Independent Reading

Choose a book to read on your own while we're practicing for the AP exam.
Use it to practice rhetorical analysis.

Book-length Researched Argument
Gloucester
The Last Fish Tale by Mark Kurlansky
Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town by Elyssa East

Food and Environment
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Slow Food Nation by Carlo Petrini

Technology and Culture
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr
You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier

Economy and Commerce 
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies by Naoimi Klein 
Power, Inc.: The Epic Rivalry Between Big Business and Government--and the Reckoning That Lies Ahead by David Rothkopf

Sports and Culture
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
How Soccer Explains the World: an Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer
   
Other researched nonfiction of interest to previous students
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain [Here's a link to an interview with Cain about how teachers can better engage introverts.]
Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking by Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander

Speculative Fiction Critiquing Aspects of Modern Culture
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Oryx and Crake or The Haidmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
any fiction by George Saunders

Quotation response journal (10+ entries) will be due the Monday after the AP exam (May 12).
In the comment box let me know when you have selected a text.

Social Issue Project: Argument Phase: Writing a Research-based Argument about a Social Issue

Writing a Thesis Statement about a Social Issue

Day 1.
Narrow your large topic to a topic-within-the-topic.
(The narrowed topic should be something you care about deeply, something you want to understand more fully, and something you want to present an opinion on.)

Then make a clear, insightful, meaningful, debatable, supportable claim (also called a thesis, an assertion, a statement) about the topic.
(In other words state a carefully thought out opinion you have about the topic that you could support with some of the research you've conducted and perhaps some more research you will do.)

Go to Purdue's OWL for help creating a thesis statement, including specific help creating different types of thesis statements (also known as claims).

Go to Purdue's OWL for more about evaluating and strengthening different types of claims (also known as thesis statements).

You can model your thesis on strong examples from OWL, or you could set out on your own.

Day 2
* Write your claim (thesis) in a Google Doc called something like "Researched Argument about [your topic]".

* Write down what type of claim (thesis) it is? Cause and effect? Proposal? Evaluation? Interpretation? Definition? Rebuttal? Relative importance (i.e. "the most important aspects are...")? Remember that many arguments use more than one of these modes.

* Use the guide below to assess your thesis. Then, have at least one peer assess it too.

Researched argument thesis

Metacognitive Self-Assessment

What is your topic-within-the-topic? How does the thesis suggest something significant about your topic? Discuss with a peer (or peers).

Our school-wide rubric for writing says that students should write thesis statements that are clear, supportable, debatable, insightful, and meaningful. I want to add that the thesis statements

CLEAR: Presumably, the thesis is clear to you but double check. Try to look at it with new eyes. Imagine you are someone who has not researched the topic and who has not yet thought much about the topic. Is the thesis still clear? Is every word precise? Is the sentence structure logical?

SUPPORTABLE: Could you support the thesis using the research you have already gathered or using research that you think is available with a bit more digging? Discuss with a peer (or peers) the kind of supporting evidence you plan to use to support your thesis.

DEBATABLE: Does the thesis need to be developed, explained, argued for, and supported? (Or is the thesis too obvious or too easily proven?) To test if the thesis is debatable imagine a person disagreeing with your thesis. If that is possible then the thesis is debatable.

INSIGHTFUL: Does the thesis offer an insight into some specific aspect of the larger topic: an idea, an interpretation, an analysis, an evaluation, a diagnosis, a complex definition, a causal relationship, a rebuttal?  (Often times a thesis can be made more debatable, insightful, and meaningful by adding a “because” clause: “Education in America stymies creativity” becomes “Education in America stymies creativity because artificial boundaries between subject areas get in the way of students synthesizing information from different subject areas to create new understandings.”) Discuss with a peer (or peers) what you believe to be the insight (the essential understanding of the issue that comes in your thesis.

MEANINGFUL: Does the thesis address something about the topic that is vital, crucial, significant, maybe even essential. Explain to a peer why your thesis (your insight, idea, interpretation, analysis) matters!

Give your thesis to a peer to get some feedback.   

Peer-Assessment

* Is the thesis clear? Restate your peer's thesis back to her or him in your own words. Were you able to do this successfully. If not the thesis may need editing. The thesis (claim) is the heart of the argument so make sure it is precise and powerful.

* Is the thesis supportable? What kind of supporting evidence will you expect to see in the body of the paper? Tell your peer. If not the writer doesn't have access to the necessary support the thesis needs editing or writer needs to do more research.

* Is the thesis debatable, insightful, and meaningful or when you read it do you think “so what”? Try to explain the meaningful significance of the thesis back to the writer. Also, talk about what makes the thesis debatable. How does the thesis enter a controversy or attempt to explain an uncertainty? If the thesis is too obvious, too vague, or too easy to "prove" then it might need editing.

***

The next step will be taking a look at the sources you and your group members have already gathered, summarized, and evaluated. What there might be useful to you for developing and supporting your argument?

& what other sort of additional support will you need in order to develop your thesis into a convincing argument?

***

Then make a plan (a plan geared to the kind of argument you will be making)

Day 3 we will work on making a plan (an outline or map) with...

a central claim (thesis)>>>>supporting claims (mini-theses)>>>>supporting sources for each claim

[This is similar to the map of issues>>>>implications>>>>sources we made before writing the consumerism and commodification synthesis paper.]

But before we create our own plans we will (1) read examples of researched arguments with different types of claims (theses): cause and effect, evaluation, proposal, definition, rebuttal. (2) Understand the process that went into making each type and the structure that underlies each type.

***
Day 4-7
Turn your plan and your research into a well-developed and well-supported argument using MLA in-text citations and works cited page (1500-3000) words. Don't forget the MLA heading and an engaging, informative title.

Applying previous lessons about introductions.
* Write a narrative or thematic opening to engage the reader in the central issue of your argument. (Or, try another engaging opening.)
* Connect the opening to the central claim (thesis). Often this is done by offering context for the central claim (thesis).
* Include the clear, bold, insightful, meaningful, debatable, and supportable central claim (thesis).

Applying previous lessons about body paragraphs.
* Make sure each body paragraph is focused on developing a particular aspect of the overall argument. (Is this focus clear near the beginning of the paragraph and is it returned to at the end of the paragraph?)
* Use relevant, specific information and focused quotations (phrases and/or sentences) to support and develop the claim. (In argument analysis this is sometimes called "data".)
* Effectively introduce the information and quotations and explain how the information and quotations support and develop a claim. (In argument analysis this is sometimes called "warrant" and "backing".)
* Thoughtfully, logically, meaningfully sequence paragraphs in a particular order with skillful transitions between paragraphs

New ideas about body paragraphs.
* Perhaps try a new way of organizing an argument based on the example(s) you studied on day 3.
* Incorporate counterargument, rebuttal, and concession.
* Perhaps incorporate appeals to pathos and ethos along with appeals to logos.

Applying previous lessons about conclusions.
* Return to the central claim(s).
* Make sure the reader understands why the argument matters

Applying previous lessons about style and conventions.
* Above all else be clear.
* Use standard educated (or formal academic) diction.
* Use apt and vivid word choices. Don't use approximately the write word; use exactly the write word.
* Vary your sentence structures for rhetorical effect. (A complex-compound sentence explaining a multi-layered idea can often be followed effectively by simple sentence that drives home the point.)
* Apply what you've been learning about usage, grammar, and conventions. Aim for no frequently confused word errors, no apostrophe errors, no run-on sentence errors, no punctuating quotation errors, no pronoun antecedent errors, no subject-verb agreement errors, no parallelism errors (mixed constructions). Aim to create a publishable draft.
* Follow MLA format, in-text citation, and works cited page conventions.

***
Day 8 through end
Self-assess and peer-assess.
The final draft of your researched argument (1500-3000 words with MLA format, in-text citations, and works cited page) is due Friday, April 18 (7:30 am).

Social Issue Project: Research Phase: Note-taking and Annotated Bibliography

Social Issues & Group Members

Issues and implications of socioeconomic in equality in education in the 21st century: Cody E, Dan C, Morey R, Joseph C

Issues and implications of gender in the 21st century: Gloria K, Josette T, Emma P

Issues and implications of environmental change in the 21st century: Emily N, Everest C, Winslow L, Rachael S, Ella B

The relationship between surveillance, safety, privacy, and freedom in the 21st century: Spencer T, Ryan C, Accursio O

Issues and implications of abuse of vulnerable members of society in the 21st century: Michael M, Lauren H, Tess B, Jaclyn W, Hannah L

Issues and implications of psychological disorders in the 21st century: Paula C, Melanie M, Kate P, Laura J, Johayne M

Issues and implications of psychoactive drugs in the 21st century: Meghan O, Ryan B, Zoe P, Bethany H

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Research Phase Products: Double-entry notes & Annotated Bibliography

Each member of your group is responsible for finding seven (7) sources.
Of your seven sources at least four must be from the following categories:

• a text accessed through a database subscribed to by the GHS library
• a text accessed through Google books or Google scholar
• a text found on a university, nonprofit, or government website
• a text found at the Sawyer Free Library
• a section of a text found using a book’s index
• a recorded lecture (such as a TED talk), recorded interview, or documentary film/video

 
By Friday, April 4 you will have completed double-entry notes for each of your seven (7) sources. 
* Put citation information at the top of each page of notes. 
* On the left side of your notes summarize, paraphrase, and quote information from the source. 
* On the right side of your notes analyze, evaluate, and assess the relevance of your source; you might also include your own ideas, opinions, and questions. 
* Be thorough on the left side and thoughtful on the right side. 
* Double-entry notes will be shared with me in a group Google document and, if necessary, in paper form.
* Make sure your name is on your notes.


On Monday, April 7 you will submit the final draft of your annotated bibliography*. (You will submit the work as a group, both in print form and using a Google Document. Your individual work will bear your name; you will be assessed on your own work.)

*Use MLA format for heading, citations, format, etc. Remember alphabetical order. Pay attention to spacing. Make sure citations are not only formatted properly but also thorough. Annotations should be 150-200 words in length (not longer); they should provide a summary of the source, an assessment (analysis and evaluation) of the source, and a discussion of the relevance of the source to your research topic and your developing opinions about the topic (including how you might use the source in an argument essay). Make sure you include your name or initials on your annotations.

Annotated bibliography definitions, purpose, and format
Annotated bibliography samples
Complete annotated bibliography with assessment 

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Brainstorming Topics (Day 0: Monday, March 24)
1. As a class create a list of twenty-first century social issues that we'd be interested both to learn more about and have an opinion on.
2. Individually, select the three issues you're most interested in.
3. Mr. Cook will create social issue groups based on the responses.
 
Getting started (Day 1: Tuesday, March 25)
1. With your group members create a Google document for your double-entry notes and annotated bibliography. Include the topic name in the title of document.
2. With your group members create a visual brainstorm (a mind map) of possible areas of research. Think about issues and implications. Think about subtopics. Think about information and opinion. Think about cultures and context. Map out your curiosity about the social issue.

Leave class with access to a group document, as well as knowledge of what aspects your topic your group as a whole is interested in researching and which of those aspects you in particular are going to pursue. 

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Exploring sources (Day 2-4: Wednesday-Friday, March 25-27)
1. Learn how to access the GHS general research resources (a.k.a. databases), Google scholar, and Google books. Sign up for a Boston Public Library e-card to expand your searching power. (Directions here.) Thank you, Ms. Whitney for the presentation.

2. Use your topic title and brainstorming map to select words and phrases to search using the various resources you've been introduced to. 

3. When you find a source you'd like to use in your annotated bibliography take double-entry notes (see above for directions) in your group's Google document.
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More notes and writing an annotated bibliography (Day 5: Monday, March 31)
1. Continue to work on finding sources and taking double-entry notes.
2. Create a Google document for your group's annotated bibliography.
3. Look closer at the annotated bibliography directions, format, guides, and examples (above).
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Finishing double-entry notes and the annotated bibliography (Day 6-10: Tuesday, April 1-Monday, April 7)
1. Work on your own time to finish double-entry notes. Due Friday 4/4.
2. Work on your own to finish the annotated bibliography. Due Monday 4/7.

