Review Syllabus What makes each text persuasive? What makes them trustworthy and ethical or not?
What is the rhetorical situation of the Lou Gehrig Speech? (SOAPS, p. 5)
Do a SOAPS chart for the 9/11 speech or the Lou Gehrig speech. How are the three appeals at work?
Page 7-9: The three appeals
pp. 8-9 automatic ethos vs building ethos
Ethos as the credibility of the speaker or the shared values/ethics of speaker and audience
Homework: Finish reading to the top of page 21 in Chapter 1 of The Language of Composition
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Welcome, friends! Quick Intro to me and the course... SNC, NU, daughter starting college, former environmental scientist, 7 years of experience teaching AP rhetoric The purpose of this course is “to enable students to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers” (College Board, AP English Course Description, 2010, p. 7).
By the way, this site is linked to my LT website and the web address is http://wesley4ap.blogspot.com/ (Make sure you are on the correct website! My 3AP and 4AP websites have similar content during the first few weeks of school as a I do an intro to rhetoric unit with both courses). Weekly Schedule
Workshop Style Course ...Below is Typical Weekly Schedule (although this week will be a little different)
Monday
Topic Journals & MC critical reading
Tuesday
Discussion and Reading
Wednesday
Reading/Writing Workshop & AP Vocab
Thursday
Reading/Writing Workshop and Assessment
Friday
Discussion and Flex Day
The workshop approach is designed to provide more time in class for you to read and write and receive one-on-one feedback from me or your peers. A workshop approach increases opportunities for learning and promotes sanity for students. The Rhetorical Situation: 2-3
Aristotelian Triangle 3-4
Page 7-9: The three appeals
pp. 8-9 automatic ethos vs building ethos
Ethos as the credibility of the speaker or the shared values/ethics of speaker and audience
College Admissions Essay Example #1 (in 4AP file)
What is the rhetorical situation/Soaps (page 5) ? How does it incorporate each of the appeals?
Homework: Finish Reading 1-13 in The Language of Composition…
What's on tap for tomorrow...August 18
Page 2... With a partner I will assign now, do activity 1 on page 2…one of you should find a deceptive piece of rhetoric and one should find one that is civil or effective. Bring a hard copy or something that you can electronically access on your phone or by sending me a link if necessary
Discuss with one another why one these texts was deceptive and manipulative and why the other was effective and simple.
What is the rhetorical situation of each text? (Soaps, p. 5)
Do a SOAPS chart for the 9/11 speech. (show it on youtube)
Or the Lou Gehrig speech. How are the three appeals at work?
3AP—Language
and Composition Final Exam Prep Sheet — Spring Semester 2015
The Things They Carried Essay—100
points
Approximately
three pages
Synthesize and analyze
textual evidence from at least two of
the stories from Tim O’Brien’s The Things
They Carried to support a claim you make related to a prominent theme
addressed in those two stories. You must
also weave in analysis of at least three details from supplemental sources provided to you during our “reading and
research time” both before and during the exam. You should make
reference to at least 3 supplemental
sources throughout your essay—you may do so in your intro paragraph, body
paragraph, and/or conclusion. Make sure you bring your copy of The Things They Carried on the day of
the exam.
While “War” is the broad issue
connecting all of the pieces you will synthesize, work on crafting a precise
and nuanced claim about war which can be supported by your reading of The Things They Cary as well as your
reading, observation, and analysis of the supplemental works.
Supplemental
Sources
Video prior to the exam
Prior to the exam, take notes on the
film clips we watch and use those notes during the exam. The sources are the
following, and you must use at least one of these in your synthesis essay.
Platoon
Dear
America: Letters from Vietnam
Interview
w Tim O’Brien from the news hour (8 to 10)
Print and images you will receive on
the day of the exam
During the exam, you will also be
given a portion of a war poem, a letter, some non-fiction, a photograph and a
work of art. You must use at least one of these sources in your synthesis
essay.
Some
good advice on making an original and interesting claim
How To Be Original
Michael Barsanti
The best
papers you can write for this class are ones that bring something new to our
understanding of the works we are reading and watching. The best papers will
try to teach us something we didn't already know, or will try to point out
something we might have missed after only one or two readings. You may protest:
"But smart critics have been writing about [insert text here] since long
before I was born, and besides, we've been beating [insert text here] to death
in class discussion for a week. There's no way I can say anything new or
interesting about [insert text here]." These statements are wrong and
unacceptably lame for at least the following two reasons. First, you're writing
for a community that is, for the most part, new to these texts. There are lots
of things your classmates do not know about them. Second, you come at these
works with a unique set of experiences and interests--those interests will lead
you to notice things in the texts that no one else will. The trick is to
identify those things and to develop them into an essay. I've written down some
brief thoughts on how to recognize and put to work original thoughts. Practice
and prosper.
