Monday
• warm-up: rhetoric intro
• activity 1: working bibliography and
MLA format
• activity 2: research. Topic approval
form due at the end of class.
• close: advertisement analysis
• Due:
2.1
• 2.1: Topic approval form due
• 2.2: Unit quiz 1 (visual rhetoric)
• 2.2: Argumentation essay due (formal
50 points)
• 2.5: Vocab. 15 quiz
• 2.5: Working bib. due
• 2.9: Unit quiz 2 (Am. Enlightenment)
• 2.11: Argumentation Unit Test
• 2.12: Outline due
• 2.12: The Scarlet Letter assigned
• 2.22: First three pages due
• 3.1: Final rough draft due
• 3.11: grad paper due
2.1 warm-up: vocab. quiz?
• How many of you do not have your vocabulary book yet?
• Your quiz is still this Friday, and I will post vocab. words as needed.
• Additionally, Ms. Siciliano in . . . um, C303? C305? Somewhere
around there—she’s got a bunch of vocab. books. You can go in
during morning tutoring and work through the practices.
• As far as the format of the quiz goes, let me just show you what to
expect.
2.1 warm-up: Close reading
• Atticus Finch? Who’s that?
• Identify his claim, grounds, warrant.
• Who is his audience?
• What is his purpose in addressing this audience?
• Is he effective? Is his argument, in other words, convincing (whether
or not it was actually successful)?
• Make sure you hang on to this. We’re going to work some more with
this text tomorrow.
2.1 notes: working bib?
• So you’ll be able to work on this today if your topic approval form is
done.
• Basically, this just means you’re reading sources and whatever.
• Remember:
• Proquest can only be accessed through the public library program
called "One Access." We no longer have it available at AK. Students go
to https://www.cmlibrary.org/resource/proquest-central. They use
their student ID# to log in.
• Let’s play a quick game . . .
2.1 notes: working bib?
• Which of these two Works Cited entries is correct?
• Delistraty, Cody C. “For a Better Brain, Learn Another Language.” The
Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 Nov.
2015.
• Delistraty, Cody C. “The Atlantic.” For a Better Brain, Learn Another
Language. N.P., N.D. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
• Does it really matter?
• The top one is correct . . .
• So here’s the deal. Let’s compare the right way and the wrong way(s).
2.1 notes: working bib?
• Doing it the right way means you have paid attention to the tiny
details.
• It means you’ve standardized your paper.
• It probably means you’ve edited it, too.
• Does MLA matter?
• Not really, but paying attention to details does.
• Working bib needs at least ten sources that you’ve examined so far.
• I can very quickly tell you when you turn it in on Friday if you’ve
formatted it correctly and if your sources are scholarly or not.
CLOSE and HW
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
2.1
Read and annotate the document “American Enlightenment Thought.”
Annotate for information (as opposed to argumentation techniques).
Only fully annotated documents will be trackerized.
Please note, your argumentation essay is due tomorrow.
I will not collect your essay if you do not have a rubric.
I will not provide you with a rubric.
If you’re feeling generous, you might want to print 1 or 2 extras for that
friend whom you know will forget the rubric.
• If you are absent tomorrow, please see the syllabus for the policy on
turning in essays if you are absent. It’s pretty explicit.
Tuesday
•
•
•
•
warm-up: one more ad analysis.
activity 1: unit quiz 1
activity 2: Enlightenment intro
activity 3: Rhetoric intro and
notes
• close: return to Atticus
• Due: Argumentation essay.
Staple rubric to front. Place in
folder up front.
2.2
• 2.2: Unit quiz 1 (visual rhetoric)
• 2.2: Argumentation essay due
(formal 50 points)
• 2.5: Vocab. 15 quiz
• 2.5: Working bib. due
• 2.9: Unit quiz 2 (Am.
