Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Non-Fiction Ind Rdg


Lots of people have asked about this semester's independent reading book. Here is the information you need if you'd like to get started:

This semester, your independent reading book should be non-fiction. You can choose anything that is a full-length, high quality non-fiction book; it can be on any subject you like. However, keep in mind that you will write a rhetorical analysis of the book's argument so you want to choose something that has a clear argument (memoirs are tougher for this than other kinds of non-fiction).

1. Choose a book (from this list or your own choice):

Non-Fiction Recommendations
(These have been read and recommended by Ms. Grissom, Ms. Southall, or former AP students)

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Stiff by Mary Roach

The Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

No Impact Man:  The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beaven 

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr 

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books by Ted Bishop

Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes

Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster OR Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman

The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew--Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby

Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead by Frank Meeink




2. Read and take notes. "Over what?" you might ask. All of the things you should pay attention to in an argument (purpose, audience, appeals, rhetorical devices, tone, fallacies, holes in the argument, strengths in the argument) AND evidence of these things you can use to back up the claims you make about each of those things. (That means jot down page numbers with your notes so you can find that evidence later.)

3. How you accomplish this reading is up to you. You'll write this paper for your portfolio which is due the end of April. Options: Wednesday workday is always a time you could read if reading isn't something you do well at home. Reading days in class that are set aside for class texts can obviously be used for independent reading if you get done early. At home/study hall/during opens is a good option for those of you who need quiet, no distractions, etc. Spring break is a good option for those of you who have no other time and/or plan to read something anyway. You should not have any other AP Lang homework over spring break so this might be the ideal time for those of you who are overwhelmed by too much to do.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Young Men & Fire


AP Language
Young Men and Fire
Journal Questions


PART ONE

  1. Maclean reveals that all the men died in the fire right away. How does this affect the way you will read the story?
  2. Who is Icarus? What is an Icarus Complex (p.21)?
  3. What is hubris (p.61-62)? Look it up and then look at how it applies to this passage.
  4. What is historiography (p. 101)?
  5. Maclean makes it clear that this is his story of the fire, not THE story. What does that mean?
  6. What is the difference between a storyteller and a historian, according to Maclean?
  7. How does religion figure in the story?
  8. Look up the Stations of the Cross (or talk to a good Catholic). What significance do they have in this book?
  9. At the end of Part One, Maclean calls Gisborne’s death the ideal way for a scientist to die? What do you make of that?
  10. Identify the pace of Part One and the function of Part One.
 


PART TWO

  1. This section is clearly different. How? What is its purpose? How does it connect to Part 1?
  2. How does the pace compare to Part 1?
  3. On page 201, Maclean alludes to a poem. Google it and then consider how it fits this part of the book.
  4. Clearly, Maclean doesn’t believe that the personal and the scientific can be separated (p. 258). Why is he writing this story?
  5. What can you say about tragedy on pages 270-277?


PART THREE

  1. How does this section connect to Part Two?
  2. Why is it so short in comparison to the other parts?
  3. Why doesn’t Maclean want us to be detached observers?

This is a huge assignment—acknowledge that it will take you time and then DO A GOOD JOB! Answer EVERY single question in your journal before you come to class the day it’s due. You can (and should) add to it during our discussion days, but your responsibility is to critically read ON YOUR OWN and these questions will help you focus on what's important.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

AoW Jan 22

Today's AoW deals with Iowa, farming, and Breaking Bad.  Do the normal AoW assignment (see Jan 9's AoW for details) BUT for #2, ALSO complete and submit your answers regarding the logic of the piece on this form. (Be sure to make note in your journal for your own records as well.)

We will discuss the logic of the article tomorrow.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Persuasive Research Argument


This piece is first and foremost an argument.  Choose something that means something to you, something you don’t mind delving into for the next month or so.  Choose something that you can conduct research on and has an action purpose.  Your job is to persuade your audience to do what you want them to do (change a law, implement a program, get rid of a problem, quit doing something that annoys you, whatever).  You’ll use your research, structure, organization, style, and voice to convince them.

