Welcome to class today!

Welcome to class today!  I am happy to see all of you!
Unfortunately, I have almost no voice today, and cannot speak well above a whisper... so, this will be an interesting class period!  In the absence of my voice, we are going to do the following:

1.  Take some time to study vocabulary words, by creating a list of examples of these words "in action" in our readings of the past unit.  This can be done independently or in small groups--20 minutes for this activity.  You will look for examples of each word applied to or found within:
Eudora Welty's "Listening to Words"
Frederick Douglass' "Learning to Read and Write"
Malcolm X's "Learning to Read"
David Brown's "The Importance of Words" and other essays on writing
"Word Power for Babies" from Reader's Digest

2.  Read our final two pieces for this unit:
 "Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie (respond to the two questions at the end with paragraph responses, supported with direct references to Alexie's piece)
"We Can't Teach Students to Love Reading" by Alan Jacobs (respond with your agreement or refusal of at least two of his claims, supporting your ideas with reference to his piece and/or your own experiences in the subject)

For homework, complete the readings above and contemplate memoir project paper 1: what I learned from this memoir.  The planning for this paper should be completed for Thursday and will be checked and reviewed at that time.  Drafting time will be provided for a portion of the class period on Thurs.

Weekend work

This weekend, please work on finishing your memoir book and studying vocabulary words.  To help you study some of the vocabulary words, I have put together this document for you, compiled from segments of different sites that may also be of use to you.  Please use, if you would like, to help clarify word meanings and examples from literature.
Have a good weekend!

The Importance of Words

Read "The Importance of Words" and one other selected essay from the "writing about writing" section of David L. Brown's blog.
1.  While reading, record claims and main ideas that Brown is bringing across to his audience.
2.  At the end of each essay, record what new things you learned about him as a writer from this essay.
3.  At the conclusion of both your readings, write about at least two ideas given in EACH article (4 ideas total) that connected to you personally and/or made you think about the topic on a deeper level.

Next, read "Word Power for Babies" from Reader's Digest 11/2014
1.  While reading, note ideas of strong interest or importance to you.
2.  At the end of reading, write about at least two claims made in this article that further teach us about the significance of language in human development.


Then, dive in and do a "data swim," looking for more info. on these topics.  Explore all the great ways that words, language, and communication have shaped our world!  Create a short keynote with images and words describing what you have learned that is exciting and interesting about the role of language in the world today!

Over Thanksgiving break...

1.  Read in memoir and complete third reader response by Monday, 12/1 (submit via email).
2.  Continue to update quotation log and log of voice/persona development--progress check on Monday, 12/1.
3.  Work on scaffolding plan and rough draft for creative writing piece, due by Wednesday, 12/3.
Use this description sheet to begin scaffolding plan.

For Tuesday, 11/25...

Discuss with your parents how you learned to read. Since they will probably have a stronger recollection of this experience than you do, ask them about how you learned to interpret and read letters and words, what types of questions you asked, what you were most interested in as far as particular books, stories you liked to be told (even if they were not read to you, just told by a family member), or what your favorite reading spots were when you were younger.
This is meant to be a fun activity, not stressful! If you are uncomfortable asking your parents, or if they do not have strong memories of the occasion, try to remember for yourself a time when you read something that made your imagination take flight or just made you feel alive and interested in another world.
Please bring these stories and experiences with you to class tomorrow to share (they need not be written down, just committed to memory well enough to be retold), and, if possible, the book or a few books that you enjoyed reading as a child!

Enjoy memoir reading time!

Enjoy your snow day and extra reading time for your memoir!
Remember, your next reader response is due on Thursday.
See you tomorrow!

Synthesis Prompt Creation for Social Issues

Use this document for help in the creation of a synthesis essay prompt to go along with the social issues topic highlighted in pink on your card from class today.  Please complete your synthesis essay prompt for homework this evening to the best of your ability.  Be sure you at least have your six sources ready to link to your document, even if the prompt is problematic for you.

Over the course of this week...

As presentations are underway, you should be working on the following reading assignments:
1.  Read and take notes on ch. 3, pp. 58-63 (DUE WED., 11/12)
2.  Read and annotate the following article (DUE WED., 11/12)
"Good Readers and Good Writers" by Vladimir Nabokov (speech delivered in 1948)

Also, for our next class project, you will be reading a memoir.  Consider the following statement to help you distinguish between a memoir and an autobiography.

"An autobiography focuses on the chronology of the writer’s entire life while a memoir covers one specific aspect of the writer’s life. So, if I chose to write about my complete life up to this point—including growing up in Cincinnati, my time in New York, the few years I spent in Chicago and eventually landing at Writer’s Digest—I’d write an autobiography. If wrote a book about the winter of my sophomore year in high school where I got my tongue stuck to an icy pole, I’d write a memoir." -- Brian Klems, Writer's Digest
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/memoir-vs-autobiography-2

Learn more about SOCIAL ISSUES topics, books, and authors

Find two speech topics (other than your own) that you would like to learn more about.
Do a little exploring through the links below, and write one paragraph for each topic about where your interests lie and new info. you have learned.

Links and articles related to recent social issues presentations:

"Beware Online Filter Bubbles" TED talk by Eli Pariser (Emily Baker's speech)

"Sparking Life" corresponding website to John Ratey's books (Lydia's speech)

What is Reviving Ophelia author Mary Pipher up to lately? (Kyra's speech)

All things Freakonomics! (Taylor's speech)

Melissa Harris-Perry's MSNBC blog with video commentary (Makayla's speech)

Learn more about Laurie Penny! (Kaylee's speech)

George Friedman presents about the next 25 years on CNBC (Emily Chau's speech)

"A Plant's Eye View" TED talk and blog entries by Michael Pollan (Anna's speech)

"Two Pleas for Sanity in Judging Saneness" NYTimes article about Saving Normal (Andrea's speech)

More stats about incarceration and children (Katelyn's speech)
Helping Children Deal with the Incarceration of Parents (Katelyn's speech)

Pope Francis' message about science and religion (Michael's speech)
Einstein's ideas about science and religion (Michael's speech)

Author Alan Weisman's commentary on The World Without Us (Jordan's speech)

All things Michael Pollan! (Anna and Michele's speeches)

Corruption in College Football video from co-author of The System (Zach's speech)

Read about Thomas Friedman, New York Times "Foreign Affairs Columnist," and his latest views on the world (Haley's speech)

Chris Hayes interview about Twilight of the Elites (Jacob's speech)
"How Meritocracy is Failing America" (Jacob's speech)

Susan Cain's Quest for Introverts (Emily Russcher's speech)

"What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains" video (Hannah's speech)

America's Strategies in the Current War Against Terror (Wes' speech)

A Musician Explains the Healing Affects of Music (Ashley's speech)


Salman Khan explains the origins and intention of Khan Academy (Brian's speech)

Link to the website created by the authors to go with this book and combat cyberbullying (Melissa's speech)

Social Issues Presentations

In preparation for your SOCIAL ISSUES PROJECT PRESENTATION, you should:

A.  Do a bit of research on your counterargument to someone else's claim (written on green card).
You will use this research to help prepare a countering question for this person's presentation.

B.  Begin searching for graphics that you would like to use in your presentation to help visually lead your audience through your speech.  These will also act as visual cues for you during the speech.

*NOTE:  You will eventually need to CITE all visual sources and the source(s) you used for your counter argument preparation, so be sure to at least keep a record of the places where you found your information.

Work for this week...

Use this link for part 6 on the test:
"In Praise of a Carefree Childhood" by P. J. O'Rourke, 8/2014

New Vocabulary Words for this week:
implies
employs
characterizes
intimidates
counters
extends
underscores
recalls
illustrates
evokes


DUE WEDNESDAY, 10/8:  
For your ASSIGNED SPEECH, read and...
1.  Record how TOULMIN'S MODEL applies.
2.  Consider and record notes about the CONTEXT in which the speech was delivered, including events of social, political, economic, environmental, or cultural significance at the time.
3.  Examine how CULTURAL MEMORY is reflected in the speech, and how the speech itself is representative of an aspect of cultural memory for the time period in which it was given.

