Update Sept. 30

Core
Bellwrite: How do you fight a witch-hunt?

Students shared their 2 vocabulary words from the reading and took a reading quiz on the end of The Crucible.

We had a "fishbowl" seminar on the play. Students in the "bowl" discussed the following questions:

1. Why is the play entitled, “The Crucible?”
2. What is being burned away?
3. What is being hardened?
4. What truths are revealed in The Crucible?
5. Who is the most heroic character in the play?
6. Is Proctor a hero?
7. Is it heroic or foolish to die in a witch-trial because you refuse to confess?
8. What does Hale mean when he says, “cleave to no faith when faith brings blood. It is mistaken law that leads you to sacrifice. Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it. I beg you, woman, prevail upon your husband to confess” (p. 122).
9. What does Elizabeth mean when she says, “You take my sins upon you, John” (p.127).
10. What does Proctor mean when he says, “Let Rebecca go like a saint; for me it is fraud!” (p.128).
11. What is the significance of Giles Corey’s statement, “More weight”? (p.125)
12. How do you fight a witch-hunt?

Students on the outside of the "fishbowl" tracked participation within the bowl. They noted who made comments and which new ideas were raised.

AP
Students shared the best word they learned over the weekend. Then we continued studying Orwell's essay.

Witch-hunting for Dummies Project

Create a pamphlet that gives instructions on how to stir up a witch hunt. Although your stated purpose is to show people how to spawn a witch-hunt, your true purpose is to help your reader know how to identify a witch hunt mentality and how to counteract it.

Your project must do the following:

1.     Accurately illustrate 5-7 instances of logical fallacies used in The Crucible. You should not only identify the logical fallacies but also explain why they are fallacious.

2.     Show how rational people can psychologically obligate themselves into believing in the witch-hunt. Why are they unwilling to see the flaws in their own logic? (i.e., How do personal guilt, public shame, and private agendas fuel the flames of a witch-hunt? Why does Hale feel bound to not question the witch-hunt at first? Why does Mary Warren join the witch-hunt and why does she rejoin it? Why does Danforth feel it necessary to uphold the court? and so on…)

3.     Explain the proper sequence for escalating witch hysteria, based on the sequence in The Crucible. How do you “cook a frog” by gradually turning up the heat?

4.     Explain the tactics of enemies of the witch-hunt. Explain examples of how 2 characters oppose the witch-hunt.

5.     Modernize the concept of witch-hunting. Show how in modern days, a witch-hunt may be conducted in the name of rooting out discrimination/intolerance. Give 2 examples from current events.

6.     Use illustrations or images to add interest. It should be visually appealing/fun.

7.     Have a professional appearance, be organized with headings, and appealing formatting.

8.     Communicate with correct grammar (Proofread carefully!).

Due Date: Friday, October 4

Update Sept. 27

Bellwrite: Record in your commonplace book what you learned that was most valuable to you this week.

Student presentations on logical fallacies:

• Kat--Ad Hominem
• Cayla--Ambiguity
• Nathaniel--Slippery Slope

Students continued working in small groups to describe the sequence of the development of  a witch-hunt mentality. Students also found examples of a logical fallacies from The Crucible.

Homework: Finish reading The Crucible. Locate two vocabulary words from the reading to add to our word well.

AP
Students shared current event briefings. We then began studying George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language." We considered whether the English language is truly in decay or whether it is simply evolving. We asked whether culture changes language or language changes culture. Orwell argues that good language causes good thinking, which in turn is essential to our political life.

Homework: Students should obtain a vocabulary notebook: small, so as to be able to carry it around and add words throughout the day. Students should find 10 new words this weekend. Vocabulary development is a critical habit that we must develop.

Update Sept. 26

Bellwrite: What is motivating Danforth? What is motivating Parris? What does Hale want?

Students continued to present on logical fallacies. The following students presented on the corresponding logical fallacies:

Jennis--Composition/Division
Luke--Middle Ground
Sam--Anecdotal
Yoojin--Tu Quoque

Next, students worked in groups of three to draw out a sequence chart for "steps in stirring up a witch-hunt." They were encouraged to generalize their steps, so that they would apply to most situations and not just be about The Crucible.

