The Funniest 7 Minutes We Didn't Spend in Class

What is a Photocopier?

Agenda, April 30

Coming Friday at 8 am: AP Lang Practice Exam. Bring two #2 pencils, two (or more) blue or black pens. You will need to provide your own paper for the practice exam. No highlighters. No food. No water. Sounds fun, no?  
If you cannot make it to the exam, I will distribute the materials on Wednesday. You will need to complete the exam over the weekend and bring it with you on Monday. Write each essay on a separate sheet of paper, as they will be scored on different days. Put your number on your papers, not your name. Sounds fun, no?    
In your copious free time: Read "Politics and the English Language," by George Orwell, in The Language of Composition. We'll probably read it after the exam and, if we do, you'll ask me why we didn't read it sooner. Save all of us this impending angst and go ahead and read it now.

1. Your last in-class timed write. Sniffle.
   

Agenda, April 29

Coming Friday at 8 am: AP Lang Practice Exam. Bring two #2 pencils, two (or more) blue or black pens. You will need to provide your own paper for the practice exam. No highlighters. No food. No water. Sounds fun, no?  

If you cannot make it to the exam, I will distribute the materials on Wednesday. You will need to complete the exam over the weekend and bring it with you on Monday. Write each essay on a separate sheet of paper, as they will be scored on different days. Put your number on your papers, not your name. Sounds fun, no?  
In your copious free time: Read "Politics and the English Language," by George Orwell, in The Language of Composition. We'll probably read it after the exam and, if we do, you'll ask me why we didn't read it sooner. Save all of us this impending angst and go ahead and read it now.

1. RA Scoring in Pairs
2. Multiple Choice Answers, if time allows
3. Coming tomorrow: Synthesis Timed Write
   

Agenda, April 28

Coming Friday at 8 am: AP Lang Practice Exam. Bring two #2 pencils, two (or more) blue or black pens. You will need to provide your own paper for the practice exam. No highlighters. No food. No water. Sounds fun, no?
If you cannot make it to the exam, I will distribute the materials on Wednesday. You will need to complete the exam over the weekend and bring it with you on Monday. Write each essay on a separate sheet of paper, as they will be scored on different days. Put your number on your papers, not your name. Sounds fun, no?
In your copious free time: Read "Politics and the English Language," by George Orwell, in The Language of Composition. We'll probably read it after the exam and, if we do, you'll ask me why we didn't read it sooner. Save all of us this impending angst and go ahead and read it now.

1. RA Advice
2. Practice Multiple Choice section, if time allows
3. Rhetorical Analysis Timed Write
   

Agenda, April 25

Due Now: War Essays    
Wanna practice? Spend your time in a Room for Debate.

1. Scoring Pairs.
2. Repeat ad infinitum

Agenda, April 23

Due on or before Friday: War Essays    
Wanna practice? Spend your time in a Room for Debate.

1. Become a section expert
2. And the answer is ...

Agenda, April 22

Due on or before Friday: War Essays  
Wanna practice? Spend your time in a Room for Debate.

1. Multiple Choice Practice Test
2. Essay Questions

Agenda, April 18

Due Now: Scored Synthesis Papers  
Due Tuesday (?): War Essays
Wanna practice? Spend your time in a Room for Debate.

1. Essay Questions
2. Calibration
3. Scoring Circles

Agenda, April 17

Due Tomorrow: Scored Synthesis Papers
Due Tuesday (?): War Essays

1. Synthesis Timed Write
2. Essay Questions

Agenda, April 16

Do by Wednesday: Pay $11.50 in accounting if you ordered an AP Lang T-shirt  
Due Now: Rhetorical Analysis Timed Write Scores  
Due Now: War Essay Outline
Coming Tomorrow: Synthesis Timed Write

1. Calibration
2. Scoring in small groups

Agenda, April 15

Due Now: Your taxes
Do by Wednesday: Pay $11.50 in accounting if you ordered an AP Lang T-shirt
Due Tomorrow: Rhetorical Analysis Timed Write Scores (Are you a guy? Should you be taking care of someone?)
Due Tomorrow: War Essay Outline

1. Scoring in small groups
2. Rhetorical Analysis Timed Write (5 min to read and 40 min to write)
3. Outline/Essay Questions, if time allows

Agenda, April 14

Due Now: Timed Write Scores
Coming Tomorrow: Rhetorical Analysis Timed Write

1. Calibration
2. Scoring in small groups
3. Outline/Essay Questions, if time allows

Due Moday: Scoring of Timed Writes
Today: Let the test prep commence!

