Choose ten passages from The Omnivore's Dilemma to respond to. At least two passages should come from each of the four sections of the book. (That will account for eight of the passages. You can choose the remaining two passages from any section.) Each passage should be at least 100 words in length.
Each passage response should be at least 150 words in length. When you're writing your responses make sure you (1) discuss the
meaning of the passage in context, (2) discuss the relationship of the
passage to other parts of the book and/or to the argument the book makes as a whole, and
(3) discuss how the writer's choices in the passage contribute to an argument.
Here's a link to the format I expect for the passage responses (also called a "quotation response journal).
It's best if you share the passages and responses in a Google Document that you finish by the last summer session on August 19 at 8am.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Summer Seminar #2: All Souls
On Tuesday, July 29 we met to discuss All Souls by Michael Patrick MacDonald.
[Summary to come.]
If you weren't able to make the second seminar, you should add the following to the All Souls pre-session work. (It's best to share all the work with me in a Google document.)
Entry ticket 3-2-1
What are the three most important parts of the book? Briefly explain why.
What are the two most important rhetorical strategies (writing style; narrative voice; use of figurative language; organization choices; appeals to reason, emotion, trustworthiness; etc.) used in the book? Briefly explain.
What is the overall point Michael Patrick MacDonald wants to make in All Souls?
Aritstole's ideas about rhetorical appeals
What is the meaning of the following terms? How do they apply to All Souls?
rhetoric
logos
pathos
ethos
The purpose of rhetoric
It can be said that rhetoric attempts to persuade, inform, and engage (or entertain) its readers. Explain how Michael Patrick MacDonald does these three things in All Souls.
[Summary to come.]
If you weren't able to make the second seminar, you should add the following to the All Souls pre-session work. (It's best to share all the work with me in a Google document.)
Entry ticket 3-2-1
What are the three most important parts of the book? Briefly explain why.
What are the two most important rhetorical strategies (writing style; narrative voice; use of figurative language; organization choices; appeals to reason, emotion, trustworthiness; etc.) used in the book? Briefly explain.
What is the overall point Michael Patrick MacDonald wants to make in All Souls?
Aritstole's ideas about rhetorical appeals
What is the meaning of the following terms? How do they apply to All Souls?
rhetoric
logos
pathos
ethos
The purpose of rhetoric
It can be said that rhetoric attempts to persuade, inform, and engage (or entertain) its readers. Explain how Michael Patrick MacDonald does these three things in All Souls.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Directions for the Second Summer Session: All Souls
WHAT TO DO WHILE YOU'RE READING ALL SOULS
BY MICHAEL PATRICK MACDONALD
While reading All Souls make note of the following using post-it notes, bookmark notes, or writing in your own copy of the book:
While reading All Souls make note of the following using post-it notes, bookmark notes, or writing in your own copy of the book:
·
the
writing style MacDonald uses (consider how he creates intimacy and a sense of
trust with word choice, sentence structure, tone),
·
the
narrative structure MacDonald uses (consider how he begins and ends the book,
consider how he organizes events into chapters, consider how he introduces
stories within the larger story and builds to climaxes),
·
the
way he characterizes people (by describing their actions and their physical
appearance, by including their own words, by describing how others react to
them, by comparing and contrasting people’s behavior, by showing changes over
time, etc.),
·
and
the way he characterizes places (particularly South Boston).
Overall
how do MacDonald's choices contribute to the purpose, meaning, and effect of
the book?
By taking notes you'll be better prepared for the seminar. Some of you did this for the last seminar and it helped a lot.
**********************
WHAT
TO DO AFTER YOU FINISH READING ALL SOULS AND
BEFORE COMING TO THE HIGH SCHOOL ON July 29*.
Respond
to one of the following rhetorical
analysis prompts in a Google Doc that you share with me on July 29 or on paper that you turn in on July 29.
Option #1: Writing Style
Option #1: Writing Style
Find
three or more passages in the book (one from the beginning, one from the middle, and
one from the end) that exemplify Michael Patrick MacDonald's writing style
(word choice, sentence structure, tone). Write an essay in which you analyze how the style of language
MacDonald uses contributes to the purpose of the book as a whole.
