AP Language & Composition: The Writing Course: The College Essay

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The College Essay

Voila! The assignment sheet is now posted on ClassJump -- it's one of the the first three or four items under Course Downloads.

This is almost unavoidably a helpful assignment. Writing now should leave you with solid material to work with next fall. Alternatively, it might help you to vent some of your worst stuff -- to exorcize your demons (and/or baloney) in Room 201, clearing your mental landscape sufficiently that you could write something beautiful in the summer.

Last of all, what you write today should push your prose style no matter where you stand on the spectrum of excellence in writing, for style is the main attention-getter in hooking the interest of the university admissions reader.

THE PARTICULARS: Type and double-space, including your first draft. Roughly 750 words -- which is to say 1.5 to 2 pages. 12-point font, with one-inch margins. First draft: Monday, May 20, at class time.

In the days ahead I will scan and post successful Woodbury essays from the past. You might also scan recent articles on the College Essay -- see publications such as the New York Times and others. Also, it's fairly easy to find companies that publish successful student essays, with commentary from college admissions officers.

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5th Period Lit Circle Vocabulary Harvest: Quiz on Mon., 5/19

Debate Structure for Tues., March 25, and Wed., March 27, 2014

OPENINGS & Cross-Examination
Opening Statement (AFF.)
(3 min.)

2 Questions (NEG.  AFF.)
(15 sec./60 sec. – 15 sec./60 sec.)

Opening Statement (NEG.)
(3 min.)

2 Questions (AFF.  NEG.)
(15 sec./60 sec. – 15 sec./60 sec.)

FOLLOW-UP
Follow-up Statement (AFF.)
(2 min.)

Follow-up Statement (NEG.)
(2 min.)

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS
(12 min. for Q. & A. –
Answers Limited to 90 sec. each, with
30 sec. follow-up by opponent.)

REBUTTAL*
Rebuttal (NEG.)
(2 min.)

Rebuttal (AFF.)
(2 min.)

SUMMATION
Closing Statement (NEG.)
(2 min.)

Closing Statement (AFF.)
(2 min.)

Scoring Standards for Debate on Oct. 10

QUALITY OF DEBATE (60 pts.)

Team’s overall use of logic: reasoned argument.

Team’s overall use of meaningful evidence & examples.

Team’s skill and conviction in Rebuttal.

At least four (4) credible sources cited during the debate (per side)

PRESENTATION (20 pts.)

Eloquence of expression (openings & summations).

Team members debate with eye contact (not looking down at notes)

Full participation: everyone carries at least one section of the debate (no wallflowers -- no situation where 1 person tries to carry the whole thing).

DECORUM ( = good conduct) (20 pts.)

Team’s respect for the Audience (in Q & A) (0-10)

Team’s respect for the Time limits (0-10)

Team’s respect towards the Referees (0-10)

Highest possible overall score: 100 pts.

Each Judge will maintain a copy of this scoring sheet for each of the two opposing teams. The team with the highest combined score following all phases of the debate will be declared the winner.

Vocabulary #7, for Tuesday, January 28

Vocabulary #6, on Monday, Jan. 13

Princeton Rev. words pertaining to judgment & argument... 'law words'

arbiter

biased

exculpate

impartial

incontrovertible

integrity

objectivity

plausible

substantiated

vindicate(-d)

Words pertaining to knowing & knowledge:

acquired (participial adj., as in 'an acquired taste')

conviction

dogmatic

enlightening

impression

misconception

intuition

You can find a glossary of definitions and examples on the Writer's Resources blog. If you own a copy of the Princeton Review practice booklet for our AP English exam, you can find rock-solid definitions there as well.

VOCABULARY #5 - Twenty-one (that's 21) words for Tuesday, Dec. 17 - but USE THEM BEFORE DEC. 17!

“Logic words”

premise (n.)

syllogism (n.)

presume (v.)

implicit (adj.)

proposition (n.)

axiom (n.), and axiomatic (adj.)

exclude (v.)

inductive (adj.)

deductive (adj.)

disprove (v.) (antonym: prove!)