Objectives:
  • Apply knowledge of appeals and fallacies to write a persuasive argument
  • Evaluate the credibility of various sources of information and use them effectively to add merit to an argument
  • Expand knowledge and experience with primary and secondary research
  • Correctly use MLA citations (parenthetical and works cited)
  • Fit a mass of information into a tightly-written essay

Requirements for the Argument:
  1. Use at least one strong primary source in addition to several secondary sources.  Your primary sources must be conducted and included in a way that is as reliable as possible for our situation.  
  2. Your secondary sources must be evaluated so that you know what kind of source you are using and you make conscious decisions about whether to include them or not.  You should always consider how each source will affect your ethos as well as your overall argument.
  3. In addition to the normal secondary sources (book, website, EBSCO), you must also include an out-of-the-ordinary secondary source such as media, charts/graphs, pictures, etc.  This is a good way to fulfill the portfolio requirement of a correctly used and cited picture.
  4. Cite everything according to MLA style and include a works cited page.
  5. Your final draft must be 500-750 words; therefore, be concise!

Requirements for the Process:
  1. Submit a detailed research proposal and get it okayed by me.
  2. DO NOT begin ANY primary research without submission AND approval from me first.
  3. Complete and submit a web assessment using the questions on p. 415 of your textbook for each website you use.  (This will be a journal assignment one day in class after your D1 has been turned in).
  4. Submit a first draft of your argument to Turnitin for peer review.
  5. Submit a second draft of your argument to Turnitin for teacher feedback.
  6. Attend an optional MLA workshop with your works cited page if you need it.
  7. Submit your revised, polished final draft on time.
Getting Ready:
Solidify your topic, purpose, and audience by the end of the day tomorrow.  You need the next few days to conduct your preliminary research before writing your research proposal.  Check out the EBSCO database, other IHS subscriptions, Dunn Library at Simpson, and credible websites.  Don’t dismiss print sources--they have a certain level of credibility that many web sources do not.  Also consider “alternative sources” such as media, visuals, or local sources (i.e. student handbook).  Find some sources of info to start with--get an idea of what is available AND where you might go with your argument.  Be sure to evaluate these sources—I’m not just grading you on having research, but also on the quality of sources you choose as support for your argument.  Your textbook clearly spells out what to look for in quality sources and you’ll eventually need to conduct a web assessment using the guidelines on p. 415 of your textbook.
Research Proposal:
This is a detailed, organized plan of what you intend your argument to be and what kind of research it will include.  Your proposal should include detailed answers to ALL of the questions below:
  1. What is your argument?  In other words, what are you going to write about, who is your audience, and what is your purpose? (This must be an action you want your audience to take.)
  2. What are the reasons your audience should do said action? You should have a minimum of two but no more than four.
  3. What are the warrants for those reasons?
  4. What support will you use for those claims and warrants?  Explain your own reasoning and also tell me about the sources of information you’ve already gathered and how they will help you.
  5. What will you do for your primary research?  What kind of information do you want to gain from that source?  IN ADDITION:  Either now or later you will need to submit the following based on the type(s) of primary research you conduct.  Be sure to read the section of your textbook that addresses the type of research you plan to conduct.  You CANNOT begin your primary research until these items have been submitted AND approved by me:

Process and Deadlines
  • All deadlines are listed in both Turnitn and the Google calendar.  We will also let you know of upcoming MLA days.
  • Here is what the schedule of deadlines looks like:
    • Proposals due Monday, January 27 by midnight
    • D1 due Wednesday, February 5 by midnight
    • Peer reviews must be completed by Monday, February 10 by midnight
    • D2 due Monday, February 17 by midnight
    • Final draft with reflection due Wednesday, March 5 by midnight
  • MLA Days are optional and will mostly occur on lab days.  Sometimes these days will have a theme (i.e. citing EBSCO sources or citing visuals).  Some days will be “open” days where you should bring a copy of your works cited page either on paper or on a digital device that allows you to work with it.  These workshops will be student-driven--Ms. Darrah and I will simply answer questions you have.  This is your opportunity for help so use them when you need them.
  • Some MLA instruction will not be optional.  Based on your fake works cited pages, we may have some teacher-planned sessions that deal with specific problems we saw.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Wednesday Workday: Practice Works Cited

A better name for this might be Fake Works Cited as you're not actually using any of these sources.  All we really want you to do is find and cite some sources and put it all in your best works cited page.  Keep that in mind.  Do a search, find the right kind of source, cite it, and move on.  No reading, taking notes, or using the information in any way. =)

Objectives:
  • Use the MLA works cited skills you have so far
  • Use the Purdue OWL as a resource to follow MLA guidelines for new types of sources

We expect that there will be some problems with MLA even though you learned it and should have been using it since your freshman year.  Consider this a sort of pre-test.  We're purposefully asking you to cite an easy source, a trickier source you may have cited before, and a source you likely haven't cited correctly before.  Use the Purdue OWL--rules change and no one will ever expect you to memorize this stuff.  The skill we're after is knowing how to look up the correct citation information, finding what you need, and following directions carefully.

