Wednesday, 2/12/14 – just change the date if you already completed this on Monday.

1. Wednesday, 2/12/14 – just change the date if you already completed this on Monday. • Journal: • When is nature less than beautiful? • Notes: • AP Fair coming up on 2/21/14 during A4 • Objective: • TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

2. Wednesday, 2/12/14 • Agenda: • Journal • Objective review • John Muir’s “A Wind Storm in the Forest” • Persuasive prompt • “Outlining” exercise • Objective: • TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

3. Wednesday, 2/12/14 • John Muir’s “A Wind Storm in the Forest” • Persuasive prompt: Defend, challenge, or qualify Muir’s idea that violence leads to beauty • “Outlining” exercise • HOW-TO write this essay, bc your essays have gone downhill lately • Objective: • TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

4. Wednesday, 2/12/14 • Few Rules to Remember: • 1. Topic sentences are always arguments in these kinds of essays. • 2. Topic sentences should show relationships/transitions between paragraphs: your goal is an essay that feels like a cohesive whole. • 3. There are five basic approaches you can take on these essays. • Straight Refutation (2-4 reasons why the idea is a bad one) • Straight Support (2-4 reasons why the idea is a good one) • Concession/Qualifier(strongly take one side, but concede one point to other side) • Boomer(not only present your argument, but attack the other side) • Caveat(strongly take a position, but concede that there is an issue to consider) • Objective: • TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

5. Wednesday, 2/12/14 • Persuasive prompt: Defend, challenge, or qualify Muir’s idea that violence leads to beauty • Step 1: Chose your stance • Step 2: Jot down the general reasons you feel that way • Step 3: Look for information in Muir’s piece that supports you • Step 4: Generate outside support related to Muir’s ideas you identified in step 3 • Step 5: Write a great lead • See next slide… • Objective: • TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas

6. Wednesday, 2/12/14 • Your introduction should NOT a) be a generalized statement about human nature/society, b) just fill the page with no purpose, c) be obviously false, d) offer a weak question or quotation, or e) open with a generalized truism. • Instead, it should be STAMPY: • a) Shock your audience with a statistic • b) Tell a story or establish a scenario • c) Analogize with an effective comparison • d) Make a good question that does not have an easy answer • e) Personalize with an effective anecdote • Effective introductions lead with powerful adjective and verbs. • OKAY: When you drink a glass of milk, you’re getting more than wholesome calories… • BETTER: Pus. Hormones. Mucous. Hardly what we imagine each time we take a drink from a glass of milk … • Thesis statement needs to be an argument that raises a controversial point and clearly articulates the reasons you will argue in your piece. It will have a strong tension word. Your thesis statement should be parallel. • Objective: • TSW read Muir’s piece that “defends” the violence in nature IOT compose an essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies Muir’s ideas