09.08 - Ethos wrap-up > Logos

At the beginning of class today we reviewed metaphor, allusion, allegory, parallelism, and anaphora. Next, we looked for these in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

Everyone then handed in the ethos reading response questions and annotations of Dr. King's speech identifying ethos and rhetorical devices within the speech.

Next, we began looking at our next argument which we will be analyzing for its use of logos. To prepare for this argument from the book "Freakonomics," we looked at some short videos that will introduce us to the argument being made (see below).

Video 2 Available Here

Handouts:
Freakonomics' Argument (Logos)
Freakonomics reading response questions (logos set)

Homework:
Read the Freakonomics argument and identify the points within the speech where the authors make use of logos.

09.05 - Rhetorical Devices

Class today was focused on correctly identifying and using rhetorical devices. I handed out a sheet that defined a variety of rhetorical devices including: metaphor, analogy, allusion, anaphora, and parallelism. We spent the rest of the class discussing these devices, writing examples, and then sharing and identifying examples.

Handout:

Rhetorical devices with definitions

Homework:

Annotate Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech" marking places where he makes use of metaphor, analogy, allusion, anaphora, and parallelism.  

09.04 - Ethos & Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream"

We started today's class by reviewing what ethos, pathos, and logos were. We then narrowed our focus to ethos specifically. We looked at how the anti-bullying speech (given out yesterday) uses ethos and we reviewed the different ways that ethos can be incorporated into an argument. Next, everyone wrote an argument around the following statement and used ethos as their main appeal.

The school day should be changed to go from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Individuals shared their argument with a partner then had time to revise it. We shared and discussed several of these revised arguments.

Next, we listened to and read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, annotating the text for uses of ethos. After listening to the speech everyone responded to some provided reading questions to focus their analysis of the speech. Questions 1-3 should be completed as homework (everyone had time to start this work in class). We will look at question 4 tomorrow in class.

Handouts:
Transcript of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech
Reading response questions for "I Have a Dream."

Appeals - Ethos

Three Types of Appeals (Ethos, Logos, Pathos)

Anti-Bullying Speech (shows different appeals in action)

09.03 - Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

We continued working today with the specific appeals that I had handed out to students yesterday. Everyone wrote a series of arguments using the appeal that they were given yesterday. Arguments were based around the following statement:

The voting age should be lowered to 16.

Next, everyone moved into a group with the other people who had been working with the same appeal (ethos, logos, or pathos). In their groups, everyone shared the arguments they came up with for today's writing prompt and for last night's homework assignment. I was on hand to answer any questions about how this type of appeal is used. 

Groups then had ten minutes to construct arguments around the following statement using their appeal:

Sports should not be connected to public high schools (club teams are fine though).

After creating their arguments, groups shared their arguments with the other groups in class who tried to discern what approach each appeal valued based on the arguments by that group. The group who presented then explained their type of appeal and I handed out an informational sheet on that type of appeal.

We then took a look at a speech on bullying which makes use of all three types of appeal. A volunteer and I read this aloud to the class.

For homework, everyone should complete a SOAPs analysis of this speech and then identify which appeal they feel was most effective (explaining why in their discussion).

Handouts:

Appeals - Ethos

Appeals - Logos

Appeals - Pathos

SOAPS explanation

Anti-Bullying Speech (shows different appeals in action)

Homework:

Identify SOAPs for the anti-bullying speech provided above. 

Identify which appeal seems to be most effective in the anti-bullying speech and explain why.

09.02 - Argument

We started today's class with everyone responding to the following question in their writer's journal:

What is an argument?

What makes an argument different from other forms of communication?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this question, we discussed the various responses that people had generated. Some of the ideas that were brought up were:

An argument is a discussion where each person is trying to prove something.
An argument is when one person really wants to convince someone else of something.
People care more about the outcome of an argument than they do a regular conversation.

With these ideas in mind, we watched the "argument clinic" sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus (see below) and everyone responded to the following question:

Does the argument clinic actually provide an argument according to your definition of an argument?

Explain why or why not.

After everyone had a chance to respond to this question, we discussed the answers people had come up with. This lead us back to the clip where we re-visited the protagonists definition of an argument as "a connected series of statements to establish a definite proposition" (~2:10) and the clinicians previous assertion that he had come for "an argument" not necessarily a "good" argument. This seemed to fit with the class' reading that they were having an argument, but that it was not a very detailed one.

With this perspective, I introduced a statement and asked everyone to write an argument in relation to this statement (for or against the statement and with or without conditions). The statement to write an argument about was as follows:

Schooling should be optional at all levels.

Once everyone had written their argument, they met with a partner to discuss the arguments that they had constructed. Next, we went around and talked to each group about the arguments that they had used.

