Argument & Synthesis
Using the letters A (for argument) and CA (for Counterargument), create an outline for an AP-style essay using the Toulmin structure.
Answers may vary:
Intro
CA
A
CA
A
Conclusion
What are three common rhetorical strategies that someone could analyze in a piece of rhetoric? *Write response on whiteboard.
Answers may vary
Write a TS for the following lyrics that analyzes a strategy and its effect.
“Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me and the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make it a better place for you and for me” – Michael Jackson
Answers may vary
What is the highest you can score for the evidence and commentary row on synthesis essay with less than three sources?
1
Name the three types of essays on the exam.
Rhetorical analysis, synthesis, argument
Using the letters A (for argument) and CA (for Counterargument), create an outline for an AP-style essay using the Classcial structure.
Intro
A
CA
A
Conclusion
What does STAMP stand for ?
Speaker, Tone, Audience, Main Idea, Purpose
Write a TS for the following lyrics that analyzes a strategy and its effect.
“This ain't the son you raised who used to take the Acura
5 a.m. then go and shoot Degrassi up on Morningside
For all the stuntin', I'll forever be immortalized” – Drake
Answers may vary
What three commentary questions help you explain the evidence in your paragraphs ? (they must be in the right order to earn credit) *Write response on whiteboard.
What does the evidence show/prove?
How does it show/prove it?
SO WHAT? Why does it matter?
In order to earn the point, your thesis statement MUST _______.
A. Be only one sentence
B. Be defensible
C. Summarize the issue
D. None of the above
B. Be defensible
1. Breakdown the 2019 prompt task into two questions.
The term “overrated” is often used to diminish concepts, places, roles, etc. that the speaker believes do not deserve the prestige they commonly enjoy; for example, many writers have argued that success is overrated, a character in a novel by Anthony Burgess famously describes Rome as a “vastly overrated city,” and Queen Rania of Jordan herself has asserted that “[b]eing queen is overrated.”
Select a concept, place, role, etc. to which you believe that the term “overrated” should be applied. Then, write a well-developed essay in which you explain your judgment. Use appropriate evidence from your reading, experience, or observations to support your argument.
1. What is a concept that you believe is "overrated"?
2. What is my judgement of it?
* Rephrase task into two questions.
* Breakdown speaker for the prompt. What do we learn about them that may be important to understand what they say, how they say it?
Simu Liu is an actor who has starred in television shows and movies, including Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. His 2022 memoir, We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, describes his experiences as a Chinese immigrant in Canada. Liu's parents emigrated to Canada from China when Liu was a baby, leaving him with his grandparents. In the following excerpt from Liu's memoir, the family is getting the four-year-old Liu ready to reunite with his father and travel to Canada himself. Read the passage carefully. Write an essay that analyzes the rhetorical choices Liu makes to convey his message about the experience of preparing to emigrate from China.
1. What rhetorical choices does he use?
2. What is his message about the experience of preparing to emigrate from China?
3. Simu Liu is an Asian actor who moved to Canada to live with his father when he is 4. He is also a writer.
Create a L/R Annotation: Hilary Clinton "Women's Rights are Human Rights" at 1995 Women's Conference Beijing
Time and again our talk turns to our children and our families. However different we may appear, there is far more that unites us than divides us. We share a common future and we are here to find common ground so that we may help bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world, and in so doing bring new strength and stability to families as well. By gathering in Beijing we are focusing world attention on issues that matter most in our lives, the lives of women and their families, access to education, healthcare, jobs, and credit, the chance to enjoy basic legal and human rights, and to participate fully in the political life of our countries.
Answers may vary
What are the 5 components of an effective body paragraph?
TS, specific evidence, WHAT, HOW, and SO WHAT
How much time do you have for the MC section of the exam?
60 minutes
1. Breakdown the 2018 prompt into two questions.
In her book Gift from the Sea, author and aviator Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) writes, “We tend not to choose the unknown which might be a shock or a disappointment or simply a little difficult to cope with. And yet it is the unknown with all its disappointments and surprises that is the most enriching.”
Consider the value Lindbergh places on choosing the unknown. Then write an essay in which you develop your own position on the value of exploring the unknown. Use appropriate, specific evidence to illustrate and develop your position.
