Posting Bad Ads

If...

You posted your Bad Ad before we scored them today in class, you may want to go back and revise/edit your post. I'm sure you will find that a few changes can greatly improve your score. Look over the guidelines carefully.

Can't wait to see final copies!

Remember:

Definition/Compare-Contrast Essay Re-write/Upgrade is due tomorrow. Please post on blog so we can all read them.

All other work is also due FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12TH.

Fantastic work this unit! You deserve your upcoming holiday!

For your BAD AD

Steering you

Use these questions to help guide your Bad Ad essay. In addition, we will use them on Monday with the documentary we watch.

1. Who is the producer/storyteller of the message?
2. What is their purpose/motive/agenda? (to inform, to persuade, to educate, to call to action, to entertain, to shock)
3. Who is the intended (primary) target audience? How do you know? Is there another (secondary) audience?
4. What does the message say? How does it say it?
5. How do you know what the message means?
6 What format/medium does the producer use?
7. What are the advantages of the format/medium?
8. What methods/techniques does the producer use to make the message attractive/believable?
9. What lifestyle is portrayed in the message? What clues tell you ?
10. Who/what is left out of the message?
11. Do you agree with the message?
12. How might different people interpret the message differently?
13. What do you know; what do you NOT know; What would you like to know?
14. Where can you go to verify the information or get more reliable information?
15. What can you do with the information you have obtained from the message?

ATTENTION

UPCOMING DUE DATES:

Friday--December 5th--

• Expository Essay Due
• Imitation of "Dial vs. Digital" (Look at Jimmy's, Rachel's, Cathy's, Michael's--they're good! Make comments!)

Next Week:

• 3 articles you find and like, posted on blog. Include AUTHOR and SOURCE (Where did it come from?)
• 3 bad ads posted on blog.
• Expository Final Draft
• Bad Ad for Contest DUE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12th

For the Weekend...

REMINDERS...

Monday:

• RRN Check #2. Changes: substitute questions for "Pain" instead of "Hoax", and you can eliminate the Alice Walker essay (although it's really great, and I highly recommend it)

• First Draft of Essay. This can be a compare/contrast essay or a definition essay. If you are still stuck on ideas, just go with "What is tolerance?" You can take this in many directions. What does tolerance mean today in the world? To you personally? Have you ever experienced acts of intolerance by others? When is intolerance acceptable? Have you ever been intolerant of something/someone?

Ode to Tolerance

Ode to Tolerance
Lit II/Writing II

If we all saw each other as a person, we wouldn’t need tolerance.
We are all the same no matter what falls upon us.

Tolerance is the lock on the door of anger
Tolerance is the slow and hard walk away from pain and destruction.

Watching the hopeless child
Crap on the sidewalk

Waching the old couple
Beg for spare change

Watch as they cry
Because of gang violence

Watch as they’re jailed
From a far away range

Tolerance creates peace
Cause no one discriminates.

POETRY ANALYSIS and other writing assignments

IF...

You need help with any revisions, please come see me! The final draft is due on FRIDAY, November 28--in 2 days.

Tomorrow (Thursday) we will have time in the computer lab to work on blogs, bad ads, and other writing assingments. Come to class prepared to use every second.

Using FEAR

What do you think? Does the fear technique work? Is it appropriate? Does this make it a "bad ad"?

Important Information!

Current Assignments for Blog:

• Find a bad ad! Find several of them!
• Blog your response to pain: What is pain to you? Define it with your own examples. Be creative.
• Find 3 articles you LIKE that you find online or in print. Depending on its length, post the article or PART of the article on your blog. Write a short, pithy analysis of each one.
  What do you like about the article? What stands out?
  What organizational pattern does the writer use?
  Why should others read the article?
  

A Fitting Definition Essay

THE GRACEFUL PAUSE

By: Robert Fulghum
Author of: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

One of the small-but-important changes across the course of my life is the development of buttons. The kind you push to make something happen. Once upon a time we had levers. Then came switches. Now it's buttons.

There's a lot of touch-screen technology happening, too. And soon, everything will be voice-activated. That's not really a new concept, though. When I was a kid much of my world was voice-activated. For example, when my father said, "Bobby Lee, get your skinny ass off the porch and mow the grass or you won't get your allowance," I was thereby activated. And my father was voice-activated when my mother said, "Lee, take out the garbage or I will dump it in your underwear drawer."

My favorite button is the one on my CD player marked "Random."
I also like the one marked "Normal" on the washing machine.
And the "Casual" button on the dryer.
Most of all I like the "Pause" button on several electronic devices.
If you push it, things are momentarily on hold - not stopped completely - just in suspended animation. Push it again and the action continues.

These would be nice buttons to have on the console of my life. "Random for surprise, "Normal" for secure predictability, "Casual" for relief on the uptight days, and "Pause" when the traffic of the day threatens sanity.

If I could give our new President-elect a power tool, I would provide him with these same buttons to use on a national and international scale - for the same purposes. Right now we need a big "Pause" button.

