Unit 4 Arguing for the Poor AP Language and Composition Mr. Coia

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1 Unit 4 Arguing for the Poor AP Language and Composition Mr. Coia Name: Date: Period: Mon 12/2 (Tues 12/3) RT quiz 1-60 Discussion on comics ( Eye of a needle ) Read SOAPS handout on tone Read, annotate, SOAPSTone Barbara Lazear Ascher s On Compassion Complete questions on Rhetoric and Style HW: Find example of Visual Rhetoric comic on the issue of poverty; be prepared to explain it to the class Wed 12/4 (Thurs 12/5) Practice AP multiple-choice test ( On Compassion ) Visual Rhetoric presentations Lesson: Appositives (LC ). Compete exercises 1-5 Intro to the Argument Essay (Handout) Read/mark handout Read/discuss sample topics from past tests HW: Read and mark Intro to Argument Essay Fri 12/6 (Mon 12/9) Practice AP timed essay ( Singer ). [40 minutes] Include two examples each of appositives and participles. Underline your examples Visual Rhetoric presentations Notebook check Read and grade student in-class essays; read anchor papers HW: Read Singer Solution to World Poverty (LC ). Annotate and SOAPSTone. Respond to any three of the Rhetoric and Style questions. Each answer should be a collegelevel paragraph minimum, typed Tues 12/10 (Wed 12/11) RT Quiz 1-65 Film clip: Stephen Colbert and Wikipedia Discuss Singer Solution. How would your paper differ after reading his complete essay? What is satire? Read Onion articles: Steinbeck and Science Film clip: FWP Begin A Modest Proposal Thurs 12/12 (Fri 12/13) Film clip: SNL Tech Talk Quick Write: Modest Proposal Write an editorial using satire to argue for how to address the issue of poverty. Practice AP multiple-choice test ( A Modest Proposal ) Discussion on A Modest Proposal HW: Study for RT Test; type a word Reaction Paper to the topic of poverty. How ought we respond? This can be serious or satirical. Use 5 rhetorical syntactical terms. Underline and label. Mon 12/16 (Tues 12/17) RT TEST on ALL 1-65 Visual Rhetoric presentations Paper presentations HW: Review handout, Introduction to Argument Essay for next class s test Wed 12/18 (Thurs 12/19) AP Timed Argument Essay (40 minutes) Review Anchor papers Peer scoring Fri 12/20 A Day ONLY Christmas and Rhetorical Terms creative writing activity While there is no homework over Christmas break, you may want to order a copy of both Huckleberry Finn and The Great Gatsby for upcoming units. We ll begin Huck Finn when we return. (Mon 1/6) B Day ONLY Rhetorical terms review Rhetorical analysis and argument essays Best of 2013 lists Tues 1/7 (Wed 1/8) Begin Huck Finn unit HW: Read, annotate, SOAPS Swift s A Modest Proposal ; Respond to any three of the Rhetoric and Style questions. Each answer should be a college-level paragraph minimum, typed 1

2 Assignments for this Unit We ll focus on these three essays in this unit: Barbara Lazear Ascher s On Compassion Peter Singer s Singer Solution to World Poverty Jonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal For each, you will read, annotate, and complete a SOAPStone Rhetorical Terms Study We will continue our study of course vocabulary for this class by memorizing Rhetorical Terms. Notebook Check You ll need the following for our third notebook check. Be ready anytime at the start of the unit. LA Handouts: Unit guide 4 (on top) Unit guide 3 AP Rhetorical Terms packet SOAPS handout (unit guide 1 p. 5) Essay Graphic Organizer for Rhetorical Analysis (unit guide 2 p. 13) Introduction to the Argument Essay handout Generic AP Rubric Syntax Overview (unit guide 2, p. 9-12) Letter from Birmingham Jail marked essay Good Country People marked story Sedaris and Alexie readings How Do I Format My Paper? (unit guide 1 p. 3) AP Course Overview (unit guide 1 p. 4) Initialed Class Rules LA Classwork: Notes from lectures, presentations, mini-lessons. Remember you should be taking notes each class period. You will also have at least 25 sheets of loose-leaf paper in your binder, and your pens, pencils, highlighter, etc. Unit Objectives: Analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining an author s use of rhetorical strategies and techniques; Apply effective strategies and techniques in their own writing; Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience; Demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own writings; 2

