December 1st

1. Write one of your 9 thesis/claim attempts on the board.

2. To assist in knowing how to approach a subject in order to make a claim about the material, you can utilize one of these four types of claims:

Types of claims:

Claims typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking about how you want to approach your topic, in other words what type of claim you want to make, is one way to focus your thesis on one particular aspect of your broader topic.

1. Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. Example:

• What some people refer to as global warming is actually nothing more than normal, long-term cycles of climate change.

2. Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur. Example:

• The popularity of SUVs in America has caused pollution to increase.

3. Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something. Example:

• Global warming is the most pressing challenge facing the world today.

4. Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Example:

• Instead of drilling for oil in Alaska we should be focusing on ways to reduce oil consumption, such as researching renewable energy sources

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3.  Review through the material in the following link: Indiana University- Thesis Statements
Supplement your current notes. This will talk you through the process of developing a topic, through identifying a strong or weak thesis statement.

4. You will be getting into small groups. In your group you need to work through the following:

•  Discuss the strengths of the following thesis statements: 

Examples of good thesis statements:

• "The ability to purchase television advertising is essential for any candidate's bid for election to the Senate because television reaches millions of people and thus has the ability to dramatically increase name recognition."
• The organizational structure of the United Nations, namely consensus voting in the security council, makes it incapable of preventing war between major powers.

What makes each sentence an effective thesis? (Check against your checklist)

5. Now, you will look to the board to your examples of class thesis/claim attempts. As a group, you will go through and critique the strengths and weaknesses of each statement. (Keep in mind, this is going to be a process of improvement. Be honest, but be kind). 

6. If you feel that your own 9 claims need revision, revise the necessary components of each statement. 9 claims are due on Monday.

FOR MONDAY: Read in College Reader, Chapter 12- (515-527)
Take very good notes. This is the next development in argument.
Fallacy quiz is on MONDAY. 

November 30th

1. Mini-Socratic seminar over Persuasive and Argumentative Writing.  2 groups.
To discuss:

• Major points in the reading. 
• Differences between argument and persuasion.
• What makes an arguable claim/thesis.
• Two writing samples. How do they differ from each other? What are the persuasive techniques you see? Argumentative?

2. Thesis/Claim writing instruction.

3. Review the fallacies... this is a good link that can help them resonate before building a claim.
Thou Shalt Not Commit Logical Fallacies  You will have a Fallacy Quiz on MONDAY.

Write a CLAIM for the following class/paper scenarios:

Paper #1: given no information from prof. You come up with the class and topic.
Paper #2: Drinking alcohol
Paper #3: Who is the most influential person in a teenager's life?
Paper #4: Abortion
Paper #5: Math class (not as the topic.. this is the class you are being asked to write a paper for)
Paper #6: What is the most important issue of the upcoming political year.
Paper  #7: Art, PE, Band (You pick the class and you are to write a paper in that class)
Paper #8: Given no information from prof. You come up with the class and topic.
Paper #9: Sex

You will need to have your 9 claim statements when you come to class on Friday. Do you recognize the writing scenarios? However, realize that there are many things that have to happen before the final claim statement. What do you need to consider?
- Who is my audience? (Academic/formal)
- What is academic debatable versus statement of fact?
- How would I go about proving this point?
- How would I narrow my topic down to be manageable?

A few of these are designed to be very difficult in developing an ARGUMENT... remember, argument, not persuasion.

This assignment is to practice the following things: 1. Recognizing a writing situation and being able to move forward in the writing process.   2. Recognizing the difference between persuasive writing and argumentative writing.  3. Developing a solid argumentative claim.

November 28th

1. Quiz over introductory Argument v. Persuasive Writing Reading.

2. Read through the following link on the difference between Persuasive and Argumentative writing: Persuasive V. Argumentative..  take good notes

This is a good chart to know to distinguish the difference: P V. A Chart

3.. When you are done reviewing.. you need to read the two samples. In your notes, write down examples of the differences between the two samples. Point out specific examples... what they are doing and what the effect is..Persuasive and Argumentative article

Be ready to discuss this in class on Thursday, November 30th.

4. Look over your fallacies.. do you own them yet? QUIZ ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 4TH

November 27th

1. You will need to read and review the following document: The Differences Between High School and College Writing

As you read this, you need to truly take inventory of your current writing and the gains that you will need to make in the next few months. This is no longer "in the future". These are your current expectations of writing and thinking. The transition is not to happen from June to August. It has already started.

2. In your Reader for the College Writer, read/annotate pages 503-13. Study these pages. Study. Study. Become experts. Quiz on Tuesday. There will be a few questions from the "HS and College Writing" document, as well.

Read through the fallacies... take good notes... they will NOT be on this quiz, however. We will test over these separately.

November 20th

1. Characterization comparative analysis paper scoring- 3 scores by classmates.
2. Hidden Figures book review. Put in Google Classroom:



3. Finish Hidden Figures for Tuesday. Remember your Book v. Film handout. This will be due after we finish the film tomorrow.

November 17th

1. Finish the book for next week.
2. Characterization papers are due Monday, November 20th to Google Classroom. BRING A HARD COPY TO CLASS.

Thursday, November 16th

1. Today is our 3rd Literature Circle. Things to cover:

• Characterization in Hidden Figures text
• Discussion questions up through chapter 22
• Continued discussion on theme in Hidden Figures
• Similarities and differences seen in the book and the film.

2. Watch Hidden Figures. Work on T-chart that addresses both book and film.

3. Characterization writing:
What character in Hidden Figures do you most identify with and why? You will need to integrate textual examples into your explanation.

Requirements:

• MLA heading, title, citation guidelines
• 1st person POV will work for this assignment
• Show deep understanding of the characterization of the character from the literary text, not the film. The film is the actor/director's interpretation. 
• Well-organized
• Transitions between ideas effectively
• Effective comparison between character and self

Due: At the end of class on Monday, November 20th.  Google Classroom.