but a Newton is fruit and cake.

We have extra credit here, folks.

Take a look at this satirical essay from The Onion, everyone’s most trusted news source. In a 500 word essay, comment on a current commercial or ad campaign. Feel free to be as ironic as you like, but you must use the rhetorical language we discussed in the previous advertising unit. Include a copy of the ad in your essay and post your questions below.

This will be worth 20 points. That is two quizzes, two-thirds of an essay. Write well and your grade will thank you.

This will be due a week from today, no exceptions (even if you’re absent).

If you were unable to annotate your copy of “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” please do so tonight. On a similar topic, here is an opinion piece on the “Jena Six” by Steve Coll, published in The New Yorker.

Missed an article recently? Here’s your chance to make it up:
For extra credit (10 pts), contrast the style (T-DIDLS) of the above article and this one by Richard G. Jones from The New York Times. Keep in mind the objective of each (to persuade and to inform) and their context.

You have one week. You may use these articles for discussion or extra credit, not both.

For those who are having trouble finding a copy of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” here it is. There is also a .pdf file available on the site. Print it, mark it up, bring it to school Monday. There is a lot to read, so I would break it in half to do part today and part tomorrow. If you have any questions, let me know, but I want you to look for the following:

• What is the author’s main argument (thesis)?
• Who is his audience?
• What rhetorical devices does he employ in supporting his argument?
• Is he persuasive?

I am not asking you to write a paper over this, but I need to see annotations throughout your papers on Monday. We will begin a discussion right off, and it is always awkward to be unprepared. Again, send me an email if you are concerned/confounded by this assignment.

The long weekend is upon us. Enjoy yourselves. Take a road trip. Don’t play too much Halo. Read your books. Go to a concert (Spoon at Cain’s!). Take a walk. You will be graded on one of these activities when you get back.

Dive into the first two chapters of Lord of the Flies sometime this weekend. This is a thrilling book, but be sure to keep up with your reading journals as you go. As this is a very symbolic book, I asked you on Thursday to include an explanation of three symbols (something tangible representing something intangible) in your journal along with your basic responses, but don’t worry if you can’t find three this weekend; the journals are due on Friday and we will read further before then.

[Edit: I’ve just discovered that Barnes and Noble has run out of copies of because guess what? They lost my order once again. It’s probably something I am doing wrong, but calling the store, saying, “I need 45 copies of Lord of the Flies in a week” seems pretty straightforward. Please let me know soon if you can’t get a copy and I will make arrangements.]

[Edit Take Two: (It is now… 5:00 on Friday), but I just got back from Borders and they have several copies in stock. I haven’t received any email; does that mean we’re all stocked?]

This post has been WinsomeWiki’d.