Thor s Day, October 15: Return of the Essay

Transcription

1 Thor s Day, October 15: Return of the Essay EQ#2: How d you do on Timed Argument Essay #3 & how can you move forward? Welcome! Gather pen/cil, paper, wits! Discussion: Notes on Usage and Rhetoric Essays Returned o Conferences o Worksheets if needed Unit One Reading Journal Discussed ELACC12RL-RI1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis ELACC12RI6: Determine an author s point of view or purpose in a text ELACC12RI7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources to address a question or solve a problem ELACC12RL10: Read and comprehend complex literature independently and proficiently. ELACC12W1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts ELACC12W2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas ELACC12W4: Produce clear and coherent writing appropriate to task, purpose, and audience ELACC12W6: Use technology to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing ELACC12W8: Gather from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any source and following a standard format for citation. ELACC12L1: Demonstrate standard English grammar and usage in speaking and writing. ELACC12L2: Use standard English capitalization, punctuation, spelling in writing.

2 Model High School AP Language and Composition Timed Essay: Argument Americans cannot simultaneously honor [Pope Francis] and celebrate their nation s premises. George Will, Pope Francis s Fact-Free Flamboyance (2015) Consider George Will s thesis, and consider the premises on which it rests. Consider also the observations of the various authors you have recently read Americans, Englishmen, and a German, writing from 400 years ago right up to last month. What conversation emerges about why America exists, what it can and cannot honor, and about whether all of this is consistent or contradictory and about whether that matters? Write an essay articulating a position about our nation s premises, and about the role of contradiction in our national culture. Use appropriate evidence from reading and your own experience and observations to support your argument. Quote at least twice from class reading, integrating each quotation and citing each by author. Fold your essay into his assignment sheet when you submit.

3 AP English Language & Composition Scoring Guide [Adapted from College Board scoring guides by Valerie Stevenson AP English Language and Literature, Patrick Henry High School Reprint date: 5/30/12] 9s (100) meet the criteria for 8 papers and, in addition, are especially original or counterintuitive in approach, full in their analysis, or demonstrate particularly impressive control of language. 8s (90) articulate an original and striking thesis that nails the prompt, develop that thesis logically and philosophically, support it with a variety of evidence found both inside appropriate text(s) and in the larger world, comment intelligently on the use of language in the given selection, and conclude the essay memorably and effectively couching it all in prose that is grammatically sound, rhetorically appropriate, and possessed of an individual voice. 7s (80) are strong 6s which provide more complete analysis or demonstrate more mature prose. 6s (75) demonstrate the writer s ability to adequately address the prompt. They articulate a solid, focused thesis, develop it logically and philosophically, deal with counterargument, present evidence/text clearly, find closure, and use prose effectively. 5s (70) are uneven or inconsistent, the no-man s land between upper and lower half papers. They may address the prompt but have an obvious, vague, or fuzzy thesis; pay too little attention to philosophical development or counterarguments; cite evidence cursorily or superficially; attempt but fail to find closure; or present superficial or demonstrate unsophisticated ideas. There may be several lapses in diction or syntax, but their prose conveys the writer s ideas. 4s (60) offer an inadequate response to the prompt, and may demonstrate incomplete or inadequate understanding of the prompt. They may have a very obvious or unfocused thesis, show little attempt to develop philosophically or deal with counterargument, or lack adequate closure Text support superficial or mistaken; prose conveys ideas but is formulaic or shows immature control. 3s (50) compound weaknesses of 4: simplistic analysis, haphazard structure, uncontrolled writing. 2s (40) demonstrate little success in addressing the prompt. They lack an identifiable thesis, offer vague generalizations with little support, or substitute simpler tasks such as summarizing or listing. Prose often demonstrates consistent weaknesses in writing, such as a lack of organization, too many grammatical problems, or a lack of control. Any essay with many distracting errors in grammar, mechanics, and/or phrasing will score no higher than a 2. 1s (30) meet the criteria for the score of 2 but are especially brief or simplistic in their discussion of the prompt or weak in their control of language. 0s demonstrate no serious attempt to engage the topic or assignment. Comments: Essay Grade

4 Mechanics Notes on Timed Argument Essay #3 ONE SENTENCE A PARAGRAPH. TWO LONG PARAGRAPHS AN ESSAY. Not much else to discuss here prose generally was commendably clean!

