09 Conclusions // Due the week of November 2, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, we will be peer reviewing the final persuasive essays, and writing a conclusion for your essays!

Conclusions can be brief (2-4 sentences), but they should do 2 things:

—Wrap up the essay

—Call-to-Action (Call the audience to believe/do something

Example:

Therefore, that is why it’s important to adopt cats from rescue shelters rather than pet stores. So get out there, go to your local Dumb Friend’s League or similar place and adopt an adorable, cuddly, cat!

Remember for peer reviews that you should write at least 6 comments per person’s paper, and they should follow the guidelines outlined the preview posts (see below in the blog).

The papers to peer review are:

Wednesday:

—Soledad + Teresa

Thursday: 

—Sam + Jocelyn

Friday:

—Madison + Lillian (If you didn’t already complete Lillian’s)

Thanks and email me if you have questions!

08 Intriguing Introductions // Due the week of October 17, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, you'll be practicing writing intriguing introductions! Just like the last writing homework, you can make up your information, or you can find it for real—either is fine for now!

An intriguing introduction's jobs include:

1. Grab the attention of the reader
2. Introduce the reader to the topic (thesis)

Ways to grab the attention of the reader:

1. Ask a thought-provoking question
2. Tell a joke
3. Tell a surprising fact or statistic
4. Tell an intense story
5. Give a quote that relates

Follow the attention-grabber with the thesis.

Example:

1. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from the hungry people! But really, we should not eat chickens because they are intelligent, cute, and useful to society in other ways.
2. Did you know that 400,000 cats are abandoned every day? Everyone should adopt cats from cat shelters because there are so many homeless cats, pet shops are just adding to the problem, and cats will great enhance people's lives.

HOMEWORK:

1. Pick 5 topics (it's okay if you've already written the thesis statement for the 5 topics)
2. Write an attention grabber for each thesis you chose
3. Write the attention grabber and then the thesis in a paragraph and post all 5 paragraphs on Google Drive
4. Email me if you have questions!

07 Peer Review 1 // Due the week of Oct. 18, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, your homework is to complete peer reviews for three of your classmates!

Read the ethos/pathos/logos paragraphs of the three people posted below, and write at least 6 comments for each paper, for a total of 18 comments. Remember:
—Be specific
—Be kind (even if you're saying something negative)
—NO GRAMMAR COMMENTS :D

The types of comments could involve:
—Language: What words were interesting? What interesting words could they add? Where was there neat personality?
—Content: What evidence/ideas were effective? What evidence/ideas could they add?
—Organization: How were the topic/concluding sentences? Was the order of everything well-thought-out?

Wednesday papers:
—Ianna
—Izzy
—Maddy

Thursday papers:
—Laura K.
—Laura L.
—Stacy

Friday:
—Lillian
—Sam
—Ethan

06 Logos, Pathos, and Ethos // Due the week of Oct. 12, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week we talked about using evidence to support your opinions and reasonings!

REVIEW:
Remember, a thesis is stating your opinion with 3 reasons.

• ie: Cats are the best animal because they are helpful, clean, and friendly.
• All 3 reasons must be different from each other (no overlap) and broad enough that an entire paragraph could be written on each.

NEW INFO:

Evidence is necessary to support your reasonings. There are 3 types of evidence:

• Logos: 
• Facts
• Statistics
• Logical statements
• Numbers
• ie: 94% of cats spend all of their time trying to help their owners.
• Pathos
• Personal stories
• Emotional stories
• ie: Betty Joe's sad story of being bitten by a dog—which is why cats are better. 
• Ethos
• Expert opinions
• ie: Veterinarian John Roberts says, "There really is no animal that compares to cats when it comes to the ability to stay clean."

HOMEWORK:

• Pick one of your favorite theses from last week's homework (but not your absolute favorite). 
• Copy and paste that thesis into a new document on Google Drive.
• Write 3 paragraphs, one each of your three reasons from your thesis.
• Each paragraph should have:
• Topic sentence
• At least 1 logos
• At least 1 pathos
• At least 1 ethos
• At least 1 extra of any category 
• Concluding sentence
• You can make up information for this assignment! Or you can actually do the research if you want extra homework :D

Email me if you have questions!