1. A Tale of Two Cities Introduction

2. A Tale of Two Cities Chapter 1
The opening from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. Tuesday Warm-up: What is the tone of the above paragraph? Why? (This is a short answer)

3. So, what the dickens is Dickens doing in this paragraph????
Charles Dickens created this very long, comma-splice filled passage for effect. He was a professional; he was allowed to break sentence punctuation rules. Student writers aren't so lucky; they have to follow the rules and prove they understand them before I allow them to break the rules like Dickens does here.
"Today, we're going to each write a parody of Mr. Dickens' passage, using a more modern day topic, and then we're going to use coordinating conjunction, adverbial conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions to have our passages completely free of comma splices."
Tell students their parodies of Dickens need to include, at least, 6 pairs of interesting, well-chosen antonyms, and that their parodies will need to conclude with an "In short" sentence, like Dickens does.

4. So…what’s a parody, adverbial conjunction,subordinating conjuction, conjuction, and comma splice???
an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect:
"the movie is a parody of the horror genre"
synonyms: satire · burlesque · lampoon · pastiche · caricature · imitation
Conjunction:
a word that joins together sentences, clauses, phrases, or words
Adverb: a word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of numerous languages, typically serving as a modifier of a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a preposition, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence, expressing some relation of manner or quality, place, time, degree, number, cause, opposition, affirmation, or denial, and in English also serving to connect and to express comment on clause content — compare

5. So what’s a … SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION:
A subordinating conjunction connects a dependent clause to a main clause.
Comma Splice:
Two independent clauses separated by a comma instead of a period or semicolon.
Though often treated as errors in traditional grammar, comma splices may be used deliberately to create a rhetorical effect of speed, excitement, informality, or confusion.

6. Using conjunctions to avoid comma splices

7. Teacher Example 1- Draft 1
It was the funniest of jokes, it was the sourest of jokes, it was meant to be funny, it was intended to be tragic, it was humor of the absurd, it was humor of the intelligent, it was the highlight of the day, it was the day’s low point, it was like a summer from my childhood, it was the fall of innocence, we wanted to laugh, we wanted to weep, we should have published the joke, we should have burned it to never be seen again--in short, we had hoped would be the joke that kept us together, but it became the joke that tore our friendship apart.

8. Draft 2: This time with punctuation.
While it was the funniest of jokes, it was the sourest of jokes too. We meant it to be funny, but we meant it to be tragic as well. It was humor of the absurd; moreover, it was humor of the intelligent. After it was the highlight of our day, it became our day’s low point. It was like a childhood summer day, yet it was our fall from innocence. Even though we wanted to laugh, we wanted to weep. We should have published the joke; however, we should have burned it to never be seen again. In short, what we had hoped would be the joke that kept us together became the joke that tore our friendship apart.

9. Brainstorm topics: Examples
"He/She was the most skilled of athletes...“
"He/She was the kindest of teachers...“
"It was the hardest of tests...“
"He/She was the happiest of children....“
"He was the best of boyfriends...“
"It was the most loyal of pets...“
“It was the best of vacations….”
“It was the best day of her/his life…”

10. Assignment:
Create a parody of Dickens introduction to A Tale of Two Cities. Your parody must meet the following requirements:
1. Use a more modern day topic,
2. Include 6 pairs of interesting, well-chosen antonyms
2. Parodies will need to conclude with an "In short" sentence, like Dickens does.
3. Use coordinating conjunction, adverbial conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions to have our passages completely free of comma splices.“
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday.