Copy of Argument Essay Assignment Q4 English III KO.docx



Honors Language and Composition: Argument Essay Assignment 2013-2014Directions: You will write an argumentative essay making a claim of either policy, fact, or value to convince a group of your peers. You must be able to defend your claim with reasons, and you must be able to support those reasons with evidence from your experiences, your observations, human nature, history, pop culture, etc. You must demonstrate an awareness of your audience by incorporating the three rhetorical appeals. Your diction and syntax should contribute to your tone and work to support your purpose. The essay with the highest grade will be used on the final exam, and the writer of that essay will receive five extra points on his or her exam. Dates:Monday April 28th: Rough draft due. You must bring these to class for an in-class revision. You will submit these drafts at the end of the class for teacher feedback.Monday May 1st: Teachers will return your drafts in class, and you will do additional revisions.Thursday May 8th: Final drafts are due on . You must also bring a hard copy of the final draft to class. You will submit this with all the rest of your drafts.Points:20 HW points for having three full pages for your rough draft due on April 28th. In addition to these three full pages, you must complete the in-class initial revision (in depth) before you receive these points.10 PART points for the in-class additional revision on May 1st.10 PART point for submitting all of your drafts and showing significant improvement over the course of writing this essay. Assignment reflection must also be completed for these points as well. Please note: Your final reflection will involve a comparison to your argument essay from first quarter.100 Point FINAL ESSAY grade.Approach:You have learned a number of considerations this year that writers take before submitting a final draft. We expect you to begin thinking in such a way all the time. In all of your writing assignments. For all of your classes. Establishing ethos, appealing to emotion and reason, thinking about your audience, purpose, and tone are all foundations for your drafts. Before you submit a final, you need to go back and begin looking at every word, every sentence, every paragraph and question whether they are effective, whether they are purposeful, and whether they create meaning. Please do not waste space any longer with words that don’t matter. You should get into the habit of writing a draft before writing the draft you submit in class. This draft should be your rant, your verbal vomit, your collection of ideas. It should not be pretty, but instead, a jumping off point for you to go back to. Get it all out before you start worrying about whether your reasons and evidence are solid. This is where your voice will emerge, and you can work on refining it later. Please take a minute to read this article (and excuse the crass language): ideas: (I will probably put this into a powerpoint later)In small groups:1. Read Crocs article 2. Read “The Importance of Being Hated” Importance of Being HatedIn the small groups, ask them:1. What is the claim in each reading? (Notice how these claims are about all sorts of things: from the serious to the not so serious)2. Just because a claim like “No one should wear Crocs” seems simple and somewhat silly, tell me the strengths of the article. Tell me the strengths of the article like a 4th quarter language and comp student knows how to describe them (rhetorical appeals, considerations, reasons, evidence, tropes, schemes, etc.)3. 4. Your goal for today is to leave here with a working claim. You need to read my “Shitty First Drafts” article (or we can do this in class) and realize that you need to write for yourself before you write a draft for me.In your small groups, talk about the following topics, and make a note of any ideas you may have for a topic to write about as you talk. 1. LMSA (grading, teachers, courses, sports, clubs, people, kids, education, how things should be and why they aren’t or why they are exactly like they should be, etc.)2. Neighborhood: (people old and young, conditions, activities, facilities, opportunities, feelings, ideal neighborhood, vision of how things should be and why they aren’t like that, hopes, dreams, frustrations, etc.)3. Home: (parents, siblings, how things run at home, how they should run, your definition of family, your idea of home and what you envision for yourself in the future, why things are not like you envision them or why they are like you envision them…)If you still are at a loss to figure out what you care about or what interests you, take a look at these suggestions:Should Students Be Able to Grade Their Teachers?How Well Do You Think Standardized Tests Measure Your Abilities?Do Schools Provide Students With Enough Opportunities to Be Creative?What Are You Really Learning at School?How Important Is Arts Education?What Do You Think of Grouping Students by Ability in Schools?Does Class Size Matter?Is Prom Worth All the Fuss?What Criteria Should Be Used in Awarding Scholarships for College?How Necessary Is a College Education?Should Engineers Pay Less for College Than English Majors?Does Technology Make Us More Alone?Is Online Learning as Good as Face-to-Face Learning?How Young Is Too Young for an iPhone?How Would You Feel About a Computer Grading Your Essays?Why Do We Like to Watch Rich People on TV and in the Movies?Do TV Shows Like ‘16 and Pregnant’ Promote or Discourage Teenage Pregnancy?What Game Would You Like to Redesign?Do You Prefer Your Children’s Book Characters Obedient or Contrary?Where Is the Line Between Truth and Fiction?Can Graffiti Ever Be Considered Art?Do We Need Art in Our Lives?What Makes a Good Commercial?Does Pop Culture Deserve Serious Study?Is School Designed More for Girls Than Boys?Is There Too Much Pressure on Girls to Have ‘Perfect’ Bodies?What Should We Do to Fight Sexual Violence Against Young Women?Do Fraternities Promote Misogyny?Why Aren’t There More Girls in Leadership Roles?Why Aren’t More Girls Choosing to Pursue Careers in Math and Science?Should Women Be Allowed to Fight on the Front Lines Alongside Men?Do Boys Have Less Intense Friendships Than Girls?Are Some Youth Sports Too Intense?Should Athletes Who Dope Have to Forfeit Their Titles and Medals?What Local Problems Do You Think Your Mayor Should Try to Solve?If You Were Governor of Your State, How Would You Spend a Budget Surplus?Do Laws That Ban Offensive Words Make the World a Better Place?Do Great Leaders Have to Be Outgoing?Would You Feel Safer With Armed Guards Patrolling Your School?When Should Juvenile Offenders Receive Life Sentences?When Do You Become an Adult?Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood?Are Adults Hurting Young Children by Pushing Them to Achieve?How, and by Whom, Should Children Be Taught Appropriate Behavior?What Can Older People Learn From Your Generation?Do ‘Shame and Blame’ Work to Change Teenage Behavior?How Should Children Be Taught About Puberty and Sex?Is Dating a Thing of the Past?How Should Parents Handle a Bad Report Card?Is It Ethical to Eat Meat?Can Money Buy You Happiness?Are We Losing the Art of Listening?Why Do People Complain So Much?Can Kindness Become Cool?Which Is More Important: Talent or Hard Work?When Should You Compromise?Is Your Generation More Self-Centered Than Earlier Generations?Have Curse Words Become So Common They Have Lost Their Shock Value?Should Scientists Try to Help People Beat Old Age So We Can Live Longer Lives?How Much Does Your Neighborhood Define Who You Are?Brainstorming/DraftingChoose one of the topics you spoke about in your group, and write for three minutes on it here:Now, choose another of the topics you touched on, and write about it for three minutes:Look back at your two freewrites. What claim do you think you want to make? ................
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