While you read, consider the following aspects of the essay:

• the minuteness of the observations
• sensory detail
• the meaning of the insect’s behavior
• writing style
• thesis statement and how it’s presented

After we read, we’ll use a little graphic organizer to compare the two essays and then (insert trumpets), we’ll add a third–Alexander Petrunkevitvch’s “The Spider and the Wasp.” We read, talk, and then add to the organizer.

Finally, we’ll talk a bit about 30 Futures and even get a little work done if possible.

HW:  Read “Women’s Brains” by Steven Jay Gould and write 200-300 words on the purpose, thesis, tone, and strategies of Gould in the essay. Also, comment on what women face in today’s society in terms of the restrictions and prejudices that confront them. Also, come to class with a rough outline of your expository essay and an idea as to what you still need to find out in your research.

If you’re interested in what I’m doing, feel free to read my summer blog: Lazyteacher.

So, I’m not there. But I am there in spirit. Not like Hamlet’s ghost (SWEEEEAAAAR! SWEEEEEAAAAAR!),but something more benign.

You’ll watch the 2nd half of Hamlet and then collect a copy of the play from the substitute. For next Tuesday, I want you to prepare for a round table discussion of the play. You’ll need to do a pretty elaborate blog post to get ready. This is an online version of the play to help you. Please grab a copy of Hamlet if you need it. Here are some of the questions I want you to consider for our discussion.

1. Why does Hamlet wait so long to kill Claudius? What are the reasons for his hesitation? How valid are they? How many times does he have the opportunity to attack Claudius? What are his reasons for not doing so?
2. Hamlet claims that his madness is feigned, an “antic disposition” which he puts on for his own purposes (I.v.172). Why would Hamlet want to feign madness? How can an appearance of insanity help him achieve his ends? Is he really sane throughout the play, or does he ever cross the line into madness? What about Ophelia’s mad scene? Is it real or feigned? Is there “method in her madness” as well, or is she entirely irrational? Why has she gone mad? (What two reasons do her songs suggest?)
3. Pay attention to the treatment of the women characters Gertrude and Ophelia. Is there any basis for the Freudian interpretation of an Oedipal attraction between Hamlet and his mother? Hamlet does seem obsessed with his mother’s sexuality. How old is Hamlet? How old do you think Gertrude is? Is Hamlet’s disgust at Gertrude’s sexuality justified? To what extent is Gertrude guilty? Was she “in on” her husband’s murder? Has Claudius confided in her since the murder? How does Hamlet’s perception of his mother affect his behavior or attitude toward Ophelia? Why does he tell Ophelia to go to a nunnery? Does Hamlet really love Ophelia? If so, why is he cruel to her?
4. Suicide is an important theme in Hamlet. Discuss how the play treats the idea of suicide morally, religiously, and aesthetically, with particular attention to Hamlet’s two important statements about suicide: the “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” soliloquy (I.ii.129–158) and the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy (III.i.56–88). Why does Hamlet believe that, although capable of suicide, most human beings choose to live, despite the cruelty, pain, and injustice of the world?
5. Choose a soliloquy in the play to look more closely at. Paraphrase it and then connect it to the larger themes in the play.

Be ready for a round table discussion on Tuesday. Afterwards, we’ll break up into acting groups, rehearse, and try a little reader’s theater by the last week.

Then, we’ll mark up the some more the museum synth essay sources.

Next, we’ll use small groups to pilot thesis statements and have the groups figure out how the sources can conversate with each other. As a full group, we’ll see what you’ve got.

Finally, I want small groups to create their own synthesis question. Here is how it will go.

• I’ll give you a theme: technology, education, crime, fashion, poverty, or feminism. Your job will be to first come up with an essay question that could be answered in more than one way and with a sufficient amount of sophistication (not Is Iron Man better than SpiderMan? but Should we require all High Schoolers to become fluent in a foreign language?).
• Next, you’ll need to collect at least 6 sources that will give information about the topic. The sources will need to be from 200-300 words each (they can be excerpts), will need to give evidence for many different sides of the Synthesis Question, and be from a variety of sources including essays, memoirs, press releases, advertisements, blog posts, interviews, blog posts, webpages, fiction/poetry, and nonfiction books. One of the sources should be an image.
• Finally, collect the whole shebang together in a Word document and then email it to me by next Tuesday.

We take the Final next week: Tue (R. Analysis and Argument essay) Thur (Multiple Choice and Synthetic Essay).

HW: Finish Group made Synth Essay…

Image Credit: WorldPantry.com

I want to start with cereal…My favorite cereal and how my cereal box tries to convince me trust it…

Next, I want us to revisit our love of the Multiple Choice questions. We’ll do two sets and then it’s Clicker Fun! as we answer the questions.