5 Rhetorical Notes on Timed Argument Essay #3 ADDRESS THE PROMPT YOU RE GIVEN in this case, premises AND contradiction, not one or the other. FOCUS a list of 2-3 premises is not a thesis, yet. Show how they cohere/complement, or how they contradict and make THAT your thesis! ETHOS MATTERS if you re going to make an argument about the nation s premises, quote the earliest who came here Bradford, Smith in this case. o Einstein and Heisenberg make good points to COMPLEMENT this, but not Americans, so. Our nation was built with religion in mind, etc. IGNORES non-puritan settlers like Smith. You still can assert this, but you MUST deal with clear counterarguments directly; otherwise selective, dishonest argument GET THESIS EARLY several did a GREAT job mapping out premises, contradiction but did not gel that into a single thesis role of contradiction, not just the fact that contradiction exists and somehow is us. Getting thesis EARLY often would make a 5 a 6.

6 MAKE IT META go the further philosophical step and show that the fact that the premises do or do not contradict is ITSELF a good or bad thing; EVALUATE your thesis. SOME EXCELLENT META theses and sentences that bring lots of ideas together, especially under new paradigm. o A premise, being an unfulfilled promise, is contradictory in nature. America fuels itself on premises, because hope is there implied. [But] the hope that something could happen contradicts the fact that it most likely will not happen. o America may be a creedal nation, but. Americans try to change the rules [CREED] to fit their own individual needs o A land of purity soon became darkened with troubled hearts. o The New World was a place of escape

7 Unit One Reading Journal Rubric 30 pt. Major Grade due Friday, November 13 Your Unit One Reading Journal needs a PRẾCIS on EACH of the following: o William Bradford, A History of Plymouth Plantation o John Smith, Description of New England o George Will, Scotland s Epic Vote o David Brooks, Harmony And The Dream o J. H. d. St. J. de Crèvecoeur, Letters From An American Farmer o Phillis Wheatley, On Being Brought From Africa To America o Jonathan Edwards, Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God o Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography o Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence In addition, your Reading Journal needs TWENTY-ONE 100-wd reflections on and with quotations from any or all of the works listed above and/or below: o Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass o David Brooks, What Machines Can t Do o Thomas Friedman, Four Words Going Bye-Bye o Anne Bradstreet, To My Dear And Loving Husband o W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk o Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia o Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Statutes for Religious Freedom o Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Ezra Stiles o Thomas Paine, The Crisis o Patrick Henry, Speech to the Second Virginia Convention o The Constitution of the United States o Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death o W. H. Auden, September 1, 1939

8 Complete checklist on the back as you compile entries, and attach it to your Reading Journal. Unit One Reading Journal Checklist 30 pt. Major Grade due Friday, November 13 Complete, and attach to your Reading Journal Entries. 1. Précis: William Bradford, A History of Plymouth Plantation 2. Précis: John Smith, Description of New England 3. Précis: George Will, Scotland s Epic Vote 4. Précis: David Brooks, Harmony and the Dream 5. Précis: J. H. d. St. J. de Crèvecoeur, Letters From An American Farmer 6. Précis: Phillis Wheatley, On Being Brought From Africa To America 7. Précis: Jonathan Edwards, Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God 8. Précis: Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography 9. Précis: Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence 10. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 11. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 12. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 13. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 14. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 15. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 16. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 17. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 18. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 19. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 20. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 21. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 22. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 23. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 24. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 25. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 26. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 27. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title

9 28. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 29. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title 30. Quotation & 100 word reflection: author, title