Enlightenment)
• 2.11: Argumentation Unit Test
• 2.12: Outline due
• 2.12: The Scarlet Letter assigned
• 2.22: First three pages due
• 3.1: Final rough draft due
• 3.11: grad paper due
2.2 note: topic approval form
• I have to sign many of your grad project checklists.
• If I did not sign yesterday, and I returned your topic approval form, please
have both on your desk.
• As I return your topic approval form, please have your grad paper checklist
on your desk.
• NOTE: If I did not sign your topic approval form, please come see me in the
next two-three days. I have not approved your topic and need to discuss it
with you.
• NOTE: I have bus duty this afternoon, so I will be late getting to my office.
Thursday afternoon is the AP meeting, so I will have no afternoon office
hours. Friday afternoon hours don’t exist.
2.2 warm-up: Analyze this ad.• Identify claim, grounds, warrant.
• TEXT: The difference between
“just smoking” and really enjoying
your smoke is the taste of a
cigarette. You can taste the
difference in the smoother,
mellower, more enjoyable taste of
a Lucky, and for two important
reasons. First, Lucky means fine
tobacco, fine mild tobacco that
tastes better. Second, Luckies are
made to taste better. A monthafter-month cigarette comparison
measuring those important factors
of workmanship that affect the
taste of a cigarette proves Lucky
Strike is the best made of all five
principal bands [of cigarettes].
That’s a fact—established by The
Research Laboratory of The
American Tobacco Company.
2.2 quiz: Unit quiz 1 (visual rhetoric)
• Usual quiz procedures.
• Wait. You don’t know them yet, do you.
• There will be folder.
• You’ll put the quiz in the folder.
• Sometimes there’ll be something for you to pick up when you’re
done.
• Sometimes not. Depends on what the instructions on the next slide
say.
2.2 post-quiz: The Enlightenment
• Turn to p. 226 in your textbook and define the three persuasive techniques.
(I’d define these terms wherever you have your other argumentation terms
defined.)
• What did the Puritans believe (p. 24)?
• What was the Enlightenment (p. 25)? What did the Enlightenment propose
regarding government?
• How would Puritanical beliefs have butted heads with the ideas of the
Enlightenment?
• Read p. 30-31.
• Why were pamphlets important for aiding the cause of revolution?
• Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
• What is natural law? Why would natural law dictate that America had to break
free from England?
• The Revolution has been called a “war of ideas.” Why might this be so?
2.2 Activity: Enlightenment intro
• Tomorrow we will take an oral quiz over the Enlightenment article you
read last night for HW.
• Please bring your copy of that article with you tomorrow.
• Let’s get some new terms that we’ll use for the rest of this unit.
2.2 notes: Rhetoric
• Rhetoric: the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing,
especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional
techniques.
• The thing is all language is persuasive.
• For example, here’s Shakespeare:
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun*;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
5
10
I have seen roses damask'd*, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied* with false compare.
*dun: dull; gray in color
*damask’d: decorated
*belied: betrayed
Read the poem again then
answer the following:
1. Why doesn’t the
Speaker’s mistress (or
lover) favorably
compare to the sun,
roses, music, etc.
2. What is Shakespeare’s
point?
3. What is he trying to
persuade his audience
to see/believe?
2.2 notes: Rhetoric
• So that is rhetoric. In fact, that’s basically what Shakespeare studied in grade
school (along with Latin, a little history and some basic math).
• Shakespeare’s manipulation of language to make meaning is rhetoric.
• In fact, I like that definition of rhetoric better than the one about persuasion.
• Rhetoric: the manipulation of language to make meaning.
• But rhetoric has a negative connotation in our society. In fact, that connotation
has actually found its way into the denotative definition of the term:
• language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but
often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content.
• Rats. But the connotation is false! Rhetoric is lovely! It’s similes and metaphors
and poems and inspirational speeches and religious texts and music and film and
paintings.
2.2 notes: Rhetoric
• But it is, obviously, also this:
2.2 notes: Rhetoric
• In our studies this year, we need to remember that everything is
rhetoric.
