Hey all, hope your break is going well.  This is just a reminder that your conformity/rebellion essays (yep, those from all those months ago) will be due no later than this Monday.  If you have any questions, please shoot me an email or post a comment.  I’m here to help, but it’s time to get them in.

For the rest of you: Keep reading your personal novels; I hope to begin writing by the end of the coming week.  We will discuss the ending of The Stranger on Monday.

I’m just beginning to look over your drafts now, so I will post any advice later as another post, but I thought I would get this up now.

Here are our notes from the board today, which are essentially a review of the devices.  Focus on your papers; comment if you have any questions. Oh!  Here is the official website, which features the trailer and such.  (Note the awards listed; what do they do for the argument?  Anything?  Keep authority in mind.)

We will be discussing DeLillo’s White Noise through chapter 34 on Monday.  We will write over this in about a week, so please keep up with your reading journals.

Another great discussion (From the Board below) over the censorship!  The debate was heated at times, so we’ll be writing our own argumentative articles this weekend.  By now you are all familiar with the basic structure of an argumentative article, but here’s a quick outline to help you with your writing:

• Know your position.  Begin with a basic argument, such as "Apples are good."
• Begin gathering support for your basic argument.
  • "Apples are healthy"
  • "Apples are all-American"
  • "Apples are portable"
  • "Apples can be eaten many different ways"
• Then, begin supporting each claim, adding statistics and quotations from other sources as necessary.
  • "Apples are healthy"
    • Food and Drug Administration
  • "Apples are all-American"
    • All-American Apple Council
  • "Apples are portable"
    • Relevant personal anecdote
  • "Apples can be eaten in many different ways"
    • Recipes
    • How-to guides
• After that, make sure your sources are credible and your claims are relevant and logical.
  • "Apples are all-American" (Appeal to emotion, but not a major point.)
    • All-American Apple Council (Biased source)
• After you are certain you have a logical argument, begin writing your article.  Draw your audience in with a "hook"—something to draw them in, give them interest in your article. (Look over your previous articles for examples.)  Also, because this is such a heated topic, don’t forget to appeal to those on the other side of the issue.

Post questions below for the good of all.

Legend: Black: from the articles, Blue: From you, Green: From me.

Tonight, write out your basic thesis statement and supporting ideas.  We will give one another advice on arrangement and flow of ideas tomorrow in class.

"How to Write With Style" by Kurt Vonnegut