Writing Assignment 6 (pp. 70-72). Students can also summarize the argument (from an article) cited in the freewrite today. You have a choice. The summary should not be longer than 250 words.
Post here.
Other assignments: Skim Chapter 4 which looks at writing arguments with attention to a particular argumentative strategy known as Rogerian (87-88). Pay attention to the language: counterargument, refutation, and concession. Does Wise use these strategies in his book? Where do you see this in the chapter Resistance (89-126)? Is Wise adept at juggling alternative viewpoints?
Homework: Identify 10 thesis sentences in Wise's chapter entitled, "Resistance," (89-126). Think about the complete vs. open thesis sentence. Find five of each type. You do not have to write it out, identify them in the book as you read or reread the passages.
Other exercises: WLTC 4A on page 81-82. You can write in the book. It is not necessary to post here. We will review the answers in class on Monday.
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Melvin Pandey
ReplyDeleteProf.Sabir
English 5
2/25/2011
This article, titled “Benghazi the nerve centre as Libya protest turns to revolution” is from the newspaper Guardian. It is pretty much a pro-protestor article and it only seems to want to advance the cause of the protestors. It goes into detail talking to the individuals in the ground witnessing the event and to the individuals that are actually responsible for the revolution. One man claims that "We could be anything now,", when talking about his country. The people responsible for the revolution seem pretty confident of what is going on, yet also uncertain and scared of the future they are trying to create. One of the leading revolutionaries claims "We started just as lawyers looking for our rights and now we are revolutionaries. And we don't know how to manage. We want to have our own face. For 42 years we have this kind of barbarianism. We now want to live". The article also goes to talk about the concerns of the people in the revolted area, which is primarily security, and goes on to claim that people have kept the stability left by the void of organized police force. The article also makes it clear that is just not under provrished people that have risen up against the government but also highly educated people.
Reference: Martin Chulov, Benghazi the nerve centre as Libya protest turns to revolution,Guardian.2/24/2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/24/libya-benghazi-muammar-gaddafi
Andrea Giang
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
25 February 2011
Writing Assignment 6
In his article “AP Course – Mounting Burden, Declining Benefits,” Nathan Yan argues that AP courses might not have meaning since students study only to pass exams not to obtain knowledge. During the last two years of high school, students are anxious about advanced placement classes. Students spend lots of time studying for these AP exams. By passing these exams, students can receive college credit or waive certain courses.
According to Yan, the problem AP students face is that they focus only on passing the exam, not on the material they should learn and retain. Schools stress the importance of AP exams so students spend all their time studying to prepare for it. But that makes people wonder whether the exams mean anything at all. After all, students study only to pass that one exam, losing information they learned soon after.
Yan pointed out that teachers teaching AP courses know that for every hour they spend telling students how to take AP exams, they lose that hour of time to teach course material. What Yan proposes is for teachers to teach AP courses like they would a regular course. If students comprehend the material then they would be able to pass the exams.
Yan believes that the best solution to relieving students’ stress is to either eliminate college credits or the exams. Teachers can then teach students material the way they would teach a regular course. And students would focus more on learning the material rather than simply passing the exam.
Dennis Foley
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
February 25th 2011
Writing Assignment 6 (pg. 70)
In this article, Nathan Yan argues the fact that current AP courses and exams are not proper ways to teach students. He considers the fact that students spend more time learning how to manage their time on essay questions, understanding the grading process on AP exams, and even learning tricks to better your chances on guessing answers. The students take learning the tricks of these tests as precedence to learning the actual subject material of the course. Yan argues that if these exams were removed from the AP syllabus, the students would instead focus on the subject material. Dropping the exams from the curriculum would be the best solution, he states “students can get to an environment... more concerned with learning about a subject rather than learning how to pass a test.”
Dylan Young
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
February 28 2010
In the article on the BBC news website the writer discusses how Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi is putting the blame of what is happening in his country on Osama Bin Laden, sayings the protesters have no real wants or needs but rather are being brainwashed with drugs by the Al Quaeda leader.This is obviously not the problem as Bin Laden is no where in site during the unrest in Libya. The death toll is in the hundreds for both Pro and Anti Gadaffi forces as chaos reigns in all parts of Libya except the East and those still under government control. The war going on in Libya has affected more than just those involved as oil prices have been driven to their highest prices in two and a half years and left the airport in chaos. Switzerland is also taking a step back from Libya as it announced it is freezing its assets tied to Gadaffi. Hopefully a conclusion can be drawn soon to a messy scene in Libya.
Sandahl von Sydow
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
March 1, 2011
Every demographic has a race or gender based scholarship except for white male. This is the argument presented in “Save The White Males!”, featured on The Daily Beast. The article details a scholarship fund being built for the purpose of helping white males pay for college. So far the amount of money the fund has received would give five white males $500 in scholarship money. Their goal is to grant scholarships of $1000 per winner. One of the funds founders, William Lake, details the qualifications: “Our qualifications are pretty simple. Basically, you have to be at least a 25 percent Caucasian male and have to have demonstrated a commitment to your education with at least a 3.0 grade average, demonstrate financial need, and show you’re contributing positively to your community.”
Though the 25 percent minimum is reasonable, many white and non white alike feel differently. Mark Potok, who monitors hate groups in Alabama's Southern Poverty Law Center feel that the organizers have fallen into the myth of “White Oppression.” Potok remarks that David Duke also gave money to poor whites. However, he goes on to say, “I’m not accusing these guys of being racist. Maybe they’re merely foolish.” Lake responds by saying, “Helping anyone pay for their education is not silly.”
Lake makes it clear that his organization does not accept money from racist organizations. He tells the Beast that he had received an email from someone to say they would love to donate, but the couldn't because of the 25 percent minimum. Lake responded to the email, “I’m sorry you feel that way, but we don’t need your donation.”
Grove, Lloyd. "The White Males-Only College Scholarship Fund." The Daily Beast. 01 Mar. 2011. Web. 01 Mar. 2011. .
Ricarda Sawatzki
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
25 February 2011
The article “AP Course – Mounting Burden, Declining Benefits,” written by Nathan Yan discusses that the Advanced Placement classes in high schools are loosing their credibility since the classes are designed to only train the students to pass the exam but not to learn about the actual subject. The AP classes demand a lot of work and dedication from students. The goal is to score as high as possible therefore students are able to gain college credits.
Yan criticizes that all the extra hours of lectures and preparations are wasted time because all the students would learn about are the best test strategies or how to raise their scores. However, knowledge about the actual subject does not seem to matter. He questions himself if the AP exam really measures intelligence.
Yan describes how the teachers are part of the teaching dilemma. The curriculum for the AP classes does not allow teachers the time to teach knowledge. He points out that with a low AP test preparation a student can still succeed with the exam through knowledge.
Yan proposes that it would be in the best interest of the students to eliminate college credits or the exam. Students would be released from a lot of extra stress. And at the same time it gives teachers the chance to teach their students the material of a regular course that imparts the student’s knowledge about the actual subject.