• Let’s begin by defining some rhetorical terms.
• Rhetorical device: techniques a speaker uses to persuade her
audience.
• Rhetorical question: Asks a question where the answer is implied or
obvious.
• Your parents ask you, “Hey, what are you? Stupid?”
• They already know the answer to that question . . .
2.2 Notes: rhetorical devices
• Antithesis: contrasting ideas are expressed in a grammatically balanced
statement.
• Huh?
• “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
• “Give me liberty or give me death.” (Psst. Make sure you remember this
one.)
• Repetition: same word or phrase is repeated for emphasis.
• As opposed to . . .
• Parallelism: a repeated grammatical pattern in multiple clauses.
• Caesar said, “I came. I saw. I conquered.” Parallelism. It’s not the exact
same words, but the grammatical structure is the same. Or . . .
2.2 Notes: Rhetoric intro
• Rhetoric is the language that a speaker (book, speech, article, poem,
conversation, film—speaker here is a general term for anyone
communicating a message) uses to persuade an audience.
• Rhetoric is very important in argumentation but has broader applications
(which we’ll talk about next unit).
• Rhetorical appeals are the ways in which a speaker persuades her
audience. There are three main types.
• Logical appeals (logos): facts, data or a logical conclusion.
• Emotional appeals (pathos): make the audience feel something.
• Ethical appeals (ethos): convince the audience of the speaker’s integrity
(very different definition from the book but a far more accurate one).
2.2 activity: Atticus Finch
• Let’s attempt to identify rhetorical appeals.
• Return to the Atticus Finch speech from the other day.
• Identify where Atticus uses rhetorical devices (parallelism, repetition,
antithesis, rhetorical question) and rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos,
logos)
CLOSE and HW
2.2
• Print Patrick Henry’s Speech in Virginia Convention (p. 228-234). (NOTE:
There is a picture on p. 231 that you can skip.) We’ll be working with the
speech for two days, and you’ll be assigned to read it tomorrow. But for
tonight, all I need you to do is have a printed copy ready for tomorrow.
• Online textbook? my.hrw.com. Username: mcampolmi / password:
p6z6p
• The next part of your grad paper that is due is your working bibliography.
• Our next computer work day is Friday.
• Working bib is due by the end of class on Friday.
Wednesday
• notes: rhetoric terms and
application to a piece of
literature
• activity: identify rhetorical
appeals
• close: review and oral quiz with
American Enlightenment article
• Due: printed and annotated
copy of American
Enlightenment article. In
tracker as “Am. Enlightenment”
2.3
• 2.5: Vocab. 15 quiz
• 2.5: Working bib. due
• 2.9: Unit quiz 2 (Am.
Enlightenment)
• 2.11: Argumentation Unit Test
• 2.12: Outline due
• 2.12: The Scarlet Letter assigned
• 2.22: First three pages due
• 3.1: Final rough draft due
• 3.11: grad paper due
2.3 warm-up: The Enlightenment
• Turn to p. 226 in your textbook and define the three persuasive techniques.
(I’d define these terms wherever you have your other argumentation terms
defined.)
• What did the Puritans believe (p. 24)?
• What was the Enlightenment (p. 25)? What did the Enlightenment propose
regarding government?
• How would Puritanical beliefs have butted heads with the ideas of the
Enlightenment?
• Read p. 30-31.
• Why were pamphlets important for aiding the cause of revolution?
• Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
• What is natural law? Why would natural law dictate that America had to break
free from England?
• The Revolution has been called a “war of ideas.” Why might this be so?
2.3 notes: Rhetoric
• In our studies this year, we need to remember that everything is
rhetoric.
• Let’s begin by defining some rhetorical terms.
• Rhetorical device: techniques a speaker uses to persuade her
audience.
• Rhetorical question: Asks a question where the answer is implied or
obvious.
• Your parents ask you, “Hey, what are you? Stupid?”
