1. Sept. 24
English III

2. Warm-up: Written Response
“Everything looks perfect from far away…”
-The Postal Service, “Such Great Heights”
Do you think reality ruins beauty? Explain your thoughts and give examples.
Write to music – Iron & Wine cover:

3. Review and Practice
Writing Short Answer Responses

4. A.P.E. ANSWER – Respond directly to the prompt.
PROVE – Provide text evidence that proves your answer is reasonable.
EXPLAIN – Why does your text evidence prove your answer? Provide detailed commentary!
Use at least 5 complete sentences and embed your quotes.

5. Practice
Read the excerpt from “Two Views of the River” by Mark Twain (p. 524).
Summary:
As a riverboat pilot, Mark Twain came to know the Mississippi River intimately. He began to view the river as a road to navigate, not as the romantic natural phenomenon he had seen before.

6. Guided S.A.R. (process grade)
What analogy does Twain use in this memoir about his experiences as a riverboat pilot? What feelings does this comparison evoke?
Analogy: Riverboat pilots / doctors
Purpose (why use analogy?): To explain how years of training and experience ruin the sense of wonder and beauty
Feelings evoked: A sense of loss
Text evidence: Which shows analogy and effect???
“… I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too.” (524)
“All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river!” (524)
“… doesn’t [the doctor] simply view [the patient] professionally…?” (525)
“… the romance and the beauty were all gone from the river. … Since those days, I have pitied doctors from my heart.” (525)

7. Example (edit yours as needed)
A: Twain’s comparison between riverboat pilots and doctors explains how their training and experience blind them to beauty and result in a sense of loss.
P: Twain writes that after years of navigating it, “all the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river”. He compares his years of experience to a doctor who sees a beautiful patient without noticing her charm, “simply view[ing] her professionally”. He wonders if the doctor “has gained most or lost most by learning his trade”, just as Twain himself “lost something” when he stopped noticing the beauty of the river.
E: Twain compares riverboat pilots to doctors because years of diagnosis and treatment may numb doctors to human beauty. Twain “pitie[s]” this loss, just as he regrets that he is no longer “bewitched” by the river.