Entries Tagged 'AP English' ↓

Let’s start with something different.

“Progressive Health” by Carl Dennis is a poem in the voice of a strangely seductive health care official. We’ll see a student rendition of it and then in small groups, we’ll analyze it on 2 levels.

1. How and with what strategies does the speaker attempt to convince the poet?  How does he/she use kairos, commonplaces, logic, and other strategies?
2. What is the poem itself trying to convince us of and through what (obviously more indirect) strategies?

Then, we’ll talk a bit about slide design by seeing the Presentation Zen blog.  This is a blog that deals with presentation styles and issues written by Garr Reynolds, a writer who lives in Japan. Look at the blog and especially click on some of the articles on the right side marked archives. See especially Jobs vs. Gates, What is good PowerPoint design, and Where do I get good images?

In a blog post, respond to these questions after you wander around a bit in Presentation Zen.

1. Give examples of the types of advice and example Presentation Zen uses.
2. What kind of persona does the author of the blog present?
3. Why is Jobs better than Gates?
4. How could PZ’s advice help you in your speech?

We’ll look at 2-3 speeches (or at least parts of them).

• Lawrence Lessig at TED

• Dick Hardt about Identity 2.0

• Hans Roslin at TED

Finally, I hope to give you some time to work.

HW: Design at least 4 slides for Thursday and continue your research.

Extra: Are you interested in Prezi?

After a quick debriefing on the Photog in-class assignment, we’re going to talk a bit about argument. We’ll look at the opposingviews site and choose topics in small groups and note how arguments are created, how they use facts and logic, and what techniques are most persuasive.

Then, I’ll go through the Pecha-Kucha assignment, have students break up into pairs, and then use either procon.org, opposingviews, or the KCLS database (Opposing Viewpoints) to choose propositions.  One student will be for the proposition and another will be against. Also, see this site for examples of pecha kuchas.

Finally, I’ll give you class time to begin your research for your topic. Next week, we’ll talk about presentation construction.

HW: Have 5-7 sources and a rough outline of how your argument will proceed.

After we turn in our college essays, I wanted to take one last look at some examples from The Daily Beast. I’ll probably split them to different groups.

Then, we’re going to analyze some Malcolm X. Each small group will be  responsible for creating a short presentation that analyzes, compares, and contrasts one aspect of Malcolm’s rhetorical strategies in both “The Ballot or the Bullet” and “Learning to Read.” Here are the topics:

1. Sound-based rhetorical figures (alliteration, anaphora, etc.)
2. Persona
3. Kairos
4. Implied and explicit assumptions
5. Logical Argumentation
6. Framing, metaphors, and allusions

Then, we’ll start a new phase.  I’ll show you what a pecha kucha is and ask you to take a look at OpposingViews.com and look around for some good topics for pair debates.

HW: Choose topics. Use the Opposing Viewpoints database

First, let’s see the best college essay ever written.

Next, I’ll read an excerpt from David Foster Wallace and possibly have us share our own DFW-ellian sentences here. Here is the presentation I used.

Then, I want to give you some time to work on college essays while I do a little one-on-one conferencing.

Finally, we’re going to analyze some Malcolm X. Each small group will be  responsible for creating a short presentation that analyzes, compares, and contrasts one aspect of Malcolm’s rhetorical strategies in both “The Ballot or the Bullet” and “Learning to Read.” Here are the topics:

1. Sound-based rhetorical figures (alliteration, anaphora, etc.)
2. Persona
3. Kairos
4. Implied and explicit assumptions
5. Logical Argumentation
6. Framing, metaphors, and allusions

HW: Finish College Essay

Extra: See this blog–>Always Write Badly

We’ll start by getting our College Essay buddies together and talking about three issues in your writing:

1. Show don’t (just) tell
2. Complex sentence structure and sentence variance
3. Your 2 personal qualities

Then, we might take a walk. Turn ‘em in.

Period 5 needs to talk Civil Disobedience today as well.

Then, we’ll look at the AP exam: This is the 2007 exam. Take a look and we’ll take a look at it. Then, we’ll work in small groups to tackle the Scott Russell Sanders piece on Rushdie. Each small group should create a short Keynote that does these things:

1. Identifies at least 4 strategies and characterizes them.
2. Quotes a bit.
3. Then, analyzes the use of these strategies: the purpose, effectiveness, and the less-than-obvious elements of rhetoric.

Then, we’ll look at the anchor papers for that question.

Finally, I want to look at the Multiple Choice section of the AP exam and do one set of questions. Place your answers here.

HW: Read both “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X (in 50 essays and here) and read/listen to the “Ballot or the Bullet speech.” (text here, audio here) In a 200-300 word blog post, compare and contrast the rhetorical purpose, audience, and strategies in these 2 works.