Was Marx Right?

NPR's Planet Money reports about an interesting experiment in China in 1978. Click the link to a webpage that has an audio news report and a text transcript. The audio is a little different than the video, so be sure to listen and read. Enjoy!

Capitalists of the World, Unite!

Agenda, February 10

Due February 13: Outline Essay Revisions. As soon as you're satisfied with your paper, remove all the underlining and labeling and send your work as a Microsoft Word attachment to the Lit Mag. Include your name and your Advisory teacher's name in the body of the e-mail. DO NOT share it as a google doc. Deadline: February 25.
Due Monday: Typed, double spaced TEP

Due Tuesday, 2/14: "A Modest Proposal" in 50 Essays 
Date February 21: "How have we changed?" synthesis paper.

Monday is a Lab Day; be sure to know your Change Essay Subject

1. Did we do anything important yesterday?
2. Change Essay Questions
3. Marx Review
4. Argument o' the Week: D, Q, C President Obama’s claim that “Anyone who tells you that America is a nation in decline doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
5. Whole class "Dumpster Diving" 
6. 10 minute TEP

TAG! You're it!

If you're missing class to play TAG today, here are the discussion questions for "On Dumpster Diving":

1.     What is the effect of Eighner’s attention to language in the first five paragraphs? Does this opening appeal more to ethos, logos, or pathos? Explain.

2.     In paragraph 7, Eighner identifies the rhetorical direction he plans to follow. What is the effect of such information?

3.     Note the technical and clinical nature of much of part one of the essay. In paragraph 19, for example, he writes of de-emulsification and the behavior of pathogens. What is the effect of such scientific language and information?

4.     Indentify and explain two examples of irony in the section about the students (paragraphs 25-30).

5.     Paragraph 37 concludes, “I do not want to paint too romantic a picture. Dumpster diving has serious drawback as a way of life.” What is the effect of these sentences? What is their rhetorical purpose?

6.     Note the careful distinction Eighner makes between the “true scavenger” and the “can scrounger.” What purpose does it serve?

7.     Do Eighner’s thoughts of Lizbeth in paragraph 63 appeal chiefly to ethose, logos, or pathos? Explain.

8.     Provide an example of an appeal to ethos. Explain its significance.

9.     Explain the irony in the closing passage (paragraphs 78-80).

Agenda, February 9

Due Yesterday: "On Dumpster Diving" in 50 Essays.
Due February 13: Outline Essay Revisions. As soon as you're satisfied with your paper, remove all the underlining and labeling and send your work as a Microsoft Word attachment to the Lit Mag. Include your name and your Advisory teacher's name in the body of the e-mail. DO NOT share it as a google doc. Deadline: February 25.
Due Tuesday, 2/14: "A Modest Proposal" in 50 Essays
Date February 21: "How have we changed?" synthesis paper.

1. Change Essay Questions
2. How Marx was right / wrong
3. "Dumpster Diving" Small Group Discussion

Agenda, February 8

Due Now: Excerpt from The Communist Manifesto. Write a paraphrase of each paragraph in plain English.
Due Now: Perfect MC Section
Due Wednesday: "On Dumpster Diving" in 50 Essays.
Due February 13: Outline Essay Revisions. As soon as you're satisfied with your paper, remove all the underlining and labeling and send your work as a Microsoft Word attachment to the Lit Mag. Include your name and your Advisory teacher's name in the body of the e-mail. DO NOT share it as a google doc. Deadline: February 25.
Date February 21: "How have we changed?" synthesis paper.

1. Change Essay Questions
2. MC Answers
3. Marx's argument
4. How he was right / wrong
5. "Dumpster Diving" TEP

Agenda, February 7

Due Now: Excerpt from The Communist Manifesto. Write a paraphrase of each paragraph in plain English.
Due Tomorrow: Perfect MC Section
Due Wednesday: "On Dumpster Diving" in 50 Essays.
Due February 13: Outline Essay Revisions. As soon as you're satisfied with your paper, remove all the underlining and labeling and send your work as a Microsoft Word attachment to the Lit Mag. Include your name and your Advisory teacher's name in the body of the e-mail. DO NOT share it as a google doc. Deadline: February 25.
Date February 21: "How have we changed?" synthesis paper.
For your bibliography (you should have about 32 entries):
Title and author: "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
From: One Hundred Great Essays, Edited by Robert DiYanni
Publishing info: New York, Pearson Education, Inc., 2008
and The Grapes of Wrath, too!

