AP Language & Composition-Journal Directions Quarter #2:
Argument & Argument Analysis
1. Argument Construction You will be given a question that demands you respond using your own reading, knowledge and observations as evidence. For the most part, these questions will pose moral/ethical dilemma Similar to an AP Argument prompt you will be asked (in a shorter piece of writing) to establish your own point of view and support it with detailed evidence.
- Do’s: • Thoughtful argumentation that appropriately presents your point of view • Creative and persuasive use of language • Appropriate formatting (Claim, Evidence, Commentary) • Evidence drawn from reading, observations, appropriate evidence categories
- Don’ts: • Personal Pronouns • Overzealous use of language • Lack of substantiated proof
2. Argument Analysis You will be given a short excerpt, essay or article to assess. Your response will be asked to examine both the “pros” and “cons.” You will in essence, to the best of your ability, look for what the author does well and where their argument is flawed. For this type of journal you will be required to SOAPSTONE the essay and include it in your journal.
- Do’s: • Thoughtful argumentation that appropriately presents the pros and cons of the argument • Creative and persuasive use of language • Appropriate formatting (Claim, Evidence, Commentary) • Writing that assesses sources validity, language, organization, evidence, etc.
Don’ts: • Personal Pronouns • Anger at either side—be as logical as possible • Lack of substantiated evidence as proof Length for either type of journal must be 4-6 sentences minimum.
Prompt #1
Justice Argument Prompt In “Justice and the Conscience” abolitionist Theodore Parker comments that, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” A hundred year later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. extended Parker’s argument. He added that this “arc of justice” does not bend voluntarily. It is dependent upon thoughtful action despite personal consequences. In a well written essay, examine the relationship between justice and personal sacrifice.
- Deconstructing the Prompt
- Annotate the prompt.
- Write down notes/ideas/insight that will be of use to you as you decipher the prompt and task.
- In your own words paraphrase the task presented in the second paragraph of the prompt. You cannot use any of the words in used by the College Board. Be concise and accurate in your writing.
- Write three different thesis statements before you settle. 3.
A. Thesis #1-Defend the argument in the prompt.
B. Thesis #2-Challenge the argument in the prompt
C. Thesis #3-Qualify the argument in the prompt.
| Type of Evidence | Evidence | Summarize | Comment |
| Identify the evidence’s category. History, Literature, Current Events, Popular Culture, etc. | Identify the type of evidence specifically. Name the person, place, event, etc. | Provide a one sentence statement of background | Explain how the evidence relates to the prompt and what the importance is culturally/socially. |
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Argument (Evaluating Pros/Cons)
In Eric Schlosser’s epilogue to Fast Food Nation, he argues that America is great because of its ideals, its morality, its ethics. Examine the excerpt below and consider the categories he chooses to identify as representative of American accomplishment.
Many of America’s greatest accomplishments stand in complete defiance of the free market: the prohibition of child labor, the establishment of a minimum wage, the creation of wilderness areas and national parks, the construction of dams, bridges, roads, churches, schools, and universities.
In a well-written essay evaluate the pros and cons of Schlosser’s argument that America’s greatness is not tied to corporate monopolies and the free market economy.
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Argument Analysis
Read the excerpt below taken from Elliott Currie’s The Road to Whatever: Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence. Currie is a professor of sociology and criminology at the University of California Irvine and was a finalist for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction. Currie argues that middle class adolescents in the United States struggle because their success is not measured by the quality of their character but instead by their “wins.”
In a well-written essay, evaluate the pros and cons of Currie’s argument.
It is not sufficient to be simply a “good kid”—or to be hardworking, courageous, or generous, all qualities that might be expected to give adolescents a firm sense that they are fundamentally worthwhile. Instead, too much rides on their ability to rank high on just a few scales of worth, which, in the American middle class, typically involve some sort of competitive achievement—outdoing others in school, sports, or whatever arena is considered most important in the struggle for status and prestige. For adolescents who grow up in the culture of contingent worth, it is rarely good enough merely to do well; they have to do better than others. As a result, there is always hanging over their heads the worry that someone out there is doing even better. For them adolescent life is experienced as, in Kafka’s phrase, a “court in perpetual session.”
The fundamental problem for youth raised in such a culture is that not everyone can beat everyone else: only a few can win even most of the time. Thus, this value system sets up most of its adherents for failure. Where personal worth is necessarily a scarce commodity, there will inevitably be a great many people who think of themselves as relatively worthless. Every culture, to be sure, has standards by which its members are ranked, and in every culture it is possible to fail, to fall short. But what is unusual about the culture in which many American adolescents grow up is how narrowly the standards of success are drawn and how total the effect of failing to meet them can be, how completely one is defined by one’s relative position in this competitive struggle for preeminence. There is no natural limit to the number of children who can be loyal, honest, caring, or many other things that a less constricted culture might deem important and worthy of respect.