Argumentative Structures / Pap Finn

English 11 - We worked through Chapters 4-7 of Huck Finn today.  Students brought in quotations that lined up with a reading focus (American Romanticism, American Gothic, Slave Narratives, Regionalism).  In groups, they shared the quotations they had identified and slowly compiled a set of notes that they then entered into the computer.  These notes will end up getting compiled into a larger document that students will use to write their first paper. We spent most of today working out mechanics and looking at few passages.  Our discussion was limited but we get time to focus on Pap Finn's discussion of the government.  While Pap Finn is primarily characterized as drunken selfish fool in the novel, his discussion of the government is at times reminiscent of Henry David Thoreau's critique of the government in Walden.  Both of these individuals believe that the government that governs best, governs least.  Interestingly enough though, Pap Finn's ramble about the governments quickly descends into a racist speech where Pap demands that the government remove a freed slave's right to vote and re-enslave him.  The juxtaposition of these two statements reveals something about the story of early American history - on one level, it can be seen as the story of individuals who persevered without the help of government; on another level, it can be seen as the story of individuals who persevered thanks to the government's support of expansion and slavery.

AP - We slogged through three types of argumentative structures.  This period was a difficult period for students and I am planning on adjusting around it.  Hopefully, students came out with a basic understanding of Classic Oratory and Rogerian Arguments.  I also hope they came out with some understanding of how claims, reasons, and warrants are connected.  For AP students who are still unclear on how the three connect, here is one of the three examples from pg.191 of Everything's An Argument:

Claim: The federal government should ban smoking.

Warrant: The Constitution was established to "promote the general welfare," and citizens are thus entitled to protection from the harmful actions of others.

Reason: Smoking causes serious diseases in smokers and endangers nonsmokers as well.

Verbs / Arguments / Huck Finn

English 11 - We started working with Huck Finn today.  First, we reviewed the genres of American literature that we had talked about so far this year - American Romanticism, American Gothic, slave narratives, and regionalism.  I then walked through parts of the first four chapters and show how Huck Finn managed to bring in elements of all four.  As we move through the novel, the students will take over this exercise.  Tonight, they are looking at the next three chapters and focusing on one of the four genres.  I hope it will lead to some interesting conversations tomorrow. Working with students always brings out parts of the novel I miss and ideas I have never considered.

AP - We worked at the beginning of class on bring more precise verbs into our rhetorical analysis papers.  Too frequently, students make use of verbs that are very imprecise such as "says" or "uses".  I provided students with a sheet of more precise verbs and we worked on substituting in worlds like "examines", "defines", "points out", "criticizes", etc.  The rest of class was devoted to looking at argumentative structures.  Students tend to be more accustomed to five-paragraph formats and the three forms we looked at provide more mature academic frameworks for tackling arguments.  The students worked in groups to create an argument using one of the frameworks.  I'm looking forward to hearing all of them tomorrow.