December 1-5

Welcome back!  It's December already, and our second-to-last week before finals.  Please review grades in Illuminate early and submit any missing work for partial credit by December 12. This week, we'll turn in term papers, continue reading Gatsby, and work on our argument unit. 

MONDAY:  Review term paper checklist.  Discuss Chapter 5 of Gatsby.  Review Fallacy types and continue taking notes.  Fallacy exercise.  HW:  Revise term paper -- review grammar, MLA formatting, style, and go through the checklist with your paper.  The rubric is also available for viewing on Turnitin.com. Read Gatsby Chapter 6 for Friday and note any particularly memorable or impactful passages.

TUESDAY:  Brief definition of civil argument/discourse.  Close reading of Amy Domini's "Why Investing in Fast Food May Be a Good Thing" with discussion questions.  Read arguable claims exercise for Thursday.  DUE: Rhetorical Historical Term Paper due by 11:59 p.m. on Turnitin.com.  HW: Finish reading claims exercise for Thursday, be ready to discuss.  Read Gatsby chapter 6 for Friday.

WEDNESDAY: AP Gatsby multiple choice practice: review test-taking strategies, take multiple choice test. HW: Finish multiple choice test at home if you didn't finish in class and bring to class for Thursday. 

THURSDAY: Discuss multiple choice answers and explanations as a class.  HW:  Find a review of a movie, TV show, song, concert, or video game and identify the claim.  What criteria does the reviewer use to justify a thumbs-up or thumbs-down?  Please bring the review to class for Friday.   

FRIDAY:  Current events quiz.  Go over arguable claims passage in class.  Take notes: types of claims (fact, value, policy).  Share and discuss pop culture reviews/claims.  DUE: Gatsby Chapter 6.  HW: Read Gatsby Chapter 7 for Monday, and outline a response to the following free response essay question:

In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan says that she hopes her daughter will be "a beautiful little fool." Daisy believes that, in some cases at least, ignorance is bliss.  The contradictory attitude is the commonly-stated belief that "Knowledge is power."  Write a carefully reasoned, persuasive essay that demonstrates which of these two ideas is the more valid.  Use specific references from your observation, reading, or experience to develop your position. 

Please bring your written outlines to class on Monday for discussion.