-Test Prep
-Final Speeches
-Multiple Choice Review

How to Score a Timed Write

1.     Read the essay from beginning to end. Read it fast.

2.     Highlight strong writing – good diction, syntax, and imagery; convincing, credible evidence – in one color.

3.     Highlight egregious errors – misspelling of common words, capitalization errors, weaknesses in logos or ethos – in a second color.

4.     Give the writing a score based on content:

8 = effective

6 = adequate

4 = inadequate

2 = little success

5.     Adjust the score for the grace and quality of the style:

9 = a “pretty” 8 (“pretty” means exceptional diction OR syntax OR imagery)

7 = a “pretty” 6

3 = an “ugly” 4 (“ugly” means particularly weak conventions or simplistic diction)

1 = an “ugly” 2

6.     Special cases:

            A 5 is reserved for essays that are part 6 and part 4. If it’s almost a 6, then it’s a 4.

            If the conventions are not college level, the paper cannot score more than a 4. Frequent misspellings, capitalization errors, run-ons, and comma splices can lower the score of an adequate paper (a 6) to inadequate (that’s a 4, not a 5. A 5 is not an “ugly” 6).

7.     Write a brief justification of your score. Why is the paper not the score above? Why is not the score below?

Outline Expectations

Due on or Before 4/16/14

Outlines will be read in the order received.

The sooner you submit it,

the sooner you’ll receive feedback

I.               State your claim as a complete sentence.

II.             Write the topic sentence for each body paragraph.

a.     List two pieces of evidence for each body paragraph.

b.     The evidence could be the title of your source OR the quotation you will use.

III.           Not all of your paragraphs need to be synthesis paragraphs.

a.     Each paragraph, however, requires two supporting details.

b.     Your supporting details should be one sentence each.

IV.            You do not need to write a complete intro OR conclusion.

a.     If you have considered something bold, creative, or inventive in terms of organization or structure, you might want to leave me a note about it.

b.     If you have a plan for your conclusion (look to the future; close with an image) you might want to tell me about it (no more than a sentence or two)

V.              Beware of five paragraph essays.

a.     Three synthesis paragraphs is a minimum.

b.     Not all of your paragraphs need to be synthesis paragraphs.

VI.            Do I need to say typed?

War Essays! What are they good for?

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Outline due on or before: 4/16/14

Essay due between 4/22/14 and 4/25/14

Write a paper that synthesizes classroom sources and your own knowledge, experiences, and research to answer the question “What, if anything, is worth fighting for?” Remember that a synthesis paragraph begins with your own opinion/topic sentence, which is supported by quotations from two different sources. Not all of your body paragraphs need to be synthesis paragraphs, though your non-synthesis paragraphs need to be thoroughly developed.

Minimums:

1) Three synthesis paragraphs.

2) Three sources from the classroom.