Grammar in the news

This article appeared on the Guardian (Manchester, UK) website on Friday. Something to think about while working on your grammar tutorials and quizzes.

Why grammar isn't cool – and why that may be about to change

Despite its reputation, grammar is colourful and fascinating. Now experts report a renewed interest in the subject 

Jessica Brown

Friday 21 March 2014 09.00 GMT

A 15-year-old boy made headlines last week after writing a passionate letter of complaint to Tesco regarding bad grammar on its bottles of orange juice. Tesco claimed it used the "most tastiest" oranges, rather than "tastiest", "most tasty" or "distinctly average".
The fact it was deemed newsworthy shows how rare it is to see enthusiastic pedantry at such a young age (especially if there's no strong family history of it). But before any grammar enthusiasts get excited, he admitted language was not the only motivation – he expected some Tesco vouchers for his ordeal.
Grammar rarely makes headlines, and when it does it's often due to conflict over something the size of an apostrophe. But there's a much greater issue that needs addressing. We complain that children cannot construct a sentence as they used to, but this nostalgic attitude towards literacy abilities has always been around. What we need to focus on is grammar's reputation among the young.
Last month I attended a talk on grammar. In the weeks leading up to it I told a few people and their reactions ranged from laughter to looks of disappointment to disbelief. It didn't get much better at the talk, where the discussion often steered towards the fact that students find grammar boring.
We are supposedly most receptive to learning a second language in childhood. But when it comes to grammar, it's difficult to imagine a typical group of 10-year-olds debating whether or not to precede a gerund with a possessive noun or pronoun.
It's a challenge for anything to be accepted as "cool" among younger generations, but we'd need to worry less about the future of society if grammar could finally earn some street cred.
Its current sorry state can be ascribed to several reasons. The first and possibly most insidious barrier to grammar's image is the trail of fear left behind by old-fashioned grammarians and their pedantic followers. Instead of explanations and advice, grammatical errors are often corrected with scorn and ancient rules. This can project a sense of inadequacy that isn't conducive to learning, and perpetuates the misconception that grammar is black and white, right or wrong.
I don't entirely blame them – the pleasure of finding a typo is unbeatable – but pedants should confine such self-righteous pleasures to the privacy of the home. For the unconfident learner, the best advice was given by William Strunk Jr, author of The Elements of Style, who is alleged to have said: "If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud."
Grammar's second barrier is the argument between prescriptivists and descriptivists, and the confusion this causes. I was taught never to put a comma after "and", but what if I went to the shops with my parents, a sheep and a goat?
Outdated grammar rules are offputting when they create a barrier to clear communication. If I were to sneakily split an infinitive, would I not be understood? Grammar is instinctive. I never understood what it meant to enclose parenthetic phrases in commas, probably because it sounds too confusing, but I know to do it.
The third hindrance to grammar is its reputation. When we think of grammar we picture dusty textbooks, evil teachers holding canes and dry lesson plans. But grammar is colourful, and its ability to completely change the meaning of a sentence is fascinating.
The good news is that there have been a few small "cool" victories recently. YouTube channel jacksfilms regularly uploads Your Grammar Sucks videos for its 1.3 million subscribers. Perhaps the premise – laughing at grammatical errors – is one we should be steering away from, but it puts grammar in the spotlight.
Another example is the small victory for the word "selfie", named Word of the Year last year by Oxford Dictionaries. A modern word that adds clarity in its own, self-obsessed way caught the attention of younger generations. If they can be excited about a word, grammar can't be far behind.
Not everyone thinks grammar is doomed. Bas Aarts, professor of English linguistics at University College London, believes we are experiencing a grammar renaissance.
"Things have changed in recent years. Grammar was perceived as boring, but it was taught prescriptively and put people off. Language develops the way it wants to develop, and no amount of prescriptiveness will help. A lot of people who are against splitting the infinitive can't even explain why."
Aarts says the enjoyment of grammar depends on how it is taught. "There is a renewed interest in grammar, partly because of improved teaching, partly due to some very successful books on language."
To test the grammar renaissance theory, I asked a class of primary school children to describe grammar in one word. Three said "interesting", three said "helpful" and one said "boring". I also asked a class of year 8 pupils: nine described it as "confusing", two said "good" and the rest ranged from "useless" to "brilliant". In another secondary school, the teacher said that, in his class, almost everyone said it was boring or dull, and a few said "pointless".
The way we view grammar is subjective, and, as it turns out, the way we view how everyone else views grammar is also subjective. Perhaps grammar-lovers are just too uncool to know what's cool.
But I do know anything trying to be cool is automatically uncool, and grammar shouldn't have to try.
Grammar Day 2014, presented by UCL and Oxford University in association with the British Library, will take place on Friday 4 July.

