What should a peer reviewer be looking for in these papers?

Make a list of four or five things to look for and provide feedback on for this paper

HW: 
Finish reading Act 2 of Pygmalion (possible pop quiz tomorrow)

Write and print your 2nd draft for tomorrow's peer review (must be at least 1 1/2 pages typed and printed before class - visual check - 5 or zero points, no excuses)


Tomorrow:
* Discuss Act 2 Pygmalion
* 2nd draft typed (5 points or 0, no excuses)

Please hand in your paper idea...I will read and return by end of class

What do you think we should annotate for/pay attention to in Act II?

Make a list of 3 to 5 things

Begin reading and annotating Act II; what you don't finish in class today, you will finish tomorrow

Homework: Type and print first draft for your essay; peer reviews tomorrow followed by finishing the reading of Act 2

Act 1: Pygmalion

Raging on Language

These Words Are So Overused Their Meaningless

English IV (AP): The Rhetoric of Language and Composition—Wesley

Summative Assessment: 100 Points

Language Rant

Creative Essay

“Definition” Argumentative Essay

Due Date(s):  

                        Rough Draft: (Printed for class) Thursday, 9/29

                        Final Draft:    Monday, 10-3 and submitted to turnitin.com

Length:           1 ½  -2 ½  pages typed, Times New Roman 12 pt. Font

Creative Essay Prompt:

Select a word or short phrase that is used today that you believe is unique, overused, odd, or even crazy and write a 1 ½  - 2 ½  page argument/commentary/observation/analysis about how or why this word is used and what it says about people, the impact of language, society, or modern life in general. You might want to begin by examining the history or etymology of the word as well as the similarities and differences between its denotative and connotative meaning. However, the main goal is to use this word as a pathway into a larger, more provocative and complex issue or topic. You will be graded on your ability to establish your credibility/authorial voice, as well as on how you showcase your unique observations, connections, examples, comparisons, play on words, and ultimately, your critical thinking conveyed through language.

Thesis Proposal (Due Tomorrow):

Please write your thesis proposal using the lines below. This proposal should not only include the word or phrase that you will examine, but must also include the LARGER TOPIC that your analysis/essay will spin or pivot into in order to examine culture/people/society, the impact of language, or modern life in general. Finally, this proposal must be accepted in order to continue on with the next phase of the essay.

Word/Phrase That will Lend Itself into a Larger Discussion:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Big Topic/Analysis that you will Pivot Into & Examine: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Former Senior AP Student Example (not great, but pretty good)

This is an Essay, Obviously

             I have similar feelings about garlic and the word obviously — both are wonderful in moderation. Use too much of either however, and your speech, like garlic laden breath, is intolerable and repulsive. The excess use of the word obviously in the everyday vernacular found in many Americans is making our language conceited, pretentious, and more annoying than ever before.

            In a weak attempt to sound intelligent, many people use the word obviously as a space-filler or to make them sound more educated, instead of saying “um” or “like” while they try to gather their thoughts. The word obviously is used fairly often, yet there are very few situations where the word obviously is applicable, such as when something is actually “obviously” easy to understand. However, this rampant and unruly use of the term obviously is not only annoying, but it also leads to the defilement of the word’s meaning.

            The greatest sin against obviously is how often it is misused.  While the Oxford Dictionary defines obviously as, “a way that is easily perceived or understood,” it is not always portrayed this way. Because of the widespread use of the word, many people now see the term obviously as more of an exclamation. The Urban Dictionary or guru of slang definitions defines obviously as a synonym of, “Duh” and as, “a maddening cliché.” The irony of the situation is that in order to sound more intelligent, we have degraded a word’s definition. 

            The competition to sound intelligent is magnified with social arenas like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media monsters, making it easy for people to spread their ideas, and more importantly their opinions.  Now, our culture is always connected, with people seemingly constantly trying to outduel each other with put-downs or intellectual posturing.  Opinions are voiced excessively and often in a competitive manner, as people try to assert their intellectual superiority over one another.  A common way to ensure that your opinions sound smarter than someone else’s is to simply try to diminish their opinions. Obviously is usually a pawn in this game. While talking to a friend a few days ago, I asked her how she liked the movie adaptation of the young adult book Divergent.  Her response was, rashly, “You obviously didn’t read the books if you liked the movie.”  By adding that “obviously” to her sentence, the whole tone of our conversation shifted from informative to condescending.  She made it be known that she was truly the authority of the books series, and that anyone who disagreed with her obviously didn’t know what they were talking about.  This only highlights the trend that in this day and age people think that the only opinions that matter are their own.  It is sad that people think that only their ideals are the correct ones.