FDR's inaugural address

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/
(assigned to: Emily B., C., & R.)

Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech

http://alvaradohistory.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/1IronCurtainspeech.362195233.pdf
(assigned to:  Melissa, Lydia, Zach)

Kennedy's Inaugural Address speech

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/ask-not.htm

(assigned to:  Michele, Wes, Ashley, Anna)

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s  "I Have a Dream" speech

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/i-have-a-dream.htm
(assigned to: Kyra, Katelyn, Michael, Kaylee)

Robert Kennedy's speech on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination

http://www.robertfkennedy.net/mlkdeathspeech.htm
(assigned to:  Hannah, Andrea, Brian, Makayla)

Reagan's Challenger tragedy speech

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/speech-on-the-challenger-disaster/
(assigned to:  Taylor, Jacob, Haley, Jordan)

Homework for this weekend

1.  Study for your vocabulary test!  Work with the words by trying to apply them actively to your social issues book and other current events.

2.  Read in your social issues book, continuing to evaluate the claim that your author is making and how he/she is going about supporting that claim.  Also, continue adding to your log of appeals.

3.  If you have not already done so, read and annotate the cultural memory article by Heller (see posting from 9/19).  If you already did this, just quickly review your notes.

Have a great autumn weekend!  :)

Homework help

These multiple choice question stems may help as you create your own multiple choice questions.

Concept Review

Reasoning, Syllogisms, and Toulmin's review

Social Issues Article

Find an article related to your social issues book topic.
Email me a link to this article.
In the email, briefly explain why you chose this article and how it reflects your social issue.  Consider credibility of the article and be prepared to explain how it supports, connects to, or opposes the claim of your author.

Toulmin's Model of Argumentation

We will be studying Toulmin's model of argumentation this week.
Please use this site as a reference as we go through this unit.
Our vocabulary words for the week relate to this model.

*NOTE:  Vocabulary TEST on Tuesday, 9/30-- words from weeks 1-3 will be included on this test.

This week's vocabulary words are:
biased
dogmatic
implicit
data
deductive reasoning
inductive reasoning
claim
grounds
warrant
backing
qualifier
rebuttal

Ethos research

Tonight's homework is to research the author of your social issues book to determine credibility. 
We will be writing about this person's credibility tomorrow in class, as well as some time will be given to read in your social issues book.  Enjoy your research!

Weekend work

FOR MONDAY, 9/15...
1.  Be sure you have chosen a social issues book.   Use the project description packet and this presentation  as a guide in your book selection process.  Email me at cmielke@zps.org with any questions in this process.
2.  Read and take notes on pp. 34-38-- you do NOT need to do any of the activities.

FOR TUES., 9/16...
3.  Vocabulary List #2 is posted below.  Please define all words to be used over the upcoming week.  
systematic
enthymeme
intuitive
premise
generalization
syllogism
memory
invention
mnemonic
pentad

Analysis of rhetoric

Obama ISIS strategy includes Syria airstrikes
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/10/politics/isis-obama-speech/index.html

Analyze the RHETORIC used by Obama in the TWO direct quotation portions of his speech from last night. 

·       What words/phrases is he using for particular effect to drive home his point to his audience? 

·       Who is his intended audience?  What persona is he presenting to his audience? 

·       Why is context significant here?

Weekend Homework (due Tuesday)

For this weekend, please read pp. 18-28 in Everyday Use and take notes.

Also, these are the vocabulary words for this beginning unit. 
Please record these word and definitions (most are in your text), and begin applying these terms to work completed over this last week, including class discussions, readings, and writings.

RHETORIC
QUALIFY
PERSONA
LOGOS
ETHOS
PATHOS
THESIS
CONTEXT
INTENTION
CANONS

George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant"

Please read and annotate Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" for homework. (This is also in your One Hundred Great Essays book, if you would prefer.)
Record information related to the rhetorical triangle, focusing specifically on the role of the speaker and the context in which the memoir is being written.
Consider how Orwell is using appeals to the audience of ethos, pathos, and logos to influence the views of his audience.
Happy reading!