• They already know the answer to that question . . .
2.3 Notes: rhetorical devices
• Antithesis: contrasting ideas are expressed in a grammatically balanced
statement.
• Huh?
• “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
• “Give me liberty or give me death.” (Psst. Make sure you remember this
one.)
• Repetition: same word or phrase is repeated for emphasis.
• As opposed to . . .
• Parallelism: a repeated grammatical pattern in multiple clauses.
• Caesar said, “I came. I saw. I conquered.” Parallelism. It’s not the exact
same words, but the grammatical structure is the same. Or . . .
2.3 Notes: Rhetoric intro
• Rhetoric is the language that a speaker (book, speech, article, poem,
conversation, film—speaker here is a general term for anyone
communicating a message) uses to persuade an audience.
• Rhetoric is very important in argumentation but has broader applications
(which we’ll talk about next unit).
• Rhetorical appeals are the ways in which a speaker persuades her
audience. There are three main types.
• Logical appeals (logos): facts, data or a logical conclusion.
• Emotional appeals (pathos): make the audience feel something.
• Ethical appeals (ethos): convince the audience of the speaker’s integrity
(very different definition from the book but a far more accurate one).
2.3 activity: Atticus Finch
• Let’s attempt to identify rhetorical appeals.
• Return to the Atticus Finch speech from the other day.
• Identify where Atticus uses rhetorical devices (parallelism, repetition,
antithesis, rhetorical question) and rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos,
logos)
2.3 activity: The Enlightenment
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
By whom were the American Enlightenment thinkers inspired?
What does the metaphor “bringing light to the Dark Age” mean (3)?
How did the Enlightenment propose to bring “light to the Dark Age”?
What conditions allowed Enlightenment thought to thrive in America?
What did Thomas Paine write about?
What is deism?
How did the deists fight perceived religious intolerance?
Were deists atheists? Cite grounds to support your claim.
2.3 activity: The Enlightenment
9. Upon what did Enlightenment thinkers base the authority of government?
10. What does it mean to be “anti-authoritarian” (34)? How were the
Enlightenment thinkers anti-authoritarian?
11. What fundamental “God-given rights” did Enlightenment thinkers believe all
men had? Who inspired this notion? What US document guarantees these
rights?
12. What is a republic? How did George Washington represent the ideal leader in
a republic?
13. What did Jefferson propose regarding the Constitution?
14. Why did Enlightenment thinkers favor toleration of others?
15. Why would a state-sanctioned church be antithetical to Enlightenment beliefs?
16. What scientific advances allowed for a more liberal view of religion during the
Enlightenment?
17. How was Ben Franklin instrumental in furthering the cause of science in
America?
2.3 Activity: Patrick Henry
• Patrick Henry. Read the biographical information on p. 228.
• Read the background before the speech on p. 230. Can you guess
what the purpose of his speech is?
• Let’s listen to the speech. Read along as we listen.
• As you read, identify where Henry uses rhetoric (rhetorical appeals
and rhetorical devices).
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHo-3LEcgQE
CLOSE and HW
2.3
• If you haven’t done so already, read and annotate the Patrick Henry
speech. Tomorrow we’ll be working with it.
• Working bibliography is due at the beginning of class on Friday.
Format according to MLA standards. Include at least ten sources at
which you’ve looked.
• Friday is also a computer work day. Feel free to bring your own tech.
Be prepared to start your outline.
Thursday
• Due: Shell ad analysis. In tracker
as “shell ad.”
2.4
• 2.2: Unit quiz 1 (visual rhetoric)
• 2.2: Argumentation essay due
(formal 50 points)
• 2.5: Vocab. 15 quiz
• 2.5: Working bib. due
• 2.9: Unit quiz 2 (Am.
