In a World Without Summer Reading

After a month of travelling and taking a break from the educational world, I am back to provide tips for your upcoming AP Lang class experience.

Today's blog will concentrate on argumentation, which many of you have done in past English courses. 

Argumentation is not persuasion. So, how do these discourse cousins differ? Argumentation is based on logic, logos. You are appealing to a person's reason and attempting to bring strong evidence and theory to a writing. Persuasion is stuck on emotion, pathos, in an attempt to change people's ideology. 

Argumentation breaks down into this structure: claim, evidence, warrant, counterclaim, rebuttal, and conclusion. When constructing your argument, the ability to bring in relevant examples and evidence is necessary. While each of you brings in your own ethos on a subject or two, it would behoove you to learn examples from various subjects to indicate your mature comprehensive level. For instance, keep an eye on current events, politics (can't escape it so might as well use it), history, science, math, literature, pop culture, and any other topic that suits your fancy. 

Lastly, on a mechanical note, be aware of your apostrophe usage. Apostrophe mistakes have reached an epidemic level in the past few years, and even the ACT has been throwing these errors on its English portion. Apostrophes are for contractions (can't, won't) and possessive nouns (Laura's). You do not need apostrophes for plural nouns (four pencils - not four pencil's), verbs (runs - not run's), or possessive pronouns (its - not it's, hers - not her's). Keep an eye on these little details as these mistakes do add up for your eventual reader. 

Modes of Discourse

When analyzing a text, it is helpful to distinguish the type of writing used overall or in various parts of the text. Modes of Discourse refers to the writing style engaged by the author to convey his or her purpose. The main modes of discourse are narration, description, process analysis, cause and effect, classification, compare & contrast, argumentation, persuasion, exemplification, and satire. (I am completing this list by memory -- no notes -- so there are a few others that also qualify as a mode of discourse.)

• Narration - a story, usually in first person point of view, connecting the audience to the text
• Description - five senses and imagery to create a picture of a scene, a person, an object
• Process Analysis - directions to either complete a task or be able to understand a task's complexity
• Cause & Effect - the why and the result and how these intersect to comprehend an event, an action
• Classification - dividing a complicated idea into categories
• Compare & Contrast - how two subjects are alike and different
• Argumentation - with a focus on logos, presenting a logical position on a topic with claim, evidence, warrant, counterclaim, and rebuttal
• Persuasion - with a focus on pathos, attempting to gain audience's favor for your side
• Exemplification - examples from multiple subjects that create an understanding for the audience
• Satire - ridiculing the flaws of human behavior with an intent to change society

Hint: During the first week of class, you will have your first chance to identify modes of discourse. And, the best writers use multiple modes in one passage to further their purposes. 

Welcome to AP Lang

AP Lang is a unique course in the English realm: it relies on in-depth study of shorter passages, writing with a collegiate voice and level of analysis, and varying writing styles to encompass rhetorical analysis (what techniques the author uses and why), argumentation (claim, evidence from a variety of subjects, warrants, counterclaims, rebuttals), and synthesis (sourcing evidence and citing it properly).

Over the course of the summer, I will be writing bonus blogs with background, hints, and tips for the course. To start, improving your vocabulary is helpful for your comprehension and your own writing. On Day 1 (or 2), we will start a vocabulary book that has definitely helped my own diction and, as I have been told, has helped with reading passages in class and on the ACT exam.

A way to improve comprehension is learning root words. This link will take you to a root word site: https://www.learnthat.org/pages/view/roots.html. While this is a lengthy list, it does give you the sense of how the small syllables of our daily language meet together to form our common vernacular.
For instance, bellicose or bimanous are two words from my root word studies.

I haven't decided on next week's topic as of yet. Ergo, I will head to the pool and figure it out!

Creeping out of AP Lang

What a year we had in AP Lang! Starting with a bunch of Overachieving Outlying Biblical Cinderella Freaks and ending with Creepy Yellow Wallpaper, we have learned rhetorical strategies, close reading skills, allusions, tone, and argumentative writing. Best wishes as you head to your next English class, next writing assignment, next educational opportunity!

First hour -- the early risers faced with writing prompts at 7:25 a.m.

Second hour -- the class finding its voice and growing in confidence with each prompt.

Fourth hour -- my pun-filled, collaborative, clever, drill-hating favorites.

Seventh hour -- my energized film stars creating a vibrant, active environment.

The Big Day

AP Langers, you are ready for the test tomorrow! Keep in mind all the tips and strategies that we have utilized during class all year. When you walk into the testing room tomorrow, you are to envision 5's and not any lower number. I wish you all the best on the test, and I can't wait to hear all about your experience!

Lucy Books

I just finished book inventory for Autobiography of a Face and Truth and Beauty, and it looks like a few copies of each book are still out and about with you. If you still have one - or both - of these books, do return by the end of the week.

2 Days To Go...

It is surreal that after eight months of anadiplosis, jingoism, and hypophora, that our class is coming to its conclusion.

Today's features were the components of the test: MC, synthesis, rhetorical analysis, and argumentation.

As you know, process of elimination and close reading are the two most important tips for the MC portion. Make sure that you close read difficult passages and don't give up on a passage -- unless you have minutes left and need to pick a "letter of the day" to finish up. To prep for the MC, review your rhetorical toolbox and tone words.

For synthesis, make sure to incorporate a minimum of 3 selections of evidence in your argument. And, use that evidence to support YOUR claim and YOUR argument. I am emphasizing the second person to remind you that the topic sentences should still retain your point of view and perception of argument.

For rhetorical analysis, tie everything back to the author's purpose. And, when I say "purpose," do not just write the word. Instead, clarify why the author is writing (to garner sympathy from the audience, to inspire them to do well on the AP test). Review your rhetorical toolbox terms -- the same ones come up in multiple passages: anaphora, hypophora, pathos, ethos, logos, types of diction, types of tone, types of syntax, analogies, metaphors, parallelism, and REPETITION. Please spell REPETITION correctly.

For argument, center everything around your claim. Drop a counterclaim quickly and then use the rebuttal to bring in your last example of evidence. If you have the time and the love of the prompt, use clever examples to support the claim. Argument is about organization (claim, evidence, warrant, c/c, rebuttal, conclusion) and voice (diction, originality of example).

Remember, you are all 5's and capable of writing 5-level work. Our motto from Mr. Hiddleston rings true: "I try to convert pressure into excitement."Energy! Energy! Energy! REPETITION!