Homework: Find two examples of how, in modern days, a witch-hunt may be conducted in the name of rooting out discrimination/intolerance.

Update Sept. 25

Bellwrite: What does Proctor mean by his final lines on page 76?

Students began making presentations on logical fallacies. Anna presented on the Fallacy Fallacy and Hyeweon presented on the Appeal to Nature Fallacy. Students will be quizzed on their ability to recognize logical fallacies, and so should keep handouts from presentations with notes.

We discussed logical fallacies from Act II of The Crucible. Students received a project assignment for the play. This project will take the place of an essay exam.  Please see the project description in a separate blog post.

Homework: Read through page 100 in The Crucible.

AP
Students workshopped their essays on marriage. The first full draft is due Friday. If you are having troubles, please focus your argument on refuting the following argument:

"A legal ban on gay marriage is legislating morality and thus is a violation of the separation of church and state."

Update Sept. 23

Bellwrite: What does it mean to be a fanatic?

We read and annotated The Crucible through page ____.
 

Homework: Prepare your logical fallacy presentation. Prepare a single-page handout with the following:

1. Definition of the fallacy

2. two obvious examples of the fallacy (Don't make them up. Find them online.)

3. two subtle examples of the fallacy (Don't make them up. Find them online.)

4. a picture that will help us remember the fallacy

Print the handout and bring it to class for Mr. Dye to make copies. Presentations will begin Wednesday.

 

Assigned Fallacies

Strawman—Jason

Slippery slope—Nathaniel
The gambler’s fallacy—Sarah Sorensen
Black-or-white—Rachel
False cause—Claire-Issa
Ad hominem—Kat
Loaded question—Dylana
Bandwagon—McKay
Begging the question—Ellie
Appeal to authority—Inseo
Appeal to nature—Hyeweon
Composition/division—Jennis
Anecdotal—Sam
Tu quoque—Yoojin
Burden of proof—Samantha
No true Scotsman—Emma
The texas sharpshooter—Carly
The fallacy fallacy—Anna
Personal incredulity—Andrew
Ambiguity—Cayla
Genetic—Sidney
Middle ground—Luke



AP

Students took a quiz on rhetorical terms. Students worked on their marriage argument essays. I provided feedback on their core arguments while students critiqued each other's MLA citations. Students worked on developing the remainder of their essays.

Homework: Complete a full draft of your marriage essay (due Friday).

Update Sept. 19

We finished our discussion of Arthur Miller's argument about religion and oppression.  We then continued reading The Crucible through page 45. Miller wrote the play during the Red Scare of the 1950s in America. We noted that his personal experiences with ideological fanaticism probably informed Miller's argument about religious authority. As we read, we are noting how witchhunts are spawned by a desire to deflect shame, guilt, or punishment as well as by a desire to explain the negative experiences in the characters' lives (the death of children, the fact that a congregation dislikes a pastor, disunity in a community, the mischief and rebellions of youth, etc.). Likewise, personal agendas for revenge or status often channeled and targeted community mania.

No homework

Update Sept. 18

Bellwrite: Read to your neighbor what you wrote about agency in your homework last night.

We examined Arthur Miller's argument about a belief in the existence of the devil and its effect on American liberty. We then considered how a restored gospel perspective provides keys to understanding how obedience to Christ and His church actually creates freedom. We discovered that denying the existence of a devil actually makes man susceptible to fall into captivity. We noted that Miller is, probably unintentionally, committing a strawman fallacy by judging all Christianity in the context of a play about one of the most extreme examples of American religious fanaticism.

Homework: Read or listen to the talk "Obedience to Law is Liberty." https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/obedience-to-law-is-liberty?lang=eng

AP
We learned about parallelism, a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure. Parallelism gives the written or spoken word rhythm and balance. It can help set up comparisons of ideas and create emphasis. We practices rewriting sentences with faulty parallelism, including sentences using correlative conjunctions.