Enlightenment)
• 2.11: Argumentation Unit Test
• 2.12: Outline due
• 2.12: The Scarlet Letter assigned
• 2.22: First three pages due
• 3.1: Final rough draft due
• 3.11: grad paper due
2.4 warm-up: Review rhetorical appeals
• Rhetorical appeals: the persuasive techniques a speaker uses to
argue a claim
• Logos: logic and facts and data
• Pathos: emotional language
• Ethos: convince the audience of the speaker’s credibility
• Examine the examples on the following slide and identify them as
ethos, pathos or logos.
2.4 warm-up: Identify rhetorical appeals
• Don’t you realize the pain you’ll cause your mother if you get caught
cheating on an exam??? You don’t want your mother to be
disappointed in you, do you?
• I’m a senior and have taken hundreds of exams. Just listen to me and
I’ll tell you exactly what you need to do to pass them.
• If you cheat on the exam, you will get caught because everyone else
who has ever cheated has gotten caught. Therefore, don’t cheat!
2.4 warm-up: Identify rhetorical appeals
• Don’t you realize the pain you’ll cause your mother if you get caught
cheating on an exam??? You don’t want your mother to be disappointed in
you, do you?
• Pathos: The prompt asks the audience to feel guilt, shame or
embarrassment at the thought of their mother’s agony.
• I’m a senior and have taken hundreds of exams. Just listen to me and I’ll
tell you exactly what you need to do to pass them.
• Ethos: The speaker claims to be an expert based on authority.
• If you cheat on the exam, you will get caught because everyone else who
has ever cheated has gotten caught. Therefore, don’t cheat!
• Logos: The argument is logically constructed. If you do A, B will happen.
Therefore, don’t do A if you don’t want B to happen.
2.4 Activity: Identify rhetorical appeals
• Gallery walk.
• Around the room are ten ads.
• Each ad relies on a specific rhetorical appeal or a combination of
rhetorical appeals.
• With your partner, examine five of the ads. Identify the dominant
rhetorical appeal/s in each your chosen ad. In a sentence or two,
justify your choice.
• Additionally, identify any rhetorical device used in the ad.
2.4 warm-up: Patrick Henry questions
1. How does Henry establish his crediblity in the opening of the speech?
2. Henry claims that the issue is “nothing less than a question of freedom or
slavery” (8). What is the effect of this statement?
3. Why would Henry “consider [himself] guilty of treason” (12)?
4. What is the effect of the allusions contained in the second paragraph (lines 1521)?
5. What logical argument does Henry make in the fourth paragraph (lines 29-40)?
6. To what does Henry implore his audience not to “deceive [themselves] longer”
of (46)?
7. What rhetorical device does Henry use in lines 48-49?
8. What rhetorical device does Henry use in lines 62-68?
9. What grounds does Henry use to support the claim that America is not weak?
10. What rhetorical device does Henry use in line 79?
11. Who is Henry’s audience? How does he appeal to their emotions?
12. What rhetorical device does Henry use in line 86?
2.4 Notes: Rhetorical triangle
• The rhetorical triangle represents the relationship between a speaker,
the text and the audience.
• Not much to define, but just in case . . .
• Speaker: the person who delivers the text.
• Text (or subject): the speech, poem, play, show, movie, book, essay,
editorial, etc.
• Audience: the intended audience for the text.
• Golly. That was simple.
• You’ll learn much more about this stuff next class. For now . . .
2.4 Notes: Rhetorical triangle
• The classical model (developed
by, like, Greek dudes) adds in
rhetorical appeals.
• For our purposes, though, we’ll
stick to the simplified version.
2.4 Activity: Who is the audience?
• You will be given a slip of paper.
• Do not show that paper to a neighbor.
• On the slip is a scenario.
• You need to write a convincing argument given the parameters set up
by your slip.
• You will have ten minutes to write; then you will be put in groups.
CLOSE and HW
2.4
Friday
• warm-up: identify and analyze
rhetorical techniques
• activity: vocab. 15 quiz
• activity: Declaration of
Independence analysis
• activity: how to write an
introduction and outline format
• close: finish Jefferson analysis
• Due: Working bib. On desk
with grad paper checklist.
