Unit 1
a conclusion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty reasoning or untruths
Misconception
to make more severe; to intensify
exacerbate
infrastructure
basic framework of a system or organization
Pluralism
a state of society in which diverse groups participate.
Misnomer
an incorrect term used to describe or designate something
Which statements from the passage provide the best textual evidence to support the central idea that virtual reality changes an individual’s behavior based on their experiences in a simulation?
Select all that apply.
It can help people overcome a fear of heights, for example, through simulations of standing on a balcony or walking across a bridge.
If you have a particularly attractive avatar, you become friendlier.
Read the excerpt from “Everyday Survival.”
In complex systems, small changes can have large, unpredictable effects. I wrote an article for Adventure (September 2002) about an accident on Mount Hood in which a four-man team fell from just below the summit while roped together. On the way down, they caught a two-man team and dragged them down too. Three hundred feet below, the falling mass of people and rope caught another three-man team. Everyone wound up in a vast crevasse. Then, during the ensuing rescue attempt by the military, an Air Force Reserve Pave Hawk helicopter crashed and rolled down the mountain. Because of the complex and coupled nature of the system in which all these people and all this equipment were operating, what had begun as a slip of one man’s foot wound up killing three people, severely injuring others, and costing taxpayers millions in the rescue effort.
How does the author use the accident on Mount Hood as a rhetorical strategy in the excerpt?
Select all that apply.
to appeal to the emotions of readers by describing a tragic situation where one event caused another
to persuade readers that even when precautions are taken, one disastrous event can lead to another
How to develope an introduction?
Quality claims for argument essays are
Not All Claims Are Created Equal
Argument Essay Requirements
What are: Style, Tone, and Word Choice
The purpose of an informational or explanatory text is to inform. The material presented must be factual and without opinion or bias. The most appropriate tone for this kind of writing is generally
What is;
It presents the central idea and main points of the entire essay.
It sets up the overall structure and organization of the essay.
It gives the readers a preview of where the essay is going and how it will get there.
Developing a Thesis Statement
ead the excerpt from “Natural Beauty at Risk.”
The suitability of a landscape is just one factor in the success of a species. “If you look at the overall suitability of land, a lot of species do well,” Rogers said. “But there are other reasons that trees won’t set seed or reach maturity; for instance, the climate might change too quickly, or seeds won’t be able to disperse and establish in fragmented land. It’s humbling and disconcerting to see areas where conditions for growth could improve but the trees have little chance of getting there unless there is active management.”
What option correctly explains the organizational structure used in the excerpt?
The excerpt follows a cause-and-effect organizational structure in that it lists causes for the success or failure of trees to reach maturity.
Read the excerpt from President Woodrow Wilson’s speech “The Meaning of Liberty.”
Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence or attended with close comprehension to the real character of it when you have heard it read? If you have, you will know that it is not a Fourth of July oration. The Declaration of Independence was a document preliminary to war. It was a vital piece of practical business, not a piece of rhetoric; and if you will pass beyond those preliminary passages which we are accustomed to quote about the rights of men and read into the heart of the document you will see that it is very express and detailed, that it consists of a series of definite specifications concerning actual public business of the day. Not the business of our day, for the matter with which it deals is past, but the business of that first revolution by which the Nation was set up, the business of 1776. Its general statements, its general declarations cannot mean anything to us unless we append to it a similar specific body of particulars as to what we consider the essential business of our own day.
Which option most accurately describes Wilson’s purpose in this excerpt?
to use the Declaration of Independence as a model to specifically address the circumstances of the United States in 1914.
Read the excerpt from the article “Gun Debate? What Gun Debate?” by Mark O’Mara.
Reasonable restrictions on guns will not lead to totalitarianism and anarchy. Suffering 30,000 gun deaths annually is not a reasonable sacrifice to make in order to blindly maintain our unrestricted gun culture, particularly when the rallying cry is an outdated reference concerning infringement which, known to anyone who has actually studied the Constitution and our founding fathers who drafted it, was a reference to the then-existing reality that young men, when called upon to defend the state and the laws of the state, were expected to provide their own arms.
A warrant stated by the author in the excerpt is that gun restrictions will not result in lawlessness and disorder.
Which option most effectively evaluates how this warrant supports the author’s argument?
The warrant is highly effective; the warrant helps persuade the audience to understand that the Constitutional right to bear arms is outdated and does not apply to modern society.
How does the information in the excerpt from “Virtual Reality Gets Real” connect to develop the central idea?
In the first paragraph, if-then statements convey results based on what is experienced in the simulations.
Read the excerpt from “Everyday Survival.”
Acting cool is not the same as being cool. As the head of training for the Navy SEALs once said, “The Rambo types are the first to go.” Siebert wrote in his book The Survivor Personality that “combat survivors ... have a relaxed awareness.” People who are destined to be good at survival will get upset when something bad happens, but they will quickly regain emotional balance and immediately begin figuring out what the new reality looks like, what the new rules are, and what they can do about it. In the past few decades, technologies like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have allowed researchers such as Bruce McEwen at Rockefeller University to demonstrate that stress changes the shape and chemistry of the brain, resulting in trouble remembering, difficulty completing tasks, and altered behavior. In effect, losing your cool makes you stupid.
Which terms are most important for understanding the author’s endorsement of staying cool and calm in the face of an emergency?
Select all that apply.
emotional balance
relaxed awareness
In which sentences or phrases from “Our Backyard Is 85 Million Acres” does the author create an appeal to pathos with figurative language or word connotation?
Select all that apply.
The parks are the Declaration of Independence applied to the landscape.
Our national parks are more than a collection of jaw-dropping scenic wonders. …
That’s a very good bargain. And that is one powerful idea.
Evidence: What? Where? How?
Evidence is external support for your claim and thesis statement. It is used in informational, persuasive, and argumentative texts. As both a reader and a writer, you locate and evaluate evidence in texts. Now you will incorporate evidence into your own writing.
Time to Edit
Identifying style, tone, and word choice is an essential skill for uncovering the task, purpose, and audience for a text in which those aspects are not explicitly stated. It is also an essential skill for addressing a particular audience with your own text to convey factual information, whether it is an objective summary, an informational essay, or the basis for an argument.
Understanding Implied Meaning through Style, Tone, and Word Choice.
Creating an Outline
An outline lays out the points of an essay in the order in which they will appear. It helps the writer to think about the ideas and the best way to organize and present them—to plan where each piece of information will go.
What is Editing and Proofreading
The final editing stage of the writing process focuses on English language conventions: grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling. Some errors will be obvious and easy to correct. Others may take closer reading and consideration.
Read the excerpt from “Remarks by the President on Osama bin Laden,” a speech by President Barack Obama.
The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.
What is Obama inviting the audience to do by using the words “look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded”?
Select all that apply.
share his own somber reflections about the sacrifices made by American soldiers
look at this encounter from his perspective so they regret American involvement in the war
Read the excerpt from Shirley Chisholm’s speech “Equal Rights for Women.”
Let me note and try to refute two of the commonest arguments that are offered against this amendment. One is that women are already protected under the law and do not need legislation. Existing laws are not adequate to secure equal rights for women. Sufficient proof of this is the concentration of women in lower paying, menial, unrewarding jobs and their incredible scarcity in the upper level jobs.
Which element in the chain of legal reasoning is Shirley Chisholm identifying in this part of the speech?
Chisholm is identifying the issue: Is the current law violating women’s rights by not doing enough to adequately protect them?