Update Oct. 31

Bellwrite: What is liberty?

We had an extensive discussion on the meaning of liberty. Among other points, the following were raised:

1. Liberty comes from obedience to law.
2. Some laws are eternal and others are temporal.
3. Free agency implies that there is no law; whereas moral agency implies there is a moral law.
4. Some eternal laws might include the law of accountability/consequence, the law of love, and the physical laws of the universe (not to be confused with man's limited understanding of physical laws). Some temporal laws might include such civil laws as speed limits.
5. Fullness of liberty comes from training your heart to will the right things, which is done through obedience. Once your heart desires the right things, you will have power to obtain all that you desire.
6. Secondary values are the things we care about because we believe they will help us get something we want. Primary values are the things we want for no other reason.
7. We often mistakenly value secondary values as if they were primary values. Thus we must learn to value the things that will bring true liberty.

No homework.  Enjoy the holiday.

Update Oct. 29

Bellwrite: What is a promised land? What are the terms/conditions of the promise? Who is eligible to receive the promised blessings?

Students worked on the following assignment. We will work on it again tomorrow, and then students will need to finish what is incomplete for homework due on Thursday.

An Unbroken Chain: The Promise of the Promised Land

Central Questions

1.       What does it mean for a place to be a promised land?

2.       What are the terms (conditions) of the promise (covenant)?

3.       How has this covenant been fulfilled historically?

4.       Does this covenant apply to all peoples of the earth or only some of them?

Research

For each passage below, do the following:

1.       Explain the historical occasion of the speech.

a.       Who is speaking?

b.      Who is the audience?

c.       What has just occurred that has occasioned the speech?

2.       Explain the terms of the promise associated with the land given in the speech.

3.       What is important about HOW the speaker says? (Diction, images, tropes, syntax)

Abraham and His Children

Genesis 13:14-17

The Israelites following Moses

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

The Jaredites being led to America

Ether 2:4-12

The Lehites (AKA: Nephites) being led to America

2 Nephi 1:1-12

Captain Moroni Renews the Covenant with His People

Alma 46:1-24

John Winthrop and the Puritans

From “A Model of Christian Charity”

“Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into covenant with Him for this work, we have taken out a commission, the Lord hath given us leave to draw our own articles we have professed to enterprise these actions upon these and these ends, we have hereupon besought Him of favor and blessing. Now if the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission, [and] will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it, but if we shall neglect the observations of these articles which are the ends we have propounded, and dissembling with our God, shall fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnal intentions seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us, be revenged of such a perjured people, and make us know the price of the breach of such a covenant.

“Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck and to provide for our posterity is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end we must be knit together in this work as one man, we must entertain each other in brotherly affection, we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities for the supply of others' necessities, we must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience, and liberality, we must delight in each other, make others' conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God and delight in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness, and truth than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when He shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations, the Lord make it like that of New England. For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and byword throughout the world, we shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and all professors for God's sake, we shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going. And to shut up this discourse with that exhortation of Moses, that faithful servant of the Lord in His last farewell to Israel, Deut. 30., Beloved there is now set before us life and good, death and evil, in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His ordinance, and His laws, and the articles of our covenant with Him that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God my bless us in the land whither we go to possess it. But if our hearts shall turn away so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced and worship other Gods, our pleasures, our profits, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it. Therefore let us choose life, that we, and our seed, may live, and by obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him, for He is our life and our prosperity.”

Early Mormon Pioneers

Doctrine and Covenants 38:18-22

Please also study the talk by Jeffrey R. Holland called, "A Promised Land."

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/06/a-promised-land

Record Your Answers

1.       What does it mean for a place to be a promised land?

2.       What are the terms (conditions) of the promise (covenant)?

3.       How has this covenant been fulfilled historically?

4.       Does this covenant apply to all peoples of the earth or only some of them?

Update Oct. 28

Bellwrite: None--share two of your vocabulary words from the Columbus letter with your neighbor.

We discussed the Puritan conception of the American land as a covenant land. We explored the question of American exceptionality from both secular and sacred points of view. We considered that the American Founding and the structure of the Constitution of the United States are historically exceptional. We considered the impact of the Constitution on the governmental structures of many other nations which have allowed many to share in similar freedoms and opportunities to those enjoyed by Americans. We also considered that America is only exceptional in so long as it's people choose to be self-governed. The Constitution creates a space in which true liberty, or freedom from tyranny of the self, can flourish.  Religiously, the Americas have been a promised land where significant spiritual purposes have been fulfilled: the Garden of Eden, a land of liberty for Jaredites and Nephites, the cradle of the Restoration of the Gospel, the headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to go forth to the rest of the world.  We began considering what it means to be a promised land, and what the American covenant is. We will continue this discussion tomorrow.