Other words that might prove helpful as you compose argumentative essays

impeccable (adj.)

indisputable (adj.)

auspicious (adj.) // (antonym: inauspicious)

affirm (v.)

insinuate (v.)

dispute (v.)

disambiguate (v.)

undermine (v.)

validate (v.)

conflate (with) (v.)

polemic (n.), or polemical (adj.)

Do your best to use some of these words in your upcoming In-Class Argumentative Essays -- even in this Friday's. For many of you, two or three words per essay would be plenty. You might use certain words awkwardly at first – in a strained, non-idiomatic way. But if you push yourself to write them and say them and try them, the list will conflate with your growing daily vocabulary.

Link to our Writer's Resources blog for pertinent definitions and examples.

5th Period MLK Presentation teams

GROUP 1 – Manu, Ashley D., Nathan, Ben, Keoni (2^nd blue bench)

GROUP 2 – Emma B., Grace, Simone, Amrita, Jonathan (1^st blue bench)

GROUP 3 – Kayla, Amy E., Harsha, Ellen O. (“Nicholas” bench)

GROUP 4 – Peter B., Sydnie, John L., Ashley S. (Shakespeare corner)

GROUP 5 – Tanner, Kate H., Albert, Matt S. (window)

GROUP 6 – Javier, Jessie H., Abby L., Eric W. (by Mr. B.’s desk)

GROUP 7 – Bethany, Anna H., Cece, Marta (grey table)`

4th Period MLK Presentation teams

Key Literary Concepts to Know & Use (!) as the AP Exam Draws Near (1-20)

Tone

Irony

Paradox - and a subset of paradox: Oxymoron

Satire

Narrative

Context

Metaphor

Simile

Analogy (a comparison between two relationships)

Diction (e.g., elevated ___; colloquial ___ ; archaic ___)

Syntax (word order; especially, the meaning that stems from a particular word order)

Anaphora ("repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses" - LOC) ( = identical parallelism - PB)

Antithesis (deliberate opposition betw. 2 ideas or values)

Shifts in tone (these occur in most of the significant writing that you'll encounter in AP English -- in published essays, novels, and poems).

Parallelism/Parallel structure (you know)

Anecdote (n.) (anecdotal = adj.) An anecdote = a story.

counterargument (a challenge to a prevailing position)

Discourse (= discussion or treatment of a topic)

N.B. to A.P. students from P.B.: As a conceptual exercise before the AP exam, you might do well to review the eight modes of discourse set forth in Chapter 1 of LOC. By gently reviewing these fundamentals, you could sharpen your edge as a reader, especially for the Multiple-Choice segments and the Rhetorical Analysis essay. ~ PB

Logical Fallacies - a Helpful List from UNC-Chapel Hill

Teaching logical fallacies has gone out of fashion among American English teachers, according to FallacyFiles.org, which also states that "there is no substitute for studying the positive principles of good reasoning."

Having noted that -- and I agree with both ends of the sentence -- I offer you the following nice breakdown of classical errors in reasoning - fallacies - along with several helpful examples for each.

I "offer it" (although you've had access to it, like Dorothy's ruby slippers, all along) on the theory that for some students, identifying mistakes could intensify - or at least fortify - logic.

UNC-Chapel Hill Handout on Fallacies.

Vocabulary for March 6 and 7

impunity – a feeling or intuition that someone will not be punished for misdeeds

disparity – a difference between two objects or two conditions; a gap; inequality

discrepancy – a break with the normal pattern or scheme; an inconsistency

declamatory – pertaining to speech or declamation

empirical – logical or rational; based on provable science

satiety – condition of feeling satisfied, happy or content.

alliance – truce; partnership; harmonious collaboration; team or teamwork.

vigilance – watchfulness; alertness; standing guard

qualms – doubts; uncertain feelings

maxim – a rule or principle

unabashed – uninhibited; shameless; candid

corporeal – physical; pertaining to the human body (i.e., as opposed to the mind)

judgment <-- Note the correct spelling of this word!

predicate <-- Mystery word? (Woooooo....wooooo....)