We continued working on our marriage essays. We reviewed citation of sources in MLA style. (See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/). Now that we have learned to present counterarguments and refute them, we will be developing a core argument in support of the position that the U.S. government should not legalize same-sex marriage. (Note this is an argument of policy, not fact or value.) One core argument might be that Legalization of same-sex marriage would is having serious legal repercussions limiting freedoms of conscience and expression.

Homework: Write a draft of your core argument paragraphs. Insert appropriate in-text citations for the evidence you have already included in your refutation paragraphs.

Update Sept. 17

Bellwrite: Respond to the guest speaker from the Constitution Day assembly.

We discussed Arthur Miller's worldview. In his discussion of American Christian culture on pages 31-32, he indicates he thinks that a belief in a devil is a weapon for keeping the ignorant subject to church powers and governments. We noted that similar arguments have been made by such thinkers as Freud and Marx. We began considering ways in which Arthur's beliefs may be the result of a limited understanding of Christianity.

We considered the puritan (and Calvinist) worldview, including the doctrines of man's total depravity, grace, and predestination.  This worldview has a limited scope--involving earth life, death, and heaven or hell.  We then noted that a belief in God's utter respect for agency completely transforms our understanding of man and God.

Homework: Reason about why a Supreme Being might value agency above all else. What does a Supreme Being desire? Write your thoughts in preparation for class tomorrow.

Update Sept. 16

Instead of a bellwrite, students took a quiz on the puritans and the first pages of The Crucible. We read and discussed The Crucible through page 31.

No homework.

Word Well
predilection
rankle
vindictive
injunction
dissemble
intimations
ascertain
prodigious
notorious

AP
We learned 4 new rhetorical terms (see Edline for PowerPoint).

I modeled the writing process for developing a refutation of a counterargument. We reasoned about the kinds of evidence that would be useful for supporting the refutation, and noted where research would be needful.

Homework: Fully flesh-out one of the three refutations for your essay. Conduct necessary research and supply evidence to support your argument.

By now you should have the following:

1) three counterarguments, stated in such a way that someone who believes them would feel their position has been fairly represented
2) for each counterargument, a concession ("It may be true that....")
3) following each concession, a refutation
4) one fully developed refutation with researched evidence

Update Sept. 13

Bellwrite: Record in your Commonplace book the most important learning you have done this week. In addition to writing your own ideas, please consider copying down a passage from something you have read.

We continued reading The Crucible through page ______.

Homework: Read The Crucible through page _____.

AP

We shared our current events briefings with one another.  Then we continued our work on outlining arguments for our essays on same-sex marriage.

Homework: Draft at least two explanations of counterarguments, concessions, and rebuttals.

Update Sept. 12

Yesterday (Sept. 11)
Bellwrite: What is evil?

We began considering the worldview of Puritans during the Salem Witch trials as an introduction to our study of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible. We began reading the play and noted that Miller does not have a favorable view of Puritan society, at least during the Salem Witch trials.

No homework

Today (Sept. 12)
No Bellwrite

We continued reading The Crucible. While reading, students are expected to annotate to enhance their comprehension. We read up through page 14. We discussed Miller's observation that all organization is based on exclusions and prohibitions and that unity must be balanced with individuality.  We also began identifying vocabulary words for our class "word well." Students are responsible to know this list of vocabulary on the board and will be quizzed on them when the well is full.

No homework

Update Sept. 10

No bellwrite

We looked at some specific logical fallacies in arguments on same-sex marriage. Tomorrow we will begin our study of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible.

Homework: Write a 1-2 page exploration of your beliefs about the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Update Sept. 9

Bellwrite: Write three concessions in response to Pollitt's article. Write a refutation following each of the concessions.

We finished our discussion of Pollitt's article (http://www.thenation.com/article/adam-and-steve-together-last#axzz2ePAW0mP1). We are working to identify assumptions underlying arguments about same-sex marriage:

1. Assumptions about the existence of God and absolute or relative morality
2. Assumptions about the origin and nature of man
3. Assumptions about the origin and purposes of marriage and sexual relationships
4. Assumptions about the relationship between government and morality


AP

We finished our analysis of Colson's article (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/june/8.72.html).