No homework.

AP
We began learning about how to write a synthesis essay. We looked at two sources: a Keep America Beautiful PSA commercial and Columbus' letter to see how the producer/author would answer the prompt (See below.).

Homework: Complete the synthesis argument summaries for the three articles received in class.

Synthesis Essay Prompt: The Question of Wilderness

The Wilderness Act of 1964 was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (36,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a long effort to protect federal wilderness and to create a formal mechanism for designating wilderness, the Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964 after over sixty drafts and eight years of work.

The Wilderness Act is well known for its succinct and poetic definition of wilderness:

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

The current amount of areas designated by the NWPS as wilderness totals 757 areas encompassing 109.5 million acres of federally owned land in 44 states and Puerto Rico (5% of the land in the United States).

The Wilderness Act was designed to protect wilderness areas from direct and immediate human disturbances, but serious questions have been raised about the legal meaning of “wilderness” when the areas are deemed threatened by human-induced changes occurring on a much wider, or even global, scale. Some have advocated for increased interventions into the natural ecologies of wilderness areas, including an emphasis on restoring wildlife populations, in order to preempt or counteract such changes.

Carefully read the following sources. Then in an essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position on the following question. To what extent do you agree with the definition of wilderness as defined by the Wilderness Act of 1964? To what extent should this definition be the basis for federal laws protecting or restoring land?

Make certain that you take a position and that the essay centers on your argument.

Update Oct. 25

Bellwrite: What is Columbus' argument about the American land? What is his argument about the natives?

We worked in groups to discuss the bellwrite question, finding specific passages from Columbus' letter that support our perspectives.

Homework:
Answer the following questions about Columbus' letter.

1.       Look up 3 vocabulary words from this reading. Write down their part of speech and definitions.

2.       Why is it significant that Columbus names the islands he discovers?

3.       What images does Columbus include in order to persuade King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that his voyage was a good investment? Why would those images likely be persuasive to the king and queen?

4.       Which details in his description of the land evoke the idea that he has rediscovered the Garden of Eden?

5.       Explain how he portrays the natives.

AP
We reviewed our current events from the week. Students also turned in their essays on Thomas Paine. We worked on practice ACT English questions.

Homework: Either take the ACT on Saturday or spend at least 30 minutes working on a practice standardized test. Vocabulary is due on Monday.

Update Oct. 24

Bellwrite: What is Doyle saying about the human heart?

Students took a vocabulary quiz.

We discussed Doyle's article. We worked to describe his writing style as well as his central message.

Homework: Read through once Columbus' letter concerning his first voyage: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/garden/columbus.html

Update Oct. 23

Bellwrite: Learn the following words from our word well:

• limpid (25)
• unencumbered (26)
• tactual (27)
• dissimulation (28)

We spent a few minutes answering final questions on the Dillard questions.

We began reading our next essay for our unit on American Land: "Joyas Voladoras" by Brian Doyle. Doyle's bio (http://www.actapublications.com/authors/brian-doyle/) is as colorful as his essay(http://youmightfindyourself.com/post/37013444071/joyas-voladoras). As you read the essay, pay attention to HOW Doyle says as well as WHAT he says. Pay particular attention to his use of tropes.

Homework

• Finish reading and annotating Doyle's essay.
• Prepare for a vocabulary quiz on the word well.

AP
We continued workshopping our essays on the Thomas Paine prompt. These essays are due Friday.

Update Oct. 21

Bellwrite: Define the following terms and give an example of each:

• simile
• metaphor
• personification
• onomatopoeia
• oxymoron
• alliteration

We reviewed the distinction between WHAT someone says and HOW they say. HOW someone says in writing is determined by choices about the following elements. (Note, bolded words are most likely new literary terms that students should know.)

• organization (groups of paragraphs working together to establish "chunks" of thought)
• images (including literary tropes such as metaphors, similes, personification, etc.)
• syntax (how clauses, phrases, and words are put together to create sentence fluency and emphasis)
• diction (including attention to the sounds the words make--consonance, assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc.)

