Wednesday

Today - we will go over your answers to the National Oration and review your opening paragraph of your persuasion paper.

Note - you will have a short quiz on Friday on the notes you took on the PowerPoint last week.

Remember your 1st draft (complete draft) is due on Monday.

For fun watch the following ORATION:

So - I want you to watch the oration above and answer the following:


1)  What is the hook?
2) What is the thesis statement?
3) Give examples of the following types of evidence or strategies that the speaker uses:

 A) Expert Testimony
 B) Facts and Statistics
 C) Comparisons
 D) Refutation of the opposing side
 E) Audience interest

4) How does the speaker establish his personal connection with the topic?
5) How does the speaker use Ethos, Logos and Pathos in his oration?
6) What is the conclusion?

Please post these on your blog.

Writing the Persuasive Essay

1st Draft of Persuasive Essay will be due on Monday - March 2nd, 2015.

For a tutorial go HERE

For an overview of MLA Format go to Purdue Owl - HERE

Remember the order of importance in MLA


MLA

1) Name
2) Title of article or title of webpage
3) Title of book or website
4) Place of publication
5) Publisher
6) Date of publication
7) Page number
8) Source of publication (example: Web, Print, DVD, etc)
9) (Internet) Date of access.

go here for sample MLA Citation pages or in-text citations.

Argumentation and Persuasion Essays

Today - we will discuss persuasive essays.  You will also look at a powerpoint on Edmodo about persuasive essays and take notes from it.

For a list of "possible" controversial topics go HERE

OR:


Resolved: In the United States, students should be guaranteed two years of free tuition to a community or technical college.

Resolved: On balance, economic globalization benefits worldwide poverty reduction.

Resolved: United Nations peacekeepers should have the power to engage in offensive operations.

Resolved: For-profit prisons in the United States should be banned.

Resolved: On balance, the benefits of genetically modified foods outweigh the harms.

Resolved: On balance, public subsidies for professional athletic organizations in the United States benefit their local communities.
   
Argumentation and Persuasive Essays

The purpose of this unit is help students think about persuasive arguments and how to defend a position.  We will explore the basic structure of a debate and develop affirmative and negative arguments with constructive points and rebuttals.  Students will learn how to write thesis statements with an order of development to outline the structure of their essay.  We will talk about the six traits of writing, about transitions, about conclusions, about research and MLA citation.  We will look at controversial topics in the news and discuss how to argue one side or another, and we will write and revise, and finally share with the class.  The persuasion essays is perhaps the most important essay form to learn as far as it helps students explore topics, think about evidence, develop research methods, and prepare a paper and speech.  It is also a paper that they will reencounter in college.

OBJECTIVES:  By the end of this unit students will be able to

1) Define the following terms: Logos, Ethos, Pathos, Thesis Statement, Order of Development, Conclusion, Transition, Audience, Hook, Purpose, Evidence
2) List the six traits of writing and the six steps in the writing process.
3) Properly outline the constructive for a debate and rebut opponents points/arguments
4) Choose a topic about a controversial issues and take one side of argument
5) List the Do’s and Don’ts of persuasive argument
6) Write a clear and precise thesis statement with an order of development
7) Properly cite sources both in-text and on a works cited page
8) Find evidence from a variety of different sources including Print Sources, Internet Sources, Media Sources, and Personal Sources
9) Use the Internet to properly to conduct research
10) cite passages from sources
11) Use evidence to back up your position
12) Use your order of development as an organizational tool
13) Use transitions to connect points of argument
14) Use Standard Edited American English
15) Use Proper College Composition Format
16) Use the six steps of the writing process to draft and revise a paper
17) Write three drafts of a persuasive essay using at least three sources of evidence
18) Present the final draft of your essay as an oration to class

Activities will include: group work, debates, notes and note taking, research, writing, watching videos about composition, reading, and practicing oral presentation skills.

You will be graded in the following ways: quizzes, worksheets, debate practices, revision guides and by rubrics for your essay and oration, and a final.

