B. Borah
Centreville High School
English Language and Composition
[email protected]
English Department Chairman
Centreville High School
Fairfax County Public Schools
1
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Rhetorical Analysis
Occam's razor is a logical principle attributed to the mediaeval philosopher William of Occam
(or Ockham). The principle states that one should not make more assumptions than the minimum
needed. This principle is often called the principle of parsimony. It underlies all scientific
modeling and theory building. It admonishes us to choose from a set of otherwise equivalent
models of a given phenomenon the simplest one. In any given model, Occam's razor helps us to
"shave off" those concepts, variables or constructs that are not really needed to explain the
phenomenon. By doing that, developing the model will become much easier, and there is less
chance of introducing inconsistencies, ambiguities and redundancies.
Application:
Students walk into an AP English classroom, language or literature, and bring with them a set of
―tools‖ which they will apply to the task at hand. Some have refined, precise tool while others
have a cudgel and an adze, pity. However, they are in the class and your year will be spent
refining the students‘ tool boxes.
Before taking a tool out of the box, there is another step, the choice of the tool. This is the real
heart of the matter. Asking the right questions aides in tool selection. Therefore, teaching the
students to ask the question is the heart of the matter, and just like Occam, keep it simple and
direct.

Audience/ Biases

Speaker/ Biases

Subject/ Inherent Meaning
2
B. Borah
Centreville High School
“The C Word in the Hallways,” Anna Quindlen
The saddest phrase I‘ve read in a long time is this one: psychological autopsy. That‘s what the
doctors call it when a kid kills himself and they go back over the plowed ground of his short life,
and discover all the hidden markers that led to the rope, the blade, the gun. There‘s a plague on
all our houses, and since it doesn‘t announce itself with lumps or spots or protest marches, it has
gone unremarked in the quiet suburbs and busy cities where it has been laying waste. The
number of suicides and homicides committed by teenagers, most often young men, has exploded
in the last three decades, until it has become commonplace to have black-bordered photographs
in yearbooks and murder suspects with acne problems. And everyone searches for reasons, and
scapegoats, and solutions, most often punitive. Yet one solution continues to elude us, and that is
ending the ignorance about mental health, and moving it from the margins of care and into the
mainstream where it belongs. As surely as any vaccine, this would save lives.
(2) So many have already been lost. This month Kip Kinkel was sentenced to life in prison in
Oregon for the murders of his parents and a shooting rampage at his high school that killed two
students. A psychiatrist who specializes in the care of adolescents testified that Kinkel, now 17,
had been hearing voices since he was 12. Sam Manzie is also 17. He is serving a 70-year
sentence for luring an 11-year-old boy named Eddie Werner into his New Jersey home and
strangling him with the cord of an alarm clock because his Sega Genesis was out of reach.
Manzie had his first psychological evaluation in the first grade.
(3) Excuses, excuses. That‘s what so many think of the underlying pathology in such
unimaginable crimes. In the 1956 movie ―The Bad Seed,‖ little Patty McCormack played what
was then called a homicidal maniac, and the film censors demanded a ludicrous mock curtain
call in which the child actress was taken over the knee of her screen father and spanked. There
are still some representatives of the ―good spanking‖ school out there, although today the
spanking may wind up being life in prison. And there‘s still plenty of that useless adult ―what in
the world does a 16-year-old have to be depressed about‖ mind-set to keep depressed 16-yearolds from getting help.
(4) It‘s true that both the Kinkel and the Manzie boys had already been introduced to the mentalhealth system before their crimes. Concerned by her son‘s fascination with weapons, Faith
Kinkel took him for nine sessions with a psychologist in the year before the shootings. Because
of his rages and his continuing relationship with a pedophile, Sam‘s parents had tried to have
him admitted to a residential facility just days before their son invited Eddie in.
(5) But they were threading their way through a mental-health system that is marginalized by
shame, ignorance, custom, the courts, even by business practice. Kip Kinkel‘s father made no
secret of his disapproval of therapy. During its course he bought his son the Glock that Kip
would later use on his killing spree, which speaks sad volumes about our peculiar standards of
masculinity. Sam‘s father, on the other hand, spent days trying to figure out how much of the
cost of a home for troubled kids his insurance would cover. In the meantime, a psychiatrist who
examined his son for less time than it takes to eat a Happy Meal concluded that he was no danger
to himself or others, and a judge lectured Sam from the bench: ―you know the difference
between what‘s right and wrong, don‘t you?‖
(6) The federal Center for Mental Health Services estimates that at least 6 million children in this
country have some serious emotional disturbance, and for some of them, right and wrong tak es
second seat to the voices in their heads. Fifty years ago their parents might have surrendered
them to life in an institution, or a doctor flying blind with an ice pick might have performed a
3
B. Borah
Centreville High School
lobotomy, leaving them to loll away their days. Now lots of them wind up in jail. Warm fuzzies
aside, consider this from a utilitarian point of view: psychological intervention is cheaper than
incarceration.
(7) The most optimistic estimate is that two thirds of these emotionally disturbed children are not
getting any treatment. Imagine how we would respond if two thirds of America‘s babies were not
being immunized. Many health-insurance plans do not provide coverage for necessary treatment,
or financially penalize those who need a psychiatrist instead of an oncologist. Teachers are not
trained to recognize mental illness, and some dismiss it, ―Bad Seed‖ fashion, as bad behavior.
Parents are afraid, and ashamed, creating a home environment, and a national atmosphere, too,
that tells teenagers their demons are a disgrace.
(8) And then there are the teenagers themselves, slouching toward adulthood in a world that
loves conformity. Add to the horror of creeping depression or delusions that of peer derision, the
sound of the C word in the hallways: crazy, man, he‘s crazy, haven‘t you seen him, didn‘t you
hear? Boys, especially, still suspect that talk therapy, or even heartfelt talk, is somehow sissified,
weak. Sometimes even their own fathers think so, at least until they have to identify the body.
(9) Another sad little phrase is ―If only,‖ and there are always plenty of them littering the valleys
of tragedy. If only there had been long-term intervention and medication, Kip Kinkel might be
out of jail, off the taxpayers‘ tab and perhaps leading a productive life. If only Sam Manzie had
been treated aggressively earlier, new psychotropic drugs might have slowed or stilled his
downward slide. And if only those things had happened, Faith Kinkel, William Kinkel, Mikael
Nickolauson, Ben Walker and Eddie Werner might all be alive today. Mental-health care is
health care, too, and mental illness is an illness, not a character flaw. Insurance providers should
act like it. Hospitals and schools should act like it. Above all, we parents should act like it. Then
maybe the kids will believe it.
� The subject and the kinds of evidence used to develop it
� The audience—their knowledge, ideas, attitudes, and beliefs
� The character of the speaker or writer—in particular, how the speaker or writer might use
his or her personal character in the text (Roskelly and Jolliffe 6-7).
� Speaker or writer: Quindlen is a writer for the national news magazine Newsweek. She is
a highly regarded essayist and novelist and is a parent.
� Audience: The Newsweek audience would be made of a diverse group of educated,
intellectually curious readers who read widely and presumably care about the health and
well-being of adolescents.
� Subject: This article was published in November 1999, about six months after the
Columbine shootings. Anna Quindlen expresses her concern that mental illness is not
perceived by adults as a treatable problem and therefore often goes unchecked. Her
position also reflects her fear that disturbed adolescents in America, because of their
untreated mental illness, threaten the security of schools. Her evidence consists of
individual cases discussed in great detail, along with information about mental illness.
4
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Often writers and speakers use a type of logical reasoning called a syllogism. A syllogism has three parts:
• A major premise
• A minor premise
• A conclusion
Often writers choose not to state their major premise(s) directly. They count on the audience to be
able to see those major premises (or to unpack the argument). A syllogism in which the major
premise is unstated is called an enthymeme.
Paragraph #7:
―The most optimistic estimate is that two thirds of these emotionally disturbed children are not
getting any treatment. Imagine how we would respond if two thirds of America‘s babies were not
being immunized.‖
• Major premise: Mental illness is as treatable as physical illness
• Minor premise: Adults are responsible for the well-being of young people.
• Conclusion: Therefore, adults must do all they can to help mentally ill young people seek
treatment.
Enthymeme: Unstated Assumption:
―Many health-insurance plans do not provide coverage for necessary treatment, or financially
penalize those who need a psychiatrist instead of an oncologist.‖
What is the unstated assumption? (Hint: oncologist)
_________________________________________________________________________
Locate three more enthymemes, unstated assumptions found in the article.
1.______________________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________________
5
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Three part Journal:
Quote the article
Diction and detail
(3) Excuses, excuses.
That‘s what so many
think of the underlying
pathology in such
unimaginable crimes.
Three more examples:
Write the prompt:
6
Inference about the persona
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Application:
The following passage is from a letter by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762).
True knowledge consists in knowing things, not words. I would wish her no further a linguist
than to enable her to read books in their originals, that are often corrupted, and always injured,
by translations. Two hours‘ application every morning will bring this about much sooner than
you can imagine and she will have leisure enough besides to run over the English poetry, which
is a more important part of a woman‘s education than it is generally supposed. Many a young
damsel has been ruined by a fine copy of verses, which she would have laughed at if she had
known it had been stolen from Mr. Waller. I remember, when I was a girl, I saved one of my
companions from destruction, who communicated to me an epistle she was quite charmed with.
As she had a natural good taste, she observed the lines were not so smooth as Prior‘s or Pope‘s,
but had more thought and spirit than any of theirs. She was wonderfully delighted with such a
demonstration of her lover‘s sense and passion, and not a little pleased with her own charms, that
had force enough to inspire such elegancies. In the midst of this triumph I showed her that they
were taken from Randolph‘s poems, and the unfortunate transcriber was dismissed with the scorn
he deserved. To say truth, the poor plagiary was very unlucky to fall into my hands; that author
being no longer in fashion, would have escaped any one of less universal reading than myself.
You should encourage your daughter to talk over with you what she reads; and, as you are very
capable of distinguishing, take care she does not mistake pert folly for wit and humour, or rhyme
for poetry, which are the common errors of young people, and have a train of ill consequences.
The second caution to be given her (and which is most absolutely necessary) is to conceal
whatever learning the stains with solicitude…; the parade of it can only serve to draw on her the
envy, and consequently the most inveterate hatred, of all he and she fools, which will certainly
be at least three parts in four of all her acquaintance. The us of knowledge in our sex, besides the
amusement of solitude, is to moderate the passions, and learn to be contented with a small
expense, which are the certain effects of a studious life; and it my be preferable even to that fame
which men have engrossed to themselves, and will not suffer us to share.
Questions:
Write the prompt:
7
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Rittgers, Bryan. ―What The Hell Am I Supposed To Do With All These Constitutional Rights?‖
The Onion. 28 Apr 2009. Web.
Too much of one thing can cause a person a lot of stress, and you know what's stressing me out?
All these rights guaranteed to me by the U.S. Constitution. There's like—how many—a couple
dozen? And they keep adding more! Isn't that a bit much? I'm just a simple man who likes simple
things, and I can tell you right now, there's just no way I'm ever gonna need all those
constitutional rights.
Did anyone even ask me if I wanted all these rights? No, they did not. And, to be honest, I'm a
little chafed about it. It's hard enough keeping up with the bills in my mailbox without some
huge Bill of Rights hanging over my head. People are always talking about rights, or protecting
them, or trying to get me to exercise them. Enough already!
God, I feel like I'm being suffocated by personal liberties.
I've got rights coming out my ass. Seriously, have you looked at the Constitution lately? It's like
a giant to-do list of all these annoying, super-specific rights we're all "entitled" to. And right
there at the top is the right to free speech. Great, so now I got to think of something to say?
Thanks but no thanks. When I want to say something, I'll let you know. I don't need a right to tell
me.
Take the right to bear arms. Yes, there are times when you need a gun, but most of the time you
don't. So why go to all the trouble of writing it down and making everyone sign it? Just so I
know how many people I'm disappointing when I don't use it? I don't even like guns, but sure
enough, I've got three of them, right there in my closet. Where I've been granted the right to keep
them.
And another thing, there are way, way too many amendments. They've got so many, they've
started protecting me from stuff I might actually like. Like quartering soldiers. Are you kidding
me? I can't quarter a soldier? Who doesn't like a houseguest? I've got an extra bed, and my motto
is "Mi casa es su casa." Just bring a six-pack and we'll make spaghetti.
Another one that could go is the protection from search and seizure. First off, I got nothing to
hide. I know I'm innocent, so you aren't going to find any evidence against me unless you plant
it. Second, I don't need someone to protect my stuff. If you start messing with my property, I'll
call the police. Plain and simple. Then won't you look stupid.
Right to a speedy trial, right to petition, freedom of religion—on, and on, and on it goes. I'm over
40 now, so there are probably some in there I'm never even going to use. Look at me. Do I really
need the right to assemble? I can barely get my ass off the couch to go out to breakfast with my
friend Jerry once a week. And Lord knows Jerry isn't going to use his right to assemble anytime
soon. He still lives with his mom.
So there are two rights to assemble going to waste already, and I'm supposed to feel all guilty
about it.
8
B. Borah
Centreville High School
It would be a lot easier just to split them up, and give some of the people some of the rights and
other people other rights. That way they all get used, and nobody's left with a bunch of unused
rights, looking like a total idiot. Or maybe we could just have one personal freedom per day.
That way you could express your freedom of religion on Monday, and on Tuesday you could
move on to your protection from self-incrimination, and so on. At least that would be
manageable. Look, all I really want to do is live my life and pursue a little bit of happiness, but
it's almost impossible with all these rights gumming up the works. Why not get rid of the useless
ones and replace them with some new rights we can actually do something with? Like the right
not to get a million text messages from your insane ex-girlfriend, or the right to a clean bathroom
at the gas station, or free Netflix for everyone.
Questions:
Write the prompt:
9
B. Borah
Centreville High School
In the following two passages, Virginia Woolf describes two different meals that she was served
during a university visit; the first meal was served at the men‘s college, while the second meal
was served at the women‘s college.
Virginia Woolf: Two Dinners, one at a Men’s College and one at a Women’s College:
I
(5)
(10)
(15)
(20)
(25)
(30)
(35)
It is a curious fact that novelists have a way of making us
believe that luncheon parties are invariably memorable for
something very witty that was said, or for something very
wise that was done. But they seldom spare a word for what
was eaten. It is part of the novelist‘s convention not to
mention soup and salmon and ducklings, as if soup and
salmon and ducklings wee of no importance whatsoever, as
if nobody ever smoked a cigar or drank a glass of wine.
Here, however, I shall take the liberty to defy that convention and to tell you that the lunch on this occasion began
with soles, sunk in a deep dish, over which the college cook
had spread a counterpane of the whitest cream, save that it
was branded here and there with brown spots like spots
on the flanks of a doe. After that came the partridges, but if
this suggests a couple of bald, brown birds on a plate you are
mistaken. The partridges, many and various, came with all
their retinue of sauces and salads, the sharp and the sweet,
each in its order; their potatoes, thin as coins but not so
hard; their sprouts, foliated as rosebuds but more succulent.
And no sooner had the roast and its retinue been done with
than the silent serving-man, and the Beadle himself perhaps in a
milder manifestation, set before us, wreathed in napkins, a
confection which rose all sugar from the waves. To call it
pudding and so relate it to rice and tapioca would be an
insult. Meanwhile the wineglasses had flushed yellow and
flushed crimson; had been emptied; had been filled. And
thus by degrees was lit, halfway down the spine, which is the
seat of the soul, not that hard little electric light which we
call brilliance, as it pops in and out upon our lips, but the
more profound, ,subtle and subterranean glow, which is the
rich yellow flame of rational intercourse. No need to hurry.
No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself. We
are all going to heaven…in other words, how good life
seemed, how sweet its rewards, how trivial this grudge or
that grievance, how admirable friendship and the society of
one‘s kind, as, lighting a good cigarette, one sunk among the
cushions in the window-seat.
10
B. Borah
Centreville High School
II
(40)
(45)
(50)
(55)
(60)
(65)
Here was my soup. Dinner was being served in the great
dining-hall. Far from being spring it was in fact an evening
in October. Everybody was assembled in the big diningroom. Dinner was ready. Here was the soup. It was a plain
gravy soup. There was nothing to stir the fancy in that. One
could have seen through the transparent liquid any pattern
that there might have been on the plate itself. But there was
no pattern. The plate was plain. Next came beef with its
attendant greens and potatoes—a homely trinity, suggesting
the rumps of cattle in a muddy market, and sprouts curled
and yellowed at the edge, and bargaining and cheapening,
and women with string bags on Monday morning. There was
no reason to complain of human nature‘s daily food, seeing
that the supply was sufficient and coal-miners doubtless
were sitting down less. Prunes and custard followed. And
if any one complains that prunes, even when mitigated by
custard, are an uncharitable vegetable (fruit they are not),
stringy as a miser‘s heart and exuding a fluid such as might
run in misers‘ veins who have denied themselves wine and
warmth for eighty years and yet not given to the poor, he
should reflect that there are people whose charity embraces
even the prune. Biscuits and cheese came next, and here the
water-jug was liberally passed round, for it is the nature of
biscuits to be dry, and these were biscuits to the core. That
was all. The meal was over. Everybody scraped their chairs
back; the swing-doors swung violently to and fro; soon the
hall was emptied of every sign of food and made ready no
doubt for breakfast next morning.
Questions:
Write the prompt:
11
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Carefully read the following letter from Charles Lamb to the English romantic poet William
Wordsworth.
January 30, 1801
I ought before this to have reply‘d to your very kind invitation into Cumberland. With
you and your Sister I could gang anywhere. But I am afraid whether I shall ever be able to
afford so desperate a Journey. Separate from the pleasure of your company, I don‘t much care if
I never see a mountain in my life. I have passed all my days in London, until I have formed as
many and intense local attachments, as any of your Mountaineers can have done with dead
nature. The Lighted shops of the Strand and Fleet Street, the innumerable trades, tradesmen and
customers, coaches, wagons, playhouses, all the bustle and wickedness round about Covent
Garden, the very women of the Town, the Watchmen, drunken scenes, rattles; --life awake, if
you awake at all hours of the night, the impossibility of being dull in Fleet Street, the crowds, the
very dirt & mud, the Sun shining upon houses and pavements, the print shops, the old Book
stalls, parsons cheap‘ning books, coffee houses, steams of soup from kitchens, the pantomimes,
London itself is a pantomime and a masquerade, all these things work themselves into my mind
and feed me without a power of satiating me. The wonder of these sights impels me into night
walks about the crowded streets, and I often shed tears in the motley Strand from fullness of joy
at so much Life. –All these emotions must be strange to you. So are your rural emotions to me.
But consider, what must I have been doing all my life, not to have lent great portions of my heart
with usury to such scenes?—
My attachments are all local, purely local –. I have no passion (or have had none since I
was in love, and then it was the spurious engendering of poetry &books) to groves and valleys. –
The rooms where I was born, the furniture which has been before my eyes all my life, a book
case which has followed me about (like a faithful dog, only exceeding him in knowledge)
wherever I have moved, old tables, streets, squares, when I have sunned myself, my old
school,—these are my mistresses. Have I not enough, without your mountains? I do not envy
you, I should pity you, did I not know, that the Mind will make friends of any thing. Your sun &
moon and skies and hills & lakes affect me no more, or scarcely come to me in more venerable
characters, than as a gilded room with tapestry and tapers, where I might live with handsome
visible objects.—
Questions:
Write the prompt:
12
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Read carefully the following passage from Meena Alexander‘s autobiography, Fault Lines
(1993).
The plate glass window that protected me inside the place of delicate teas and sharply
flavored asparagus, tuna fish sandwiches with the heaping of scallions and mint, glinted back
oddly in my face. I caught my two eyes crooked, face disfigured.
What would it mean for one such as I to pick up a mirror and try to see her face in it?
Night after night, I asked myself the question. What might it mean to look at my self
straight, see myself? How many different gazes would that need? And what to do with the
crookedness of flesh, thrown back at the eyes? The more I thought about it, the less sense any of
it seemed to make. My voice splintered in my ears into a cacophony: whispering cadences,
shouts, moans, the quick delight of bodily pleasure, all rising up as if the condition of being
fractured had freed the selves jammed into my skin, multiple beings locked into the journeys of
one body.
And what of all the cities and small towns and villages I have lived in since birth:
/Allahabad, Tiruvella, Kozencheri, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, all within the boundaries of India;
Khartoum in the Sudan; Nottingham in Britain; and now this island of Manhattan? How should I
spell out these fragments of a broken geography?
And what of all the languages compacted in my brain: Malayalam, my mother tongue,
the language of first speck; Hindi which I learnt as a child; Arabic from my years in the Sudan—
odd shards survive; French; English? How would I map all this in a book of days? After all, my
life did not fall into the narratives I had been taught to honor, tales that closed back on
themselves, as a snake might, swallowing its own ending: birth, an appropriate education—not
too much, not too little—an arranged marriage to a man of suitable birth and background,
somewhere within the boundaries of India.
Sometimes in my fantasies, the kind that hit you in broad daylight, riding the subway, I
have imagined being a dutiful wife, my life perfect as a bud opening in the cool monsoon winds,
then blossoming on its stalk on the gulmohar tree, petals dark red, falling onto the rich soil
outside my mother‘s house in Tiruvella. In the inner life coiled within me, I have sometimes
longed to be a bud on a tree, blooming in due season, the tree trunk well rooted in a sweet
perpetual place. But everything I think of is filled with ghosts, even this longing. This imagined
past—what never was—is a choke hold.
I sit here writing, for I know that time does not come fluid and whole into my trembling
hands. All that is here comes piecemeal, though sometimes the joints have fallen into place
miraculously, as if the heavens had opened and mango trees fruited in the rough asphalt of upper
Broadway.
But questions persist: Where did I come from? How did I become what I am? How
shall I start to write myself, configure my ―I‖ as Other, image this life I lead, here, now, in
America? What could I ever be but a mass of faults, a fault mass?
I looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary. It went like this:
Fault: Deficiency, lack, want of something…Default, failing, neglect. A defect,
imperfection, blamable quality or feature: a. in moral character, b. in physical or
intellectual constitution, appearance, structure or workmanship. From geology or
mining: a dislocation or break in the strata or vein. Examples: ―Every coal field
is…split asunder, and broken into tiny fragments by faults.‖ (Anstead, Ancient World,
13
B. Borah
Centreville High School
1847) ―There are several kinds of fault e.g., faults of Dislocation; of Denudation; of
Upheaval; etc.‖ (Greasley, Glossary of Terms in Coal Mining, 1883) ―Fragments of the
adjoining rocks mashed and jumbled together, in some cases bound into a solid mass
called fault-stuff or fault-rock.‖ (Green, Physical Geography, 1877)
That‘s it, I thought. That‘s all I am, a woman cracked by multiple migrations. Uprooted
so many times she can connect nothing with nothing. Her words are all askew. And so I
tormented myself on summer nights, and in the chill wind of autumn, tossing back and forth,
worrying myself sick. Till my mind slipped back to my mother—amma-she who gave birth to
me, and to amma‘s amma, my veliammechi, grandmother Kunju, drawing me back into the
darkness of the Tiruvella house with its cool bedrooms and coiled verandas: the shelter of
memory.
Questions:
Write the prompt:
14
B. Borah
Centreville High School
The Myth of Sisyphus
by Albert Camus
The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence
the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no
more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.
If one believes Homer, Sisyphus was the wisest and most prudent of mortals. Opinions differ as
to the reasons why he became the futile laborer of the underworld. To begin with, he is accused
of a certain levity in regard to the gods. He stole their secrets. Aegina, the daughter of Esopus,
was carried off by Jupiter. The father was shocked by that disappearance and complained to
Sisyphus. He, who knew of the abduction, offered to tell about it on condition that Esopus would
give water to the citadel of Corinth. To the celestial thunderbolts he preferred the benediction of
water. He was punished for this in the underworld. Homer tells us also that Sisyphus had put
Death in chains. Pluto could not endure the sight of his deserted, silent empire. He dispatched the
god of war, who liberated Death from the hands of her conqueror.
You have already grasped that Sisyphus is the absurd hero. Myths are made for the imagination
to breathe life into them. As for this myth, one sees merely the whole effort of a body straining to
raise the huge stone, to roll it, and push it up a slope a hundred times over; one sees the face
screwed up, the cheek tight against the stone, the shoulder bracing the clay-covered mass, the
foot wedging it, the fresh start with arms outstretched, the wholly human security of two earthclotted hands. At the very end of his long effort measured by skyless space and time without
depth, the purpose is achieved. Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments
toward the lower world whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit. He goes
back down to the plain.
It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me. A face that toils so close to stones
is already stone itself! I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step toward
the torment of which he will never know the end. That hour like a breathing-space which returns
as surely as his suffering, that is the hour of consciousness. At each of those moments when he
leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the lairs of the gods, he is superior to his fate. He is
stronger than his rock.
If this myth is tragic, that is because its hero is conscious. Where would his torture be, indeed, if
at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him? The workman of today works everyday in his
life at the same tasks, and his fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments
when it becomes conscious. Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious, knows
the whole extent of his wretched condition: it is what he thinks of during his descent. The
lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory. There is no fate
that cannot be surmounted by scorn.
If the descent is thus sometimes performed in sorrow, it can also take place in joy. I fancy
Sisyphus returning toward his rock, and the sorrow was in the beginning. When the images of
15
B. Borah
Centreville High School
earth cling too tightly to memory, when the call of happiness becomes too insistent, it happens
that melancholy arises in man's heart: this is the rock's victory, this is the rock itself. The
boundless grief is too heavy to bear. These are our nights of Gethsemane. But crushing truths
perish from being acknowledged.
I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus
teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is
well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each
atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The
struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus
happy.
16
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Learning to Read
MALCOLM X
Born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, Malcolm X was one of the most articulate and powerful
leaders of black America during the 1960s. A street hustler convicted of robbery in 1946, he
spent seven years in prison, where he educated himself and became a disciple of Elijah
Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam. In the days of the civil rights movement, Malcolm X
emerged as the leading spokesman for black separatism, a philosophy that urged black
Americans to cut political, social, and economic ties with the white community. After a
pilgrimage to Mecca, the capital of the Muslim world, in 1964, he became an orthodox Muslim,
adopted the Muslim name El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, and distanced himself from the teachings of
the black Muslims. He was assassinated in 1965. In the following excerpt from his
autobiography (1965), coauthored with Alex Haley and published the year of his death, Malcolm
X describes his self-education.
It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of
a homemade education.
I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in
letters that I wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the street, I had been the most
articulate hustler, out there I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to
write simple English, I not only wasn't articulate, I wasn't even functional. How would I sound
writing in slang, the way I would say it, something such as, "Look, daddy, let me pull your coat
about a cat, Elijah Muhammad-"
Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read
something I've said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression
is due entirely to my prison studies.
It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy
of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversations he was in,
and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn't
contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in
Chinese. When I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of
what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only
book-reading motions. Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I had
received the motivation that I did.
I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary - to study, to learn some
words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It was
sad. I couldn't even write in a straight line. It was both ideas together that moved me to request a
dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony School.
I spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary's pages. I'd never realized
so many words existed! I didn't know which words I needed to learn. Finally, just to start
some kind of action, I began copying.
In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on
that first page, down to the punctuation marks.
I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything I'd written on
the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting.
I woke up the next morning, thinking about those words - immensely proud to realize that
not only had I written so much at one time, but I'd written words that I never knew were in
the world. Moreover, with a little effort, I also could remember what many of these words
meant. I reviewed the words whose meanings I didn't remember. Funny thing, from the
dictionary first page right now, that "aardvark" springs to my mind. The dictionary had a
picture of it, a long-tailed, long-eared, burrowing African mammal, which lives off termites
17
B. Borah
Centreville High School
caught by sticking out its tongue as an anteater does for ants.
I was so fascinated that I went on - I copied the dictionary's next page. And the same
experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and
places and events from history. Actually the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally
the dictionary's A section had filled a whole tablet-and I went on into the B's. That was the way I
started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. It went a lot faster after so much
practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing
letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words.
I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up
a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying. Anyone who has read a
great deal can imagine the new world that opened. Let me tell you something: from then until I
left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on
my bunk. You couldn't have gotten me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad's
teachings, my correspondence, my visitors, and my reading of books, months passed without my
even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my
life.
The Norfolk Prison Colony's library was in the school building. A variety of classes was
taught there by instructors who came from such places as Harvard and Boston universities. The
weekly debates between inmate teams were also held in the school building. You would be
astonished to know how worked up convict debaters and audiences would get over subjects like
"Should Babies Be Fed Milk?"
Available on the prison library's shelves were books on just about every general subject.
Much of the big private collection that Parkhurst 1 had willed to the prison was still in crates and
boxes in the back of the library thousands of old books. Some of them looked ancient: covers
faded, old-time parchment-looking binding. Parkhurst seemed to have been principally interested
in history and religion. He had the money and the special interest to have a lot of books that you
wouldn't have in a general circulation. Any college library would have been lucky to get that
collection.
As you can imagine, especially in a prison where there was heavy emphasis on rehabilitation,
an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books. There were
a sizable number of well-read inmates, especially the popular debaters. Some were said by many
to be practically walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities. No university would ask
any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being able to read
and understand.
I read more in my room than in the library itself. An inmate who was known to read a lot
could check out more than the permitted maximum number of books. I preferred reading in the
total isolation of my own room.
When I had progressed to really serious reading, every night at about ten P.M, I would be
outraged with the "lights out." It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something
engrossing.
Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow into my room. The
glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. So when "lights out" came, I would sit
on the floor where I could continue reading in that glow.
At one-hour intervals at night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the
approaching footsteps; I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I
got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for another fiftyeight minutes until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four every morning.
Three or four hours of sleep a night was enough for me. Often in the years in the streets I had
slept less than that.
The teachings of Mr. Muhammad stressed how history had been "whitened" - when white
1
Charles H. Parkhurst (1842-1933); American clergyman, reformer, and president of the Society for the Prevention
of Crime.
18
B. Borah
Centreville High School
men had written history books, the black man simply had been left out. Mr. Muhammad couldn't
have said anything that would have struck me much harder. I had never forgotten how when my
class, me and all of those whites, had studied seventh-grade United States history back in Mason,
the history of the Negro had been covered in one paragraph, and the teacher had gotten a big
laugh with his joke, "Negroes' feet are so big that when they walk, they leave a hole in the
ground."
This is one reason why Mr. Muhammad's teachings spread so swiftly all over the United
States, among all Negroes, whether or not they became followers of Mr. Muhammad. The
teachings ring true-to every Negro. You can hardly show me a black adult in America - or a
white one, for that matter - who knows from the history books anything like the truth about the
black man's role. In my own case, once I heard of the "glorious history of the black man," I took
special pains to hunt in the library for books that would inform me on details about black history.
I can remember accurately the very first set of books that really impressed me. I have since
bought that set of books and I have it at home for my children to read as they grow up. It's called
Wonders of the World. It's full of pictures of archeological finds, statues that depict, usually, nonEuropean people.
I found books like Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I read H. G. Wells' Outline of History.
Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois gave me a glimpse into the black people's history
before they came to this country. Carter G. Woodson's Negro History opened my eyes about
black empires before the black slave was brought to the United States, and the early Negro
struggles for freedom.
J. A. Rogers‘ three volumes of Sex and Race told about race-mixing before Christ's time; and
Aesop being a black man who told fables; about Egypt's Pharaohs; about the great Coptic
Christian Empire2; about Ethiopia, the earth's oldest continuous black civilization, as China is the
oldest continuous civilization.
Mr. Muhammad's teaching about how the white man had been created led me to Findings in
Genetics, by Gregor Mendel. (The dictionary's G section was where I had learned what
"genetics" meant.) I really studied this book by the Austrian monk. Reading it over and over,
especially certain sections, helped me to understand that if you started with a black man, a white
man could be produced; but starting with a white man, you never could produce a black man because the white chromosome is recessive. And since no one disputes that there was but one
Original Man, the conclusion is clear.
During the last year or so, in the New York Times, Arnold Toynbeell used the word
"bleached" in describing the white man. His words were: ―White (i.e., bleached) human beings
of North European origin…" Toynbee also referred to the European geographic area as only a
peninsula of Asia. He said there was no such thing as Europe. And if you look at the globe, you
will see for yourself that America is only an extension of Asia. (But at the same time Toynbee is
among those who have helped to bleach history. He has written that Africa was the only
continent that produced no history. He won't write that again. Every day now, the truth is coming
to light.)
I never will forget how shocked I was when I began reading about slavery's total horror. It
made such an impact upon me that it later became one of my favorite subjects when I became a
minister of Mr. Muhammad's. The world's most monstrous crime, the sin and the blood on the
white man's hands, are almost impossible to believe. Books like the one by Frederick Olmsted
opened my eyes to the horrors suffered when the slave was landed in the United States. The
European woman, Fanny Kemble, who had married a Southern white slaveowner, described how
human beings were degraded. Of course I read Uncle Tom's Cabin. In fact, I believe that's the
only novel I have ever read since I started serious reading.
Parkhurst's collection also contained some bound pamphlets of the Abolitionist Anti-Slavery
Society of New England. I read descriptions of atrocities, saw those illustrations of black slave
women tied up and flogged with whips; of black mothers watching their babies being dragged
2
A native Egyptian Christian church that retains elements of its African origins.
19
B. Borah
Centreville High School
off, never to be seen by their mothers again; of dogs after slaves, and of the fugitive slave
catchers, evil white men with whips and clubs and chains and guns. I read about the slave
preacher Nat Turner, who put the fear of God into the white slave master. Nat Turner wasn't
going around preaching pie-in-the-sky and "non-violent" freedom for the black man. There in
Virginia one night in 1831, Nat and seven other slaves started out at his master's home and
through the night they went from one plantation "big house" to the next, killing, until by the next
morning 57 white people were dead and Nat had about 70 slaves following him. White people,
terrified for their lives, fled from their homes, locked themselves up in public buildings, hid in
the woods, and some even left the state. A small army of soldiers took two months to catch and
hang Nat Turner. Somewhere I have read where Nat Turner's example is said to have inspired
John Brown to invade Virginia and attack Harpers Ferry nearly thirty years later, with thirteen
white men and five Negroes.
I read Herodotus, "the father of History," or, rather, I read about him. And I read the
histories of various nations, which opened my eyes gradually, then wider and wider, to how
the whole world's white men had indeed acted like devils, pillaging and raping and bleeding
and draining the whole world's non-white people. I remember, for instance, books such as
Will Durant's The Story of Oriental Civilization, and Mahatma Gandhi's accounts of the
struggle to drive the British out of India.
Book after book showed me how the white man had brought upon the world's black,
brown, red, and yellow peoples every variety of the suffering of exploitation. I saw how
since the sixteenth century, the so-called "Christian trader" white man began to ply the seas
in his lust for Asian and African empires, and plunder, and power. I read, I saw, how the
white man never has gone among the non-white peoples bearing the Cross in the true manner
and spirit of Christ's teachings - meek, humble, and Christ like.
I perceived, as I read, how the collective white man had been actually nothing but a piratical
opportunist who used Faustian machinations 3 to make his own Christianity his initial wedge in
criminal conquests. First, always "religiously," he branded "heathen" and "pagan" labels upon
ancient non-white cultures and civilizations. The stage thus set, he then turned upon his nonwhite victims his weapons of war.
I read how, entering India - half a billion deeply religious brown people - the British white
man, by 1759, through promises, trickery, and manipulations, controlled much of India through
Great Britain's East India Company. The parasitical British administration kept tentacling out to
half of the sub-continent. In 1857, some of the desperate people of India finally mutinied - and,
excepting the African slave trade, nowhere has history recorded any more unnecessary bestial
and ruthless human carnage than the British suppression of the non-white Indian people.
Over 115 million African blacks - close to the 1930's population of the United States-were
murdered or enslaved during the slave trade. And I read how when the slave market was glutted,
the cannibalistic white powers of Europe next carved up, as their colonies, the richest areas of the
black continent. And Europe's chancelleries for the next century played a chess game of naked
exploitation and power from Cape Horn to Cairo.
Ten guards and the warden couldn't have torn me out of those books. Not even Elijah
Muhammad could have been more eloquent than those books were in providing indisputable
proof that the collective white man had acted like a devil in virtually every contact he had with
the world's collective non-white man. I listen today to the radio, and watch television, and read
the headlines about the collective white man's fear and tension concerning China. When the
white man professes ignorance about why the Chinese hate him so, my mind can't help flashing
back to what I read, there in prison, about how the blood forebears of this same white man raped
China at a time when China was trusting and helpless. Those original white "Christian traders"
sent into China millions of pounds of opium. By 1839, so many of the Chinese were addicts that
3
Evil plots or schemes. Faust was a fictional character who sold his soul to the devil for knowledge and power.
20
B. Borah
Centreville High School
China's desperate government destroyed twenty thousand chests of opium. The first Opium war 4
was promptly declared by the white man. Imagine! Declaring war upon someone who objects to
being narcotized! The Chinese were severely beaten, with Chinese-invented gunpowder.
The Treaty of Nanking made China pay the British white man for the destroyed opium;
forced open China's major ports to British trade; forced China to abandon Hong Kong; fixed
China's import tariffs so low that cheap British articles soon flooded in, maiming China's
industrial development.
After a second Opium War, the Tientsin Treaties legalized the ravaging opium trade,
legalized a British-French-American control of China's customs. China tried delaying that
Treaty's ratification; Peking was looted and burned.
"Kill the foreign white devils!" was the 1901 Chinese war cry in the Boxer Rebellion 5.
Losing again, this time the Chinese were driven from Peking's choicest areas. The vicious,
arrogant white man put up the famous signs, "Chinese and dogs not allowed."
Red China after World War II closed its doors to the Western white world. Massive Chinese
agricultural, scientific, and industrial efforts are described in a book that Life magazine recently
published. Some observers inside Red China have reported that the world never has known such
a hate-white campaign as is now going on in this non-white country where, present birth-rates
continuing, in fifty more years Chinese will be half the earth's population. And it seems that
some Chinese chickens will soon come home to roost, with China's recent successful nuclear
tests.
Let us face reality. We can see in the United Nations a new world order being shaped, along
color lines - an alliance among the non-white nations. America's U.N. Ambassador Adlai
Stevenson complained not long ago that in the United Nations "a skin game" was being played.
He was right. He was facing reality. A "skin game" is being played. But Ambassador Stevenson
sounded like Jesse James accusing the marshal of carrying a gun. Because who in the world's
history ever has played a worse "skin game" than the white man?
Mr. Muhammad, to whom I was writing daily, had no idea of what a new world had opened
up to me through my efforts to document his teachings in books.
When I discovered philosophy, I tried to touch all the landmarks of philosophical
development. Gradually, I read most of the old philosophers, Occidental and Oriental. The
Oriental philosophers were the ones I came to prefer; finally, my impression was that most
Occidental philosophy had largely been borrowed from the Oriental thinkers. Socrates, for
instance, traveled in Egypt. Some sources even say that Socrates was initiated into some of the
Egyptian mysteries. Obviously Socrates got some of his wisdom among the East's wise men.
I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there in
prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read
awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn't seeking any
degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education
gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness,
dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English
writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, "What's your alma mater?" I told
him, "Books." You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I'm not studying
something I feel might be able to help the black man.
Yesterday I spoke in London, and both ways on the plane across the Atlantic I was studying
a document about how the United Nations proposes to insure the human rights of the oppressed
minorities of the world. The American black man is the world's most shameful case of minority
oppression. What makes the black man think of himself as only an internal United States issue is
just a catch-phrase, two words, "civil rights." How is the black man going to get "civil rights"
4
The ―Opium War‖ of 1839-1842 was between Britain and China and ended when Hong Kong was handed over to
Britain.
5
The Boxer Rebellion of 1898-1900. An uprising by members of a secret Chinese society who opposed foreign
influence in Chinese affairs.
21
B. Borah
Centreville High School
before first he wins his human rights? If the American black man will start thinking about his
human rights, and then start thinking of himself as part of one of the world's great peoples, he
will see he has a case for the United Nations.
I can't think of a better case! Four hundred years of black blood and sweat invested here in
America, and the white man still has the black man begging for what every immigrant fresh off
the ship can take for granted the minute he walks down the gangplank.
But I'm digressing. I told the Englishman that my alma mater was books, a good library.
Every time I catch a plane, I have with me a book that I want to read-and that's a lot of books
these days. If I were not out here every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my
life reading, just satisfying my curiosity - because you can hardly mention anything I'm not
curious about. I don't think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did.
In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone
differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with
colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boola-boola
and all of that. Where else but in a prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to
study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day?
22
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Pete Hamill
―Crack and the Box‖
One sad rainy morning last winter, I talked to a woman who was addicted to crack cocaine.
She was twenty-two, stiletto-thin, with eyes as old as tombs. She was living in two rooms in
a welfare hotel with her children, who were two, three, and five years of age. Her story was
the usual tangle of human woe: early pregnancy, dropping out of school, vanished men,
smack and then crack, tricks with johns in parked cars to pay for the dope. I asked her why
she did drugs. She shrugged in an empty way and couldn't really answer beyond "makes me
feel good." While we talked and she told her tale of squalor, the children ignored us. They
were watching television.
Walking back to my office in the rain, I brooded about the woman, her zombielike children,
and my own callous indifference. I'd heard so many versions of the same story that I almost
never wrote them anymore; the sons of similar women, glimpsed a dozen years ago, are now
in Dannemora or Soledad or Joliet; in a hundred cities, their daughters are moving into the
same loveless rooms. As I walked, a series of homeless men approached me for change,
most of them junkies. Others sat in doorways, staring at nothing. They were additional
casualties of our time of plague, demoralized reminders that although this country holds
only 2 percent of the world's population, it consumes 65 percent of the world's supply of
hard drugs.
Why, for God's sake? Why do so many millions of Americans of all ages, races, and classes
choose to spend all or part of their lives stupefied? I've talked to hundreds of addicts over
the years; some were my friends. But none could give sensible answers. They stutter about
the pain of the world, about despair or boredom, the urgent need for magic or pleasure in a
society empty of both. But then they just shrug. Americans have the money to buy drugs;
the supply is plentiful. But almost nobody in power asks, Why? Least of all, George Bush
and his drug warriors.
William Bennett talks vaguely about the heritage of sixties permissiveness, the collapse of
Traditional Values, and all that. But he and Bush offer the traditional American excuse: It Is
Somebody Else's Fault. This posture set the stage for the self-righteous invasion of Panama,
the bloodiest drug arrest in world history. Bush even accused Manuel Noriega of "poisoning
our children." But he never asked why so many Americans demand the poison.
And then, on that rainy morning in New York, I saw another one of those ragged men
staring out at the rain from a doorway. I suddenly remembered the inert postures of the
children in that welfare hotel, and I thought: television.
Ah, no, I muttered to myself: too simple. Something as complicated as drug addiction can't
be blamed on television. Come on.... but I remembered all those desperate places I'd visited
as a reporter, where there were no books and a TV set was always playing and the older kids
had gone off somewhere to shoot smack, except for the kid who was at the mortuary in a
23
B. Borah
Centreville High School
coffin. I also remembered when I was a boy in the forties and early fifties, and drugs were a
minor sideshow, a kind of dark little rumor. And there was one major difference between
that time and this: television.
We had unemployment then; illiteracy, poor living conditions, racism, governmental
stupidity, a gap between rich and poor. We didn't have the all-consuming presence of
television in our lives. Now two generations of Americans have grown up with television
from their earliest moments of consciousness. Those same American generations are
afflicted by the pox of drug addiction.
Only thirty-five years ago, drug addiction was not a major problem in this country. There
were drug addicts. We had some at the end of the nineteenth century, hooked on the cocaine
in patent medicines. During the placid fifties, Commissioner Harry Anslinger pumped up
the butt of the old Bureau of Narcotics with fantasies of reefer madness. Heroin was sold
and used in most major American cities, while the bebop generation of jazz musicians got
jammed up with horse.
But until the early sixties, narcotics were still marginal to American life; they weren't the
$120-billion market they make up today. If anything, those years have an eerie innocence.
In 1955 there were 31,700,000 TV sets in use in the country (the number is now past 184
million). But the majority of the audience had grown up without the dazzling new medium.
They embraced it, were diverted by it, perhaps even loved it, but they weren't formed by it.
That year, the New York police made a mere 1,234 felony drug arrests; in 1988 it was
43,901. They confiscated ninety-seven ounces of cocaine for the entire year; last year it was
hundreds of pounds. During each year of the fifties in New York, there were only about a
hundred narcotics-related deaths. But by the end of the sixties, when the first generation of
children formed by television had come to maturity (and thus to the marketplace), the
number of such deaths had risen to 1,200. The same phenomenon was true in every major
American city.
In the last Nielsen survey of American viewers, the average family was watching television
seven hours a day. This has never happened before in history. No people has ever been
entertained for seven hours a day. The Elizabethans didn't go to the theater seven hours a
day. The pre-TV generation did not go to the movies seven hours a day. Common sense tells
us that this all-pervasive diet of instant imagery, sustained now for forty years, must have
changed us in profound ways.
Television, like drugs, dominates the lives of its addicts. And though some lonely
Americans leave their sets on without watching them, using them as electronic companions,
television usually absorbs its viewers the way drugs absorb their users. Viewers can't work
or play while watching television; they can't read; they can't be out on the streets, falling in
love with the wrong people, learning how to quarrel and compromise with other human
beings. In short they are asocial. So are drug addicts.
One Michigan State University study in the early eighties offered a group of four- and fiveyear-olds the choice of giving up television or giving up their fathers. Fully one third said
24
B. Borah
Centreville High School
they would give up Daddy. Given the choice (between cocaine or heroin and father, mother,
brother, sister, wife, husband, children, job), almost every stoned junkie would do the same.
There are other disturbing similarities. Television itself is a consciousness-altering
instrument. With the touch of a button, it takes you out of the "real" world in which you
reside and can place you at a basketball game, the back alleys of Miami, the streets of
Bucharest, or the cartoony living rooms of Sitcom Land. Each move from channel to
channel alters mood, usually with music or a laugh track. On any given evening, you can
laugh, be frightened, feel tension, thump with excitement. You can even tune in
MacNeilI/Lehrer and feel sober.
But none of these abrupt shifts in mood is earned. They are attained as easily as popping a
pill. Getting news from television, for example, is simply not the same experience as
reading it in a newspaper. Reading is active. The reader must decode little symbols called
words, then create ideas and make them connect; at its most basic level, reading 'images or
an act of the imagination. But the television viewer doesn't go through that process. The
words are spoken to him by Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings. There isn't much
decoding to do when watching television, no time to think or ponder before the next set of
images and spoken words appears to displace the present one. The reader, being active,
works at his or her own pace; the viewer, being passive, proceeds at a pace determined by
the show. Except at the highest levels, television never demands that its audience take part
in an act of imagination. Reading always does.
In short, television works on the same imaginative and intellectual level as psychoactive
drugs. If prolonged television viewing makes the young passive (dozens of studies indicate
that it does), then moving to drugs has a certain coherence. Drugs provide an unearned high
(in contrast to the earned rush that comes from a feat accomplished, a human breakthrough
earned by sweat or thought or love).
And because the television addict and the drug addict are alienated from the hard and scary
world, they also feel they make no difference in its complicated events. For the junkie, the
world is reduced to him and the needle, pipe, or vial; the self is absolutely isolated, with no
desire for choice. The television addict lives the same way. Many Americans who fail to
vote in presidential elections must believe they have no more control over such a choice
than they do over the casting of L.A. Law.
The drug plague also coincides with the unspoken assumption of most television shows:
Life should be easy. The most complicated events are summarized on TV news in a minute
or less. Cops confront murder, chase the criminals, and bring them to justice (usually
violently) within an hour. In commercials, you drink the right beer and you get the girl.
Easy! So why should real life be a grind? Why should any American have to spend years
mastering a skill or a craft, or work eight hours a day at an unpleasant job, or endure the
compromises and crises of a marriage? Nobody works on television (except cops, doctors,
and lawyers). Love stories on television are about falling in love or breaking up; the long,
steady growth of a marriage - its essential dailiness - is seldom explored, except as comedy.
Life on television is almost always simple: good guys and bad, nice girls and whores, smart
25
B. Borah
Centreville High School
guys and dumb. And if life in the real world isn't that simple, well, hey, man, have some
dope, man, be happy, feel good.
The doper always whines about how he feels; drugs are used to enhance his feelings or
obliterate them, and in this the doper is very American. No other people on earth spend so
much time talking about their feelings; hundreds of thousands go to shrinks, they buy selfhelp books by the millions, they pour out intimate confessions to virtual strangers in bars or
discos. Our political campaigns are about emotional issues now, stated in the simplicities of
adolescence. Even alleged statesmen can start a sentence, "I feel that the Sandinistas should
. . ." when they once might have said, "I think . . ." I'm convinced that this exaltation of
cheap emotions over logic and reason is one by-product of hundreds of thousands of hours
of television.
Most Americans under the age of fifty have now spent their lives absorbing television; that
is, they've had the structures of drama pounded into them. Drama is always about conflict.
So news shows, politics, and advertising are now all shaped by those structures. Nobody
will pay attention to anything as complicated as the part played by Third World I debt in the
expanding production of cocaine; it's much easier to focus on Manuel Noriega, a character
right out of Miami Vice, and believe that even in real life there's a Mister Big.
What is to be done? Television is certainly not going away, but its addictive qualities can be
controlled. It's a lot easier to "just say no" to television than to heroin or crack. As a
beginning, parents must take immediate control of the sets, teaching children to watch
specific television programs, not "television," to get out of the house and play with other
kids. Elementary and high schools must begin teaching television as a subject, the way
literature is taught, showing children how shows are made, how to distinguish between the
true and the false, how to recognize cheap emotional manipulation. All Americans should
spend more time reading. And thinking.
For years, the defenders of television have argued that the networks are only giving the
people what they want. That might be true. But so is the Medellin cartel.
26
B. Borah
Centreville High School
2008 Question 2
In the following passage from The Great Influenza, an account of the 1948 flu epidemic, author
John M. Barry writes about scientists and their research. Read the passage carefully. Then, in a
well-written essay, analyze how Barry uses rhetorical strategies to characterize scientific
research.
Certainty creates strength. Certainty gives one something upon which to lean.
Uncertainty creates weakness. Uncertainty makes one tentative if not fearful, and tentative steps,
even when in the right direction, may not overcome significant obstacles.
To be a scientist requires not only intelligence and curiosity, but passion, patience,
creativity, self-sufficiency, and courage. It is not the courage to venture into the unknown. It is
the courage to accept—indeed, embrace—uncertainty. For as Claude Bernard, the great French
physiologist of the nineteenth century, said, ―Science teaches us to doubt.‖
A scientist must accept the fact that all his or her work, even beliefs, may break apart
upon the sharp edge of a single laboratory finding. And just as Einstein refused to accept his own
theory until his predictions were tested, one must seek out such findings. Ultimately a scientist
has nothing to believe in but the process of inquiry. To move forcefully and aggressively even
while uncertain requires a confidence and strength deeper than physical courage.
All real scientists exist on the frontier. Even the least ambitious among them deal with the
unknown, if only one step beyond the known. The best among them move deep into a wilderness
region where they know almost nothing, where the very tools and techniques needed to clear the
wilderness, to bring order to it, do not exist. There they probe in a disciplined way. There a
single step can take them through the looking glass into a world that seems entirely different, and
if they are at least partly correct their probing acts like a crystal to precipitate an order out of
chaos, to create form, structure, and direction. A single step can also take one off a cliff.
In the wilderness the scientist must create…everything. It is grunt work, tedious work
that begins with figuring out what tools one needs and then making them. A shovel can dig up
dirt but cannot penetrate rock. Would a pick be best, or would dynamite be better—or would
dynamite be too indiscriminately destructive? If the rock is impenetrable, if dynamite would
destroy what one is looking for, is there another way of getting information about what the rock
holds? There is a stream passing over the rock. Would analyzing the water after it passes over the
rock reveal anything useful? How would one analyze it?
Ultimately, if the researcher succeeds, a flood of colleagues will pave roads over the path
laid, and those roads will be orderly and straight, taking an investigator in minutes to a place the
pioneer spent months or years looking for. And the perfect tool will be available for purchase,
just as laboratory mice can now be ordered from supply houses.
Not all scientific investigators can deal comfortably with uncertainty, and those who can
may not be creative enough to understand and design the experiments that will illuminate a
subject—to know both where and how to look. Others may lack the confidence to persist.
Experiments do not simply work. Regardless of design and preparation, experiments—especially
at the beginning, when one proceeds by intelligent guesswork—rarely yield the results desired.
An investigator must make them work. The less known, the more one has to manipulate and even
force experiments to yield an answer.
27
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Q2S1
John M. Barry explains the world of science and being a scientist is all about. Barry uses
a timeline body while near the end a subordination theme.
