English 11Week 6

Monday, January 13

To prepare for class:Open your notebooks to the NOTES

section.

Homework Read your book

and record your pages and minutes.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Learning Targets

I can determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account.

I can analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure Martin Luther King, Jr. uses in his argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

I can read and comprehend complex texts to understand multiple perspectives and viewpoints.

Why are we reading this text?

Considered one of the great pieces of American literature from this century

Its theme addresses the core American values of freedom, justice, and civil disobedience.

Provides excellent examples of strength in writing in

its use of diction (word choice) and structure.

Provides students with a masterful example of a written argument before they begin writing their own argument in a position paper.

Word Sort

Purpose: To become familiar with terms and vocabulary from the text and to practice using the critical thinking skill of categorizing.

Time: You will have 15 minutes to complete the word sort.

Instructions:1. Introduce yourself to your group members.2. Share: Name one of your favorite TV shows. 3. Follow directions on the handout to complete

the word sort activity.

Evaluate your work

Using the rubric at the bottom of the handout, evaluate and give your group a score for your work.

Then switch places with another group. Evaluate one another’s work. (Leave your score sheet next to your work.)

Studying Argument

What is an argument?

In academic writing, an argument is usually a main idea, often called a “claim” or “thesis statement,” backed up with evidence that supports the idea.

In the majority of college papers, you will need to make some sort of claim and use evidence to support it, and your ability to do this well will separate your papers from those of students who see assignments as mere accumulations of fact and detail.

In other words, gone are the happy days of being given a “topic” about which you can write anything. It is time to stake out a position and prove why it is a good position for a thinking person to hold (The Writing Center).

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/argument/

Essentials of an Argument

Draw a triangle in your notes.

The Rhetorical Triangle: Subject, Audience, Speaker

Aristotle (384 - 322 BC: Greece) believed that to make convincing arguments, speakers needed to look at three elements, graphically represented here as the rhetorical triangle:

Speaker

SubjectAudience

When the speaker begins to compose a speech—that is, the process of invention—the speaker must take into account these three elements. They are connected and interdependent, hence, the triangle.

SubjectAudience

Speaker

Speaker (writer) evaluates what he/she knows already and needs to know. Often this state leads to research.

Subject

Speaker

Audience

Your subject:

You want to ask your parents to buy you a car.

Research types of cars, possible cars you can afford, etc.

Speaker (writer) evaluates what he/she knows already and needs to know. Often this state leads to research.

Speaker (writer) speculates about the reader’s expectations, knowledge, and disposition with regard to the subject.

Subject

Speaker

Audience

Your audience:

Mom – easy to talk into things. She would like to be relieved from driving you and your brother around all the time. She’s not too uptight about money.

Dad – he’s big into responsibility. He’ll want you to save money to buy your own car. He responds well when you show you are responsible, like your good grades or how long you’ve held a job.

Speaker (writer) speculates about the reader’s expectations, knowledge, and disposition with regard to the subject.

You want to ask your parents to buy you a car.

Writers use who they are, what they know and feel, and what they’ve seen and done to find their attitudes toward a subject and their understanding of a reader.

Decisions about formal and informal language, the use of narrative or quotations, the tone of familiarity or objectivity, come as a result of writers considering their speaking voices on the page.

Aristotle called the creation of that voice persona.

Speaker

SubjectAudience

Speaker:

Respectful tone. Acknowledge how much you appreciate all they do for you as parents. Bring up good grades, having a job for a year. Offer to pay for insurance and gas, and offer to drive little brother to his practices.

Writers use who they are, what they know and feel, and what they’ve seen and done to find their attitudes toward a subject and their understanding of a reader.

Decisions about formal and informal language, the use of narrative or quotations, the tone of familiarity or objectivity, come as a result of writers considering their speaking voices on the page.

You want to ask your parents to buy you a car.

The Rhetorical Triangle: Subject, Audience, Speaker

Speaker

SubjectAudience

Aristotle’s Three Main Rhetorical Styles

According to Aristotle, rhetoric is "the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion." He described three main forms of rhetoric: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.

www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/webclass/web/project1/group4/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Aristotle.html)

Ethos

Ethos is appeal based on the character of the speaker. An ethos-driven document relies on the reputation of the author.

The speaker sets up his/her credibility. Ego = self

Example: I have been teaching writing for twenty years . . .

www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/webclass/web/project1/group4/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Aristotle.html)

Logos

Logos is appeal based on logic or reason. Documents distributed by companies or corporations are logos-driven. Scholarly documents are also often logos-driven.

Logos = logic (use facts)

Example: Eighty percent of the writers interviewed said they write at least four rough drafts before they publish a piece of writing.

www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/webclass/web/project1/group4/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Aristotle.html)

Pathos

Pathos is appeal based on emotion. Advertisements tend to be pathos-driven.

Pathos = sympathy / empathyShe stood before the class preparing to present

her speech. She regretted not rehearsing the night before. Her knees shook, her breath grew shallow, and colored spots danced before her eyes. She gripped the podium and hoped she would not pass out in front of her classmates.

REVIEW

What are the 3 components of the Rhetorical Triangle?Why are they important to developing an argument?What are the 3 Rhetorical Styles? E, P, LWhat is Ethos?What is Pathos?What is Logos?

Are you ready for a challenge?

College-level readingChallenging vocabulary and sentence

structureYou may encounter this text again when

you are in college.