MC All Day

Six more days left for the Lucy logs. I will have a box on Friday for you to turn in your work. You do not have to wait until the final deadline to do so!

Today's classes were centered around tips and strategies for the Multiple Choice passages on the AP Lang exam. I cannot reiterate enough the need to close read the passage, use process of elimination, and be aware of distracting answers. Remember, you need to score at least 50% on each MC passage to reach your goal of the day. 

1: We resumed MC passage 1, identifying the types of questions and eliminating distracting and incorrect answers to find the final results. Then, we flipped the process by reading and identifying questions prior to the passage reading. After finishing that passage, we looked at descriptive writing, which centers on imagery, theme, and mood, and dissected "Harvest Song" by Jean Toomer for its usage of the senses. For homework, you may do this as an individual or with a partner: construct a description of the school cafeteria utilizing imagery, figurative language, and diction to sculpt its world for one who has never entered its walls. 

3 & 7: The Queens and Earls met to discuss their rhetorical strategies and then your chart was collected. Then, we began our MC journey by talking about the test as a whole, looking at the four types of questions on the exam, and reviewing test-taking strategies that can help speed up time and improve accuracy. With passage 1, we close read the text first. With your multiple choice text, treat it as you would a rhetorical analysis passage. Then, you completed the MC passage, and we identified the question types. With our next passage 2, we flipped the process by reading and identifying the questions prior to close reading the passage. (Perfect score from NB in third hour!). When we resume on Friday, we will finish the explanation of answers in passage 2.

The Multiple Choice World

One week left to complete your Lucy readings and logs. Previous blogs have more detailed reminders.

1: We started off by sharing our Queen and Earl rhetorical analyses. Then, we jumped into multiple choice passages, which we will be completing throughout the remainder of the course. After going over general strategies, we discussed the importance of close reading a passage just as you would a rhetorical analysis passage. While this may seem to eat away at the time, it actually helps you save time when completing the question portion. For homework, time yourself - be honest this is a practice activity and your first AP-style passage - 12 minutes and complete the MC. We will go over the answers and other items tomorrow.

3 & 7:We watched/listened to/annotated the transcripts for Queen Elizabeth II's statement on Princess Diana's sudden death and Earl Spencer's eulogy for his late sister.

Transcript links: http://www.famous-speeches-and-speech-topics.info/famous-speeches-by-women/queen-elizabeth-ii-speech.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/07/world/brother-s-eulogy-for-diana-the-very-essence-of-compassion.html
Video links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xc8ta-AtEM&t=255s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUy-wBwBvw

You were then assigned one of the speeches, in which you will analyze the syntax, diction, tone, pathos, logos, and ethos for the given speech.

Absentees, you can still do this at home! Create a chart on notebook paper. Column one will be rhetorical strategies, column two will be text evidence from the transcript, and column three will be analysis of the strategy. Do six rows - one for syntax, one for diction, one for tone, one for pathos, one for logos, and one for ethos. Izzy, you will be responsible for Earl Spencer's speech; Morgan, you will be responsible for Elizabeth II"s speech; Charlie R. you will be responsible for Earl Spencer's speech. In seventh hour, Crews, you will be responsible for Elizabeth II's speech.

The End of Rhetorical Analysis

As a reminder, the final deadline for the Lucy logs has been extended to Tuesday, December 6, at 2:30 p.m. Specific reminders are in a previous blog.

1: We watched/listened to/annotated the transcripts for Queen Elizabeth II's statement on Princess Diana's sudden death and Earl Spencer's eulogy for his late sister.

Transcript links: http://www.famous-speeches-and-speech-topics.info/famous-speeches-by-women/queen-elizabeth-ii-speech.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/07/world/brother-s-eulogy-for-diana-the-very-essence-of-compassion.html
Video links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xc8ta-AtEM&t=255s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUy-wBwBvw

You were then assigned one of the speeches, in which you will analyze the syntax, diction, tone, pathos, logos, and ethos for the given speech. Write down evidence from the text and then analyze its purpose. Matt, you will need to complete the analysis of those 6 elements for the Earl Spencer speech.

