Revisions to your STP Research Paper

For most of you, revisions to your STP research paper are due by Friday, May 22. For those of you who received the paper this week, you have until Tuesday, May 26 (preferably) or Wednesday, May 28 (if absolutely necessary). You must return the original version to me so I can compare it to the revision. You may email the revision to me, but if you do, be sure you get a confirmation email from me. If you do not get a confirmation email from me, then I do not have your paper. Also, even if you email it to me, you must return the original version to me. If I don't have the original version, I can't assure you that your revision will improve the original grade. As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me.

Class Work for Monday, May 4

Make an outline for each of the three FRQ's from the 2013 AP Lang exam that is linked below.

http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/apcentral/ap13_frq_english_language.pdf

Each outline must have a thesis, and it should focus on your analysis or argument. Your outline should have three or four supporting points, and each supporting point must have evidence. For the synthesis essay, that evidence will come from the sources; for the rhetorical analysis essay, that evidence will come from the passage; and for the argumentative essay, that evidence will come from your knowledge of the world.

In each of the next few classes, you will write one essay, whether we have class first block or not. Prior to writing it, we will go over that particular kind of essay. This Wednesday, you will write an argumentative essay.

Sample outline:
Prompt: Who is more powerful, Yoda or Dumbledore?
Thesis: Yoda is more powerful than Dumbledore, but Dumbledore is a better wizard than Yoda is a Jedi.
Point 1. Yoda's connection to the force binds him to the most powerful source of positive energy in the universe, while Dumbledore studied spells in school.
Evidence: The force is a pre-existing factor in the universe that the Jedi must access; wizards are simply born and must learn spells and such.
Evidence: Yoda was never tempted by the dark side as Dumbledore was by the power of the elder wand, which means he has a more profound connection to the force than Dumbledore has to magic.
Point 2: Yoda's mastery of the force has allowed him to defeat numerous Sith Lords for centuries, while Dumbledore used magic to confront two nemeses, Grindelwald and Riddle/Voldemort.
Evidence: Yoda refers obliquely and modestly to previous battles, which makes Dumbledore duels seem like play fighing.
Point 3: Although Yoda is more powerful than Dumbledore, Dumbledore is superior to other wizards in ways Yoda is not superior to other Jedi and Sith Lords.
Evidence: Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, forced Voldemort to flee. Yoda could defeat neither Count Dookoo nor Darth Sidious.

Assignment for Thursday, April 16

Work on your STP presentation; the guidelines handed out in class are posted to the right. If you want to view more TED talks, see the links in the previous post just below this one. You will have time to work on it during class on Thursday and, as always, if you have any questions before then, don't hesitate to ask me.

Model TED Talks for the Presentation

Click here for a playlist of eleven TED talks that exemplify that strategies we've discussed (or will discuss, if you did the multiple-choice questions during first block on Thursday) in class. The talk we viewed is titled "The Power of Vulnerability." If you have a scientific topic, you might want to view "Underwater Astonishments" and "The New Bionics That Let Us Run, Climb, and Dance." If you don't find those helpful, go to this page for more TED talks that focus on science.

Assignment for Tuesday, March 31 and Thursday, April 1

For Tuesday: Complete your draft of the research paper.

For Thursday: Submit a complete draft of your research paper, including its title. Combine your exploratory essay with the research you've written, and compile the list of references. All citations should be complete. Submit these as one document.

Assignment for Friday, March 27

Write an additional page of the research paper. You should be up to thirteen pages by Friday.

Assignment for Monday, March 23

Write and email to me an additional three pages of your research paper. By that time, you should be up to twelve eleven pages of the research paper.

Assignment for Wednesday, March 18

Write one additional page for the research paper and email it to me before Wednesday's class. By Wednesday, you should have at least eight pages for the research portion of the paper.

Please Read This

[For your homework, see the next post down.] This article isn't an assignment, hence the "please" in this post's title. The coming weeks of the college admission season will bring happiness, heartache, conflicted feelings, and indecision. Read this article to gain some insight on the meaning and significance of this process. I can't make the link "live" right now, so you'll have to copy and paste it into your browser. After you read the article, share it with your friends and parents. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-how-to-survive-the-college-admissions-madness.html

Assignment for Monday, March 16

Write at least two additional pages for your research paper. You will continue to work on it in class, and I will continue to meet with students. Add it on to the same document you previously sent to me, and email it to me (mrmontasmph@gmail.com) before class. Don't forget to also email to me the outline your worked on in class; if you didn't already finish it, you should finish it by Monday's class. 

Good Outline, Bad Outline

Here are the two examples of outlines that we saw in class. Click here for the good outline. notice how this good outline is clear about how the author will will write about the essay's topics. Click here for the bad outline. This outline isn't very helpful because it only mentions the topics to be addressed in the essay. 

For Thursday, March 12

Come to class prepared to work on your research paper. Bring any materials you need to work on it in class. The laptop cart will be available.

For Tuesday, March 10

You will write two essays that concern Luke Harding's The Snowden Files. One essay will require you to write a rhetorical analysis of a passage from Harding's book. Another essay will require you to write an argument about an issue raised by the book.

To prepare for the rhetorical analysis, review SOAPSTone, DIDLS, the rhetorical triangles, and the definition of exigence. Keep in mind that you should pay attention to these while you read the passage; don't start to think about them when you begin to write the essay. 

To prepare for the argumentative essay, you should review the issues raised by Snowden's case and the nuances of those issues. Any information gleaned from the Frontline documentary The United States of Secrets and Laura Poitras's Citizenfour can be used to supplement, not replace, information presented in Harding's book.

As we have practiced in class, you should lead with your points and avoid restating information in the passage or summarizing the book. Any information from the passage or the book should be used only to support the points you make in the essay.