Friday, November 22, 2013

Assignments for Friday, December 6, 2013

  • Complete your second argumentation essay (due at beginning of class)
  • Send or bring me an electronic copy of your essay
  • Turn in your rewrite
  • Learn the following vocabulary words: brazen, cerebral, complicit, furtive, indispensable, legerdemain, liaison, relegate, visceral
  • Read "Knockouts High and Low"
  • In one or two sentences, answer each of the following questions about the reading, and bring your written responses to class
    • Who are the three famous persons, mentioned explicitly or implicitly by Steyn, who died November 22, 1963?
    • What does Lewis mean by "men without chests"?
    • What, according to Steyn, is the common theme that connects the "Knockout" game and the U.S. Senate's change in filibuster rules?
    • How does Steyn tie together significant ideas from Lewis and Huxley?
    • Does Steyn ever state his main idea? If so, what is it? If not, how would you phrase it?

Friday, November 15, 2013

Assignments for Friday, November 22, 2013

  • Learn the following vocabulary words: bedraggled, brazen, cadre, caveat, comeuppance, conspiratorial, debacle, fiasco, funereal, indictment, misbegotten, modicum, obligatory, plausible, poignant, praetorian guard, scythe, searing
  • Read "Obamacare Schadenfreudrama"
  • Choose a topic for your second argumentation essay and begin finding and using sources
  • Come to class with research materials and be ready to discuss your progress

Topics for second argumentation essay

Choose one of the following topics or subjects.
  • The Affordable Care Act should be repealed.
  • The Affordable Care Act needs a little work and can still be of benefit to the country.
  • Electronic surveillance is a necessary component of national defense with a proven track record of success and should be continued or expanded by the federal government.
  • The federal government's power of electronic surveillance should be severely curtailed, especially against Americans.
  • Describe and argue for a coherent strategy for the United States toward Iran's development of nuclear weapons

In-class reading

"Let JFK RIP? It's Complicated"

Monday, November 11, 2013

Assignments for Friday, November 15

  • Complete worksheet on rhetorical fallacies, and come to class ready to discuss it.
  • Turn in first argumentation essay at beginning of class.
  • Email me an electronic copy of your essay at my Motlow email address.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Email note

I have now begun using my Motlow email account. In the future, if you want to contact me by email, please do so at my Motlow address: mstanley[ at ]mscc.edu.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Assignments for Friday, Nov. 8

  • Read PA 137-51
  • Know and be able to use these words: admonition, atomistic, coerce, connote, crematorium, latency
  • Be familiar with the historical significance of Auschwitz
  • Read "In Jedwabne"
  • If not completed in class, make a Works Cited page in MLA format with four sources to be used in your argumentation essay
  • Bring a completed rough draft of your argumentation essay to class

Evaluating web sources

What do you think about these?

College

http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/w-kent-barnds/is-college-worth-it-the-a_b_4122884.html
http://www.theonion.com/articles/college-unveils-new-media-center-every-month,34400/
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/348689/congrats-grad-was-it-worth-it-interview
http://www.nationalreview.com/phi-beta-cons/255720/young-alumni-say-college-was-worth-it-jason-fertig

Violent media
http://www.lionlamb.org/media_violence.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/opinion/sunday/does-media-violence-lead-to-the-real-thing.html?_r=0
http://www.theonion.com/articles/tv-blamed-for-rise-in-formulaic-violence,1887/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201309/violence-the-media-and-your-brain
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-j-ferguson/media-violence_b_4018469.html

A few more
http://the7truth7ministries72.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/is-barack-hussein-obama-the-false-prophet-of-rev-13/
http://www.beastobama.com/
http://www.cogwriter.com/barack-obama-prophecy-antichrist.htm
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/antichrist.asp

Quiz

1. In the chapter, "Finding and Evaluating Sources" in Practical Argument, what web service and its founder are referred to repeatedly?

2. According to the same chapter, which of the following is not a good criterion for evaluating the quality of a source: accuracy, credibility, objectivity, length, currency, comprehensiveness, authority?

3. According to your readings for today, are employers using social media in hiring selections?

4. Write the new "class motto."

5. Write the old "class motto."