3 & 7: You shared your Democratic Debate fallacies with the class. That's all time permitted for us to do. Tomorrow, we will finish rhetorical analysis and start MC strategies.

New Deadline

Since we are a week behind schedule, or at least a week behind the schedule I would like us to be on, you will have a slight extension on your Lucy logs. The new deadline is Tuesday, December 6, at 2:30 p.m. You may turn these in as soon as you finish the assignment this week or early next week.

As with your previous writing prompts, if you are in school at any point on that day, the logs are still due in hard copy format. If absent, you are expected to turn in the assignment via hard copy before your next class session begins.

This is not a reward for those who have been procrastinating this assignment for four plus weeks.

You are still being graded on completion of the assignment and quality of logs on a 1-9 scale. These logs will be used for your first full argument essay in December and for future work in January when you no longer have the texts with you. Hence, your notes will be the evidence you need for successful completion of future assignments.

And, next week will be my favorite AP Lang day of the year: the Lucy discussion day! I hope you have a lot to say about Lucy, Ann, and all the themes of beauty, truth, pain, self-esteem, addiction, and friendship that these authors have introduced.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This blog contains an extra credit opportunity for those of you interested in earning some points while showcasing your knowledge of fallacies.

I have shared with each of you the Republican debate from last year. As with the Democratic debate in class, you may go through and identify a MAXIMUM OF 10 fallacies and explain why it is such in comment boxes. Once again, each student is allowed only 10 fallacies for identification. Since this is a shared document, you need to leave other opportunities for your classmates. 

Any extra credit work must be concluded by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 27. Any posts with a later time will not be given credit. If for some reason you do not have the text in your school e-mail, you must contact me before the given deadline. I will be checking my e-mail -- but not every day during break.

Those Debate Fallacies

You have a week and a half to finish your two Lucy memoirs and complete the log. You were assigned this work on October 27, so at this point you should be well on your way to finishing your second book. For any of you considering not completing the activity, the log - and its specificity and thoroughness - will be worth a significant grade. You will be rewarded for reading and responding to every chapter of the texts.

1: We discussed the fallacies present in the Democratic debate transcript and noted several fallacies that all of the candidates used throughout their speeches.

3: I shared with all of you the Democratic debate transcript. You were then assigned a specific section to identify all of the fallacies present. You will create a comment box for each fallacy and explain how this reflects that type of fallacy. Natasha, you have pages 70-73.

7: We began class by creating slippery slope fallacies and sharing these via dramatic readings. Then, we finished up the last fallacies on the power point. Last, you were assigned a section of the Democratic debate, which was shared to all of you. For your given section, you are to create a comment box for each fallacy and then explain why it is one. This will be due at the beginning of the hour on Monday. Absentees, you will need to identify the fallacies on pages 70-73.

Back to Fallacy

In all classes, you received your Bird Prompt back and added notes to your portfolio regarding areas of improvement. In other news, I mentioned earlier that the next timed rhetorical analysis prompt would be a surprise some time this month. Alas, we are running out of time and need to do MC and argumentation before the semester ends. Thus, the timed prompt will be the passage on your final. So, you have to still complete it.

1: In groups, you received a specific 15 pages of the Democratic Debate from last year. Using our shared document, make comments when you see a fallacy, indicating the type and explaining why it is such. Finish this up for tomorrow' class when we will take a glance over your classmates' fallacious identification.

3: After a brief wrapping up of our presentation discussions, we crafted slippery slope fallacies together. If absent, this is just a fun activity so no make-up is needed. Then, we finished reviewing all the fallacies from your packet. Tomorrow will be about identifying these fallacies.

7: We created a hybrid discussion of autism and Malala in order to expedite our work today. Afterwards, we looked at slippery slope videos from Direct TV. Tomorrow, you will be constructing your own slippery slope, so start thinking of a view ideas that could be used for entertainment value.