think about the following questions to get you started:
- What made this person famous?
- What character traits does this person possess? How do you know?
- What type of person would be most drawn to this person?
- Is his / her influence a positive one? (I would hope so.) Explain.
- How will knowing about this person's life shape your life?
I almost don't want to share pictures because I don't want to lead you all in one direction or another. Remember, all areas are acceptable. Your special person could be in politics like a world leader, sports, music, theater, literature......and so on, and so on.
Here are a few pictures of the people who helped to shape my life.
Jacqueline Kennedy
Dr. Maya Angelou is a remarkable Renaissance woman who is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. As a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, she continues to travel the world, spreading her legendary wisdom. Within the rhythm of her poetry and elegance of her prose lies Angelou's unique power to help readers of every orientation span the lines of race. Angelou captivates audiences through the vigor and sheer beauty of her words and lyrics. ( This excerpt is from her own web site.)
John Steinbeck (Above)
S. E. Hinton
Who are some of the people you will admire 10, 20, 30 years from now?
one famous person that i admire is president Barack Obama the first ,sucessful, aferican american presidenital candidate. winning twice aginst his white skinned rivals he has proven to the country that all men( and women) are created equal, that the country`s people believe so, and that they are willing to prove it. to anwser the bulleted questions durectly, he was the first aferican american president of america, eliminated terrorist leader osama bin laden, and , recently, has begun pulling our forces out of the middle east. well he clearly has good leadership and personal skills, and a good political view of the world and country. as a politican most monorities will be drawn to him as a leader, being a minority himself this is reasonible. his influence is a positive one, the ending of a war and elimination of a terrorist leader clearly does not have a negative effect, and no effect, therefore it has a positive effect. knowing about his life gives me a start on the political aspect of life, seeing as before his ineguration i was not very aware of politics or their workings.
ReplyDeleteMichael Maffucci
P.S. I know that some people may disagree with what i said in this post, as is understandable with politics as the topic.
A famous person that I admire is Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo is famous for his music, his artwork, and his inventions. Leonardo posseses creative and brave traits because he was always coming up with new inventions, making new artwork and thinking outside the box. He has brave character traits because he had to be brave in order to persue his inventive style. I think that all different people would be drawn to leonardo da vinci, mainly engineers or inventers, along with musicians and artists. Leonardo is a positive influence because he teaches us that we should persue our dreams whether you want to be an artist or a writer or a musician or what ever else you want to be. This person has already shapped my life and his legacy will continue to shape many more. Leonardo da vinci will help to inspire artists, engineers, musicains and so many others, its no wonder that he has been forever remembered througout history.
ReplyDeleteBTW-leonardo also had the first idea for the modern day machine gun and various flying machines. The drawings of his ideas are still alive today being kept preserved for the public.
@ Michael and Joe...I am very impressed with your choices. Thank you for singing the praises of both President Obama and the great Leonardo da Vinci. Very interesting comments from you both....
ReplyDeleteMrs. P
Im here late, but you know what they say... Anyways, a person I admire is Ray Rice. You may not have heard of him until recently, or frankly, at all. He is the starting running back for the Baltimore Ravens. He doesnt talk trash, doesnt start twitter battles, and doesnt holdout for more money, as many other athletes do. Rice is a humble fellow. This was partly because he had a pretty good college career at a decent program: a struggling Rutgers University. He was drafted in the middle of the 2nd round. He is gradually earning his starting role and making a name for himself. His most noteworthy plays are an 80yd rush from the 1st play of scrimmage in 2011 against the Patriots and a 4th and 29 screen play that he converted by breaking 6 tackles. Rice's humble nature and likability make him someone I admire.
ReplyDeleteHi Grant. I am very familiar with Ray Rice. My son the sports journalist also attended Rutgers University. He lived in the Baltimore area while working at the Washington Post so we followed Ray Rice's career as a family. I am glad you admire his personality as well as his career achievements.
ReplyDeleteMrs. P