Time to Start Homework!

Hey kids - er, young adults,

Are you surprised I knew just when you would start doing your homework for tomorrow? It might be a bit early for some of you, but I want to write the blog before I fall asleep - that has been a recurring theme lately hasn't it? Truth is I had massage therapy this evening, a therapy I would highly recommend, save for the fact that I was in a virtual stupor when I staggered off the table, and I haven't completely regained consciousness yet. Hopefully I'll be a bit more cogent tomorrow morning! 

With respect to last days' class, we took a lot more time on the AP essay samples than I expected, but that is good. I want you to be prepared for the challenge of the exam and to feel completely familiar with the expectations when you write it. So, on that note, we will continue with those samples tomorrow and carry on with logical fallacies and Eric Liu. Your homework was to find some sites that tell you how to create an interesting introduction to your essays. I think this is especially relevant on the AP exam - the more catchy, the better the hook, the more you will rouse your reader to really see the beauty, the brains, and the brilliance of your efforts. Just in case you are having trouble getting started with the homework, check out this site on writing introductions. 

A` demain!

Welcome to Go Over Week

Happy Monday all!

I am dubbing this week go-over week because we have oodles of information to go over. Thus, we will begin tomorrow by reviewing your homework, which was to read and give a grade to the student sample AP essays that correspond to the question you wrote about on Friday. I will then give you the marking criteria to make sure your grades fit, and then we will have the big reveal to see what the actual AP marks were. I also have a paper written by Renee Shea, who is one of the authors of your textbook, and we will look at what her suggestions are for writing the persuasive essay. 

Then, I would like to touch upon the grammar work you did last week, the outline for Eric Liu's essay with particular attention to structure, and then we also need to go over the logical fallacies we began last week! Wow - there is a lot to keep track of and a lot going on in this class right now. One could almost forget there was an essay due next week, but luckily, I am helpfully reminding you - again. 

See you tomorrow - can't wait! 


PS: Any nice comments would be welcome to convince me that someone is actually reading this blog. Nice comments - you got that right?

Half-Asleep Post

Warning: I am almost unconscious with fatigue as I write this, so if there are numerous errors, my apoligiees. To recap the day, we reviewed some essay issues such as the difference between a rant and a critique. This essay does invite criticism of education, but you need to avoid empty complaints about the terrible system, curriculum, books, homework, and / teachers - well, that does sound quite depressing, doesn't it? :) But anyway, instead of general attacks, try to make convincing, rational, well-substantiated arguments. Of course positive comments about education are always welcome, and have the added bonus of being rare and unexpected, so don't hold back.

Let us move on to our discussion and the practice questions about logical fallacies. Do you recall what Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc means? If one event follows another, the first has not necessarily caused the second. Faulty causality. Oh, and I told my husband about the whole false dilemma (also known as false dichotomy) issues - he is delighted that I am now going to accuse him of logical fallacies while we are arguing! How to add spice to the marriage - ok, I told you I am very tired right now. 

Anyway, young people who can stay up until 9:30 without keeling over, I really want you to remember me when you have three little kids and a job. Now for your homework.

Please:

• Complete the logical fallacies worksheet - make sure to use the notes to help you answer the questions, and read the other handout on argumentation that explains warrants, claims, data, counterarguments, and rebuttals.  Keep working on your essays, which are now due on the Monday - the 27th, I think. 
• If you have the workbook, you should now be reading Chapter 6 and completing the work therein. 
• On Friday, we will look at the persuasive essay for the AP exam.

Must go zzzzzzz.

P.S. If you read this blog, please comment with the name of one logical fallacy not mentioned in this post. 

Smells Like a Kiss to Me

In the interest of Valentine's Day, (have a happy one!) I found this interesting article on kissing. Note the literary aspects of the history of kissing, and the strange evolution from smelling one another. It's worth a read.

As for this blog entry, it will be a short one. I simply want to encourage you to continue working hard on your essays. I think the due date will be February 23rd. Part of this assignment is, as I've explained, to partake in the writing process complete with editing, and revision, and time to develop a quality product. The time is critical. Even if you have not engaged in this process before, you will be amazed at how much your essay will improve if you have time to play with it, think about it, and make significant and detailed changes to perfect it. If you have not completed the rough draft as assigned, you will miss the benefit of a full peer-edit, and review, and time to suitably revise your whole essay. At this point, you should be writing your conclusion, and fine tuning the essay. I will bring back more essays for feedback on Wednesday. Hopefully, you are working on refining and writing the remainder of the essay. 

Please bring your novels next day - we will read again and go over more information about the persuasive essay for the AP exam.

Enjoy the love tomorrow!

On Essays

Happy Weekend People!

After reviewing the essays you gave me to comment on, there are some good results and common themes emerging. A number of you have written it was not until this year you felt genuinely invested and engaged in learning; you also noted it was not really necessary, until now, to work hard. For students to whom school comes easily, it is possible to get through a lot of high school without really knocking yourself out; but once in grade 12 or university, the challenge increases. Some have suggested reading Francine Prose, or having the right teacher has made a big difference to your thinking, but I suspect to a large extent, your new-found interest in learning is directly related to your increasing maturity. As you grow up - and you are - you start to see how your hard work translates directly into your success. You get out of something what you put into it. That goes for not only your hours of, say, writing and rewriting an essay, but also into the depth of thought you generate for what you read. Of course, being older, you know more than you used to, and you have more experiences and ideas to connect to your learning. Further, you are motivated to learn for your own reasons. With university looming, most of you have a clear goal in mind for next year, and you know what kind of effort it will take to get there. In contrast, in grade 6 or 8 or 9, school might not have had the same direct relevance to your lives. 