Barry first uses a fact to then link to what is required for a scientist. Barry uses a timeline
structure that at first explains what it takes to be a scientist up to winning recognition for an
achievement. Near the end of the passage Barry uses subordination placing out an opposite view
but putting it down.
With his essay, Barry boxes in the reader while explaining in a step-by-step fashion,
Barry uses a persuasive explanation. (102 Words)
Q2S2
In The Great Influenza, written by Jon M. Barry, the 1918 flu epidemic is described.
Barry writes about scientists and their research using all kinds of figurative language. In the first
paragraph he uses rhetorical devises to emphasize the word ―uncertainty.‖ In the paragraph
following he expands more on the topic of uncertainty. He explains that without uncertainty, a
scientist wouldn‘t be a true scientist because all scientists like to venture into the unknown. The
word ―scientist‖ is repeated at least once in every paragraph because the passage revolves around
scientists. As shown in his fifth paragraph, he asks questions to the reader that one could possibly
ask. In the following paragraph he answers them to keep the reader satisfied. Personification is
used throughout the passage and he describes all his words to a flawless extent. (136 Words)
Q2S3
Although this essay was written about the 1918 flu epidemic, John M. Barry‘s apt words
invites the readers to have a better understanding of a Scientist‘s research. His word choice and
metaphors patiently pave a road of understanding for readers to better grasp what scientists see.
Barry calmly explains that ―…to be a scientist requires not only intelligence and
curiosity, but passion, patience, creativity, self-sufficiency, and courage,‖(lines 6-8) with
characteristics that he shows throughout this essay. With his creative and intelligent form of
writing the reader is pulled into the world of a scientist. Barry makes it easy for one to relate to
scientist and connect with their same passion.
Barry‘s use of metaphors helps explain to readers the though process of a scientist. ―A
single step can also take one off a cliff.‖ shows the reader the importance of a scientist research
(line 35).
John M. Barry‘s didactic way of speaking helps a reader to understand something that
they may not normally be able to connect with. His metaphors make up great examples of what
scientist may normally be faced with awed gaining the readers attention. (187 Words)
Q2S4
In the passage from ―The Great Influenza,‖ John M. Barry writes about how science
cannot be observed or forced to yield an answer, but observed on the frontier. He uses rhetorical
28
B. Borah
Centreville High School
strategies such as repetition, ironical tone, and rhetorical questions to give a humble account on
what he thinks about how real science should be sought out in nature, and your own soul.
Barry uses repetition such as ―Certainty creates strength. Certainty gives one something
upon which to lean‖ to give the effect of how important it is to have certainty and confidence in
yourself in order to make you feel strong and supported. If a scientist is sure about something, he
is sure to be much more confident on his ideas and beliefs.
In this passage, Barry uses a periodic sentence in which he tries to keep the reader
wondering about things before his present idea. ―And just as Einstein refused to accept his own
theory until his predictions were tested, one must seek out such findings.‖ Barry is using
Einstein-the master genius of the 20 th century—as an example of how he often thought that his
theory wasn‘t real until he tested it. In stating ―one must seek out such findings‖ at the very end,
adds that everyone has to test their theory (even Einstein) in order to accept that it is true.
In the middle of Barry‘s passage, he uses many rhetorical questions to ask and ponder
what would be the best way to be certain and ―prove‖ their theory is true. ―Would a pick be best,
or would dynamite be better—or would dynamite be to indiscriminately destructive?‖ In this
question, Barry is trying to ask in an indirect way if it would be better to pick away at a theory
little by little or all at once ―dynamite.‖ He leaves that for the reader to decide.
In this passage, Barry uses many rhetorical terms to characterize the natural scientific
research to cause the reader to have an open mind about the subject and ponder on how certainty
can lead to success. (346 Words)
Q2S5
Science has become the bridging point between the present and the future. Scientists
strive to better society through improvements to previous discoveries of the advancement of new
theories of the uncertain world. Science is a field that demands patience as well as intellectual
fortitude. In this scenario, the author creates an insightful tone and uses rhetorical questions as
well as antithesis, to describe the profession of science.
Throughout the narrative, science is described as an event taking place on the frontier. It
is in this location that scientists are patient as well as disciplined in order to reach the final goal
of a new discovery. The author emphasizes the importance of being meticulous so that one might
not ―step of a cliff‖ and wreck their experiment. The author provides excellent insight into a
profession that few people have come to understand. He reveals aspects that may not have been
visible to others such as the determination of scientists to persist and overcome enormous
setbacks and disappointments of failing some experiments. It is through this determination and
work ethic that many of us have common things that are often overlooked.
The ambition and skill of a scientist is often overlooked, but in this narrative it is directly
shown through the reasoning and foundations of a scientist. In many fields of science, decisions
making is paramount to their success and can either make an outstanding experiment or one that
is invalid. The author uses rhetorical questions stringed together in paragraph three in order to
emphasize the importance of decision making. The scientist must ask himself questions and
provide reasoning for either using a ―pick or dynamite.‖ The importance of decision making is
only one aspect of being a scientist and is only as significant as the purpose of the scientist. The
foundations of this purpose are rooted in the origins of science as described in paragraph one. In
this situation, the author uses antithesis to make the distinction between ―certainty and
uncertainty.‖ Uncertainty is what the scientist is trying to make certain and certainty allows him
29
B. Borah
Centreville High School
to explore what is considered to be uncertain. This is contrasted through the antithesis and
juxtaposition of two somewhat contradicting elements of certainty and uncertainty.
Scientists are an important profession that dives into the unknown in order to further the
advancements of the human race. Scientists of today are much like the explorers of the 15 th
century in the aspect that decision making and reasoning are critical to the success of the
individual. The author provides enormous insight into a relatively exclusive profession. (427
Words)
Q2S6
In the passage, author John M. Barry characterizes scientists and what it takes to be a
successful researcher. He uses anaphora, metaphors, and rhetorical questions in order to
demonstrate his point that ultimately succeeding in scientific research requires patience and the
ability to have courage and accept the inevitable uncertainty that accompanies science.
To be a scientist is to be uncertain, to be patient, to be an inquirer. But, it is also more: ―It
is not the courage to venture into the unknown. It is the courage to accept—indeed, embrace—
uncertainty‖ (8-10) A scientist is going to be uncertain, but it is the act of acknowledgement and
embracing that uncertainty that allows great scientific research to exist. Barry utilizes anaphora
with ―It is‖ in order to re-iterate his point, in order to fully define ―uncertainty.‖ It takes courage
to be uncertain, and that is Barry‘s point. Barry continues on and begins referring to scientific
research as a ―wilderness region where [scientists] know almost nothing, where the very tools
and techniques needed to clear the wilderness, to bring order to it, do not exist.‖ (26-29) Barry
uses this metaphor to illustrate the difficulties that accompany research and scientific progress
and to stress the importance of having patience when dealing with those difficulties. Referring to
research as a ―wilderness‖ allows the reader to imagine just how tangled and treacherous
progress can be. Research is ―grunt work, tedious work,‖ but it has to be patiently done. Barry
further demonstrates his point through rhetorical questions when discussing how best to analyze
a rock: ―would analyzing the water after it passes over the rock reveal anything useful? How
would one analyze it?‖ (46-48) Rhetorical questions need no answer, but they do show that a
scientist must question things patiently, that they must inquire when they are uncertain. Scientific
research requires that a scientist does so.
Science is uncertain and it is tedious. For research to be successful, a scientist must cope.
A scientist must be patient and they must be courageous enough to acknowledge the undeniable
uncertainty and embrace it.
John M. Barry firmly believes in all of those concepts, and he uses several well-crafted
strategies to stress their importance to the reader. (369 Words)
Q2S7
In Barry‘s account of the field of science, he takes a different approach in presenting it.
Rather than describe them as masters of knowledge, an apparently inaccurate perception that
many people have, he describes them as pioneers, illuminators of the path into the wild and
unknown. Many falsely believe that scientists know exactly what they‘re doing and exactly what
they‘re looking for at any given time. But this couldn‘t be farther from the truth; it‘s likely that
they probably know as much about it as any one of us may know. But nevertheless it is the
30
B. Borah
Centreville High School
ability to triumph in the face of such great uncertainty that distinguishes a scientist from a
commoner, something that Barry carefully fabricates throughout the passage.
Probably the most influential and predominant rhetorical strategy that Barry uses is his
use of the extended metaphor. He describes science as a frontier, and the scientists are those who
are out to explore it. By personifying science as this unpredictable, mysterious, manifestation, he
is able to convey the sense of uncertainty as well as better reiterate the duties of the scientist in
the process. For example, he measures the greatness of a scientist by the distance away from the
known world that one may explore; the typical ones are at the edge , fearful of going any further,
whereas the best of the best venture far into unknown territory, to a point where success and safe
return become synonymous.
To further supplicate his characterization, Barry utilizes tone and mood. His tone is very
definitive, headstrong and secure. The mood remains ambiguous, even a bit fearful, at times.
This is in the spirit of scientific research, where one must be confident in one‘s abilities in the
face of impossibility. Even experiments, means as methods of uncovering and solidifying the
truth, are only successful through endless doubt and trial and error. It is a paradox; to make
something certain (or dose to it), you must be willing to take something uncertain, and make it
that way. It‘s as if there is not one thing in the entire world that is completely certain, but rather a
bunch of uncertain things made to look a certain way.
There are also numerous cases of antithesis and logos. In the beginning, Barry
juxtaposes certainty and uncertainty, and their inherit effects. In doing so he creates the
necessary boundary to understand what science really is. Also, on an added note, he retains
moods of uncertainty by establishing an idea, than providing evidence that undermines it, such as
in paragraph 2-3. To help visualize a scenario such as this, he also breaks down the process of
inquiry into steps, giving the reader a chance to step inside of a scientist‘s shoes and
understanding the meaning of Barry‘s ―science.‖
By employing metaphors, irony, and paradox, Barry is able to effectively create the
sense that science is not what it is cut out to be. It is strange, for by learning you only increase
your doubt, quite the opposite effect of traditional meaning. But in a strange way it also makes
sense, for by learning to doubt, we also learn to keep looking and not be satisfied with ourselves,
hence the never-ending quest for the certain truth, if it even exists. (543 Words)
Q2S8
Scientist are among the most important professionals in modern society. Through
methodic, empirical research, they gather data and draw conclusions based on discovered
correlations or causations. Although somewhat robotic, their method (appropriately called the
―scientific‖ method) is something in which many see great beauty; or, as John Barry notes in The
Great Influenza, something that requires ―strength deeper than physical courage.‖
Barry describes scientists in a respectful, perhaps even reverent, way. His point,
essentially, is that theirs is the most tedious of all grunt work; that which scientist must do, and
yet, there exists within it a methodic beauty. Being a scientist requires intellectual bravery and
courage, to the extent that uncertainty is strength. In the first two paragraphs, Barry emphasizes
this point of view with masterful use of figurative language. The first four sentences combine
repetition, parallel structure, and floating opposites (antithesis) to sharply distinguish between
certainty and uncertainty. He illustrates, through his repetition and antithesis, that scientists,
although disadvantaged in that they don not operate with solid facts (as, do, say mathematics),
31
B. Borah
Centreville High School
they use said uncertainty to fuel their effective method and make discoveries; the likes of which
most cannot even fathom. It is this uncertainty, as his second paragraph‘s parallel structure points
out, that is their strength; this absolute ―lost‖ feeling is why their discoveries are so important,
because they‘re so incredibly novel that they‘re completely unfathomable.
The third paragraph analyzes further the scientist‘s strength, helped in its efforts by the
author‘s appeal to pathos and ethos. He alludes to Einstein to point out the necessity of scientific
critique, and he characterizes scientific strength as glorious in all its manifestations. The author
further emphasizes this point through his use of analogies and an extended metaphor in the fifth
paragraph, defining science as essentially the study of tools; of efficiency and refined precision.
This serves to underline his previous point about the beauty of the scientific method, again
emphasized at the end of the passage. Barry notes that the more that‘s known, the higher the
stakes. When humanity stumbled upon the electron, it was like bumping into a lamp in a dark
room; once we discovered its significance (which is initially entirely unknown), an entire world
opened up (electronics), and the room brightened.
Barry characterizes scientific research as painstakingly precise, like looking for the
molecular composition of a needle in a haystack stuck in a dark room. Yet if this unknown, this
x-factor, that sets the stakes, for, as many have observed, nothing gained without risk is worth
gaining. The overpowering futility of their efforts is what makes science so beautiful; because
while futile, at least it is methodically and scientifically futile; so that when discoveries are
made, we can be certain they will consist of nothing less than compacted greatness. (463 Words)
Q2S9
Scientific research is made to be done methodically. There is even a widely known
―scientific method‖ created in the 15 th century based on reason and common sense. It was
created from a desire to make the unknown known. As Barry describes the scientific process, he
says that uncertainty, in the world of the unknown, must be made a tool—a weapon, even—
against one‘s own convictions. However, that concept is very ethereal, so Barry utilizes
comparisons and logical hypothetical situations to convey that idea.
Barry begins by contrasting the strength and conviction of certainty with the weakness
and fear of uncertainty to better define the term of uncertainty. He established direction in his
second paragraph, as he lists qualities the ideal scientists should have, he ends with courage, and
with courage he runs off and further defines how he will use that term. Courage, to Barry, is not
―venture[ing] into the unknown,‖ which is a polite way of saying ―charging into God-knowswhat, head down and arms flailing,‖ but rather the courage to face a total shattering of a
character and all of one‘s beliefs upon the ―sharp edge of a single finding.‖ To be a good
scientist, Barry maintains in his third paragraph, one must reject all that is unproven. This is
especially difficult to do, speaking from personal experience, because the thought of the
possibility that there is no after-life, that all that follows is nonexistence, chills me to the bone
and puts a rightful fear of death in my heart. Barry uses the example of Einstein to express the
point of accepting a total reversal of beliefs in an attempt to persuade the reader that to face a
destruction of one‘s convictions requires a far greater courage, to conceive of uncertainty as an
ally rather than a foe.
Having established the role of uncertainty, Barry shifts into an analogy comparing
scientists to pioneers. A pioneer marches into chaos, making order with ―tools…[that] do not
exist.‖ This analogy is used to relate his continuing argument back to his thesis about
32
B. Borah
Centreville High School
uncertainty—out of chaos, a scientist, despite being uncertain and having to use nonexistent
tools, must make sense out of the wilderness. Barry then finishes the fourth paragraph with a
two-sentence antithesis, to an almost humorously ironic effect. The former sentence is long,
elaborate, and relates the finding of the truth to a crystal that illuminates the road for colleagues.
And then quite bluntly, he provides the inverse result, which is the equivalent of falling off a
cliff, an image reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote, who himself is persistent, methodical, and
courageous in pursuit of his goal. Barry‘s intent with the reversal is to instill, once more, the
idea of fear and uncertainty in the reader.
Barry‘s fifth paragraph is full of questions, literally. The questions do have a purpose,
though. While it is to be expected that questions in writing such as this are rhetorical, these
question have a short and deflected sense to them, as though the writer was bouncing from idea
to idea very quickly. Barry‘s purpose in writing these questions is to simulate the thought
process of the pioneer scientist—very uncertain, very entropic.
The analogy finally ends with the scientist‘s success. Once progress has been made,
order achieved, and certainty restored, other scientists rush past him to delve into whatever
uncertainty is left, similar to how, in Einstein‘s wake, hundreds of scientist surged forward,
digging at astrophysics like never before.
In that small paragraph, though, there is a hint of criticism in Barry‘s diction, referring to the
post-pioneer scientist as a ―flood,‖ their paved roads as simplistically ―orderly and straight,‖ and
remarking that their tools will be ready for them. However, considering Barry concedes that not
all scientists can be so courageous in the following paragraph, it is a very subtle judgment at
best.
Barry‘s concession that not all researchers are pioneers is done in short offerings of
potential flaws, done in the hope that the net hovering over those researchers being criticized is a
broad and inoffensive one. The transition to the fact that experiments do not always work is
made to connect again to uncertainty. The fact that experiments fail can be ―manipulate[d] and
force[d] to yield an answer‖ is itself uncertain in its attempt to fabricate certainty. In the end,
Barry managed to evince that the only certainty in science is uncertainty, and doing so using,
which were most effective, very uncertain questions. (742 Words)
33
B. Borah
Centreville High School
AP English Language and Composition
Characteristics of the High-Scoring Response
Synthesis/Rhetorical DBQ
I.
These essays begin by contextualizing the issue at hand for readers, explaining to
them briefly why educated, informed citizens ought to read on.
What does this mean? You need to provide an engaging opening to your essay that
provides background material to frame your issue. Think of it this way: would
anyone want to read your response if it were in a newspaper or a weekly magazine.
II.
Generally, the thesis in a high-scoring essay does justice to the complexity of the
issue being considered while foregrounding the writer‘s position.
What does this mean? You can‘t pretend that the complex issue you are responding
to has only one right position or solution. Put the other side‘s position in a dependent
clause at the start of your position sentence; place your position in the final
independent clause.
III.
In addition, these essays provide an extended consideration of the sources that they
reference—they go beyond merely citing sources to assaying the significance to the
thesis being developed and forging connections between the writer‘s position and that
of the author of the source.
What does this mean? It is your job to provide the linking language that ties your
claim to the ideas of the documents and back to your thesis. If you find yourself
describing what is in the documents, stop. Your job is to make connections, not to
point out interesting ideas from Source B.
IV.
Writers of the top essays enter into a conversation with the sources they choose rather
than simply appropriating this information.
What does this mean? You must control the documents and not merely list facts
from them. To that end, always start and finish every support paragraph with your
claims and analysis. If you start a support paragraph with a source, ruination often
follows.
V.
Finally, these best essays provide conclusions that do not merely summarize but
address the ―so what?‖ issue: How should educated, informed citizens continue to
think about the issue at hand? How will it continue to influence the readers‘ lives?
What does this mean? You are wasting your time on this question if you offer a
simple recap of your major points. What to do instead? As appropriate, offer
benefits of your solution or proposal, include a ―call to action‖ for what the reader
should do, or wax philosophically about the nature of the complex issue discussed.
34
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Synthesis
Q1S1
Though the penny is of immense historical importance, the time has come to retire it from
our pockets and piggy banks. Legislation has been proposed to eliminate this coin and round all
transactions off to the nearest nickel. (Source A)
Bearing the proud face of Abraham Lincoln since 1909 (Source C), this coin has been
with America for 199 years the way it is today. But, it is an old, useless object in today.
Q1S2
The idea of rather to continue with the usage of pennies should have a simple solution
eliminating the usage of pennies. Since 1909 when pennies were first manufactured (Source B)
prices were lower. It was easier to find something for one or two cents, now that is merely
impossible. The only time a person needs a penny is when they need to ass it with paper money.
Taxing is the only source that has kept pennies useable.
Pennies are always being abandoned on the floor, cashier counters (Source B) and on the
ground. No one cares if they find three pennies on the ground, however finding 3 quarters is like
striking a gold mine. Even in kindergarten the first coin a child learns is a penny, because that is
the simplest form of money to learn about. Pennies are virtually forgotten after the child learns to
say ―quarter.‖
In Source C, there is the idea of pennies being useless when it comes to getting a snack in
the vending machine. There is nothing more irritating than having a wallet full of pennies and
not having any silver coins. A person will starve if they don‘t have anyone around them to trade
their useless pennies with.
Source F opposes the bill to eliminate pennies because of the history the coin has with
Abraham Lincoln. Honestly, when you think about President Lincoln you really don‘t dwell on
the fact he is on a copper coin. A person remembers Lincoln for the Emancipation Proclamation
and for his famous assignation. I think Lincoln would forgive Americans for removing him off
an outdated and useless coin.
Source C supports the bill, the source emphasizes on the idea that pennies can be a waste
of time. Speaking from a cashier perspective, ―pennies are a waste of time.‖ Customers are
always impatient when a cashier has to open up a row of pennies. After the row of pennies is
opened, the customer always leaves pennies on my register. By the end of the shift, it is very
frustrating to collect all those forgotten pennies.
Pennies are becoming less useful. The rounding up or down idea (Source A) is an easy
solution. Pennies have been around for a long time, now it is time to retire them. Since pennies
are one of the oldest forms of money, they could be collected and stored in a museum.
Q1S3
Four hours per person every year is wasted rummaging around in pockets searching for
pennies. In fact around 1,308,459 pennies are recycled through Coinstar every year, that‘s
13,084.59 dollars! (Document B) More pennies than any other coin are dropped on the ground or
35
B. Borah
Centreville High School
absorbed into the furniture along with lint, paperclips and that Cheeto you dropped and never
bothered to throw away. With statistics and facts such as these, how can anyone possibly object
to eliminating that most useless piece of currency used in America?
Jim Kolbe, US Representative, has been trying to makes steps towards eliminating by
proposing his Legal Tender Modernizing Act which would make transactions quicker and easier
by rounding the price up or down. (Document A) As pointed out by William Safire in Document
C, people can‘t even buy anything with a penny anymore. The penny has passed its golden age
and it is high time for it to retire into history along with ―the penny candy,‖ ―penny-ante,‖ and
the ―five-and-dimes.‖
Some people say that we can‘t eliminate the penny because it is the last reminder for the
American people of Abraham Lincoln, such as Michael Bishop suggests in document F.
However, were we to implement Kolbe‘s Legal Tender Modernization Act, the penny would not
be banned, people would merely be encouraged to use other coins and leave their pennies at
home. Isn‘t that where the best memories should be kept anyway? Why not the memory of one
of our greatest, if not the greatest, presidents?
There is no downside to getting rid of the penny. It would only improve American lives
by cutting back on time wasted at checkout counters and by getting rid of that extra unneeded
weight in everyone‘s pockets. Yes, by all means keep your pennies to remember Honest Abe, but
leave them at home. By using only larger coin denominations, life in the business and financial
world would run much more smoothly and efficiently than it does today.
Q1S4
The United States penny symbolizes part of the nation‘s history and should not be
abolished due to its miniscule monetary value. Those in favor of abolishing the coin cite that the
penny is a waste of time and resource, however, popular opinion states its significance.
Edmond Knowles is one of the 13% of Americans who does keep tract of his loose
change and that loose change converted into a fortune what others have deemed a waste. (Kahn)
For 38 years he saved up what may seem like a time consuming object and translated in
13,084.59 which he can spend on anything. While the penny singularly is not worth much to
consumers, it still retains value collectively.
Opponents of the penny claim that pennies are the most susceptible monetary
denomination to being lost and dropped out of circulation and therefore should be removed from
circulation. However, the penny does not deviate far from the national average of all coins that
disappear. (Weller) If all coins disappear at the same rate, then why should the penny be
discriminated against? In a Harris Poll conducted online, participants voted in terms of income in
favor or opposition of abolishing the penny. The penny was favored to remain part of US
currency. (Harris Poll) It was most strongly supported by lower-income families and it can be
concluded that pennies are a large-part of everyday life which may be in part due to nostalgia.
Historically, the penny has great significance because it acknowledges one of the
countries great president‘s. The penny has been incorporated into this counties socialization and
even children know the importance of the figure carved into the penny.
Due to the penny‘s wide-spread circulation, it is the ―most visible and tangible reminder of
Lincoln‘s significance in American history.‖ (Press Release) If the penny were abolished, a part
of this nation‘s history would shrink in promise and fall further into obscurity.
36
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Due to its historical and monetary value, the penny should not be abolished. It pertains to
this nation‘s history as a reminder of past times and provides common currency retains its value.
Q1S5
It is rare for modern society to be able to connect with history outside of the stuffy,
forced-hush of a museum. However, the penny not only bridges that gap between past and
present, but also remains an important and meaningful staple of our currency. Thus, the penny
ought to be allowed to continue its enduring presence in the American culture and economy.
The penny is an undeniably historical coin. Just by looking at its mere countenance one is
reminded of one of the greatest and most progressive Presidents of this county to date. Since
1909, when Lincoln‘s strong jaw first graced the visage of the modest copper coin, its historical
value has gone undisputed. (Source B)
According to Michael Bishop, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Commission, ―the penny is perhaps the most visible and tangible reminder of Lincoln‘s
significance in American history.‖ (Source F) The best way to ensure history is not forgotten or
overlooked is to integrate it into modern everyday life, which is exactly what the penny does.
Even the American populous concurs with a statistical majority of citizens of all income ranges
opposing the abolishment of the penny. (Source E) These are the people who are actually using
the coin and thus since they recognize the penny‘s value there is no reason to eliminate
something of such obvious cultural and historical significance.
Moreover, the penny still hoards value in today‘s economy. Despite false allegations that
two-thirds of pennies immediately fall out of circulation, the penny remains as strong as other
coins. (Source C) In fact, the rate that pennies vanish from circulation is ―surprisingly similar to
all other forms of our coinage—around 5.6 percent.‖ (Source D) Secondly, the mere face that the
penny is not worth as much as other coins does not warrant its extinction. The European Union
itself ―sought to avoid the systematic rounding of prices‖ that measures like the Legal Tender
Modernization Act look to impose. (Source D) In the end, because assertions that the penny is an
economic ghost is clearly false, the US ought to follow the example of other nations and keep
history in the hands and pockets of its people.
Q1S6
No matter how much I respect Abraham Lincoln; I truly despise the penny. The constant
unnecessary jingling in my pocket or purse causes me to question the importance of this useless
coin. Although, there is some strong support that state the penny is a part of our economy I
disagree. The penny is a fiscally irresponsible waste of time that has out-lived its expiration date.
The retirement of this coin is a crucial step for our legislature because it is costing our
country more than it is worth. The penny costs far more than a penny to make and is seemingly
useless in our everyday lives. As William Safire states ―it takes nearly a dime today to buy what
a penny bought back in 1950.‖ (Safire) Well it is well past 1950 and the penny has become more
of an annoyance than a mode of currency. I can specifically remember my dad explaining how
great it was to go to a store and buy a pretzel for a nickel or a lollypop for a penny, depending on
what you had saved that week. I can not relate to my father‘s childhood excitement to find a
penny, since it will not by me any sweets. The time of the penny is long gone and there is a need
to take a look at what it is costing our nation.
37
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Besides being a burden to my change purse, the penny is ultimately costing our nation
billions of dollars each year, 15 billion to be exact. According to Jeff Gore, a MIT student, the
penny waste 40 seconds per person per day at a retail store. Which then wastes 4 hours per
person per year, and assuming each person is worth $15/hour that‘s $60 per year ultimately
costing the nation as a whole roughly 15 billion per year. (Kahn) This extravagant math may
seem extreme and exaggerated to some, but 15 billion per year is no joke. Since our economy is
already encountering a slump there is no need to waste 15 billion on a penny worth 1 cent. Of
course on the other hand some may argue that saving pennies adds up, chase bank, for example,
their keep the change deal is supposed to help you save. But really it is a scheme to make you
use your credit card more often to pay a bill that you most likely can‘t pay the balance for. So
while they are hyping the ―keep the change‖ ultimately they get your change anyways.
The poor penny, many would say, but in reality the poor penny could make us poor. Not
only from a citizen‘s perceptive, but from a cashier‘s, I can personally say the penny is a pain. It
takes time and many times customers ask me not to give them the pennies. Although the penny
be a beloved coin to some; it has no further use in our busy society today. And according to Jim
Kolbe, the penny would not be banned ―but merely discourage their use by establishing a system
under which cash transactions would be rounded up or down,‖ (Lewis) which would be a fair
goodbye to our good-old friend, the penny.
Q1S7
―A penny save is a penny earned.‖ Despite the overuse of the phrase, its message still
holds true. Even at a young age, children learn to save their money with piggy banks and coins;
soon to turn into large sums in the bank. Although Jim Kolbe introduced the idea to eliminate the
use of the penny, taking this action would be highly impractical.
Edmond Knowles had saved approximately 90 pennies a day for 38 years of his life.
When he finally decided to cash in his earnings, he found he had $13,084.59 more to his name.
(Kahn) While many people would not have the patience to save up that long, other beneficial
actions can be taken to use of the supposedly ―useless‖ pennies. Many human-rights
organizations have programs in which people, whether for their desire to help or to simply rid
themselves of change, can sponsor children in third world countries for just 18 cents a day. It is
difficult to argue that this is, indeed, a good user for pennies.
While rounding up a penny amount to the nearest nickel may be helpful in fundraising
activities, the decision would not prove to be an aid to the United States economy. Prices of
goods and services may start to increase by a few cents here and there to accommodate for the
disuse of the penny. Companies, though, may see this as an opportunity to take advantage of
consumers as a whole. Soon, nickels may be deemed as petty pieces of change, so that all prices
will be rounded to the nearest dime. This may then snowball into a situation which quarters are
called insignificant and everything must be rounded to the nearest dollar; and there is no doubt
that all these prices would be rounded up, not down. The large increase in prices then hurts the
lower class of the economy the most. As a recent poll shows, the less money earned by adults,
the higher the percentage of people opposing the abolishment of the penny. (Harris Poll) With
62% of the surveyed adults earning less than $25,000 responding ―opposed to abolishing the
penny,‖ it is apparent that these people find good use out of the small valued coin.
In Safire‘s article ―Abolishing the Penny‖ he notes that pennies lost ―more in employee
hours—to wait for buyers to fish them out…--than it would to toss them out.‖ (Safire) To be
38
B. Borah
Centreville High School
exact it was calculated that ―4 hours per person per year‖ (Kahn) is spent searching for pennies.
Because most readers are thinking in context of days, this statistic will seem overwhelming. The
truth is, though, that this is a small amount compared to the 8760 hours there is in a year. Similar
calculations have been made about the amount of time people spend waiting at stoplights per
year. However, it is widely agreed that it would be unreasonable to decrease or eliminate the use
of red lights in traffic signals. Why is the penny so much less respected?
With the numerous uses pennies still have, the elimination of the coin would be foolish
on the part of Congress. When paid attention to, the penny can be saved and collected into large
amounts of money. Likewise, the lower classes of the United States also realize that the
elimination of the penny would further hurt their economic status. The government must learn to
stable the US economy before anyone even proposes to change its current form.
Q1S8
In many eyes today, the value of the Lincoln penny is perceived as worthless. Indeed,
with numerous, everyday examples of lone pennies strewn on the street and occupied under
couches, one may wonder why the government even bothers to produce them; the chance that a
stray penny can satisfy a financial transaction is highly unlikely. However, to arouse the notion
that the penny should be eliminated from the monetary system is an idea almost as ―worthless‖
as the penny itself: while the penny may provide a superficial notion of worthlessness, no one
can deny the fact that it is still high monetary and SYMBOLIC value.
Today‘s world emphasizes thrift and speed; the commercials and TV ad‘s about credit
cards influence viewers to believe that speed is an essential part of daily transactions and
purposes. Therefore, the penny, in the eyes of many, only wastes the time and money of the
American spenders. Many lobby for the removal of the penny, and some, like Rep. Jim Kolbe,
have taken great lengths to pursue this cause. Many state that ―the penny is practically useless,‖
(Source A) and 27 percent of Americans don‘t even bother dealing with their change. (Source B)
But what about the 73 percent that do? A penny may be deemed useless by the upper class of
society, but one must not that 80 percent of the world population falls below that line, and to
them, a penny still makes a difference. (Source E) Shows that the greatest number of people who
advocate abolishing the penny earn an income of $75,000 or more, but the majority of the
working class shows empathetic support in keeping the penny in the monetary system. One must
also take into account that Rep. Kolbe‘s proposed bill would greatly increase the production of
coins that would require copper from his home state of Arizona, which makes one wonder if his
support for the bill draws form an ulterior, financial motive.
The main reason the penny shouldn‘t be put out of circulation results in its symbolic
influence in America and popular culture. The simple phrase: ―a penny for your thoughts‖ and
the superstitious belief of a ―lucky penny‖ stems from the idea that an item of low ―face‖ value
still contains a considerable amount of influence in the outcome of one‘s life. The penny also
instills an ideal of the ―American Dream,‖ where hard work and dedication can yield
considerable rewards in the future. A penny may be valued as one cent, but what of a hundred
pennies? A thousand? A million? One single penny may barely cause a significant change, but
just like votes in an election, the added sums CAN make a difference.
To look at a penny is to look at 200 years of American history in the making. Indeed, the
penny is hailed as the ―most visible and tangible reminder of Lincoln‘s significance in American
history.‖ (Source F) The change from the ―liberty cent‖ of 1793 to the ―Indian hero‖ in 1850‘s to
39
B. Borah
Centreville High School
the current ―Lincoln cent‖ in 1909 reflects the changes occurring in our country throughout
history: the depiction of Abraham Lincoln on the penny valiantly reflects how our country
almost ripped apart in the nineteenth century. Would it be justified to eliminate a crucial symbol
of American history form the economic system all in the name of saving ―20 seconds‖ a day?
The penny, while not as economically sound as the ―five-and-dime‘ days of the 1900‘s ,
still plays a vital role in today‘s economy; while many may stray behind under ―chair cushions‖
and ―sock drawers,‖ the majority serve their purpose of regulating the flow of money today. To
eliminate the penny from the monetary system is outrageous, considering the vast amount of
significance and influence the penny has in recapturing past historical events and future hopes
and inspirations.
AP English Language & Composition
Synthesis Question
3-Part Source Integration
Some students have difficulty integrating primary and secondary sources into an argument. Here
is a model that teaches students a basic way to make use of the source material in a synthesis
question.
Part 1: Rhetorical and historical context: Introduce the source and author and provide brief
comments about the source.
Part 2: Pull or paraphrase and cite correctly: Provide a paraphrase or direct quote (avoid
quotes of more than six words) and cite according to directions. Please start your use of the
author‘s idea with an active verb—claims, maintains, argues—and then end with a parenthetical
citation inside the final period.
Part 3: The bounce: Use the source as a springboard to get to its importance to the larger
argument you are making. Show how the idea connects to previous ideas you have made in the
paragraph.
Source 1
Source 2
Rhetorical and
historical context:
Introduce the source
and author and
provide brief
comments about the
source.
40
Source 3
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Pull or paraphrase
and cite correctly:
Provide a paraphrase
or direct quote (avoid
quotes of more than
six words) and cite
according to
directions. Please
start your use of the
author‘s idea with an
active verb—claims,
maintains, argues—
and then end with a
parenthetical citation
inside the final period.
The bounce: Use the
source as a
springboard to get to
its important to the
larger argument you
are making. Show
how the idea connects
to previous ideas you
have made in the
paragraph.
Now that you have completed the chart, knit one of your columns into a two-sentence integration
packet in which you accurately paraphrase or summarize the author‘s key point(s) as a
springboard to significance
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
41
B. Borah
Centreville High School
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
For a second source you used, knit one of your columns into a two-sentence integration packet in
which you use a direct quotation from the source as a springboard to significance.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________
42
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Synthesis Response
2008 AP English Language Exam
Fixing a Four
Directions: I have pasted selections from a paper that received a 4, a very common grade on the
AP English Language Exam. Our job is to fix parts of it to make it worthy of a 6 on the
synthesis rubric. I have included reminders for what AP graders are looking for in each section.
What to do first? You need to provide an engaging opening to your essay that provides
background material to frame your issue. Think of it this way: would anyone want to read your
response if it were in a newspaper or a weekly magazine?
What to do next? You can‘t pretend that the complex issue you are responding to has only one
right position or solution. Put the other side‘s position in a dependent clause at the start of your
position sentence; place your position in the final independent clause.
Sample 4 Introduction: The United States penny symbolizes part of the nation‘s history and
should not be abolished due to its miniscule monetary value. Those in favor of abolishing the
coin cite that the penny is a waste of time and resource, however, popular opinion states its
significance.
My Revised Introduction:
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
43
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Sample 4 Support Paragraph: Edmond Knowles is one of the 13% of Americans who does
keep tract of his loose change and that loose change converted into a fortune what others have
deemed a waste. (Kahn) For 38 years he saved up what may seem like a time consuming object
and translated in 13,084.59 which he can spend on anything. While the penny singularly is not
worth much to consumers, it still retains value collectively.
What to do first? Please do not start with a fact from a document—your voice must be at the
start and end of each support paragraph. If you start a support paragraph with a source, ruination
follows. Start with a claim and win the game…
What to do next?: Here is where your They Say/I Say sentences help you. The graders want to
see you enter into a dialogue with sources, not just drop in long quotations that add little to your
argument.
Sample 4 Support Paragraph: Opponents of the penny claim that pennies are the most
susceptible monetary denomination to being lost and dropped out of circulation and therefore
should be removed from circulation. However, the penny does not deviate far from the national
average of all coins that disappear. (Weller) If all coins disappear at the same rate, then why
should the penny be discriminated against? In a Harris Poll conducted online, participants voted
in terms of income in favor or opposition of abolishing the penny. The penny was favored to
remain part of US currency. (Harris Poll) It was most strongly supported by lower-income
families and it can be concluded that pennies are a large-part of everyday life which may be in
part due to nostalgia.
44
B. Borah
Centreville High School
My Revised Support Paragraph:
__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
45
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Index of Templates
from They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing
I. Introducing What “They Say”
* A number of presidential hopefuls have recently suggested that X‘s work on poverty has
several fundamental problems.
* It has become common today to dismiss X‘s contribution to the field of sociology
* In their recent work, Y and Z have offered harsh critiques of Dr. X for _______________.
Introducing Standard Views
* Americans today tend to believe that ______________________.
* Conventional wisdom has it that _____________________.
* Common sense seems to dictate that __________________.
* The standard way of thinking about topic X is that _______________________.
* It is often said that ________________________.
* My whole life I have heard it said that _____________________________.
* You would think that _______________________.
* Many people assumed that _____________________.
II. Introducing Something Implied or Assumed
* Although none of them have ever said so directly, my teachers have often given me the
impression that ____________________.
* One implication of X‘s treatment of __________________ is that __________________.
* Although X does not say so directly, she apparently assumes that _________________.
* While they rarely admit as much, ________________ often take it for granted that
___________________.
46
B. Borah
Centreville High School
III. Introducing an Ongoing Debate
* In discussions of X, one controversial issue has been _______________. On the one hand,
___________ argues __________________. On the other hand, ____________ contends
________________. Others even maintain ______________________. My own view is
______________.
* When it comes to the topic of ______________________, most of us will agree that
______________________. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of
________________________. Whereas some are convinced that _________________, others
maintain that ____________________.
* In conclusion, then, as I suggested earlier, defenders of ______________ can‘t have it both
ways. Their assertion that ____________________is contradicted by their claim that
______________________________.
IV. Capturing Authorial Intent
Argues Acknowledges Believes Denies/does not deny
Claims
Complains
Concedes Demonstrates Deplores Celebrates Emphasizes Insists Observes
Questions Refutes Reminds Reports Suggests Urges
* X agrees that ______________.
V. Disagreeing, With Reasons
* X is mistaken because she overlooks _______________________
* X‘s claim that __________________ rests on the questionable assumption that
_____________.
* X contradicts herself/can‘t have it both ways. On the one hand she argues
_________________. But on the other hand, she also says __________________.
* By focusing on ____________________, X overlooks the deeper problem of
________________________.
* X claims _____________________, but we don‘t need him to tell us that. Anyone familiar
with _______________ has long known that _______________________.
VI. Agreeing and Disagreeing Simultaneously
* Although I agree with X up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that
_________________________.
47
B. Borah
Centreville High School
* Although I disagree with much that X says, I fully endorse his final conclusion that
_____________________.
* Though I concede that ____________________, I still insist that ________________.
* Even though X provides ample evidence that ________________, Y and Z‘s research on
_______________ and _________________ convinces me that ____________________ instead.
* It is right that ______________________, but she seems on dubious ground when she claims
that ______________________________.
* While X is probably wrong when she claims that ______________________, she is right that
___________________________.
* My feelings on the issue are mixed. I do support X‘s position that ___________________,
but I find Y‘s argument about _________________ and Z‘s research on _________________ to
be equally persuasive.
VII. Introducing Objections Informally
* But is my proposal realistic? What are the chances of it actually being adopted?
* Yet it is always true that ________________________? Is it always the case, as I have been
suggesting, that ________________________?
* However, does the evidence I have cited prove conclusively that _____________________?
* ―Impossible,‖ you say. ―Your evidence must be skewed.‖
VIII. Making Concessions While Still Standing Your Ground
* Although I grant that _______________, I still maintain that __________________.
* Proponents of X are right to argue that ___________________. But they exaggerate when
they claim that ____________________________.
* While it is true that ______________________, it does not necessarily follow that
________________________.
* On the one hand, I agree with X that ___________________. But, on the other hand, I still
insist that _____________________.
48
B. Borah
Centreville High School
AP English Language and Composition
(Suggested time – 40 minutes. This question counts for one-third of the total essay section
score.)
Directions: The following prompt is based on the accompanying six sources.
This question requires you to synthesize a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay.
When you synthesize sources, you refer to them to develop your position and cite them
accurately. Your argument should be central; the sources should support your argument. Avoid
merely summarizing the sources.
Introduction:
Today‘s generation is accustomed to social interaction via networking sites, text messaging, and
other forms of technological communications potentially exposing their personal lives to
complete strangers. These convenient advancements provide an outlet of easily connecting with
friends and family, coordinating appointments and events, and journaling topics ranging from
debates to personal escapades. Recent news media has reported employees losing their jobs due
to posting questionable material on networking sites as well as students facing disciplinary action
from schools for their personal profiles. Many individuals have encountered legal action because
of inappropriate, internet behavior.
In a country where freedom of speech and expression are the cherished civil rights of all citizens,
should Americans be judged and punished by their participation in these technological
communications?
Assignment:
Read the following sources (including any introductory information) carefully. Then, in an
essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position that defends,
challenges, or qualifies the claim that individuals should automatically be subjected to
scrutiny by authority (employers, school administrations, judicial systems) for their
personal use of modern electronic communication.
You may refer to the sources by their titles (Source A, Source B, et.) or by the descriptions in the
parentheses.
Source A (Blanchard)
Source B (Cartoon)
Source C (Rittgers)
Source D (Legal Article)
Source E (Internet Survey)
Source F (Zuckerberg)
49
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source A
Blanchard, Courtney and Mary Lynn Smith. ―Facebook
Photos Land Eden Prairie Kids in Trouble.‖ Star Tribune. 9
Jan. 2008. Print.
Thirteen students at Eden Prairie High School were reprimanded or suspended from activities
because of party photos posted on the website. Eden Prairie High School administrators have
reprimanded more than 100 students and suspended some from sports and other extracurricular
activities after obtaining Facebook photos of students partying, several students said Tuesday.
School administrators and the district's spokeswoman didn't return phone calls, but students
called in by their deans over the past two days said they were being reprimanded for the
Facebook party photos, which administrators had printed out. It's likely, they said, that other
students among the 3,300 who attend Eden Prairie will be questioned throughout the week.
Danny O'Leary, a senior who plays lacrosse, said his dean displayed four Facebook photos of
O'Leary holding drinks and told him he was in "a bit of trouble." One photo shows him holding a
can of Coors beer, another a shot of rum, he said. In yet another, O'Leary is pictured holding his
friend's 40-ounce container of beer."I wasn't drinking that night," O'Leary said. But that
apparently doesn't matter. "I was told each picture was equal to a two-game suspension,'' he said.
O'Leary said he intends to meet with the director of student activities today to discuss the
suspensions. He said he will point out that two of the photos were taken two years ago, before he
joined the lacrosse team and signed a pledge not to drink.
"I'm personally pretty upset and wondering why someone would collect these photos and turn
them in," O'Leary said. "A lot of kids' lives are going to be ruined as far as scholarships and
sports are concerned."O'Leary said the school's actions are likely to put a dent in underage
drinking among students but not stop it. Kids will just be smarter about not posting party and
drinking photos, he said."It's dumb to have these pictures up on the Internet," he said, pointing
out he has since deleted his Facebook page.Natalie Friedman, a senior who is not part of any
sports programs, said she was called in by her dean and scolded about Facebook photos of her
behind a bar at a friend's house with drinks visible. She declined to say whether she was
drinking, saying that no one can prove there was alcohol in the beverages."I didn't get into any
trouble,'' she said. "But I'm only in intramural sports and some clubs." She said a friend who is
captain of a girls' team was stripped of her leadership role because she was shown in party
photos.
Friedman said some of the photos obtained by school officials show students holding drinks at
weddings and family vacations.After her meeting with her dean, Friedman said, "I see his
perspective. They can't look at these pictures and not do anything about it.
"But it's not going to stop kids from drinking," she said. "We're just going to re-evaluate what we
put out in public. We're going to be more cautious."
50
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Eden Prairie senior Rachael Kalaidis said she wouldn't be surprised if she's called to the dean's
office this week because she is probably pictured in some Facebook party photos posted on her
friends' pages. At least 20 of her friends already have had to report to their deans regarding such
photos."I don't really put bad stuff on my page,'' she said. "I'm not dumb."
Students throughout the school are talking about getting stung by the Facebook photos, but the
administration has not made any public announcements about it or sent out any information,
Kalaidis said."Everyone thinks it's pretty weird,'' she said. "I think it's a huge invasion of
privacy."The Minnesota State High School League requires student athletes to sign a pledge that
they will not drink alcoholic beverages. Principal Conn McCartan declined to talk to a reporter
who went to his home late Tuesday. Varsity boys' hockey coach Lee Smith said late Tuesday that
no players on his team are involved, but declined to comment further. Eden Prairie girls' hockey
coach Tim Morris, reached at home, declined to comment Tuesday.
51
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source B
©Original Artist. ―Support the First Amendment. Cartoon
Stock. Web.
52
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source C
Rittgers, Bryan. ―What The Hell Am I Supposed To Do With
All These Constitutional Rights?‖ The Onion. 28 Apr 2009.
Web.
Too much of one thing can cause a person a lot of stress, and you know what's stressing me out?
All these rights guaranteed to me by the U.S. Constitution. There's like—how many—a couple
dozen? And they keep adding more! Isn't that a bit much? I'm just a simple man who likes simple
things, and I can tell you right now, there's just no way I'm ever gonna need all those
constitutional rights.
Did anyone even ask me if I wanted all these rights? No, they did not. And, to be honest, I'm a
little chafed about it. It's hard enough keeping up with the bills in my mailbox without some
huge Bill of Rights hanging over my head. People are always talking about rights, or protecting
them, or trying to get me to exercise them. Enough already!
God, I feel like I'm being suffocated by personal liberties.
I've got rights coming out my ass. Seriously, have you looked at the Constitution lately? It's like
a giant to-do list of all these annoying, super-specific rights we're all "entitled" to. And right
there at the top is the right to free speech. Great, so now I got to think of something to say?
Thanks but no thanks. When I want to say something, I'll let you know. I don't need a right to tell
me.
Take the right to bear arms. Yes, there are times when you need a gun, but most of the time you
don't. So why go to all the trouble of writing it down and making everyone sign it? Just so I
know how many people I'm disappointing when I don't use it? I don't even like guns, but sure
enough, I've got three of them, right there in my closet. Where I've been granted the right to keep
them.
And another thing, there are way, way too many amendments. They've got so many, they've
started protecting me from stuff I might actually like. Like quartering soldiers. Are you kidding
me? I can't quarter a soldier? Who doesn't like a houseguest? I've got an extra bed, and my motto
is "Mi casa es su casa." Just bring a six-pack and we'll make spaghetti.
Another one that could go is the protection from search and seizure. First off, I got nothing to
hide. I know I'm innocent, so you aren't going to find any evidence against me unless you plant
it. Second, I don't need someone to protect my stuff. If you start messing with my property, I'll
call the police. Plain and simple. Then won't you look stupid.
Right to a speedy trial, right to petition, freedom of religion—on, and on, and on it goes. I'm over
40 now, so there are probably some in there I'm never even going to use. Look at me. Do I really
need the right to assemble? I can barely get my ass off the couch to go out to breakfast with my
friend Jerry once a week. And Lord knows Jerry isn't going to use his right to assemble anytime
soon. He still lives with his mom.
53
B. Borah
Centreville High School
So there's two rights to assemble going to waste already, and I'm supposed to feel all guilty about
it.
It would be a lot easier just to split them up, and give some of the people some of the rights and
other people other rights. That way they all get used, and nobody's left with a bunch of unused
rights, looking like a total idiot. Or maybe we could just have one per-sonal freedom per day.
That way you could express your freedom of religion on Monday, and on Tuesday you could
move on to your protection from self-incrimination, and so on. At least that would be
manageable. Look, all I really want to do is live my life and pursue a little bit of happiness, but
it's almost impossible with all these rights gumming up the works. Why not get rid of the useless
ones and replace them with some new rights we can actually do something with? Like the right
not to get a million text messages from your insane ex-girlfriend, or the right to a clean bathroom
at the gas station, or free Netflix for everyone.
54
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source D
JD Facts. ―Student Suspended for Facebook
Writings May Proceed With Lawsuit.‖ 16 Feb 2010.
Web.
A federal judge has ruled that Katherine Evans, a former student at Pembroke Pines Charter
School in Florida, may proceed with her lawsuit. Evans sued her former vice principal after she
was suspended for 3 days for creating a Facebook page criticizing a teacher. The school claims
Evans engaged in cyber bullying her teacher, Sarah Phelps. Then high school senior Evans
created a page titled, ―Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I‘ve ever had‖ and invited students
of Phelps to post their opinions. Some students supported the teacher and others expressed
negative opinions. After a few days Evans took down the page. Two months later she ran into
trouble with the school over the page.
Evans wants to have her suspension expunged from her disciplinary record and seeks a ―nominal
fee‖ for what she argues was a violation of her First Amendment rights and to pay her legal fees.
Former Principal Peter Bayer asked that the case be dismissed but Magistrate Judge Barry L.
Garber denied Bayer‘s petition and rejected his claim of qualified immunity. One of Evans
lawyers, Maria Kayanan (associate legal director of the ACLU of Florida) said in response to the
decision, ―This is an important victory both for Ms. Evans and Internet free speech…because it
upholds the principle that the right to freedom of speech and expression in America does not
depend on the technology used to convey opinions and ideas.‖
55
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source E
Pew Research Center‘s Internet & American Life.
Project Surveys. 2010.
56
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source F
Zuckerberg, Mark. ―From Facebook, answering privacy
concerns with new settings.‖ 24 May 2010. Web.
Six years ago, we built Facebook around a few simple ideas. People want to share and stay
connected with their friends and the people around them. If we give people control over what
they share, they will want to share more. If people share more, the world will become more open
and connected. And a world that's more open and connected is a better world. These are still our
core principles today.
Facebook has been growing quickly. It has become a community of more than 400 million
people in just a few years. It's a challenge to keep that many people satisfied over time, so we
move quickly to serve that community with new ways to connect with the social Web and each
other. Sometimes we move too fast -- and after listening to recent concerns, we're responding.
The challenge is how a network like ours facilitates sharing and innovation, offers control and
choice, and makes this experience easy for everyone. These are issues we think about all the
time. Whenever we make a change, we try to apply the lessons we've learned along the way. The
biggest message we have heard recently is that people want easier control over their information.
Simply put, many of you thought our controls were too complex. Our intention was to give you
lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed
the mark.
We have heard the feedback. There needs to be a simpler way to control your information. In the
coming weeks, we will add privacy controls that are much simpler to use. We will also give you
an easy way to turn off all third-party services. We are working hard to make these changes
available as soon as possible. We hope you'll be pleased with the result of our work and, as
always, we'll be eager to get your feedback.
We have also heard that some people don't understand how their personal information is used
and worry that it is shared in ways they don't want. I'd like to clear that up now. Many people
choose to make some of their information visible to everyone so people they know can find them
on Facebook. We already offer controls to limit the visibility of that information and we intend
to make them even stronger.
Here are the principles under which Facebook operates:
-- You have control over how your information is shared.
-- We do not share your personal information with people or services you don't want.
-- We do not give advertisers access to your personal information.
57
B. Borah
Centreville High School
-- We do not and never will sell any of your information to anyone.
-- We will always keep Facebook a free service for everyone.
Facebook has evolved from a simple dorm-room project to a global social network connecting
millions of people. We will keep building, we will keep listening and we will continue to have a
dialogue with everyone who cares enough about Facebook to share their ideas. And we will keep
focused on achieving our mission of giving people the power to share and making the world
more open and connected.
58
B. Borah
Centreville High School
English Language and Composition
Reading Time: 15 minutes
Suggested Writing Time: 40 minutes
Directions: The following prompt is based on the accompanying six sources.
This question requires you to integrate a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay.
Refer to the sources to support your position: avoid mere paraphrase or summary. Your
argument should be central; the sources should support this argument.
Remember to attribute both direct and indirect citations.
Introduction
Obesity has been a hot topic in the United States recently. One of the main concerns in the field
of obesity is the waist line of our children. Junk food is available for adolescents to purchase all
day, every day. One place where there is this constant access to junk food is in the school. As the
concern about childhood obesity increases, do public schools have a responsibility to restrict
student access to junk food?
Assignment
Read the following sources (including any introductory information) carefully. Then, in an
essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position that defends,
challenges, or qualifies the claim that public school have a responsibility to restrict student
access to junk food.
Refer to the sources as Source A, Source B, etc.; titles are included for your convenience.
Source A (USDA)
Source B (Ryman)
Source C (Chart)
Source D (Henrico County Public Schools)
Source E (Baskt)
Source F (Winter)
59
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source A
USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/chapter5.htm
The following passage is from the USDA’s 2005 dietary recommendations for Americans.
Compared with the many people who consume a dietary pattern with only small amounts of
fruits and vegetables, those who eat more generous amounts as part of a healthful diet are likely
to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and perhaps other cardiovascular
diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancers in certain sites (oral cavity and pharynx, larynx, lung,
esophagus, stomach, and colon-rectum). Diets rich in foods containing fiber, such as fruits,
vegetables, and whole grains, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Diets rich in milk
and milk products can reduce the risk of low bone mass throughout the life cycle. The
consumption of milk products is especially important for children and adolescents who are
building their peak bone mass and developing lifelong habits. Although each of these food
groups may have a different relationship with disease outcomes, the adequate consumption of all
food groups contributes to overall health.
KEY RECOMMENDATIONS




Consume a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables while staying
within energy needs. Two cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables per
day are recommended for a reference 2,000-calorie intake, with
higher or lower amounts depending on the calorie level.
Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. In particular,
select from all five vegetable subgroups (dark green, orange,
legumes, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables) several times a
week.
Consume 3 or more ounce-equivalents of whole-grain products per
day, with the rest of the recommended grains coming from enriched
or whole-grain products. In general, at least half the grains should
come from whole grains.
Consume 3 cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk
products.
60
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source B
Ryman, Anne. ―Senate OKs junk-food ban‖ The Arizona Republic 15th April 2005.
Starti
ng
next
year, Arizona's elementary and middle school students could be eating healthier.
A bill expected to land on the governor's desk shortly would ban the sales of soft drinks, candy
and gum during the school day beginning in July 2006. High schools would be exempt.
On Thursday, the Senate voted 19-11 in favor of the "junk-food bill."
The House is expected to concur with the Senate-approved measure and forward the bill to the
governor, who has not taken a position on the bill, according to her spokeswoman. If signed into
law, the legislation would affect about 700,000 children in elementary, middle and junior high
schools.
House Bill 2544, introduced by Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa, comes as a result of rising
concerns over childhood obesity.
Students have mixed opinions whether a ban would work.
Some predict kids will just bring soft drinks and candy from home and sell them at school,
creating a black market for the sugary treats. Because the bill does nothing to prohibit kids from
bringing food to school, others say the ban would have little impact.
"We can always bring our own soda to drink," said seventh-grader Shannon Galloway, 13, of
Paradise Valley.
The Arizona bill targets food sold in school snack bars and vending machines. Schools have been
reluctant to change to only healthful snacks because the proceeds help fund trips, sports and
school clubs. But critics say schools send a mixed message by teaching good nutrition and then
selling high-fat, high-sugar snacks to students. Although the bill would ban soft drink and candy
sales during the school day, it's unclear where snacks such as doughnuts, potato chips and candy
bars would fall.
The bill would require the Arizona Department of Education to develop nutrition standards for
school snacks and drinks. Depending on how strict the standards are written, schools may still be
able to sell those snacks provided they switch to lower-fat versions or smaller portion sizes.
Sixth-grader Devon Weller of Scottsdale said she hopes any standards wouldn't be too limiting.
"I like having doughnuts and Popsicles," the 12-year-old said. The bill applies only to food sold
during the school day, so schools could still sell what they wanted at football games and evening
events.
The Arizona School Boards Association and the Arizona Association of School Business
Officials oppose the bill because officials say it takes control from local school boards. Sen.
Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, echoed those concerns on the Senate floor Thursday. He said the
Arizona Legislature has more important issues to deal with, such as the controversial AIMS test.
"This issue should be left to the local parents, the local school districts," said Martin, who voted
against the junk-food bill.
61
B. Borah
Centreville High School
The legislation has changed many times since being introduced in January, with high schools
being added and taken out several times. High schools have proved the most controversial part
because that's where the most money is made.
Some high schools clear more than $50,000 a year through soda and snack sales.
Soft-drink and vending companies initially opposed the bill but changed their minds when
legislators exempted high schools.
62
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source C
American Obesity Association. ―Childhood Obesity: Prevalence and Identification.‖
http://www.obesity.org/subs/childhood/prevalence.shtml. May 2, 2005.
Prevalence and Identification
`
About 15.5 percent of adolescents (ages 12 to 19) and 15.3 percent of children (ages 6 to 11) are
obese. The increase in obesity among American youth over the past two decades is dramatic, as
shown in the tables below.
Table 2.
Prevalence of Obese Adolescents
(Ages 12 to 19) at the
95th percentile of
Body Mass Index (BMI)
1999 to 2000
15.5%
1988 to 1994
11%
1976 to 1980
5%
63
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source D
―Food Service for Henrico County Public Schools.‖
http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/administration/operations/school_food/high_school_prog.html.
Aug. 2, 2006.
Nutrition Concerns with High School Program
School Food Service is trying to balance our nutritional responsibility to students with the need
to offer items students will eat and the requirement that we be self-supporting. This will not be
an easy task. Changes will have a negative financial impact on School Food Service and difficult
decisions about funding will need to be addressed in the future.
School Food Service believes there are no ‗bad‘ foods. All foods eaten in moderation in the
context of a balanced diet are acceptable. To help students achieve that moderation, changes
were made beginning in September 2004. These steps in addition to a long-term emphasis on
physical exercise and nutrition education will, over time, have a positive impact on student
health. These changes are in line with recommendations made by Virginia Action for Healthy
Kids, a coalition of educators, health professionals and community members aimed at promoting
health and academic achievement among Virginian youth.
64
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source E
Baskt, Brian. ―Schools go on a health kick as federal wellness law takes hold.‖ The
Associated Press 23 July 2006. 02 August 2006.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/07/13/diet.healthy.schools.ap/index.html
The following passage discusses Congress’s new law concerning nutrition and exercise
practices in public schools.
In• a new effort to crack down on childhood obesity, education officials are under federal orders
to revamp their nutrition and exercise goals before school resumes.
Written wellness policies are required under a law that took effect earlier this month and gives
school boards wide latitude in drawing up the plans.
Overweight children miss more school than their average-weight counterparts, according to the
National School Boards Association. Supporters also argue that reducing sugar in students' diets
leads to greater focus in the classroom.
So expect to see fewer sugary treats in vending machines and class parties, as well as more
scrutiny of student lunch trays.
Exercise being promoted
Many school districts are making it clear that recess is valuable exercise time and shouldn't be
withheld as punishment.
While school leaders and health advocates generally laud the law's intent, concerns do exist.
Congress didn't give schools money to implement the policies or offer compensation for the
potential loss of vending sales proceeds.
An Illinois education panel noted another barrier: Schools have difficulty setting aside time from
their other pressing priorities such as the federal No Child Left Behind law, which carries
consequences if students don't show progress in core subjects.
The wellness directive requires school districts to measure progress but doesn't contain
consequences for those that don't live up to the law.
"I don't think the federal government put enough teeth into this," Dunham. "We are accountable
basically only to ourselves. In some school districts, I could see this going by the wayside."
And don't expect the wellness policies to, um, bear fruit overnight.
"It's like eating an elephant," said Brenda Greene, the National School Board Association's
director of school health programs. "You need to do it one bite at a time."
65
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source F
Winter, Greg. ―Some States Fight Junk Food Sales in Schools.‖ The New York Times
09 Sept 2001. 3 Aug 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/09/education/09FOOD.html?pagewanted=all
The following passage is excerpted from a newspaper article examining state involvement in
legislating junk food restrictions in public schools.
The food industry says children need more exercise, not fewer choices.
The bills have also angered school administrators nationwide,
intensifying an already heated debate over the prevalence of commercial
interests in the education system.
Once little more than a novelty in schools, vending machines have become
a principal source of extra money for districts across the nation,
bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars for extracurricular
activities each year. With dozens of machines lining their hallways,
some schools annually earn $50,000 or more in commissions, then use the
money for marching bands, computer centers and field trips that might
otherwise fall by the wayside.
To keep such programs going, schools are emerging as the staunchest
opponents of the proposed restrictions, invoking the same principles of
local control that the states themselves use to fight federal standards
for academic testing. In many cases, the resistance from schools has
been vociferous enough to water down or defeat measures, or at least
stall them until the next legislative session rolls around.
"Let the parents, the students and the school community sit down and
decide how to handle this," said Robert E. Meeks, legislative director
for the Minnesota School Boards Association, which has organized against
legislation to curtail soda sales. Mr. Meeks added that Minnesota
schools earn roughly $40 million a year from vending machines.
"The states only seem to be interested in local control when it suits
them," he said.
66
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Sara Brandt
Jeanne Guthrie
Jeannine Jordan-Squire
Shawn Tickle
English Language and Composition
Reading Time: 15 minutes
Suggested Writing Time: 40 minutes
Directions:
The following prompt is based on the accompanying six sources.
This question requires you to integrate a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay.
Refer to the sources to support your position; avoid mere paraphrase or summary. Your
argument should be central; the sources should support this argument.
Remember to attribute both direct and indirect citations.
Introduction
Education is considered to be the foundation for a successful and prosperous society, supporting
the idea that everyone can achieve the American Dream. Are the current trends in education –
standardized tests, No Child Left Behind, smaller school environments, radical changes in
funding, teaching to the test, etc. – really going to help everyone achieve the American Dream?
Is the goal of education solely financial prosperity? What is the American Dream and its
relationship to education?
Assignment
Read the following sources (including any introductory information) carefully. Then, in an
essay that synthesizes at least three sources for support, take a position that defends,
challenges, or qualifies the claim that education is necessary for everyone to achieve the
American Dream.
Refer to the sources as Source A, Source B, etc.; titles are included for your convenience.
Source A (Johnson)
Source B (Williams)
Source C (Martin)
Source D (Cheeseman Day and Newburger)
Source E (Nester)
Source F (Britannica)
67
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source A
Johnson, Andrew. ―The Dropout Dilemma.‖ The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 21 July 2006.
Will Rogers, McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, Peter Jennings, Frank Sinatra, Tom Cruise
and, somewhat more believably, Jessica Simpson and Kevin Federline were all high-school
dropouts.
It's definitely not a PC way of looking at America's growing high school dropout rate,
especially with the world as competitive as it is, but dropping out has not meant a death knell for
everyone's future.
Pittsburgh's school board recently reacted as though a stink bomb had been unleashed in
a school hallway when the RAND Corp. said Pittsburgh's dropout rate was roughly 35 percent.
It's not close to being the worst nationally, but it's hardly something to shout about.
Perhaps encouraging is that many of Pittsburgh's dropouts have still made good -- some
very good -- without the most basic of educational degrees.
68
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source B
Williams, Patricia. ―Testing, Tracking, and Derailment.‖ The Informed Argument.
Massachusetts: Thomson Wadsworth. 2004.
The following passage is taken from a book that examines educational tracking that matches the
curriculum to students’ needs and abilities.
There was a successful lawsuit to integrate the two schools about twenty years ago, but then
an odd thing happened. Instead of using the old girls‘ school for the middle school and the larger
boys‘ school for the new upper school, as was originally suggested, the city decided to sever the
two. The old boys‘ school retained the name Boston Latin, and the old girls‘ school-smaller, lessequipped-was reborn as Boston Latin Academy. The entrance exam is now administered so that
those who score highest go to Boston Latin; the next cut down go to what is now, unnecessarily,
known as the ―less elite‖ Latin Academy.
One of the more direct consequences of this is that the new Boston Latin inherited an alumni
endowment of $15 million dollars, much of it used to provide college scholarships. Latin
Academy, on the other hand, inherited the revenue of the old Girls‘ Latin alumni associationsomething under $200,000. It seems odd: Students at both schools are tremendously talented, the
cutoff between them based on fairly insignificant scoring differences. But rather than pool the
resources of the combined facilities- thus maximizing educational opportunity, in particular
funding for college- the resolution of the pre-existing gender inequality almost purposefully reinscribed that inequality as one driven by wealth and class.
69
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source C
Martin, Eleanor. ‗―No‖ Is the Right Answer.‖ Boston Globe, 1999.
The following passage is excerpted from an article written by a high school sophomore who
refused to take her state’s mandated standardized test.
On May 17, a dozen sophomores at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School decided
not to take the state-mandated Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Test, better known as
the MCAT. I was one of them.
For weeks we had carefully researched the political and moral issues at stake. We were
aware that it was going to be difficult to refuse the test. When you are a sophomore in high
school, it is not easy to go against the orders of your teachers, you r advisors, your school, and
your state. We were not certain of the punishment that we would receive. Detention,
suspension, expulsion? All had been mentioned as possibilities.
When we announced what we were going to do, we received a lot of opposition. We
were told that we were going to bring down the cumulative score of our house and of the entire
school. But we believed, and still do, that the reasons for fighting this test are more important
than any score.
Beginning with the class of 2003, high school students who fail the MCAS test will not
be able to graduate. We believe that a single test should not determine the success and future of
a student.
How can four years of learning and growing be assessed by a single standardized test?
There are so many things that students learn throughout high school – how to play an instrument,
act, draw, paint. The learn photography, how to program a computer, fix a car engine, cook
tortellini Alfredo, throw a pot, or design a set for a play. Many students say these are among the
most important skills they learn in high school, yet all are skills the MCAS fails to recognize.
70
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source D
Cheeseman Day, Jennifer and Eric Newburger, ―The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and
Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings.‖ U.S Census Bureau, July 2002.
71
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source E
Nester, John E. ―The American Dream.‖ The Freeman, October 1973.
Whereas the American Dream was once equated with certain principles of freedom, it is now
equated with things. The American Dream has undergone a metamorphosis from principles to
materialism. When people are concerned more with the attainment of things than with the
maintenance of principles, it is a sign of moral decay. And it is through such decay that loss of
freedom occurs.
72
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Source F
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1994 - 2006. 2 August 2006.
<http://www.answers.com/topic/education>.
The following is a definition of the word “education.”
Learning that takes place in schools or school-like environments (formal education) or in the
world at large; the transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge of a society. In
developing cultures there is often little formal education; children learn from their environment
and activities, and the adults around them act as teachers. In more complex societies, where there
is more knowledge to be passed on, a more selective and efficient means of transmission-the
school and teacher-becomes necessary. The content of formal education, its duration, and who
receives it have varied widely from culture to culture and age to age, as has the philosophy of
education. Some philosophers (e.g., John Locke) have seen individuals as blank slates onto
which knowledge can be written. Others (e.g., Jean-Jacques Rousseau) have seen the innate
human state as desirable in itself and therefore to be tampered with as little as possible, a view
often taken in alternative education.
73
B. Borah
Centreville High School
AP English Language and Composition
Suggested reading time – 15 minutes
Suggested writing time – 40 minutes
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying six sources.
This question requires you to synthesize a variety of sources into a coherent, well-writing essay.
When you synthesize sources you refer to them to develop your position and cite them
accurately. Your argument should be central; the sources should support the argument. Avoid
merely summarizing the sources.
Introduction: Insert 4-6 sentences of thoughtfully constructed background to your topic to give
the student context to the issue presented.
Assignment: Insert your task for the student to complete. (Make sure that you craft it in such a
way to let students have a range of plausible ways of completing the task.) You must include the
warning that students must use at least three sources to support the position taken in the essay.
Source A:
Source B:
Source C:
Source D
Source E:
Source F:
photo (graphic image to interpret)
cartoon, political or pop culture
one op ed article
one data base for
one data base against
one satirical piece or spurious (bogus) article, even if they have to write it and
give it a bogus source.
74
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Intellectual Speed Dating
AP Language and Composition Open Prompts
You will have 7 minutes to ―get acquainted‖ with each prompt. Examine its meaning, look into
its heart and decide how to ―make conversation‖ with it for a pre-write. You don‘t have to
actually write the essay, just explore the concepts, brainstorming/questioning, and listing main
points and concrete examples you would use if you had to spend 40 minutes.
At the end of 7 minutes, I will call time and you will pass the prompt on to the next student,
receiving a new one in turn. After 35 minutes, we will stop and assess your responses.
Basic Rules:
- AP = Answer the Prompt
1. State your position; defend, challenge, qualify; on the concept in the prompt.
2. Write your thesis including the implicit of the prompt.
3. Add one piece of specific evidence and comment on the impact to your thesis.
4. DO NOT USE “I” in the thesis.
5. DO NOT retell any non pertinent information. The essay reader is well
acquainted with the issue.
- For the 2nd through the 5th prompts.
1. Even if you have to stretch, please attempt to add another very specific use of
evidence.
2. Very Important: Add to thought, meaning that the bullets placed on the page
prior to you should be extended. Use the Socratic seminar model. You hear your
peer and realize that the comment leads you to think of another idea.
3. Must use very specific evidence.
4. These are thoughts, so there are NO loser dates. Therefore you may not respond,
―I don‘t like this prompt, so I would never consider any intimacy.‖
5. Yes, if you use a literary character standing for an idea or concept you must
name the character and spell the name correctly.
6. If comments get full, then use the back of the page to add more ideas.
- Evidence can be any of the following and must be specific.
1. Reading: If you can think of a character that stands for an idea and can name the
character and the novel then use the character to prove the ―guiding‖ quotation.
Example: Atticus Finch and the idea of justice.
2. Observation:
1. Historical: This can be an example from history. Example: The
American Depression and the idea of lost hope.
2. Cultural: An observation can also be something you recognize in modern
culture that stands for an idea. Example: Advertising during the Super
Bowl and the idea of American gross consumption.
3. Experience: Yes, you can use evidence from your own personal experiences, but
it must stand for an idea like a close friend moving away and the idea of
loneliness (A common experience shared by many), and you must be specific
when relating the experience. The reader doesn‘t have access to your mind.
Therefore tell the experience well.
75
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Prompt #1:
In The March of Folly, historian Barbara Tuchman writes:
Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor
that plays a remarkably large role in government, It consists of
assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions
while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting
according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by
the facts.
Some people would claim that what Tuchman calls wooden-headedness
plays a remarkably large role in all organizations and, indeed, in all human
affairs.
Write a carefully reasoned persuasive essay that defends, challenges, or
qualifies this idea about the prevalence of wooden-headedness in human
actions and decisions. Use evidence from your reading and/or observation
to develop your position.
76
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Prompt #2:
Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances
would have lain dormant.—Horace
Consider this quotation about adversity from the Roman poet Horace. Then write
an essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Horace‘s assertion about the role
that adversity (financial or political hardship, danger, misfortune, etc.) plays in
developing a person‘s character. Support your argument with appropriate
evidence from your reading, observation, or experience.
77
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Prompt #3
Read the following excerpt from The Decline of Radicalism (1969) by Daniel J.
Boorstin and consider the implications of the distinction Boorstin makes between
dissent and disagreement. Then, using appropriate evidence, write a carefully
reasoned essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify Boorstin‘s distinction.
Dissent is the great problem of America today. It overshadows all others. It is
a symptom, an expression, a consequence, and a cause of all others. I say dissent
and not disagreement. And it is the distinction between dissent and disagreement
which I really want to make. Disagreement produces debate but dissent produces
dissension. Dissent (which comes from the Latin, dis and sentire) means
originally to feel apart from others. People who disagree have an argument, but
people who dissent have a quarrel. People may disagree and both may count
themselves in the majority. But a person who dissents is by definition in a
minority. A liberal society thrives on disagreement but is killed by dissension.
Disagreement is the life blood of democracy, dissension is its cancer.
78
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Prompt #4:
From talk radio to television shows, from popular magazines to Web blogs,
ordinary citizens, political figures, and entertainers express their opinions on a
wide range of topics. Are these opinions worthwhile? Does the expression of
such opinions foster democratic values?
Write an essay in which you take a position on the value of such public
statements of opinion, supporting your view with appropriate evidence.
79
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Prompt #5:
A weekly feature in the New York Times Magazine is a column by Randy Cohen
called ―The Ethicist,‖ in which people raise ethical questions to which Cohen
provides answers. The question below is from a column that appeared on April 4,
2003.
At my high school, various clubs and organizations sponsor charity drives, asking
students to bring money, food, and clothing. Some teachers offer bonus points on
tests and final averages as incentives to participate. Some parents believe that
this sends a morally wrong message, undermining the value of charity as a
selfless act. Is the exchange of donations for grades O.K.?
The process for offering incentives for charitable acts is widespread, from school
projects to fund drives by organizations such as public television stations, to
federal income tax deductions for contributions to charities. In a well written
essay, develop a position on the ethics of offering incentives for charitable acts.
Support your position with evidence from your reading, observation, and/or
experience.
80
B. Borah
Centreville High School
The Open Prompt
Five canons of rhetoric:
Invention: brainstorm, pre-write, use graphic organizers, etc. to plot out ideas
Arrangement: a particular order, a set pattern
Style: grammatically correct, clear, appropriate for their subject and audience, this is where the
upper level student demonstrates ―ornamentation.‖
Examples: every anecdote, every fact, every allusion you employ comes from memory, or that
which you have learned
- Culture
- Personal experience
- History
- Readings, fiction and nonfiction
Delivery: the delivery deals with the method of presenting the material, In this case the delivery is
preordered, an essay.
Interesting Past Prompt:
The list below is made up of pairs of words that are closely related in meaning but
differ in connotation. Select one or more pairs; then write an essay in which you
discuss and elaborate on the distinctions between the words in each pair you have
chosen. Include in your discussion such considerations as how, when, where, why,
and by whom each word is likely to be used.
Note: You should write a single, unified essay, even if you choose more than one
pair of words.
Art...Craft
Faith...Creed
Gang...Club
Imaginative...Fanciful
Instrument...Tool
Intelligent...Smart
Labor...Work
Lady...Woman
Recreation...Play
Terrorist...Revolutionary
81
B. Borah
Centreville High School
General Scoring Guide for Free-Response Essays
Essays are graded holistically as on-demand writing; however, an essay that is full of grammatical or
mechanical errors should not be scored higher than a 2.
9
These essays are exceptionally well written, show unusual insight into the topic, are very
well organized, and support assertions with appropriate examples. They remain focused
on all aspects of the topic and present a unique writer‘s voice.
8
These essays are very well written, show clear understanding of and focus on the topic,
are well organized, and usually support assertions with appropriate examples. They focus
on all aspects of the topic and show a writer‘s voice. They may have a few mechanical
errors but only very minor ones.
7-6 These essays are well written, show an understanding of the topic and remain focused on
almost all aspects of it. A few assertions may lack specific examples, but the argument is
clearly made. The writer‘s voice is somewhat less mature than that of an 8-9 essay, but it
is still evident. There may be a few errors in mechanics but only minor ones.
5
These essays are for the most part well written, and usually remain focused on the topic,
but they fail to deal with all aspects of the topic. The assertions that are made may be
somewhat vague in relation to the topic or a bit superficial in nature. The supporting
examples may be missing occasionally or not well related to the topic. There seems to be
evidence of a writer‘s voice but not one of a unique nature. These essays are usually
characterized by some minor errors in mechanics.
4-3 These essays have some problems with organization and coherence, tend to wander from
the topic in places, and deal only with one or two aspects of the topic, or with all aspects
in only a superficial manner. The assertions that are made are too general in nature and
are often unsupported by relevant examples. The writing demonstrates weak control of
mechanics, and a writer‘s voice is lacking or inconsistent.
2
These essays fail to focus on the topic clearly, stray repeatedly from the topic, or simply
restate the topic without any analysis. There is poor organization and focus in the writing,
and the few assertions are generally unsupported. The writing is characterized by errors
in mechanics and grammar.
1
These essays fail to deal with the topic, lack organization and coherence, and/or contain
many distracting mechanical and grammatical errors.







