Fallacious IS a Word!

Honestly, doubters, this is a word. Check here to prove it: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallacious.

Anyway, attendance hit rock-bottom today. The 13 people in class took the sentence test, which the rest of you will have to make up at lunch on Tuesday. We then did a practice AP Multiple Choice test, and each student kept track of their personal time, in order to gauge their speed with this type of evaluation. It will be important to have speed and accuracy for the exam.

We then began a Power Point presentation about logical fallacies, and discussed why this is important to know in order to avoid essays containing fallacious reasoning. Fallacious, sometimes it's specious, often spurious, at times avaricious, arising from the garrulous and loquacious, and slightly suspicious, but overall the word is quite delicious. It's a word, I tell you!

Your homework is to complete your masterful presentations, which I can't wait to hear Tuesday! We will continue on the logical fallacies next week as time allows.

Have a good one!

Remember, never drink and ski. For one thing, you're too young, and for another thing it's dangerous. Protect your melon - you need it for the AP exam, and possibly a few other of life's endeavors. I'm serious!

The Great B.C. Shakeout!

There were some good vibrations in English today! We really got down to some foundational learning, although some of you seemed quite floored by the thought of Friday's sentence test. We covered some new material today: terms related to argumentation, including shaky reasoning, also known as logical fallacy. I will drop a work sheet or two on you next day to help you get an intellectual hold on these new terms. I am giving you these terms so you can rock the upcoming multiple choice test on 3 of the 4 essays you have covered in your groups. Further, you need to know how to avoid fallacious reasoning in order to sway your readers when you write the upcoming persuasive essays.

Finally, I would like to thank Spencer for the student's perspective on English 12 AP, which was quite moving. Also, Megan and Jessie provided great coverage for my AP booth in the library - Jessie even dropped by at lunch.

That about covers it - must rock n' roll.

Homework:

1. Grade 8/ 12 sentence test on Friday (fragments, run-ons, simple, compound, and complex sentences).


2. Presentations; be ready to shake things up on Tuesday.

Note: please do not read this without attending to my punny writing. (That's pun -ny, not puny.)

Nominalizations and Presentations

You see, who else creates lesson plans that rhyme? I tell you people, you are so lucky!
Anyway, this will be short today because I have to head off to a conference.

• We read a fascinating handout on Passive Voice and Nominalizations in reference to Amy Tan's essay. I didn't even notice that many of you appeared unconscious as I read. I did notice Dylan was late - anyone else notice that? Sarah?
• We worked on a group project to complete a rhetorical analysis of one essay and then present it to the class. Presentations begin next Tuesday because I couldn't stand the thought of Taylor and Spencer and Dylan missing them.

Homework: Work on your group's presentation and analysis of the essay. If for some bizarre and unimaginable reason you have not read one of the essays, do it. (Do I come across as quite sarcastic? Must work on improving my sincerity! Sincerely, read the essays.)

Note: there will be a sentence quiz Friday and a test on these essays in about two weeks.

Off to learn about Understanding by Design (UBD).

The Monarchs of Grammar

I love to tell people I married the Grammar King; that title perfectly captures the geeky yet noble qualities of my husband, and it serves to emphasize my cool qualities in contrast to his nerdier ones. What I mean is, for years at the odd party or social engagement, the term underscored the fact that I was not geeky enough to be too invested in grammar. But, surprise, surprise. Just when you are certain of who you are - no stodgy, boring grammar for me - you change; you learn; you grow! I now find myself espousing (pardon the pun) the benefits and the necessity of grammatical excellence at every turn. You see, young people, you just never know how differently you might see things in the future. Be warned - it really is useless to become too entrenched in the "you" you are at any given stage - you'll change whether you like it or not! And, despite our human penchant for clinging to certainty, a changing, expanding mind is cause for celebration.

Anyway, all that to introduce one of my favorite lessons: simple, compound, and complex sentences; coordination and subordination; independent and dependent clauses. I gave notes on those worthy topics, and you completed the Grade 8 Sentence Quiz. I will happily give you another quiz for marks on the same subjects next Friday.