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4 Girl Moved To Tears By 'Of Mice And Men' Cliffs Notes AUGUST 18, 2006 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA In what she described as "the most emotional moment" of her academic life, University of Virginia sophomore communications major Grace Weaver sobbed openly upon concluding Steinbeck's seminal work of American fiction Of Mice And Men's Cliffs Notes early last week. "This book has changed me in a way that only great literature summaries can," said Weaver, who was so shaken by the experience that she requested an extension on her English 229 essay. "The humanity displayed in the Character Flowchart really stirred something in me. And Lennie's childlike innocence was beautifully captured through the simple, ranch-hand slang words like 'mentally handicapped' and 'retarded.'" Added Weaver: "I never wanted the synopsis to end." Weaver, who formed an "instant connection" with Lennie's character-description paragraph, said she began to suspect the novel might end tragically after reading the fourth sentence which suggested the gentle giant's strength and fascination with soft things would "lead to his untimely demise." "I was amazed at how attached to him I had become just from the critical commentary," said Weaver, still clutching the yellow-and-black-striped study guide. "When I got to the last sentence 'George shoots Lennie in the head,' it seemed so abrupt. But I found out later that the 'ephemeral nature of life' is a major theme of the novel." Weaver was assigned Of Mice And Men a novel scholars have called "a masterpiece of austere prose" and "the most skillful example of American naturalism under 110 pages" as part of her early twentieth-century fiction course, and purchased the Cliffs Notes from a cardboard rack at her local Barnes & Noble. John Whittier-Ferguson, her professor for the class, told reporters this was not the first time one of his students has expressed interest in the novel's plot summary. "It's one of those universal American stories," said Ferguson after being informed of Weaver's choice to read the Cliffs Notes instead of the pocket-sized novel. "I look forward to skimming her essay on the importance of following your dreams and randomly assigning it a grade. Though she completed the two-page brief synopsis in one sitting, Weaver said she felt strangely drawn into the plot overview and continued on, exploring the more fleshed-out chapter summaries. "There's something to be said for putting in that extra time with a good story," Weaver said. "You just get more out of it. I'm also going to try to find that book about rabbits that George was always reading to Lennie, so that I can really understand that important allusion." Within an hour of completing the cliffs notes, Weaver was already telling friends and classmates that Steinbeck was her favorite author, as well as reciting select quotations from the "Important Quotations" section for their benefit. 4

5 "When I read those quotes, found out which characters they were attributed to, and inferred their context from the chapter outlines to piece together their significance, I was just blown away," said a teary-eyed Weaver. "And the way Steinbeck wove the theme of hands all the way through the section entitled 'Hands' he definitely deserved to win that Nobel Prize." Weaver's roommate, Giulia Crenshaw, has already borrowed the dog-eared, highlighted summary of the classic Depression-era saga, and is expecting to enjoy reading what Weaver described as "a really sad story about two brothers who love to farm." "I loved this book so much, I'm going to read all of Steinbeck's Cliffs Notes," said Weaver. "But first I'm going to go to the library to check out the original version Of Mice And Men starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise." High-School Science Teacher Takes Fun And Excitement Out Of Science OCTOBER 23, 2002 ISSUE VERONA, NJ Verona High School ninth-grade science teacher Mark Randalls has a unique talent for taking the fun and magic out of science, students of his comprehensive survey class reported Tuesday. Randalls awaits the beginning of fourth period, during which students will read silently at their desks. "I have a lot of information I'm required to impart to these children before they complete this grade and move on to dedicated physics, biology, or chemistry," Randalls said. "If I tried to illustrate each and every aspect of science with an experiment or anecdote, we would never complete the necessary coursework by year's end." A 25-year veteran instructor in Verona, Randalls teaches his students the periodic table using a standard wall-sized chart, the appropriate page in the same Houghton-Mifflin science textbook he's used since 1982, and a few minor experiments he runs by himself to save time. "As you can see from the math I assigned you last night, the element sodium combines with water in an exothermic reaction, which means it gives off heat and, in some cases, light," Randalls said, doing the work at a safe distance from his fifth-period students. "Now, I'm using just a small grain of sodium, so there isn't the large flash you might get, not that you could see it in this stainless-steel bowl. But you can see the temperature go up on our thermometer here." Randalls then asked the student with the highest grade on the last weekly quiz, Mike Lendberg, to come up and read the temperature change off the unwieldy dial thermometer. 5

6 "Mr. Randalls says science is a way of understanding how the universe works," said Lendberg. "At least he said that on the first day. I've kind of tuned him out since then." "I wonder if two-tenths of a degree is a lot," Lendberg added. "Well. Probably not." For his part, Randalls said he believes a firm grounding in the basics is the most important education he can give his class, and that he constantly battles distraction in school. "The other day, Amy Bethke asked me how sodium can be part of salt if it is poisonous," Randalls said, shaking his head. "I had to waste two minutes explaining how it has a stable bond with the element chlorine. Then, when I tried to go on, she realized chlorine was also poisonous, and said, 'Isn't that weird that two deadly elements combine to make harmless table salt?' I finally had to send her to the office to make copies just to get her to stop interrupting the class." Added Randalls: "These kids are getting worse every year. It's a wonder I get any teaching done at all." Other points left out of Randall's discussion of the periodic table include a discussion of how simple flammable hydrogen makes up more than 90 percent of the universe, a demonstration of sound waves propagating strangely in helium, and an explanation of carbon's role in the creation of both coal and diamonds, as well as its use as a building block for life. Nearly all of Randalls' students, or at least those who have chosen not to frequently skip class, have expressed dissatisfaction with his approach to science. "I was really looking forward to last month's electricity unit," said freshman Don Linzmann, whose prior exposure to Bill Nye and Cosmos reruns got him interested in physics. "I'd heard about these cool things called Van de Graaff generators, which make your hair stand up when you touch them, and this thing called a Jacob's Ladder that makes a really huge arc of electricity. But all we did was spend a week calculating amperage." After another week spent on the periodic table, Randalls will begin teaching a unit on anatomy. "I just hope these kids sit still for the frog dissection in two weeks," Randalls said. "I went to great lengths to procure a five-part filmstrip series that illustrates the frog anatomy step-by-step so we won't have to create a lot of mess dissecting the animals ourselves. Besides, the class always gets way too rambunctious when we try to do a lab." 6