Controlling Idea (Question 26)

Tuesday: CharacterizationWednesday: ImageryToday: Controlling Ideas/

Question 26

On the Regents, you will be asked to compare 2 texts to a common topic and write a controlling idea paragraph.The directions say: Write a well-developed paragraph in which you use ideas from passage 1 (excerpt) and passage 2 (poem) to establish a controlling idea about (IDEA THEY GIVE YOU). Develop your controlling idea using specific examples and details from both Passage I and Passage II.

Establish = “show evidence for”.

What is it?

A controlling idea is the same as a "thesis statement" of an essay. It is a full-sentence observation about the topic that is true of both passages and could be true in the world as well.

Previous Topics

RelationshipsDeveloping a skillParting (when people leave each other)Work Uncertainty Possessions (things you own)Creativity Challenges

Example from Your Practice Regents

Controlling idea: developing a skillPassage 1 (excerpt):

Yarn

“The result was slightly lopsided—one sleeve was half an inch wider than the other around the elbow—but the arms looked more or less even once I put the sweater on. The small mistakes in a knitted garment disappear when the garment is on the body, where it belongs. That might have been the most important thing I learned from my first sweater. …”

“If, half way through the body or the sleeve, I noticed the piece getting wider faster than I’d expected, I simply stopped increasing stitches; if the piece looked too small, I increased more. It was just as Sabina had told me: I could make things up as I went along.

Passage 2 (poem):Spanish Lesson

“My wife moves room to room, touching our humble belongings with a wand of new words—the iron, the coffee pot, the radio—making them notice themselves for the first time in years”

“calling out the new names for shampoo,for bath mat, toilet, and toothbrush”

What do these excerpts say to you about “developing a skill”?

Today’s Schedule

LESSON9:10-9:30 Controlling Idea

Paragraph: reading for ideas9:30-9:50 Activity Station: Question

26Conferences

9:50-10:00 Break*10:00-10:30 READING QUIZ10:30-11:00 Independent Reading

and Annotating short stories and mentor texts (for Imagery, Characterization, etc.)

11:00-11:05 SHORT Break*

Writing11:05-11:20 Lesson: Mentor

Texts11:20-11:50 Independent

Writing (USING MENTOR TEXTS)

11:50-12:00 Share/Clean Up

FIRST ASSIGNMENT DUE TOMORROW: See Syllabus and Checklist

Breaks are dependent upon student behavior and acceptable use of time.*

Instructions for Reading Quiz

Read the passage.Annotate for literary elements you’ve been learning about in class, or on your own.Answer the multiple choice.

On loose leaf paper, write a paragraph explaining the literary element you found in the passage (you can use the

Question 27 Graphic Organizer).

Writing Controlling Idea Paragraphs

Question 26

Tips for Writing

First: Identify the topic. The Regents gives you the topic. Check the directions for Question 26 to see what your topic is. Next: Turn the topic into a question, "What does (Text 1) and (Text 2) both say/show/tell me about ___(the topic)___?"Third: Your answer must use evidence from BOTH texts.  

Things to remember:

ONE passage.ONE literary element/technique. TWO examples from the passage.Discuss the EFFECTS it creates (how the literary element adds to the meaning).5-8 sentences.