The story above is also intended to encourage you to do the mountains of reading (there I go with the puns again) I assigned today. First off, you had class time to read Ngugi Wa Thiongo'o's (best name EVER) selection from Decolonising the Mind (page 547). Next, I assigned a close reading of Eric Liu's Notes of a Native Speaker. This was a handout, and I gave extra copies to Carmen for Michelle and Megan, and one to Blondie (second best name EVER) for Taylor. Jeorgia, can you please try to get this from someone or find it online?

Anyway, I'm off to read about nominalizations and passive voice. Yes, I'll share this gem with you next week.

Yours imperially and humbly all at once,

The Grammar Queen

This blog posted with official approval from The King.

What's Worth Saying?

You spent some class time today pondering this question: what would you like the world to remember of your present self by virtue of your Grad Write-Up? Moreover, what would you like to remember of yourself? Even moreover :) , what is the purpose of a Grad Write-Up? Hmm. Deep thoughts, people. What essential truth does your 17-year-old self wish to leave in perpetuity to the world; that's right it lasts forever ... This is weighty stuff.

Slighty less importantly, you completed some journal responses for Richard Rodriguez's essay, and we had a productive class discussion about his experience and the general experience of learning English as a second language. Thank you for your contributions.

A compliment: Good journals of late - seriously the marks are way too high! Also the vocab quizzes were terrific - are you people getting smarter? Is that possible? I will have to renew my efforts to challenge you!

Homework: Read Amy Tan's Mother Tongue, page 542. I didn't forget the vocab, but we'll wait until next week.

Adios!

Acronyms for Acronym

What is the difference between an acronym and an antonym? Well, Ms. Mountain, they both start with "a" and end with "nym" so that makes them pretty much interchangeable, right? Much to my public humiliation, not. Here, for your learning pleasure are some acronyms for acronym, so you do not end up looking as foolish as I do / did / may again in the future.

1. Alphabetical Code for Remembering Odd Names You Make up
2. A Coded Rendition Of Names Yielding Meaning
3. A Contrived Reduction Of Nouns, Yielding Mnemonics
4. Another Cryptic Rendition Of Nomenclature You Memorize

Come to think of it, acronyms helped me through univeristy, antonyms not so much.

In today's class, we had vocab quiz #5 - lots of good marks there! We read This metaphor ain't dead, it's just restin', and I mentioned it is helpful to look at a critical essay that demonstrates a learned, well-reasoned, and informed disagreement with another writer's work. In this case, the author, Martin Shovel, is expressing his disagreement with the Plain English Campaign's defense of Orwell's rule: "never use a metahpor, simile, or figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print." Shovel's disagreement is informed and fair, which is a good example of how you too might choose to disagree with works we read.

Then, basically it was a work class, where you were able to complete the Rhetorical Analysis chart for Orwell's essay, and I assigned the reading of Richard Rodriguez' Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, page 513.

Homework: Finish the chart and Aria, as above. Don't forget your grad write-ups- we may do them next day. Remind me.

Have a good weekend!

A Catalogue of Swindles and Perversions

Today you:

• reviewed Orwell's essay, Politics and the English Language. There was a journal assignment. For those of you who missed it, (Questions for Discussion #1 and #4.) Only Taylor, who is always so keen and relaxed, did question #6 as well! Great work, T.T.!
• observed a presentation to review Orwell's "catalogue of swindles and perversions", hallmarks of the decline of English usage, and we listened to a podcast reflecting on Orwell's writing as a political journalist.
• received the handout for Grad Write-Ups, also known as G.W.U's. Please plan to write them in class next day.

For homework: Vocabulary Test on Unit 5 using acronyms; finish rhetorical analysis chart on Thoreau's essay. FYI: I'll be checking homework for quality and completion!

Learn to Read; Read to Learn.

What is this title an example of? Moreover, how do you pronounce it?

