Activity 2.11: Which Claims to Believe 7th Grade springboard

Learning Targets I can identify and analyze elements of argument in a text. I can analyze the thesis (or claim), audience, purpose, and occasion of a text. New strategy: SOAPSTone

Notebook Date Activity 2.11 Vocab pg.

Claim A position statement (or thesis) that asserts an idea or makes an argument. A statement that can be argued, such as whether a fact is true or not, a situation is good or bad, or one action is better than another.

Preview In this activity, you will read and analyze a humorous argumentative text about pollution and waste. Then you will begin crafting your own argumentative text on the issue your class has chosen (using cellphones while driving).

Setting a Purpose for Reading First Read: Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by suing context clues, word parts, or a dictionary. Second Read: As you read the text “America the Not- So-Beautiful,” use metacognitive markers and underline interesting ideas.

About the Author From 1978 to 2011, Andrew (Andy) Rooney was a television commentator on the program 60 Minutes. He wrote more than 800 essays, which he presented on television or in a national newspaper column. His essays which are sometimes humorous and sometimes controversial, earned him three Emmy awards.

Learning Targets I can identify and analyze elements of argument in a text. I can analyze the thesis (or claim), audience, purpose, and occasion of a text. New strategy: SOAPSTone

Craft & Structure What details form the text help you understand the author’s point of view about throwing things away. Details include “some of things we’re throwing away are poisoning the Earth and will eventually poison all of us and all living things,” “The problem is staggering,” and “how long will it be before we trash the whole Earth” (Rooney).

Key Ideas & Details 2. What does the author mean by “Throwing things out is the American way” in paragraph 2? What details in the text make you think that? The author means that it is commonplace in the United States to throw things away instead of fixing things. He also implies that throwing things away is essential for the U.S. economy. He states that “prosperity in the United States based on using things up as fast as we can, throwing away what’s left, and buying new ones” (Rooney).

Craft & Structure 3. In paragraph 4, Rooney says “The more civilized a country is, the worse the trash problem.” What does he mean by civilized in this sentence? Rooney uses the term civilized to mean “wealthy” or “prosperous,” but it is used somewhat ironically since he argues in the same paragraph that civilized countries have a worse trash problem and that “poor countries don’t have the same problem because they don’t have much to discard” (Rooney).

Key Ideas & Details 4. What reasons does the author provide for why he sees trash as a problem? According to Rooney, trash is a problem because dangerous chemicals seep into underground water supplies and poisoning living things. Landfills are filling and taking up too much space (Rooney).

Craft & Structure 5. How does Rooney use humor in the last paragraph of his essay? What is the effect? Rooney uses humor to soften the delivery of a somewhat grim message and to keep readers engaged.

Introducing SOAPSTone The letters in SOAPSTone stand for subject, occasion, audience, purpose, speaker, and tone. The acronym gives you a helpful tool for analyzing text by breaking it down into separate parts.

Working From the Text 6. Use the SOAPSTone strategy to analyze Andrew Rooney’s argumentative essay. Think about how the idea that “throwing tings out is the American way” influences individuals to act as if Earth was a huge trash dump.

Learning Targets I can identify and analyze elements of argument in a text. I can analyze the thesis (or claim), audience, purpose, and occasion of a text. New strategy: SOAPSTone

Subject What is the topic? Analysis: Textual Support: American people and companies are “trashing” the Earth. Textual Support: “Throwing things out is the American way” (Rooney). “… we’ve run out of places to throw thing… the things we’re throwing away are poisoning the Earth…” (Rooney).

Occasion What are the circumstances surrounding this text? Analysis: Rooney acknowledges that he is just as guilty as other Americans of heedlessly following the pattern of buying and throwing away. Textual Support: “There’s something satisfying about discarding almost anything.” “Prosperity in the United States is based on using things up as fast as we can, throwing away what’s left, and buying new ones.”

Audience Who is the target audience? Analysis: Textual Support: Americans (adult and companies) who are destroying the planet. Textual Support: “We don’t know how to fix anything, and anyone who does know how is too busy to come, so we throw it away and buy a new one.”

Purpose Why did the author write this text? Analysis: Textual Support: Rooney’s purpose is to convince wasteful Americans that their trash is a serious problem that they should cut back on their wastefulness before it is too late to save the planet. Textual Support: “…some of the things we’re throwing away are poisoning the Earth and will eventually poison all of us and all living things.” “If 5 billion people had been living on Earth for the past thousand years as they have been in the past year, the planet would be nothing but one giant landfill.”

Speaker What does the reader know about the writer? Analysis: Rooney cares about the future of our Earth and wants us to change our culture’s wasteful ways and our relationship with the planet. Rooney wants us to know that he relates to his audience: he candidly admits that he has also been guilty of this destructive behavior. Textual Support: “My idea of a good time is to load up the back of the car with junk… and take it to the dump…” “I have 2 pint bottles of insecticide with 3% DDT in them in my garage.”

Tone What is writer’s attitude toward the subject? Analysis: Rooney’s tone shifts: he begins and ends his piece with a flippant tone intended to mirror his audience’s indifferent attitude toward the Earth, but he contrasts this with a serious tone in the body of the text. Textual Support: Flippant, humorous, sarcastic. “Next to saving stuff I don’t need, the think I like to do best is throw it away.” The best solution may be for all of us to pack up, board a spaceship, and move out.”

Working From the Text 7. While a thesis in an explanatory text most often explains the writer’s main idea, a thesis or claim in an argumentative text is the writer’s position or point of view on an issue. Read the example of a claim below. Mark the claim by underlining its subject (usually nouns) and circling its opinion (words with strong connotations) and by highlighting the reasons to be developed.

Working from the Text 8. Write a clear and concise claim for Andrew Rooney’s essay. Use information from your SOAPSTone analysis. Reread the text as needed to write the claim. American’s need to cut back on wastefulness in order to save the planet.

Writing a Claim for an Argumentative Essay 9. Quickwrite: Write your ideas about both sides of the issue your class chose to write about. Share your position with your writing group. As a group, come to a consensus about your position and make a claim. Present your writing group’s position and claim to the class.

Writing a Claim for an Argumentative Essay 10. As a class, select a position and claim. Class position: Drivers should not use their phone while behind the wheel because it is distracting, dangerous, and worse than driving under the influence of alcohol.

Writing a Claim for an Argumentative Essay 11. Use the SOAPSTone graphic organizer on the next page to generate your initial ideas about the class position/claim.

Subject What is the topic? Analysis: People should not be using a phone while driving.

Occasion What circumstances surrounding the issue make it important or relevant? Analysis: There have been studies done that show the brain’s inability to multi- task. Crashes linked to the use of a cellphone while driving, specifically social media, are on the rise.

Audience Who would care about or be affected by this issue? Analysis: Parents with teenage drives would care about this. Anyone who drives could potentially be impacted by this issue.

Purpose What do you want the audience to do? Analysis: To change their behavior and attitude on the subject.

Speaker How do you show authority in presenting the issue? Analysis: Refer to many studies about what happens to the brain when you try to multi-task (logos/ethos) Use a real-life example of someone who died in a crash involving a cell phone, or even someone who survived and life has been changed because of it (pathos)

Tone What attitude do you want to show about this issue (serious, humorous, passionate, indignant)? Analysis: As the writer, I would want to use a more serious or somber tone to encourage the reader to change their behavior or opinion. There would be very few tone shifts.

Check Your Understanding Review the draft of your claim. Does it clearly state the issue and your position. If not, revise your draft to achieve a clear and concise claim.