Journal 9-2

English 11

Still grading.

We worked on the quotation paragraphs, I returned some work, and then we discussed the tone, purpose, content and craft of the two women's rights pieces.

Observations

The most important thing I want students to understand is that the ideas of tone, purpose, content and craft are all interlaced like a spider web.  If one part of the web is weak, the entire thing will flap in the wind and eventually become a big mess.  We discussed the differences in tone, and how the tone was decided by the purpose of the two pieces.   Once students understood the connectivity, we were able to discuss ethos, logos and pathos and why the women had decided to frame their arguments as they did.  Finally, students began to understand why the writers chose to include different craft elements (like allusions, figurative language and so on) in their pieces.  

reflection

Students are starting to see that writing is all about choice, and that savvy writers choose EVERYTHING based to the effect they hope to achieve.  We haven't begun to practice yet, I'm extending the "finding" stage, but by  next week I hope students can begin crafting their own persuasive essays.  I'm in a holding pattern for now...