"The War Against Boys" Reactions

Please post your comments/reactions to the reading "The War Against Boys" here.

Also, you must respond to at least one other person's post in a way that is meaningful and extends the conversation.

Is Google Making Us Stupid AND 17 Minute Video Discussion

Please post your discussion questions/comments here.

In your question(s)/comment(s), you must make a connection to both the video and the essay. You may do this by drawing on both in ONE question/comment, or you may post two separate questions/comments, each focusing on either the text or the video.

Please choose engaging ideas that we can discuss and expand on during Thursday's class in a meaningful way. We will use your posts to guide Thursday's class.

YOU ALL WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION. I WILL SIMPLY ACT AS A GUIDE/MEDIATOR.

Feel free to connect to any past discussions, readings, or videos.

Have fun! :)

Analyzing Images

Post your images here. Either a link or the actual image is fine. After you post your image, you must respond to at least 2 other students' images with analysis using the handout you received in class.

Your image can be an advertisement, photography or artwork. You may not include memes with words, nor may you use video. Be sure to answer the questions below as thoroughly as possible. Analysis responses should be a minimum of approximately 2 paragraphs at length.

If your responses are longer than the maximum allowed characters for the post, you may break your response into 2 posts, but be sure your audience can identify that both posts belong together (perhaps include a cue such as "cont..." at the top).

Also, each image may only have a MAXIMUM of 2 responses (thus, nearly every image should have a response). If an image already has 2 responses, pick a different one. Again -- first come, first serve. I will post a couple of images so that there responses can be spread about, and feel free to post more than one image. If you post more than one image, however, do so in a separate post; thus each post should contain only one image, so we are clear on which images are being analyzed.

Here are the questions listed on the handout:

1.     What appeals or techniques are used in the advertisement/image? (Advertising techniques are listed on handout). Explain.

2.     What is the advertisement’s/image's demographic target audience? Explain your answer. (Demographic categories can be found on handout.)

3.   What is the advertisement’s/image's psychographic target audience? Explain your answer. (Psychographic categories can be found on the back.)

4.  How does the ad/image appeal to thinking and reasoning (logos), establishes the trustworthiness of the advertisement and product or image (ethos), and/or plays on the audience’s emotions and desires (pathos) in order to achieve its purpose. This question has three parts

5.  Put it all together. How does the ad/image work overall? How does all of the above come together in an attempt to persuade you to think, feel, and/or act a particular way? Explain your answer.

6.  Evaluation. With the techniques, target audience, and purpose in mind, explain how the advertisement/image is effective or ineffective. This is your judgment, but it must be supported with evidence.

Also, I encourage you to draw on information, ideas and quotes we have discussed and read in class. You may cite the authors and texts we've read in class in your analysis. For this reason, you may want to choose an image that reminds you of something from our texts and/or discussions -- though this is not necessarily required. 

Your images should be posted no later than Sunday, by 11:59 and your responses (2) should be posted no later than 10pm on Monday.  

To get things started, you may respond to this image:

Have fun!

Arora "What Do We Deserve?" Discussion

After reading Namit Arora's, "What Do We Deserve?," post a quote you find interesting and/or salient (meaningful) and then a discussion question/comment to follow.

    ^This post is due by class time on Thursday (8am)

Respond to at least 1 other post and engage in a MEANINGFUL conversation with the author (not simply along the lines of "I agree" or "this is so true" or "great post" or "I disagree"). Respond to the author by extending or complicating their ideas.

   ^This is due by Monday at 9:00pm

You must both post and respond in order to get full credit for the discussion.

**Throughout your posts, make connections to your life, the world at large, connect ideas to other texts we've read or videos we've watched or ideas we've discussed. Go beyond the Arora's text with your observations, questions, comments, responses, etc. 

Discussion posts for Thursday, 10/10

Post your discussion questions/comments/concerns for Thursday's class (10/10) here.

Due by 11:59 on Wednesday

Essay 2 THESIS ASSIGNMENT

Click Here for the Thesis Assignment for Essay 2.

Here is the actual link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TwJQs9pDDbsq5w8X2jb99Ua8e4xgP5GXeVdZaDvfkX4/edit?usp=sharing

CECG - Credibility, Evidence, Common Ground

Directions:

If your LAST name starts with a letter between A-H answer the following questions:

1.  CREDIBILITY - #1
2. EVIDENCE - #1 & #2
3. COMMON GROUND - #1

If your LAST name starts with a letter between J-Z answer the following questions:

1. CREDIBILITY - #2 & #3
2. EVIDENCE - #3
3. COMMON GROUND - # 1

THE ASSIGNMENT IS DUE BY TUESDAY @ 12noon

...............................

Credibility, Evidence, and Common Ground

Credibility – In 6-c, Hacker recommends that your introduction should “establish credibility and state your position” (86).

1. We don’t have Epstein’s formal introduction. But she still has to maintain credibility and state her position. Find one passage that illustrates how she maintains credibility and one passage in which she states her position. Quote each passage, and explain why you selected them.
2. Re-read your introduction for Paper 1. What revisions can you make to your introduction to help establish your credibility?
3. Does your introduction include a sentence (or two) that articulates your perspective or position? If so, good. Rewrite the sentence(s) for this assignment. If not, try to locate such sentences in your draft. Rewrite those sentences in a way that helps you get your perspective into the introduction.

Evidence – Evidence is the stuff that supports our points or ideas. In 6-e, Hacker writes about three main kinds of evidence: facts and statistics, examples and illustrations, expert opinion (89-90).

1. Find one example of each kind of evidence in Epstein’s article. Quote each passage and explain how the evidence works to support a specific point or claim.
2. Look at your draft. Find one example of at least two kinds of evidence in your draft. What point does each piece of evidence help you support (or develop)? If the evidence isn’t supporting a point, is there a point that you can make with that evidence? Is there other evidence that might better help you support that point?
3. Examples and illustrations, when used together with other evidence, can help “flesh out an argument and bring it to life” (Hacker 89). Find a specific example of lifestyle branding on the (Red) website. Try to use that example in combination with “expert opinion” on lifestyle branding to develop a point of your own. (In other words, write a paragraph that makes a claim or point by using expert opinion and an example from (Red).)

Common Ground – We sometimes seek to overlook or ignore the evidence (or the perspective) that doesn’t support our own position when we make an argument. When we do this we miss opportunities to persuade readers. At the extreme, such omissions can undermine our credibility.

1. Find a passage that shows Epstein working “to build common ground” (Hacker 93). What would be lost if Epstein left that passage out of her article?

Revisit your draft for Paper 1. As you think about the position(s) you are taking, do you see pieces from Epstein or (Red) that might lead people to take a different position? How might you account for that material and build some common ground?