Beloved Class Discussion

Symbols
tobacco tin
Beloved
water
124 Bluestone Road
chokecherry tree
milk/butter
Mister (rooster)
red heart
colors--quilt
the Clearing
fence
Amy

Structure
3 parts--purpose and significance
pictures that precede them

Magical Realism
baby ghost
Beloved coming to back to life
deafness
Paul D throwing baby out/community exorcism

Motifs
slavery/dehumanization/freedom
repressing the past/rememory
love/family
motherhood
forgiveness
community--coming together

All of this = THEME
What is the point of all of it?  What do you think Morrison is trying to say that is a "universal truth about humanity"?  How do these various aspects of the book contribute to that?

When you can answer these questions, you are ready to start your project.

The Sound and the Fury

Here is a copy of the character map that you can save or print so that it is easily-accessible while you are reading.

Extra Credit Details

If you get your persuasive argument out there to your intended audience (specific decision-making groups, Indianola or IHS citizens, voting public, etc.), I will give you extra credit points on 3rd quarter.  To make that happen, follow these steps:

1. Check your scored final draft and clean up anything you would like to/need to clean up.
2. Figure out the best way to get your argument out there. You might send it as a letter, submit it to The Indian, Record-Herald, or Des Moines Register.  
3. If you decide to mail it in paper form, bring your paper in an addressed and ready-to-go envelope.  I will mark you down for points and mail it for you.
4. If you decide to email it (for submission to a paper, for instance), just copy me on the email so I can mark you down for the extra credit.

In order for this to go on 3rd quarter, I would need all of this completed by the end of the day on Friday.  If you have problems or question, catch me in class or remember the best way to get a hold of me is via my Google address:  ms.kim.grissom@gmail.com

3rd Quarter RJ Conference

Next week when you guys have time to work on your visual argument (Mon-Thurs), you will also need to meet with me for 5-10 minutes for your reading journal conference.  The only RJ you have for this quarter is for Young Men & Fire.


What to talk about:

• Your growth as a critical reader--remember this is always in terms of Nabokov's definition of critical reading and you MUST use evidence from your RJ (earlier ones for where you were and YM&F for your growth)
• The difference between critically reading fiction and non-fiction.  You can discuss your preferences but I also want you to talk about the actual differences in reading them (what you look for differently, which is more challenging or easier and in what ways, etc.).  Again, use evidence from your RJ to back up your claims.

Visual Argument Group Project

Your assignment is to create a visual argument with a partner or group of 3-4.  You’ll draw a product and specific audience; your purpose is to get your particular group of consumers to buy your product.  You may choose the type of ad you’ll create.

Objectives:

• Apply argumentation to a visual
• Work with specific purpose & audience
• Collaborate on a creative project
• Real world application of argumentation

Resources:

• Textbook—all of it, specifically Chap 15
• Commercials, ads, campaign literature, public service announcements, educational/promotional posters, etc.

Graded On Quality of Project:

• Professional
• Creative, neat, demonstrates real effort
• Clear attention to audience
• Effectiveness of argument
• Use of rhetoric (appeals, rhetorical devices INCLUDING figurative language)

Hand In:

• Project
• Written explanation of how you're appealing to your audience, which rhetorical devices and figurative language you're using and WHY you made those specific decisions.  You should also provide a clear explanation of where this ad would appear (Sports Illustrated, commercial during Grey’s Anatomy, Wall Street Journal, etc.)

DUE DATE:
Your project is due Monday, March 5.  You will present the project to the class that day so you must have the project in hand at the beginning of class.  ***NO EMAILING***

Non-Fiction Rhetorical Analysis

Analyze the argument of your non-fiction book.  Write an essay in which you:

• Identify purpose, audience, and the argument your author’s making
• Analyze the rhetorical devices and appeals the author makes
• Pinpoint and argue any fallacies, holes in the argument, or general weaknesses

Basically, use everything we’ve discussed, learned in EAA, and done with the books we’ve read and discussed together—only now you’re doing in on your own with a full-length text.  You should be thorough, convincing, and polished.  Use MLA, cite your quotes, and carefully edit your paper.

Length:  4-5 pages

Non-Fiction Ind Rdg Recommendations

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

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

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Stiff by Mary Roach

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

The Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

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

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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

Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft, Miriam Brody

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

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier

  

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 Beavan