Students!
Last week, in preparation for writing our Summer Reading essays, we spent a day doing an activity on "Paragraph Arguments" (aka, topic sentences) and one of those activities asked you to choose a pre-written PA and then write a paragraph that followed it.
One of those prompts was "Newton Public Schools should purchase personal iPads or laptops for all of the district's students." Some of you chose to write on it (while most of you wrote about twerking and Miley Cyrus).
Well, here's an article from today's (Sunday, 9/15) New York Times Magazine in which that argument is put to the test: one district DID buy iPads for all its students, with many arguments expressed on both sides of the issue.
Read the article here!
And keep in mind: the issues about technology and privacy brought up pertain directly to 1984, the novel we will all start reading this week.
Feel free to leave comments on the article in the space below.
-MrW
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Lessons of Argument Writing
Hello students!
Below I am posting some of the most on-target and useful "Lessons of Argument Writing" that you wrote in today's class activity. Pay attention: there's some important lessons to be learned!
1. "Being clear will help your opinion be stronger."
2. "Provide insights that others may not have had."
3. "Your argument should be able to lead to a discussion."
4. "An argument doesn't have to be long to be persuasive."
5. "You need to be bold."
6. "It's ok for people to disagree [with your argument]."
7. "Arguments are only effective if the message comes across simply."
8. "Central arguments should have no unnecessary information."
9. "If your argument uses the word 'better', it can't be provable."
10. "It should provoke your reader to a new way of thinking."
Great job today. See you on Turnitin.com!
Below I am posting some of the most on-target and useful "Lessons of Argument Writing" that you wrote in today's class activity. Pay attention: there's some important lessons to be learned!
1. "Being clear will help your opinion be stronger."
2. "Provide insights that others may not have had."
3. "Your argument should be able to lead to a discussion."
4. "An argument doesn't have to be long to be persuasive."
5. "You need to be bold."
6. "It's ok for people to disagree [with your argument]."
7. "Arguments are only effective if the message comes across simply."
8. "Central arguments should have no unnecessary information."
9. "If your argument uses the word 'better', it can't be provable."
10. "It should provoke your reader to a new way of thinking."
Great job today. See you on Turnitin.com!
Links to Purchase Books
Students and Parents!
I highly recommend that you purchase copies of the literature we will be studying this year, and below you can find links to the amazon page of each text.
1984 by George Orwell (purchase by Monday, 16 September):Amazon Link
Antigone by Sophocles: no need to purchase because I will be photocopying the play for all students.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (purchase by Monday, 4 November): Amazon Link
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (purchase by Monday, 16 December): Amazon Link
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak (purchase by Monday, 3 February): Amazon Link
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (purchase by Monday, 10 March): Amazon Link
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (purchase by Monday, 7 April): Amazon Link
20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth (purchase by Monday, 5 May): Amazon Link
Please note that if you have an e-reader, you can use it for class assignments (since I know that e-books can be cheaper than paper books).
Let me know if you have comments or questions!
I highly recommend that you purchase copies of the literature we will be studying this year, and below you can find links to the amazon page of each text.
1984 by George Orwell (purchase by Monday, 16 September):Amazon Link
Antigone by Sophocles: no need to purchase because I will be photocopying the play for all students.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (purchase by Monday, 4 November): Amazon Link
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (purchase by Monday, 16 December): Amazon Link
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak (purchase by Monday, 3 February): Amazon Link
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (purchase by Monday, 10 March): Amazon Link
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (purchase by Monday, 7 April): Amazon Link
20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth (purchase by Monday, 5 May): Amazon Link
Please note that if you have an e-reader, you can use it for class assignments (since I know that e-books can be cheaper than paper books).
Let me know if you have comments or questions!
Arguing Summer Reading
Hi again!
Here's the link for the "Arguing Summer Reading" assignment sheet. It includes all of your homework assignments up to Monday, 16 September:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByoE7NE7ICZhTVJmWS1VVjM1X3c/edit?usp=sharing
Here's the link for the "Arguing Summer Reading" assignment sheet. It includes all of your homework assignments up to Monday, 16 September:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByoE7NE7ICZhTVJmWS1VVjM1X3c/edit?usp=sharing
2013-2014 Course Syllabus
Students!
Attached to this post is the 2013-2014 MGC English Course Syllabus.
In this document, you can find useful information about our course texts, our course goals, our class norms and expectations, and class policies.
Use it!
Here's the link to the document:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByoE7NE7ICZhc24xS2dxYWxXVTg/edit?usp=sharing
Attached to this post is the 2013-2014 MGC English Course Syllabus.
In this document, you can find useful information about our course texts, our course goals, our class norms and expectations, and class policies.
Use it!
Here's the link to the document:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByoE7NE7ICZhc24xS2dxYWxXVTg/edit?usp=sharing
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