1. Change Essay Requirements
2. Change Essay Brainstorm
3. MC Practice. Oops.
4. What Marx said ...
5. How he argued it ...
6. How he was right / wrong

Agenda, February 6

Due Now: Excerpt from The Communist Manifesto. Write a paraphrase of each paragraph in plain English.
Due Tomorrow: Perfect MC Section
Due Wednesday: "On Dumpster Diving" in 50 Essays.
Due February 13: Outline Essay Revisions. As soon as you're satisfied with your paper, remove all the underlining and labeling and send your work as a Microsoft Word attachment to the Lit Mag. Include your name and your Advisory teacher's name in the body of the e-mail. DO NOT share it as a google doc. Deadline: February 25.
Date TBA: "How have we changed?" synthesis paper.
For your bibliography (you should have about 32 entries):
Title and author: "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
From: One Hundred Great Essays, Edited by Robert DiYanni
Publishing info: New York, Pearson Education, Inc., 2008
and The Grapes of Wrath, too!

1. Return of the Outline Essays
2. Manifesto in groups
3. Whole class Manifesto
4. MC Practice

"Change" Synthesis Essay Assignment

Change Synthesis Essay

Due Tuesday, February 21

Question: What have we learned since The Great Depression?

Select an issue Steinbeck addresses in The Grapes of Wrath – attitudes towards immigration / migrant labor or the poor, the impact of industrialization / technology on society, the banking system, or any other of the many topics Steinbeck covers – and explore how American attitudes and behaviors have changed (or failed to change) over time. Using several of the pieces we have read in this unit, as well as your own personal experiences, reading, and research, evaluate the transformation of society over time. Support your thesis with direct quotations from multiple texts, properly formatted in MLA style.

Typed. Double Spaced. Twelve point. No blank lines between paragraphs, except to indicate a major shift in tone or setting. Four – six pages. Don’t forget a title.

Required:

·      Three rhetorical strategies from The Virtual Salt, underlined and labeled. Push yourself to use the more complex strategies. Do the strategies have a clear, potent rhetorical effect?

·      A minimum of three college level sources - including at least one form Gale - plus The Grapes of Wrath. (That's four sources, if you're keeping score at home.) Everything's an Argument is a college level source.

·      A minimum of two “synthesis” paragraphs.

·      Properly formatted Works Cited Page.

Suggested: Consider the tone you want to set from the outset. Narrative openings emphasize pathos. Openings filled with stats and facts emphasize logos. What is the most effective tone for you to employ?

Suggested: Consider closing your essay with a plan of action. Where do we go from here?

Audience: 1) “Society.”  2) Yourself.

Purpose: 1) To identify changes in American attitudes over time. 2) To evaluate America’s reaction to the problems posed by The Great Depression. In your opinion, are we making progress?

How to approach this paper:

·      Identify an issue.

·      Establish conditions in society at the time Steinbeck was writing; establish contemporary conditions.

·      Develop an opinion on whether we’ve improved / progressed as a society.

·      Gather evidence (from our texts and from research) to support your opinion. This is an argument; therefore, personal experience is valid evidence and first person is an acceptable POV.

·      Consider counter arguments.

·      Create clear, defensible topic sentences.

·      Draft paragraphs with two quotations to support your topic sentences.

·      Draft paragraphs with an eye towards ethos, pathos, and logos.

·      Proofread to ensure your quotations are properly formatted and cited. For this essay, “you will need to include the author’s name in your parenthetical citation” (Kline 1).

·      Create your Works Cited page.

Agenda, February 3

Due Monday: Excerpt from The Communist Manifesto. Write a paraphrase of each paragraph in plain English.
Date TBA: "How have we changed?" synthesis paper.

For your bibliography (you should have about 32 entries):

Title and author: "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
From: One Hundred Great Essays, Edited by Robert DiYanni
Publishing info: New York, Pearson Education, Inc., 2008
and The Grapes of Wrath, too!


1) Argumentative timed write on The Grapes of Wrath

Agenda, February 1

Due Now: Perfect Multiple Choice Test
Due Now: Outline Essay Revisions 
Due Thursday and Friday: Wrath Test, Parts 1 & 2

1. Discuss Multiple Choice Questions
2. Whole Class Question
3. Jigsaw