Assignments for Tuesday, Nov. 3, and Thursday, Nov. 5

For Tuesday, Read ch. 5 in The Craft of Research (pp. 68-83). Also, catch up on any reading you haven't done in Griftopia. In class, we will first finish The Flaw, then we will discuss Griftopia, and we will wrap up by looking at an argumentative essay from an AP exam.

On Thursday, you will write two in-class essays about Griftopia. (Keep in mind that on the AP exam, you have about forty minutes to write each essay.) One essay will be a rhetorical analysis essay; you will receive a passage from Griftopia and a prompt that directs you to analyze its rhetorical features. The other essay will make a statement about the 2008 financial collapse and will require you to take a position to answer it.

Assignments for Wednesday, Oct. 28, and Friday, Oct. 30

If you haven't turned in your mentor commitment letter, I need it this week.

For Wednesday, Oct. 28, finish the research prospectus. Be sure to address all of the questions in the instructions for the research prospectus. It does not have to be two full pages long; answer the questions to the best of your ability and convey your interest to the reader.

For Friday, Oct. 30, read and annotate pp. 221-250 in Griftopia.

Assignment for Monday, October 26

Work on the research prospectus that is due on Wednesday, October 28. I would like you to come to class with at least one page written, and bring an electronic copy of your research prospectus so you can continue working on it in class. Also, read pp. 206-221 in Griftopia. (Stop when you get to the first paragraph break on p. 221.)

Assignment for Tuesday, October 20

Read and annotate Ch. 3 of Taibbi's Griftopia (pp. 78-123). This chapter is very important and may be more difficult to read than the previous chapter because it is more dense with information. The tone shifts in this chapter and Taibbi employs a greater variety of rhetorical strategies than he does in the Greenspan chapter. You have nothing to write, but you will have another quiz. This one will be a mixture of short answer and multiple choice.

Also, please bring The Craft of Research again. We will start class with that book to make sure we get to it, then you'll take the quiz, then we'll get into Ch. 3.

Lastly, if you did not bring in your Mentor Commitment Letter, please bring it in.

Have a great weekend.

Assignment for Friday, October 16

Read and annotate Ch. 2 of Taibbi's Griftopia (pp. 35-77) and write one well-composed and well-developed paragraph in response to the following prompt: Does Taibbi persuade you that Alan Greenspan does indeed fulfill his description in the title of Chapter 2? Be specific about Taibbi's rhetorical strategies that succeed or fail in persuading you.

Also, bring in your copy of The Craft of Research. We will use it during class.

Lastly, bring in your signed Mentor Commitment Letter. If you misplaced the form or did not receive one in class, you can pick one up in my classroom, or you can print it out from the link on the right.

Assignment for Wednesday, October 14

Read and annotate pp. 3-34 of Matt Taibbi's Griftopia. You do not have anything to write, but you will have questions to answer in class.

Also, if you did not get the STP mentor commitment letter and guidelines, please print them out, give your mentor the guidelines, and return the signed commitment letter to me by Friday, October 16.