Speech organization techniques and considerations

Interesting reading about "the rule of three" speech organization technique, with several speeches linked to watch/read and analyze for additional presentation techniques
Speech Techniques

"This I Believe" responses

Choose at least two words from the themes provided on "This I Believe" essay site (website is linked to the left).
For each word, read at least two essays written about this word.
For each essay, record:
1.  Title and author of essay
2.  Claims and supports
3.  Appeals used
4.  Your views in comparison to this author's

This assignment is due on the day speeches begin.

*Take note:  Our Town response assignment due tomorrow!

Our Town

In the words of the Stage Manager from Our Town, "This is the way we were: in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying."
As we go on in the play, a young life will be cut short and leave a hole of sadness in the people of the town where there once was happiness.

Today, many people in the country will relive their moments of the same type of grief as they experienced the new museum dedicated to the events of 9/11/2001, when they walk through the 9/11 Museum dedicated to preserving the memories of those lost.

Using the New York Times "Portraits of Grief" tribute archives, please read and reflect upon the lives of at least three people who died on 9/11/2001.  Choose at least two different letters (perhaps at random, perhaps my your initials) to read tributes.  Compile a short summary and a response to each of the people you read about.

Monday's class recap and Tuesday essay practice and planning approach

For today's class period, we graded multiple choice sections taken over the weekend, looking at annotated answer keys for questions.  Then, we defended our author's claim and argument rhetorical techniques aloud to the class. 

Tomorrow, the plan is to practice an essay-writing planning strategy.  This strategy is to split one hour in half:  take 30 minutes to plan all three essays, and then choose one of those essays to write in the following 30 minutes.  You should know at the end of this process whether this is a strategy you want to use on test day or not.

We will use the 2010 form B free-response questions, taken from AP Central website.

If you were not present in class, you should work on completing what we did in class, using the same essay prompts.

Weekend homework

This weekend, your homework is to write one Q3 assertion essay (there are two possible prompts on the sheet you picked up) and complete one multiple choice section.  Record answers for your multiple choice section on the answer sheet you picked up, or on the question sheet itself.

Stop by sometime today or Saturday morning from 8am-noon if you have any questions or need clarification on the assignments above, due Monday.

Study session and discussion time for particular questions with the upcoming AP test will be held this Saturday, 8am-noon, our classroom at ZWHS.  You can come at the time slot that works best for you and stay as long or short as you'd like.  See you there!

"We are all One" unit first reading

Read the first part of "The World House" by Martin Luther King, Jr. and discuss how King emphasizes and illustrates the importance of the following purposes of the human race:

1) to transcend tribe, race, class, nation, and religion to embrace the vision of a World House
2) to eradicate at home and globally the Triple Evils of racism, poverty, and militarism
3) to curb excessive materialism and shift from a "thing"-oriented society to a "people"-oriented society
4) to resist social injustice and resolve conflicts in the spirit of love embodied in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence

Use this World House handout to guide your discussion and reading of this piece.

Synthesis Essay for Nature Unit

Choose one of these ten "trusts" developed by Jane Goodall and Marc Bekoff, naturalists who have dedicated their lives to the protection and preservation of wildlife, particularly animals.  Develop your central argument in support of this claim, using sources from the nature unit that you have been given and gathered in support of your argument.

1st TRUTH:  Rejoice that we are part of the animal kingdom
2nd TRUTH:  Respect all life
3rd TRUTH: Open our minds, in humility, to animals and learn from them
4th TRUTH:  Teach our children to respect and love nature
5th TRUTH: Be wise stewards of life on Earth
6th TRUTH: Value and help preserve the sounds of nature
7th TRUTH: Refrain from harming life in order to learn about it
8th TRUST: Have the courage of our convictions
9th TRUST: Praise and help those who work for animals and the natural world
10th TRUST: Act knowing we are not alone and live with hope
CODA: After all is said and done, silence is betrayal.

Assignment:  In a well-developed essay, defend, challenge, or qualify with one of the statements above.  Develop your argument for your position using at least three (that means 4!) of the sources we have used during the nature unit.  These sources are listed below; refer to sources by letter or the term in parentheses.  At the end of your essay, please list the sources that you used, including any added sources, within this essay.