2.5
• 2.5: Vocab. 15 quiz
• 2.5: Working bib. due
• 2.9: Unit quiz 2 (Am.
Enlightenment)
• 2.11: Argumentation Unit Test
• 2.12: Outline due
• 2.12: The Scarlet Letter assigned
• 2.22: First three pages due
• 3.1: Final rough draft due
• 3.11: grad paper due
2.5 notes: taking notes, being responsible, etc.
1. I’ve only talked to about four people whose topic I did not approve.
2. If you haven’t come to see me regarding why I did not approve your topic, then
you are behind in your paper.
3. Your ability to move that paper in a positive direction is compromised.
4. That’s entirely on you. You signed up for an Honors class, and Honors level
work and responsibility is expected of you. (And this is broadly applicable now
to all of you.)
5. I’m sorry that we don’t do a lot of fun games and activities. We don’t have
time for that.
6. Argumentation essays are not following the Toulmin model for body
paragraphs. You had a week to complete that essay, a week in which you
could’ve come and seen me. I should be able to return the essays by Monday.
7. Take better notes, put honest effort forward and don’t allow yourself to fall
behind.
2.5 Warm-up: Identify rhetorical devices
• Return to Patrick Henry’s speech on p. 230.
• Identify each as an example of a rhetorical device.
• “If we wish to be free [ . . . ] we must fight. I repeat it, sir, we must fight”
(56, 60).
• “Gentlemen may cry, ‘Peace! peace!’—but there is no peace” (80).
• “But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next
year?” (63-64).
• “Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced
additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded”
(51-52).
• “[G]ive me liberty, or give me death!” (86).
• On a clean sheet of paper with your name on top, explain how one of the
above creates meaning in Henry’s speech. What effect, in other words,
does it have on Henry’s rhetoric?
2.5 activity: vocab. quiz 15
• Usual quiz procedures.
• Post-quiz: Declaration of Independence questions on the next slide.
• We’ll do the example on the quiz together to make sure no one
messes this up.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
What does Jefferson mean when by “the
separate and equal station” (3)?
What is the purpose of the first paragraph?
What truths, according to Jefferson, are selfevident?
Why are governments “instituted among
men” (10)?
How does Jefferson prove that the colonists
are not dissolving a government for “light
and transient causes” (16)?
What does “usurpations” mean (19)?
Why does Jefferson accuse England of ruling
under “despotism” (21)?
How have the colonists attempted to
counter “every stage of oppressions”
they’ve encountered from the British (91)?
What rhetorical device does Jefferson make
prominent use of in lines 95-101?
• Inside your triangle identify Jefferson’s claim,
the grounds he uses to support the claim, a
warrant/warrants (implied or explicit).
• Outside your triangle, answer these
questions:
1. Which rhetorical appeal does Jefferson’s
argument rely on?
2. How does Jefferson’s argument represent
a culmination of Enlightenment thought?
3. Jefferson makes extensive use of which
rhetorical device?
4. Why haven’t you drawn a picture of
Jefferson hanging out with Washington on
the Fourth of July shooting fireworks
together? Yeah, you totally need to do
that.
2.5 notes: writing about rhetorical devices.
• Most of you wrote about this one: “[G]ive me liberty, or give me death!”
(86).
• I can structure my analysis of this quote using Toulmin:
• CLAIM: Henry is desperate to achieve freedom.
• GROUNDS: He has come to believe that the situation with the British is
one of “freedom or slavery” (8). At the end of the speech, he emotionally
charges his audience with facing this question themselves. His own
decision leaves little room to misinterpret what he feels is the right action:
it’s either “liberty” or “death” (87).
• WARRANT: The antithetical statement demonstrates that Henry will do
anything to preserve his freedom. By cancelling out any other alternative,
Henry not only shows he is desperate, but that he will do anything he has
to to achieve his goal.
