You have two jobs today: 1) bookmark this site and 2) comment below for a daily grade. Comment using your FULL name, last name first, first name last — and note that you DON’T have to set up a blog here, you’ll simply be coming here for assignments, tips and notes, or to comment on things I post here. In today’s post, introduce yourself to me and the class. Include nicknames, pronouns, favorite color, favorite artist (of any variety), favorite food, and a dad joke.

Fair warning: I’m 61 years old and I have 190 students on my roster this year. I love each and every one of you like the very special snowflake that you are, but be patient: it’ll take me a minute (or a good deal of the first semester) to remember it all.

So…the turkey is eaten and Black Friday is in the books. No doubt about it, the holidays are here — and with them comes a modern-day twist on a question that haunts mankind, and will serve as our guiding query for the next few weeks: Given our 24/7 news cycle, the rise of social media and the ubiquitous nature of cell phones, can there be peace on earth?

December 4-19 (A)/20(B):  The Big Holiday Debate

During your first class, of the week of 12/5, I’ll assign your team to either the “Yes, There Can Be Peace on Earth ” Team or “No, There Can Be No Peace” side of the debate. Then, working with your team, you’ll build your research-supported primary case answering this burning seasonal question, with several key deliverables, listed below. Finally, you’ll debate for your ACP grade.

The requirements?

As we’ll discuss in class, most scholars consider Jonathan Swift’s  “A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public” (1729)  to be the most brilliant satire ever written, addressing as it does the injustices the English had heaped upon the poor Irish — in particular, poor Irish catholics — for centuries. In the nearly 300 years since its publication, “A Modest Proposal” has inspired countless films (including this short offering out of Norway, numerous rock songs and a rap version) and, last year, served as the subject of a BBC podcast that should listen to at least the first 10 or so minutes of before you engage in your project work this week.

A complete and extremely effective Aristotelian argument, Swift’s satirical work still looms large, regularly making its way into modern-day political headlines — most notably, perhaps, a decade or so ago when Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich suggested that schools could save money by replacing their custodial staffs with their poorest students. The quintessential example of Juvenalian satire,  Swift’s hyperbolic essay suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies — in the process mocking heartless attitudes towards the poor as well as British policy toward the Irish in general. Published anonymously, “A Modest Proposal” sparked outrage in England and Ireland by readers who failed to appreciate his satiric intent — and at least one of his contemporaries turned the tables, suggesting that the proposal would be a way he could alleviate a debt he owed Swift.

Between now and right after Thanksgiving, we’ll be analyzing Swift’s essay, and you’ll work — either solo or with a group of your choosing — to make a commercial or advertising poster inspired by Swift’s classic satiric essay.

The Assignment, Due AT THE START OF CLASS ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 2 (A Day) or TUESDAY, DEC. 3(B DAY):

FIRST: Click through and read and watch all the materials linked in this post, above. “A Modest Proposal” is an essential part of our Western canon of literature, so you’ll want to understand it completely. It WILL come up again in college English, history and economics classes.

SECOND: Select a group of up to 3 partners (for a total of no more than 4) — or opt to work alone if you prefer — on a video commercial  or electronic poster for a product, idea, or social concept inspired by Swift’s essay. Opt for the commercial, and you’ll need to upload your work to YouTube, make it viewable so I can take a look, and provide me with a link when you’re done; opt for an electronic poster, and you’ll create your work in Canva,then share it with me.

Some things to consider as you decide how you’ll work and who you’ll work with: 

• Carefully consider your plan. Make sure you can work with the people you choose. Pick an unreliable friend, and you’ll be stuck with the lion’s share of the work. Elect to work alone, and you may end up feeling a bit overwhelmed.
• There’s no need to include yourself or members of your group in the video you create; you can collaborate remotely using video shot separately, stock footage, stock sound, etc. — but you ALL need to contribute equally to the final effort.
• As you commit to a plan, IMMEDIATELY set up your systems for communicating and collaborating.

Your requirements for either deliverable, DUE AT THE START OF CLASS ON DECEMBER 2 (A Day) or  DEC.  3 (B DAY):

1. In a single comment per group at the bottom of this post, list the names — properly spelled and capitalized — of all members of your group, or tell me that you’ll be working alone. If you elect to work in a group, everyone in your group must participate equally and be able to explain their specific role in the project.
2. Your project must be CLEARLY inspired by Swift’s satire in an immediately obvious way.
3. Your submission MUST include every part of the Aristotelian argument — and every one of Townsel’s required writing elements — to persuade your audience to do something specific — for example, buy a product, support a cause, join a group. It’s up to you, but from exordium to peroration, appositive phrase to power sandwich, ethos to pathos, it all needs to be there.
4. If you use graphics, video, sound our sources that aren’t your own work, you need to credit every bit of what isn’t you or your group’s original work or brainwave in a Works Cited page on the back of your poster or in your video.
5. Taking pains to publicly post your work and/or enable all share settings, submit  either your/your group’s actual work or the link to your group’s work to this Google folder.

Submit, and you’ll be living large...unlike our small friend, below…

You can feel it in the air! As the temperature drops, fall storms move in, and leaves begin to turn, it’s time to kick off preparation for the 12th Annual Great BTWHSPVA Pumpkin Debate, which truly is — no snark — the best of times, the time every BTW student lives for, the time all other English students envy.  As we get started, it’s time to dust off  our argumentative “skeleton,” our classical Aristotelian argumentative structure, again, and dress it up with some more Required Writing Elements.  Then, you’ll work with a team to employ all this newfound knowledge by creating a response to the standing Great BTWHSPVA Annual Pumpkin Debate topic:

Should the beautiful pumpkins pictured below be allowed to live, pristine and untouched, to serve as a harbinger of the harvest season, or should it be carved into a Halloween jack-o’-lantern? Plot twist: You won’t get to select your side in this debate. You’ll select your team, then I’ll  assign your team a side to prepare. 

Brace yourself! It’s spooky how much your writing will improve once we beef up our argumentative approach and work on sentence structure!

This Week’s Assignments:

FIRST: Reply to this post with the full name of every member, along with your class period, as a comment below, stating that you’ve read and understand the assignment thus far.

SECOND: Working with your group, and starting in the library on Monday, 10.3 (A Day) and Tuesday, 10.4 (B Day) begin creating — and share with me by the end of the week — a Google slides deck comprising all  parts of the Aristotelian argument, one slide per each part of the argument, complete with appropriate illustrations — for your assigned side. (As you work, you may add as many slides as you need, I just want to make sure you’re setting yourself up for success from the beginning).

You’ll start by researching pumpkin facts and debate angles in class, but as a group, you’ll likely need to work outside of class to create a solid argument. Previous efforts have included pumpkin-farming information, farm subsidies related to pumpkins, landfill estimates related to the carving of pumpkins, the history of the jack-o-lantern, sales data for fake foam pumpkins and, even, excerpts from an interview on enterprising team conducted with an actual pumpkin farmer they identified on the internet.

You’ll also need to identify which team members will deliver which parts of your argument. Every team member needs to participate in the delivery of the debate. Further, you’ll need to be ready to cross-examine the other side in your debate AND be cross-examined by them on Debate Day, October 26 (A Day)/October 27  (B Day). Time limits for the debate will be announced next week.

CRUCIAL INSIDER INFO: This debate gets a little more cuthroat each year. Costumes get worn. Special T-shirts have been ordered. Chants from the Lion King have been deployed. Smack talk rules the week before the big day. Bribery of your outside lawyer and business-community judges  — from pumpkin spice lattes to homemade pumpkin bread to pumpkin treats of all kinds — isn’t just tolerated, it’s encouraged in the spirit of the season. 

I’ll provide more info in class, but that’s more than enough to get you started.

THIRD: We’ll work back in Room 112/113 on Wednesday and Thursday to continue our group analysis of the Dodge Ram Trucks 2013 Superbowl commercial.

FOURTH: Don’t forget to order your copy of Frankel and Kang’s Facebook takedown book, An Ugly Truth, for your book check on 10.11 (A Day)/10.2 (B Day).

FIFTH: Celebrate the glorious Halloween season — and better weather — by watching David S. Pumpkins and his skeleton friends do their thing. Still the best thing Halloween in a long while. And with that, you’ll have dropped the mic on another week in Lang.

Welcome to AP Language! Please go find the syllabus in the Menu bar on the left, then reply to this post with the following statement, followed by your name: I have read, I understand, and I acknowledge the course syllabus and course expectations. Complete this as I’ve instructed, and you’ll receive your first class grade.

We’re going to have a great year!

Yes, yes, we know you LOVE working on REHUGO, but the time has come to wrap this project up and put it to use. (Remember, after you’re done, you’ll be required to have it with you — and, ideally, USE it — for every timed writing.) So, without further ado, here are next steps…

Visit the rhetorical analysis starter kit on the blog, review the resources provided on tone words and add a total of 50 tone words that cover every possible tone and situation you can imagine. (Pro tip: Review those released argumentative prompts as you build your list!)

Next , review the lists I’ve provided of rhetorically accurate verbs and find at least 30 – the more the merrier – that will help you upgrade your language on the exam. (Pro tip: Look up the words you don’t know!)

When you’re done, go through the blog and add to your REHUGO absolutely anything you think will help you improve your writing and the quality of your essays as we prepare for the exam. This is totally up to you: what do you think you need and will use?

Then, FORMAT your work so it is clean, legible, organized, and ready to for you to use – quicky – on your timed writings over the next several weeks.

Finally, print and staple or bind your work, and bring it to class for fourth-quarter project grade on April 6 (A Day) or April 7 (B Day).

Remember, this is you working to help you. This project — and the support and help it provides you over the next several weeks of test prop — will be as helpful or as useless as you make it. You know what to do!

Read this link, then read and examine with your group five different prompts of your choice from our historical index of AP Language exam argumentative prompts through the decades. Pro tip: Select prompts that at first examination might logically be used to explore or frame a text — and, ideally, a text like Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.

After you’ve analyzed those prompts, work as a group to develop a formal, AP-style prompt about The Metamorphosis inspired by the supplied New York Times “The Ethicist” column. Make sure that your prompt is formatted and reads like a true AP prompt, that it’s grammatically correct, and then add it as a slide to this shared Google slides deck.

Make sure you include your period, your table number, and the names of the people in your group in the speaker notes on your slide.  When you’re done, let me know, and new instructions will follow in class.

So…the turkey is eaten, your Slow Project is finished, and Black Friday is in the books. No doubt about it, the holidays are here — and with them comes a modern-day twist on a question that haunts mankind, and will serve as our guiding query for the next few weeks: Given our 24/7 news cycle, the rise of social media and the ubiquitous nature of cell phones, can there be peace on earth?

Nov. 29-Dec. 17:  The Big Holiday Debate

During your first post-Thanksgiving class, you’ll select a group, and I’ll assign your team to either the “Yes, There Can Be Peace on Earth ” Team or “No, There Can Be No Peace” side of the debate. Then, working with your team, you’ll build your research-supported primary case answering this burning seasonal question, with several key deliverables, listed below. Finally, you’ll debate for your ACP grade.

The requirements?

In the wake of nearly two years of a global pandemic, the turn to in-person school, and the crazy pressure of Ms. Townsel’s class, we can all use a break. A little time to put down the phone; do something low and slow; reconnect with family and friends; and enjoy taking it just a little bit easier. In that spirit, and in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, you’ll work over the weeklong break to complete what I like to call The Slow Project.

Slow Project Requirements

By midnight Sunday, November 28, select and complete one of the following tasks:

1. Select a beloved family recipe, engage the services of your mom and/or a few family members (or dear friends), then shop for ingredients, prepare your recipe, and serve and eat your dish — all the while talking, laughing and engaging with family members. The catch? None of you are allowed to use your phones for the entire time it takes to obtain ingredients, cook, eat and clean up after your feast. When you’re done, click through and complete the project reflection Google form. It will send you back a copy of your response, which you’ll need for the upcoming debate and a future writing project. Remember, low, slow and technology free.
2. Identify a beloved relative, family friend or friend who lives far away, then find or make some special stationery and hand-write them a four-page letter –– recalling special memories, telling them how much you love them, outlining your hopes and dreams…whatever you’ve got. The catch? You have to put your phone away — far away, in another room, or give it to a parent or sibling. After it’s written, hand-address an envelope, find a stamp, and mail  your letter. When you’re done, click through and complete the project reflection Google form. It will send you back a copy of your response, which you’ll need for the upcoming debate and a future writing project. The last part, if you choose to write a letter? You have to call the recipient a week after you mail it, talk to them about the experience of writing and receiving the letter, and take notes of your call so you can use it as part of our upcoming debate. And remember, through it all, low, slow and technology free.
3.  Babysit a child  10 years or under — neighbor, relative or family friend — for at least half a day. The catch? No technology. For any part of it. Play in the backyard, go to the park, bust out the Monopoly set — but no videos, video games, or cell phones. You can bake a cake, write letters to Santa or make a game out of organizing the toy room — but you’re going to kick it old school while you do any or all of that.
4. Upgrade your bedroom, the place where you (should) spend the most time recharging. Disconnect, then spend the day cleaning out your closet, rearranging your bedroom, painting a picture for your wall — just DIY something, anything that will make your life better. You may play the good old-fashioned radio while you work, but don’t touch the cell phone, the TV or other high-tech distractors.
5. Plant a winter flower bed or container garden for your family to enjoy. Enlist a parent, sibling or friend; go lay in your soil, mulch and plants; then plan, plant and water your winter garden. And, since you don’t want your phone to get dirty, put it away for the entire time you work.
6. Buy fabric and a pattern, then cut, sew, iron and model your new, handmade addition to your wardrobe. And, again, you may listen to the radio as you work, but that’s it — no cell phone, no
7. Spend a day volunteering at a nursing home or senior citizen’s center, and do whatever’s needed — without your phone. Talk to the folks around you. Listen to their stories. Help them with some basic chores. Ask them what they need and like and, perhaps, consider becoming a regular volunteer.

Enjoy your low and slow project and, when you’re done, discuss the project in detail with a parent, guardian or good friend. Then, click through to this Google form and reflect and report back on your experience — and come ready to talk about it in class.

I hope you enjoy this experience AND your entire Thanksgiving break. See you Monday, 11.29, for Swift project presentations and Slow Thing discussions!

As we’ve discussed so far in class, most scholars consider Jonathan Swift’s  “A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public” (1729)  to be the most brilliant satire ever written, addressing as it does the injustices the English had heaped upon the poor Irish — in particular, poor Irish catholics — for centuries. In the nearly 300 years since its publication, “A Modest Proposal” has inspired countless films (including this short offering out of Norway, numerous rock songs and a rap version) and, quite recently, served as the subject of a BBC podcast that should listen to at least the first 10 or so minutes of before you engage in your project work this week.

A complete and extremely effective Aristotelian argument, Swift’s satirical work still looms large, regularly making its way into modern-day political headlines — most notably, perhaps, a decade or so ago when Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich suggested that schools could save money by replacing their custodial staffs with their poorest students. The quintessential example of Juvenalian satire,  Swift’s hyperbolic essay suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies — in the process mocking heartless attitudes towards the poor as well as British policy toward the Irish in general. Published anonymously, “A Modest Proposal” sparked outrage in England and Ireland by readers who failed to appreciate his satiric intent — and at least one of his contemporaries turned the tables, suggesting that the proposal would be a way he could alleviate a debt he owed Swift.

Between now and the start of Showcase, we’ll be analyzing Swift’s essay, and you’ll work — either solo or with a group of your choosing — to make a commercial or advertising poster inspired by Swift’s classic satiric essay.

The Assignment, Due MIDNIGHT TUESDAY, 11.16:

FIRST: Click through and read and watch all the FRESH materials linked in this post, above. “A Modest Proposal” is an essential part of our Western canon of literature, so you’ll want to understand it completely. It WILL come up again in college English, history and economics classes.

SECOND: Select a group of up to 2 partners — or opt to work alone if you prefer — on a video commercial  or electronic poster for a product, idea, or social concept inspired by Swift’s essay. Opt for the commercial, and you’ll need to upload your work to YouTube, make it viewable so I can take a look, and provide me with a link when you’re done; opt for an electronic poster, and you’ll create your work in Canva,then share it with me.

Some things to consider as you decide how you’ll work and who you’ll work with: 

• Carefully consider your plan. Make sure you can work with the people you choose. Pick an unreliable friend, and you’ll be stuck with the lion’s share of the work. Elect to work alone, and you may end up feeling a bit overwhelmed.
• There’s no need to include yourself or members of your group in the video you create; you can collaborate remotely using video shot separately, stock footage, stock sound, etc. — but you ALL need to contribute equally to the final effort.
• As you commit to a plan, IMMEDIATELY set up your systems for communicating and collaborating.

Your requirements for either deliverable, DUE MIDNIGHT TUESDAY, 11.16:

1. In a single comment per group at the bottom of this post, list the names — properly spelled and capitalized — of all members of your group, or tell me that you’ll be working alone. If you elect to work in a group, everyone in your group must participate equally and be able to explain their specific role in the project.
2. Your project must be CLEARLY inspired by Swift’s satire in an immediately obvious way.
3. Your submission MUST include every part of the Aristotelian argument — and every one of Townsel’s required writing elements — to persuade your audience to do something specific — for example, buy a product, support a cause, join a group. It’s up to you, but from exordium to peroration, appositive phrase to power sandwich, ethos to pathos, it all needs to be there.
4. In lieu of our standing class Seminar discussion of Wu’s The Attention Merchants, your work must clearly evidence a tie to or inspiration from Chapters 13-15 of the book.
5. If you use graphics, video, sound our sources that aren’t your own work, you need to credit every bit of what isn’t you or your group’s original work or brainwave in a Works Cited page at the end of your video.
6. You’ll submit  either the work or the link to your group’s work to this Google folder.

Submit, and you’re free to enjoy a relatively worry-free Thanksgiving (well, except for the Slow Project)...unlike our small friend, below…