Today, in addition to re-learning the answer to the above question (thanks, Sam!) we began reading George Orwell's Politics and the English Language (p.529). Please finish a complete reading for homework. We discussed Thoreau, and then began work on a graphic organizer for rhetorical analysis. I see this document (handed out in class) as an invaluable resource to practice for the rhetorical analysis on the AP exam. Make sure you know and understand the terms on this document - there will be a test in the future!

HW: Finish reading Orwell; complete the first side of the graphic organizer (thesis, structure, and syntax) using Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.

Simplicity! Simplicity! Simplicity!

What would Henry David Thoreau say to Edmunson, do you think? I love the juxtaposition of these two essays read one right after the other. I know its not "cool" to espress my love for and strong response to anything in the academic realm, so I admit to being pretty uncool in that way. Ideas still excite me, and I am pretty enthusiastic a la Joon Ye!

Today's class:

• Silent reading of Thoreau's essay on page 276 of your textbook.


• Journal response to questions on Edmunson's essay.


• Group discussions of the questions and some of the ideas that struck a chord with you.

Homework: Finish the journal questions, if you have not done so. Finish a close reading of Thoreau.

Enjoy the weekend!

Liberal Education as Lite Entertainment

Hello.
Today we finished watching The Great Debaters and analysed the rhetocial strategies for persuasion used by each of the opposing teams (Wiley College and Harvard) in the debate.

We then spent a fair amount of time discussing the article entitled On the Uses of a Liberal Education as Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students by Mark Edmunson. For those of you who contributed to the discussion, I thank you. Your insights, arguments, and intelligent contributions enhance the learning environment of our class immeasurably. I, for one, find it quite exciting and interesting to listen to all you have to say. Thanks!

I have asked that you do a close, annotated (highlighted, written all over) reading of this article for next class to further our discussion of the many points and references Edmunson makes. Yes, you have read it once. Now, please, read it again and consider what you think and what you don't know.

I spoke at length (I know, too long) about the need for you to push yourselves now to learn and ask questions and investigate your readings. If you don't know a word, look it up. If you've never heard of a person referred to in an article, look it up. You may even bring your phones or devices to access the Internet in class, if you are indeed furthering your acquisition of relevant knowledge.

Homework: Annotated second reading of Liberal Education as Lite Entertainment article. This article was given out several classes before Winter Vacation.

Essay Feedback

Just a few quick notes for you regarding the latest essays:

Some outstanding efforts! Most of you chose very insightful and interesting topics. Many of you found your own authentic voice and wrote with confidence and fluency.

With respect to marks:

• Students who had excellent, almost error-free writing received an A.
• Keep in mind the ideas of "sparkle and polish". Papers with a little extra pizzazz, a unique level of quality writing and thought, will earn the highest grades.
• A few of you still have run-ons, fragments, and multiple errors that impede reading of your essay. Please address this by reading about these errors online, and doing some practice exercises to remediate your skills. These kinds of errors did limit the grade on the paper to a B or lower.
• Many of you lost marks for an incomplete rough draft or peer-edit. By the same token, these were easy marks for those of you who included all the required rough and peer-edited versions of your essay. Typically your full participation in this process paid off with a better essay and a better grade.
• Do you know that you need a comma before a coordinate conjunction in a compound sentence? If this makes total sense to you, do nothing. If it does not, please look up compound sentences and coordinate conjunctions, and find out what I am talking about, so you can get it right!
• Finally, I was really pleased so many of you brought your rough drafts to me or saw me at tutorial to ask about your essays. Those of you who planned ahead and had the rough ready on the day of peer-editing generally had the best marks. When you have the luxury of a take-home essay, as opposed to an in-class essay, make the most of the time and plan well ahead. Good advice would suggest that you let your completed essay sit for several days before creating your final copy - that way you have time to ruminate and apply the final masterful strokes of genius needed to earn those high marks. If you are rushing to finish, the fine-tuning is neglected (as may be noticed in this blog from time to time).

Remember, only 24 classes until Spring Break - not that I'm counting or anything!