Source A (Klinkenborg) -- "Our Vanishing Night",
                                            National Geographic article, 2008
Source B (Carson) -- Excerpt from Silent Spring, book, 1962
Source C (Emerson) -- "Nature" essay, 1849
Source D (Dillard) -- "Seeing", excerpt from Pilgrim at Tinker 
                                    Creek, book, 1974
Source E (Silko) -- "Landscape", Antaeus article, 1986
Source F (Oliver) -- "Owls", excerpt from Blue Pastures, 1995
Source G (Louv) -- Excerpt from Last Child in the Woods, 2008
Source H (image) -- either cartoon or photo/art piece that you found
Source I (choice) -- additional source of choice from those you found

Readings for the nature unit

RECORD REACTIONS TO THESE FOUR PIECES, USING THE STEPS BELOW:
1.  Annotate each piece, considering rhetorical devices and the rhetorical triangle.
2.  For EACH piece, record the author's purpose, identifying a claim and supports for this claim.
3.  Record appeals that you see this author using, and the effectiveness of these appeals.
4.  Also, consider counter arguments to this author's claim.

*These readings, annotations, and recorded reactions will be due by Monday, 4/21.

"Our Vanishing Night" by Verlyn Klinkenborg (2008)

Excerpt from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)

"Nature" essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1849)

"Seeing" excerpt from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (1974)--read first two pages only

Pre-20th century author presentation READING PIECES

These are the submitted readings thus far...

Francis Bacon
Niccolo Machiavelli (read chapters 1&2)
Thomas More
John Locke (read chapter iv about slavery)

Jonathan Swift
Joseph Addison
Richard Steele

Thomas Jefferson
Mary Wollstonecraft (read the first 6 paragraphs)
Thomas Paine
Benjamin Franklin

Thomas DeQuincey (read pages 7-9)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau

Mark Twain
Frederick Douglass
Harriet Jacobs

G.K. Chesterton
Helen Keller

Vocabulary Words to Study

Add these words to your current vocabulary list:
synecdoche
metonymy
periphrasis
personification
hyperbole
litote
irony
oxymoron
onomatopoeia
rhetorical question

Upcoming work to think about...

Tribute writing is due on Tuesday-- this is open to your own interpretation, be creative!

Contemporary Connections Paper in response to the writings of your pre-20th century author is the final paper for this author.  Rough draft will be due on Thursday.  Please familiarize yourself with the requisites and intentions of this paper so you will be prepared to plan out this writing.  We will discuss it together and answer questions in class on Monday.

Editing Essays

Peer edit of rhetorical analysis essay

Self-Analysis of Synthesis Essay

Today's lesson

Welcome to class!
Due to unforeseen health circumstances at our house, your synthesis presentations will be postponed until tomorrow.
For today's class period, you should do the following:
1.  Please send me your characterization and narration response journals (via email or put in the inbox).
2.  Watch and enjoy the documentary "Hey Boo" all about To Kill a Mockingbird and the author Harper Lee.
3.  For homework, you should complete the SPEAKER response, approximately the same length as the responses completed last night.

Happy 2014!

Hope you are staying warm and enjoying a few extra days of break!
When we return, we will be starting with presentations for our synthesis essay projects.
You will have time to meet with group members and review presentation plan for our first few minutes.
We will also be working on some discussion pieces and responses to To Kill a Mockingbird throughout the remainder of the week.
Tuesday, 1/14, will be our long awaited vocabulary quiz.  Here are the words again, if you would like to get a jump start on review.  The last five words are from Everyday Use (the striped book), pp. 79-81, so please read about those, and we will talk more about all words this week:

1. Persona
2. Efferent reading
3. Aesthetic reading
4. Stance
5. Irony
6. Implied metaphor
7. Simile
8. Hyperbole
9. Paradox
10. Colloquialism
11. Understatement
12. Euphemism
13. Didactic
14. Repetition
15. Parallelism
16. Allusion
17. Dialect
18. Repertoire
19. Scholarly language
20. Standard language

21. Scheme

22. Trope

23. Zeugma

24. Antimetabole

25. Antithesis