Red Herring vs. Straw Man

How to Spot and Avoid Online Plagiarism
Dear Parents: Diedrich has posted this "guide" so that you can discuss this issue with your child since there are still students in AP English Language and Composition who have consistently engaged in this "endeavor". Perhaps, one of these children is your very own child...Academic institutions will send your child home if this is detected in a college class.

AP Language and Composition Examination Prompts
(You probably have a copy of this in your three-ring binder, but I recommend that you download it just in case...you will never know when you will be directed to place your three-ring binder in a container in the classroom...this could happen soon...you will NOT be given prior notice!)


BE ADVISED THAT YOU WILL ONLY BE ALLOCATED TWENTY MINUTES TO COMPLETE YOUR LOGICAL FALLACY TEST ON THURSDAY (30 statements for your identification...)


A reminder (see previous post): Bring highlighters/colored pencils to class on Monday, 24 February-your OWN "supply", not what your "table-mate" brings to class.  I consider this a homework assignment and I will grade it as such.


The Doctrine of Academic Freedom
When Diedrich first heard(on FOX News, Sunday morning) about this publication from a senior attending Harvard, he responded with a, "WOW!" and an "Oh, My Gosh!" since he could not believe what the writer was advocating. As a class, we will visit Korn's response and approach it as if it was the Argument Question on the AP Exam. (Defend, Challenge, Qualify). Diedrich has so many questions that he would like to ask this writer and he also has so many concerns...What do you think?
Perhaps, you will also share my reaction...

Synthesis Essay Prompt Assignment: A RESEARCH paper and a SYNTHESIS essay all in one...
Specific due dates for each part/requirement will be announced soon. Familiarize yourself with the links I have previously posted for the Synthesis Essay-a task that I know that everyone has completed.
.(NOTE: I DID NOT OMIT/DELETE THE NAME OF THE TEACHER WHO CREATED THIS PROJECT, BUT I DID MODIFY IT FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE; I WOULD NOT WANT TO BE ACCUSED OF "PLAGIARISM", AN ACT THAT IS STILL PREVALENT IN OUR AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION CLASSES.)

Just in case you are tired of watching the Winter Olympics and do not have anything exciting happening in your life, the following will certainly add that excitement:
Critical Thinking Academy: Learn HOW to Think, Not WHAT
to Think (Click-on the download tabs for the "Tutorials" and for the "Podcasts") [You will be on your way to receiving that "5" on the AP Exam...]

Perhaps, some of you have learned  Russian by watching the Olympics and can understand and analyze the video, similarly to what we have done in class. Does it make any difference whether or not a "viewer" can understand the language? I will ask for an analysis when you return. Please help me since I do not know anyone who attends LMGHS who can speak the Russian language... (Rhetorical Device?)

Schedule for Week of 24 February:

An Introduction to Satire
Bring highlighters and/or colored pencils to class-I am no longer supplying highlighters since they are not returned by many who "borrow" them... (Consider this a "homework" assignment-I will check to see if you have followed my directive.)
Textbooks are NOT required this week.

Logical Fallacy assessment (see videos/power-points below): Thursday, 27 February
(Also, refer to this "supplement" for fallacies not presented on power-points posted below: Logical Fallacies but will appear on your test.
SAT Vocabulary QUIZ on TUESDAY, 25 February (LIST 15) NOT on Thursday!

To acquire more of an understanding of "satire", I have included the links to the following satirical essays/articles that will be discussed in class. Naturally, you will be given an assignment related to these texts. If you view the contents of the above videos prior to your reading, your understanding will be enhanced.
Satire Terms

"3' by 4' Plot of Green Space Rejuvenates Neighborhood" from The Onion
"Kitchen-Floor Conflict Intensifies as Rival House Cats Claim Same Empty Bag" from The Onion
"Fall Canceled After 3 Billion Seasons" from The Onion
"Dollar Bill Found on Floor Sends Wall Street into Frenzy" from The Onion

“The Doctor Won’t See You Now” from The New York Times 

“Books Don’t Take You Anywhere” from The Onion
"The Speech of Miss Polly Baker" Benjamin Franklin (also in your textbook on 532)

An in-class read: TBA (One of the most noted and popular SATIRES read in high school and in college...)

Timed Write on Tuesday, 4 March (Question 2) A rhetorical analysis of a Satire.

Visual satire:
OPTIC analysis sheet (Will also be used for the analysis of the "visual" source for Question #1 on the AP Exam-The Synthesis Essay)

An example for your "practice" using OPTIC:

Norman Rockwell's "Freedom from Want" and the parody, "American Thanksgiving"
Analyze this image then decide on an "appropriate" title...