Homework: Do prewriting for your argumentative essay. Get all of your ideas down on paper so that we can organize and evaluate them during class on Wednesday.

Update Sept. 6

Bellwrite: Respond to Elder Oaks' article "Balancing Truth and Tolerance."

We continued our study of the rhetoric of Pollitt's article in favor of legalizing gay marriage.

AP
Students shared their current event briefings. Then we continued our analysis of the rhetoric of Colson's article against legalizing gay marriage.

Update Sept. 5

In Class

Bellwrite: Why is it important to study points of view that differ from our own? When has learning about a different point of view been helpful to you? Are some arguments true and others false? How do we balance truth and tolerance?

We talked about the importance of concession and refutation in building an argument. Concession is when you acknowledge the merits of a differing point of view. (It is true that...) Refutation is when you give a rebuttal of a differing point of view. (However, ...) We identified and summarized the concessions and refutations Pollitt makes in her argument. We summarized her sub-arguments using the format we learned in class: Because (evidence), therefore (claim), since (warrant). We then questioned the warrant.

We also made note of Pollitt's use of connotation (the implied social meaning of words), to evoke strong emotional responses from the audience.

As we study this argument, we will be identifying logical fallacies. We are using a chart of logical fallacies I handed out in class.

Homework
Study and annotate Elder Oaks' article "Balancing Truth and Tolerance."

Update Sept. 4

Bellwrite: How does argument differ from debate? What does it require of participants to take part in civil argument? What assumptions do participants have to make to do so? (e.g., assumptions about other people, assumptions about their own knowledge)

We reviewed some correct and incorrect examples of identifying warrant.  We noticed that when students fail to correctly identify warrant, it is typically because they are simply adding additional "because clauses." We noted that warrant can include more than one assumption. We also observed that identifying warrant allows us to more easily evaluate assumptions and critique an argument.

We read the article "Adam and Steve" once through to get the overall idea of the argument, annotating the thesis (main claim), the supporting ideas, and the evidence. We also studied vocabulary words from the article.

AP

I gave the current event briefing assignment. The first one is due this Friday.

We began analyzing the article "Societal Suicide" (Charles Colson). This article makes an argument against gay marriage; however, it is an argument that could be stronger. Our task is to first understand Colson's argument, and then to construct a better argument.

Update Sept. 3

Bellwrite: Instead of writing, you will be discussing today. Please share with your neighbor three of your reasons "Why someone should go on a date with you." Help your neighbor check to see if he/she has correctly identified the warrant for each of the three arguments.

We identified different types of evidence and evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of each type (quantitative, anecdotal, historical, literary, scriptural, observational, etc.). We recognized that the strength of evidence often depends on who the audience is and what type of evidence they will find most compelling.

We introduced the idea of logical fallacies: breakdowns and abuses of logic in arguments. Each student received a chart with various logical fallacies.

Homework:
Study the following types of logical fallacies and locate a strong example of each:

• strawman
• ad hominem
• black-or-white
• begging the question
• anecdotal

Update Sept. 2

On Friday we continued learning about the components of argument: claim, support, warrant. We practiced converting claim statements into the following format to help us learn to identify warrant:

Because (support), therefore (claim), since (warrant).

We practiced evaluating warrant to determine if it was shaky or solid. Shaky warrant requires backing.  For homework, students need to write five reasons someone should date them. For each claim, students must identify the warrant (the assumption which must be true for the argument to stand).

AP
We considered a list of vocabulary for rhetorical terminology students will need to master this year. We identified terms that students were already familiar with. We also discussed three types of claims: claims of fact, claims of value, and claims of policy.  For homework, students need to underline their major claim on the first timed essay they wrote. They need to determine if the claim (thesis) is a claim of fact, value, or policy. They also need to determine whether the essay prompt was asking for a claim of fact, value, or policy.