Assignments for Tuesday, March 20, Wednesday, March 21, and Thursday, March 22

For Tuesday: Those of you who have fewer than five pages written, I want you to make a plan in writing for completing the draft by March 28 or March 29.

In class you will write an essay about Unflattening. You will not know the prompt in advance, and the essay will be set up in a similar way as the AP Lang exam's synthesis essay. (Although it looks similar to a DBQ, the sythesis essay is different—your argument takes priority, and you must use the sources to develop your argument.) The essay will have six-to-eight sources, including some pages from Unflattening, along with Donald Hoffman's TED talk ("Do We See Reality As It Is?") and  related readings from Approaching Great Ideas. The readings are listed below. You might find it helpful to complete these readings over the weekend, but I will not require you to do so.

Oliver Sacks, "The Mind's Eye," pp. 236-241
Michio Kaku, "Physics of the Impossible," pp. 252-260
John Dewey, "Morality and Education," pp. 400-402
Transcript of Donald Hoffman's TED talk

If you want to preview the synthesis essay, go here.

For Wednesday (Day 2) and Thursday (Day 3): Two things. First, look over your exploratory essay and combine it with your research writing. Make sure that the exploratory essay is consistent with the research writing you've produced. Also, make sure that your research question appears toward the end of the exploratory essay, and your thesis appears no later than the beginning of your research writing, even if you aren't sure of or confident in your thesis. Work on making an appropriate transition between the exploratory essay and the research writing. 

Second, come to class with a two part title for your STP presentation that is more specific than the one you provided to Mrs. Chhablani. Have one part refer to your topic (preferably your thesis); the other part could be catchier and more memorable--use an allusion, some kind of figurative language (metaphor, simile, and so on), or a phrase from a quote you researched or heard in an interview. For example (and these are fabricated): 

Walking on Water: The Advantages and Pitfalls of High Self-Esteem in Adolescents 

"He Was Listening, But He Didn't Hear Me": Silence and Authority in the Parent-Child Relationship

The Cool Side of the Pillow: Sleep and Academic Performance

Snow Day Update, and Assignment for Monday, March 19, and Tuesday, March 20

For Thursday (Day 4), your assignment remains the same.

For Friday (Day 5), you still have Wednesday's assignment.

Those of you who are behind on the STP writing should take advantage of this day to begin catching up. Also, if you have fewer than five pages written, I want you to make a plan in writing for completing the draft by March 28 or March 29.

In class on Thursday and Friday, we will finish analyzing the two TED talks we've watched, and we will conclude our discussion of Unflattening. In addition, we will go over the AP exam's synthesis essay. (Although it looks similar to a DBQ, the sythesis essay is different—your argument takes priority, and you must use the sources to develop your argument.) On Monday and Tuesday, you will write this kind of essay primarily about Unflattening, along with Donald Hoffman's TED talk ("Do We See Reality As It Is?") and some related readings in Approaching Great Ideas. You will not receive the question in advance, but the readings are listed below. You might find it helpful to complete these readings over the weekend, but I will not require you to do so. Anything that isn't clear about this assignment will be clarified in class on Thursday and Friday; I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Oliver Sacks, "The Mind's Eye," pp. 236-241
Michio Kaku, "Physics of the Impossible," pp. 252-260
John Dewey, "Morality and Education," pp. 400-402
Transcript of Donald Hoffman's TED talk

If you want to preview the synthesis essay, go here.

Assignments for Monday, March 12, to Thursday, March 15

For Monday and Tuesday, read pp. 99-123 in Sousanis's Unflattening.

For Wednesday and Thursday, read pp. 125-152 in Unflattening. Write one double-spaced page in response to the following: Find a page in Unflattening that you found persuasive or unpersuasive, and explain that page's persuasiveness or lack of persuasiveness. Be sure to refer to both the words and image(s) on the page. Share this at mrmontasmph@gmail.com.

If you missed class on Monday or Tuesday, you'll need to read pp. 125-140 in Unflattening. Also, we watched the following TED talks and discussed their effectiveness:

https://www.ted.com/talks/donald_hoffman_do_we_see_reality_as_it_is

https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability

Assignments for Friday, March 2 to Thursday, March 8

For Friday (Day 2), write one additional page of your STP research writing. Bring Unflattening to class. We will continue with the extemporaneous speeches.

For Monday (Day 3), write two additional pages of your STP research writing. Bring Unflattening to class. You will spend the bulk of class working on your STP.

For Tuesday (Day 4), write two additional pages of your STP research writing.

For Wednesday (Day 5), write two additional pages of your STP research writing. Bring Unflattening to class. We will complete the extemporaneous speeches. This makes a total of four additional pages from where you left off before the break.

For Thursday (Day 6), write one additional page of your STP research writing. Bring Unflattening to class. This makes a total of four additional pages from where you left off before the break.