Option
#2: Narrative Structure
Find
three or more passages in the book (one from the beginning, one from the middle, and
one from the end) that show how MacDonald arranges events in a particular way
so that the events have a particular effect on the reader. Write an essay in which you analyze how the arrangement of events
contributes to a point MacDonald makes (explicitly or implicitly) in the book as a whole.
Option
#3: Characterization of a Person
Find
three passages in the book (one from the beginning, one from the middle, and
one from the end) in which MacDonald characterizes a particular person (Ma, a
brother, a grandparent, someone else). Write an essay in which you analyze exactly how MacDonald
characterizes the person in the passages and how the characterization of
the person contributes to a point MacDonald makes (explicitly or implicitly) in the book as a whole.
Option
#4: Characterization of a Place
Find
three passages in the book (one from the beginning, one from the middle, and
one from the end) in which MacDonald characterizes Southie. Write an essay in which you analyze exactly how
MacDonald characterizes Southie in the passages and how the characterization of
Southie contributes to a point MacDonald makes (explicitly or implicitly) in the book as a whole.
Include the quotations and page numbers of the quotations above the essay with the essay below. Weave parts of the quotations into the essay to support your analysis. Your essay should be 500-1000 words in length.
***
Then, respond
to this argument prompt in a Google Doc that you share with me on July 29 or on paper that you turn in on July 29..
In
All Souls Michael Patrick MacDonald explores the ways that pride both strengthens
Southie and undermines its strength. In a short essay (approximately 500 words)
explore the extent to which pride has a similar effect on Gloucester today. In
the essay show that you understand what MacDonald suggests about pride’s effect
on Southie and then apply that understanding to your experiences and
observations of life in Gloucester. Use examples from your experiences, observations, studies, and reading to develop your argument. Your essay should be 500-1000 words in length.
**********************
*If you cannot attend the session you must (1)
send an email to Mr. James Cook with the reason you cannot attend, (2)
turn in your responses through Google Docs, and (3) after the session read the
description of the session posted on the blog and complete the activities.
Summer Seminar #1: The Faraway Nearby
On Tuesday, we met to discuss Rebeca Solnit's The Faraway Nearby, to familiarize ourselves with approaches to rhetorical analysis, and to practice some of the learning activities we'll use throughout the year.
Those of you who did not attend the seminar need to read the brief summaries and share a Google Document with me (jcook@gloucester.k12.ma.us) in which you address the prompts in italics below.
***
In the first hour we completed a 3-2-1 entry ticket (see below) and then conducted a whole class Socratic Seminar addressing the question, "How does the way a text is written (and organized) contribute to its argument?" This is the key question for the beginning of the year in AP English Language and Composition. It is the key question of "rhetorical analysis," which means understanding what argument is being made and how the argument is being made. This is something we will do over and over and over again in response to dozens of texts (memoirs, novels, plays, personal essays, political speeches, social satires, advertisements, magazine articles, letters, etc.)
Those of you who were not here on Tuesday need to complete the "3-2-1 entry ticket" in the Google Doc you share with me. Use your first name and last initial at the beginning of the post.
Write down three (3) specific parts of the book that you think are necessary to understand in order to understand the book as a whole. Include page numbers.
Write down two (2) specific aspects of the writing style and/or structure that you think are important to notice in order to understand the book's meaning and/or effect on the reader. These may have been aspects that you noticed when writing about the chapters, paragraphs, and sentences.
Write down one (1) question or insight about the book that you had while reading or after reading. Choose something that you think is very important for whatever reason.
***
In the second hour we focused on analyzing specific passages in The Faraway Nearby, now asking the question, "How does the way the passage is written contribute to the Solnit is making in the passage?" Everyone picked a passage to share and we were able to discuss a few of them. We talked about organization, imagery, motifs, listing (and other aspects of syntax), paradoxes (including the title), and connections between seemingly unrelated stories. A couple students weren't able to present specific passages in which the way it was written contributed to its meaning, but many students did an excellent job reading, thinking, talking, and listening.
***
Based on where our first two hours of discussion, I designed the third hour to give us a chance to weave our own stories into Solnit's stories and ideas.
