Weeks 6-9: 02/07 – 03/05 (SPRING BREAK = MIDTERM)
Students will continue developing quote and citation usage by crafting their own “Mock Essays” after reading and studying Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.”
Students will use pathos, ethos, and logos in their analysis of Swift’s arguments.
They will then apply these rhetorical strategies to their own “modest proposals” centered around remedying vast problems plaguing the educational system in America today.
Papers will be due Friday March 5th at the midterm.
Meta-Reflections will also be due as a midterm exam grade.
Students will likely have a lot of work due that week and should budget their time accordingly.
Week 6 Homework: Students will post one body paragraph from their Unit 1 paper as a Discussion Post in D2L.
Students will also read, annotate, and respond to “A Modest Proposal.” Details will be announced in class this week. (EDIT: YOU ALL DID A PHENOMENAL JOB RESPONDING TO THE PATHOS/ETHOS/LOGOS IN SWIFT’S PIECE. THANKS FOR PLAYING!)
SYKE!!!
SNOWPOCALYPSE ruined any actual school plans Borger had!!
All work was posted on D2L / Google Classroom. Discussions of “A Modest Proposal” were electrified, though there was some discussion in class for 10 minutes on Monday that were lively and confused and funny.
Students will be working on Meta-Reflections and thinking about their own “Modest Proposals” regarding education.
They’ll take a REAL LIFE problem in education, but come up with RIDICULOUS solutions. They’ll cite sources, and use pathos, ethos, and logos to make their bizarre arguments. But, they will be MAKING UP ALL OF THEIR QUOTES AND SOURCES. (<–trust me). This allows us to practice all the forms of quoting and citing without worrying if “we’re doing it right.”
View this sample written by a graduate student many years ago for an English 101 course: “Vegetarians Can Have Their Chickens and Eat Them Too.’
(Hannah and Sam can have a heated debate about this – if winter ever stops long enough to let us come back together as a class.)
I’ve done this for 20 years and it’s usually students’ favorite assignments.
I hope you’re not stressed out and can take some of these days to rest. Email me if you have questions.
I like you!
Week 7: Below is the announcement posted on D2L
Last week I previewed the Mock Essay assignment in a class announcement. Read through this announcement if you didn’t do so at the time.
Read though your peers’ paragraphs in the discussion post due last week.
Your meta-reflection last week was to come up with a possible Modest Proposal / Mock Essay of your own related to education.
Your homework for Week 7: email me and tell me two thoughts / responses by Thursday based on last week’s homework:
1. Which 2 peers’ paragraphs:
- Incorporated quotes the best (using tag+quote+cite+explanation).
- Had clear topic sentences.
- Maintained the most ‘objective voice’ and had the most ethos, or credibility, in what they’re talking about.
You are going to be practicing quoting and citing in the Mock Essay – your peers’ can be a useful model to follow.
2. What problem in education do you want to tackle for your Mock Essay?
- The problem should be 100% real but your solution should be 100% ridiculous and improbable – like Swift’s.
- Poverty = VERY REAL problem.
- Eating the babies of the poor = COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS solution.
- What are a few satirical solutions you want to use to ‘solve’ your problem?
- This is a college course, so you can engage mature ideas as long as you do so maturely.
3. (Optional) How are you doing in general & how do you feel about the mid-terms being moved up a bit? (See the next item underlined below.)
I’ve also moved your midterm up a week: your meta-reflections will be due Friday, 02/26 now instead of Friday 03/05 to alleviate the pressure of having 2 major projects due on 03/05.
Submit weeks 1-8 as a PDF to the Dropbox by 4:30 pm on Friday 02/26 for 50 points for your midterm grade.
NOTE: EXAM TIMES DIFFER FROM PAPERS – THE FOLDER WILL CLOSE AT 4:30 pm – AT THE END OF REGULAR BUSINESS FOR EXAMS.
That’s 2 weeks away, not this Friday, so don’t panic.
Borger: Dual Credit 