2.5 notes: writing about rhetorical devices.
• Henry is desperate to achieve freedom. He has come to believe that
the situation with the British is one of “freedom or slavery” (8). At
the end of the speech, he emotionally charges his audience with
facing this question themselves. His own decision leaves little room
to misinterpret what he feels is the right action: it’s either “liberty”
or “death” (87). The antithetical statement demonstrates that Henry
will do anything to preserve his freedom. By cancelling out any other
alternative, Henry not only shows he is desperate, but that he will do
anything he has to to achieve his goal.
2.5 Notes: How to write an intro
• The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that answers three
important questions:
• What is this?
• Why am I reading it?
• What do you want me to do?
• You should answer these questions by doing the following:
2.5 Notes: How to write an intro
• What is this? Set the context –provide general information about the
main idea, explaining the situation so the reader can make sense of
the topic and the claims you make and support.
• Why am I reading this? State why the main idea is important –tell
the reader why he or she should care and keep reading. Your goal is
to create a compelling, clear, and convincing essay people will want to
read and act upon
• What do you want me to do? State your thesis/claim –compose a
sentence or two stating the position you will support with grounds
and warrants.
2.5 Notes: Avoid these
• Clichés.
• Everyone has learned not to judge a book by a cover. That lesson,
though, seems to have been forgotten by some. Animal abuse is a
common problem
• It is a hard lesson for one to learn that all that glitters is not gold.
That’s exactly the lesson being learned in school cafeterias every day.
2.5 Notes: Avoid these
• Formal definitions.
• The dictionary defines animal abuse as the “deliberate harming of an
animal” (Webster’s). Therefore, people are hurting animals on purpose,
and this should be stopped.
• The grand and pointless claim.
• Scientists and archaeologists have confirmed that civilization has been
around for thousands of years. Throughout those thousands of years, there
have been millions of societal problems that has plagued humankind.
Civilizations have survived war, famine, drought, and disease. In 2014, one
of the greatest dangers affecting humankind is the problem of censorship
in public schools. Schools should not be allowed to censor books in order
to ensure the survival of all humankind!
2.5 Notes: Avoid these
• Beginning with a question. (NOTE: This can be done effectively but
often just appears to be lazy and ham-fisted.)
• Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an ear of corn? Of course
everyone has at one point wondered this, and the same conclusion is
invariably reached: If one has to be an ear of corn, one would want
to be one that is not genetically modified. The use of GMOs in
today’s society should be banned because no one would want to be
an ear of corn.
2.5 Notes: Avoid these
• Asking your audience to do anything.
• Imagine for a second that you’re about to open a book. You’ve been
told that the book is good and will expose you to new ideas, change
your way of thinking. Now imagine that you have to read the book in
private, under a sheet, away from prying eyes. This is exactly the type
of situation millions of American children are placed in every day.
Schools should not ban books because all books are helpful for
society today.
2.5 Notes: Avoid these
• Beginning with a quote.
• Patrick Henry once said that he faced of choice of “liberty or [ . . . ] death.”
And while Henry said those words over 250 years ago, they still ring true
today. In fact, it’s the same question facing many of our high school
students today. Banning books is a life or death matter, so schools should
not ban books because students will die.
• Moralizing. (Actually, this needs to be avoided throughout the entire
paper, but it usually happens in the intro and conclusion.)
• Americans today are too fat. No one can dispute this fact. Americans are
lazy, slothful, gluttonous and should be ashamed. Fatty snacks and
unhealthy food choices are ruining America. That is why all people should
feel bad for eating unhealthy foods and corporations should be forced only
to serve food made out of Soylent Green.
2.5 Notes: So what should you do?
• Don’t overthink. Can’t think of one? Heck, at least get your claim down and
work from there.
• Purdue OWL’s outline for an intro is excellent. Here it is again:
• What is this?
• Why am I reading it?
• What do you want me to do?
• You should answer these questions by doing the following:
• Set the context.
