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It’s not just the what. I t’s the how. Julianna Cucci Shirley Morikuni IATE 2014. THE WHAT= writing arguments about complex texts. 1. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language.
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It’s not just the what. It’s the how. Julianna Cucci Shirley Morikuni IATE 2014
THE WHAT= writing arguments about complex texts 1. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language 2. Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational 3. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction
SAP Assessment In the last paragraph of the “Gettysburg Address,” Lincoln shifts the focus of his speech away from what he says is its purpose at the end of the second paragraph. What reasons does he give for the shift in focus? What does Lincoln think is the task left to those listening to his speech? Use evidence from the text to support your analysis.
www.achievethecore.org • Read “The Gettysburg Address” silently. Then, listen to teacher read it aloud. • Translate into own words, silently. • Guiding Questions of Analysis “Question: What is the point of including the phrase “or any nation so conceived and so dedicated”—what would the sentence mean without it? Commentary: Without the phrase, Lincoln would only be talking about the survival of a specific place, the nation founded in 1776 (“that nation”). With the phrase… he says the question is not just the survival of that nation—but any nation built on the same principles. Lincoln says that what is at stake in this war is not just the freedom and quality in this country, but the possibility that you could build a country on these ideals. What is being tested is not just a specific place, but the viability of a set of ideals.” (Student Achievement Partners, 2014) • Students revise translations. • Repeat for paragraph 2 and 3
We contend that this won’t work. The How is as important as the What.
False Dichotomy SAP Approved: • Text in isolation • Textual analysis • Teacher-guided Evidence Example: “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”: what does it mean to be dedicated to a claim? One way to help students grasp the force of Lincoln’s words is to ask them to consider what would be different if the proposition changed – what if the nation were dedicated to the opposite, i.e., that some people are better than others? SAP Disapproved: • Background knowledge • Personal responses • Opinion Example: Have you been to a funeral?
Example: “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”: what does it mean to be dedicated to a claim? One way to help students grasp the force of Lincoln’s words is to ask them to consider what would be different if the proposition changed – what if the nation were dedicated to the opposite, i.e., that some people are better than others?
Task- Analysis vs. Text- Analysis
Inquiry (3rd Approach) • END IN SIGHT What should students know and be able to do? How will we know if they have learned? • TASK ANALYSIS How do we design lessons that help students learn the steps necessary to analyze texts successfully? • FOCUS ON STUDENT INQUIRY How can we design a unit to engage students in the kind of authentic, dialogic discussion described in the CCSS for Speaking and crucial for student learning? • FOCUS ON STUDENT INDEPENDENCE What can students do on their own as a result of our instruction?
CCSS Standards tied in with Model Lesson and Prompt • Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g. Washington’s Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech, King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”), including how they address related themes and concepts (Grades 9-10). • Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text (Grades 9-10). • Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
Task Analysis 1.Students must be familiar with political speech as a genre, and be aware of possible purposes. 2. Students must be able to recognize political speech writers’ use of language and of appeals like logos, pathos, and ethos. 3. Students must be able to make inferences about how the devices or “rhetorical features” help deliver a speech’s message.
Getting Started … A Pre-test Lincoln’s Speech to the One Hundred Sixty-fourth Ohio Regiment on August 18, 1864. Prompt: Write a composition in which you identify what the speaker’s main purpose is in making the speech, what the speaker is asking the audience to do, and how rhetorical features (specific language choices) contribute to the purpose and meaning of the speech. In your writing be sure to provide specific evidence from the speech to support your viewpoints.
Political Speech Opinionaire Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree People give speeches mainly to inspire other people to do something or act in a certain way. Public speaking is a good way to brainwash a group of people. Public speaking played a bigger role in the past than it does today. The success of a speech depends on the likability of the speaker more than on what the speaker has to say. People are persuaded by a logical argument more than they are by an appeal to their feelings.
Why is this man speaking? Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Address 2005
What’s this speaker’s message? Private, First Class Jessica Lynch Opening Statement to the House Oversight Committee
Author’s Purpose • Who is the speaker? • Who is the audience? • What’s the author’s purpose? • How do you know? Find textual evidence that shows the author’s purpose? • Why do you think this is the message? • What important words or language choices does the speaker use to get the idea(s) across?
vs. Which speech is more persuasive? Defend your choice with at least three specific quotes as your evidence.
THE ARTOF PERSUASION Start with accessible texts. Build skills there. Then power up! Take students to the next level of complex texts. They apply the skills previously learned.
Learning from the Masters’ Toolboxes Aristotle Logos- Logic or Reason Pathos - Emotional Appeal Ethos - Good Character
Aristotle Applied In your opinion, what part of this speech is the most powerful or most persuasive? In a well-developed paragraph, cite the passage and explain what rhetorical features you see that make the passage most effective. You can refer to logos, pathos, or ethos, and to other specific language choices we found (repetition, metaphor, parallel structure, diction).
Gerald Graff (2009) argues that close reading shouldn’t be decontextualized; for us to understand a work’s purpose, texts need to be presented in relation to other readers or critics. Close reading is not an end in itself. Graff, G. (2009). The Unbearable Pointlessness of Literature Assignments. The Common Review, 8(2), 6-12.
Providing some context President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."
Total soldiers who fought: 157,289 http://www.historynet.com/gettysburg-casualties http://www.army.mil/gettysburg/statistics/statistics.html
Lincoln was invited to give this speech at a dedication to a cemetery for fallen soldiers. Given what you know about the battle and war, what might be Lincoln’s purpose? What words would you expect him to use?
Delivering Gettysburg: An Analysis Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that allmen are created equal.
Gettysburg Address Formative Assessment: Write a composition that identifies Lincoln’s purpose, his call-to-action, and how rhetorical features contribute to the purpose and meaning of the speech. In your response, be sure to state: Lincoln’s main purpose, provide evidence from the text that supports the purpose, analyze the evidence to back your argument.
Post-test Lincoln’s Speech to the One Hundred Sixty-fourth Ohio Regiment on August 18, 1864. Prompt: Write a composition in which you identify what the speaker’s main purpose is in making the speech, what the speaker is asking the audience to do, and how rhetorical features (specific language choices) contribute to the purpose and meaning of the speech. In your writing be sure to provide specific evidence from the speech to support your viewpoints.
“The sole direct path to enduring improvement in the methods of instruction and learning consists in centering upon the conditions which exact, promote, and test thinking. Thinking is the method of intelligent learning, of learning that employs and rewards mind.” —John Dewey, Democracy and Education
Works Cited Graff, G. (2009). The Unbearable Pointlessness of Literature Assignments. The Common Review, 8(2), 6-12. Johannessen, L. R., Kahn, E. A., & Walter, C. C. (1982). Designing and sequencing prewriting activities. Urbana, Ill: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills. Johannessen, L. R., Kahn, E. A., & Walter, C. C., (2009) Writing about literature (2nd edition revised and updated). Urbana, IL: NCTE. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers (2010). Common Core State Standards Initiative | English Language Arts Standards | Reading: Literature | Grade 9-10. Retrieved December 2013, fromhttp://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/9-10 Statistics from The Battle of Gettysburg - The United States Army. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttp://www.army.mil/gettysburg/statistics/statistics.html • Statistics on casualities at The Battle of Gettysburg.Retrieved from • http://www.historynet.com/gettysburg-casualties Student Achievement Partners. (2014). “Featured Lessons: The Gettysburg Address,” Achieve the Core (website). <http://achievethecore.org/page/35/the-gettysburg-address-by-abraham-lincoln> "The Internet Classics Archive | Rhetoric by Aristotle." The Internet Classics Archive: 441 searchable works of classical literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.