            Like the amount of garlic that my grandmother uses while cooking the traditional Ukrainian dinner during Christmas, the word obviously is immensely overused.  And while you are forced to grow accustomed to them, you know in your heart that everyone would be better off without the surplus use of either of them.  In part due to people’s desire and in part due to ignorance about the word’s actual meaning, the word obviously has lost all of its true meaning.  Obviously. 

Professional Example # 1

I Am Not Adorable, So Please Stop Calling Me That

Ann Brenoff Senior Writer/Columnist, The Huffington Post

There’s lots of discussion these days about what to call people as they grow older. Nobody likes “elderly”; “senior” and “senior citizen” are a scant improvement over “elderly”; and we can argue til the cows come home exactly what “older person” means. I’m fine with using my actual age as a descriptor. I’m a “64-year-old.” Period.

What I’m not fine with is being called “adorable.”

Spending a good deal of my day online, I see people my age and older being called “adorable” all the time. “Adorable” is a word that is best applied to babies and puppies. To my ear, it’s a diminishment of what I’ve accomplished, and doesn’t show the respect for my age and experience that I would prefer you show me. Granted, I’m not one of those grandparents who dances on YouTube, but still, I’ve been called “adorable” for making something as simple as a kind gesture to someone younger.

To wit, I recently made a special dish for a friend’s daughter and she thanked me by shrieking how “adorable” I was for doing this.

A simple “Thanks. This was so nice of you!” would have felt better to me. Instead of just thanking me she praised my behavior. She might as well have told me that I did a “good job” in her best kindergarten teacher’s voice.

Sure there are worse things people can say. And certainly worse things people could do. No, this isn’t world peace we’re talking about here. More like generational peace. With maybe only me.

I get that younger people use “adorable” when they think something is sweet. So, yeah, grandparents dancing like nobody is watching (except the person who will record it and post it to YouTube with the title “These Adorable Grandparents Will Warm Your Heart” ) and boom! It goes viral.

Who even knows if they are actually grandparents? Not everyone over 60 is, you know. As for the dancing fools, why not just leave them be? They are having fun, probably could care less what the Internet thinks, and most likely fought in wars for our freedom or did something else that deserves more respect than to be called “adorable.”

“Adorable” is nothing more or less than just one of those terms that Millennials overuse. I asked a bunch of friends my age whether they minded being called “adorable” and I admit that I appear to be standing alone out on this limb.

So given that this is likely just me, how about we just title this piece “An Adorable Writer Must Be Having A Slow News Day.”

Professional Example # 2

---

“Actually” is the most futile, overused word on the internet. Whereas “basically” and “well” are relatively harmless tics that crowd our sentences, “actually” has an attitude.

by Claire Carusillo

Published 18 March, 2014

The cover of the Pet Shop Boys album “Actually”

For a 2000 paper titled “Actually and other markers of an apparent discrepancy between propositional attitudes of conversational partners,” linguists Sara Smith and Andreas Jucker studied the conversational use of the word actually among friends and strangers at the University of California Long Beach. The researchers wanted to better understand “discourse markers”: words or phrases that help organize our speech and writing, but which aren’t essential to a sentence’s meaning.

Examples of discourse markers include well, nonetheless, like, basically, I mean, okay. But Smith and Jucker were primarily interested in actually, and in ten hours of recorded conversations among students they counted 78 uses of the word as a discourse marker. Smith, a professor of linguistics at UCLB, said she and her colleague presumed actually would be used to disprove facts, but instead the speakers most often used the word to discount attitudes or opinions.

Whereas basically and well are relatively harmless tics that crowd our sentences, actually has an attitude. Consider this recent headline from Business Insider: “Women in Tech Actually Don’t Get Paid Less Than Men.” Or Maureen Dowd’s defense of Barack Obama after Sarah Palin accused him of “wearing mom jeans”: “Actually, the jeans the president wore in the Oval Office, talking to Putin on the phone last weekend, looked good.”

