Class Structure:
- Titles
- Group Reading
- Small Group Activity
- Continue In-Class Conferences
Titles: Discuss titles of essays we’ve read in class–what is their function?
“Naps,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “Serve or Fail,” “Junking Junk Food,” “Don’t Blame the Eater,” “The New Liberal Arts,” “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” “Are Too Many People Going to College?”
Group Reading: “The Slow Death of the American Author” by Scott Turow.
Small Group Activity:
A) Establish the rhetorical situation
“1. What question(s) is the text addressing?
2. What is the writer’s purpose?
3. Who is the intended audience(s)?
4. What situational factors (biographical, historical, political, or cultural)
apparently caused the author to write this text?”(Bean 43)
B) How does the author establish his Ethos (credibility) on the subject matter? Why should we listen to what he has to say? How does this help his overall argument?
C) How does the writer’s use of a quote from the Constitution strengthen his argument?
D) How does the writer use Pathos (emotional appeals) or Logos (logical appeals)?
E) Write one or two paragraphs that sum up your findings. Include a direct quotation that you feel summarizes the author’s argument in his own words. Post the finished product to your blog before Friday’s class.
Homework Due: None
Homework Assigned: Post a polished version of the in-class assignment to your blog by Friday. Read Chapter six, “Skeptics May Object” pgs. 78-91 in They Say/I Say. Be prepared to discuss in class.