What is mythos?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines mythos as “a pattern of beliefs expressing often symbolically the characteristic or prevalent attitudes in a group or culture.” The Greek philosopher Aristotle equated mythos with theme or plot, the underlying story-pattern of a tragedy or comedy.

To the author of AP essay ‘T’, mithos’ (sic) denotes an appeal to an underlying theme -- in this case, the theme of American patriotism. As a rhetorical device, mythos seems to be an appeal to commonly held values or ideals.

Although the authors of The Language of Composition seem to group mythos in the category of pathos, the author of essay ‘T’ clearly believes that mythos functions as its own species of appeal. The student makes a good case for this in his or her high-scoring essay on Kennedy’s speech about the steel industry.

"A phrase is a group of related words that does not include a subject and verb." ~ CCC site

"Tom Walker" words

Prostrate – lying horizontally, in the condition of a felled tree.

Slough – in this context, a slough is a depression in the ground – a ‘dip’ or small valley in the land.

Quagmire – a swamp

Propitiate – to gain or regain favor, especially the good will of someone whose favor you have lost. To soothe or appease.

Surly – threatening, menacing, or brutal in appearance

Bittern – ( see YouTube for shots of this ‘gulping’ swamp bird. )

To saunter (v.) – to walk with a slouch; to walk with a devil-may-care attitude.

To throng (v.) – to crowd; to build up or swell a crowd

Ostentation – deliberate showiness or gaudiness; conspicuous performance or behavior

Outstrip (outstripped) – to outdo; to compete

Indulgence (n.) – a favor; an act of generosity that spoils or pampers another person; a kindness that overlooks a fault

Usurer (usury) – someone who's involved lending money, usually one who charges high interest rates.

Dates for Poetry Out Loud

By the time we’re back from the Thanksgiving holiday, be committed to your two (2) poems from the Poetry Out Loud web site.

One poem can be 25 lines or fewer. The other poem needs to be 26 lines or longer. One of these two poems – either one – needs to come from before the 20th century: 1899 or before.

We will rehearse poems out loud during the week before winter break.

We will perform these poems in class during the first week of 2012. (Performance schedule TBA.)

The Woodbury school-wide contest will held on Thursday night, January 12, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.

Take-Home Final in The Great Gatsby

Select a paragraph - or two or three - from the latter half of The Great Gatsby (Chapters 6-7-8-9.) Try to choose a passage like the ones we've used for Chapters 4 and 5: something more-or-less self-contained, with plenty of rich language. Try to choose a segment that impresses you as you read it.

Cite the passage in full; then write a detailed rhetorical analysis, discussing the effects achieved by Fitzgerald’s sly, thoughtful choices in diction and syntax. How does the author's style promote or reinforce or intensify his purposes in writing this segment? Quote often, and discuss what the language achieves.

See ClassJump for a sample essay on a passage from Chapter One.

Your essay should be roughly the same size and shape as the essay on ClassJump: one or two pages, typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, with one-inch margins. Essays will be due at class time on Monday, October 31.

For a burst of "Enhanced Credit" in AP Comp...

Have a friend take your picture! Visit the U. of M. Stand by the panel for the Honeycrisp Apple along the Wall of Discovery... hold up an apple... smile... and snap!

Bring your picture to Mr. B. by Monday, November 7.

The Wall of Discovery is just east of the Mississippi River, in the heart of the U. of M. East Bank campus. Park in (or near) the Harvard Parking Ramp along Washington Avenue, and walk toward the main Mall of the U. of M. campus. If you walk from the Harvard Ramp to the Physics Building, you should see the Wall of Discovery -- it's by the Electrical Engineering Building.)

This video shows the Wall of Discovery. (See the segment at 3 minutes & 30 seconds.)

AP Language & Composition: The Writing Course

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The College Essay

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