Especially on the internet, a platform where everyone is trying to stake an intellectual claim in comments sections or on Twitter, actually often expresses a very specific attitude: condescension. Salon contributor Roxane Gay, a writing professor at Eastern Illinois University, told me in an email, “When people use the word actually in many contexts, they are implying that they have exclusive access to a font of incontrovertible knowledge. When they actually you, they are offering you a gift.” 

To find an example, Gay needs look no further than the comments on her own articles. In a recent piece about the sexual abuse allegations against Woody Allen, commenter Rrhain wrote, “Mia actually encouraged the two to spend time together when Soon-Yi was an adult. What other facts are you unaware of?” Asked who is fond of actuallying her, Gay said that it’s “mostly men who are deeply passionate about ‘truth’ and ‘fairness’ and justice’.”

Uttering (or typing) actually at another person in pursuit of truth, fairness, and justice is a relatively new phenomenon. Google’s Ngram Viewer, which charts the historical use of words and phrases in books, shows that printed use of actually has climbed steadily over the last two centuries. There’s a caveat: this includes all uses of the word, not just in the grammatical instances being discussed here. But consider that its more pointed counterpart, well actually – which is most often used in such instances – has seen an extreme rise since the 1980s.

Examples of discourse markers include well, nonetheless, like, basically, I mean, okay. But Smith and Jucker were primarily interested in actually, and in ten hours of recorded conversations among students they counted 78 uses of the word as a discourse marker. Smith, a professor of linguistics at UCLB, said she and her colleague presumed actually would be used to disprove facts, but instead the speakers most often used the word to discount attitudes or opinions.

Studies show that younger people are far more likely to use actually. From 2003-2004, linguist Cathleen Waters weighed data from a 1.7 million-word corpus of spoken English from Toronto, Canada, and found a steady increase in the word as age decreases. With the information collected from sociolinguistic interviews with 115 speakers, Waters published a 2008 paper called “Actually, it’s more than pragmatics, it’s really grammaticalisation.” She found that the median rate of the use of actually among speakers ages 70-92 was 0.4 times per 1,000 words. In contrast, it was more than 1.5 times per 1,000 words for those between 18-39.

According to Waters, speakers between the ages of 18-30 use actually at an even higher rate than the 18-39 age group: an average rate of 2.24 occurrences per 1,000 words. Waters believes this is because actually has replaced older phrases like indeed and in fact through a gradual linguistic process called grammaticalisation, wherein once-novel words become part of a speaker’s register. The Ngram Viewer backs up that argument:

Actually’s popularity seems only to have increased since 2008, when Waters’ essay was published. It’s become especially popular in partisan battles over issues ranging from Obamacare to gun control. “I think the term actually is thought to be [used by] a group that trolls Twitter as fact-checkers, but in fact that’s not always the way it’s used,” said Kira Hall, professor of Linguistics and Anthropology at University of Colorado Boulder. “And if it is, fact-checking is happening from conservative to liberal stances as well as from liberal to conservative stances.” Consider this Slate headline from earlier this year: “Actually, Electric Cars Are good for the planet.” Or this one from The Weekly Standard: “Actually, Hamas Killed the Palestinian Baby.” Or this one from The New Republic: “Actually, You Can’t Just ‘Restore’ Cancelled Health Plans.”

The use of actually has become so common, in fact, that it has become the source of humor and satire. Usage varies, but tweets bearing the hashtag #actually often aren’t factual challenges but rather jokes about the petty overuse of the word itself. The #WellActually hashtag, meanwhile, serves a different purpose: to mock or criticise Twitter users who are fond of using “Well, actually…” in picking fights.

Well, Kate Losse, here’s your thinkpiece – and it’s as good a sign as any that it’s time to retire actually. The word has become so ubiquitous, and so abused, that its use barely registers a sting anymore. Before long, like literally before it, actually may lose its meaning altogether. Jessica Luther, a writer and prolific Twitter user whose position on reproductive rights has drawn quite a few actuallys, summed it perfectly for me: “It’s one of those words you see and you know you’re not going anywhere productive afterwards.” 

Read Act 1 of Pygmalion for homework

This is a tale of misogyny, obsession, and love. It is the story of a phenomenally talented artist, a stunningly beautiful statue of a woman, and a goddess, Venus, who makes their union possible. It warns us of the dangers of putting our loved ones "on a pedestal", and depriving them of their humanity, love's critical ingredient.

