Holiday Traditions (Due Friday, December 16th)

What are some of your family's holiday traditions?  OR What are you most looking forward to over Holiday Break?

For example, if you were Bob Cratchit from A Christmas Carol, you might write:

I look forward to going down the slide at Cornhill twenty times in honor of Christmas Eve and then playing blindman's buff again like a boy.  Taking Tiny Tim to church is always special because of his thoughtful observations.  My wife's cooking is always a treat, especially her scrumptious goose and Christmas pudding.  I look forward to sitting around the fire with my family and passing the custard-cup back and forth while we revel and play games.  Even though Mr. Scrooge doesn't understand it, Christmas Day is different from the rest of the days of the year, and I look forward to enjoying it with my family!

Ideal Interview: Due Friday, December 11th!

If you could interview anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?  What sorts of questions would you ask? Remember, you should include a strong topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence.  Here's an example:

If I could interview anyone, I would interview J.D. Salinger, the author of Catcher in the Rye and several other short stories and novellas.  Salinger remained reclusive throughout his life and died recently, in January of 2010. I would like to ask him about his creative experience while writing Catcher in the Rye such as how he came up with Holden's character, how much his own beliefs were reflected in the character, and why he was so reluctant to answer questions after the book achieved so much success.  I would ask him why he never made the book into a movie and how he feels about the fact that Catcher is required reading for many students nowadays.  When he was alive, Salinger turned down many interviews and remained an incredibly private author, and for this reason, I would like to probe him with questions about his life and creative process.