SPACES
Who is the primary Audience Mary Sherry is addressing?
Parents and teachers
What does Sherry do in the Introduction chunk of her essay
She introduces the problem of "semiliterate" graduates and mentions her adult students.
Why does Sherry use the "F Word" in the title instead of just saying "Failure"?
To grab attention and shock the reader. it’s a play on the "bad" F-word.
True or False: A topic sentence should just be a fact, like "Mary Sherry has a son.
False. It should be a claim or a main point.
What is the Exigence (the spark) that caused Sherry to write this?
Her son’s teacher threatened to fail him, which finally motivated him to study
What is the purpose of the "Son’s Story" chunk
To provide a personal anecdote/example of how the "F" word works in real life.
How does Sherry build Ethos to show she knows what she’s talking about?
She mentions she is a teacher for adults and a parent of a student.
Which is a better topic sentence: "Failure is a word" or "Sherry argues that failure is a useful motivational tool"?
Sherry argues that failure is a useful motivational tool.
What is Sherry’s Purpose in writing this piece?
To persuade schools to use the threat of failure as a tool to motivate students.
In the middle chunk, Sherry discusses her adult students. Why?
To show that "passing" students without teaching them is actually cheating them and have long-term negative consequences.
Sherry uses words like "conspiracy," "victim," and "cheated." What Appeal is she using?(Pathos Ethos Logos)
Pathos. Emotional appeal, making parents feel like their kids are being robbed.
Provide a topic sentence for a paragraph about Sherry's Tone. Sherry uses a _________ to emphasize_______
(Example) Sherry adopts an urgent and blunt tone to emphasize the crisis in education.
What is the Subject of the essay?
The "meaningless" high school diploma and the lack of standards in education.
Where does the Shift in the essay occur?
Paragraph 4.
Fill in the blank: A good topic sentence for the "Adult Students" section would be: "Many adults suffer because they were ____ ____ in school."
Socially promoted or passed along.
Describe the Speaker’s persona. Why is she credible?
She is both a mother and a teacher, she teaches remedial English.
How does she conclude the essay?
By making a call to action to parents and teachers to see failure as a positive tool.