Homework for Thursday, October 11.

Please carefully and assiduously read the full entry for each of the following rhetorical "schemes" in your rhetoric packets:   

                parallelism
                antithesis
                anastrophe
                apposition
                ellipsis
                asyndeton & polysyndeton
                alliteration
                assonance
                anaphora
                epistrophe

        And pour over the examples provided to make sure that you understand them. Pay special attention to what the author of this text says about the effect that these devices have--when would you use such a devise or scheme and to what purpose would you employ it.  Come to class prepared to discuss examples or to seek clarification on any aspect of these devises and their effects.

        Please add to this work a reading of the concepts of "The Loose Sentence" and "The Periodic Sentence" ( on a separate handout ) and scour the examples given 'till you're convinced you understand them. What are the emotional and psychological effects of these types of sentence constructions?
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Homework for Monday, October 15th.

Read Virginia Wolf's piece and fill out the AP Essay Planning Guide for Close Analysis
in assiduous detail, taking the time to craft exacting statements in #s three, four, and five particularly. Make sure you read the prompt with pen in hand and mark it up with rhetorical identifications. The idea is that you will spend your time meticulously analyzing and planning the essay without actually having to write the whole thing.

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Homework for Wednesday, & Friday, October 17th

Please read "The Customhouse" --Hawthorne's introduction to The Scarlet Letter and diligently, assiduously, lovingly, carefully answer  the questions on the hand-out sheet so that we can use them as the basis for a good conversation next class.

I"ve re-scheduled submissionof this too-long assignment for Friday. If you didn't finish it thoroughly for WEDNESDAY, please do so for Friday. If you did it already, there is no additional assignment for Friday.
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Homework for Tuesday, October 23.

Read chapters 1,2,3, and 4 of The Scarlet Letter and be prepared to take a nitpicky-style quiz on your reading on Tuesday. I will take a similar quiz from EM if one is devised.
Many of you should absolutely revise your first essay a third time to bring your writing grade up, remembering that 9=100, 8=95, 7=90, 6=85, 5=80,4=75, 3=70.

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Homework for Thursday, October 25.

Please read chapters 5,6,7,8 of The Scarlet Letter and be prepared to take a nitpicky-style
quiz on your reading on Thursday. Many should revise your essay a third time to bring your writing grade up     
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Homework for Monday, October 29.

none. relax a bit. smell the roses.
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Homework for Wednesday, October 31.

please read chapters 9 & 10 of The Scarlet Letter

please revise your pieces on "My Boy" for Friday.
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Homework for Tuesday, November 6        

please read chapters 11,12,13,14 of The Scarlet Letter  for Tuesday--there will be a quiz!

The next 30 vocabulary words will be quizzed on Thursday, November 8th.They are -- prolific to garrulous (for those who weren't there on Friday)
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Homework for Thursday, November 8.

Study for vocabulary quiz.
Read chapters 17, 18, 19, 20  of The Scarlet Letter  for class and quiz.
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What to study about rhetorical terms for quiz on Tuesday, Dec. 4th.

1. Be able to define the three types of appeal by which an audience might be persuaded: logos, ethos, pathos. And give 3 central characteristics of each type (not forgetting the "audience" part of ethos).

2. define accurately and give examples of euphemism. Recognize how litotes ( understatement) qualifies as an example of euphemism.

3. define and be able to discuss how "The Hound" and the A.R. Ammons poem
use extended metaphor.

4. know this definition:  a figure of speech [(or) figurative language = same thing]
is an expression that uses language in a non-literal way, such as metaphor and synecdouche, or in a structured or unusual way, such as anaphora and chiasm, or that employs sounds, such as aliteration or assonance, to acheive a rhetorical effect.
Also know the meaning of all terms in this definition!

5. define "foil" and give three examples from literature or popular culture.

6. define three types of irony and give an example of each.

7. define and give 5 examples of oxymoron.

8. define paradox and give two examples from the examples supplied.

9. give two examples of rhetorical questions and be able to explain why this device might be used (what is its psychological effect on the reader or listener).

10. syntax: define and be able to discuss "passive/ active" and "genitive phrasing" as syntactical choices

11.define satire and give an example
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Homework for Thursday, December 6th.