• State why the main idea is important
• State your thesis/claim
• Read through the intro and see if this intro accomplishes all the above points.
2.5 Activity: A better intro
• In 1990, a grading system was introduced in American public schools. This
grading system allowed for a 5.0 grading scale replacing the traditional 4.0
grading scale. The 5.0 grading scale was a result of a push by the newly
founded educational corporation College Board. College Board’s new
educational standards were labeled “Advanced Placement” and have come to
dominate the American educational landscape. The ultra-competitive system
of grading College Board began twenty-five years ago has forced students
make difficult choices regarding their education and has limited the college
readiness of students who opt out. A careful examination of College Board’s
practices reveals that an unfair emphasis has been placed on this profit-driven
enterprise. It is perhaps time that College Board and AP in general be brought
to scrutiny. Parents and students should opt out of AP classes in order to
create a more well-rounded educational system. Examining the history of
College Board’s rise to power is prudent in beginning to understand how they
have damaged America’s educational system.
2.5 notes: outline format?
• You already know what I’m looking for in your paper.
1. Intro  policy claim/thesis
• Intro should answer three basic questions.
2. Background information. Expository research that proves a problem
exists and/or gives the history of the problem.
3. A minimum of three main points. These are the most important parts of
your paper. They provide the benefit to adopting your policy claim. They
are structured using Toulmin.
4. Acknowledgement of counterclaim and refutation.
5. Conclusion.
• This is your outline, then. Format it however you want.
2.5 notes: outline?
• Topic: Organic foods should be served in schools.
1. Intro: Explain the issue. Set the context. Kids eat nasty, processed food
in schools and they’re totally sick and not that smart.
2. Background/history: Cite data and facts that show me that school food
as it is served now is detrimental to student health.
3. Main points: Organic foods in school will have health benefits (allergies,
less disease!); organic foods will have financial benefits; organic foods
will have educational benefits.
4. Counterarguments/refutation: Some guy says that serving kids fast foods
in school will have better benefits. That guy is wrong because these facts
say so. CHUMP!
5. Conclusion: And here’s how we can actually make this thing happen. I’m
awesome.
2.5 notes: Outline
• At the end of the day, I want your outline
to be useful for you.
• What I need to see in it.
1. A full intro including claim.
2. Points you are going to make that will
support your claim.
You can bullet the information, use roman
numerals, write out whole paragraphs, add
quotes you think might use, add URLs of
websites you’re going to use for each claim.
Make it useful for you.
•
•
•
•
Your claim:
Remember, this paper is not an opinion.
It’s an argumentative essay.
So make sure you have followed these
steps:
1. You’ve identified a problem that affects
regular people.
2. You’ve identified a way that that
problem can be solved.
3. You have research that explains why
your solution is the best solution to
that problem.
2.5 Activity: Declaration of Independence
• Re-read the document on p. 240.
• Get you some art supplies and a partner because it’s totally art supply and
partner time! Hurray.
• Create a rhetorical triangle for the document.
• Inside your triangle identify Jefferson’s claim, the grounds he uses to support the
claim, a warrant/warrants (implied or explicit).
• Outside your triangle, answer these questions:
1. Which rhetorical appeal does Jefferson’s argument rely on?
2. How does Jefferson’s argument represent a culmination of Enlightenment
thought?
3. Jefferson makes extensive use of which rhetorical device?
4. Why haven’t you drawn a picture of Jefferson hanging out with Washington on
the Fourth of July shooting fireworks together? Yeah, you totally need to do
that.
CLOSE and HW
2.5
• Print, read and annotate the excerpts from Thomas Paine’s “The
Crisis.” It’s on p. 250.
2.5 activity: Research day!
• Today you should be finding sources.
• A MLA formatted bibliography of all the possible sources the student
will use in her paper. The working “bib” should contain at least 10
sources, some of which may not be used on the final draft of the
paper.
• I should be returning your working bib while you research.