1. Listen to the Texts. Many
people make the mistake of thinking that disliking something means they don't
have to pay attention to it. You have to pay attention to a text in order to
say anything original about it. If a text or a film angers or bores you, become
a connoisseur of anger and boredom. Develop a skill for expressing your
hostility through an accurate and detailed critique, instead of a blunt and
crude one. It's easier to pay attention to works you like, but it can be harder
to keep at a good observing distance from them. In either case, keep in mind
that just about everything you notice in these works is the product of a choice
made by an artist and can be analyzed. 2. Pay Attention to Your Reactions.
As I've said before, most good papers start with a hunch, not a fully realized
thesis. Most good papers start with... "I'm not sure why this is
important, but it seemed strange to me that [fill in the blank]." It is
imperative that you track down this hunch and write about it. While you are in
pursuit of this strange thing that interests you, you may start to feel that
you are B.S.'ing. This is perfectly normal and nothing to be worried about.
Original thinking and B.S. are much more alike than you'd believe. 3. Think Small and Specific.
Focus on the details and let the big issues take care of themselves. Writing
about trees in The Piano is more likely to generate something original than
writing about true love in The Princess Bride.
4. Be Patient. Don't expect to
have something brilliant to say the instant you sit down at a computer. You
need to take time to think, to plan, and most importantly, to write. Nothing
generates ideas better than writing. A related rule: don't wait for a brilliant
idea to come before you start to write. The ideas won't come, or if they do,
they won't work after the first few paragraphs. Your thesis will change as your
paper develops-- let it, and let the paper change again along with it. Do not
assume that you will start with a master vision that will execute itself
perfectly on paper and emerge fully intact 750 words later. 5. Develop an Intolerance for the
Uninteresting and Insincere. Learn to recognize the moments where you don't
mean what you say, but are saying it anyway just to complete the structure of
your argument. Remember that what bores you is even less interesting to your
reader.
Learning Target: I can identify rhetorical strategies that an author employs to achieve a particular purpose, to make particular points. I can evaluate the effectiveness of my writing and the writing of others. Activity 1: Review yesterday's writing prompt/ read and comment on things that they noticed. Activity 2: Review and analyze student responses 2A and 2B Activity 3: MC Drill # 1
Learning Target: I can identify and articulate the way that writers use language to achieve particular purposes in a piece. Activity 1: Take 45 minutes to read, plan, and write an essay in response to the AP prompt for Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. When you are done, pick up the packet with student example essays. HW: Read the two responses and the commentary on each response. Then, write a paragraph commentary on your own essay. What score would you give it and why? Please bring the following to class tomorrow: the prompt, your essay, your commentary paragraph on your own essay, and the student example essays packet,
Learning Target: I can identify and reflect on AP question types designed to assess specific types of rhetorical awareness.
Bellringer: What did you find most challenging about yesterday's passages and questions?
Keep in mind that you had only 25-26 minutes to answer 25 questions, while on a normal AP exam you would have 60 minutes to answer 55 questions (i.e., you would have potentially had a few more seconds for each question if this were an actual AP exam). Time was probably a factor for most of you, so definitely reflect on that, but also try to reflect on at least one other challenge you experienced yesterday. (4 mins)
Pair and share with someone near you. (2 mins)
Activity 1: Read and annotate Analysis of the Directions and Test-Taking Strategies on pages 10-12 (top half). (5 mins) Quick write (1 minute): Which tips were most helpful or surprising?
Pair and share with someone near you (2 mins)
Activity 2: Music Break (5 minutes)...
Discuss one of your Mix Tapes songs with your partner. What makes it a top-ten lifetrack for you?
Whole class music sharing (5 mins)...If I call on you, tell the class a little about the song your partner shared with you.
Activity 3: Read the Question Categories on pp 12-14. Then, take out the question packet from yesterday, and then, working with a partner, label each question (1-25) according to the question type. (15 minutes)
Activity 4 (10 mins): Mr. Wesley returns your score sheet. Working independently, turn to page 20 to figure out which ones you missed and what the question category was for each missed question - label the question types next to the questions in the passage and question types or your grade/cam sheet. Also, on pages 21-22, read the answer explanations for the questions you missed.
No homework other than reviewing the questions that you missed.