-       “The Declaration of Independence,” by Thomas Jefferson (from 50 Essays, 1^st Edition)

-        “The Gettysburg Address,” by Abraham Lincoln (from 50 Essays, 1^st Edition)

-       Henry V, Part I, by William Shakespeare (http://www.bartleby.com/70/2931.html)

-       “The Apology: Letters from a Terrorist,” by Laura Blumenfeld (from The Language of Composition)

-       “The Prince,” by Niccolo Machiavelli (from 50 Essays, 1^st Edition)

-       Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo

-       President Obama’s Nobel Prize Acceptance speech

-       “World and America Watching Different Wars, ” by Danna Harman (from Short Takes: Model Essays for Composition. Ed. Elizabeth Penfield. New York: Pearson Longman 2007)

3) Additional sources from your own research. Be sure your internet sources are reliable. You will need to work hard to establish these sources. You may consider:

-       Historical conflicts, large and small

-       Contemporary conflicts, such as wars in Africa and the Middle East

-       Contemporary and classical literature

-       Modern films

-       Popular songs

-       Personal experience

-       Something interesting that I haven’t thought of yet

4) A paragraph or more that explores the implications of one of the following conflicts:

 - The current situation between Russia, Crimea, and Ukraine
 - The Syrian Civil War
 - The Arab Spring (of 2010)
 - The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (anywhere from the 1940s to the present)

5) An element of visual rhetoric. This could be an editorial cartoon or an image. Your image should be included in the body of the paper (not the intro or conclusion). You should explain how this image helps you argue what is (or is not) worth fighting for. Be sure to cite the source of your image.

6) Evidence against your thesis, soundly refuted by your laser sharp logic.

7) A properly formatted Works Cited page. If you found the website on your own, include the link. For your convenience, I’ve googled “How to Cite a Song” for you:

Songwriter's last name, first name.  "Title of Song."  Lyrics.  Title of Album.  Name of Publishing Company, Year Recorded. Format.

De Sela, Lhasa.  "La Frontera."  Lyrics.  The Living Road.  Netwerk, 2004. CD.

If the song is being sung by someone other than the songwriter, here is how that would look:

Dylan, Bob.  "Like a Rolling Stone."  Lyrics. Perf. The Drive-By Truckers.  Highway 61 Revisited.  Uncut/Ignite!, 2005. mp3.

8) If you are quoting verse (either song lyrics, poems, or plays written in verse), you should use a slash (/) to indicate a line break Do not put a slash at the end of the last line. For example:

Tennyson writes, “Theirs not to make reply / Theirs not to reason why / Theirs but to do and die” (Tennyson).

Due Now: "The Prince"
Due Today: Motivational Speeches
Tomorrow: Let the test prep commence!

-Motivate Us Some More
-"The Prince" (By Whatever Means...)

Due Now: "The Prince"
Due Today: Motivational Speeches
Coming Friday: Let the test prep commence!

-Motivate Us.
-"The Prince" 

Agenda, April 8

Due Now: "The Prince"
Due Tomorrow: Motivational Speeches
Coming Friday: Let the test prep commence!

1. Developing Argumentative Paragraphs, just in case you have a timed write on Friday.
2. "The Prince" in small courts groups.

Due Today: "Apology" in The Language of Composition (page 1048) 
Due Tomorrow: "Morals of the Prince"
Due Wednesday and Thursday: Motivational Speech

1. Multiple Choice Practice
2."Apology" analysis 
3. Discussion

You'll probly like this article

It's about pronounciation.

"Do You Ever Say Probly Instead of Probably? Here's Why," by Gretchen McCulloch

Due Today: "Apology" in The Language of Composition (page 1048) 

1. Noah's Speech
2. Brainstorming (Really for Reals)
3. Discussion

Due Today: "The Gettysburg Address" 
Due Today: Multiple Choice Review
Due Tomorrow: "Apology" in The Language of Composition (page 1048) 

1. Multiple Choice Review!!!
2. Gettysburg
3. Once More to the Brainstorming! (For Reals)

Due Today: "Henry V Speech"
Due Tomorrow: "The Gettysburg Address" 
Due Tomorrow: Multiple Choice Review
Due Friday: "Apology" in The Language of Composition (page 1048)

1. Rhetorical Bonanza
2. Once More to the Brainstorming.
3. Disco, baby. Disco.

Due Today: Obama's Acceptance Speech 
Due Tomorrow: "Henry V Speech"
Due Thursday: Multiple Choice Review

1. Scavenger Hunt
2. What's the (other) point?
3. Disco, Disco...