I then handed out papers on rhetorical appeals that are used in arguments (ethos, pathos, and logos). Each person received an informational sheet on one sort of appeal. For homework, everyone should read the sheet they received and then come up with three new arguments regarding schooling being optional for tomorrow.

Everyone had the last 15 minutes of class to explore this class site using some guiding class site questions to help them in their exploration. Questions not finished in class should be finished for homework.

Handouts:

Appeals - Ethos

Appeals - Logos

Appeals - Pathos

Exploring the Class Site

Homework:

Write three new arguments regarding optional schooling using the type of appeal you recieved information about today.

If you did not do so in class, finish the "Exploring the Class Site" sheet.

8/29 - Student Personalities and the Myers-Briggs

We started today's class with the following activity:

1 - Brainstorm adjectives that could be used to describe your personality.
(The more the better. Here is a list to work from and to inspire you: personality adjectives)

2 - Star the three adjectives which seem to best represent your personality (kind of the like the primary colors of your personality, which would the red, yellow, and blue adjectives be?).

3 - Find a partner and discuss the adjectives you chose with them (why you chose them, how those elements interact to make up your personality, stories that illustrate how you display those elements). Each partner will have two minutes to talk while the other just listens (a little silence and time to think is good).

After everyone had a chance to talk with their partner, we came back together and used a chart to help us determine more specifically what each person's personality expression was. To do this we used the four categories of the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator (see the categories here).

Next, we looked at what each person chose within each category. Our results were as follows:

Extraversion - 5 people / Introversion - 4 people
Sensing - 4 people / Intuition - 5 people
Thinking - 7 people / Feeling - 2 people
Judging - 4 people / Perceiving - 4 people (1 person right in the middle)

Everyone then looked at the four categories they had selected and read the corresponding personality type according to the Myers-Briggs type indicator description (type indicator descriptions available here)

Everyone then responded to the following prompt based on their results and the provided description:

Everyone then had time to write after which we discussed  peoples' perspectives.

Next, I handed out several papers for individuals' homework this weekend related to the Myers-Briggs test and some questions to help guide your reading and thinking with the article (see handouts below).

Note: We didn't do the test in class, we just looked at and thought about their categories and personality types. If you'd like to get a sense for what the test is like try out this free version of the Myers-Briggs.

Handouts:
SOAPS explanation
Reading: "Goodbye to the MBTI, the Fad that Won't Die"
Guided Response Questions (includes extensions questions for a possible 100)
      Extension Reading: "Measuring the MBTI... and Coming Up Short"


Homework:

Read the article "Goodbye to the MBTI, the Fad that Won't Die" and respond to the guided response questions (see handouts above).

Have a writers journal to use in English ready for Monday.

8/27-28 - Class Introduction

Our introductory class was spread across two days and was dedicated to introducing the course material and reviewing classroom policies and procedures. I also took some time to introduce myself to students and talk about my approach to English education.

We started class by having everyone watch the video below of Yngwie J. Malmsteen performing his piece "Icarus Dream Fanfare." 

Everyone responded to the following question in response to this video:

1 - What do you think of this piece of music? (Explain your response as best as you can).

I then talked about how this video represents the way in which we'll be approaching English through this class this year. The symphony representing the traditional/classic elements of an English education and the electric guitar representing new/radical materials that will be used to compliment the traditional/classic elements.

We then reviewed the course syllabus and went over other, more general classroom policies.

We then had a discussion about why we are all here at school and what various reasons contribute to even having schools in the first place. I then presented school from my own perspective as being like Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory. In this way, school is kind of like the Chocolate Factory in which students are coming in to learn how to take things over. In school, students learn everything they need to know to take the world over from the older generation (and hopefully do a better job of managing things).

Next, we looked at the poem "There Are too Many of Me" by Lucy Diggs Slowe. I read through the poem twice and then everyone responded to the following questions.

1 - What is this poem about? How do you know?

2 - What do you think of this message?

After responding to these questions, people discussed their responses with a partner and then we came together as a class and discussed everyone's responses as a class.

This discussion lead into my presentation of who I am as a teacher as we talk about the multiple selves that everyone manages in our everyday lives. I presented myself as a son, brother, uncle, husband, runner, traveler, gamer, and teacher. I then spoke about how my "teacher" self is the self that I always present at school just as everyone's "student" self is the self they are presenting in class. While this is the version of ourselves that we portray in this environment, versions of our other selves can add to and strengthen this professional self. This lead to everyone writing a letter to me about their other selves (prompt below) and how that relates to their student self.

Letters could be submitted at the end of class or finished and turned in later if need be.

(This writing is not assessed, it is just for me to get to know students).

Handouts:

Class Syllabus

"There Are too Many of Me" by Lucy Diggs Slowe

Homework:

For Monday - have a writing journal that you can use of this class (see Mr. Collins if this is difficult for you)