NOW I WANTED YOU TO - LOOK AT THESE VIDEOS

1st go HERE and then watch SHMOOP below.

Remember the PowerPoint on Edmodo - go HERE

Hamlet Final - DO NOT FAIL

Go to Edmodo!  It is there, and you have 2 hours.

Friday

Today we are going to review the draft of your essay and look at revisions.

The revision will be due on Tuesday.  Final on Hamlet will be next Thursday!

Next Week

I want you to work on Lessons 9 and 10 on SHMOOP - and begin your 3-5 page essay on Hamlet based on the UNIT LEARNING GOAL.

Unit Learning goal: Students will demonstrate an understanding of Hamlet by choosing a prompt from below, developing a thesis statement out of it, and answering the thesis statement by analyzing and using direct evidence from the text. 

QUESTIONS TO DEVELOP THESIS STATEMENTS ABOUT AND ANSWER

1)    Polonius is sometimes played as a senile old fool, sometimes as a shrewd and worldly old man.  Which interpretation do you agree with and why?

2)    Pick one character who could, at some point, have changed the whole chain of events.  Discuss.

3)    Analyze the three appearances of the ghost seen in the play.  Where did he appear; to whom did he appear?  How does the third appearance differ from the first two?  What is the significance of this?

4)    Discuss the reasons for Hamlet’s apparent delay in seeking revenge for his father.  What is your opinion regarding his procrastination?

5)    Compare and contrast Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras as avengers.

6)    What is Hamlet’s attitude towards life and people?  How does it affect his actions?

7)    Apply the following quote to Hamlet: “A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good.  Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how to not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case.”  -- THE PRINCE, Machiavelli

8)    Examine the reoccurring pun on sun and son.  How does this symbol work in the overall meaning of the play.

9)    Was Ophelia pregnant with Hamlet’s child?

10)  Did Hamlet slip into madness?

11)  It is Hamlet who causes the downfall of Denmark.

12) What is the meaning of the pirates?

13) Is Hamlet Jesus Christ?  How is Horatio either John the Baptist or an apostle.

14) Why or how is Denmark the Garden of Eden?

15) Gertrude knows about the murder?

16) The meaning of prostitution in Hamlet?

17) Can Hamlet be compared to our current society?  If so, how?

18) Perhaps others—as we read or when we finish

ACT IV

This week you will also be doing Shmoop Lessons 6, 7, and 8.

Study Questions


Act IV, Scene 1

1. What is Claudius' main fear in the immediate aftermath of Polonius' death?

Act IV, Scene 2

1. What does Hamlet refuse to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

Act IV, Scene 3

1. What image does Hamlet use (ll. 19-29) to warn Claudius he's only king temporarily?
2. Claudius ends the scene by writing a letter: to whom, and what order does it contain?

Act IV, Scene 4

1. What's the value of the land Fortinbras' army is marching to capture in Poland (l. 20)? What will the invasion itself cost (l. 25)?
2. Hamlet's soliloquy (ll. 32-66) is self-critical; summarize his main fault.

Act IV, Scene 5

1. Ophelia's songs during her first appearance in this scene deal with love, death and sex. Why? What do they tell us about her at the moment? What might they reveal about Her, Hamlet and Polonius?
2. Why is Laertes a danger to Claudius' throne (ll. 98-103)? (Actually two or three related reasons.)
3. What does Claudius offer as assurance that he had no part in Polonius' death (ll. 190-9)?

Act IV, Scene 6

1. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet explaining how he escaped from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. How did he?

Act IV, Scene 7

1. What reason does Claudius give Laertes for Hamlet's killing of Polonius (ll. 1-4)?
2. What are his two reasons for not charging Hamlet with murder (ll. 9-24)?
3. Claudius reveals that Laertes is famous for his skill with the rapier (a fencing weapon) and that Hamlet is envious of this fame.
4. How does Claudius plan to exploit this envy to give Laertes a chance for (publicly) guiltless revenge (ll. 126-38)?
5. How does Laertes refine the plan (ll. 138-147)?
6. What announcement does Gertrude make to end Act IV?