RAFT #3: Vocabulary List

Role: Pretend you are an eleventh Grade English Teacher
Audience: Eleventh Grade English Students
Format: A five-word vocabulary list with word, part of speech, and definition
Topic: Choose five words from your independent reading that you think an eleventh grader likely would not know (or not know well) and that you think would be useful for an eleventh grader to know.

RAFT #2 (Term 2)

Follow this link to the RAFT #2 (Term 2) directions and model.

Independent Reading RAFT #1 (Term 2)

Role: Yourself as a book critic
Audience: Your classmates in 2207
Format: An informal talk with notes (the notes will contain your position with supporting reasons and evidence)
Topic: Would you recommend the book (or a book) you have read in independent reading? (Who would you or would you not recommend it to?)

Be prepared (with notes) to talk in class on Thursday, November 10.

Grendel Grendel Grendel

Go here.

Grendel: Reading check chapters three & four

Chapter three and four

These two chapters focus on Hrothgar and the Shaper.

What does Grendel observe about Hrothgar and his empire?

What does he think and feel about what he observes?

What does Grendel observe about the Shaper and his songs?

What does he think and feel about what he hears?

Independent Reading RAFT #4

Follow this link to directions for RAFT #4.

Follow this link for help writing a formal business letter.

Independent Reading RAFT #2

#2 (Due in class September 27, 2011)

Role: yourself (or another character in the book)

Audience: the protagonist (main character) of your book

Format: informal letter (including salutation and closing; 10+ sentences)

Topic: Writing as yourself or a character in the book, offer the protagonist some advice concerning specific problems the protagonist faces. Your advice should be accompanied by a full explanation of what specific problem in the book the advice addresses and your reasons for offering the advice. Try to convince the protagonist that your advice is right!

Writing an argumentative essay about a passage in The Compass

Argument draft.

Due Thursday, September 22

Typed. 12-point font. Double-spaced. MLA heading.

At the top of the page quote the passage from The Compass that you have chosen to support, revise, or oppose.

Introductory Paragraph

The introductory paragraph should include your position and a preview of your supporting arguments.

What is your position on the passage? (Will you support it, revise it, or oppose it?)

Why? (Why are you taking that position? How will you support your position?)

You might also need to provide some context for your position.

Strong introduction will often begin with a “hook”: an anecdote, a leading question, a famous quotation. Most writers create this “hook” after establishing a position.

In the next paragraph anticipate the counterargument

Write a paragraph in which you show that you understand the opposing position and the reasons that others might support that position.

End this paragraph by previewing how you will refute the counterarguments.

Body paragraphs

Return to your introduction look at what you wrote in response to the questions “Why have you taken your position?” and “How will you support your position?”

Your answers to those questions become your body paragraphs. In the body paragraphs you flesh out why you have taken the position and how you will support it. In other words in the body paragraphs you fully develop the supporting details to convince the audience to agree with you (by appealing to reason and emotions).

Here are some sources for supporting details: personal experiences and observations, and/or relevant information that you have, and/or hypothetical situations that you invent.

Personal experience and observation is very powerful because those experiences and observations can often be expressed in a manner that appeals to logos (reason), pathos (emotion), and ethos (trustworthiness of the speaker).

Relevant factual information is powerful too because it appears objective and is difficult to dispute.

Hypothetical situations are often less persuasive but if written in they are written in a way that brings the situation to life they can persuade an audience.

Conclusion

Drive home your position by referring back to your supporting ideas and evidence (logos) and by appealing to emotions (pathos).

Reread

Have you appealed effectively to reason (logos) and emotion (pathos)? Have you convinced the reader of your trustworthiness as a writer (speaker’s ethos)?

Have you effectively addressed the occasion and audience?

Have you effectively fulfilled your purpose (relative to the topic)?

Have you used an appropriate tone?

Rhetorical analysis of President Obama's Jobs Speech 8Sep11

Follow this link to the Huffington Post's excerpts of the speech.

Summer Reading Assignment

Click here for the summer reading assignment.

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