The first casualty of the craziness this session was this website, but as we all rise this too will.

We looked at a number of schemes and tropes today from The Forest of Rhetoric as many of you had questions about figurative language and syntax. The latter is often the most difficult for my students to notice, as it can seem quite abstract. Play through the overview of schemes and tropes for a better understanding of how an author can use structure and figurative language to make his or her argument more appealing.

I also printed your grades from the website to give each of you a better look at what you should focus on in your final analyses. Remember that you can turn in as many as you’d like before the end of the session.

I have marked all un-attempted skills in the grade book with zeros. For many of you, this has drastically reduced your grade, as blanks are not averaged into the final scores.

But, have no fear! As you will be showing your analytical prowess in your analyses of King’s letter, the grades should bounce back up.

Progress reports went out today. Please let me know if you have any questions, but here are a few things to remember:

Please ignore the letter grade on the report. While it does reflect the average of your progress in class so far, that letter does not tell you what you should be working on. A person who has a fair grasp on all of the skills (3’s across the board) will have a 64%. A person who has mastered (a 5 in the gradebook) only two of the skills and all but ignored the other three (2’s in the gradebook) will have the same score. Please ignore the letter grade in the report; look to the gradebook for better information.

Still shocked by the D (64%)? If you are used to holding an A or B throughout the year, let go of that notion for this class. Your grades reflect your current mastery of skills that we will spend this semester working through. It is still early yet, so your grades are likely to be low. As a quick reminder, the following is the general rubric for all skills:

As I say when I pass back any assignment: You may rework anything I’ve graded. There will be no penalty for reworking; if you show better understanding, the grade in the gradebook will go up. You may also see me after 7:30 every morning (except late-start Thursdays), most lunch times, or anytime after school to show improved proficiency of a skill. Obviously, if you aren’t completing assignments or talking with me after class, your grade will suffer. But, if you are taking chances in your writing, participating in class discussions, asking questions, and discussing with me the problems you’re having, you should be fine.

This week so far:

We began this week’s discussion of ethos with a look at the corn industry’s (Corn Industry’s?) petition of the FDA to change the name of “high fructose corn syrup” to “corn sugar,” a name certainly more sweeter to the ear, if not the mouth ((Don’t hate me for that.)). Our discussion centered on SweetSurprise.com and the possible effects of the name change on the public’s perception of the ingredient.

On Tuesday we watched a bit of President Obama’s “town hall” speech in which the President defended a number of his administration’s economic policies and fielded questions from citizens. This event was quite fortuitous, as the argument he presented was primarily aimed at gaining trust and alleviating tension.

Today we watched a bit of former President Nixon’s “Checkers” speech as an imperfect comparison to the town hall meeting discussion on Tuesday. Your assignment tonight is to look through the transcript for appeals to ethos (described in the giant handout), note them, and come to class tomorrow prepared to discuss their efficacy.