Non-fiction

Why do opinions matter? Talk with your groups to generate a master list? Keep this list in mind when we start talking about some sensitive stuff.

Read the Pennies Article

EX What type of text is this? What are some of its characterisitics?

P What is the author’s purpose? How does that purpose impact your reading? Consider what’s written but also what’s left out.

L What are some key lines/phrases/words that are critical to the text?

O What is the organizational pattern of the text? What text features appear in the text? Why?

R How can you relate to what you read?

E How does this text compare/contrast with other arguments?

EX What type of text is this? What are some of its characterisitics? 1. Nonfiction 2. Essay 3. Give Facts 4. State an Opinion (thesis)

P What is the author’s purpose? How does that purpose impact your reading? Consider what’s written but also what’s left out. 1. To persuade readers to abolish the penny 2. Further investigation of the penny (news and articles)=abolishing the penny is necessary

L What are some key lines/phrases/words that are critical to the text? 1. The money caught would be worth less than the ruined umbrella. p. 588 2. line 130 (pesky)

O What is the organizational pattern of the text? What text features appear in the text? Why? 1. p. 590 (picture of man inspecting pennies) ---too much time and money spent on these worthless objects 2. Subheading p. 589 (91 Billion in Circulation)—how many of these are not being used? 3. Organizational Pattern-cause and effect

R How can you relate to what you read? 1. This essay allows me to see just how much money our government wastes. Now, I can see why we are in DEBT. 2. This essay connects to the selection I read in Newsweek of how the government is debating about the usefulness of the penny.

E How does this text compare/contrast with other arguments? 1. The Newsweek article was more biased than the essay. In fact, the article belittled the present government (idea of penny was more of proof). It also presented more political ideas than the essay.

Hot Topics Are teenage mothers capable of being good mothers? Should cell phones be banned from public schools? Should getting a formal education be a choice that students and parents make, not the government? Should parents be denied access to their children’s college grades? Should Black History Month be abolished? Should high school seniors be required to volunteer in order to graduate? Should high school athletes be given random drug tests?

I. CLAIM-WHAT IS YOUR POSITION? II. SUPPORT-WHAT IS YOUR PROOF (examples and facts)? III. COUNTERARGUMENT-WHAT WILL THE OTHER SIDE SAY TO ATTACK YOUR CLAIM? IV. REBUTTAL-HOW WILL YOU REBUKE THE OTHER SIDE’S OBJECTIONS? THINK LIKE A LAWYER— (HOW DOES A LAWYER WIN A CASE?)

EXPLORE test Complete the EXPLORE questions for your chosen article—ensure that it has sufficient content for you to work with. In one complete paragraph react to the argument. Is it a sound argument? Does it give sufficient evidence AND acknowledge a counterargument? Do you agree or disagree? Explain. DO NOT FORGET TO CITE YOUR ARTICLE.

Challenge Build the tallest free-standing tower you can manage. How do you make a tower stronger?

It can never just be what you think… Any time you create an argument you need a strong base. It makes your argument less shaky.

PATHOS ETHOS LOGOS Sensationalism/Complaint/Fallacy You Morality and Emotion PATHOS ETHOS Counterargument/ Refutation Research/Evidence/Facts/Expert Opinion LOGOS

Support It gives you: Credibility Professionalism points A strong base It’s easier to argue against one person than two. When your support is based in fact and expertise, you win. But you only get credit for that support, when you make it clear that you’ve used support

Build a Proposal It must be legitimate. It must work within existing monetary constraints. It must be fact- and research-based. It must solve one of the problems set forth in last week’s seminar.

Proposal should be broken into the following sections: Abstract (a short 6-7 sentence summary of the whole proposal) Problem Description Detail is key. Make your reader understand why your problem is a problem. Solution Outline Be specific about how you plan to solve your problem. How will your plan benefit ALL stakeholders? Give a timeline (in paragraph form) for implementing your ideas. Explain the rationale (with research that you cite) How will you get all the stakeholders involved?

Evaluation Procedures How are we going to tell if your plan worked? Test scores? Graduation rate? You need to be able to play the numbers game. What results can you predict based on research? Budget Plan and Justification Materials Needed and Justification Current Support Find schools and groups who back your plan and explain how well they’ve done implementing ideas similar to yours. Works Cited Page (MLA)