1. What value does Lindbergh place on choosing the unknown?
2. What is my position on the value of exploring the unknown?
Miss Take is writing a rhetorical analysis essay analyzing the use of a personal anecdote from a teenager in a vaping commercial.
Sentence: The PSA uses ethos to show kids the negative effects of vaping.
What is wrong with this sentence? Help Miss Take correct it by effectively rewriting the sentence on your whiteboard.
Answers may vary, but they should all address the phrase "uses ethos" and they should demonstrate the effect of the appeal on the audience.
Possible response: The use of a personal anecdote from one of their peers, stresses to teenagers that they are not immune to the negative effects of vaping.
Create a L/R Annotation: Hilary Clinton "Women's Rights are Human Rights" at 1995 Women's Conference Beijing
Let this conference be our, and the world’s, call to action. Let us heed that call so we can create a world in which every woman is treated with respect and dignity, every boy and girl is loved and cared for equally, and every family has the hope of a strong and stable future. That is the work before you. That is the work before all of us who have a vision of the world we want to see for our children and our grandchildren. The time is now. We must move beyond rhetoric. We must move beyond recognition of problems to working together to have the common efforts to build that common ground we hope to see. God’s blessings on you, your work, and all who will benefit from it. Godspeed, and thank you very much.
Answers may vary
What are some "no no" words for writing?
Ex. Absolutes, ethos, pathos, logos, emotional appeals, personal pronouns
How much total WRITING time do you have for the free response (essay) section?
120 minutes
You have a 15- minute reading period in addition to the 120 minutes writing time.
1. Breakdown the prompt 2017 into two questions (maybe three).
The passage below is an excerpt from Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you develop a position on Hedges’ argument that “the most essential skill . . . is artifice.” Use appropriate, specific evidence to illustrate and develop your position.
The most essential skill in political theater and a consumer culture is artifice. Political leaders, who use the tools of mass propaganda to create a sense of faux intimacy with citizens, no longer need to be competent, sincere, or honest. They need only to appear to have these qualities. Most of all they need a story, a personal narrative. The reality of the narrative is irrelevant. It can be completely at odds with the facts. The consistency and emotional appeal of the story are paramount. Those who are best at deception succeed. Those who have not mastered the art of entertainment, who fail to create a narrative or do not have one fashioned for them by their handlers, are ignored. They become “unreal.”
An image-based culture communicates through narratives, pictures, and pseudo-drama.
1. What does Hedges' argument that "the most essential skill...is artifice" mean?
2. What does artifice mean?
3. What is my position about his argument?
Miss Take is writing a rhetorical analysis essay analyzing the use of statistics in a vaping commercial.
Sentence: The PSA uses pathos to inform kids about the dangers of smoking.
What is wrong with this sentence? Help Miss Take correct it by effectively rewriting the sentence on your whiteboard.
Answers may vary, but they should all address the phrase "uses pathos" and they should demonstrate the effect of the appeal on the audience.
Possible response: The PSA uses the statistics to shock kids into resisting the desire to vape.
Create a L/R Annotation: Hilary Clinton "Women's Rights are Human Rights" at 1995 Women's Conference Beijing
Over the past 25 years I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children, and families. Over the past two and a half years I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing women in my own country and around the world. I have met new mothers in Indonesia who come together regularly in their village to discuss nutrition, family planning, and baby care. I have met working parents in Denmark who talk about the comfort they feel in knowing that their children can be cared for in safe and nurturing afterschool centers.
I have met women in South Africa who helped lead the struggle to end apartheid and are now helping to build a new democracy. I have met with the leading women of my own hemisphere, who are working every day to promote literacy and better healthcare for children in their countries. I have met women in India and Bangladesh who are taking out small loans to buy milk cows, or rickshaws, or thread, in order to create a livelihood for themselves and their families. I have met the doctors and nurses in Belarus and Ukraine who are trying to keep children alive in the aftermath of Chernobyl.
Answers may vary
Approximately how many minutes should you use to breakdown the prompt and gameplan your essay?
10 minutes
What is the highest you can score on a free response essay on the AP Exam?
6