Rewrite your Balwin essays for next class, students!
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Homework for Monday, December 10

Revise your Audubon / Dillard essays a last time if you wish.
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Homework for Wednesday,  Dec 12

Study for vocabulary quiz on Wednesday (gesticulate  to vitiate).

Read and annotate "What do students need to know about Rhetoric" so that you are prepared for a brief conversation about it next class.

Work in class (in group) on Henry James prompt.

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Homework for Friday, Dec. 14

Please read Burgess on "Is America Falling Apart" and give thoughtful and thorough answers to the three questions at the end of the essay. The ideal would be to type your answers.  This will be collected next class for a homework grade.
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Read and annotate Thoreau on "clothing."

Study next thirty words for Vocabulary quiz on Tuesday.
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Homework for Thursday, December 20th

We won't be meeting on Thursday other than to gather in 419 before walking down to the library
for your  "My Roads" briefing.  
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Homework for Wednesday, January 2.   
       
Please read--I'll be re-reading it myself, to my great delight--Brave New World  for the holiday break. There will be a assessment on it the day you get back, so strategize your reading or review around this knowledge.
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Homework for Wednesday,  January 30

Learn Vocabulary words #9 for quiz Wednesaday

Review correct answers for multiple choice with an eye to learning from corrections and inorder to ask questions on what you don't understand next class.
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Homework for Tuesday, February 5

Read and answer questions on "Self-Esteem," then write one page piece (typed) in which you agree or disagree with the author's main idea.
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Homework for Thursday, February 7th

Read "Social Encounters" annotating as you go along. Then: list the top ten facts or annecdotes you encountered in your reading--the things that most moved or engaged you in order from least to most favorite.


Homework for Monday, February 11.

Complete your reading and writing assignment for the February 5th issue of the New York Times for Monday!

Don't forget to read three articles from the NYTimes for Feb 5th by next Monday: one from Op/Ed, one from the Science section, and one of your own choosing. Then, in a dedicated notebook, write a header containing the date of your newspaper, and, for each article, create an entry in which you discuss what you learned from reading the article and what your reaction to the article was. Include any vocabulary words that you picked up (with definitions, of course) and record memorable quotes. These assignments, accomplished with the right attitude, can serve to acquaint you with the affairs of the wider world and make you more of a virtuoso in speech and essay. The more that you can think of this weekly assignment as "for you" rather than "for me," the more valuable it will be to you.
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Homework for Wednesday, Feb. 13 & Friday, Feb.15th

If you will be here Wednesday--not going to R3-- please bring your NYTimes homework with you (see above). For Friday, please be ready to take Vocabulary test #10 and have "Culture: The Relativity of Hero Systems" annotated and list the ten top things that left an impression on you from the chapter ( I will collect these and give a homework grade). Also, if you weren't here Wednesday, bring your NYTimes articles on Friday.

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Homework for Wednesday, February 20

Brainstorm and identify a controversial issue and look for and take notes on sources (see handout) that will help you to understand the complexity of the argument and to present both sides of the argument evenhandedly before you offer a solution or a compromise.

You'll have time in class Wednesday to begin or to continue drafting your paper (due Friday).
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Study guide questions for "persuasive essay" readings---homework for
Wednesday, March 12,2008.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
        Introduction: (467-469)

How does a persuasive piece differ from an exposition piece?

The reader or audience is very much in the mind of the persuasive writer--why?


        Kinds of Persuasion (468-469)

rational persuasion: logic

nonrational persuasion:         satire
                                        eloquence
                                        pathos

characteristics of argument mode:
                        >distance from subject
                                in time
                                in position of writer
                        >facts and figures
                        >assumes readers are                            intelligent and objective,
                        we meet on the common                           ground of rationality

characteristics of emotive mode
                        >no distance from subject
                        >evokes feelings
                        >nonequality and                                        manipulation
                        > assumes readers are                           vulnerable to emotional                                 appeal.

understand the three qualifications that the authors discuss regarding the use of  emotion, which has a "lower moral" position than argument:
                        > possible genuineness of                                  writer-guidingintelligence
                        > must persuade people to                          do what's right, even                                   when argument fails
                        > but use emotive power                                    carefully & responsibly

argument and emotive persuasion work together, but usually one is dominant.
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know the two types of argument (470-474) and the bases they use to arrive at conclusions:

        Inductive: facts, evidence

        Deductive: begin with broad premise,
        work conclusion out syllogistically.