Decisions about HOW to say something in writing influence determine WHAT is communicated. They create the emotional and logical appeals of messages.  Imagine the different ways to "deliver" a first kiss, and you will quickly get the idea that HOW determines WHAT. The tone of a text is the writer's attitude and emotions towards the subject and towards the audience.

Students received a set of study questions to guide their thinking about Dillard's essay. They worked in pairs on responding to these questions, writing their responses on lined paper.

Homework
Finish responding to the study questions for Dillard's essay.
Study vocabulary from Dillard's essay:
exult (15)
minutiae (17)
nonchalant (16)
appall (19)
pallor (19)
roil (20)
sere (20)
limpid (25)
unencumbered (26)
tactual (27)
dissimulation (28)

AP
Students worked to rewrite their essays on the Thomas Paine prompt. This effort represents a synthesis of all that we learned during Term 1 about argument.

Update Oct. 17

Bellwrite: What does it mean to see?

We discussed the Bellwrite question in light of Annie Dillard's article "Seeing" (Chapter 2 from her book A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek). We are working on understanding WHAT Dillard is saying. Next week we will follow up with understanding more about HOW Dillard is saying. Ultimately, we will find that the HOW she says is very much the WHAT she says.

We saw that seeing is about both sensation--the data that comes to us directly from our senses--and perception (our conceptualization/verbalization of the data; our minds' interpretations of the sense data of sensation). We recognized that oftentimes we cannot see until we gain more knowledge about a subject (become what Dillard calls an expert or a lover), yet oftentimes it is our knowledge that keeps us from truly seeing our subject, what we called the Other. Seeing is relational, and requires Other-orientation rather than Self-orientation. Although we must love ourselves to see the Other truly, for appropriate self-love is a truthful way of being, true sight also requires a complete lack of self-concern, a forgetting of our preconceptions, agendas, and concerns.  We must be like a solar sail and orient ourselves to the light. Thus seeing is very must an expression, or perhaps THE expression, of loving. Is it something we choose to do or is it a gift given to us, like the pennies Dillard finds in life, a gift of grace?

We re-read from pages 31-32 of the essay.

Homework: Spend a minimum of 30 minutes out-of-doors seeing. Take a paper and pencil with you and write your thoughts about your experience.

Update Oct. 15

We did not do a Bellwrite today.  We read Annie Dillard's article "Seeing." As we read, we discussed not only WHAT Dillard was saying but also HOW she says.  Some of the tools writers use to communicate are the following:

• Diction (word choice)
• Images (including literary devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, oxymoron)
• Syntax (how sentences are structured)
• Organization (how paragraphs are put together)

We talked about how effective writing appropriately balances abstract concepts with concrete images. Effective writers must use concrete images and examples to earn the right to use abstractions. We noted that Dillard spends a great deal of time with concrete images and then occasionally "pops up" to higher levels of abstractions only to then dive again into solid details.

Homework: Finish reading Dillard's article. As you read, annotate abstractions and concrete images, use of precise diction (vocabulary that you learn), literary devices, and strong images.

Analyzing Images

During class we wrote paragraphs analyzing this image. We considered not only what the image was saying but also how it was saying it.

To write about what an image is saying, it is helpful to use the acronym: SOAP.

• Speaker
• Occasion
• Audience
• Purpose

To write about how an image is saying, it is helpful to consider the following elements of an image:

• Lighting/color
• Framing
• Focus
• Camera angle
• Captions
• Symbols

Now, please find another image to analyze. It should have a political message. If you are not sure where to start, consider finding an image that would reflect a Democratic perspective on the government shutdown as a counterbalance to this image which reflects a Republican perspective. Post as a comment your analysis paragraph explaining what the image is saying and how it is saying. Please include either the image itself or a link to the image.

This assignment is due after Fall Break.

Update Oct. 7

Bellwrite: When have you engaged in self betrayal recently? When have you been "alive" to other people? What does self-betrayal have to do with The Crucible?

We took time to study vocab. There will be a vocab test on Wednesday. We also had several logical fallacy presentations.
logical fallacies

Homework:

• Check Edline for accuracy. Let me know about any inaccuracies by tomorrow.
• Final draft of "Witch-hunting for Dummies" due Tuesday.
• Vocabulary test on Wednesday.
• Bellwrite journals due Wednesday, to be graded during fall break.

