Wednesday, 2/12/14 – just change the date if you already completed this on Monday. Journal: – When is nature less than beautiful? Notes : – AP Fair coming up on 2/21/14 during A4 Objective: – TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

Wednesday, 2/12/14 Agenda: – Journal – Objective review – John Muir’s “A Wind Storm in the Forest” – Persuasive prompt – “Outlining” exercise Objective: – TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

Wednesday, 2/12/14 John Muir’s “A Wind Storm in the Forest” – Persuasive prompt: Defend, challenge, or qualify Muir’s idea that violence leads to beauty “Outlining” exercise – HOW-TO write this essay, bc your essays have gone downhill lately Objective: – TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

Wednesday, 2/12/14 Few Rules to Remember: 1. Topic sentences are always arguments in these kinds of essays. 2. Topic sentences should show relationships/transitions between paragraphs: your goal is an essay that feels like a cohesive whole. 3. There are five basic approaches you can take on these essays. – Straight Refutation (2-4 reasons why the idea is a bad one) – Straight Support (2-4 reasons why the idea is a good one) – Concession/Qualifier (strongly take one side, but concede one point to other side) – Boomer (not only present your argument, but attack the other side) – Caveat (strongly take a position, but concede that there is an issue to consider) Objective: – TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

Wednesday, 2/12/14 – Persuasive prompt: Defend, challenge, or qualify Muir’s idea that violence leads to beauty Step 1: Chose your stance Step 2: Jot down the general reasons you feel that way Step 3: Look for information in Muir’s piece that supports you Step 4: Generate outside support related to Muir’s ideas you identified in step 3 Step 5: Write a great lead – See next slide… Objective: – TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

Wednesday, 2/12/14 Your introduction should NOT a) be a generalized statement about human nature/society, b) just fill the page with no purpose, c) be obviously false, d) offer a weak question or quotation, or e) open with a generalized truism. Instead, it should be STAMPY: – a) Shock your audience with a statistic – b) Tell a story or establish a scenario – c) Analogize with an effective comparison – d) Make a good question that does not have an easy answer – e) Personalize with an effective anecdote Effective introductions lead with powerful adjective and verbs. – OKAY: When you drink a glass of milk, you’re getting more than wholesome calories… – BETTER: Pus. Hormones. Mucous. Hardly what we imagine each time we take a drink from a glass of milk … Thesis statement needs to be an argument that raises a controversial point and clearly articulates the reasons you will argue in your piece. It will have a strong tension word. Your thesis statement should be parallel. Objective: – TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas