Writing and Reading the Real World
PLEASE ADD RESOURCES AND IDEAS FOR “CONVERSATIONS” STARTING ON SLIDE 37.
I had a great time working with you all, and please stay in touch: jgolden@pps.net. Thanks! John
Plan for Session
https://sites.google.com/site/johngoldenpdx/
Part One: Synthesis Argument
Part Two: Visual Rhetoric of NOW -- campaign advertisements
Wrap Up and Questions
Break @10:00
Lunch @11:30
Break @ 2:15
End @3:20
Who are we?
Our Norms Today...
From Learning Forward:
AP Skills and Knowledge
AP Language AP Literature
AP Skills and Knowledge
AP Language AP Literature
Pre-AP English
PART ONE
SYNTHESIS ARGUMENT
What challenges do you face in teaching source-based arguments?
Why Teach Synthesis
AP Language and rSAT
Revised SAT Writing
ACT Writing
Why teach Synthesis?
AP Language Exam asks students to read and synthesize multiple sources into their own, original argument.
We’ll look closely at an AP Lang prompt soon.
Why teach synthesis?
True, easy, and authentic differentiation by sources and by original argument.
One of the most important life skills...read, learn, create, and act.
Ninth Grade Synthesis
Topic: Motivation
Argument
Writing the Argument. Once you have read multiple texts on the topic and have begun organizing your thinking about it, it is time to write your argument. Respond to one of the following prompts, being sure that you keep your position on the issue central and be sure to refer to at least two texts in the Conversation to support your position.
Prompt 1: Think about an activity in which you have participated or still participate. Write about what motivates you – intrinsic or extrinsic – to do the activity.
Prompt 2: Should children be pushed to participate in activities at a very young age in order to get to the 10,000-hour rule Gladwell describes? What is the appropriate line for parents and children?
Prompt 3: To what extent can hard work and practice lead to success, and what are the most effective ways to achieve that success?
How does synthesis work? (p.2 in packet)
Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, The How of Happiness
Any major life-changing endeavor must be accompanied by considerable sustained effort, and I would speculate that the majority of people do not or cannot continue putting out that kind of effort. What’s more, all new happiness-enhancing or health-boosting strategies have something in common; they bestow on the person a specific goal, something to do and to look forward. Moreover, as I explain later on, having goals in and of themselves is strongly associated with happiness and life satisfaction. That’s why – at least for a time – any new happiness strategy does work!
How does synthesis work?
Jane McGonigal’s Reality Is Broken
When you’re on a WoW quest, there’s never any doubt about what you’re supposed to do or where or how. It’s not a game that emphasizes puzzle solving or trial-and-error investigation. You simply have to get the job done, and then you will collect your reward. Why do we crave this kind of guaranteed productivity? In The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky writes that the fastest way to improve someone’s everyday quality of life is to “bestow on the person a specific goal something to do and to look forward.” When a clear goal is attached to a specific task, she explains, it gives us an energizing push, a sense of purpose. That’s why receiving more quests every time we complete one in World of Warcraft is more of a reward than the experience points and the gold we’ve earned.
Quick Intro to Synthesis
Partner Name | Summary | Best Direct Quote | Your Reaction |
| | | |
| | | |
Quick Intro, continued
3. For TWO minutes each, talk to TWO people and get their responses to the prompt, taking a minute between each to fill in your chart. (I will keep the time) When you have spoken to two people, return to your seat and fill in your notes.
4. Let’s talk about the following:
Quick Intro, continued
Return to your original response and add your partners’ thoughts to yours that supports, challenges, or qualifies your original position. You can use sentence starters, such as:
+“In contrast, _____ disagrees, suggesting instead that _______.”
+“Additionally, ______ supports this idea, saying that ______”
+“Another factor to consider is what ___ raises, recommending that __”
Claim: (I believe that) summer vacation should be ____ because ___”
First steps with source-based synthesis
Write a brief response before reading about one of the following topics:
1. Should the Washington football team change its name? (page 3)
2. Do today’s commercial films and television go beyond stereotypes in their depiction of women and girls? (page 4)
Read one of the texts, marking phrases that are similar to or different from your position.
Adding to the argument
+“In contrast, _____ disagrees, suggesting instead that _______.”
+“Additionally, ______ supports this idea, saying that ______”
+“Another factor to consider is what ___ raises, recommending that __”
“What this shows is that _______________________”
“What this fails to recognize is ____________________”
Writing a Synthesis Paragraph
Point
Quote
Explanation
Point
Evidence
Analysis
So what?
With the end in mind...