In the same Google Doc do this:
Weave a story of your own into one of the stories or ideas from The Faraway Nearby. The story you tell should be something that you experienced or observed. Make the story vivid; bring it alive for your reader. Also, be thoughtful; draw out the meaning of the story and its relationship with some aspect of The Faraway Nearby. Write for 15 to 20 minutes; there is no word count requirement.
After you finish identify the vivid images in your story. What words make pictures for the reader? Also, identify the aspects of the story--word choices, sentence structures, punctuation--that are part of your distinctive writing style. You can identify these elements with b
Then, we ended class with a 3-2-1 exit ticket and a brief introduction to All Souls which we will meet to discuss on July 29.
This is the last thing to include in the Google Doc:
Write down three (3) specific connections between two different stories that Solnit makes in the book.
Briefly explain how two (2) specific passages contribute to the overall meaning of the book. (Give the page numbers of the passages!)
Write down (1) thing that you still don't fully understand about the book or that you wanted to talk about that we didn't get to or that you want to let me know you've been thinking about the book. In other words, write something a question, observation, or idea that you didn't get to discuss during the seminar.
Write to me if you have any questions.
Those of you who did not attend the seminar need to read the brief summaries and share a Google Document with me (jcook@gloucester.k12.ma.us) in which you address the prompts in italics below.
***
In the first hour we completed a 3-2-1 entry ticket (see below) and then conducted a whole class Socratic Seminar addressing the question, "How does the way a text is written (and organized) contribute to its argument?" This is the key question for the beginning of the year in AP English Language and Composition. It is the key question of "rhetorical analysis," which means understanding what argument is being made and how the argument is being made. This is something we will do over and over and over again in response to dozens of texts (memoirs, novels, plays, personal essays, political speeches, social satires, advertisements, magazine articles, letters, etc.)
Those of you who were not here on Tuesday need to complete the "3-2-1 entry ticket" in the Google Doc you share with me. Use your first name and last initial at the beginning of the post.
Write down three (3) specific parts of the book that you think are necessary to understand in order to understand the book as a whole. Include page numbers.
Write down two (2) specific aspects of the writing style and/or structure that you think are important to notice in order to understand the book's meaning and/or effect on the reader. These may have been aspects that you noticed when writing about the chapters, paragraphs, and sentences.
Write down one (1) question or insight about the book that you had while reading or after reading. Choose something that you think is very important for whatever reason.
***
In the second hour we focused on analyzing specific passages in The Faraway Nearby, now asking the question, "How does the way the passage is written contribute to the Solnit is making in the passage?" Everyone picked a passage to share and we were able to discuss a few of them. We talked about organization, imagery, motifs, listing (and other aspects of syntax), paradoxes (including the title), and connections between seemingly unrelated stories. A couple students weren't able to present specific passages in which the way it was written contributed to its meaning, but many students did an excellent job reading, thinking, talking, and listening.
***
Based on where our first two hours of discussion, I designed the third hour to give us a chance to weave our own stories into Solnit's stories and ideas.
In the same Google Doc do this:
Weave a story of your own into one of the stories or ideas from The Faraway Nearby. The story you tell should be something that you experienced or observed. Make the story vivid; bring it alive for your reader. Also, be thoughtful; draw out the meaning of the story and its relationship with some aspect of The Faraway Nearby. Write for 15 to 20 minutes; there is no word count requirement.
After you finish identify the vivid images in your story. What words make pictures for the reader? Also, identify the aspects of the story--word choices, sentence structures, punctuation--that are part of your distinctive writing style. You can identify these elements with b
Then, we ended class with a 3-2-1 exit ticket and a brief introduction to All Souls which we will meet to discuss on July 29.
This is the last thing to include in the Google Doc:
Write down three (3) specific connections between two different stories that Solnit makes in the book.
Briefly explain how two (2) specific passages contribute to the overall meaning of the book. (Give the page numbers of the passages!)
Write down (1) thing that you still don't fully understand about the book or that you wanted to talk about that we didn't get to or that you want to let me know you've been thinking about the book. In other words, write something a question, observation, or idea that you didn't get to discuss during the seminar.
Write to me if you have any questions.
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