PYGMALION AND GALATEA
from Mythology by Edith Hamilton

This story is told only by Ovid and the Goddess of Love is therefore Venus. It is an excellent example of Ovid's way of dressing up a myth, for which see the Introduction.

A gifted young sculptor of Cyprus, named Pygmalion, was a woman-hater. Detesting the faults beyond measure which nature has given to women, he resolved never to marry. His art, he told himself, was enough for him. Nevertheless, the statue he made and devoted all his genius to was that of a woman. Either he could not dismiss what he so disapproved of from his mind as easily as from his life, or else he was bent on forming a perfect woman and showing men the deficiencies of the kind they had to put up with.

However that was, he labored long and devotedly on the statue and produced a most exquisite work of art. But lovely as it was he could not rest content. He kept on working at it and daily under his skillful fingers it grew more beautiful. No woman· ever born, no statue ever made, could approach it. When nothing could be added to its perfections, a strange fate had befallen its creator: he had fallen in love, deeply, passionately in love, with the thing he had made. It must be said in explanation that the statue did not look like a statue; no one would have thought it was ivory or stone, but warm human flesh, motionless for a moment only. Such was the wondrous power of this disdainful young man. The supreme achievement of art was his, the art of concealing art.

But from that time on, the sex he scorned had their revenge.

No hopeless lover of a living maiden was ever so desperately unhappy as Pygmalion. He kissed those enticing lips—they could not kiss him back; he caressed her hands, her face—they were unresponsive; he took her in his arms—she remained a cold and passive form. For a time he tried to pretend, as children do with their toys. He would dress her in rich robes, trying the effect of one delicate or glowing color after another, and imagine she was pleased. He would bring her the gifts real maiden’s love, little birds and gay flowers and the shining tears of amber Phaethon's sisters weep, and then dream that she thanked him with eager affection. He put her to bed at night, and tucked her in all soft and warm, as little girls do their dolls. But he was not a child; he could not keep on pretending. In the end he gave up. He loved a lifeless thing and he was utterly and hopelessly wretched.

This singular passion did not long remain concealed from the Goddess of Passionate Love. Venus was interested in something that seldom came her way, a new kind of lover, and she determined to help a young man who could be enamored and yet original.

The feast day of Venus was, of course, especially honored in Cyprus, the island which first received the goddess after she rose from the foam. Snow-white heifers whose horns had been gilded were offered in numbers to her; the heavenly odor of incense was spread through the island from her many altars; crowds thronged her temples; not an unhappy lover but was there with his gift, praying that his love might turn kind. There too, of course, was Pygmalion. He dared to ask the goddess only that he might find a maiden like his statue, but Venus knew what he really wanted and as a sign that she favored his prayer the flame on the altar he stood before leaped up three times, blazing into the air.

Very thoughtful at this good omen Pygmalion sought his house and his love, the thing he had created and given his heart to. There she stood on her pedestal, entrancingly beautiful. He caressed her and then he started back. Was it self-deception or did she really feel warm to his touch? He kissed her lips, a long lingering kiss, and felt them grow soft beneath his. He touched her arms, her shoulders; their hardness vanished. It was like watching wax soften in the sun. He clasped her wrist; blood was pulsing there. Venus, he thought. This is the goddess’s doing. And with unutterable gratitude and joy he put his arms around his love and saw her smile into his eyes and blush.

Venus herself graced their marriage with her presence, but what happened after that we do not know, except that Pygmalion named the maiden Galatea, and that their son, Paphos, gave his name to Venus' favorite city.

One man, Pygmalion, who had seen these women
Leading their lives, shocked at the vices
Nature has given the female disposition
Only too often, chose to live alone,
To have no woman in his bed. But meanwhile
He made, with marvelous art, an ivory statue,
As white as snow, and gave it greater beauty
Than any girl could have, and fell in love
With his own workmanship. The image seemed
That of a virgin, truly, almost living,
And willing, save that modesty prevented,
To take on movement. The best art, they say,
Is that which conceals art, and so Pygmalion
Marvels, and loves the body he has fashioned.
He would often move his hands to test and touch It,
Could this be flesh, or was it ivory only?
No, it could not be ivory. His kisses,
He fancies, she returns; he speaks to her,
Holds her, believes his fingers almost leave
An imprint on her limbs, and fears to bruise her.
He pays her compliments, and brings her presents
Such as girls love, smooth pebbles, winding shells,
Little pet birds, flowers with a thousand colors,
Lilies, and painted balls, and lumps of amber.
He decks her limbs with dresses, and her fingers
Wear rings which he puts on, and he brings a necklace,
And earrings, and a ribbon for her bosom,
And all of these become her, but she seems
Even more lovely naked, and he spreads
A crimson coverlet for her to lie on,
Takes her to bed, puts a soft pillow under
Her head, as if she felt it, calls her Darling,