For this section, we will:
AP Prompt
AP Prompt Sources
What we know about successful synthesis
Guided Practice: High School Sports
Before we read about this topic, write a brief response to one of the following questions (page 7):
Amanda Ripley: The Case Against High School Sports
Academic “Moves”
ALL students need help using the academic language that forces them to consider texts in conversation with each other. “They Say, I Say”
By Gerald Graff. Sentence stems act as training wheels
Practice with one stem on page 11 for Ripley
Expanding the Conversation
Read one of the following texts individually, underlining claims, circling evidence, and using the margin for your responses. Complete a sentence stem or two to practice some additional academic “moves”:
2. Kai Sato (pages 12-13)
3. Daniel Bowen and Collin Hitt (pages 14-15)
4. Mark Edmundson (pages 16-17)
If time allows, look at US Lags Behind (18-19)
Kenneth Burke writes:
Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your ally's assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress.
Entering the Conversation
Now that you have examined the ideas of each author individually and begun to make connections, it’s time to really get inside their heads! Take on the role of one of the authors you have just read, and be prepared to discuss the following questions as if you were that author. Some will be Ripley.
1. To what extent are participation in high school sports and the pursuit of academic excellence incompatible activities?
2. Should high schools severely cut back their sports programs? Why or why not?
Move around the room and have a conversation with people about the questions above. Role play: Speak as “I” rather than, for instance, “Ripley would say” or “Edmundson believes.”
Bringing it all together
The next steps for students:
Reflection
What skills would students improve on by working with these activities?
Planning Time
Spend a little bit of time thinking individually or with a partner or group about topics you teach, or would like to teach, and how you can cluster texts into a “conversation” like the high school sports.
The conversation can be made up of nonfiction, fiction, poetry, film, artwork, etc. For example...
For example...My 9th grade:
Fiction: “Two Kinds” | Drama: Romeo and Juliet | Mythology: The Odyssey |
Conversation: what are the most effective ways to motivate people? | Conversation: what are the benefits and dangers of organizing into “Tribes”? | Conversation: how does society define a hero and what is included/excluded as a result? |
Resources
Newsela
New York Times Learning Network and Room for Debate
Rhetoric.com
Scholastic Scope
TED Talks
Oslis.org
The Visual Rhetoric of NOW
Using Campaign Ads to Introduce Rhetoric��
Objectives for analyzing campaign ads
NCTE’s 21st Century Literacies
Rhetorical Triangle
Rhetorical Triangle
Candidate
Voters Issue(s)
Campaign Ad
Sample Ad
LBJ (1964)
Swing Voters Goldwater’s “Hawkishness”
“Daisy” Ad
Lyndon Johnson (1964)
Barry Gold Water 1964
Purpose of Ads?
Main purpose: vote for me, not the other person!
Specific purpose: vote for me, not the other person BECAUSE ______.
Rhetorical Appeals
Ethos: appeal to credibilty
Pathos: appeal to emotion
Logos: appeal to logic
Rhetorical Appeals in Campaign Ads
Ethos: how does the advertisement show the candidate to be credible and worthy of (re)election?
Pathos: what emotions does the advertisement rely on to communicate its purpose?
Logos: what facts, statistics, or logical reasoning does the advertisement use to achieve its purpose?
Ronald Reagan (1984)
Viewing a Campaign Ad
READING a Campaign Ad
Visual Track
What we see:
Questions: Why are we seeing this? How do these images make us feel? What are we not seeing? How are archival or found images recontextualized?
Text Track
What we read:
Questions: Why are particular words, phrases, graphics used? How does the text emphasize or undercut the visuals and audio? How is someone identified? Why?
Audio Track
What we hear:
Questions: What are the effects of the word choice of narrator/subjects? How is music used to create a feeling or mood? How does the music support/undercut the visual and/or text tracks?
Practice putting it together
As we look at the following ad, look closely for ONE of the following tracks:
How do the choices create rhetorical appeals? Why did the candidate chose to include them?
Note taking
Geoge Bush (1988)
Campaign Ads of NOW!
As we read each ad, look for:
Donald Trump (2015)
Hillary Clinton (2016)
http://www.campaignlive.com/article/decoding-political-ads-four-emotions-used-drive-voter-decision/1402853#JdEvtrb7JQc50mDG.02
Next Steps
Creating our own
Taking your assigned politician, identify a specific effect that you would like to create. Think about the visuals, text, and audio you could use
Sketch out a few shots from your campaign ad, giving thought to the visual, audio, and text tracks.
Storyboard
Resources
Wrap Up
Questions, comments, concerns?
John Golden: jgolden@pps.net
PowerPoint: https://sites.google.com/site/johngoldenpdx/