For the final blog, if you can predict the exact date of the first full-day snow day, you will win a fabulous prize! To win, you have to guess the exact day. So, bust out your calendars and make your picks. Please note that whoever chooses a date first wins the competition, so don't choose the same date as someone else! Enjoy the rest of your summer. See you in September.
As the course title suggests, in AP Language, we closely study language and also rhetoric. As such, we are going to be looking fairly closely at the 2016 presidential race from a rhetorical standpoint. In other words, how is each candidate trying to persuade American voters to cast their ballots? For the penultimate blog, please watch one speech from either the Republican or the Democratic National Convention and analyze how the speaker attempts to persuade the target audience to vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Note that I'm not asking for your political opinion. Your role should be to stay objective and not take sides at all. So, you may be a staunch Republican, you may be a passionate Democrat, or you may be a firm Independent, but you are not offering your political opinion. All you are doing is analyzing how the speaker crafted the argument of the message. For starters, pay attention to the SOAPSTONE: subject, occasion, audience, purpose, and tone. Think about diction. Think about any literary language such as metaphors, analogies, symbolism, allusions, or hyperbole. Does the speaker use parallel structure, repetition, or anaphora? To what extent, if at all, does the speaker make appeals to emotion (pathos) and/or logic (logos)? Why? How does the speaker establish his or her credibility (ethos)? Even though I know you could, I'm not asking you to write a huge essay or anything. In the interest of brevity, I'm asking you to keep your analysis to one single paragraph with a minimum of 250 words.
Malcolm Gladwell has an interesting and curious mind. He's the guy who wrote the critique on college rankings. Anyway, he has a new podcast called "Revisionist History." Here's how he describes the podcast: "Each week, over the course of 10 weeks, Revisionist History will go back and reinterpret something from the past. An event. A person. An idea. Something overlooked. Something misunderstood. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance." I listened to the first three, and they are all totally interesting in different ways:
NOTE: I am now planning on using some of the subsequent podcasts, so for the purposes of this blog, please limit yourself to any one of the first three. Sydnie listened to one of the newer ones before I made this decision, so she's grandfathered in! One of the on-going assignments that you will be asked to do in AP Language is to follow the opinion page of The New York Times. Here are a couple of the better opinion pieces that I've read on a week of absolutely heartbreaking news: "Divided by Race, United by Pain" by Frank Bruni and "A Week from Hell" by Charles Blow. Offer your thoughts on their thoughts. Or, do you notice any rhetorical devices they employed? Or, quote something that resonates with you in some way and comment upon it. Or, link to another piece you'd like your classmates to read as well.
#8 Jersey Boys: The Governor and the Boss: a tale of politics, rock and roll, and unrequited love7/1/2016 Here's an essay by Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic that digs into the cultural and political life in America in 2012 by featuring one of Donald J. Trump's potential running mates: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Christie endorsed Trump very early and should Trump become president, most pundits agree that Chris Christie will assume a very significant role in a Trump administration.
First and foremost, I think that this is an example of good writing. Notice how Goldberg captures dialogue, describes the interactions at the Springsteen concert, quotes Springsteen song lyrics and even conducts an imaginary interview between Governor Christie and the Boss all to explore some of the debates in American political life. Notice the organization. Very creative stuff! In terms of your comments, let's steer clear from our personal political opinions, such as "The Republicans (or Democrats) are a better choice because blah blah blah," but rather, comment upon what you think about the essay. What surprised you? What did you like? What did Goldberg do well? Should Springsteen, a known Democratic activist, meet with the Republican Governor Christie even though they may disagree? How is Christie presented by Goldberg? How is Springsteen presented? Does the writer take sides? If so, towards which figure do you think Goldberg is more sympathetic? Why? What about the whole American dream as discussed in this piece? Is it still alive? Why or why not? What do you notice about how this piece is written in terms of tone, diction, organization, voice, etc . . . Anything along those lines would be awesome!!! BTW: do you know what the term "unrequited love" means from the title? Good thing to know . . . It's summer, so let's talk travel. Take a look at this piece from The New York Times called "52 Places to Go in 2016." Out of these places, tell us in one single solitary sentence where you'd go from this list and why. Imagine, for once, that money is not an issue, only time. Here's the caveat: as soon as two students have decided to go to a certain place, it's off the list. So, pay attention! Finally, please make an affirmative reply in the form of a complete sentence upon someone else's choice.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
August 2016
Categories |