My darling love!
                           "And Venus' holiday
Came round, and all the people of the island
Were holding festival, and snow-white heifers,
Their horns all tipped with gold, stood at the altars,
Where incense burned, and, timidly, Pygmalion
Made offering, and prayed: 'If you can give
All things, O gods, I pray my wife may be—
(He almost said, My ivory girl, but dared not)—
One like my ivory girl' And golden Venus
Was there, and understood the prayer's intention,
And showed her presence, with the bright flame leaping
Thrice on the altar, and Pygmalion came
Back where the maiden lay, and lay beside her,
And kissed her, and she seemed to glow, and kissed her,
And stroked her breast, and felt the ivory soften
Under his fingers, as wax grows soft in sunshine,
Made pliable by handling. And Pygmalion
Wonders, and doubts, is dubious and happy,
Plays lover again, and over and over touches
The body with his hand. It is a body!
The veins throb under the thumb. And oh, Pygmalion
Is lavish in his prayer and praise to Venus,
No words are good enough. The lips he kisses
Are real indeed, the ivory girl can feel them,
And blushes and responds, and the eyes open
At once on lover and heaven, and Venus blesses
The marriage she has made. The crescent moon
Fills to full orb, nine times, and wanes again,
And then a daughter is born, a girl named Paphos,
From whom the island later takes its name. [Book 10]

On PowerPoint or similar computer slide program, show students a collection of

paintings and sculptures that depict Pygmalion and Galatea. As each piece is shown,

ask students to draw a thumbnail sketch for their notes, and then write a brief

description and a brief analysis. After the viewing is complete, ask students to reflect

on the works as a whole. Do they share any patterns in style, subject matter, or

theme? Discuss the relationship between the artist and his creation. A collection of

possible works appears below.

1. Goya’s Pygmalion and Galatea (1812)

2. Falconet’s Pygmalion and Galaté (1763)

3. Burne-Jones four part series of Pygmalion (1868-1870); (1875-1878)

4. Gerome’s Pygmalion and Galatea (1890)

5. Rodin’s Pygmalion et Galatée (1908)

VICTORIAN WEB QUEST

Individually or in groups, students can use the internet to delve into Victorian

history and culture. Teachers can create their own topics and links, or they can

utilize web resources already available. Topics might include Victorian education,

marriage, language, social reform, theatre, and clothing.

These links provide a starting point:

• http://www.victorianweb.org/

• http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Victorian_index.htm

• http://www.victorianstation.com/

• http://www.victorianlondon.org/

• http://www.victoriana.com/

How to do a Cockney accent

Discuss Mother Tongue rhetoric questions

Connotation
Dentotation

What slang exists in the language of texting?  How are abbreviation and code words used to indicate ideas with words or acronyms that are different from standard academic English or the English of a news station like CNN?  Provide examples.

Identify and respectfully give names to different types of English spoken in your home, neighborhood, and school.

What are the strengths and rhetorical features of each?  Which types employ more figurative language, such as creative expressions, use of metaphor, imagery, simile? Give examples of slang (language use particular to that form of English) from that type of English.  

Does this type of English rely at all on verbal intonations and pronunciation (specific forms of delivery and pronunciation) to convey tone and meaning?  Provide an example to your partner.  

Do any of the types of English around you employ sarcasm, irony, satire or some other form of humor?

Which types of spoken and written English rely rely on more literal/denotative versions of Enlgish?  What are the strengths and limitations of those types of English? 

What types of associations (including unfair or ignorant ones) do people make about the different types of English spoken at school or in your neighborhood or homes?  What prejudices or misunderstandings surround certain types of English (think about Amy Tan's essay for examples to get you started).

In the textbook,  Chapter 10: Language, read pages 699 -704 (which includes Mother Tongue by Amy Tan) and discuss discussion #'s 2, 3, 4, 5 in your regular notebook

HW: In your Composition Notebook, Next, tonight let's work on Rhetoric Styles Questions # 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7