Work to do at home before class on Tuesday

8. Use your group’s map of the issues and implications to make a map of your own that you will use as the basis for a response to the consumerism and commodification prompt. Put your central argument in the middle. Connect the central argument to issues. Connect issues to implications. Connect issues/implications to support from sources. Do in class March 14. [All of the maps are now available. Click here. .]
   

9. Write, self/peer assess, and revise an essay in response to the consumerism and commodification prompt. Click here for prompt. (Note: Using the locavore essay as a model we will all create narrative openings this time.)  Complete first draft Introduction (with narrative opening and thesis) and body paragraph (with synthesis of multiple sources) due Thursday, March 18. Final draft due March 20 Friday, March 21.

Work to do at home before class on Friday

As you work on step six (6) maps/webs in class on Wednesday and Thursday, there are two things you should do at home to be ready for Friday.

THESE DIRECTIONS ARE NOT IN YOUR PACKET.
Thursday night you should take the opportunity to look for issues and implications related to consumerism and commodification in some of the other sources. Choose at least one additional source. By class time Friday March 14 write a formal annotation and mini-map of the issues and implications related to consumerism and commodification in this source.

Documentary Films                                     

Source J (Merchants of Cool)                                          

Source K (The Ad and the Ego)+            

Source L (The Persuaders)                                          

Source M (Generation Like)

Images

Source N ("Are You Happy Yet?")

Source O ("Keep Consuming")

Source P (Wexler and Taylor)*

Source Q ("What Style of Digital Shopper Are You?")

Texts

Source R (Childress)**

Source S ("Adbusters: Consumer Culture")

Source T (Gunelius)***

Source U ("There Are Seven Kinds of People in the World")

Notes:
+Source K: The link is to a transcript of the documentary.
*Source P: Infographic: What are teens doing online?

**Source R: Article: How does personal information become a commodity?

***Source T: Article: What is the difference between a consumer and prosumer? 

***********************
Before Friday do this too.

7. Read and annotate the “locavore” prompt and essay you are given. (You can find the prompt here and the essay here. The prompt and essay will also be passed out in class on Thursday.) Make a map of the essay. Put the author’s central argument in the middle. Connect the central argument to issues. Connect issues to implications. Connect issues/implications to support from sources. What does the map reveal about the effectiveness of the essay’s response to the prompt? Due Friday March 14.

Preparing for Wednesday's Class (#4 and #5)

Identifying and examining implications of issues within the “conversation”

4. Annotate the “Consumerism and Commodification” prompt on the front of the packet. Identify key words and phrases. What is the prompt asking you to do? What does it mean to “identify issues”? What does "consumerism" mean? What does "commodification" mean? What does it mean to “examine the implications”? Due class time 3/12.

5. Make a mini-map of the issues and the implications of the issues within the text you were assigned. Write the title and the purpose of the text in the middle of your paper. Connect the title/purpose to the issues related to consumerism and commodification that are revealed in the text. Connect the issues to implications. This will help your assigned group plan a response to the prompt. Due class time 3/12.