AP
We played "stump the chump" with vocabulary from the week.

We revisited the AP essay writing prompt from the first day of school. We began evaluating our first attempts at writing essays based on what we have learned about argumentation:

1. Do you have a clearly stated thesis (major claim)? Does the prompt ask for a claim of fact, value, or policy? Does your thesis give the required type of claim?
2. What are your "because clauses"?
3. Is your evidence appropriate for your audience, relevant to your because clauses, and sufficient to establish your claims?
4. What assumptions underlie your argument? (What is your warrant?) Do you need backing for your warrant?
5. Have you acknowledged and responded to counterarguments? (concession and refutation)
6. Have you used any faulty logic? (logical fallacies)
7. How have you as an author established your credibility? (ethos)
8. Which phrases are overly ambiguous or wordy? How can you improve the diction?
9. How does your diction appeal to the emotions of your reader?
10. Do your sentences have a sense of rhythm? Which ideas could be expressed with parallel syntax to enhance sentence fluency?

We critiqued our essays using these questions, in preparation for rewriting the essays. We only got through the first three items on this list and will continue on Wednesday.

We added to this list one more skill--qualifying an argument. This means that as a writer, you foresee the possible exceptions to your claim and make room for them. If you are trying to qualify your own claim, you can ask yourself, "How much?" or "Under what conditions?"

Homework: Refresh your memory, or learn for the first time, about John Locke's social contract and it's influence on the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Update Oct. 3

Bellwrite: Is John Proctor a hero? Why did he refuse to give over his signed confession.

We discussed how Miller casts Proctor as a hero. He ultimately refuses to give over his signed "confession" not to save his own name, but for the sake of not tarnishing the reputations of other innocents. Although he claims to be doing so for the sake of his name, he has already shown that he is willing to sacrifice his reputation when he confessed to his affair with Abigail.  Thus, the act of following his conscience is his salvation. We considered the fourth FACE principle: Conscience is the most sacred of all property. Perhaps Miller is suggesting the only true way to fight a witch-hunt: through following conscience in our relations with others. We also critiqued Miller's argument, for he is working from an incomplete worldview that does not accept the reality of God.

We reviewed expectations for the "Witch-hunting for Dummies" assignment.

We had presentations on the following logical fallacies:

• Loaded Question
• No True Scotsman
• Texas Sharpshooter
• Black or White

Homework: Witch-hunting for Dummies due tomorrow

Update Oct. 2

We experienced a witch-hunt simulation. Students were asked to write down their confessions and the names of any other students involved in a school crime. The psychological climate for these confessions was established by a planted student public "apology." We discussed the way in which the members of Salem were ritualistically purified by vicarious confession of others' sins. What does Bigsby mean when he writes, "The purity of one's religious principles is confirmed by collaborating, at least by proxy, in the punishment of those who reject them"? (pp.xvi-xvii) We considered the ways in which this did and did not unite the community. What is the nature of true unity? How does true unity respect the individuality of the members of a community?

The Crucible is not so much an exploration of a historical incident or even witch hysteria, as it is a study of the human tendency to "break charity with one another." (p.xv)

Homework: The "Witch-hunting for Dummies" booklet is due Friday.

AP
We continued studying Orwell's article. We evaluated Orwell's argument. Is he too demanding of our use of language? After all, language is by nature an abstraction and therefore will always be flawed. At the same time, perhaps we feel uncomfortable being told our slovenly use of language reflects an imprecision of thought.

Homework: Current event and vocabulary development

Update Oct. 1

Bellwrite: Create a word map for two of the vocabulary words from the word well. A word map includes the following: word, definition, part of speech, synonym, antonym, sentence in which it appeared in The Crucible, and a doodle representing the word.

We discussed the importance of studying vocabulary. We noted that precise vocabulary tends to lead to precise thinking.

Although word lists are not the most effective way to learn vocabulary, we will be studying the following words our students collected from The Crucible. Vocabulary is best studied in the context of the sentence where it is found, for then we can know how the word is used.  See accompanying page numbers to help you locate the words. We created flashcards to help us learn the words we do not yet know.

predilection 4
rankle 4
vindictive 14
injunction 7
dissemble 8
intimation 15
ascertain 31
prodigious 23
notorious 23
ameliorate 54
conciliatory
faction
indignation
indict
rescind
probity
lewd
abrogate
belie
quail

Homework: Read the introduction to The Crucible.