Read the prompt carefully, see it as a series of tasks and carry out each one.
Recognize key words in the prompt and understand what type of task the words indicate: claim;
support, refute or qualify, evidence versus example, develop.
Take a clear position; do not waver between positions.
Don‘t substitute a thesis-oriented expository essay for an argumentative essay or vice versa; don‘t
analyze rhetorical strategies when the task is to argue a point or vice versa
Don‘t refrain from taking issue with the prompt because ―everybody‘s entitled to an opinion.‖
Don‘t slip out of focus by discussing a rhetorical strategy such as imagery in general rather than
in the specific context of the passage.
Establish clear connections between claims and data to support them.
82
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Persuasive Planning and Construction
Plan only for each of these three essay prompts. State your thesis and bullet specific
evidence.
1. In The Spectator for December 15, 1711, Joseph Addison wrote:
―If the talent of ridicule were employed to laugh men out of vice and folly, it might be of some
use in the world; but instead of this, we find that it is generally made use of to laugh men out of
virtue and good sense, by attacking everything that is solemn and serious, decent and
praiseworthy in human life.‖
Position: Defend, Negate, or Qualify
Evidence: Observation, Experience, or Reading
2. The first chapter of Ecclesiastes, a book in the Bible, concludes with these words:
―For in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.‖
Position: Defend, Challenge, or Qualify
Evidence: Observation, Experience, or Reading
3. H.L. Mencken wrote in 1924:
―It is almost as safe to assume that the artist of any dignity is against his country, i.e.,
against the environment in which God has placed him, as it is to assume that his country is
against the artist. The special quality which makes an artist of him might also be defined,
indeed, as an extraordinary capacity for irritation, a pathological sensitiveness to environmental
pricks and stings. He differs from the rest of us because he reacts sharply and in an uncommon
manner to phenomena which leave the rest of us unmoved, or, at most, merely annoy us vaguely.
He is, in brief, a more delicate fellow than we are, and hence less fitted to enjoy himself under
the conditions of life which he and we must face alike. Therefore, he takes to artistic endeavor,
which is at once a criticism of life and an attempt to escape from life.‖
―So much for the theory of it. The more the facts are studied, the more they bear it out.
In those fields of art, at all events, which concern themselves with ideas as well as with
sensations it is almost impossible to find any trace of an artist who is not actively hostile to his
environment, and thus an indifferent patriot.‖
Position: Defend, Challenge, or Qualify
Evidence: Specific Writers, Composers, or other Artist
83
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Persuasive Essay Preparation
Position: Which side of the issue or problem are you going to write about, and what
solution will you offer? Evidence is key here. Choose the side of the issue that you
can best prove.
-
Read the prompt, then read the passage or quote, and reread the prompt.
Determine if the statement is true, false, or sometimes both true and false at the same
time.
The prompt will direct you to the type of evidence you may use to prove your point.
Prompt #1:
In The March of Folly, historian Barbara Tuchman writes:
Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor
that plays a remarkably large role in government, It consists of
assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions
while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting
according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by
the facts.
Some people would claim that what Tuchman calls wooden-headedness
plays a remarkably large role in all organizations and, indeed, in all human
affairs.
Write a carefully reasoned persuasive essay that defends, challenges, or
qualifies this idea about the prevalence of wooden-headedness in human
actions and decisions. Use evidence from your reading and/or observation
to develop your position.
Prompt #2:
Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances
would have lain dormant.—Horace
Consider this quotation about adversity from the Roman poet Horace. Then write
an essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Horace‘s assertion about the role
that adversity (financial or political hardship, danger, misfortune, etc.) plays in
developing a person‘s character. Support your argument with appropriate
evidence from your reading, observation, or experience.
Prompt #3
Read the following excerpt from The Decline of Radicalism (1969) by Daniel J.
Boorstin and consider the implications of the distinction Boorstin makes between
dissent and disagreement. Then, using appropriate evidence, write a carefully
reasoned essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify Boorstin‘s distinction.
84
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Dissent is the great problem of America today. It overshadows all others. It is
a symptom, an expression, a consequence, and a cause of all others. I say dissent
and not disagreement. And it is the distinction between dissent and disagreement
which I really want to make. Disagreement produces debate but dissent produces
dissension. Dissent (which comes from the Latin, dis and sentire) means
originally to feel apart from others. People who disagree have an argument, but
people who dissent have a quarrel. People may disagree and both may count
themselves in the majority. But a person who dissents is by definition in a
minority. A liberal society thrives on disagreement but is killed by dissension.
Disagreement is the life blood of democracy, dissension is its cancer.
Alternative Language Prompt #4:
From talk radio to television shows, from popular magazines to Web blogs,
ordinary citizens, political figures, and entertainers express their opinions on a
wide range of topics. Are these opinions worthwhile? Does the expression of
such opinions foster democratic values?
Write an essay in which you take a position on the value of such public
statements of opinion, supporting your view with appropriate evidence.
Alternative Language Prompt #5:
A weekly feature in the New York Times Magazine is a column by Randy Cohen
called ―The Ethicist,‖ in which people raise ethical questions to which Cohen
provides answers. The question below is from a column that appeared on April 4,
2003.
At my high school, various clubs and organizations sponsor charity drives, asking
students to bring money, food, and clothing. Some teachers offer bonus points on
tests and final averages as incentives to participate. Some parents believe that
this sends a morally wrong message, undermining the value of charity as a
selfless act. Is the exchange of donations for grades O.K.?
The process for offering incentives for charitable acts is widespread, from school
projects to fund drives by organizations such as public television stations, to
federal income tax deductions for contributions to charities. In a well written
essay, develop a position on the ethics of offering incentives for charitable acts.
Support your position with evidence from your reading, observation, and/or
experience.
Choose the side you’ll argue:



Defend: You totally agree that the statement is true in all cases, so all of your evidence
proves the writer.
Negate: You totally disagree with the statement, so in all cases your evidence will prove
so.
Qualify: You see that the writer has a point, but it is not true in all cases. Therefore you
gather strong evidence to state that in certain circumstances it is true, and you also gather
strong evidence that proves the statement is not true in all circumstances.
85
B. Borah
Centreville High School

Position: Don‘t let this language fool you. It is an alternative to defend, negate,
challenge, qualify, etc. You still have the same obligation to produce a quality paper that
evaluates the issue, takes a stand, and offers specific evidence to support.
List Evidence: BE VERY SPECIFIC!!! You need not fill in all of the four following
possibilities for evidence, but you must find two to three good examples for evidence.
General evidence will get no more than a 4 on the 1-9 scoring guide.
Evidence types
a. Reading: If you can think of a character that stands for an idea and can name
the character and the novel then use the character to prove the ―guiding‖
quotation. Example: Atticus Finch and the idea of justice.
b. Observation:
- Historical: This can be an example from history. Example: The
American Depression and the idea of lost hope.
- Cultural: An observation can also be something you recognize in
modern culture that stands for an idea. Example: Advertising during
the Super Bowl and the idea of American gross consumption.
c. Experience: Yes, you can use evidence from your own personal experiences,
but it must stand for an idea like a close friend moving away and the idea of
loneliness (A common experience shared by many), and you must be specific
when relating the experience. The reader doesn‘t have access to your mind.
Therefore tell the experience well.
86
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Evidence Practice: Prompt #1
Cite at least three examples as evidence. The more specific, the easier it is for you to
elaborate in commentary.
a. Culture
b. History
c. Personal Experience
d. Literary example
87
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Evidence Practice: Prompt #5
Cite at least three examples as evidence. The more specific, the easier it is for you to
elaborate in commentary.
a. Culture
b. History
c. Personal Experience
d. Literary example
88
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Structure your essay around purpose:
Prompt #1:
In The March of Folly, historian Barbara Tuchman writes:
Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor
that plays a remarkably large role in government, It consists of
assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions
while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting
according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by
the facts.
Some people would claim that what Tuchman calls wooden-headedness
plays a remarkably large role in all organizations and, indeed, in all human
affairs.
Write a carefully reasoned persuasive essay that defends, challenges, or
qualifies this idea about the prevalence of wooden-headedness in human
actions and decisions. Use evidence from your reading and/or observation
to develop your position.
Note that within the prompt you are given a ―purpose.‖ This means that in this case your
assertive statements, first sentence of each body paragraph must deal with the presence or
absence of ―wooden-headedness.‖ This is where you extend this idea to similar
circumstances like ―stubbornness,‖ ―unmoving,‖ ―tenacious, ―unbending,‖ etc.
These words help to extend the purpose of the prompt and will produce your assertive
statements in your essay.
Examples for Assertion:
―Stubbornness proves that wooden-headedness causes _______.‖
or
―Tenacity will produce stronger people when it comes to______.‖
If you fail to denote the “purpose” of the prompt and passage your
essay will be misguided and off task.
The construction of the rhetorical analysis requires structure, so too
does your persuasive response to the AP English Language Open
Prompt, and purpose is the organizational tool.
Go back to the five prompts and passages; note the underlined portions
reveal the purpose of each.
89
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Thesis and Assertion, Evidence and Commentary practice:
Using Prompt #1:
Thesis: Wooden-headedness , the act of not accepting the facts which might disprove beliefs
(exists/doesn’t exist, may at times exist and others not).
1. Please note that you may use the stated purpose of the prompt and passage to create your
direction.
2. Again, if you fail to denote the purpose, direction, of the prompt and passage your essay
will be misguided and will score no higher than a 4 on the 1-9 scoring guide.
3. The thesis must direct your discussion in support of the purpose, against the purpose, or
qualification of the purpose.
4. It is unwise to use 1st person ―I‖ here in the thesis. You may later use 1 st person if you
use a personal experience, but in the thesis you are addressing purpose of the prompt.
Thesis: You write your own thesis for the wooden-headedness prompt. Make certain that the
purpose of the prompt and passage is clearly stated.
First Assertive Paragraph:
Note the examples on page and note the use of a synonym in each to carry the purpose of the
thesis.
Write the first assertion:
90
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Add the first example of evidence:
Commentary: Note: here is where you carry the idea of the assertive abstraction. Look back at
page 7, ―tenacity‖ and ―stubbornness‖ or whatever your chosen idea must be carried in the
commentary.
Add your first comment following your evidence:
Completion of the essay:
-
Your essay must carry the full argument for 350-400 words.
Multiple pieces of specific evidence must be offered.
Commentary must be full and explanatory.
The conclusion needs to demonstrate that the thesis is proven. Do not merely restate the
thesis. Go back to the purpose in the prompt and passage to choose your words.
The conclusion may be one sentence for closure.
91
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Read Emerson, and label canons two, three, and four in the following responses:
Essay Question II
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts one-third of the total essay section score.)
Read the following excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson‘s speech ―The American Scholar,‖
which was delivered at Cambridge on August 31, 1837. Then write a well-reasoned essay that
defends, challenges, or qualifies Emerson‘s ideas about books and their usefulness. Use
evidence from your own experience, reading, or observation to develop your essay.
(5)
(10)
(15)
(20)
(25)
(30)
(35)
The theory of books is noble. The scholar of the first age
received into him the world around; brooded thereon; gave
it the new arrangement of his own mind, and uttered it
again. It came into him—life; it went out from him—truth.
It came to him—short-lived actions; it went out from
him—immortal thoughts. It came to him—business; it went
from him—poetry. It was—dead fact; now, it is quick
thought. It can stand, and it can go. It now endures, it now
flies, it now inspires. Precisely in proportion to the depth of
mind from which it issued, so high does it soar, so long does
it sing.
Or, I might say, it depends on how far the process had
gone, of transmuting life into truth. In proportion to the
completeness of the distillation, so will the purity and
imperishableness of the product be. But none is quite
perfect….Each age, it is found, must write its own books;
or rather, each generation for the next succeeding. The
books or an older period will not fit this.
Yet hence arises a grave mischief. The sacredness which
attaches to the act of creation,--the act of thought,--is
instantly transferred to the record. The poet chanting, was
felt to be a divine man. Henceforth the chant is divine also.
The writer was a just and wise spirit. Henceforward it is
settled, the book is perfect; as love of the hero corrupts into
worship of his statue. Instantly, the book becomes noxious.
The guide is a tyrant….The sluggish and perverted mind of
the multitude, always slow to open to the incursions of
Reason, having once so opened, having once received this
book, stands upon it, and makes an outcry, if it is disparaged. Colleges are built on it. Books are written on it by
thinkers, not by Man Thinking; by men of talent, that is, who
start wrong, who set out from accepted dogmas, not from
their own sight of principles. Meek young men grow up in
libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which
Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful
92
B. Borah
Centreville High School
(40)
that Cicero, Locke and Bacon were only young men in
libraries when they wrote these books.
Hence, instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm…
Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among
the worst.
High-Scoring Essay
Ralph Waldo Emerson is perhaps overly strident in his speech, ―The American Scholar.‖
But such zeal serves to make a trenchant point about the tendency toward rigid reverence of
―Great Works,‖ as if each were the Holy Grail itself. He asserts: ―Books are the best of things,
well used; abused, among the worst.‖ Emerson delivers stinging indictment of ―bookworms.‖
He argues that even in the greatest thinkers were once humble students. The danger, Emerson
claims, is that of transferring our respect from the venerable acts of creation, of thought, to that
endeavor‘s imperfect product. He believes scholars must not so prostrate themselves before the
majesty of profound works, that they forget their creators, whom they should emulate in creative
thought. They should not idolize the books themselves in a sort of cult of inferiority, Emerson
says, but rather write their own books, their own truths, undertake their own sacred acts of
creation
In a strict sense, these points are valid. But Emerson goes beyond these points; he
overstates his case. He is treading the ground between the good scholar and the singular genius.
Perhaps, given his own stature, it is only fitting that he should hold us to such lofty standards.
Nevertheless, his warnings against showing too much respect for books, are not altogether true.
Such arguments, about the paramount importance of individual thought, can readily be misused
to justify a dismissal of the past. Often such self-indulgent, arrogant, arguments are used by
those less gifted than Emerson as an excuse to disregard the wisdom that has come before them.
A social critic recently said, ―It‘s fine to learn how to think, but what‘s the point if you
have nothing to think about?‖ The modern education system has sought to shoulder the burden
of ―teaching students how to think,‖ often elevating such a subjective goal to status superior to
teaching facts and sharing insights about past generations. In short, they focus more on method
and process than what students actually learn.
Some students graduate from American high schools ignorant of when the Civil War
occurred or the difference between the Preamble to the Constitution and Das Kapital. Reading
and digesting the thoughts of the past is essential as learning the rules of grammar so as to
intelligently violate them. In light of today‘s high illiteracy rate, society‘s problems hardly
include too many people being ―bookworms‖ or attempting to follow the doctrines of Plato or
John Locke or Mahatma Gandhi.
We as Americans share a heritage of ideas. Common assumptions must be examined so
that we understand where such ―conventional wisdom came from, for it is only then that we may
change the portions of it which may be unjust or clouded by bias. Certainly great books should
not be locked away, immune from criticism. Neither, however, should they be lambasted out of
visceral ignorance, in the name of ―individuality.‖
93
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Studying and learning from the works of the past, and creating new original writing and
thought in the present are not mutually exclusive propositions. Most scholars lack Emerson‘s
genius, but they will be hard-pressed to find a spark of creativity by meditation in the dark.
Emerson implies that ideas are not great in and out of themselves. But ideas can be great.
Proof positive resides in the overwhelming numbers of anonymous poems that fill anthology
books. How many aphorisms are repeated daily by speakers who know not whether they
generated from the tongue of Winston Churchill or Will Rogers? This is not to suggest that great
ideas cannot be proved wrong. That Emerson denies perfection to any ideas is hardly a danger.
Since no writer, however brilliant, is perfect, it is perfectly safe to acknowledge certain ideas as
great, without granting them perfection and immunity.
When people do not know the past, they face the peril of perpetually re-inventing the
wheel—blissfully ignorant of their tendency toward trite alliterations or insipid clichés.
Analysis of the High-Scoring Essay
This thorough, thoughtful, and well-written essay deserves a high score. It begins with
the topic and promptly takes a relevant position on the issue of studying from books and ideas of
the past. The student shows a clear understanding of Emerson‘s ideas by restating and
elaborating on the major points.
The student then points out a major dilemma inherent in a facile acceptance of Emerson‘s
ideas—that of dismissing the past and wisdom that has come before.
The student‘s essay proceeds with a two-paragraph discussion of the state of education
today, pointing out the dual needs of teaching both facts and the thinking process. These
paragraphs are particularly relevant to the topic, and the student‘s examples are presented with
insight.
The student also acknowledges our American heritage and the necessity of using books to
understand that heritage so that the country‘s great ideas are not hidden away.
The next paragraph counters Emerson‘s position which optimism—the student claims
that we can have it all; we can learn from the past and still,. Become clear, independent thinkers
who create new ideas. The student also acknowledges that ideas can be great while being
imperfect and that such imperfection is no reason to dismiss them entirely.
The student completes the essay with a brief conclusion reminding the reader that
humans may be doomed to repeat their mistakes and to reinvent the wheel unless they learn from
the great ideas of the past. Overall, this essay‘s points are valid, and without dismissing
Emerson lightly, the student intelligently discusses his concepts.
94
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Medium-Scoring Essay
The process of finding meaningful things in life is not always clear. It is not simple to
discover what is true and what is just fancy rhetoric or skirting of the issues. Ralph Waldo
Emerson, considered one of our best writers and speakers, gave a speech in Cambridge in 1837,
where he talked about books and how they can help us to find the truth which we are seeking in
our life.
Emerson said in his speech that books are noble and age of old scholars gave
arrangement to the life they saw and organized it. Then they put in into the books that they
wrote, and produced a new truth for people to refer to. But he also says that each new generation
of Americans has to write their own books. They have to discover their own versions of the
truth, and what that truth actually means to them.
He was right. He was also right when he said that we can‘t just go by what was said then,
because the ones who wrote the books that fill our libraries were just young and naïve when they
authored those books. How can we be sure they are right, just because they are old? Why are
they elevated to the status of classics as if they are perfected?
He says you shouldn‘t spend all your time in the library, however, I know some people
who do just this. The result is that instead of having their own ideas, they just listen to all the old
ones, and their creativity is stifled. I agree that it is more important to be a thinking man than
one who just accepts everything. You need to have the freedom to have your own ideas, to let
them flow without being influenced by principles and underlying ideas already presented in
books. These ideas might be right, but if everyone only reads them without\t thinking for
themselves, the country will be full of brainwashed people. They might be well educated, but
what will be the price of that education?
He said that books can be best if they are used well, but among the worst of things if they
are abused. What this actually encourages is for one to be intelligent about reading and not to
believe everything that that you read. Also, he says that we should not be bookworms so caught
up in the details of what people said in the past that we don‘t bother to think our own thoughts
about the present or concerning the issue of the future that are important to our society. This is
the centerpiece of his speech. He means that books have a noble ―theory.‖ He also means that in
practice we must live up to that theory. WE must live up that theory by not being blind or
gullible. Instead we must be Thinking Men and not thinkers only. He talked about how what we
observe has to be filtered in to the truth by our own original ideas. WE have to use books wisely,
Emerson believed, and I agree wholeheartedly.
Analysis of Medium-Scoring Essay
This essay would score at the low end of the medium range. It begins with a vague
introduction that essentially restates a few points from Emerson‘s speech. The student does not
yet state a thesis or take a position.
The second paragraph continues this trend, merely paraphrasing Emerson‘s speech
without critical thinking about those ideas. An essay that only paraphrases the passage will score
no higher than a three.
95
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Eventually, in the third paragraph, the student presents an opinion and takes a position,
although it is repetitively worded. The student seems to have finally started thinking as he or she
questions the validity of older books and the pedestal upon which the classics have been placed.
The fourth paragraph is probably the best in this student‘s essay and saves the score from
sinking even lower. The student uses personal experience as an example, citing other students
who have become ―stifled‖ in their creativity by spending too much time in the library,
consuming old books and old ideas without thinking while they read. The writer apparently
understands the need for every student to become an individual thinker, an analyzer of ideas.
However, the next paragraph reverts to simple paraphrasing. It offers no additional
commentary from the student.
The essay reaches an adequate conclusion, explaining the need to read wisely and not be
gullible. Ultimately, the student writer manages to insert enough of his or her own commentary
about Emerson‘s concepts to salvage the score. However, this essay could be greatly improved
by reducing the paraphrasing and including much more analysis and evidence. Remember that
this topic specifically directs students to ―use evidence from your own experience, reading, or
observation to develop your essay.‖ This writer has barely accomplished that goal, and thus the
score suffers.
96
B. Borah
Centreville High School
In The Spectator for December 15, 1711, Joseph Addison wrote:
―If the talent of ridicule were employed to laugh men out of vice and folly, it might be of some
use in the world; but instead of this, we find that it is generally made use of to laugh men out of
virtue and good sense, by attacking everything that is solemn and serious, decent and
praiseworthy in human life.‖
Position: Defend, Negate, or Qualify
Canons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
97
B. Borah
Centreville High School
The first chapter of Ecclesiastes, a book in the Bible, concludes with these words:
―For in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.‖
Position: Defend, Challenge, or Qualify
Canons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
98
B. Borah
Centreville High School
H.L. Mencken wrote in 1924:
―It is almost as safe to assume that the artist of any dignity is against his country, i.e.,
against the environment in which God has placed him, as it is to assume that his country is
against the artist. The special quality which makes an artist of him might also be defined,
indeed, as an extraordinary capacity for irritation, a pathological sensitiveness to environmental
pricks and stings. He differs from the rest of us because he reacts sharply and in an uncommon
manner to phenomena which leave the rest of us unmoved, or, at most, merely annoy us vaguely.
He is, in brief, a more delicate fellow than we are, and hence less fitted to enjoy himself under
the conditions of life which he and we must face alike. Therefore, he takes to artistic endeavor,
which is at once a criticism of life and an attempt to escape from life.‖
―So much for the theory of it. The more the facts are studied, the more they bear it out.
In those fields of art, at all events, which concern themselves with ideas as well as with
sensations it is almost impossible to find any trace of an artist who is not actively hostile to his
environment, and thus an indifferent patriot.‖
Position: Defend, Challenge, or Qualify
Canons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
99
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Improving Sentence Variety
Paragraph Revision Activity
Got rhythm?
One of the things that better writers do naturally is to vary the length of sentences to create a
rhythmical and readable prose style. Read the excerpt below from 100 Ways to Improve Your
Writing by Gary Provost to get the idea…
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine.
But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is
getting boring. The sound of it drones. It‘s like a stuck record. The ear demands variety.
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It
has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of
medium length. And sometimes when I am certain that the reader is rested, I will engage
him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds
with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of drums, the crash of cymbals—sounds that
say listen to this, it is important.
Review your essay to make sure that you have varied the length of your sentences to good effect.
Try this: emphasize your most important ideas by placing them in dramatically short sentences or
by featuring the ideas at the end of medium and long sentences. Let your prose style deliver a
pleasing punch to the reader. While you are in the depths of revision—vary the lengths of your
paragraphs as well. There is something pleasing about a short paragraph that draws various
points of your argument into a tight focus.
Student Task: Take one of your support paragraphs from your essay and rewrite it to include
short, medium, and long sentences. The new-found sentence variety should consciously
highlight your most important points.
At the end of your revised paragraph, calculate the following:
# of words in paragraph
# of sentences
Average word per sentence
# of words—longest sentence
# of words—shortest sentence
___________
___________
___________
___________
___________
Pick one sentence that you believe uses the length of the sentence to best effect. Explain your
selection.
100
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Sentence Variety Examples
BEFORE—
Frederick Douglass focuses on the irony between slave and master. A slave‘s social life
can be affected by a master. The master can cause a slave to be heavily punished. Douglass
writes, ―It was considered being bad enough to be a slave; but to be a poor man‘s slave was
deemed a disgrace indeed.‖ Colonel Lloyd‘s, ―large and finely cultivated garden, which almost
employed constant employment for four men‖ is a source of tension. Slaves are punished greatly
for any mistakes that occur in the garden. The master may beat the slaves for their mistakes. The
slaves however will still brag about the beauty of their master‘s possession.
AFTER—
Douglass most aptly identifies the irony of slavery as he examines the idea of ownership.
―A finely cultivated garden,‖ is painstakingly described as Colonel Lloyd‘s masterpiece, his
mark of status and prestige (11). However, it is the quality of pride and punishment that
accurately symbolizes the garden‘s significance. During the day, slaves find heavy punishment
and ―severe beatings‖ for their mismanagement of this garden. However, in conversation with
others, the same garden that contributes to their suffering becomes a source of pride—a piece of
their own ―imaginary‖ property. Irony abounds. It is not lost on Douglass that, ―It was …bad
enough to be a slave, but to be a poor man‘s slave was deemed a disgrace indeed‖ (13). How
unbelievably cruel. To realize that disgrace is the poverty of a slave‘s master is to, in the eyes of
Douglass, understand dehumanization.
101
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Models to Practice:
1.














Introduction
Topic sentence (which may include a concession/ counterargument):
Evidence 1 to support claim:
Explanation of how evidence 1 supports claim:
Transition to next idea:
Evidence 2 to support claim (This should be the same type of evidence):
Explanation of how evidence 2 supports claim:
Transition to the next paragraph/ t opic sentence (which may include a concession/
counterargument):
Evidence 3 to support claim:
Explanation of how evidence 3 supports claim:
Transition to next idea:
Evidence 4 to support claim:
Explanation of how evidence 4 supports claim:
Conclusion:
o Conclusion strategies
 Ask a pertinent question
 Present a final vivid and memorable image
 Provide an accurate and useful analogy
 Dismiss an opposing idea
 Predict future consequences
 Call for further action
2.
Rogerian Argumentation
One of the greatest challenges for a writer of arguments is to keep the audience from becoming
so defensive and annoyed that it will not listen to anything the writer has to say. Sometimes
audiences can feel threatened by viewpoints different from their own, and in such cases
persuasion can rarely take place. The psychologist Carl Rogers developed a negotiating strategy
to help people avoid such situations; he called it "empathic listening". In an empathic position,
the writer refrains from passing judgment on the audience‘s ideas until he or she has listened
attentively to the audience‘s position, tried to follow the audience‘s reasoning, and
acknowledged the validity of the audience‘s viewpoint (if only from a limited perspective). By
trying to understand where the audience is coming from and avoiding loaded or attacking
language that might put the audience on the defensive, the writer shows empathy for the
audience‘s viewpoint and opens the door for mutual understanding and respect. This
psychological approach encourages people to listen to each other rather than to try to shout each
other down.
Because it focuses on building bridges between writer and audience, and places considerable
weight on the values, beliefs, and opinions the two share, a Rogerian argument doesn‘t
emphasize an "I win–you lose" outcome as much as classical or Toulmin arguments do. Rather it
102
B. Borah
Centreville High School
emphasizes a "You win and I win too" solution, one where negotiation and mutual respect are
valued. Thus, it is particularly useful in psychological and emotional arguments, where pathos
and ethos rather than logos and strict logic predominate.
A Rogerian argument usually begins with the writer exploring the common ground she or he
shares with the audience. For instance, in an argument in favor of handgun registration, the
writer might begin by stating his or her respect for individual rights, especially the right to selfdefense and protection of one‘s property. The writer might also show appreciation for sportsmen
and collectors, who regard handguns as equipment for an activity or collectibles to be valued. In
exploring this common ground, the writer tries to state the audience‘s side of the issue fairly and
objectively, so that the audience realizes the writer is treating it with respect.
In the body of a Rogerian argument, the writer gives an objective statement of her or his
position, again trying to avoid loaded and attacking language and trying not to imply that this
position is somehow morally superior to the audience‘s position. The writer explains the contexts
in which his or her position is valid and explores how they differ from the audience‘s. For
instance, the gun registration writer might note that gun collections are frequent targets for
thieves, and point out that registration might help the owners retrieve such stolen property before
it is used to commit a crime.
In the conclusion, the writer finally presents his or her thesis, usually phrased in such a way that
shows the audience that the writer has made some concessions toward the audience‘s positions.
For instance, the gun registration writer might concede that this law should only apply to new
sales of handguns, not to guns the audience already owns. By giving some ground, the writer
invites the audience to concede as well, and hopefully to reach an agreement about the issue. If
the conclusion can show the audience how it will benefit from adopting (at least to some degree)
the writer‘s position, an even better chance for persuasion takes place.
Writing Format
- Introduce Issue: Provide any necessary background, definition, or history, but be sure that you
do so without using judgmental or inflammatory terminology. Try to present the issue as fairly
and objectively as possible.
- Summary of opposing views: Note that the opposition has points to ponder. This gives value
to the opposition‘s view and proves that there is neither side that is 100% right or 100% wrong.
- Statement of Understanding and exploration of common ground: Begin by assuming that
your reader may disagree with your position. To make a Rogerian argument, you‘ll want to start
by exploring the common ground you share with the opposing point of view. You may try
restating the opposition‘s point of view in ways that emphasize the similarities of positions rather
than the differences. However, in exploring this common ground, you must state the opposing
side of the issue fairly and objectively, so that the reader sees that you are treating it with respect.
- Establish position with contexts and conditions. In the body of a Rogerian argument, the
writer gives an objective statement of her or his position, again trying to avoid loaded and
attacking language and trying not to imply that this position is somehow morally superior to any
103
B. Borah
Centreville High School
other position. The writer explains the contexts in which his or her position is valid and explores
how they differ from the opposing viewpoint. Therefore, in this section, you acknowledge how
the opposition‘s argument is also valid under certain conditions and contexts.
For instance, a pro-gun registration writer might note that gun collections are frequent targets for
thieves, and point out that registration might help the owners retrieve such stolen property before
it is used to commit a crime. You should avoid implying that the opposition is wrong.
- Statement of context: Similar to statement of understanding in which you describe situations
in which you would share the opposition‘s view.
- Statement of benefits and conclusion: In your conclusion, you finally presents your thesis,
usually phrased in such a way that you show the reader that you‘ve made some concessions
toward the oppositional position. For instance, the gun registration writer might concede that this
law should only apply to new sales of handguns, not to guns the audience already owns. By
giving some ground, the writer invites the audience to concede as well, and hopefully to reach an
agreement about the issue. Ask yourself if you have you tried to offer a solution that encourages
cooperation and compromise. If you can show in your conclusion how the reader will benefit
from adopting (at least to some degree) your position, you create an even better chance that s/he
will be persuaded.
3.
The Toulmin Argument
Many writers of arguments look to terminology developed by philosopher Stephen Toulmin to
describe the elements of an argumentative essay. To use this method to construct your argument,
you must use logical structure, not in an attempt to prove any point, but in the hopes of
convincing your readers of the validity of the points used in the argument. Using claim, because
clause, grounds, warrant, backing, rebuttal, and qualifiers, you attempt to convince the reader to
accept the claim of the argument. (You can also use Toulmin criteria to check that your argument
has all the key ingredients it needs to be successful.) Here are the main components of a Toulmin
argument:
Writing Format
· Make a claim. (Many papers will include more than one.) Within Toulmin‘s schema, the writer
must first choose a topic and then form an opinion about the topic. This information is written in
one sentence, which is called the claim. (Ex: Standardized tests are biased against female and
minority students.) A because clause is added to a claim as a reason that supports the claim. A
claim (proposition, thesis) answers the question "What point will your paper will try to make?"
or "What belief or opinion is are you defending?"
· Provide grounds for your claim: Grounds are evidence in the form of facts, data, or any
information that supports the claim. To be credible to an audience, claims must usually be
supported with specific evidence. In a Toulmin argument, readers ask, "How do you know that is
104
B. Borah
Centreville High School
true?" or "What is that based on?" Such questions are challenging the writer to prove the claim
with support. Thus, grounds (or support) answer the question, ―How do you know?‖
· Explore the warrant for the claim. A warrant is the unstated assumption underlying a claim-a value, belief, principle, or perhaps the inferences or assumptions that are taken for granted by
the writer (and sometimes by the argument). Warrants connect (conspicuously or
inconspicuously) the claim and the support; they derive from our cultural experiences and
personal observations. [For instance, if over the last five years, girls at Madison High have
received higher grades than boys in every subject and yet the Madison boys consistently score
higher on the SAT than the girls do, someone might claim that the SAT was biased against girls.
The warrant for this claim is the belief that something must be preventing the girls from showing
their academic excellence on the SAT.]
· Provide backing for the warrant. Backing is support for the warrant and answers the
question, ―Why do you believe that?‖ Thus, you must provide additional evidence (in the form of
examples, facts and data) that helps to support the warrant and further strengthen the claim.
Depending upon your audience, this backing could also include emotional appeals, quotations
from famous people or recognized experts, or statements based on the writer‘s personal
credibility. [For example, in the argument on test bias, readers might expect to see statistics that
prove the test questions are biased, samples of misleading questions, quotations from educators
and testing experts, and testimony from students who have taken such tests. All of these might be
good kinds of backing, depending on the identity of the audience.]
· Explore the rebuttal to the claim. A rebuttal acknowledges the limitations of the claim. That
is, you might acknowledge that under some circumstances, the claim may not be true. Also, you
should consider the ways in which an opponent might dispute the reasons, grounds, warrant, or
the backing. [In order to defuse an audience‘s potential challenges, some writers use qualifiers to
clarify their claims and protect their credibility. Qualifiers are usually adverbs that modify the
verb in the claim or adjectives that modify a key noun; some common ones are typically, usually,
for the most part, some, several, few, and sometimes. Use these qualifiers sparingly but
appropriately. Acknowledging that the claim may not be absolute protects you from having to
prove that your claim is true in every case. However, when you qualify your claim, you make it
easier to prove, but you also weaken it.]
Note: You cannot simply state the rebuttal. You must rebut the rebuttal! If you can discredit the
opposition‘s counter-arguments by proving that their logic is faulty, their support is weak or their
warrants are invalid, you have created a rebuttal that supports your own original position and
furthers your claim.
· End with a concession. Finally, a key point in Toulmin arguments is the concession, which
brings differing opinions together by acknowledging a part of the opposing argument that cannot
be refuted. Conceding that an opposing point is valid and then building upon it to further one's
own claim allows a writer to make the audience feel appreciated without giving up her or his
own position.
105
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Verbal
Aspect
Excellent
(A)
Good
(B)
Satisfactory
(C)
Introduction
(1) Gains the
attention of the
Audience,
Meets any
three of the
four criteria
Meets any two
of the four
criteria
Prepared, but
could use
additional
rehearsals
Somewhat
prepared, but it
seems that the
speech was not
rehearsed
Eye contact
with audience
less than 50%
of the time
Needs
Improvement
(D)
Meets only
one? of the
four criteria
(2) Clearly
identifies the
topic,
(3) Establishes
credibility,
Preparation
Eye Contact
Use of
Language
Conclusion
(4) Previews
the rest of the
speech
Completely
prepared, has
obviously
rehearsed the
speech
Eye contact
with audience
virtually all the
time (except
for brief
glances at
notes)
Use of
language
contributes to
effectiveness
of the speech,
and vocalized
pauses
(um uh er etc.)
?not
distracting
(1) Cues the
audience that
the end of the
speech is at
hand
Memorable
Eye contact
with audience
less than 75%
of the time
Use of
language does
not have
negative
impact, and
vocalized
pauses
(um uh er etc.)
not distracting
?
Cues the
audience and
brings closure
Use of
language
causes
potential
confusion,
and/or
vocalized
pauses
(um uh er etc.)
are distracting
Brings closure
106
Unprepared
Little or no eye
contact
Use of
language is
inappropriate
Does not bring
closure; the
audience is left
hanging
B. Borah
Centreville High School
1. In September, 2002, at New York‘s Rockefeller Center, sculptor Eric Fischl unveiled a
sculpture called ―Tumbling Woman.‖
2. Commemorating those who jumped or fell to their deaths from the World Trade Center. I
3. t was abruptly draped in cloth and surrounded by a curtain wall because many were
affected strongly by the sculpture‘s depiction of a naked woman with her arms and legs
flailing above her.
4. Fischl stated, ―The sculpture was not meant to hurt anybody. It was a sincere expression
of deepest sympathy for the vulnerability of the human condition—both specifically
toward the victims of September 11 and toward humanity in general.‖
5. The Prompt:
a. Should artist, even offensive and provocative artist, be allowed the constitutional
right to freedom of speech?
b. Are there limits to the ―assault‖ on the senses when artist‘s intent is to evoke an
emotional response?
i. Defend, and negate ―a‖ and ―b.‖
ii. Contextualize the arguments ―a‖ and ―b,‖ then defend or negate the
context of the arguments.
a. What is the issue? ―a‖ and ―b‖
b. What position should you as a thinker, evaluator, and writer take? ―a‖ and ―b‖
c. What evidence do you possess which will allow for a solidly structured opinion essay?
―a‖ and ―b‖
107
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Apply the Toulmin Format:
Writing Format
- Make a claim. (Many papers will include more than one.)
- Provide grounds for your claim: Grounds are evidence in the form of facts, data, or any
information that supports the claim.
- Explore the warrant for the claim. A warrant is the unstated assumption underlying a claim-a value, belief, principle, or perhaps the inferences or assumptions that are taken for granted by
the writer (and sometimes by the argument).
108
B. Borah
Centreville High School
- Provide backing for the warrant. Backing is support for the warrant and answers the
question, ―Why do you believe that?‖ Thus, you must provide additional evidence (in the form of
examples, facts and data) that helps to support the warrant and further strengthen the claim.
Depending upon your audience, this backing could also include emotional appeals, quotations
from famous people or recognized experts, or statements based on the writer‘s personal
credibility.
- Explore the rebuttal to the claim. A rebuttal acknowledges the limitations of the claim. That
is, you might acknowledge that under some circumstances, the claim may not be true. Also, you
should consider the ways in which an opponent might dispute the reasons, grounds, warrant, or
the backing.
Note: You cannot simply state the rebuttal. You must rebut the rebuttal! If you can discredit
the opposition‘s counter-arguments by proving that their logic is faulty, their support is weak or
their warrants are invalid, you have created a rebuttal that supports your own original position
and furthers your claim.
- End with a concession. Finally, a key point in Toulmin arguments is the concession, which
brings differing opinions together by acknowledging a part of the opposing argument that cannot
be refuted. Conceding that an opposing point is valid and then building upon it to further one's
own claim allows a writer to make the audience feel appreciated without giving up her or his
own position.
109
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Sponsorships between schools and corporations are indeed beneficial. There are all sorts
of expenses to worry about for sports teams, and in turn the partnership helps businesses. The
exposure to such business may even influence students who want to pursue a similar career.
Advertising plays a vital role in sponsorships. By seeing the logos around school and on
uniforms, more customers are brought into businesses.
2008 Question 3
For years corporations have sponsored high school sports. Their ads are found on the outfield
fence at baseball parks or on the walls of the gymnasium, the football stadium, or even the locker
room. Corporate logos are even found on players‘ uniforms. But some schools have moved
beyond corporate sponsorship of sports to allowing ―corporate partners‖ to place their names and
ads on all kinds of school facilities—libraries, music rooms, cafeterias. Some schools accept
money to require students to watch Channel One, a news program that includes advertising. And
schools often negotiate exclusive contracts with soft drink or clothing companies.
Some people argue that corporate partnerships are a necessity for cash-strapped schools. Others
argue that schools should provide an environment free from ads and corporate influence. Using
appropriate evidence, write an essay in which you evaluate the pros and cons of corporate
sponsorship for schools and indicate why you find one position more persuasive than the other.
Q3S2
School is supposed to be an institution of learning. You should not be brainwashed that
you see from ads in school. However, advertisements are everywhere, and if school is getting
you prepared for the ―real world‖ you will have to see them, right? Wrong! I believe schools and
corporations should be kept strictly separate because it devalues the school, teaches materialism,
and schools need to spend money on things other than logos.
These logos take the whole value out of the word education. Children will be coming to
school just to see the endorsement for these contracts, sure, they will be in school but for the
wrong purpose but I think that‘s equivalent to not being in school at all.
Secondly, it teaches children materialism. This may not be the school‘s anticipated
response, but this is how the students will take it.
Finally, schools have far more important things to do with their money, like buy needed
supplies. Corporate contracts should be kept out because of the disorder that it would cause.
Q3S3
110
B. Borah
Centreville High School
From professional sports to high school sports, more and more companies are looking to
get their logos onto the jerseys and walls of athletes and schools. Along with corporate support
comes the pros and cons of such an influence.
Some pros of having a company‘s money, name, and logo on your side include more
cash, establishment, and association. With having a company backing up your school, inner city
schools definitely would benefit. There would be more cash for music, sports, and awareness
programs. Kids could get off the street and go join a school activity funded by some corporation.
Little small town schools would become known and acknowledged by having a company that‘s
well known and established help them out. That business would also be benefitting from helping
your school out.
Some cons of having a company supporting your school could be feuds and riots.
Suppose a tobacco company offered your school a lot of money to have logos, fliers, and so
fourth on your schools‘ walls and uniforms. Parents would be furious and kids would get into
fights because of their health views. The education would be interrupted. Say a really good high
school sports team needed new equipment so a company offers to fund and support that team.
While now the sport‘s team is loosing players due to a decline in their academic grades. The best
players can‘t participate in the game. While now your business sponsor holds the school
accountable for not playing their hardest. This makes the company look bad for investing in such
a bad school. Now the school focuses more on sports instead of education. Now we have high
school graduates who can‘t read and write.
As you can see corporate sponsors can greatly benefit themselves and schools by getting
involved. Corporation can also affect school sin a negative way if the company folds or displaces
a negative message.
Q3S4
When you walk into a weight room do you see posters of kitty cats and flowers, or do
you see the mucho wrestler pinning the opponent with the Nike logo below it saying ―Just do it.‖
Or have you seen the mural up in the locker room with the school mascot saying you can do it.
The thing is that there all sorts of ads displayed everywhere but not all are bad. In this essay I
will talk about the pros and cons to having advertisements in the hallways or on the softball field
fence of a school.
Sometimes when I walk into our weight room I see this poster that has a really strong
man all bulked up with another man over his shoulder, (they are in a wrestling position) and I
look around and see these rather small guys walking around lifting some smaller weights than
me and I catch myself wondering if an image like that ever makes them feel a lack of self
confidence about how they look. The man on the poster is obviously winning with the saying
about ―skill!‖ When I see the poster the thought I get from it is that the reason why he is winning
is because he‘s got skill, but he‘s also winning because he is stronger, but does he have to be
strong to win? I mean there are other levels of wrestling where the people aren‘t that big but
there is always a winner. The thing is sometimes or a lot of times ads in high school can send out
a stereotypical image of how you have to be to win. And to the boys, or young men who now
feel like boys looking at it, that want to win get in their head that they have to look like that to
win. They wont stop till they are that size and even if they are good with the competition they are
at now they may not stop because the image from the ad says that the person who wins looks like
111
B. Borah
Centreville High School
this. And for those whom it is physically impossible for them to look like that give up and then
have lost a part of themselves and drive.
On the other hand ads can be very helpful in just the sense of getting money and
advertising. When one business sees another business logo on something or somewhere where
everyone can see it makes them want to put theirs in there which leads to money towards the
school. That is an upside to advertising. And not all advertising is bad. A lot of the time it is
found to be inspirational and self driving. Some even have motivation quotes and sometimes
instructions on how to stay physically fit. This can help those who are slightly embarrassed with
their shape and don‘t feel comfortable asking for help. Plus when I see a poster with a picture of
someone in a sport I‘m in it take me back to when the season was on and it makes me feel good
inside and want to play that sport.
Overall I think that advertisements in schools generally aren‘t something bad. When a
school does decide to pay for a channel 1 broadcasting the news and ads shown are not bad but
sometimes even remind us about what is bad and what is good for us. Plus like what I said earlier
most schools aren‘t going to put a poster up with an image that is not normal or may suggest
something non healthy. I stand with advertisements at schools. And maybe sometimes what one
might think is an inspirational image may offend someone else is going to happen. Yes this
situation probably could be avoided but as the saying goes, you can‘t please everybody.
Q3S5
As school populations increase and education budgets suffer a loss America, schools are
looking for new sources of revenue. Corporate partnerships, however, are an inappropriate
solution for money shortages. Advertisements within schools may expose children to unwanted
influence, as well as giving young children with a faulty view of the nature of the
advertisements.
Corporate partnerships may expose children to unwanted influence. In his novel 1984,
George Orwell imagines a world where the government forces its citizens to watch propaganda
on ―telescreens.‖ Schools that require students to watch Channel One are essentially doing the
same thing. The advertisements have nothing to do with approved education programs, but the
students are still forced to watch information that is intended to persuade him. Students should
be able to opt out, at least from watching. Forcing students to watch advertisements is the
intentional indoctrination of young minds. Some legal guardians may object to the content or
message of these commercials. For example, some commercials may advertise unhealthy food.
Many parents and educators work hard to teach healthy eating habits, but exposure to private
interest, especially forced exposure may undermine those efforts. Students should not be exposed
to non-educational material that may influence them negatively.
Students may also receive faulty impressions from these advertisements. Young children
are very prone to public opinion. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee‘s protagonist
initially feels that her father may be incorrect in his support of a client because most of her peers
in school have that belief. When children make observations at school, they usually assume that
what they see and hear is the impartial truth. Young children that see ads in school are likely to
assume that these ads characterize the view of the school administration, teachers, and students,
especially since these ads are present during school hours. Children who perceive ads as a part of
institution may be unreasonable victims of peer pressure, as they believe that their teachers and
112
B. Borah
Centreville High School
fellow students expect them to buy advertised products. Advertising during school hours can be
misleading and harmful to young children.
While school systems do need to find new sources for funds, mandatory viewing of
advertisements during school hours should not be a part of any school money-raising program. In
school advertising may expose children to unwanted influence of private enterprises. It may also
mislead young students and place pressure on families to buy products under the impression that
school officials expect purchases from the advertisers. Advertisements in school, therefore, are
harmful to children and should not be allowed.
Q3S6
Corporate sponsorships for schools is quite the controversial subject nowadays. Some see
it as a blessing for schools lacking money, while others see it as a ploy for companies to
brainwash students through advertising. There are both pros and cons concerning sponsorship for
schools.
There are many positive aspects about the corporate sponsorship of schools. Many public
schools are strapped for cash and lack school supplies, sports uniforms, etc. Through those
sponsorships, schools are given money to buy necessities for their students, who in turn receive
their education in a well-equipped atmosphere. Schools that partner with large-scale companies
often receive better-quality products, such as sports equipment from ―Nike‖ or ―Under Armour.‖
These products allow students to perform at their best, without having to worry about shoddy
equipment. Many parents complain about the lack of funds given from the government towards
the public education system. Students often have to share books, desks, and other materials
because there are just not enough to go around. If the school is sponsored by outside companies,
there is extra money for materials or new desks.
However, there are negative aspects that arise from corporate sponsorships of schools.
When a company chooses to sponsor a school, usually it is not doing so solely for the good of the
community. There is always a catch-the catch being that the school must put up ads for the
company on the outfield fences, in locker rooms, or even in the library and cafeteria. Students
are bombarded with images of the company throughout the day; causing parents to become
concerned about how much influence these images have on their kids. Many feel anxious that
their children will become easily influenced by ads and not be able to learn because of all the
distractions these ads ultimately create. Students should be educated in an environment free from
distraction and outside influences.
Personally, I feel the good outweighs the bad in this situation. Schools, especially those
in large cities that educate underprivileged children, need all the help they can get, through
money and otherwise. The need for better materials and school supplies is more important than
the possibility of an ad influencing some students to buy a certain product. Unless a corporation
goes extreme, (pushing ads everywhere you look and inside classrooms) a corporate sponsorship
of a school is a beneficial positive situation.
Q3S7
113
B. Borah
Centreville High School
On the back of the yellow jersey appear several names that have nothing to do with
soccer. Such is the case for many sports items with corporations sponsoring activities. The
appropriateness of company involvement is not as straightforward as having names printed on
jerseys, however. The practice of corporate sponsorship benefits students by enabling and
providing for activities, and serves healthy cooperation within communities, but is also presents
problem with regards to the purity of education and competitive meddling, though is overall an
enhancer of activity.
Corporate sponsorship undoubtedly raises questions about ethics, which suggest its
negative impact. Educational institutions such as high schools, and even sports, are traditionally
sacred arenas of non-corporate values. Learning, quality of performance and group achievement
are important aspects of schools and sports. Companies seek profit, and are thus excluded from
the educational and athletic scene. While on a sports field, the name and logo of a sponsoring
company is not terribly objectionable, it is in school. Students are being educated, not advertised
to, and with bias at that. Furthermore, if educational and corporate institutions become too
involved and intertwined with each other, each is bound to lose its independent integrity. A
corporate-educational conglomerate is a possible result of too much interaction. Clearly,
corporate sponsorship poses risks to the balance and freedom of educational institutions who
seek sponsor benefits, yet this must be considered in perspective.
While sponsors‘ level of involvement may cross into the terrain of troublesome,
companies enable students activities and are thus helpful despite the ―costs.‖ By providing
ulterior funding, corporations allow students to engage in activities that would otherwise be
closed to them. My ultimate Frisbee team, though not supported by the school, was perfectly able
to pay the $100 state tournament entrance fee and place 6 th with the help of sponsorship from
Ruby‘s Diner. As well as assisting student groups, sponsoring creates a circle of mutual benefit
within communities. Corporations help groups, and the groups‘ actions bring attention to the
company. It‘s a win-win deal.
Despite potential problems and fears of unfair practice, corporate sponsorship is a longgoing symbiotic relationship that has benefitted countless groups, from clubs to sports to
libraries; group-company partnerships have enabled a broad variety of acquisitions and
successes, while also benefitting companies. With Ruby‘s on my back, go team, go!
Q3S8
One cannot go to a high school or college football game without seeing ads for Coca Cola or ADIDAS either on the players or a hovering blimp. The partnership of businesses and
education has been a long-standing tradition, if not questionable. Schools are accused of
instilling propaganda and becoming the ―store-front‖ of companies. Whatever the drawbacks,
however, the benefits outweigh tem in the schools‘ ultimate goal, education.
In a corporate-school conglomerate; both sides benefit financially; the companies get
advertisements in target demographics, while schools receive money to purchase needed school
supplies or receive equipment that functions both as ads and tools. In Round Rock ISD, Texas,
Dell donates computers to the computer labs; such donations increase the students‘ technological
abilities while at the same time advertising Dell‘s quality. Such endorsements also provide a
sense of community closeness-support by local companies foster as sense of care and
commitment. Additionally, companies donating to schools receive tax deductions; though the
114
B. Borah
Centreville High School
motives are not necessarily benevolent, in the end, schools receive the financial aid that they
need/lack, and such a relationship between the school and the companies is defined as symbioticthe school receives financial aid and the companies get publicity.
But what‘s upsetting is to people is the potential propaganda to the students. According to
a Time Magazine article regarding business advertising-―use them in school and have them for
life.‖ Indeed, the young years are the time to be molded and influenced; if such people are
constantly bombarded by ads at school, where education is supposed to happen, they may ―learn‖
loyalties to certain brands. A brainwashed population unable to make decisions by themselves on
consumer products makes for a dull population. While some claim that ads may chip away at
students‘ independence, others claim that they may augment their waistlines. Some schools let
popular fast-food restaurants such as Chick-Fil-A or Pizza Hut to serve lunch, receiving a
percentage or the profit. However, such foods, especially when consumed everyday, not only
drains the students‘ finances, but also further indoctrinates them on their brand loyalties and
provides unhealthy meals replacing school-approved nutritional meals. But not all partnerships
are necessary bad-Scholastic Book Fairs posts advertisements promoting books at the fair to
spend money, yes, but to spend money on though-inducing books.
In such a relationship, ultimately the ends must be analyzed. Schools are supposed to be a
place of education and enlightenment; but sometimes, they lack the financial resources to prove
high quality education. In such a case, a corporation-school relationship provides both money
and supplies. Though students may be affected in their judgment, it can be a lesson; students may
be educated on the true nature of products by the ads present around them. Ultimately, the
financial gives acquired by the school, which provide for higher quality education, triumph over
correctable potential student body problems; making school-business partnerships beneficial and
encouraged.
Q3S9
As I take this exam, I am looking out over a high school gym, complete with the usually
banners, team rosters and pictures of the school mascot. Something perhaps less benign has also
found a home among these decorations: the names of various corporations, paying homage to the
likes of Coca-Cola, PowerAde, and Regions Bank. Corporate sponsorship of high school
activities from athletics to debate have become commonplace within the last decade, and many
people don‘t even notice this change, let alone consider its significance and the impact it may be
having upon American education. Corporate sponsorship of school activities, while often
necessary, is not inherently beneficial, and can undercut the purposes of education. If utilized,
sponsorship ought to be closely monitored and controlled by state or national guidelines which
prioritized education over business. Schools, like many other institutions and most Americans,
have fallen victim to the logical fallacy that if something is necessary, it must be beneficial. This
is disproven by the simple analogy that while it may be necessary to fill my car with gas, it
certainly is not beneficial to my wallet of the environment. The primary support for corporate
sponsorship of school activities utilizes this same fallacy, arguing that corporate sponsorships are
beneficial and should be encouraged, because they provide funding without which many
valuable extra circulars would be unavailable to students. However, the fact that programs need
the money does not prove that corporate involvement is good for students. McDonald‘s
Corporation has only just recovered from the nightmare created by its good grades program,
115
B. Borah
Centreville High School
which offered children a Happy Meal in exchange for promising report cards (critics alleged that
the program both prevented the development of children‘s self-motivation and encouraged poor
eating habits) The necessity of corporate involvement does not equate to any inherent value of
the practice.
Some types of corporate influence in schools are actually antithetical to the purported
goal of education: to produce a free thinking, intelligent adult who exhibits good decisionmaking skills. Corporations like Disney and Coca-Cola promote television and soft drinks
respectively and neither of which are good choices for future health. However, Disney‘s focuses
on education and multiculturalism and Coca-Cola‘s long standing support for student athletics
demonstrate tangible benefits to corporate sponsorship. It is the recent presence of corporations
from the test prep agencies to clothing manufactures within schools that should elicit the most
concern of corporate influence. When a test prep course is endorsed by a teacher, or a certain
brand name is required for participation, the impact of corporate involvement upon students‘
decision-making is apparent. The test anxious students should be encouraged to research several
courses, and to enroll in whichever on best suits his or her needs and study habits; the goggle
shopper should factor in expense, quality, and necessary duration of us into his or her purchase.
This level of corporate involvement, requiring students to view advertisements while at school,
or buy certain brands for school activities, while perhaps economically beneficial or efficient, is
not detrimental to the purpose of education, and ought not to be allowed.
Schools need corporate sponsorship, and it can be good. That sponsorship hurts the
effectiveness of education. To address the issue, a balance must be reached, that preserves most
of the benefits of corporate sponsored activities, without reducing education to nothing more
than another advertising outlet. Governmental regulation of corporate-academic relationships
could help, as could increase in non-corporate funding for extracurricular academics, the arts,
and athletics, to ensure the continued focus on a balanced student. Coca-Cola‘s red and white
lettering can remain on the gym wall, as long as I can still choose to not have it on the bottle in
my backpack.
116
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document A
Glossary and Index of Terms
Abstract language: language expressing a quality apart from a specific object or event;
opposite of concrete language
Ad hominem: ―against the man‖; attacking the arguer rather than the argument or issue
Ad populum: ―to the people‖; playing on the prejudices of the audience
Analogy: a comparison in which a thing is inferred to be similar to another thing in a
certain way because it is similar to the thing in other ways
Appeal to tradition: a proposal that something should continue because it has
traditionally existed or been done that way
Argument: a process of reasoning and advancing proof about issues on which conflicting
views may be held; also, a statement or statements providing support for a claim
Audience: those who will hear an argument; more generally, those to whom a
communication is addressed
Authoritative warrant: a warrant based on the credibility or trustworthiness of the
source
Authority: a respectable, reliable source of evidence
Backing: the assurances upon which a warrant or assumption is based
Begging the question: making a statement that assumes that the issue being argued has
already been decided
Cause and effect: reasoning that assumes one event or condition can bring about another
Claim: the conclusion of an argument; what the arguer is trying to prove
Claim of fact: a claim that asserts something exists, has existed, or will exist, based on
Data that the audience will accept as objectively verifiable
Claim of policy: a claim asserting that specific courses of action should be instituted as
solutions to problems
Claim of value: a claim that asserts some things are more or less desirable than others
117
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Cliché: a worn-out expression or idea, no longer capable of producing a visual image
Provoking thought about a subject
Comparison warrant: a warrant based on shared characteristics and circumstances of
two or more things or events; an analogy is a type of comparison, but the things
or events being compared in an analogy are not of the same class
Concrete language: language that describes specific, generally observable, persons,
Places, or things; in contrast to abstract language
Connotation: the overtones that adhere to a word through long usage
Credibility: the audience‘s belief in the arguer‘s trustworthiness; see also ethos
Deduction: reasoning by which we establish that a conclusion must be true because the
statements on which it is based are true; see also syllogism
Definition: an explanation of the meaning of a term, concept, or experience; may be used
for clarification, especially of a claim, or as a means of developing an argument
Definition by negation: defining a thing by saying what it is not
Ethos: the qualities of character, intelligence, and goodwill in an arguer that contribute to
an audience’s acceptance of the claim
Euphemism: a pleasant or flattering expression used in place of one that is less agreeable
but possibly more accurate
Evidence: facts or opinions that support an issue or claim; may consist of statistics,
reports of personal experience, or views of experts
Extended definition: a definition that uses several different methods of development
Fact: something that is believed to have objective reality, a piece of information regarded
as verifiable
Factual evidence: support consisting of data that is considered objectively verifiable by
the audience
Fallacy: an error of reasoning based on faulty use of evidence or incorrect inference
False analogy: assuming without sufficient proof that if objects or processes are similar
in some ways, then they are similar in other ways as well
False dilemma: simplifying a complex problem into an either/or dichotomy
118
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Faulty emotional appeals: basing an argument on feelings, especially pity or fear—
often to draw attention away from the real issues or conceal another purpose
Faulty use of authority: failing to acknowledge disagreement among experts or
Otherwise misrepresenting the trustworthiness of sources
Generalization: a statement of general principle derived inferentially from a series of
examples
Hasty generalization: drawing conclusions from insufficient evidence
Induction: reasoning by which a general statement is reached on the basis of particular
examples
Inference: an interpretation of the facts
Motivational appeal: an attempt to reach an audience by recognizing their needs and
values and how these contribute to their decision making
Motivational warrant: a type of warrant based on the needs and values of an audience
Need: in the hierarchy of Abraham Maslow, whatever is required, whether psychological
or physiological, for the survival and welfare of a human being
Non sequitur: ―it does not follow‖; using irrelevant proof to buttress a claim
Picturesque language: words that produce images in the minds of the audience
Policy: a course of action recommended or taken to solve a problem or guide decisions
Post hoc: mistakenly inferring that because one event follows another they have a casual
relation; from pot hoc ergo propter hoc (―after this, therefore because of this‖);
also called ―doubtful cause‖
Qualifier: a restriction placed on the claim to state that it may not always be true as
stated
Refutation: an attack on an opposing view in order to weaken it, invalidate it, or make it
less credible
Reservation: a restriction placed on the warrant to indicate that unless certain conditions
are met, the warrant may not establish a connection between the support and the
claim
Sign warrant: a warrant that offers an observable datum as an indicator of a condition
119
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Slanting: selecting facts or words with connotations that favor the arguer‘s bias and
discredit alternatives
Slippery slope: predicting without justification that one step in a process will lead
unavoidably to a second, generally undesirable step
Slogan: an attention-getting expression used largely in politics or advertising to promote
support of a cause or product
Statistics: information expressed in numerical form
Stipulative definition: a definition that makes clear that it will explore a particular area
of meaning of a term or issue
Straw man: disputing a view similar to, but not the same as, that of the arguer‘s
opponent
Style: choices in words and sentence structure that make a writer‘s language distinctive
Substantive warrant: a warrant based on beliefs about the reliability of factual evidence
Support: any material that serves to prove an issue or claim; in addition to evidence, it
Includes appeals to the needs and values of the audience
Syllogism: a formula of deductive argument consisting of three propositions: a major
premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion
Two wrongs make a right: diverting attention from the issue by introducing a new
Point, e.g., by responding to an accusation with a counteraccusation that makes no
Attempt to refute the first accusation
Values: conceptions or ideas that act as standards for judging what is right or wrong,
worthwhile or worthless, beautiful or ugly, good or bad
Warrant: a general principle or assumption that establishes a connection between the
support and the claim
120
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document B
Prefixes Assignment I
Prefix
Meanings
Examples
ab-, a-, absaway, from
(This prefix is never assimilated,
so do not confuse it with a followed
by a double consonant, which is
from ad-.)
abduct, abnormal,
avert, abstract
ad-, ac-, etc.
to, toward
(Occasionally this prefix appears
simply as a-, usually before –sc-,
-sp-, and –st-; eg. aspire, ascribe.
When in doubt, however, assume
that the prefix a- is a form of
a-, ―away.‖)
adopt, admire,
access, aggression,
attract, allocate
ascend
ambi-
ambidextrous
ante-
both, around
before, in front of
(Do not confuse this with anti-, a
Greek prefix meaning ―against.‖)
anteroom, antecedent
circum-
around
circumference,
circumscribe
con-, com-, co-, etc.
with, together,
very
connect, conduct,
compose, compress
collect, correspond,
co-operate
contra-, contro-,
counter-,
against
contradict, controversy,
counteract
de-,
down, off,
thoroughly
descend, dejected
dis-, di-, dif-
apart, in different,
directions, not
dispute, disable,
divert, divorce, differ
121
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Prefixes Assignment II
Prefix
Meanings
Examples
Ex-, e-, ef-, etc.
out, from,
expel, exasperate,
completely
eloquent, evade, efficient
In English, when ex- precedes a base beginning with s, the s
is dropped.
ex- + SPECT- to look = expect
ex- + SECUT- to follow = execute
extra-, extro-
outside, beyond
extraordinary, extrovert
in-, im-, etc.
ig- before n
not
In-, im-, etc.,
[en-], [em-]
in, into, against
infra-
below, beneath
infrared
inter-
between, among
interrupt, intercept
intra-, intro-
within
intramural, intravenous
introduce
ineffective, imminent,
immoral, impartial
illegal, irresponsible
ignoble, ignore
(This prefix is related to the native English negative prefix un-.
The two prefixes are so similar in spelling and meaning that they are often interchanged.
Thomas Jefferson, for example, wrote of ―unalienable rights,‖ whereas inalienable is now
the standard form. In general, the Latin prefix is used with words of Latin origin and vice
versa, but there are many exceptions.)
inject, impose, impel
illuminate, irrigate
endure, embrace
(This prefix and the preceding one are the same in form only. The word inflammable,
which used to be written on gasoline cans, is a good illustration of the necessity for
keeping these two prefixes distinct: the word does not mean that the liquid will ―not
burn‖ (non-flammable), but that it will burst ―into flame.‖)
non-
ob-
not
nonresident
(This prefix is less emphatic than in- or the native English un-; compare
nonreligious and irreligious, non-American and un-American.)
toward, against
obstruct, obstacle, occur
offer, oppress
(In many words it is difficult to see the force of the foregoing prefix.)
122
B. Borah
Centreville High School
per-
through, wrongly
completely
permeate, persecute, perfect
perjury
Prefix
Meaning
Examples
post-
after, behind
postpone, postscript
pre-
before, in front of
prevent, predict
pro-
forward, in front of,
for
promote, produce
re-, red- (before
vowels)
back, again
renew, recede,
recall, redemption
retro-
backward, behind
retroactive
se-, sed- (before
vowels)
aside, away
secede, segregate, sedition
sub-, sus-, suc-,
under, up from
under, secretly
submerge, submarine, suffer
suspend, sustain, succumb,
support
super-, [sur-]
above, over
superhuman, superfluous
surreal, surcease
trans-, tran-, tra-
across, through
transfer, transparent,
transcend, transcribe,
traverse, travesty
ultra-
beyond, exceedingly
ultraviolet, ultramodern
Prefixes Assignment III
123
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document C
Root Words Assignment I
Latin Base
Meanings
English Derivatives
ALIEN-
of another
alien, alienation
ART-
art, skill
art, artifact
FIN-
end, limit
final, definite
FIRM-
firm, strong
firmament, confirm
FORT-
strong
fort, forte, comfort
GRAND-
great
grand, grandeur
GRAV-,[GRIEV-]heavy
grave, grievance
(Grief is an orthographic variation of the form GRIEV-.)
LINE-, [LIGN-]-
line
line, align
NIHIL-
nothing
annihilate, nihilism
NUL(L)-
nothing
null, annul
PART-
part
part, depart
VERB-
word, verb
verb, adverb, verbatim,
proverb
VEST-
garment
vest, vestment
Latin Base
Meanings
English Derivatives
CED-, CESS-
to go, yield
concede, precede, excess
procession
DUC-, DUCT-
to lead
induce, transducer,
conduct, reduction
JUDIC-
judgment
judicial, adjudicate
Root Words Assignment II
124
B. Borah
Centreville High School
JUR-, JUST-
right, law; take
an oath, form
an opinion
jury, conjure, just, justify
LEV-
light (in weight);
to lift
levity, elevate
LOQU-, LOCUT-
to speak
colloquial, eloquent,
elocution, interlocutor
LUD-, LUS-
to play, mock
interlude, delude, illusion
PREC-
to request, beg;
imprecate, precarious
Prayer
(Pray and prayer also come from this verb, through French.)
TRUD-, TRUS
to push, thrust
protrude, intrusion,
unobtrusive
VEN-, VENT-,
[VENU-]
to come
intervene, invention
avenue, venue
Latin Base
Meanings
English Derivatives
CRUC-
cross
crucify, crux
GREG-
flock, herd
congregate, segregate
HAB-, AB-,
(HIB-)
to have, hold as
customary
habit, dishabille, able
inability, inhibit
PED-
foot
pedal, impediment,
pedestrian
PUNG-, PUNCT-
to prick; point
puncture, punctual
SACR-, (SECR-)
sacred
sacrament, desecrate
SANCT-
holy
sanctify, sanctimonious
SENT-, SENS-
to feel, think
sentiment, consent,
sensation
Root Words Assignment III
125
B. Borah
Centreville High School
TURB-
disturb
perturb, turbulence
(Trouble also derives from this base through French.)
VERT-, VERS-
to turn
revert, aversion
VI(A)-
way, road
via, previous
Latin Base
Meanings
English Derivatives
CLUD-, CLUS-,
[CLOS-]
to shut
exclude, include, disclose
CUR(R)-, CURS[COURS-], [COR(S)-]
to run, go
recur, current, excursion,
concourse, succor
GRAD-, GRESS-
to step, go
Root Words Assignment IV
gradual (literally, by steps),
progress, aggression
PEND-, PENS-
to hang,
dependent, suspend,
weigh,
dispense, expense
pay
(Poise and ponder also come from this base through French.)
PLE-, PLET-,
PLEN-
to fill; full
implement, complete,
deplete, plenary
SPEC-, (SPIC-),
SPECT-
to look
specimen, conspicuous,
inspect, respect
UND-, [OUND-]
wave
abundant, undulate
abound, redound
VID-, VIS-,
[VIEW-]
to see
evident, provide, visual,
provision, review
VOC-, VOK-
voice;
vocal, invoke, invocation,
to call
provoke, revoke
(Voice also comes from this base through French.)
126
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Root Word Assignment V
Latin Base
Meanings
English Derivatives
ANIM-
mind, feeling, life
animal, animated
ANN(U)-, (ENNI-),
BENE-, BON-
year, well, good
annals, annual, perennial,
benefactor, benefit, benign,
bonus
CANT-, (CENT-),
[CHANT-]
to sing
canorous, incantation,
incentive, enchant
CUR-
cure, care
sinecure, secure
EQU-, (IQU-)
equal, even
equal, equidistant, iniquity
FER-
to bear, carry
refer, transfer, conference
LAT-
to bear, carry
elate, relate, translation
MAGN-
great
magnitude, magnify
MAL(E)-
bad
maladjusted, malicious,
malignant
MULT-
many
multitude, multiply
OPTIM-
best
optimum
PLIC-, PLEX-,
[PLY-]
to fold, tangle
interweave
complicate, implicate,
implicit, complex
imply, multiply
Latin Base
Meanings
English Derivatives
CRED-
to believe, trust
credential, creditor, discredit
DOC-, DOCT-
to teach
document, doctor,
indoctrinate
FA(B)-, FAT-
to speak, reveal
affable, infant, preface
Root Words Assignment VI
127
B. Borah
Centreville High School
FESS-, FAM-
confess, fame, fabulous
FALLS-, FALS-,
[FAIL-], [FAULT-]
to deceive
fallacy, false, failure
default
MOD-
measure
modicum, modest, modern
modify
MUT-
to change
mutant, mutation
TANG-, (TING-),
TACT-
to change
tangent, contingent, contact,
intact
TRACT-
to drag
tractor, traction,
Latin Base
Meanings
English Derivatives
AG-, (IG-),
ACT-
to do, drive
agent, agile, inactive
transact
CLAM-, [CLAIM-],
to cry out
exclamation, proclamation
declaim, proclaim
Root Words Assignment VII
COG-
to think, reflect,
cogent, cogitation
consider
The base derives from the prefix co- + the above base AG-.
DIC-, DICT-
to say
diction, contradiction
edict
GER-, GEST-
to carry, produce
exaggerate, congestion
digest
MIT(T)-, MIS(S)-
to send, let go
admit, transmitter,
Missile, transmission
SCI-
to know
science, conscientious
SON-
sound
supersonic, resonance,
sonata
VAL-, [VAIL-]
to be strong,
to be worthy
value, equivalent, valid
avail, prevail
128
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Root Words Assignment VIII
Latin Bases
Meanings
English Derivatives
CAPIT, (CIPIT-)
head
capital, decapitate, precipitate
GNO-, NO-, NOT-
to know
recognize, ignore, noble
note
LOC-
place
local, dislocate
PUT-
to prune
reckon, think
amputate, compute,
impute
RADIC-
root
radical, eradicate
ROG-
to ask
arrogant, derogatory
SPIR-
to breathe
spirit, conspire, inspiration
129
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document D
Laws of Good Analysis
For AP Language
Positive Aspects of the Essay
1. Begin with a provocative statement. You can do this in any of the following ways, or more:
A. Make a universal statement allowing the reader to empathize with you.
B. Write an informational statement that helps prompt comprehension.
C. Make a statement of truth that shows a connection to the meaning of the passage.
D. Write a statement that judges the overall effectiveness of the passage.
E. If you cannot think of a beginning, just start and end the introduction with one sentence
(a full thesis.)
F. Clearly state Audience, Purpose, and Subject
2. Make a correct interpretation of the author's message in your thesis statement. This statement
should go beyond the subject to the metaphorical meaning of the passage.
3. The thesis should reveal a thoughtful interpretation of the importance of the passage analyzed,
based on the focus of the essay prompt.
Organize organically.
1. Base your organization on the author's organization.
2. Focus your causations on the essay prompt's focus. The body of your writing should show a
progression of thought that leads to a new understanding expressed in the final thesis, your
conclusion.
3. Discuss ideas fully. Count the number of different quotes used. Count the number of quotes
ignored. What is the sum of each? Which is greater?
4. Embed quotes to show an appreciation of the author's talents. Make a continual connection
between the language and the meaning: How does the author's choice of language devices create
meaning?
5. Analyze the author's use of language in simple, clearly understandable ways. Example:
―Stravinsky‘s use of simile clearly demonstrates his disgust with those that seek favor.‖
Language Skills
1. Use active verbs. Avoid "is, was, were" as much as possible.
130
B. Borah
Centreville High School
2. Write legibly. BE NEAT!
3. Always try to select the best word.
4. Practice emulating stylistic devices that have been used effectively by accomplished writers.
5. End with closure that demonstrates your comprehension of the passage.
6. Begin with a thesis that shares the deepest insight discovered about the reading.
Negative Aspects of the Essay
1. Avoid clichés.
2. Do not begin by renaming the essay and the prompt.
.
4. Do not organize around the devices.
- Bad Assertive Sentence Example: Stravinsky uses the simile to compare.
- Good Assertive Sentence Example: Stravinsky possesses disgust for the
unoriginal.
5. The language devices should not be mentioned in the thesis. Try to avoid stating the device in
the assertive sentence. If you do, tie it to the abstract the device creates or carries. No thesis
should read thusly: Stravinsky uses analogies, similes and tone in order to state his true feelings
concerning conductors.
6. The body of your writing should show a progression of thought that leads to a new
understanding expressed in the final thesis.
7. Do not make general statements that do nothing but list and name the device. Define the
connotation of the words. Be specific. Define the image the words paint, etc.
8. Do not quote whole sentences.
9. Do not make empty statements that say nothing about the language: Example: Using those
two statements, one can clearly see the imagery that the author is trying to create.
10. Do not organize around the devices.
11. Transition based on ―first,‖ ―second,‖ and such.
12. Never say ―you,‖ ―I,‖ ―the reader,‖ ―we,‖ or ―one.‖
131
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document E
Socratic Seminar Background and Rubric
The Socratic method of teaching is based on Socrates' theory that it is more important to enable
students to think for themselves than to merely fill their heads with "right" answers. Therefore,
he regularly engaged his pupils in dialogues by responding to their questions with questions,
instead of answers. This process encourages divergent thinking rather than convergent.
Students are given opportunities to "examine" a common piece of text, whether it is in the form
of a novel, poem, art print, or piece of music. After "reading" the common text "like a love
letter", open-ended questions are posed.
Open-ended questions allow students to think critically, analyze multiple meanings in text, and
express ideas with clarity and confidence. After all, a certain degree of emotional safety is felt by
participants when they understand that this format is based on dialogue and not
discussion/debate.
Dialogue is exploratory and involves the suspension of biases and prejudices. Discussion/debate
is a transfer of information designed to win an argument and bring closure. Americans are great
at discussion/debate. We do not dialogue well. However, once teachers and students learn to
dialogue, they find that the ability to ask meaningful questions that stimulate thoughtful
interchanges of ideas is more important than "the answer."
Participants in a Socratic Seminar respond to one another with respect by carefully listening
instead of interrupting. Students are encouraged to "paraphrase" essential elements of another's
ideas before responding, either in support of or in disagreement. Members of the dialogue look
each other in the "eyes" and use each other names. This simple act of socialization reinforces
appropriate behaviors and promotes team building.
WORLD CONNECTION QUESTION:
Write a question connecting the text to the real world.
Example: If you were given only 24 hours to pack your most precious
belongings in a back pack and to get ready to leave your home town, what
might you pack? (after reading the first 30 pages of NIGHT).
CLOSE-ENDED QUESTION:
Write a question about the text that will help everyone in the
class come to an agreement about events or characters in the text. This
question usually has a "correct" answer.
Example: What happened to Hester Pyrnne's husband that she was
left alone in Boston without family? (after the first 4 chapters of THE
SCARLET LETTER).
132
B. Borah
Centreville High School
OPEN-ENDED QUESTION:
Write an insightful question about the text that will require proof
and group discussion and "construction of logic" to discover or explore the
answer to the question.
Example: Why did Gene hesitate to reveal the truth about the
accident to Finny that first day in the infirmary? (after mid-point of A
SEPARATE PEACE).
UNIVERSAL THEME/ CORE QUESTION:
Write a question dealing with a theme(s) of the text that will
encourage group discussion about the universality of the text.
Example: After reading John Gardner's GRENDEL, can you pick out its existential
elements?
LITERARY ANALYSIS QUESTION: Write a question dealing with HOW an author
chose to compose a literary piece. How did the author manipulate point of
view, characterization, poetic form, archetypal hero patterns, for example?
Example: In MAMA FLORA'S FAMILY, why is it important that the
story is told through flashback?
Guidelines for Participants in a Socratic Seminar
1. Refer to the text when needed during the discussion. A seminar is not a test of
memory. You are not "learning a subject"; your goal is to understand the
ideas, issues, and values reflected in the text.
2.
It is OK to "pass" when asked to contribute.
3. Do not participate if you are not prepared. A seminar should not be a bull
session.
4. Do not stay confused; ask for clarification.
5. Stick to the point currently under discussion; make notes about ideas you
want to come back to.
6. Don't raise hands; take turns speaking.
133
B. Borah
Centreville High School
7. Listen carefully.
8. Speak up so that all can hear you.
9. Talk to each other, not just to the leader or teacher.
10. Discuss ideas rather than each other's opinions.
11. You are responsible for the seminar, even if you don't know it or admit it.
Expectations of Participants in a Socratic Seminar
When I am evaluating your Socratic Seminar participation, I ask the following questions about
participants. Did they…?
Speak loudly and clearly?
Cite reasons and evidence for their statements?
Use the text to find support?
Listen to others respectfully?
Stick with the subject?
Talk to each other, not just to the leader?
Paraphrase accurately?
Ask for help to clear up confusion?
Support each other?
Avoid hostile exchanges?
Question others in a civil manner?
Seem prepared?
What is the difference between dialogue and debate?