Finally, I want us to see a sample Synthetic Essay and take some notes on how we might deal with this essay.

HW: Read Preparing for the 2007 Synthetic Question and blog a bit (100-200 words) about what you learned from the advice and where the advice seems to fall short.

Then, we’ll write one. We’ll have 40 minutes.

After a generous break, I want us to look at 2-3 fellow respondents and note aspects we liked and aspects we would fix.

Finally, I want to look at some of the graded responses and compare them to our own.

Finally-Finally, I’d like small groups to put together a list of take-aways. What would be the most useful advice to give to students taking the rhetorical strategies prompt?

If I have time, I’d love to show you a TED talk with Jill Baynor entitled “My Stroke of Insight.”

Plans for the AP exam.  Thanks to everyone for their spirited arguments about the upcoming AP exam/Final.  Here’s my final decision. Everyone will take some sort of final. If you’re taking the official final, you won’t be required to take a final from me and your grade will be the result of the other assignments we’ve had, including two more in-class AP prompts.  There will be no adjustment of grades for scores on the AP exam. If you want to take an exam from me in order to raise your grade, you can negotiate that with me. If you are not taking the official AP exam, our final will be May 20th and 22nd, will include the full compliment of the AP exam, will be graded more or less at the level of the AP exam and will be over before Memorial Day.  This seems to me to be the fairest method in balancing competing interests while fulfilling my need to evaluate you in your abilities and skills.

OK, let’s see your paragraphs from Quotidiana and teach us something.

Satire: An AP prompt used the following article from The Onion for an AP rhetorical strategies prompt. After some group consultation, we’ll talk about how to respond to this and what makes satire work.

In class, in pairs, write your own Onion headline and at least 3-4 paragraphs of the fake news piece that would accompany it. Some possible topics include:

• WASL
• Graduation
• Bad TV
• Pretentious Teachers/Artists
• Grades
• The Election
• Seattle

We may listen to this in preparation.

HW: Read A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. In a 300 word blog post: What’s the purpose of this piece? How does the satire serve a rhetorical purpose or put forth an indirect claim? Please excerpt 3 sections and comment more directly on them.

Image Credit: The Onion

We’ll start with small groups comparing analysis on the Downe prompt. Each group will choose 5 possible strategies used and create a topic sentence for each. Remember, logos, pathos, ethos as categories.

Take a look at the following list of rhetorical strategies. Imagine that you are going to try and convince us that “Everyone should take the AP exam.” Use 1 of the strategies and see if we can guess which one.

Triplets: In small groups no bigger than 3, choose one paragraph passage from this site (Quotidiana) and prepare to teach it to the rest of the class. Use Keynote or PowerPoint to 1) show us the passage 2) illustrate specific uses of rhetorical strategies and 3) ask questions about how these strategies affect the impact the argument makes.

HW: Read “Lying in Bed” by G.K. Chesterton and write a blog post that analyzes the 4-5 most important strategies used by the author.

Image Credit: someguysblog

So, let’s do it. After some breathing exercises, we’ll answer an AP prompt for 40 minutes. We’ll take a break and then read through the sample answers.

Afterwards, we’ll discuss what makes a successful and not so successful response.

Next, I want to have us comment on each other’s 2 paragraph arguments and then see if we can figure out which is the real deal.

HW: Bring home “As he himself puts it” and write a sample paragraph for the following prompt in which you include a quote from the prompt in your response and use the qualities and advice suggested by Graff/Birkenstein.

Image Credit: nytimes.com

First, I’d like you to both turn in a physical copy of the Juxtaposing Images assignment and post it onto your blog. Then, we’ll ask your fellow students to read 1-2 and post a comment with some specific analysis. I’ll also check and grade the comic book responses to the Sanders AP prompt.

Good, then I want to run through a short Keynote about argumentation and remind ourselves of important truths therein.

Then, I want to give small groups time to compare note on the Sanders prompt and then the Kennan prompt.

1. How can we create a nuance thesis or claim?
2. What evidence could we use to back up these claims?
3. What traps (obvious ideas that will likely be overused) are laying in wait?
4. How can we integrate quote into what we want to say?

Thursday plan on an in-class prompt writing extravaganza.

HW: Blog post: Write two paragraphs putting forth an opinion about an important social issue (Gun control, Affirmative Action, Cats are better than Dogs). Choose an issue you care about but write one paragraph according to how you actually feel and the other according to how someone who disagrees might feel. Try to make is so that someone from the outside wouldn’t know which of these you agree with.