The better you do on this pretest, the less practice and listening to us you have to do later.  =)  We will use this as a guide to see who needs additional instruction and what type of instruction they need.  As we move into this research paper, these skills will be a major part of the quarter.  And don't forget:  you need a 100% perfect WC page in your portfolio by the end of the semester!

Directions:
  1. Open up a Word or Google Doc
  2. Open up an internet browser window to the MLA guide on Purdue OWL
  3. In a separate browser window, search for and find the following types of sources:
    • One website article
    • One EBSCO article--username:  3114indhs   password:  haea11
    • One online picture
  4. Look up how to cite each type of source on the Purdue OWL, follow the directions, and cite each source correctly in your document
  5. Look up the correct formatting guidelines for a MLA works cited page on the Purdue OWL and make sure your finished document follows those rules exactly.
  6. Save your document and upload it to Turnitin by midnight tonight.


Thursday, January 9, 2014

Extra Credit Opportunity

You can choose one of two journaling opportunities and gain extra credit points.

1.  Go visit the Des Moines Art Center. Walk around, check out the exhibits:  paintings, sculpture, photography, etc.  Find a piece or two you specifically like, find a spot to sit, and reflect on it in your journal.  Though it's a different medium, it still has an argument.  The artist is still trying to express something just as we do in writing.  Spend some time journaling about the artwork you've chosen, what you think it's saying, and how the artist communicates that.  You may also extend your journal to include reflection on what you saw/noticed/enjoyed as you walked through the Art Center as a whole, but we are looking specifically for the way you view these "visual arguments" and how they may speak differently than written word.

Hours of Operation
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 11 am — 4 pm
Thursday: 11 am — 9 pm
Saturday: 10 am — 4 pm
Sunday: Noon — 4 pm
Closed Monday

Admission is FREE
4700 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50312-2099


2.  Go outside as Byrd Baylor suggests and slow down, notice your surroundings, celebrate nature.  Sure, it's cold.  But if you bundle up and you're smart about it, you might just find it enlightening, interesting, enjoyable even!  Here are two options:

  • Get up and watch the sunrise as Baylor encourages.  Take your journal (and maybe a thermos of coffee) and watch and then write.  What new perspective does being up early, outside and alone in the cold give you?  What do you see?  Hear?  Feel?  Describe it. Reflect on what we as modern humans miss that generations of people before us saw everyday.
  • Go out to Ahquabi or Annett Nature and go on a winter hike.  Again, take your journal; take some time to notice what you see, hear, feel.  Where do you go? How is it different in winter than your spring, summer, fall hikes?  Journal about the experience, the memories it brings you, the interesting things you see, the thoughts that come while you have time to yourself in a new environment.
You'll be turning your journal in at midterm.  This journal must be in it at that time, clearly labeled "Extra Credit Journal."  For the full extra credit, it should be at least a page of thoughtful, reflective journaling.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

AoW January 9

We're doing this one as a class because we want to model the kinds of critical reading we want you to be doing at this point.  Remember the original AoW assignment:


  1. Read the article.
  2. Make note in your journal (under date, title, and author) the rhetoric that makes the argument strong or the rhetoric that weakens it.  What to consider: mode, ethos, pathos, logos, format, length, evidence, style.
  3. Write a 1-pg reflection in your journal about the article, responding to its topic, the information you learned, your opinion on the issue, your opinion of the argument itself, and/or any rhetorical strategies you see working in this piece that you could use in your own writing.
In addition, for second semester, you should also look for and note:  how the logic works, qualifiers (or lack of), fallacies, rhetorical devices, types of evidence, differences in style as they pertain to audience and purpose, and how the author uses various types of humor.


So today, we want to show you what our own AoW journal entry would look like.  We're going to walk you through this article pointing out what we, as your teachers of critical reading, notice about it.  You should put those notes in your journal so that you can reference them later on.  At the end of the day, you'll write your own 1-page reflection.

We want to see improvement in your AoW journals this quarter.  You know more and should be improving your critical skills.  Practicing those skills with these short arguments is the number one goal of these assignments BUT you have to note what you're seeing/understanding in your journal or we have no evidence of your skills and growth.

Today's article is about "boys will be boys."