Dialogue is collaborative: multiple sides work toward shared understanding.
Debate is oppositional: two opposing sides try to prove each other wrong.
In dialogue, one listens to understand, to make meaning, and to find common ground.
In debate, one listens to find flaws, to spot differences, and to counter arguments.
Dialogue enlarges and possibly changes a participant's point of view.
Debate defends assumptions as truth.
Dialogue creates an open-minded attitude: openness to being wrong and an openness to
change.
Debate creates a close-minded attitude, a determination to be right.
In dialogue, one submits one's best thinking, expecting that other people's reflections will
help improve it rather than threaten it.
In debate, one submits one's best thinking and defends it against challenge to show that it
is right.
Dialogue calls for temporarily suspending one's beliefs.
Debate calls for investing wholeheartedly in one's beliefs.
134
B. Borah
Centreville High School




In dialogue, one searches for strengths in all positions.
In debate, one searches for weaknesses in the other position.
Dialogue respects all the other participants and seeks not to alienate or offend.
Debate rebuts contrary positions and may belittle or deprecate other participants.
Dialogue assumes that many people have pieces of answers and that cooperation can lead
to a greater understanding.
Debate assumes a single right answer that somebody already has.
Dialogue remains open-ended.
Debate demands a conclusion.
Dialogue is characterized by:







suspending judgment
examining our own work without defensiveness
exposing our reasoning and looking for limits to it
communicating our underlying assumptions
exploring viewpoints more broadly and deeply
being open to disconfirming data
approaching someone who sees a problem differently not as an adversary, but as a
colleague in common pursuit of better solution.
135
B. Borah
Centreville High School
A Level Participant
Participant offers enough solid analysis, without prompting, to
move the conversation forward
Participant, through her comments, demonstrates a deep
knowledge of the text and the question
Participant has come to the seminar prepared, with notes and a
marked/annotated text
Participant, through her comments, shows that she is
actively listening to other participants
Participant offers clarification and/or follow-up that extends
the conversation
Participant‘s remarks often refer back to specific parts of the
text.
B Level Participant
Participant offers solid analysis without prompting
Through comments, participant demonstrates a good
knowledge of the text and the question
Participant has come to the seminar prepared, with notes and a
marked/annotated text
Participant shows that he/she is actively listening to others
and offers clarification and/or follow-up
136
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Participant offers some analysis, but needs prompting from the
seminar leader
C Level Participant
Through comments, participant demonstrates a general
knowledge of the text and question
Participant is less prepared, with few notes and no
marked/annotated text
Participant is actively listening to others, but does not
clarification and/or follow-up to others‘ comments
offer
Participant relies more upon his or her opinion, and less on
the text to drive her comments
Participant offers little commentary
D or F Level Participant
Participant comes to the seminar ill-prepared with little
understanding of the text and question
Participant does not listen to others, offers no commentary to
further the discussion
Participant distracts the group by interrupting other speakers
or by offering off topic questions and comments.
Participant ignores the discussion and its participants
137
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document F
AP English Language and Composition
Doing Verbs for Rhetorical Organization
Amplifying
Establishing authority
Narrating
Analyzing
Evaluating
Organizing
Arguing
Exemplifying
Outlining
Asserting
Explaining why
Persuading
Challenging
Forecasting
Predicting
Clarifying
Identifying
Presenting
Comparing
Illustrating
Proposing
Concluding
Incorporating
Qualifying
Constructs
Integrating
Questioning
Contrasting
Inspecting
Substantiating
Defending
Interpreting
Suggesting
Defining
Introducing
Summarizing
Differentiating between
Justifying
Theorizing
Distinguishing between
Modeling
Tracing (history)
138
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document G
Charting a Text
Rhetorical Organization and Telling Detail
Name ___________________________________
Directions: Look at the ―Doing Verbs for Rhetorical Organization‖ handout and
complete the chart below for the article I gave you. In the left-hand side of the chart,
identify the best doing verb for that section of text (of course, some sections might need
two or three verbs to describe accurately the moves being made by the author). In the
right-hand side of the chart, indentify the key details from that section that connect to the
doing verb on the left. For ease of describing sections, please number your paragraphs.
Title of Article________________________________
Section 1 (List number of paragraphs being analyzed):
_______________________________
Doing Verb(s)
Telling Details
139
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Section 2 (List number of paragraphs being analyzed):
_______________________________
Doing Verb(s)
Telling Details
Section 3 (List number of paragraphs being analyzed):
_______________________________
Doing Verb(s)
Telling Details
140
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document H
2008 Question 2, Form B
Rhetorical Analysis
1. ―…develops his argument.‖ How is this accomplished? There is a tone for
paragraphs 1 & 2, another for 3 & 4, one for 5, another for 6, one for 7-9.
Fridman then asks his audience two rhetorical questions.
2. Audience? Did you look at the publication date and copyright?
3. If you can figure out the audience, not America in general or anti intellectuals,
then you can figure out the purpose. He wants his audience to ―adopt‖ an attitude.
4. Purpose again: It is not informative because his audience already knows the issue,
so if you can get the idea that he wants the audience to do something then you are
real close to purpose.
5. Subject: If you can determine who would not be reading his argument, you can
get real close to the subject. Remember, subject is controlled by audience
present and those not there or listening. You would never talk bad about a
teacher within hearing range.
6. If you missed his use of diction with ―nerd‖ and ―geek,‖ and you missed his
definition of ―geek,‖ then you totally were lost on his mind set or attitude.
7. Remember that your body paragraph structure should have assertions that
resemble major and minor premises in an enthymeme, followed with evidence,
followed with commentary that looks like the enthymeme‘s conclusion, followed
by more evidence, followed by more commentary/conclusion.
8. Oh and by the way, the first sentence of these body paragraphs should have a
relationship to the subject stated in paragraph #1.
9. If in the first paragraph you used the words subject, audience, purpose, and tone.
Get them out. If you had more than two sentences in paragraph #1 and more
than 30 words, fix it.
10. Conclusion should be a statement about the global implications of his argument.
If you hit on any idea like ―reverse Darwinism‖ good for you; if you didn‘t,
ponder the meaning and conclude thusly.
One more hint: If you can determine the audience, and why his tones are (not in this
order) bold, combative, instructive, challenging, incredulous, and argumentative; you
can go back to the prompt and expertly answer the question, ―What is his purpose?‖
―What does he want?
Assignment:
1. Take the paper. 2. Fix the problems. 3. Bold assertions (major and minor).
4. Underline evidence and cite it by line numbers. 5. Italicize commentary
(enthymeme’s conclusions). 6. Write a decent conclusion about the global and his
“subversive” purpose.
Honor code applies. Write it at the top of the first typed page and sign under.
Paper due: Tuesday, next week.
141
B. Borah
Centreville High School
This essay was last year’s form B rhetorical passage for California and Hawaii;
therefore, stay away from the internet. I need you to figure this ourt in your own
brain.
Document I
Irony, Humor, and Double Meanings
Traditional Definition of Irony:
Irony: the discrepancy between what is said and what is meant, what is said and
what is done, what is expected or intended and what happens, what is meant or said and
what others understand.
Traditional Irony Types:
Situational irony occurs when expectations aroused by a situation are reversed.
Cosmic irony or the irony of fate occurs when misfortune or good fortune is the
result of fate, chance, or God.
Dramatic irony occurs when an audience knows more than the characters in the
play, so that words and action have additional meaning for the audience.
Socratic irony is named after Socrates' teaching method, whereby he assumes
ignorance and openness to opposing points of view which turn out to be (he shows them
to be) foolish.
Nontraditional Irony Types:
Cultural irony exists when what is expected within one culture is misunderstood
by another culture, or one culture‘s expectations are represented in a sarcastic manner.
142
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Visual Irony occurs when a statement about a situation is in contrast to the visual
representation. This is close to dramatic irony, but is often used in comedies or cartoons.
Note: Irony, Allusion, and Connotation are the best of friends.
143
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Each of the cartoons possess humor based on the visual, real or imagined, and
vocabulary. Explain the basis of the humor using the prompt.
Example:
Animals Playing Darts, page 1.
Prompt: Comment on the cosmic irony as it relates to a common phrase for a
perfect dart score.
Answer: The bull‘s predicament is a result of chance or cosmic irony and plays on
the
common phrase ―bull‘s eye.‖
Answer the following prompts: Write one to two sentences for each response. Do not
overwrite the answer.
-
The Vegan humor is based on culture and the phrase ―fall off the wagon.‖
Art 101 humor is visual and connotative, ―boring.‖ There is also a secondary
portion of humor in the cartoon‘s far right artist‘s rendition.
Average courtroom humor is situational, based on the date and vocabulary.
The CEO‘s humor is all cultural.
The cell phone irony is purely situational, but it also may apply to culture.
The cheerleaders are fully cultural.
The Moonbeam Publishing culture is based on word choice, connotation.
The cat and dog can be explained as situational and cosmic.
Johnny Mallard‘s fate is unfortunately the fate of many men. Attend to the
connotation of ―decoy.‖
The next cartoon with the boss‘ explanation of the lead dog creates humor with
―imagined‖ visual irony.
The telephone call on the plane is merely situational and word choice.
The Tyrannosaurus‘ predicament is situation and visual.
The obedience school reunion is cultural.
The ketchup humor is situational, but you need to have an understanding of
history.
The doughboy‘s fate is cosmic. Plus, what is said about a culture that doesn‘t
spell correctly?
The executioner is darkly cosmic.
The school bus driver has two levels; first it is cosmic, second, if you know
Charon, you‘ll get a better grasp of the darkness of the cartoon.
I know the golf widow is dark, especially when you focus on her grin, but it is
merely cultural or situational.
The ―Happy Meal‖ is a clash of cultural expectations.
The dictionary is simply verbal, connotative.
Cosmic? Yes. Poor Humpty Dumpty!
The growth hormones‘ humor is simply situational.
Heaven‘s waiting area is cultural and connotative.
Recognize the Pig‘s possession and you‘ll understand the cosmic state of things.
The farmer is fate is sealed.
Ahab‘s situation is best understood if you recognize the literary allusion.
144
B. Borah
Centreville High School
-
The humor at the expense of the husband is cosmic, but also attend to the
connotation of ―neuter.‖
The ―parents at school‖ cartoon possesses humor based on the situation and fate.
The vocabulary of the girls is purely cultural and Socratic, and if you understand
the vocabulary, the cartoon speaks darkly of their culture.
The pirate is based on the visual.
The comparison between the school and a mental institution creates dark humor
with reference to culture.
Rat‘s offering of scorn is situational, but do not miss the connotation of ―scorn.‖
The young man‘s weight loss humor is purely cultural.
The sumo‘s fate is apparent.
To understand the situation in the physics class you must possess the denotation
and connotation of ―inertia.‖
The Grim Sower is situational but also darkly humorous based on the connotation
of ―pregnant.‖
The last one is free.
145
B. Borah
Centreville High School
146
B. Borah
Centreville High School
147
B. Borah
Centreville High School
148
B. Borah
Centreville High School
149
B. Borah
Centreville High School
150
B. Borah
Centreville High School
151
B. Borah
Centreville High School
152
B. Borah
Centreville High School
153
B. Borah
Centreville High School
154
B. Borah
Centreville High School
155
B. Borah
Centreville High School
156
B. Borah
Centreville High School
157
B. Borah
Centreville High School
158
B. Borah
Centreville High School
159
B. Borah
Centreville High School
160
B. Borah
Centreville High School
161
B. Borah
Centreville High School
162
B. Borah
Centreville High School
163
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document J
11th Grade English Language and Composition
Summer 2009 Assignment
Purchase a copy of the following text:
Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
Additional texts included in the assignment.
Excerpt from Walden, Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, Henry David
Thoreau
Read Thoreau before beginning Into the Wild.
Using the journaling format, cited on page 3 of this summer assignment, journal entries
for the following topics:
Every journal entry must be accompanied with full commentary. The journal is a
map of your thoughts; therefore, incomplete commentary depicts incomplete
thought.
Section One: Attend to the order. The journal entries should be as follows.
1. Five entries for McCandless‘ attitude toward a flawed society: Note ―attitude,‖
McCandless‘ thoughts concerning society as a whole. Do not include family.
2. Five entries for society‘s attitude toward McCandless, as reflected by people who
new him. Do not include the author Krakauer.
3. Five entries for Krakauer‘s attitude toward McCandless.
Section Two:
Chris McCandless‘ philosophy on life can be best described as ―living an
authentic life.‖ Using Thoreau in your commentary, accomplish the following in journal
format.
Compile five entries which reflect McCandless‘ attitude toward his life, and how
it should be lived. Reflect on his ―place‖ in society, on society‘s good attributes and ills,
and on how his philosophy reflects Thoreau‘s.
The Journal is due the first day of class, 2008-2009 school year. It must be typed in
columns, double spaced, page numbers, and your name at top of page one.
Section Three:
Bring the text, Into the Wild, on the first day.
It must be annotated and available for a Socratic Seminar.
164
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document K
Into the Wild Discussion:
Section Two and the Universal:
Allegory and Thoreau: In the discussion combine Thoreau and Krakauer to
construct a dialog that moves to a broader human experience:
Topic: Immigration
- Closed Ended to Open Ended Question
1. What were the primary factors which lead McCandless to leave Emory and
separate from his family?
2. Are his reasons equal to reasons for change within the broader population?
Topic: New Identity
- Open Ended to Universal Question
1. Why did McCandless create a new identity?
2. Is this desire to begin again, born anew, a common trait in humanity?
Topic: Point of View
- Literary Analysis to Universal Question
1. What is Krakaurer‘s attempting to accomplish using multiple points of view
when describing McCandless?
2. What is Krakaurer‘s purpose for using other literary sources at the beginning
of each chapter?
3. How might biases and points of view render differing accounts of another
person or event?
165
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document L
Graded Annotation Rubric
100%
 Consistency of annotations throughout the entire text. (This includes overuse of
annotations as well as a lack of annotations for large portions of the text.)
 Quality of annotations:
-Substantial number of vocabulary words identified and defined.
-Relevant, analytical questions posed.
-Literary devices, word patterns and other stylistic elements are noted.
-Motifs and possible themes identified and traced throughout the text.
-Numerous observations, predictions, commentary about plot, characterization,
tone, and mood have been made in addition to other types of annotations.
-Parts that have outstanding dialogue, descriptions, and emotions are noted.
 Appropriate written commentary accompanies highlighted / underlined text.
 Judicious use of highlighting and other forms of notation.
 Connections made throughout and beyond the text. Comments extend beyond the
literal to insightful and analytical annotations.
90%.
 Almost an A, but may focus too heavily in one area (E.g. literary devices at the
expense of other forms of annotations) or may require additional written
commentary in one or two areas. May have weak annotations in one portion of the
novel. May require more analytical commentary in one or two areas. Some
vocabulary may be identified, but not defined. May require additional
observations. May demonstrate a distracting overuse of annotations and/or
highlighting. Overall, the annotations demonstrate critical thinking about the text.
80%
 Most annotations are literal in nature. Few observations about anything beyond
the obvious. May lack written notation in some areas. Does not include numerous
annotations on devices, motifs, symbols, stylistic elements, characterization, etc.
Highlighting / underlining may be overused / distracting / seemingly
indiscriminate. Vocabulary not identified and/or undefined.
70%
 Unacceptable amount of annotations. Large portions of text without annotations.
Annotations may be extremely literal and plot driven at the expense of style,
imagery, symbolism, motif, etc. Few, if any, written comments accompany
highlighting.
F = 0 pts.
 No written annotations and/or highlighting. Incomplete or not submitted.
Name:
Student Score_____
166
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document M
Character Analysis
Sociology: this includes the character’s home location, type of job, family life,
wealth (amount of money), and how free time is spent.
Class:
Occupation:
Education:
Home Life: (Who runs the house or supports the family through work or
leadership?)
Religion:
Place in Community: (Is this person liked/disliked in his/her home area?)
Political Ambitions:
Amusements, Hobbies:
Psychology: this includes how a character acts because of attitude. Please
attempt to describe the mental state of the character. Try to offer reasons for
character’s actions due to attitude.
Moral Standards:
Personal Ambitions:
Frustrations (disappointments, big and small):
Temperament: (Is this character mild mannered or hostile? Plus, when a
character comes in contact with different persons; how do they respond?
Does the character act differently around different people?)
Attitude toward life:
Complexes (Are there any mental problems which cause him/her to act in any
particular manner?):
Extrovert, Introvert (Is the character outgoing and social, keeps to
him/herself and doesn’t mix with other people, can be described as at one
time moody and to him/herself while at other times outgoing and social?):
I.Q.:
167
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document N
"The Story of An Hour" Kate Chopin (1894)
Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her
as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.
It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half
concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the
newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's
name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a
second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the
sad message.
She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to
accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms.
When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one
follow her.
There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed
down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.
She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the
new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was
crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and
countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.
There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled
one above the other in the west facing her window.
She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a
sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob
in its dreams.
She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain
strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on
one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a
suspension of intelligent thought.
There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did
not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching
toward her through the sounds, the scents, and the color that filled the air.
Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was
approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her
two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word
escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The
vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and
bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.
168
B. Borah
Centreville High School
She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted
perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again
when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with
love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession
of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to
them in welcome.
There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There
would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women
believe they ahve a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a
cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of
illumination.
And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love,
the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly
recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!
"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.
Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for
admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you
doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."
"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that
open window.
Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all
sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was
only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.
She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph
in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's
waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.
Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little
travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene
of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's
piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.
When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills.
169
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document O
Advanced Placement Lang. And Comp.
Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail
There will be a test on Friday covering these journal entries, so bring the journal and the
Norton.
Use the journal to accomplish this assignment. As usual the evidence from the
text is left side and commentary, tone, metaphors, and effect are right side entries.
Dr. King has one named audience and multiple tones. Do not confuse his various
subjects with this one specific audience. In the course of this exercise you will have to
distinguish between his tone toward audience and tone toward subject.
Part I: Individual Paragraphs
- Paragraph 3: What is the comparison, and what is the metaphor for the
comparison?
- Paragraph 4: What is the effect of the analogy between the community and the
garment? Use commentary which caries the metaphor of the garment.
- Paragraph 10: Dr. King states a rhetorical question. What is the question, and
what is the effect on his audience?
- Paragraph 10: Comment on King‘s use of the word ―tension.‖
- Paragraph 14: What are the subjects, and what one tone does he use?
- Paragraph 16: What authorities does King cite to prove that unjust laws must
be opposed? Keeping in mind his audience, why does King use these
authorities, and what is the intended effect?
- Paragraphs 15-19: What are the comparisons King employs for unjust Laws?
List them.
- Paragraph 23: What is the subject, and what is the tone?
- Paragraph 26: With reference to his audience, why is the letter from Texas
effective?
- Paragraph 27: What is his tone toward the audience?
- Paragraph 31: What is his tone toward the audience? What effect does his use
of evidence, the quotes and the person stating the quote, have upon his
audience?
- Paragraphs 33 & 34: There is a tone shift at the beginning of 34. What is the
tone for 33 and then 34?
- Paragraph 38: What is the subject and tone.
- Paragraph 47: Why is this paragraph such a stinging statement to his audience,
and what is his tone toward the audience? Be careful. No tone of meanness
or rudeness exists.
- Paragraph 50: What is his tone, and what is the effect?
170
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document P
Read the following two letters carefully. Which letter makes the most persuasive
case for the writer? You may consider tone, bias, subject, audience, purpose, and
occasion. Please denote that each letter makes appeals which are logical, ethical,
and/or emotional.
Type your essay discussing the letters and the more persuasive of the two; use bold
for assertions, underlining for evidence, and italics for commentary.
Word count 450-500 word
PEACE NEGOTIATIONS IN VIETNAM
Letter from President Johnson to Ho Chi Minh, President of the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam, February 8, 1967
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing to you in the hope that the conflict in Vietnam can be brought to an end.
That conflict has already taken a heavy toll-in lives lost, in wounds inflicted, in property
destroyed, and in simple human misery. If we fail to find a just and peaceful solution,
history will judge us harshly.
Therefore, I believe that we both have a heavy obligation to seek earnestly the path to
peace. It is in response to that obligation that I am writing directly to you.
We have tried over the past several years, in a variety of ways and through a number of
channels, to convey to you and your colleagues our desire to achieve a peaceful
settlement. For whatever reasons, these efforts have not achieved any results. . . .
In the past two weeks, I have noted public statements by representatives of your
government suggesting that you would be prepared to enter into direct bilateral talks with
representatives of the U.S. Government, provided that we ceased "unconditionally" and
permanently our bombing operations against your country and all military actions against
it. In the last day, serious and responsible parties have assured us indirectly that this is in
fact your proposal.
Let me frankly state that I see two great difficulties with this proposal. In view of your
public position, such action on our part would inevitably produce worldwide speculation
that discussions were under way and would impair the privacy and secrecy of those
discussions. Secondly, there would inevitably be grave concern on our part whether your
government would make use of such action by us to improve its military position.
With these problems in mind, I am prepared to move even further towards an ending of
hostilities than your Government has proposed in either public statements or through
171
B. Borah
Centreville High School
private diplomatic channels. I am prepared to order a cessation of bombing against your
country and the stopping of further augmentation of U.S. forces in South Viet-Nam as
soon as I am assured that infiltration into South Viet-Nam by land and by sea has
stopped. These acts of restraint on both sides would, I believe, make it possible for us to
conduct serious and private discussions leading toward an early peace.
I make this proposal to you now with a specific sense of urgency arising from the
imminent New Year holidays in Viet-Nam. If you are able to accept this proposal I see no
reason why it could not take effect at the end of the New Year, or Tet, holidays. The
proposal I have made would be greatly strengthened if your military authorities and those
of the Government of South Viet-Nam could promptly negotiate an extension of the Tet
truce.
As to the site of the bilateral discussions I propose, there are several possibilities. We
could, for example, have our representatives meet in Moscow where contacts have
already occurred. They could meet in some other country such as Burma. You may have
other arrangements or sites in mind, and I would try to meet your suggestions.
The important thing is to end a conflict that has brought burdens to both our peoples, and
above all to the people of South Viet-Nam. If you have any thoughts about the actions I
propose , it would be most important that I receive them as soon as possible.
Sincerelv,
Lyndon B. Johnson
PRESIDENT HO CHI MINH'S REPLY TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S LETTER
February 15, 1967
Excellency, on February 10, 1967, I received your message. Here is my response.
Viet-Nam is situated thousands of miles from the United States. The Vietnamese people
have never done any harm to the United States. But, contrary to the commitments made
by its representative at the Geneva Conference of 1954, the United States Government
has constantly intervened in Viet-Nam, it has launched and intensified the war of
aggression in South Viet-Nam for the purpose of prolonging the division of Viet-Nam
and of transforming South Viet-Nam into an American neo-colony and an American
military base. For more than two years now, the American Government, with its military
aviation and its navy, has been waging war against the Democratic Republic of VietNam, an independent and sovereign country.
The United States Government has committed war crimes, crimes against peace and
against humanity. In South Viet-Nam a half-million American soldiers and soldiers from
the satellite countries have resorted to the most inhumane arms and the most barbarous
methods of warfare, such as napalm, chemicals, and poison gases in order to massacre
172
B. Borah
Centreville High School
our fellow countrymen, destroy the crops, and wipe out the villages. In North Viet-Nam
thousands of American planes have rained down hundreds of thousands of tons of bombs,
destroying cities, villages, mills, roads, bridges, dikes, dams and even churches, pagodas,
hospitals, and schools. In your message you appear to deplore the suffering and the
destruction in Viet-Nam. Permit me to ask you: Who perpetrated these monstrous
crimes? It was the American soldiers and the soldiers of the satellite countries. The
United States Government is entirely responsible for the extremely grave situation in
Viet-Nam. . . .
The Vietnamese people deeply love independence, liberty, and peace. But in the face of
the American aggression they have risen up as one man, without fearing the sacrifices
and the privations. They are determined to continue their resistance until they have won
real independence and liberty and true peace. Our just cause enjoys the approval and the
powerful support of peoples throughout the world and of large segments of the American
people.
The United States Government provoked the war of aggression in Viet-Nam. It must
cease that aggression, it is the only road leading to the re-establishment of peace. The
United States Government must halt definitively and unconditionally the bombings and
all other acts of war against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, withdraw from South
Viet-Nam all American troops and all troops from the satellite countries, recognize the
National Front of the Liberation of South Viet-Nam and let the Vietnamese people settle
their problems themselves. Such is the basic content of the four-point position of the
Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, such is the statement of the
essential principles and essential arrangements of the Geneva agreements of 1954 on
Viet-Nam. It is the basis for a correct political solution of the Vietnamese problem. In
your message you suggested direct talks between the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam
and the United States. If the United States Government really wants talks, it must first
halt unconditionally the bombings and all other acts of war against the Democratic
Republic of Viet-Nam. It is only after the unconditional halting of the American
bombings and of all other American acts of war against the Democratic Republic of VietNam that the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the United States could begin talks
and discuss questions affecting the two parties.
The Vietnamese people will never give way to force, it will never accept conversation
under the clear threat of bombs.
Our cause is absolutely just. It is desirable that the Government of the United States act in
conformity to reason.
Sincerely,
Ho Chi Minh
173
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document Q
Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson
CONCEPTS WE LIVE BY
Metaphor is for most people device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish-a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. Moreover, metaphor is typically
viewed as characteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than thought or
action. For this reason, most people think they can get along perfectly well without
metaphor. We have found, on the contrary, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life,
not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms
of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.
The concepts that govern our thought are not just matters of the intellect. They also
govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundane details. Our concepts
structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other
people. Our conceptual system thus plays a central role in defining our everyday realities.
If we are right in suggesting that our conceptual system is largely metaphorical, then the
way we thinks what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of
metaphor.
But our conceptual system is not something we are normally aware of. in most of the
little things we do every day, we simply think and act more or less automatically along
certain lines. Just what these lines are is by no means obvious. One way to find out is by
looking at language. Since communication is based on the same conceptual system that
we use in thinking and acting, language is an important source of evidence for what that
system is like.
Primarily on the basis of linguistic evidence, we have found that most of our ordinary
conceptual system is metaphorical in nature. And we have found a way to begin to
identify in detail just what the metaphors are halt structure how we perceive, how we
think, and what we do.
To give some idea of what it could mean for a concept to be metaphorical and for such a
concept to structure an everyday activity, let us start with the concept ARGUMENT and
the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR. This metaphor is reflected in our
everyday language by a wide variety of expressions:
ARGUMENT IS WAR
Your claims are indefensible.
He attacked every weak point in my argument.
His criticisms were right on target.
174
B. Borah
Centreville High School
I demolished his argument.
I've never won an argument with him.
you disagree? Okay, shoot!
If you use that strategy, he'll wipe you out.
He shot down all of my arguments.
It is important to see that we don't just talk about arguments in terms of
It is important to see that we don't just talk about arguments in terms of war. We can
actually win or lose arguments. We see the person we are arguing with as an opponent.
We attack his positions and we defend our own. We gain and lose ground. We plan and
use strategies. If we find a position indefensible, we can abandon it and take a new line of
attack. Many of the things we do in arguing are partially structured by the concept of war.
Though there is no physical battle, there is a verbal battle, and the structure of an
argument--attack, defense, counter-attack, etc.---reflects this. It is in this sense that the
ARGUMENT IS WAR metaphor is one that we live by in this culture; its structures the
actions we perform in arguing. Try to imagine a culture where arguments are not viewed
in terms of war, where no one wins or loses, where there is no sense of attacking or
defending, gaining or losing ground. Imagine a culture where an argument is viewed as a
dance, the participants are seen as performers, and the goal is to perform in a balanced
and aesthetically pleasing way. In such a culture, people would view arguments
differently, experience them differently, carry them out differently, and talk about them
differently. But we would probably not view them as arguing at all: they would simply be
doing something different. It would seem strange even to call what they were doing
"arguing." In perhaps the most neutral way of describing this difference between their
culture and ours would be to say that we have a discourse form structured in terms of
battle and they have one structured in terms of dance. This is an example of what it
means for a metaphorical concept, namely, ARGUMENT IS WAR, to structure (at least
in part) what we do and how we understand what we are doing when we argue. The
essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of
another.. It is not that arguments are a subspecies of war. Arguments and wars are
different kinds of things--verbal discourse and armed conflict--and the actions performed
are different kinds of actions. But ARGUMENT is partially structured, understood,
performed, and talked about in terms of WAR. The concept is metaphorically structured,
the activity is metaphorically structured, and, consequently, the language is
metaphorically structured.
Moreover, this is the ordinary way of having an argument and talking about one. The
normal way for us to talk about attacking a position is to use the words "attack a
position." Our conventional ways of talking about arguments presuppose a metaphor we
are hardly ever conscious of. The metaphors not merely in the words we use--it is in our
175
B. Borah
Centreville High School
very concept of an argument. The language of argument is not poetic, fanciful, or
rhetorical; it is literal. We talk about arguments that way because we conceive of them
that way--and we act according to the way we conceive of things.
The most important claim we have made so far is that metaphor is not just a matter of
language, that is, of mere words. We shall argue that, on the contrary, human thought
processes are largely metaphorical. This is what we mean when we say that the human
conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined. Metaphors as linguistic
expressions are possible precisely because there are metaphors in a person's conceptual
system. Therefore, whenever in this book we speak of metaphors, such as ARGUMENT
IS WAR, it should be understood that metaphor means metaphorical concept.
THE SYSTEMATICITTY OF METAPHORICAL CONCEPTS
Arguments usually follow patterns; that is, there are certain things we typically do and do
not do in arguing. The fact that we in part conceptualize arguments in terms of battle
systematically influences the shape argument stake and the way we talk about what we do
in arguing. Because the metaphorical concept is systematic, the language we use to talk
about that aspect of the concept is systematic.
We saw in the ARGUMENT IS WAR metaphor that expressions from the vocabulary of
war, e.g., attack a position, indefensible, strategy, new line of attack, win, gain ground,
etc., form a systematic way of talking about the battling aspects of arguing. It is no
accident that these expressions mean what they mean when we use them to talk about
arguments. A portion of the conceptual network of battle partially characterizes file
concept of an argument, and the language follows suit. Since metaphorical expressions in
our language are tied to metaphorical concepts in a systematic way, we can use
metaphorical linguistic expressions to study the nature of metaphorical concepts and to
gain an understanding of the metaphorical nature of our activities.
To get an idea of how metaphorical expressions in everyday language icon give us insight
into the metaphorical nature of the concepts that structure our everyday activities, let us
consider the metaphorical concept TIME IS Money as it is reflected in contemporary
English.
TIME IS MONEY
You're wasting my time.
This gadget will save you hours. I don't have the time to give you.
How do you spend your time these days? That flat tire cost me an hour.
I've invested a lot of time in her.
1 don't have enough time to spare for that.You're running out of time.
176
B. Borah
Centreville High School
You need to budget your time.
Put aside some time for ping pong.
Is that worth your while?
Do you have much time left?
He's living on I borrowed time.
You don't use your time, profitably.
I lost a lot of time when I got sick.
Thank you for your time.
Time in our culture is a valuable commodity. It is a limited resource that we use to
accomplish our goals. Because of the way that the concept of work has developed in
modern Western culture, where work is typically associated with the time it takes and
time is precisely quantified, it has become customary to pay people by the hour, week, or
year. In our culture TIME IS MONEY in many ways: telephone message units, hourly
wages, hotel room rates, yearly budgets, interest on loans, and paying your debt to society
by "serving time." These practices are relatively new in the history of the human race,
and by no means do they exist in all cultures. They have arisen in modern industrialized
societies and structure our basic everyday activities in a very profound way.
Corresponding to the fact that we act as if time is a valuable commodity--a limited
resource, even money--we conceive of time that way. Thus we understand and experience
time as the kind of thing that can be spent, wasted, budgeted, invested wisely or poorly,
saved, or squandered.
TIME IS MONEY, TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE, and TIME IS A VALUABLE
COMMODITY are all metaphorical concepts. They are metaphorical since we are using
our everyday experiences with money, limited resources, and valuable commodities to
conceptualize time. This isn't a necessary way for human beings to conceptualize time; it
is tied to our culture. There are cultures where time is none of these things.
The metaphorical concepts TIME IS MONEY, TIME IS A RESOURCE, and TIME IS A
VALUABLE COMMODITY form a single system based on sub-categorization, since in
our society money is a limited resource and limited resources are valuable commodities.
These sub categorization relationships characterize entailment relationships between the
metaphors: TIME IS MONEY entails that TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE, which
entails that TIME 1S A VALUABLE COMMODITY.
We are adopting the practice of using the most specific metaphorical concept, in this case
TIME IS MONEY to characterize the entire system. Of the expressions listed under the
TIME IS MONEY metaphor, some refer specifically to money (spend, invest, budget,
177
B. Borah
Centreville High School
probably cost), others to limited resources (use, use up, have enough of, run out of), and
still others to valuable commodities (have, give, lose, thank you for). This is an example
of the way in which metaphorical entailments can characterize a coherent system of
metaphorical concepts and a corresponding coherent system of metaphorical expressions
for those concepts.
The very system that allows us to comprehend one aspect of a concept in terms of another
(e.g., comprehending an aspect of arguing in terms of battle) will necessarily hide other
aspects of the concept. In allowing us to focus on one aspect of a concept (e.g., the
battling aspects of arguing), metaphorical concept can keep us from focusing on other
aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor. For example, in the midst
of a heated argument, when we are intent on attacking our opponent's position and
defending our own, we may lose sight of the cooperative aspects of arguing. Someone
who is arguing with you can be viewed as giving you his time, a valuable commodity, in
an effort at mutual understanding. But when we are preoccupied with the battle aspects,
we often lose sight of the cooperative aspects.
A far more subtle case of how a metaphorical concept can hide an aspect of our
experience can be seen in what Michael Reddy has called the "conduit metaphor."' Reddy
observes that our language about language is structured roughly by the following
complex metaphor:
IDEAS (Of MEANINGS) ARE OBJECTS.
LINGUISTIC EXPRESSIONS ARE CONTAINERS.
COMMUNICATION IS SENDING.
The speaker puts ideas (objects) into words (containers) and sends them (along a conduit)
to a bearer who takes the idea/objects out of the word/containers. Reddy documents this
with more than a hundred types of expressions in English, which he estimates account for
at least 70 percent of the expressions we use for talking about language. Here are some
examples:
THE CONDUIT METAPHOR
It's hard to get that idea across to him.
I gave you that idea.
Your reasons came through to us.
It's difficult to put my ideas into words.
When you have a good idea, try to capture it immediately in words.
178
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Try to pack more thought into fewer words.
You can't simply stuff ideas into a sentence any old way.
The meaning is right there in the words.
Don't force your meanings into the wrong words.
His words carry little meaning.
The introduction has a great deal of thought content.
Your words seem hollow.
The sentence is without meaning.
The idea is buried in terribly dense paragraphs.
In examples like these it is far more difficult to see that there is anything hidden by the
metaphor or even to see that there is a metaphor here at all. This is so much the
conventional way of thinking about language that it is sometimes hard to imagine that it
might not fit reality. But if we look at what the conduit metaphor entails, we can see
some of the ways in which it masks aspects of the communicative process.
First, the Linguistic EXPRESSIONS ARE CONTAINERS FOR MEANINGS aspect of
the conduit metaphor entails that words and sentences have meanings in themselves,
independent of any context or speaker. The MEANINGS ARE OBJECTS part of the
metaphor, for example, entails that meanings have an existence independent of people
and contexts. The part of the metaphor that says LINGUISTICS EXPRESSIONS ARE
CONTAINERS FOR MEANING entails that words (and sentences) have meanings,
again independent of contexts and speakers. These metaphors are appropriate in many
situations--those where context differences don't matter and where all the participants in
the conversation understand the sentences in the same way. These two entailments are
exemplified by sentences like
The meaning is right there in the words, which, according to the CONDUIT metaphor,
can correctly be said of any sentence. But there are many cases where context does
matter. Here is a celebrated one recorded in actual conversation by Pamela Downing:
Please sit in the apple-juice seat.
In isolation this sentence has no meaning at all, since the expression "apple-juice seat" is
not a conventional way of referring to any kind of object. But the sentence makes perfect
sense in the context in which it was uttered. An overnight guest came down to breakfast.
There were four place settings, three with orange juice and one with apple juice. It was
179
B. Borah
Centreville High School
clear what the apple-juice seat was. And even the next morning, when there was no apple
juice, it was still clear which seat was the apple-juice seat.
In addition to sentences that have no meaning without context, there are cases where a
single sentence will mean different things to different people. Consider:
We need new alternative sources of energy.
This means something very different to the president of Mobil Oil from what it means to
the president of Friends of the Earth. The meaning is not right there in the sentence--it
matters a lot who is saying or listening to the sentence and what his social and political
attitudes are. The CONDUIT metaphor does not fit cases where context is required to
determine whether the sentence has any meaning at all and, if so, what meaning it has.
These examples show that the metaphorical concepts we have looked at provide us with a
partial understanding of what communication, argument, and time are and that, in doing
this, they hide other aspects of these concepts. It is important to see that the metaphorical
structuring involved here is partial, not total. If it were total, one concept would actually
be the other, not merely be understood in terms of it. For example, time isn't really
money. If you spend your time trying to do something and it doesn't work, you can't get
your time back. There are no time banks. I can give you a lot of time, but you can't give
me back the same time, though you can give me back the same amount of time. And so
on. Thus, part of a metaphorical concept does not and cannot fit.
On the other hand, metaphorical concepts can be extended beyond the range of ordinary
literal ways of thinking and talking into the range of what is called figurative, poetic,
colorful, or fanciful thought and language. Thus, if ideas are objects, we can dress them
up in fancy clothes, juggle them, line them up nice and neat, etc. So when we say that a
concept is structured by a metaphors we mean that it is partially structured and that it can
be extended in some ways but not others.
ORIENTATION METAPHORS
So far we have examined what we will call structural metaphors, cases where one
concept is metaphorically structured in terms of another. But there is another kind of
metaphorical concept, one that does not structure one concept in terms of another but
instead organizes a whole system of concepts with respect to one another. We will call
these orientation metaphors, since most of them have to do with spatial orientation: updown, in-out, front-back, on-off, deep-shallow, central-peripheral. These spatial
orientations arise from the fact that we have bodies of the sort we have and that they
function as they do in our physical environment. Orientation metaphors give a concept a
spatial orientation; for example, happy is up. The fact that the concept HAPPY is oriented
up leads to English expressions like "I'm feeling up today."
Such metaphorical orientations are not arbitrary. They have a basis in our physical and
cultural experience. Though the polar oppositions up-down, in-out, etc., are physical in
180
B. Borah
Centreville High School
nature, the orientation metaphors based on them vary from culture to culture. For
example, in some cultures the future is in front of us, whereas in others it is in back. We
will be looking at up-down spatialization metaphors, which have been studied intensively
by William Nagy, as an illustration. In each case, we will give a brief hint about how
such metaphorical concept might have arisen from our physical and cultural experience.
These accounts are mean, to be suggestive and plausible, not definitive.
HAPPY IS UP; SAD IS DOWN.
I'm feeling up. That boosted my spirits. My spirits rose. you're in high spirits. Thinking
about her always gives me a lift. I'm feeling down. I'm depressed. He's really low these
days. I fell into a depression. My spirits sank.
physical basis: Drooping Posture typically goes along with sadness and depression, erect
posture with a positive emotional state.
CONSCIOUS IS UP; UNCONSCIOUS IS DOWN
Wake up Wake up. I'm up already. He rises early in the morning. He fell asleep. He
dropped off to sleep. He's under hypnosis. He's under hypnosis. He sank into a coma.
Physical basis: Humans and most other mammals sleep lying down and stand up when
they awaken.
HEALTH AND LIFE ARE UP
SICKNESS AND DEATH ARE DOWN
He's at the peak of health. Lazarus rose from the dead. He's in top shape. As to his health,
he's way up there. He fell ill. He's sinking fast. He came down with the flu. His health is
declining. He dropped dead.
Physical basis: Serious illness forces us to lie down physically. When you're dead, you
are physically down.
HAVING CONTROL OR FORCE IS UP
BEING SUBJECT TO CONTROL OR FORCE IS DOWN
I have control over her. I am on top of the situation. He's in a superior position. He's at
the height of his power. He's in the high command. He's in the upper echelon. His power
rose. He ranks above me in strength. He is under my control. He fell from power. His
Power is on the decline. He is my social interior. He is low man on the totem pole.
Physical basis- Physical size typically correlates with physical strength, and the victor in
a fight is typically on top.
181
B. Borah
Centreville High School
MORE IS UP; LESS 1S DOWN
The number of books printed each year keeps going up. His draft number is high. My
income rose last year. The amount of artistic activity in this state has gone down in the
past year. The number of errors he made is incredibly low. His income fell last year. He
is underage. If you're 100 hot, turn the heat down.
Physical basis: If you add more of a substance or of physical objects to a container or
pile, the level goes up.
FORESEEABLE FUTURE EVENTS ARE UP (AND AHEAD)
All upcoming events are listed in the paper. What's coming up this week? I'm afraid of
what's up ahead of us. What's up?
Physical basis: Normally our eyes look in the direction in which we typically move
(ahead, forward). As an object approaches a person (or the person approaches the object),
the object appears larger. Since the ground is perceived as being fixed, the top of the
object appears to be moving upward in the person's field of vision.
HIGH STATUS IS UP; LOW STATUS IS DOWN
He has a lofty position. She'll rise to the top. He's at the peak of his career. He‘s climbing
the ladder. He has little upward mobility. He's at the bottom of the social hierarchy. She
fell in status.
Social and physical basis: Status is correlated with (social) power and (physical) power is
up.
GOOD IS UP; BAD IS DOWN
Things are looking up. We hit a peak last year, but it's been downhill ever since. Things
are at an all-time low. He does high-quality work.
Physical basis for personal well-being: Happiness, health, life, and control--the things
that principally characterize what is good for a person--all are up.
VIRTUE IS UP; DEPRAVITY IS DOWN
He is high-minded. She has high standards. She is up right. She is an up-standing citizen.
That was a low trick. Don't be underhanded. I wouldn't stoop to that. That would be
beneath me. He fell into the abyss of depravity. That was a low-down thing to do.
Physical and social basis: GOOD IS UP for a person (physical basis), together with
SOCIETY IS A PERSON (in the version where you are not identifying with your
society). To be virtuous is to act in accordance with the standards set by the
182
B. Borah
Centreville High School
society/person to maintain its well-being. VIRTUE IS UP because virtuous actions
correlate with social well-being from the society/person's point of view. Since socially
based metaphors are part of the culture, it's the society/person's point of view that counts.
RATIONAL IS UP; EMOTIONAL IS DOWN
The discussion fell to the emotional level, but I raised it back up to the rational plane. We
put our feelings aside and had a high-level intellectual discussion of the matter. He
couldn't rise above his emotions.
Physical and cultural basis: In our culture people view themselves as being in control
over animals, plants, and their physical environment, and it is their unique ability to
reason that places human beings above other animals and gives them this control.
CONTROL IS UP thus provides a basis for MAN IS UP and therefore RATIONAL IS
UP.
183
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document R
Teaching the Multi-paragraph Essay Terminology
Essay:
A piece of writing that establishes your thoughts
concerning a subject.
Introduction:
The first paragraph of the essay. It includes the thesis at
the paragraph‘s end.
Body Paragraphs:
Middle paragraphs in an essay which develop the idea
stated in the thesis.
Concluding Paragraph:
The last paragraph in the essay which sums up the ideas
reflected in the essay, adds more commentary concerning
the topic, or makes a personal statement about the subject.
The conclusion is all commentary and does not include
evidence. It does not merely repeat word from the paper or
thesis. It adds the finishing touch to the essay.
Thesis:
A sentence with a topic and an opinion concerning the
topic.
Pre-Writing
This is the process of collecting the evidence for the essay
and placing this evidence in an order for presentation.
Examples: bubble clusters, outlines, line clustering,
columns, etc.
Evidence:
Specific details that form the core of the body paragraphs.
Synonyms for ―evidence‖ include: facts, specific details,
examples, descriptions, illustrations, support, proof
quotations, paraphrasing, plot reference, etc.
Commentary:
These are opinions or ideas concerning the link between
thesis, assertions, and evidence. Synonyms for
commentary include: opinion, insight, analysis,
interpretation, inference, personal response, feelings,
evaluations, explications, reflections, etc.
Assertion:
The first sentence of a body paragraph which establishes a
link between the thesis and evidence. It accomplishes a
part of the overall thesis.
184
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Concluding Sentence:
This is the last sentence of a body paragraph. It is all
commentary, does not repeat key words,, gives a finishing
feeling to the paragraph, and transitions to the next
paragraph.
Shaping the Essay:
This is a step after the pre-writing and before the first draft
of the essay. It is a plan or schematic for the organization
of the sis, assertions, evidence, commentary, and
conclusion.
First Draft:
First version is often termed the rough draft.
Final Draft:
The final version of the essay.
Peer Response:
The written responses and reactions to a paper.
Supporting Unit:
Assertion
Evidence
Two or more sentences of commentary
Concluding sentence
(This is the smallest unified group of thoughts that can be
written.)
Weaving:
The blending of evidence and commentary in the body
paragraphs.
Ratio:
The ratio of one part evidence to at least two parts
commentary.
185
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document S
Writing Rubric
9-8
Superior papers specific in their references, cogent in their definitions, and free
of plot summary that is not relevant to the question. These essays need not be without
flaws, but they demonstrate the writer's ability to discuss a literary work with insight and
understanding and to control a wide range of the elements of effective composition. At
all times they stay focused on the prompt, providing specific support--mostly through
direct quotations--and connecting scholarly commentary to the overall meaning.
7-6
These papers are less thorough, less perceptive or less specific than 9-8 papers.
They are well-written but with less maturity and control. While they demonstrate the
writer's ability to analyze a literary work, they reveal a more limited understanding and
less stylistic maturity than do the papers in the 9-8 range.
5
Safe and superficiality characterizes these essays. Discussion of meaning may be
formulaic, mechanical, or inadequately related to the chosen details. Typically, these
essays reveal simplistic thinking and/or immature writing. They usually demonstrate
inconsistent control over the elements of composition and are not as well conceived,
organized, or developed as the upper-half papers. However, the writing is sufficient to
convey the writer's ideas, stays mostly focused on the prompt, and contains at least some
effort to produce analysis, direct or indirect.
4-3
Discussion is likely to be unpersuasive, perfunctory, underdeveloped or
misguided. The meaning they deduce may be inaccurate or insubstantial and not clearly
related to the question. Part of the question may be omitted altogether. The writing may
convey the writer's ideas, but it reveals weak control over such elements as diction,
organization, syntax or grammar. Typically, these essays contain significant
misinterpretations of the question or the work they discuss; they may also contain little,
if any, supporting evidence, and practice paraphrase and plot summary at the expense
of analysis.
2-1
These essays compound the weakness of essays in the 4-3 range and are
frequently unacceptably brief. They are poorly written on several counts, including
many distracting errors in grammar and mechanics. Although the writer may have
made some effort to answer the question, the views presented have little clarity or
coherence.
186
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document T
AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION EXAM MULTIPLE CHOICE STEMS
1. The speaker's primary purpose in the passage is to...
2. The phrase --- functions primarily as...
3. The attitude of the entire passage (or parts of the passage ) is one of...
4. The author uses this (certain image) for the purpose of...
5. The main rhetorical strategy of the --- paragraph is for the purpose of...
6. The word --- in context (line---) is best interpreted to mean...
7. Lines --- can be interpreted to mean...
8. The reason for the shift in tone is due to...
9. The phrase --- in lines --- refers to which of the following?
10. The word/phrase --- in line --- refers to which of the following?
11. In relation to the passage as a whole, the statement in the first sentence presents...
12. In lines --- the speaker employs which of the following rhetorical strategies?
13. Which of the following best summarizes the main topic of the passage?
14. In the sentence beginning ---, the speaker employs all of the following EXCEPT...
15. The style of the passage as a whole is most accurately characterized as...
16. The principal contrast employed by the author in the passage/paragraph is
between...
17. The primary rhetorical function of lines --- is to...
18. The speaker's reference to --- serves primarily to ...
19. The tone of the passage shifts from one of--- to one of...
20. The second sentence (line---) is unified by metaphorical references pertaining to.
21. It can be inferred by the description of --- that which of the following qualities are
valued by the speaker?
22. The antecedent for --- in the clause --- is...
23. The type of argument employed by the speaker is most similar to which of the
following?
24. The pattern of exposition exemplified in the passage is best described as...
25. The point of view indicated in the phrase --- in line--- is that of...
187
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document U
Tone Words
Like the tone of a speaker‘s voice, the tone of a work of literature expresses the
writer‘s or speaker‘s feelings. To determine the tone of a written passage, ask
yourself the following questions:
 What is the subject of the passage?
 What is the occasion for the writing?
 Who is its intended audience?
 What does the purpose seem to be?
 Who is the speaker or narrator? What can we determine about him or her?
 What are the most important words in the passage?
 What connotations do these words have?
 What feelings are generated by the images of the passage?
 Are there any hints that the speaker or narrator does not really mean
everything her or she says?
 If any jokes are made, are they lighthearted and humorous or better and
mean?
 If the narrator were speaking aloud, what would be the sound of his or her
voice?
 Sources:



A Guide for Advanced Placement English Vertical Teams. A College Board Publication.
Langan, John. Ten Steps to Improving College Reading Skills. 3rd ed. Marlton, NJ:
Townsend, 1997.
Borah, Bryan. Materials for AP Seminar, 2002.
Tone Word Bank
Accusing
Admiring
Admonitory
Affectionate
Afraid
Aggravated
Agitated
Ambivalent
Amiable
Amused
Angry
Anxious
Apathetic
Apologetic
Appreciative
Apprehensive
Arrogant
Artificial
Ashamed
Authoritative
Baffled
Bantering
Belligerent
Benevolent
Bewildered
Bitter
Bored
Brash
Brave
Callous
Calm
Candid
Caring
Caustic
Ceremonial
Cheerful
Cheery
Choleric
Clinical
Coarse
Cold
Compassionate
Complimentary
Concerned
Condemnatory
Condescending
Confident
Confused
188
Consoling
Contemplative
Content
Contradictory
Conventional
Critical
Cruel
Curious
Cynical
Dejected
Depressed
Despairing
Desperate
Detached
Didactic
Disbelieving
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Disdainful
Disgruntled
Disgusted
Disinterested
Distressed
Disturbed
Doubtful
Dramatic
Dreamy
Droll
Earnest
Ecstatic
Elated
Elevated
Embarrassed
Encouraging
Energetic
Enthusiastic
Excited
Expectant
Exuberant
Facetious
Factual
Fanciful
Fearful
Fervent
Flippant
Foreboding
Forgiving
Formal
Forthright
Friendly
Frightened
Frivolous
Furious
Gloomy
Grateful
Grave
Happy
Harsh
Hating
Haughty
Hollow
Hopeful
Hopeless
Horrified
Humble
Humorous
Hurt
Impassioned
Incredulous
Indignant
Inflammatory
Informative
Inquisitive
Insolent
Instructive
Insulting
Intimate
Ironic
Irreverent
Irritated
Jovial
Joyful
Joyous
Jubilant
Judgmental
Learned
Lighthearted
Loud
Loving
Lyrical
Malevolent
Malicious
Manipulative
Matter-of-fact
Meditative
Melancholic
Miserable
Mock-heroic
Mocking
Morose
Mournful
Nervous
Nostalgic
Numb
Objective
Obnoxious
Obsequious
Optimistic
Outraged
Paranoid
Passionate
Passive
Patriotic
Patronizing
Peaceful
Persuasive
Pessimistic
Playful
Pleading
Pleasant
Poignant
Pompous
Pretentious
Proud
Quarrelsome
Questioning
Reflective
Regretful
Relaxed
Reminiscent
Remorseful
Resigned
Respectful
Restrained
Reverent
Ribald
Ridiculing
Romantic
Sad
Sarcastic
Scornful
Seductive
Self-pitying
Sentimental
Serious
Shameful
Sharp
Shocked
Sincere
Skeptical
189
Snooty
Sober
Solemn
Somber
Soothing
Staid
Superficial
Surly
Surprised
Sweet
Sympathetic
Taunting
Testy
Threatening
Tired
Tolerant
Tragic
Unemotional
Uninterested
Upset
Urgent
Vengeful
Vibrant
Whimsical
Wistful
Worried
Wrathful
Wry
Zealous
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document V

Ad Hominem (Argument To The Man):
Attacking the person instead of attacking his argument. For example, "Von
Daniken's books about ancient astronauts are worthless because he is a convicted
forger and embezzler." (Which is true, but that's not why they're worthless.)
Another example is this syllogism, which alludes to Alan Turing's homosexuality:
Turing thinks machines think.
Turing lies with men.
Therefore, machines don't think.
(Note the equivocation in the use of the word "lies".)
A common form is an attack on sincerity. For example, "How can you argue for
vegetarianism when you wear leather shoes ?" The two wrongs make a right
fallacy is related.
A variation (related to Argument By Generalization) is to attack a whole class of
people. For example, "Evolutionary biology is a sinister tool of the materialistic,
atheistic religion of Secular Humanism." Similarly, one notorious net kook waved
away a whole category of evidence by announcing "All the scientists were drunk."
Another variation is attack by innuendo: "Why don't scientists tell us what they
really know; are they afraid of public panic?"
There may be a pretense that the attack isn't happening: "In order to maintain a
civil debate, I will not mention my opponent's drinking problem." Or "I don't care
if other people say you're [opinionated/boring/overbearing]."
Attacks don't have to be strong or direct. You can merely show disrespect, or cut
down his stature by saying that he seems to be sweating a lot, or that he has
forgotten what he said last week. Some examples: "I used to think that way when
I was your age." "You're new here, aren't you ?" "You weren't breast fed as a
child, were you ?" "What drives you to make such a statement ?" "If you'd just
listen.." "You seem very emotional." (This last works well if you have been
hogging the microphone, so that they have had to yell to be heard.)
Sometimes the attack is on the other person's intelligence. For example, "If you
weren't so stupid you would have no problem seeing my point of view." Or,
"Even you should understand my next point."
Oddly, the stupidity attack is sometimes reversed. For example, dismissing a
comment with "Well, you're just smarter than the rest of us." (In Britain, that
190
B. Borah
Centreville High School
might be put as "too clever by half".) This is Dismissal By Differentness. It is
related to Not Invented Here and Changing The Subject.
Ad Hominem is not fallacious if the attack goes to the credibility of the argument.
For instance, the argument may depend on its presenter's claim that he's an expert.
(That is, the Ad Hominem is undermining an Argument From Authority.) Trial
judges allow this category of attacks.

Needling:
Simply attempting to make the other person angry, without trying to address the
argument at hand. Sometimes this is a delaying tactic.
Needling is also Ad Hominem if you insult your opponent. You may instead
insult something the other person believes in ("Argumentum Ad YourMomium"),
interrupt, clown to show disrespect, be noisy, fail to pass over the microphone,
and numerous other tricks. All of these work better if you are running things - for
example, if it is your radio show, and you can cut off the other person's
microphone. If the host or moderator is firmly on your side, that is almost as good
as running the show yourself. It's even better if the debate is videotaped, and you
are the person who will edit the video.
If you wink at the audience, or in general clown in their direction, then we are
shading over to Argument By Personal Charm.
Usually, the best way to cope with insults is to show mild amusement, and remain
polite. A humorous comeback will probably work better than an angry one.

Straw Man (Fallacy Of Extension):
Attacking an exaggerated or caricatured version of your opponent's position.
For example, the claim that "evolution means a dog giving birth to a cat."
Another example: "Senator Jones says that we should not fund the attack
submarine program. I disagree entirely. I can't understand why he wants to leave
us defenseless like that."
On the Internet, it is common to exaggerate the opponent's position so that a
comparison can be made between the opponent and Hitler.

Inflation Of Conflict:
Arguing that scholars debate a certain point. Therefore, they must know nothing,
and their entire field of knowledge is "in crisis" or does not properly exist at all.
191
B. Borah
Centreville High School
For example, two historians debated whether Hitler killed five million Jews or six
million Jews. A Holocaust denier argued that this disagreement made his claim
credible, even though his death count is three to ten times smaller than the known
minimum.
Similarly, in "The Mythology of Modern Dating Methods" (John Woodmorappe,
1999) we find on page 42 that two scientists "cannot agree" about which one of
two geological dates is "real" and which one is "spurious". Woodmorappe fails to
mention that the two dates differ by less than one percent.

Argument From Adverse Consequences (Appeal To Fear, Scare Tactics):
Saying an opponent must be wrong, because if he is right, then bad things would
ensue. For example: God must exist, because a godless society would be lawless
and dangerous. Or: the defendant in a murder trial must be found guilty, because
otherwise husbands will be encouraged to murder their wives.
Wishful thinking is closely related. "My home in Florida is six inches above sea
level. Therefore I am certain that global warming will not make the oceans rise by
one foot." Of course, wishful thinking can also be about positive consequences,
such as winning the lottery, or eliminating poverty and crime.

Special Pleading (Stacking The Deck):
Using the arguments that support your position, but ignoring or somehow
disallowing the arguments against.
Uri Geller used special pleading when he claimed that the presence of unbelievers
(such as stage magicians) made him unable to demonstrate his psychic powers.

Excluded Middle (False Dichotomy, Faulty Dilemma, Bifurcation):
Assuming there are only two alternatives when in fact there are more. For
example, assuming Atheism is the only alternative to Fundamentalism, or being a
traitor is the only alternative to being a loud patriot.

Short Term Versus Long Term:
This is a particular case of the Excluded Middle. For example, "We must deal
with crime on the streets before improving the schools." (But why can't we do
some of both ?) Similarly, "We should take the scientific research budget and use
it to feed starving children."
192
B. Borah
Centreville High School

Burden Of Proof:
The claim that whatever has not yet been proved false must be true (or vice
versa). Essentially the arguer claims that he should win by default if his opponent
can't make a strong enough case.
There may be three problems here. First, the arguer claims priority, but can he
back up that claim ? Second, he is impatient with ambiguity, and wants a final
answer right away. And third, "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."

Argument By Question:
Asking your opponent a question which does not have a snappy answer. (Or
anyway, no snappy answer that the audience has the background to understand.)
Your opponent has a choice: he can look weak or he can look long-winded. For
example, "How can scientists expect us to believe that anything as complex as a
single living cell could have arisen as a result of random natural processes ?"
Actually, pretty well any question has this effect to some extent. It usually takes
longer to answer a question than ask it.
Variants are the rhetorical question, and the loaded question, such as "Have you
stopped beating your wife ?"

Argument by Rhetorical Question:
Asking a question in a way that leads to a particular answer. For example, "When
are we going to give the old folks of this country the pension they deserve ?" The
speaker is leading the audience to the answer "Right now." Alternatively, he could
have said "When will we be able to afford a major increase in old age pensions?"
In that case, the answer he is aiming at is almost certainly not "Right now."

Fallacy Of The General Rule:
Assuming that something true in general is true in every possible case. For
example, "All chairs have four legs." Except that rocking chairs don't have any
legs, and what is a one-legged "shooting stick" if it isn't a chair ?
Similarly, there are times when certain laws should be broken. For example,
ambulances are allowed to break speed laws.

Reductive Fallacy (Oversimplification):
Over-simplifying. As Einstein said, everything should be made as simple as
possible, but no simpler. Political slogans such as "Taxation is theft" fall in this
category.
193
B. Borah
Centreville High School

Genetic Fallacy (Fallacy of Origins, Fallacy of Virtue):
If an argument or arguer has some particular origin, the argument must be right
(or wrong). The idea is that things from that origin, or that social class, have
virtue or lack virtue. (Being poor or being rich may be held out as being virtuous.)
Therefore, the actual details of the argument can be overlooked, since correctness
can be decided without any need to listen or think.

Psychogenetic Fallacy:
If you learn the psychological reason why your opponent likes an argument, then
he's biased, so his argument must be wrong.

Argument Of The Beard:
Assuming that two ends of a spectrum are the same, since one can travel along the
spectrum in very small steps. The name comes from the idea that being cleanshaven must be the same as having a big beard, since in-between beards exist.
Similarly, all piles of stones are small, since if you add one stone to a small pile of
stones it remains small.
However, the existence of pink should not undermine the distinction between
white and red.

Argument From Age (Wisdom of the Ancients):
Snobbery that very old (or very young) arguments are superior. This is a variation
of the Genetic Fallacy, but has the psychological appeal of seniority and tradition
(or innovation).
Products labeled "New ! Improved !" are appealing to a belief that innovation is
of value for such products. It's sometimes true. And then there's cans of "Old
Fashioned Baked Beans".

Not Invented Here:
Ideas from elsewhere are made unwelcome. "This is the Way We've Always Done
It."
This fallacy is a variant of the Argument From Age. It gets a psychological boost
from feelings that local ways are superior, or that local identity is worth any cost,
or that innovations will upset matters.
194
B. Borah
Centreville High School
An example of this is the common assertion that America has "the best health care
system in the world", an idea that this 2007 New York Times editorial refuted.
People who use the Not Invented Here argument are sometimes accused of being
stick-in-the-mud's.
Conversely, foreign and "imported" things may be held out as superior.

Argument By Dismissal:
An idea is rejected without saying why.
Dismissals usually have overtones. For example, "If you don't like it, leave the
country" implies that your cause is hopeless, or that you are unpatriotic, or that
your ideas are foreign, or maybe all three. "If you don't like it, live in a
Communist country" adds an emotive element.

Argument To The Future:
Arguing that evidence will someday be discovered which will (then) support your
point.

Poisoning The Wells:
Discrediting the sources used by your opponent. This is a variation of Ad
Hominem.

Argument By Emotive Language (Appeal To The People):
using emotionally loaded words to sway the audience's sentiments instead of their
minds. Many emotions can be useful: anger, spite, envy, condescension, and so
on.
For example, argument by condescension: "Support the ERA ? Sure, when the
women start paying for the drinks! Hah! Hah!"
Americans who don't like the Canadian medical system have referred to it as
"socialist", but I'm not quite sure if this is intended to mean "foreign", or
"expensive", or simply guilty by association.
Cliché Thinking and Argument By Slogan are useful adjuncts, particularly if you
can get the audience to chant the slogan. People who rely on this argument may
seed the audience with supporters or "shills", who laugh, applaud or chant at
proper moments. This is the live-audience equivalent of adding a laugh track or
music track. Now that many venues have video equipment, some speakers give
part of their speech by playing a prepared video. These videos are an opportunity
195
B. Borah
Centreville High School
to show a supportive audience, use emotional music, show emotionally charged
images, and the like. The idea is old: there used to be professional cheering
sections. (Monsieur Zig-Zag, pictured on the cigarette rolling papers, acquired his
fame by applauding for money at the Paris Opera.)
If the emotion in question isn't harsh, Argument By Poetic Language helps the
effect. Flattering the audience doesn't hurt either.

Argument By Personal Charm:
Getting the audience to cut you slack. Example: Ronald Reagan. It helps if you
have an opponent with much less personal charm.
Charm may create trust, or the desire to "join the winning team", or the desire to
please the speaker. This last is greatest if the audience feels sex appeal.
Reportedly George W. Bush lost a debate when he was young, and said later that
he would never be "out-bubba'd" again.

Appeal To Pity (Appeal to Sympathy, The Galileo Argument):
"I did not murder my mother and father with an axe ! Please don't find me guilty;
I'm suffering enough through being an orphan."
Some authors want you to know they're suffering for their beliefs. For example,
"Scientists scoffed at Copernicus and Galileo; they laughed at Edison, Tesla and
Marconi; they won't give my ideas a fair hearing either. But time will be the
judge. I can wait; I am patient; sooner or later science will be forced to admit that
all matter is built, not of atoms, but of tiny capsules of TIME."
There is a strange variant which shows up on Usenet. Somebody refuses to
answer questions about their claims, on the grounds that the asker is mean and has
hurt their feelings. Or, that the question is personal.

Appeal To Force:
threats, or even violence. On the Net, the usual threat is of a lawsuit. The
traditional religious threat is that one will burn in Hell. However, history is full of
instances where expressing an unpopular idea could you get you beaten up on the
spot, or worse.
"The clinching proof of my reasoning is that I will cut anyone who argues further
into dog meat."
-- Attributed to Sir Geoffery de Tourneville, ca 1350 A.D.

Argument By Vehemence:
196
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Being loud; trial lawyers are taught this rule:
If you have the facts, pound on the facts.
If you have the law, pound on the law.
If you don't have either, pound on the table.
The above rule paints vehemence as an act of desperation. But it can also be a
way to seize control of the agenda, use up the opponent's time, or just intimidate
the easily cowed. And it's not necessarily aimed at winning the day. A tantrum or
a fit is also a way to get a reputation, so that in the future, no one will mess with
you.
This is related to putting a post in UPPERCASE, aka SHOUTING.
Depending on what you're loud about, this may also be an Appeal To Force,
Argument By Emotive Language, Needling, or Changing The Subject.

Begging The Question (Assuming The Answer, Tautology):
reasoning in a circle. The thing to be proved is used as one of your assumptions.
For example: "We must have a death penalty to discourage violent crime". (This
assumes it discourages crime.) Or, "The stock market fell because of a technical
adjustment." (But is an "adjustment" just a stock market fall ?)

Stolen Concept:
using what you are trying to disprove. That is, requiring the truth of something for
your proof that it is false. For example, using science to show that science is
wrong. Or, arguing that you do not exist, when your existence is clearly required
for you to be making the argument.
This is a relative of Begging the Question, except that the circularity there is in
what you are trying to prove, instead of what you are trying to disprove.
It is also a relative of Reductio Ad Absurdum, where you temporarily assume the
truth of something.

Argument From Authority:
the claim that the speaker is an expert, and so should be trusted.
There are degrees and areas of expertise. The speaker is actually claiming to be
more expert, in the relevant subject area, than anyone else in the room. There is
also an implied claim that expertise in the area is worth having. For example,
claiming expertise in something hopelessly quack (like iridology) is actually an
admission that the speaker is gullible.
197
B. Borah
Centreville High School

Argument From False Authority:
a strange variation on Argument From Authority. For example the TV
commercial which starts, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." Just what are
we supposed to conclude?

Appeal To Anonymous Authority:
An Appeal To Authority is made, but the authority is not named. For example,
"Experts agree that ...", "scientists say .." or even "they say ..". This makes the
information impossible to verify, and brings up the very real possibility that the
arguer himself doesn't know who the experts are. In that case, he may just be
spreading a rumor.
The situation is even worse if the arguer admits it's a rumor.

Appeal To Authority:
"Albert Einstein was extremely impressed with this theory." (But a statement
made by someone long-dead could be out of date. Or perhaps Einstein was just
being polite. Or perhaps he made his statement in some specific context. And so
on.)
To justify an appeal, the arguer should at least present an exact quote. It's more
convincing if the quote contains context, and if the arguer can say where the quote
comes from.
A variation is to appeal to unnamed authorities.
There was a New Yorker cartoon, showing a doctor and patient. The doctor was
saying: "Conventional medicine has no treatment for your condition. Luckily for
you, I'm a quack." So the joke was that the doctor boasted of his lack of authority.

Appeal To False Authority:
a variation on Appeal To Authority, but the Authority is outside his area of
expertise.
For example, "Famous physicist John Taylor studied Uri Geller extensively and
found no evidence of trickery or fraud in his feats." Taylor was not qualified to
detect trickery or fraud of the kind used by stage magicians. Taylor later admitted
Geller had tricked him, but he apparently had not figured out how.
198
B. Borah
Centreville High School
A variation is to appeal to a non-existent authority. For example, someone reading
an article by Creationist Dmitri Kuznetsov tried to look up the referenced articles.
Some of the articles turned out to be in non-existent journals.
Another variation is to misquote a real authority. There are several kinds of
misquotation. A quote can be inexact or have been edited. It can be taken out of
context. (Chevy Chase: "Yes, I said that, but I was singing a song written by
someone else at the time.") The quote can be separate quotes which the arguer
glued together. Or, bits might have gone missing. For example, it's easy to prove
that Mick Jaggier is an assassin. In "Sympathy for the Devil" he sang: "I shouted
out, who killed the Kennedys, when after all, it was ... me."

Statement Of Conversion:
the speaker says "I used to believe in X".
This is simply a weak form of asserting expertise. The speaker is implying that he
has learned about the subject, and now that he is better informed, he has rejected
X. So perhaps he is now an authority, and this is an implied Argument From
Authority.
A more irritating version of this is "I used to think that way when I was your age."
The speaker hasn't said what is wrong with your argument: he is merely claiming
that his age has made him an expert.
"X" has not actually been countered unless there is agreement that the speaker has
that expertise. In general, any bald claim always has to be buttressed.
For example, there are a number of Creationist authors who say they "used to be
evolutionists", but the scientists who have rated their books haven't noticed any
expertise about evolution.

Bad Analogy:
Claiming that two situations are highly similar,when they aren't. For example,
"The solar system reminds me of an atom, with planets orbiting the sun like
electrons orbiting the nucleus. We know that electrons can jump from orbit to
orbit; so we must look to ancient records for sightings of planets jumping from
orbit to orbit also."
Or, "Minds, like rivers, can be broad. The broader the river, the shallower it is.
Therefore, the broader the mind, the shallower it is."
Or, "We have pure food and drug laws; why can't we have laws to keep moviemakers from giving us filth?"
199
B. Borah
Centreville High School

Extended Analogy:
the claim that two things, both analogous to a third thing, are therefore analogous
to each other. For example, this debate:
"I believe it is always wrong to oppose the law by breaking it."
"Such a position is odious: it implies that you would not have supported Martin
Luther King."
"Are you saying that cryptography legislation is as important as the struggle for
Black liberation? How dare you!"
A person who advocates a particular position (say, about gun control) may be told
that Hitler believed the same thing. The clear implication is that the position is
somehow tainted. But Hitler also believed that window drapes should go all the
way to the floor. Does that mean people with such drapes are monsters ?

Argument From Spurious Similarity:
This is a relative of Bad Analogy. It is suggested that some resemblance is proof
of a relationship. There is a WW II story about a British lady who was trained in
spotting German airplanes. She made a report about a certain very important type
of plane. While being quizzed, she explained that she hadn't been sure, herself,
until she noticed that it had a little man in the cockpit, just like the little model
airplane at the training class.

Reifying:
An abstract thing is talked about as if it were concrete. (A possibly Bad Analogy
is being made between concept and reality.) For example, "Nature abhors a
vacuum."

False Cause:
Assuming that because two things happened, the first one caused the second one.
(Sequence is not causation.) For example, "Before women got the vote, there were
no nuclear weapons." Or, "Every time my brother Bill accompanies me to Fenway
Park, the Red Sox are sure to lose."
Essentially, these are arguments that the sun goes down because we've turned on
the street lights.

Confusing Correlation And Causation:
Earthquakes in the Andes were correlated with the closest approaches of the
planet Uranus. Therefore, Uranus must have caused them. (But Jupiter is nearer
than Uranus, and more massive too.)
200
B. Borah
Centreville High School
When sales of hot chocolate go up, street crime drops. Does this correlation mean
that hot chocolate prevents crime ? No, it means that fewer people are on the
streets when the weather is cold.
The bigger a child's shoe size, the better the child's handwriting. Does having big
feet make it easier to write? No, it means the child is older.

Causal Reductionism (Complex Cause):
Trying to use one cause to explain something, when in fact it had several causes.
For example, "The accident was caused by the taxi parking in the street." (But
other drivers went around the taxi. Only the drunk driver hit the taxi.)

Cliché Thinking:
Using as evidence a well-known wise saying, as if that is proven, or as if it has no
exceptions.

Exception That Proves The Rule:
a specific example of Cliché Thinking. This is used when a rule has been asserted,
and someone points out the rule doesn't always work. The cliché rebuttal is that
this is "the exception that proves the rule". Many people think that this cliché
somehow allows you to ignore the exception, and continue using the rule.
In fact, the cliché originally did no such thing. There are two standard
explanations for the original meaning.
The first is that the word "prove" meant test. That is why the military takes its
equipment to a Proving Ground to test it. So, the cliché originally said that an
exception tests a rule. That is, if you find an exception to a rule, the cliché is
saying that the rule is being tested, and perhaps the rule will need to be discarded.
The second explanation is that the stating of an exception to a rule, proves that the
rule exists. For example, suppose it was announced that "Over the holiday
weekend, students do not need to be in the dorms by midnight". This
announcement implies that normally students do have to be in by midnight. Here
is a discussion of that explanation.
In either case, the cliché is not about waving away objections.

Appeal To Widespread Belief (Bandwagon Argument, Peer Pressure, Appeal
to Common Practice):
The claim, as evidence for an idea, that many people believe it, or used to believe
it, or do it.
201
B. Borah
Centreville High School
If the discussion is about social conventions, such as "good manners", then this is
a reasonable line of argument.
However, in the 1800's there was a widespread belief that bloodletting cured
sickness. All of these people were not just wrong, but horribly wrong, because in
fact it made people sicker. Clearly, the popularity of an idea is no guarantee that
it's right.
Similarly, a common justification for bribery is that "Everybody does it". And in
the past, this was a justification for slavery.