Deduction supported by rules of inference.
Induction supported by rules of evidence.

In addition to deductive and inductive reasoning, an argument usually includes concessions.

WHAT IS CONCESSION  IN AN ARGUMENT?

SYLLOGISM IS THE CLASSIC FORM OF A DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENT. WHAT ARE THE THREE PARTS OF A SYLLOGISM?

major premise
minor premise
conclusion

What is a fallacy in syllogistic reasoning?

the truth of a syllogistic conclusion rests upon the truth of the premises.

what is an axiom or an axiomatic premise?

what premises does Socrates get his hearers to accept (this is the best strategy--get the reader to accept premises, even though they are not axiomatic!) in arguing that poets must be excluded from the Republic?

syllogistic arguments (deductive arguments) can be attacked in two ways
#1. denying that premises are true
#2. showing that logic violates the rules of inference.
which of the above attacks do the authors propose as the only reasonable line of attack against Socartes argument? what specific challenges do they suggest may be made to his premises?

Be able to define "reductio ad absurdum" What is its English translation and how is it exemplified by the Alice in Wonderland story.

When premises are good, it may be possible to show that rules of inference have been violated and that the conclusion is therefore fallacious. A number of fallacies exist:

what is a "non sequitur" (literally, "it does not follow") fallacy?
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There are also fallacies for inductive arguments: Know examples that illustrate each of these and will help you remember them---

>post hoc propter hoc ("after this, therefore on account of this")

>red herring

>slanting

>special pleading

> straw man

> "tu quoque" ( "you also")
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Persuasion:

what dangers lurk in the use of emotional persuasion?

"when reason is applied to, reason can reply; when emotion is applied to, it cannot reply; it can only respond or resist."

What do the three modes of emotive persuasion do?

satire______________________________.
eloquence__________________________.
pathos_____________________________.

explain "satire":

what is simple irony?

what is syntactic irony? what example do the authors give?

why is the subtlety of irony both its weakness and its strength? explain.

what is sarcasm?

what is invective? what's a bluebottle?

what is ironic contrast?

what is parody?

what is eloquence?

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Homework for Thursday, April 3.

Study the 30 vocabulary words from the tone list for 5 word quiz ( the usual type quiz willl be given)

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Homework for Monday, April 7th.

Finish the JFK Inaugural Rhetorical Analysis piece and answer all the questions on the handout about it. Also, read and answer questions on the FDR Pearl Harbor Speech. This work is due next class and will be discussed then. The NYTimes articles from April 1, as well as those from March 25th, will be due next Wednesday, April 9,  so you could work on those, too, if you have time over the weekend.

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Homework for Wednesday, April 9

Set your oven timer for 40 minutes, put some fresh lined paper on yout table, grab a pen (not a pencil) and do the "Green" Civil War speech prompt: due Wednesday.

NYTimes not due now 'till Tuesday, April 15

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Homework for Friday, April 11.

Read "The Rhetoric of Advertising" (Shea) handout.

Then, adhering to the homework handout I supplied you in class, prepare a no-more-than-5minute presentation for the class in which you show your print or film advertisement and determine whether the ad is effective or not by analyzing its strengths and weaknesses.

You may use the rhetorical triangle approach, the SMELL approach, the PATHOS, LOGOS, ETHOS approach (see reference to "Shea" article above), or the 8 Tips ( at the bottom of the homework handout) approach to analyse your advertisement.
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Homework for Tuesday, April 15

The NYTimes work is finally due!!!

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Homework for Wednesday, April 30th

Read Woody Allen and Conan O'Brien's pieces and answer the satirical analysis questions on Mr. Dodge's handout for each.
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Homework for Thursday, May 8th

Study the thirty vocabulary words on page 11 of your vocabulary booklet, starting with coterie (#11) and ending with (reprobation) #40 . Quiz on Thursday.
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Homework for Wednesday, May 14.

Relax and get a good night's sleep and good luck! See you Friday!
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Homework for Monday, June 2.

Study for Vocabulary #14--salubrious -impugn
And finish reading Long Day's Journey Into Night, Act 2, sc.2. & Act 3.