AP Examination QUESTION 1: A Mini-Argumentative Essay

The Synthesis Essay: The Basics

The Synthesis Essay: Explaining the Sources


The Synthesis Essay: Planning and Pre-writing


The Synthesis Essay


The Synthesis Essay: PODCAST


AP English Language and Composition Course Home Page w/Prior Examinations (A link I have posted several times, yet has only been "visited" by a small percentage of students from A, B, and G Band students).


The Synthesis Essay (power-point/video)

Add caption

ATTENTION: Students in ALL Bands must enter the classroom on Monday, 10 February with our course textbook-failure to do so will result in a "0"-this is a HOMEWORK assignment. DO NOT ASK IF YOU CAN GO TO YOUR LOCKER TO RETRIEVE IT! NO EXCUSES! NO EXCEPTIONS!

Logical Fallacies

View these power-points/videos from a university course:

Soon, you will be "quizzed" on Logical Fallacies. Probably, Tuesday, 25 February. 

PARADOX SLIDE SHOW


PARADOX is not always "easy" to understand and/or put into words...not because we do not understand the contradiction, but because we have a difficult time explaining the contradiction and the truth together.

ATTENTION: Your Due Date for the Tan and Rodriguez Assignment (see below) has changed. You now have until Tuesday, 11 February (11:59PM) to upload it to www.turnitin.com. Do not even think about asking for an extension. Furthermore, students in all BANDS must bring to class their textbook-this time I will check-do not ask to go to your locker to retrieve it-you will receive a "0" if you enter my classroom unprepared!

ANOTHER ONE OF DIEDRICH'S UPDATES (see below): For those of you who would like to get an early start on this assignment that will be submitted to turnitin.com by Sunday, 9 February, just click on the assignment link: Tan and Rodriguez to reveal your writing task. We will read and discuss Tan's Mother Tongue on Tuesday and on your "second-day" that your class meets with me. Be advised that since several individuals continue to PLAGIARIZE, a "new" process will be required as soon as you submit your assignment to turnitinit.com  (just wait until Tuesday, 4 February...).

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT UPDATE: Rather than wait until Tuesday, 4 February to be directed to read Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood in preparation for Thursday's lesson on 6 February, I have provided you with a link for that essay. If you have your textbook at home, you may locate it on pages 303-313. Be advised that you will be administered a QUIZ on this essay immediately upon entering the classroom.

ATTENTION! Diedrich has finally revised the seating charts for the first-marking period of the Spring Semester. No "table-mates" will be sitting anywhere near each other. Under no circumstances will he make any changes as you walk into the classroom on Tuesday, 4 February. You had the opportunity to inform him of  on-going conflicts with any class members so that he would not make him/her your "table-mate".

Schedule for Week of 03 February

ALL STUDENTS IN ALL THREE BANDS MUST BRING THEIR LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION TEXTBOOK TO CLASS EVERYDAY THIS WEEK. IF YOU COME TO CLASS WITHOUT IT, YOU WILL RECEIVE A "0" AS A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT-NO EXCUSES-NO EXCEPTIONS-NO NOTES FROM PARENTS...

AS OF APPROXIMATELY 1300 HOURS ON SATURDAY, 1 FEBRUARY-I HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REPORT INDICATING YOUR RESULTS ON THE ENGLISH REGENTS EXAMINATION-I AM QUITE CERTAIN THAT EVERYONE DID WELL. ONCE I RECEIVE THE RESULTS, PROBABLY EARLY MONDAY MORNING, I WILL IMMEDIATELY POST THE SCORES ON JUPITER.

SAT VOCABULARY QUIZ FOR LIST 14 WILL BE ADMINISTERED ON THURSDAY, 06 FEBRUARY.

A RHETORICAL QUESTION FOR EVERYONE: WHY ARE YOU REQUIRED TO SIGN THE statement printed at the bottom of the front of the answer sheet, indicating that you had no unlawful knowledge of the questions or answers prior to the examination and that
you have neither given nor received assistance in answering any of the questions
during the examination (taken directly from page 1 of the NYS Regents examination booklet)?

WHAT STANDS OUT FOR DIEDRICH IS THE PHRASE "neither given nor received assistance"... HE WANTS EVERYONE TO PONDER WHAT THIS MEANS...AND THE SUBSEQUENT CONSEQUENCES FOR THOSE WHO ARE GUILTY OF COMMITTING THESE ACTIONS. (You will sign a similar statement on your upcoming AP Examination.)