Today’s goals Continue discussion of strategies for closed form prose, focusing on introductions Discuss strategies for hooks Introduce criteria for evaluating theses

Class discussion- introductions What are the three necessary elements of a closed form prose introduction? Which of these is most important and why? What are the necessary elements of a rhetorical analysis thesis? What strategies can we use to grab our readers’ attention in a hook?

thesis criteria and strategies Clear Keep your thesis short, preferably one sentence Begin your thesis with an independent clause, focusing on the subject of that clause Eliminate any unnecessary words, clauses, or information Specifically identify your source and clearly give your evaluation Credible Do not use any 1st or 2nd person Do not include specific source evidence in the thesis itself Make sure your thesis is perfectly edited

Rhetorical analysis: Thesis and Forecasting Should include both the name of the article (or author) and the student’s evaluation of the source’s overall rhetorical effect Note: It is possible for a source to have good rhetorical strategies even if you do not agree with their topic or are not personally convinced and vice versa Should occur near the beginning of the essay, most commonly in the last few sentences of the first paragraph Should be strongly stated and easy to identify Avoid tensionless statements, like “this article has good and bad points.” Take a stance! Keep your thesis short, simple, and to the point!

Example Rhetorical analysis theses What advice would you give to students with the following theses? “In reality multilingualism and the influx of Spanish speaking immigrants strengthens the nation more than actually hindering society like Franklin Raff claims in “American ‘Multilingualism’: a national tragedy” “I do not agree with Raff’s views in this article. The articles shows bias, contradiction, weak rhetoric, and Raff openly being close minded while he writes this article.” “While I agree with Holt’s stance on increasing the country’s education on foreign language, I disagree with Holt’s reasoning and argument for why we should emphasis the nation’s education on foreign language.” “For someone to say that multilingualism is destroying America, they must not be looking at the positive effects, like the Author of “American Multilingualism: A National Tragedy” who has poor rhetoric and no concrete facts to back up his accusations.”

Group Activity: Thesis Workshop In your unit 1 groups Share your rhetorical analysis drafts then answer the following questions: What is each student’s thesis? Write them out here. Do each of these theses give an overall evaluation of the article? Do each of these theses give an overall evaluation of the rhetoric of the chosen article? How would you describe the clarity and credibility of each of these theses? Based on our discussions in class, write down a revised version of each students’ thesis

Closed form prose- hook strategies Your hook should always occur at the very beginning of the essay, within the first two sentences Use one of the rhetorical appeals to grab your audience’s attention. Some examples include: Logos: Use a powerful a startling number or statistic. This can be even more effective if it is from a very credible source. Pathos: Use emotionally evocative language or present something surprising or interesting. It can also be effective to ask their readers to imagine themselves in a situation and use descriptive language to heighten its importance Ethos: Ask the reader a question about your topic and let them be the judge. This type of strategy uses the readers own credibility to get them concerned about the topic. Alternatively, powerful quotes from credible individuals can work here as well.

Group activity- hook workshop In your unit 1 groups Share your rhetorical analysis hooks and answer the following questions: What is each students’ hook? Write them out here. Which rhetorical appeal(s) is/are involved in the student’s hook? Rate the interest sparked by each hook between 1 and 5 as if you were reading it in a web article. 1-Wouldn’t read 3-Might continue reading 5-Would absolutely read If necessary, write a revised hook for each student.

homework Class is cancelled on Tuesday for conferences Read A&B 14-20 Strong Response – Draft 2 600+ words Should include introduction, revised thesis and forecasting, and your body paragraphs Should have several quotes to illustrate uses of rhetoric Bring a printed copy to class on Thursday