Fallacy Of Composition:
Assuming that a whole has the same simplicity as its constituent parts. In fact, a
great deal of science is the study of emergent properties. For example, if you put
a drop of oil on water, there are interesting optical effects. But the effect comes
from the oil/water system: it does not come just from the oil or just from the
water.
Another example: "A car makes less pollution than a bus. Therefore, cars are less
of a pollution problem than buses."
Another example: "Atoms are colorless. Cats are made of atoms, so cats are
colorless."

Fallacy Of Division:
Assuming that what is true of the whole is true of each constituent part. For
example, human beings are made of atoms, and human beings are conscious, so
atoms must be conscious.

Complex Question (Tying):
unrelated points are treated as if they should be accepted or rejected together. In
fact, each point should be accepted or rejected on its own merits.
For example, "Do you support freedom and the right to bear arms ?"

Slippery Slope Fallacy (Camel's Nose)
There is an old saying about how if you allow a camel to poke his nose into the
tent, soon the whole camel will follow.
The fallacy here is the assumption that something is wrong because it is right next
to something that is wrong. Or, it is wrong because it could slide towards
something that is wrong.
202
B. Borah
Centreville High School
For example, "Allowing abortion in the first week of pregnancy would lead to
allowing it in the ninth month." Or, "If we legalize marijuana, then more people
will try heroin." Or, "If I make an exception for you then I'll have to make an
exception for everyone."

Argument By Pigheadedness (Doggedness):
Refusing to accept something after everyone else thinks it is well enough proved.
For example, there are still Flat Earthers.

Appeal To Coincidence:
Asserting that some fact is due to chance. For example, the arguer has had a
dozen traffic accidents in six months, yet he insists they weren't his fault. This
may be Argument By Pigheadedness. But on the other hand, coincidences do
happen, so this argument is not always fallacious.

Argument By Repetition (Argument Ad Nauseam):
If you say something often enough, some people will begin to believe it. There are
some net kooks who keeping reposting the same articles to Usenet, presumably in
hopes it will have that effect.

Argument By Half Truth (Suppressed Evidence):
This is hard to detect, of course. You have to ask questions. For example, an
amazingly accurate "prophecy" of the assassination attempt on President Reagan
was shown on TV. But was the tape recorded before or after the event ? Many
stations did not ask this question. (It was recorded afterwards.)
A book on "sea mysteries" or the "Bermuda Triangle" might tell us that the yacht
Connemara IV was found drifting crewless, southeast of Bermuda, on September
26, 1955. None of these books mention that the yacht had been directly in the path
of Hurricane Iona, with 180 mph winds and 40-foot waves.

Argument By Selective Observation:
Also called cherry picking, the enumeration of favorable circumstances, or as the
philosopher Francis Bacon described it, counting the hits and forgetting the
misses. For example, a state boasts of the Presidents it has produced, but is silent
about its serial killers. Or, the claim "Technology brings happiness". (Now, there's
something with hits and misses.)
Casinos encourage this human tendency. There are bells and whistles to announce
slot machine jackpots, but losing happens silently. This makes it much easier to
think that the odds of winning are good.
203
B. Borah
Centreville High School

Argument By Selective Reading:
Making it seem as if the weakest of an opponent's arguments was the best he had.
Suppose the opponent gave a strong argument X and also a weaker argument Y.
Simply rebut Y and then say the opponent has made a weak case.
This is a relative of Argument By Selective Observation, in that the arguer
overlooks arguments that he does not like. It is also related to Straw Man (Fallacy
Of Extension), in that the opponent's argument is not being fairly represented.

Argument By Generalization:
Drawing a broad conclusion from a small number of perhaps unrepresentative
cases. (The cases may be unrepresentative because of Selective Observation.) For
example, "They say 1 out of every 5 people is Chinese. How is this possible ? I
know hundreds of people, and none of them is Chinese." So, by generalization,
there aren't any Chinese anywhere. This is connected to the Fallacy Of The
General Rule.
Similarly, "Because we allow terminally ill patients to use heroin, we should
allow everyone to use heroin."
It is also possible to under-generalize. For example,
"A man who had killed both of his grandmothers declared himself rehabilitated,
on the grounds that he could not conceivably repeat his offense in the absence of
any further grandmothers."
-- "Ports Of Call" by Jack Vance

Argument From Small Numbers:
"I've thrown three sevens in a row. Tonight I can't lose." This is Argument By
Generalization, but it assumes that small numbers are the same as big numbers.
(Three sevens is actually a common occurrence. Thirty three sevens is not.)
Or: "After treatment with the drug, one-third of the mice were cured, one-third
died, and the third mouse escaped." Does this mean that if we treated a thousand
mice, 333 would be cured ? Well, no.

Misunderstanding The Nature Of Statistics (Innumeracy):
President Dwight Eisenhower expressed astonishment and alarm on discovering
that fully half of all Americans had below average intelligence. Similarly, some
204
B. Borah
Centreville High School
people get fearful when they learn that their doctor wasn't in the top half of his
class. (But that's half of them.)
"Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive." - Wallace Irwin.
Very few people seem to understand "regression to the mean". This is the idea
that things tend to go back to normal. If you feel normal today, does it really mean
that the headache cure you took yesterday performed wonders ? Or is it just that
your headaches are always gone the next day ?
Journalists are notoriously bad at reporting risks. For example, in 1995 it was
loudly reported that a class of contraceptive pills would double the chance of
dangerous blood clots. The news stories mostly did not mention that "doubling"
the risk only increased it by one person in 7,000. The "cell phones cause brain
cancer" reports are even sillier, with the supposed increase in risk being at most
one or two cancers per 100,000 people per year. So, if the fear mongers are right,
your cell phone has increased your risk from "who cares" to "who cares".

Inconsistency:
For example, the declining life expectancy in the former Soviet Union is due to
the failures of communism. But, the quite high infant mortality rate in the United
States is not a failure of capitalism.
This is related to Internal Contradiction.

Non Sequitur:
Something that just does not follow. For example, "Tens of thousands of
Americans have seen lights in the night sky which they could not identify. The
existence of life on other planets is fast becoming certainty !"
Another example: arguing at length that your religion is of great help to many
people. Then, concluding that the teachings of your religion are undoubtably true.
Or: "Bill lives in a large building, so his apartment must be large."

Meaningless Questions:
Irresistible forces meeting immovable objects, and the like.

Argument By Poetic Language:
if it sounds good, it must be right. Songs often use this effect to create a sort of
credibility - for example, "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult.
205
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Politically oriented songs should be taken with a grain of salt, precisely because
they sound good.

Argument By Slogan:
If it's short, and connects to an argument, it must be an argument. (But slogans
risk the Reductive Fallacy.)
Being short, a slogan increases the effectiveness of Argument By Repetition. It
also helps Argument By Emotive Language (Appeal To The People), since
emotional appeals need to be punchy. (Also, the gallery can chant a short slogan.)
Using an old slogan is Cliche Thinking.

Argument By Prestigious Jargon:
Using big complicated words so that you will seem to be an expert. Why do
people use "utilize" when they could utilize "use" ?
For example, crackpots used to claim they had a Unified Field Theory (after
Einstein). Then the word Quantum was popular. Lately it seems to be Zero Point
Fields.

Argument By Gibberish (Bafflement):
This is the extreme version of Argument by Prestigious Jargon. An invented
vocabulary helps the effect, and some net.kooks use lots of CAPitaLIZation.
However, perfectly ordinary words can be used to baffle. For example,
"Omniscience is greater than omnipotence, and the difference is two.
Omnipotence plus two equals omniscience. META = 2." [From R. Buckminster
Fuller's No More Secondhand God.]
Gibberish may come from people who can't find meaning in technical jargon, so
they think they should copy style instead of meaning. It can also be a "snow job",
AKA "baffle them with BS", by someone actually familiar with the jargon. Or it
could be Argument By Poetic Language.
An example of poetic gibberish: "Each autonomous individual emerges
holographically within egoless ontological consciousness as a non-dimensional
geometric point within the transcendental thought-wave matrix."

Equivocation:
206
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Using a word to mean one thing, and then later using it to mean something
different. For example, sometimes "Free software" costs nothing, and sometimes
it is without restrictions. Some examples:
"The sign said 'fine for parking here', and since it was fine, I parked there."
All trees have bark.
All dogs bark.
Therefore, all dogs are trees.
"Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but that three lefts do."
- "Deteriorata", National Lampoon

Euphemism:
the use of words that sound better. The lab rat wasn't killed, it was sacrificed.
Mass murder wasn't genocide, it was ethnic cleansing. The death of innocent
bystanders is collateral damage. Microsoft doesn't find bugs, or problems, or
security vulnerabilities: they just discover an issue with a piece of software.
This is related to Argument By Emotive Language, since the effect is to make a
concept emotionally palatable.

Weasel Wording:
This is very much like Euphemism, except that the word changes are done to
claim a new, different concept rather than soften the old concept. For example, an
American President may not legally conduct a war without a declaration of
Congress. So, various Presidents have conducted "police actions", "armed
incursions", "protective reaction strikes," "pacification," "safeguarding American
interests," and a wide variety of "operations". Similarly, War Departments have
become Departments of Defense, and untested medicines have become alternative
medicines. The book "1984" has some particularly good examples.

Error Of Fact:
"No one knows how old the Pyramids of Egypt are." (Except, of course, for the
historians who've read records and letters written by the ancient Egyptians
themselves.)
Typically, the presence of one error means that there are other errors to be
uncovered.

Argument From Personal Astonishment:
207
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Errors of Fact caused by stating offhand opinions as proven facts. (The speaker's
thought process being "I don't see how this is possible, so it isn't.") An example
from Creationism is given here.
This isn't lying, quite. It just seems that way to people who know more about the
subject than the speaker does.

Lies:
Intentional Errors of Fact.
If the speaker thinks that lying serves a moral end, this would be a Pious Fraud.

Hypothesis Contrary To Fact:
Arguing from something that might have happened, but didn't.

Internal Contradiction:
Saying two contradictory things in the same argument. For example, claiming that
Archaeopteryx is a dinosaur with hoaxed feathers, and also saying in the same
book that it is a "true bird". Or another author who said on page 59, "Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle writes in his autobiography that he never saw a ghost." But on page
200 we find "Sir Arthur's first encounter with a ghost came when he was 25,
surgeon of a whaling ship in the Arctic."
This is much like saying "I never borrowed his car, and it already had that dent
when I got it."
This is related to Inconsistency.

Changing The Subject (Digression, Red Herring, Misdirection, False
Emphasis):
this is sometimes used to avoid having to defend a claim, or to avoid making good
on a promise. In general, there is something you are not supposed to notice.
For example, I got a bill which had a big announcement about how some tax had
gone up by 5%, and the costs would have to be passed on to me. But a quick
calculation showed that the increased tax was only costing me a dime, while a
different part of the bill had silently gone up by $10.
This is connected to various diversionary tactics, which may be obstructive,
obtuse, or needling. For example, if you quibble about the meaning of some word
a person used, they may be quite happy about being corrected, since that means
208
B. Borah
Centreville High School
they've derailed you, or changed the subject. They may pick nits in your wording,
perhaps asking you to define "is". They may deliberately misunderstand you:
"You said this happened five years before Hitler came to power. Why are you so
fascinated with Hitler ? Are you anti-Semitic ?"
It is also connected to various rhetorical tricks, such as announcing that there
cannot be a question period because the speaker must leave. (But then he doesn't
leave.)

Argument By Fast Talking:
if you go from one idea to the next quickly enough, the audience won't have time
to think. This is connected to Changing The Subject and (to some audiences)
Argument By Personal Charm.
However, some psychologists say that to understand what you hear, you must for
a brief moment believe it. If this is true, then rapid delivery does not leave people
time to reject what they hear.

Having Your Cake (Failure To Assert, or Diminished Claim):
Almost claiming something, but backing out. For example, "It may be, as some
suppose, that ghosts can only be seen by certain so-called sensitives, who are
possibly special mutations with, perhaps, abnormally extended ranges of vision
and hearing. Yet some claim we are all sensitives."
Another example: "I don't necessarily agree with the liquefaction theory, nor do I
endorse all of Walter Brown's other material, but the geological statements are
informative." The strange thing here is that liquefaction theory (the idea that the
world's rocks formed in flood waters) was demolished in 1788. To "not
necessarily agree" with it, today, is in the category of "not necessarily agreeing"
with 2+2=3. But notice that writer implies some study of the matter, and only
partial rejection.
A similar thing is the failure to rebut. Suppose I raise an issue. The response that
"Woodmorappe's book talks about that" could possibly be a reference to a
resounding rebuttal. Or perhaps the responder hasn't even read the book yet. How
can we tell ? [I later discovered it was the latter.]

Ambiguous Assertion:
a statement is made, but it is sufficiently unclear that it leaves some sort of
leeway. For example, a book about Washington politics did not place quotation
209
B. Borah
Centreville High School
marks around quotes. This left ambiguity about which parts of the book were
first-hand reports and which parts were second-hand reports, assumptions, or
outright fiction.
Of course, lack of clarity is not always intentional. Sometimes a statement is just
vague.
If the statement has two different meanings, this is Amphiboly. For example,
"Last night I shot a burglar in my pajamas."

Failure To State:
If you make enough attacks, and ask enough questions, you may never have to
actually define your own position on the topic.

Outdated Information:
Information is given, but it is not the latest information on the subject. For
example, some creationist articles about the amount of dust on the moon quote a
measurement made in the 1950's. But many much better measurements have been
done since then.

Amazing Familiarity:
The speaker seems to have information that there is no possible way for him to
get, on the basis of his own statements. For example: "The first man on deck,
seaman Don Smithers, yawned lazily and fingered his good luck charm, a dried
seahorse. To no avail ! At noon, the Sea Ranger was found drifting aimlessly,
with every man of its crew missing without a trace !"

Least Plausible Hypothesis:
Ignoring all of the most reasonable explanations. This makes the desired
explanation into the only one. For example: "I left a saucer of milk outside
overnight. In the morning, the milk was gone. Clearly, my yard was visited by
fairies."
There is an old rule for deciding which explanation is the most plausible. It is
most often called "Occam's Razor", and it basically says that the simplest is the
best. The current phrase among scientists is that an explanation should be "the
most parsimonious", meaning that it should not introduce new concepts (like
fairies) when old concepts (like neighborhood cats) will do.
On ward rounds, medical students love to come up with the most obscure
explanations for common problems. A traditional response is to tell them "If you
hear hoof beats, don't automatically think of zebras".
210
B. Borah
Centreville High School

Argument By Scenario:
Telling a story which ties together unrelated material, and then using the story as
proof they are related.

Affirming The Consequent:
logic reversal. A correct statement of the form "if P then Q" gets turned into "Q
therefore P".
For example,
"All cats die; Socrates died; therefore Socrates was a cat."
Another example: "If the earth orbits the sun, then the nearer stars will show an
apparent annual shift in position relative to more distant stars (stellar parallax).
Observations show conclusively that this parallax shift does occur. This proves
that the earth orbits the sun." In reality, it proves that Q [the parallax] is consistent
with P [orbiting the sun]. But it might also be consistent with some other theory.
(Other theories did exist. They are now dead, because although they were
consistent with a few facts, they were not consistent with all the facts.)
Another example: "If space creatures were kidnapping people and examining
them, the space creatures would probably hypnotically erase the memories of the
people they examined. These people would thus suffer from amnesia. But in fact
many people do suffer from amnesia. This tends to prove they were kidnapped
and examined by space creatures." This is also a Least Plausible Hypothesis
explanation.

Moving The Goalposts (Raising The Bar, Argument By Demanding
Impossible Perfection):
if your opponent successfully addresses some point, then say he must also address
some further point. If you can make these points more and more difficult (or
diverse) then eventually your opponent must fail. If nothing else, you will
eventually find a subject that your opponent isn't up on.
This is related to Argument By Question. Asking questions is easy: it's answering
them that's hard.
If each new goal causes a new question, this may get to be Infinite Regression.
It is also possible to lower the bar, reducing the burden on an argument. For
example, a person who takes Vitamin C might claim that it prevents colds. When
they do get a cold, then they move the goalposts, by saying that the cold would
have been much worse if not for the Vitamin C.
211
B. Borah
Centreville High School

Appeal To Complexity:
if the arguer doesn't understand the topic, he concludes that nobody understands
it. So, his opinions are as good as anybody's.

Common Sense:
Unfortunately, there simply isn't a common-sense answer for many questions. In
politics, for example, there are a lot of issues where people disagree. Each side
thinks that their answer is common sense. Clearly, some of these people are
wrong.
The reason they are wrong is because common sense depends on the context,
knowledge and experience of the observer. That is why instruction manuals will
often have paragraphs like these:
When boating, use common sense. Have one life preserver for each person in the
boat.
When towing a water skier, use common sense. Have one person watching the
skier at all times.
If the ideas are so obvious, then why the second sentence? Why do they have to
spell it out? The answer is that "use common sense" actually meant "pay attention,
I am about to tell you something that inexperienced people often get wrong."
Science has discovered a lot of situations which are far more unfamiliar than
water skiing. Not surprisingly, beginners find that much of it violates their
common sense. For example, many people can't imagine how a mountain range
would form. But in fact anyone can take good GPS equipment to the Himalayas,
and measure for themselves that those mountains are rising today.

Argument By Laziness (Argument By Uninformed Opinion):
the arguer hasn't bothered to learn anything about the topic. He nevertheless has
an opinion, and will be insulted if his opinion is not treated with respect. For
example, someone looked at a picture on one of my web pages, and made a
complaint which showed that he hadn't even skimmed through the words on the
page. When I pointed this out, he replied that I shouldn't have had such a
confusing picture.

Disproof By Fallacy:
if a conclusion can be reached in an obviously fallacious way, then the conclusion
is incorrectly declared wrong. For example,
212
B. Borah
Centreville High School
"Take the division 64/16. Now, canceling a 6 on top and a six on the bottom, we
get that 64/16 = 4/1 = 4."
"Wait a second! You can't just cancel the six!"
"Oh, so you're telling us 64/16 is not equal to 4, are you ?"
Note that this is different from Reductio Ad Absurdum, where your opponent's
argument can lead to an absurd conclusion. In this case, an absurd argument leads
to a normal conclusion.

Reductio Ad Absurdum:
showing that your opponent's argument leads to some absurd conclusion. This is
in general a reasonable and non-fallacious way to argue. If the issues are razorsharp, it is a good way to completely destroy his argument. However, if the waters
are a bit muddy, perhaps you will only succeed in showing that your opponent's
argument does not apply in all cases, That is, using Reductio Ad Absurdum is
sometimes using the Fallacy of the General Rule. However, if you are faced with
an argument that is poorly worded, or only lightly sketched, Reductio Ad
Absurdum may be a good way of pointing out the holes.
An example of why absurd conclusions are bad things:
Bertrand Russell, in a lecture on logic, mentioned that in the sense of material
implication, a false proposition implies any proposition. A student raised his hand
and said "In that case, given that 1 = 0, prove that you are the Pope". Russell
immediately replied, "Add 1 to both sides of the equation: then we have 2 = 1.
The set containing just me and the Pope has 2 members. But 2 = 1, so it has only
1 member; therefore, I am the Pope."

False Compromise:
if one does not understand a debate, it must be "fair" to split the difference, and
agree on a compromise between the opinions. (But one side is very possibly
wrong, and in any case one could simply suspend judgment.) Journalists often
invoke this fallacy in the name of "balanced" coverage.
"Some say the sun rises in the east, some say it rises in the west; the truth lies
probably somewhere in between."
Television reporters like balanced coverage so much that they may give half of
their report to a view held by a small minority of the people in question. There are
many possible reasons for this, some of them good. However, viewers need to be
aware of this tendency.

Fallacy Of The Crucial Experiment:
213
B. Borah
Centreville High School
claiming that some idea has been proved (or disproved) by a pivotal discovery.
This is the "smoking gun" version of history.
Scientific progress is often reported in such terms. This is inevitable when a
complex story is reduced to a sound bite, but it's almost always a distortion. In
reality, a lot of background happens first, and a lot of buttressing (or retraction)
happens afterwards. And in natural history, most of the theories are about how
often certain things happen (relative to some other thing). For those theories, no
one experiment could ever be conclusive.

Two Wrongs Make A Right (You Too, What's sauce for the goose is sauce for
the gander):
a charge of wrongdoing is answered by a rationalization that others have sinned,
or might have sinned. For example, Bill borrows Jane's expensive pen, and later
finds he hasn't returned it. He tells himself that it is okay to keep it, since she
would have taken his.
War atrocities and terrorism are often defended in this way.
Similarly, some people defend capital punishment on the grounds that the state is
killing people who have killed.
This is related to Ad Hominem (Argument To The Man).

Pious Fraud:
a fraud done to accomplish some good end, on the theory that the end justifies the
means.
For example, a church in Canada had a statue of Christ which started to weep
tears of blood. When analyzed, the blood turned out to be beef blood. We can
reasonably assume that someone with access to the building thought that bringing
souls to Christ would justify his small deception.
In the context of debates, a Pious Fraud could be a lie. More generally, it would
be when an emotionally committed speaker makes an assertion that is shaded,
distorted or even fabricated. For example, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was
accused in 2003 of "sexing up" his evidence that Iraq had Weapons of Mass
Destruction.
Around the year 400, Saint Augustine wrote two books, De Mendacio[On Lying]
and Contra Medacium[Against Lying], on this subject. He argued that the sin isn't
in what you do (or don't) say, but in your intent to leave a false impression. He
strongly opposed Pious Fraud. I believe that Martin Luther also wrote on the
subject.
214
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document W
Note: This handout lists the excellent strategies for styling sentences in The Art of Styling
Sentences: 20 Patterns for Success, Third Edition (Barron‘s Educational Series, 1993) By
Marie L. Waddell, Robert M. Escher, and Robert R. Walker.
The Art of Styling Sentences
Pattern 1
Compound Sentence: semicolon, no conjunction
S V; S V
Hard work is only one side of the equation; talent is the other.
Pattern 2
Compound Sentence with Elliptical construction
S V DO or SC; S, DO or SC
A red light means stop; a green light, go.
Pattern 3
Compound Sentence with Explanatory Statement
General statement: specific example
Darwin's Origin of Species forcibly states a harsh truth: only the fittest survive.
Pattern 4
A Series without a Conjunction
A,B,C
The United States has a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
Pattern 4A
A Series with a Variation
A or B or C
215
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Despite his handicaps, I have never seen Larry angry or cross or depressed.
Pattern 5
A Series with a Balanced Pair
A and B, C and D, E and F (may be in any slot in the sentence)
"God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, surfeit and hunger." -Heraclitus
Pattern 6
An Introductory series of Appositives
Appositive, appositive, appositive--summary word S V
Vanity, greed, corruption-- which serves as the novel's source of conflict?
Pattern 7
An Internal Series of Appositives or Modifiers
S --appositive, appositive, appositive--V
The necessary qualities for political life--guile, ruthlessness, and garrulity--she learned by
carefully studying his father's life.
Pattern 7A
A Variation: a Single Appositive or a Pair
S --appositive--V
A sudden explosion--artillery fire--signaled the beginning of a barrage.
Pattern 8
Dependent Clauses in a Pair or in a Series
If..., if..., if..., then S V
If you clothes are made of cotton, if you wash them with soap, if you hang them on the
line, you may not need a fabric softener.
216
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Pattern 9
Repetition of a Key Term
S V key term, repeated key term
"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road
may be [. . .]." Winston Churchill
Pattern 9A
A Variation: Some Word repeated in a Parallel Structure
S V repeated key word in same position
His greatest discoveries, his greatest successes, his greatest influence upon daily life
came to Edison only after repeated failure.
Pattern 10
Emphatic Appositive at End, after a Colon
S V word: appositive
Airport thieves have a common target: unwary travelers.
Pattern 10A
A Variation: Appositive (single or pair or series) after a Dash
S V word--appositive
Adjusting to a new job requires one quality above--a sense of humor.
Pattern 11
Interrupting Modifier Between S and V
S (modifier that whispers) V
The hunter (a common sight in New Hampshire woods during the winter) carried a large
caliber rifle.
217
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Pattern 11A
A Full Sentence as Interrupting Modifier
S--a full sentence--V
Juliet's famous question--"Wherefore art thou, Romeo?"--is often misunderstood.
Pattern 12
Introductory or Concluding Participles
Participial Phrase, S V (or reverse)
Laughing at his foolish behavior, she fell backwards in her chair.
Despised by most Westerners, the terrorist group acted with impunity.
Pattern 13
A Single Modifier Out of Place for Emphasis
Modifier, S V
To begin with, some ideas are just plain difficult.
Pattern 14
Prepositional Phrase Before S--V
Prepositional Phrase S V (or V S)
During the long winter months, Tom toiled as a trapper.
Pattern 15
Object or Complement Before S--V
Object or Complement S V
His kind of sarcasm (,)I do not like.
218
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Pattern 15A
Complete Inversion of Normal Pattern
Object or Complement or modifier V S
Down the field and through the tacklers ran the Heisman Trophy winner.
Pattern 16
Paired Constructions
Paired Construction
The more S V, the more S V
The more I saw of his work, the more I knew I didn't want to purchase any.
Pattern 16A
A Paired Construction for Contrast Only
A "this, not that" or "not this but that" construction
Genius, not stupidity, has limits.
Pattern 17
Dependent Clause as Subject or Object or Complement
S [dependent clause] V
What a man cannot imagine cannot be created.
Pattern 18
Absolute Construction Anywhere in Sentence
Absolute construction, S V
His early efforts failing, Ted tried a new approach to the calculus problem.
219
B. Borah
Centreville High School
The French defeated, the Germans advanced on Paris.
Pattern 19
The Short, Simple Sentence for Relief or Dramatic Effect.
SV
Perseverance pays.
I think not.
Pattern 19A
A Short Question for Dramatic Effect
Interrogative word standing alone
Question based solely on intonation
Why not?
You really care?
Pattern 20
The Deliberate Fragment
Merely a part of a sentence
Fine.
First, the nuts and bolts.
220
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document X
E.B. White
―Once More to the Lake‖ (1941)
One summer, along about 1904, my father rented a camp on a lake in Maine and took us
all there for the month of August. We all got ringworm from some kittens and had to rub
Pond's Extract on our arms and legs night and morning, and my father rolled over in a
canoe with all his clothes on; but outside of that the vacation was a success and from then
on none of us ever thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine. We
returned summer after summer--always on August 1st for one month. I have since
become a salt-water man, but sometimes in summer there are days when the restlessness
of the tides and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind which blows
across the afternoon and into the evening make me wish for the placidity of a lake in the
woods. A few weeks ago this feeling got so strong I bought myself a couple of bass
hooks and a spinner and returned to the lake where we used to go, for a week's fishing
and to revisit old haunts.
I took along my son, who had never had any fresh water up his nose and who had seen
lily pads only from train windows. On the journey over to the lake I began to wonder
what it would be like. I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy
spot--the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths
behind the camps. I was sure that the tarred road would have found it out and I wondered
in what other ways it would be desolated. It is strange how much you can remember
about places like that once you allow your mind to return into the grooves which lead
back. You remember one thing, and that suddenly reminds you of another thing. I guess I
remembered clearest of all the early mornings, when the lake was cool and motionless,
remembered how the bedroom smelled of the lumber it was made of and of the wet
woods whose scent entered through the screen. The partitions in the camp were thin and
did not extend clear to the top of the rooms, and as I was always the first up I would dress
softly so as not to wake the others, and sneak out into the sweet outdoors and start out in
the canoe, keeping close along the shore in the long shadows of the pines. I remembered
being very careful never to rub my paddle against the gunwale for fear of disturbing the
stillness of the cathedral.
The lake had never been what you would call a wild lake. There were cottages sprinkled
around the shores, and it was in farming although the shores of the lake were quite
heavily wooded. Some of the cottages were owned by nearby farmers, and you would
live at the shore and eat your meals at the farmhouse. That's what our family did. But
although it wasn't wild, it was a fairly large and undisturbed lake and there were places in
it which, to a child at least, seemed infinitely remote and primeval.
I was right about the tar: it led to within half a mile of the shore. But when I got back
there, with my boy, and we settled into a camp near a farmhouse and into the kind of
summertime I had known, I could tell that it was going to be pretty much the same as it
had been before--I knew it, lying in bed the first morning, smelling the bedroom, and
221
B. Borah
Centreville High School
hearing the boy sneak quietly out and go off along the shore in a boat. I began to sustain
the illusion that he was I, and therefore, by simple transposition, that I was my father.
This sensation persisted, kept cropping up all the time we were there. It was not an
entirely new feeling, but in this setting it grew much stronger. I seemed to be living a
dual existence. I would be in the middle of some simple act, I would be picking up a bait
box or laying down a table fork, or I would be saying something, and suddenly it would
be not I but my father who was saying the words or making the gesture. It gave me a
creepy sensation.
We went fishing the first morning. I felt the same damp moss covering the worms in the
bait can, and saw the dragonfly alight on the tip of my rod as it hovered a few inches
from the surface of the water. It was the arrival of this fly that convinced me beyond any
doubt that everything was as it always had been, that the years were a mirage and there
had been no years. The small waves were the same, chucking the rowboat under the chin
as we fished at anchor, and the boat was the same boat, the same color green and the ribs
broken in the same places, and under the floor-boards the same freshwater leavings and
debris--the dead helgramite, the wisps of moss, the rusty discarded fishhook, the dried
blood from yesterday's catch. We stared silently at the tips of our rods, at the dragonflies
that came and wells. I lowered the tip of mine into the water, tentatively, pensively
dislodging the fly, which darted two feet away, poised, darted two feet back, and came to
rest again a little farther up the rod. There had been no years between the ducking of this
dragonfly and the other one--the one that was part of memory. I looked at the boy, who
was silently watching his fly, and it was my hands that held his rod, my eyes watching. I
felt dizzy and didn't know which rod I was at the end of.
We caught two bass, hauling them in briskly as though they were mackerel, pulling them
over the side of the boat in a businesslike manner without any landing net, and stunning
them with a blow on the back of the head. When we got back for a swim before lunch,
the lake was exactly where we had left it, the same number of inches from the dock, and
there was only the merest suggestion of a breeze. This seemed an utterly enchanted sea,
this lake you could leave to its own devices for a few hours and come back to, and find
that it had not stirred, this constant and trustworthy body of water. In the shallows, the
dark, water-soaked sticks and twigs, smooth and old, were undulating in clusters on the
bottom against the clean ribbed sand, and the track of the mussel was plain. A school of
minnows swam by, each minnow with its small, individual shadow, doubling the
attendance, so clear and sharp in the sunlight. Some of the other campers were in
swimming, along the shore, one of them with a cake of soap, and the water felt thin and
clear and insubstantial. Over the years there had been this person with the cake of soap,
this cultist, and here he was. There had been no years.
Up to the farmhouse to dinner through the teeming, dusty field, the road under our
sneakers was only a two-track road. The middle track was missing, the one with the
marks of the hooves and the splotches of dried, flaky manure. There had always been
three tracks to choose from in choosing which track to walk in; now the choice was
narrowed down to two. For a moment I missed terribly the middle alternative. But the
way led past the tennis court, and something about the way it lay there in the sun
222
B. Borah
Centreville High School
reassured me; the tape had loosened along the backline, the alleys were green with
plantains and other weeds, and the net (installed in June and removed in September)
sagged in the dry noon, and the whole place steamed with midday heat and hunger and
emptiness. There was a choice of pie for dessert, and one was blueberry and one was
apple, and the waitresses were the same country girls, there having been no passage of
time, only the illusion of it as in a dropped curtain--the waitresses were still fifteen; their
hair had been washed, that was the only difference--they had been to the movies and seen
the pretty girls with the clean hair.
Summertime, oh summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade proof lake, the woods
unshatterable, the pasture with the sweet fern and the juniper forever and ever, summer
without end; this was the background, and the life along the shore was the design, the
cottages with their innocent and tranquil design, their tiny docks with the flagpole and the
American flag floating against the white clouds in the blue sky, the little paths over the
roots of the trees leading from camp to camp and the paths leading back to the outhouses
and the can of lime for sprinkling, and at the souvenir counters at the store the miniature
birch-bark canoes and the post cards that showed things looking a little better than they
looked. This was the American family at play, escaping the city heat, wondering whether
the newcomers at the camp at the head of the cove were "common" or "nice," wondering
whether it was true that the people who drove up for Sunday dinner at the farmhouse
were turned away because there wasn't enough chicken.
It seemed to me, as I kept remembering all this, that those times and those summers had
been infinitely precious and worth saving. There had been jollity and peace and
goodness. The arriving (at the beginning of August) had been so big a business in itself,
at the railway station the farm wagon drawn up, the first smell of the pine-laden air, the
first glimpse of the smiling farmer, and the great importance of the trunks and your
father's enormous authority in such matters, and the feel of the wagon under you for the
long ten-mile haul, and at the top of the last long hill catching the first view of the lake
after eleven months of not seeing this cherished body of water. The shouts and cries of
the other campers when they saw you, and the trunks to be unpacked, to give up their rich
burden. (Arriving was less exciting nowadays, when you sneaked up in your car and
parked it under a tree near the camp and took out the bags and in five minutes it was all
over, no fuss, no loud wonderful fuss about trunks.)
Peace and goodness and jollity. The only thing that was wrong now, really, was the sound
of the place, an unfamiliar nervous sound of the outboard motors. This was the note that
jarred, the one thing that would sometimes break the illusion and set the years moving. In
those other summertimes, all motors were inboard; and when they were at a little
distance, the noise they made was a sedative, an ingredient of summer sleep. They were
one-cylinder and two-cylinder engines, and some were make-and-break and some were
jump-spark, but they all made a sleepy sound across the lake. The one-lungers throbbed
and fluttered, and the twin-cylinder ones purred and purred, and that was a quiet sound
too. But now the campers all had outboards. In the daytime, in the hot mornings, these
motors made a petulant, irritable sound; at night, in the still evening when the afterglow
lit the water, they whined about one's ears like mosquitoes. My boy loved our rented
223
B. Borah
Centreville High School
outboard, and his great desire was to achieve single-handed mastery over it, and
authority, and he soon learned the trick of choking it a little (but not too much), and the
adjustment of the needle valve. Watching him I would remember the things you could do
with the old one-cylinder engine with the heavy flywheel, how you could have it eating
out of your hand if you got really close to it spiritually. Motor boats in those days didn't
have clutches, and you would make a landing by shutting off the motor at the proper time
and coasting in with a dead rudder. But there was a way of reversing them, if you learned
the trick, by cutting the switch and putting it on again exactly on the final dying
revolution of the flywheel, so that it would kick back against compression and begin
reversing. Approaching a dock in a strong following breeze, it was difficult to slow up
sufficiently by the ordinary coasting method, and if a boy felt he had complete mastery
over his motor, he was tempted to keep it running beyond its time and then reverse it a
few feet from the dock. It took a cool nerve, because if you threw the switch a twentieth
of a second too soon you would catch the flywheel when it still had speed enough to go
up past center, and the boat would leap ahead, charging bull-fashion at the dock.
We had a good week at the camp. The bass were biting well and the sun shone endlessly,
day after day. We would be tired at night and lie down in the accumulated heat of the
little bedrooms after the long hot day and the breeze would stir almost imperceptibly
outside and the smell of the swamp drift in through the rusty screens. Sleep would come
easily and in the morning the red squirrel would be on the roof, tapping out his gay
routine. I kept remembering everything, lying in bed in the mornings--the small
steamboat that had a long rounded stern like the lip of a Ubangi, and how quietly she ran
on the moonlight sails, when the older boys played their mandolins and the girls sang and
we ate doughnuts dipped in sugar, and how sweet the music was on the water in the
shining night, and what it had felt like to think about girls then. After breakfast we would
go up to the store and the things were in the same place--the minnows in a bottle, the
plugs and spinners disarranged and pawed over by the youngsters from the boys' camp,
the fig newtons and the Beeman's gum. Outside, the road was tarred and cars stood in
front of the store. Inside, all was just as it had always been, except there was more Coca
Cola and not so much Moxie and root beer and birch beer and sarsaparilla. We would
walk out with a bottle of pop apiece and sometimes the pop would backfire up our noses
and hurt. We explored the streams, quietly, where the turtles slid off the sunny logs and
dug their way into the soft bottom; and we lay on the town wharf and fed worms to the
tame bass. Everywhere we went I had trouble making out which was I, the one walking at
my side, the one walking in my pants.
One afternoon while we were there at that lake a thunderstorm came up. It was like the
revival of an old melodrama that I had seen long ago with childish awe. The second-act
climax of the drama of the electrical disturbance over a lake in America had not changed
in any important respect. This was the big scene, still the big scene. The whole thing was
so familiar, the first feeling of oppression and heat and a general air around camp of not
wanting to go very far away. In mid-afternoon (it was all the same) a curious darkening
of the sky, and a lull in everything that had made life tick; and then the way the boats
suddenly swung the other way at their moorings with the coming of a breeze out of the
new quarter, and the premonitory rumble. Then the kettle drum, then the snare, then the
224
B. Borah
Centreville High School
bass drum and cymbals, then crackling light against the dark, and the gods grinning and
licking their chops in the hills. Afterward the calm, the rain steadily rustling in the calm
lake, the return of light and hope and spirits, and the campers running out in joy and relief
to go swimming in the rain, their bright cries perpetuating the deathless joke about how
they were getting simply drenched, and the children screaming with delight at the new
sensation of bathing in the rain, and the joke about getting drenched linking the
generations in a strong indestructible chain. And the comedian who waded in carrying an
umbrella.
When the others went swimming my son said he was going in too. He pulled his dripping
trunks from the line where they had hung all through the shower, and wrung them out.
Languidly, and with no thought of going in, I watched him, his hard little body, skinny
and bare, saw him wince slightly as he pulled up around his vitals the small, soggy, icy
garment. As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death.
225
B. Borah
Centreville High School
Document Y Guide for Construction of Your Society
Just as all societies possess artifacts, histories, and laws; so too must your society.
This projects requests that you remain consistent within the structure of your culture.
Your personal choice of religion, heroes, superstitions, social strata, values, and artifacts
is strictly up to you and will not be the target of evaluation. However, your consistency
throughout the culture and your final product‘s presentation will be the core of the
evaluation. Though this is not a fully complete society with all that makes a true culture
a living entity, it is a start and has continuity.
Products:
Declaration of Basic Beliefs:
You are responsible to create a one-page document of 5-10 basic beliefs of your
society. You may use the Declaration of Independence as an example; however, your
vocabulary and beliefs need not be totally modeled from this document.
Basic Laws of the Society:
You are responsible to state 10 basic laws for your society. These should not be
petty laws for the governing traffic or such; rather, they should be laws for all society and
based on the beliefs of the Declaration of Beliefs. Avoid a format of making a statement
of belief and then writing a law that states that all should believe this statement.
Flag:
Your flag design should cover one side of construction paper. The design chosen
should reflect the society‘s strongest belief. It may be a simple design with objects that
represent metaphors or entities within the society. Example: The stars on the US flag
represent all states united.
History:
Your society will have one historical account of a cultural hero. The hero must
exemplify the beliefs of the society. The hero‘s deeds and actions should represent the
beliefs of the culture. This document may be no more than 2 pages, typed. It must be a
story about the hero, and the hero‘s actions represent the ―good‖ of your society. It
should be obvious that the hero upholds the beliefs of the society.
Social Structure:
You have to decide who will be the natural leaders in the society, the followers,
the workers, and such. If your society has a social structure, one group/s esteemed above
another, it should be represented by a diagram which explains the structure. You will be
responsible for a discussion of the society‘s structure.
Superstition:
You must have a superstition, but the manner of presentation is totally up to you.
The only rule here is this, you may not just have a little story of some imaginary
character. However, the superstition must have some physical representation.
226
B. Borah
Centreville High School
227