1. Key Vocabulary
With a partner, order the words from most negative connotation to more positive connotation.
Negative
Positive

2. Key Vocabulary Surveillance Monitor Protective Negligence
Invasion of Privacy
Eavesdrop
Overprotective
Independence
Parental responsibility
Guard
Nosy
Watchful

3. Reading for Understanding
How accurate were your predictions?
When you read the whole article, did anything surprise you?
Are there any parts of the article that you found confusing?

4. Reading for Understanding
Return to your SOAPSTone.
Add to your previous answers. Be specific.
Cite the text to support your answers.

5. What does Coben do to craft his argument?
____acknowledges that…
____agrees that…
____points out…
____supports…
____concedes that…
____emphasizes that…
____argues that…
____presents…

6. Quickwrite
In what ways—if any-should parents monitor their children’s internet use?

7. Describe a time when your parents have been overprotective.
Noticing Language
Describe a time when your parents have been overprotective.

8. Noticing Language
Why does Coben use words like “invasion of privacy,” “eavesdropping,” and “surveillance” to describe parents’ electronic monitoring practices? Can you find examples of other words with negative connotations that Coben uses to describe spyware? How do these impact the writer’s tone (attitude toward the content)?

9. Noticing Langauge
Why do you think Coben repeatedly uses the word “monitor” to describe the use of spyware? What are the connotations of “spyware” (what type of feeling or thought does it give you?)

10. Noticing Language
Provide an example of a protective parent vs. a nosy parent.

11. Noticing Language
What kinds of information do you think parents are looking for when they eavesdrop?

12. Noticing Language
Describe when you’ve heard of a parent being charged with negligence or neglect on the news. Why do you think Coben uses the term “negligence” to describe parents who don’t monitor Internet use at all?

13. Noticing Language
What kind of independence do you expect to have on the internet?

14. Noticing Language
Why does Coben use words like “all,” “everything,” and “entire” to describe electronic monitoring and online activity? How do these word choices characterize the scope of the problem?

15. Noticing Language
When you are a parent of a teenager, what do you think your parental responsibility will be for your child’s Internet use?

16. Noticing Language
What are some things parents should be watchful of so they can guard their children from the dangers of the Internet?

17. Logos, Pathos, Ethos
Logos: What kind of evidence does Coben use to support his claim?
Ethos: What does the author reveal about his background in the first paragraph, “Friends of mine confessed over dinner that they had put spyware on their 15-year-old’s computer”?
Pathos: Does Coben’s piece affect your concern over the dangers on the Internet?

18. Logos, Pathos, Ethos
Logos: Coben claims he did “a fair amount of research” on the subject of parental spyware. Where does he cite his research or reference it?
Ethos: Does the author seem knowledgeable about relationships between their parents and teen(s)?
Pathos: Does the piece scare you about the possibility of your parents “spying” on you?

19. Logos, Pathos, Ethos
Logos: What well-known cases of Internet dangers does Coben cite? Do these effectively support his claim?
Ethos: What does the line “I want to know what is being said in and instant messages and in chat rooms” reveal about the writer’s background? Does this make him more trustworthy?
Pathos: How does Coben try to create a level of concern with parents who may be reading this piece?

20. Logos, Pathos, Ethos
Logos: Coben addresses possible counterarguments throughout his essay. What are they?
Ethos: After using “I,” Coben then begins to use “we” (“we rely on….” “we just dismiss…”), then “you” (“you shouldn’t monitor to…”, “you are there to…”). What does the change in pronoun reveal?
Pathos: Some examples Coben uses (drug use and sleeping with a drug dealer) are extreme cases of Internet danger. Other examples—online gambling, dangerous chatter, watching prohibited videos are less extreme. Which example elicited a more emotional response?

21. Logos, Pathos, Ethos
Logos: Are there any counterarguments that Coben didn’t consider?
Ethos: Coben closes with an ancedote about “one friend of mine…” who discovered his daughter using drugs and sleeping with her dealer. Does this ancedote add credible evidence to Coben’s research? Is it convincing?
Pathos: One technique Coben employs is the counterargument. He addresses what doubtful parents will argue in response to his claim. Rank which counterarguments are most effective.

22. Writing a Précis
Précis: Pra Sea (summary). The what, how, why of the article. A focus on what the text says and what the text does rhetorically.
Sentence One: Name the author, genre, and title of the work, date in parentheses; a rhetorically accurate verb (such as “claims,” “argues,” “asserts,” “suggests”); and a “that” clause containing the major assertion or thesis in the work. (What)

23. Sentence two: An explanation of how the author develops and supports the thesis, usually in chronological order. (How)
Sentence three: A statement of the author’s apparent purpose, followed by the “in order to” phrase. (Why)
Sentence four: A description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with his audience. (How)

24. HOMEWORK Highlight the examples Coben uses to make his argument.
Use a different highlighter to highlight the details that add support to each piece of evidence for the examples you highlighted first.
Respond to the text in the margins next to examples (answer a question):
Have you heard of the examples he uses?
Have you observed or experienced anything similar?
Which examples are serious? Which seem exaggerated to you?