For Americans, our annual Thanksgiving holiday somewhat serves the purpose. Though historians disagree on the accuracy of the facts about the beginning of the custom, the present reality is clear. Thanksgiving means: Take a break. Close up shop. Spend time with friends and family. Eat. Sleep. Calm down. Pray. Or at least even think about the state of human affairs and your own. Get a grip on things. Breathe deep. Consider the long view.

The word "grace" applies in these circumstances. Grace is a prayer said at Thanksgiving. Grace is a matter of good will. Grace is an element of mercy.

Grace is generosity. Grace is gentleness in manner and movement. Grace is the spirit in which the Pause button is gently pushed. Slowly. Softly. Pause.

Reader's Response Notebook Assignments

In case you've lost your assignments...

For this unit, you will complete your reading assignments in your Reader’s Response Notebook. If you would like to create a computerized Reader’s Response Notebook instead, that is fine, but it must be available for RRN checks on the assigned date. All of the essays come from the Riverside Reader. There will be three different checks of your notebooks.

For a “B” you must have all required parts, with a minimum of one standar page per entry (2 if a smaller notebook), written in complete sentences.

For an “A” you must have all requirements for an “A”, plus a response to these questions: What makes this an effective/ineffective essay? What questions would you have for the author?

Compare/Contrast:

p. 165-171—Outline main ideas; important terms: fanciful comparison, strict comparison, divided pattern, alternating pattern
“Two Views of the River”—Mark Twain. p. 174-177. RESPOND: What do you like about this essay? Dislike? One part that stands out? Answer: Questions for Response, Questions about Purpose, Questions about Audience, Questions about Strategies.
“Shop like a Man”—Paco Underhill. p. 186-201. Skim. Answer: What kind of strategy does he use? Explain.
“A Tale of Two Divorces”—Anne Roiphe. p. 203-213. RESPOND: What do you like about this essay? Dislike? One part that stands out? Answer: Questions for Response, Questions about Purpose, Questions about Audience, Questions about Strategies.

RRN Check: Monday, November 24th.

Definition:

p.337-344. Outline main ideas and terms.
“Doorways: A Visual Essay”—Christopher M. Pizzi. p. 347-352. RESPOND: What do you like about this essay? Dislike? One part that stands out? Answer: Questions for Response, Questions about Purpose, Questions about Audience, Questions about Strategies.
“The Hoax”—John Berendt. p. 353-357. RESPOND: What do you like about this essay? Dislike? One part that stands out? Answer: Questions for Response, Questions about Purpose, Questions about Audience, Questions about Strategies.
“Everyday Use”—Alice Walker. p. 384-394. RESPOND: What do you like about this essay? Dislike? One part that stands out?

RRN Check: Monday, December 1st



Cause-Effect:

p. 399-404. Outline main ideas and terms.
“Some Big Ideas Wash Up One Bulb at a Time”—Andrew C. Revkin. p. 406-411. RESPOND: What do you like about this essay? Dislike? One part that stands out? Answer: Questions for Response, Questions about Purpose, Questions about Audience, Questions about Strategies.
CHOOSE ONE out of these TWO essays to read:
“How Reading Changed My Life”—Anna Quindlen. pp. 420-429. RESPOND: What do you like about this essay? Dislike? One part that stands out? Answer: Questions for Response, Questions about Purpose, Questions about Audience, Questions about Strategies
“Why McDonald’s Fries Taste So Good”—Eric Schlosser. pp. 447-461. RESPOND: What do you like about this essay? Dislike? One part that stands out? Answer: Questions for Response, Questions about Purpose, Questions about Audience, Questions about Strategies.

TURN IN RRNS: Monday, December 8th.

Bad Ad Contest

Bad Ad Contest - Scoring Guidelines

1. Your essay must be no more than 600 words long. (Yes = 5 points, No = 0 points)

2. Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. (Up to 5 points)

3. Describe the advertisement, including wording, images, colors, brands, logos, etc. (the text of the ad). (Up to 3 points)

4. Identify the persuasion techniques used. See The Language of Persuasion (http://www.nmmlp.org/media_literacy/language_persuasion.html) . (Up to 5 points)

5. Describe the messages and values the ad promotes (the subtext). (Up to 5 points)

6. Explain how the ad challenges or reinforces stereotypes of individuals or communities in one or more areas (up to 5 points):

gender

class (socio-economic status)

race

age

looks/appearance

ability

sex/gender

7. Explain why the ad might be offensive. (Up to 3 points)

8. Explain what information is left out of the ad (the untold story). (Up to 5 points)

9. Explain how the ad could be more truthful. (Up to 4 points)

10. Send ad and essay to Ms. Lindsay (Lindsay-haggard@shk.qsi.org) by FRIDAY, December 12^th. Winners announced after Christmas break in Assembly.

Perfect score: 40 points

This contest is based on a contest in the United States. We are adapting it for our special purposes here at QSI Shekou.