Anyway, back to your essays - I can see a number of you have really spent the time to write a solid rough draft, and you have incorporated the peer reviews. With my reviews too, that should help you shape a top-notch product.

Finally, a word or two about Eric Liu. His essay is a good model, as was Edmunson's, for real clarity of structure. He effectively leads us, his reader, through his story in chronological order, and in each section identifies exactly what he will write about. We'll carry on with the work on his essay on Monday, so I can review more essays. In the meantime, you might like to see who Eric Liu is - he worked as a speech-writer for Bill Clinton, and was a White House policy-adviser, so he is fairly accomplished to say the least. 

I'm down two daughters tonight, as they are off to Camp Olave, so I'll try to get a lot of marking done - it's much quieter around here!

Enjoy the weekend!

Concuss Much?

After all the talk of concussions lately, you would think, judging by today's class, that I had a concussion. You remember: the crazy photocopying, the mistaken timing of the class, and the endless rambling about the AP exam. Sorry - not my usual style, I hope. Well, the rambling is endless, I know, but hopefully it's informative most of the time. I promise the tutelage will be of better quality next day. 

Honestly, did it seem like the work with the workbook was really long to you? Sometimes, it is particularly painful to hear yourself boring your students. My inner voice is yelling, "Stop! Now!" The trouble is, I know in theory you could read the test prep book by yourselves and study by yourselves and make a plan by yourselves, but, and don't be offended by this, I am not sure all of you would be equally motivated to do so. And I want you to get your money's worth. That study guide is good, but you actually have to open it - a lot - to reap the full benefits. You see my point? 

About your essays: By now, you should have a goodly amount of writing done. But that does not mean you are close to being finished; sadly, far from it. Now is the time to start getting out the axe: could the sentence have 10 words instead of 12? Does the word "that" really need to be there? (The answer is: almost never.) Are you repeating ideas, phrases, or various events? Should paragraph 1 be paragraph 3 and vice versa? Do you need some short sentences? Also, and this is tough, but maybe you just need to do some heavy, painful revision and cutting of certain paragraphs of your brilliance. Yes, it may be brilliant, but does it need to be there? Is it helping your cause? Is it the best you've got?

I looked over one student's essay today, and gave some general suggestions, so despite the fact that it is hugely time-consuming, I will offer to do the same for all of you. I will try to structure the next few classes so I can consult with you individually. The upshot of all of this is that (see? not needed) you will go through the complete writing process, so that (again - extraneous) you can do this with skill about a million times in the next four or five years at post-secondary. (Once again, something I can tell you to do that I no longer have to. There are some perks to this job!)

As for Glee, I will not ruin it for you this week, Stephanie. But Ola, Ricky Martin! Usted es atractivo! -although, probably not entirely appropriate as a secondary educator. 

Ciao! 

Homework: Please complete the re-photocopied critical essays and questions about The Catcher in the Rye for Thursday.

Super Blog

So, despite my not being much of a TV sports enthusiast (apologies to you jersey-wearing fans) I am interested to see the ads and the half-time show at this year's Super Bowl. From a rhetorical analysis perspective, the ads should be fascinating. I know you were all thinking about the ads from that perspective, right? But seriously, apparently the ads now cost $3.5 million per 30 second spot, so think of the marketing genius (at least in theory) that would go into the production (about another $1.5 million or so) of said ads. So we know the occasion and the audience of the ads, but what will prove interesting is how the ads will make use of pathos - mostly humour; ethos - lots of famous people (Elton John, Matthew Broderick, John Stamos); and logic - maybe / maybe not. I was reading a Forbes article and a few others online about the poor ROI (return on investment) for the ads. Companies spend millions but don't recoup their investments in sales. The ads amount to very expensive entertainment, which of course, is not very logical in itself. 

Of course, the big Madonna half-time show and her cat-fight with Elton John and his husband also have the potential to be pretty entertaining. I am struck by just how American it all is - this huge national hoopla over a football game, and advertising, and Madonna (who falsely portrays herself as English now, with the pseudo-accent and all), and tail-gate parties, etc. Now if it were hockey, that would be different, right? 

Anyway, because you will no doubt want to be doing your own rhetorical analysis of those commercials on Sunday, I suggest, in my helpful way, that you work really hard on your essay tomorrow. It's Saturday, so what else could you possibly have to do? Keep in mind that you should feel free to be going back over your essay, editing, changing, moving sentences about, etc. Also, get out the axe! Seriously, don't get too attached to the text you have written - sometimes you have to be ruthless, unless you are writing a blog where you can just ramble on and on. But, in your case, make sure every word is necessary and contributes to your ideas. 

We'll read more Eric Liu on Tuesday when I plan to return. 

Have a super weekend! (I know, too obvious. Sorry.)