Read LAW ch. 2;
• Be ready to answer all "Questions" in class (please take notes on these so I can glance at them in class);
• Complete "Assignments" 1-7 (typed);
• Complete all vocab (typed)
• Complete assignment “Ch. 1 follow-up,” pasted below.
Here is the Ch. 1 follow-up assignment (read and complete this BEFORE you do LAW ch. 2 work):
I would expect the follow-up assignment to take you 30 minutes to an hour max unless you need to re-read the full chapter one.
First priority of all week assignments: be sure you are reading the chapters closely. The author’s engaging style effectively communicates a lot of info you need to succeed in writing essays; we won’t have time to cover it all in class. If any of the chapters don’t make sense, feel free to get in touch with me.
• If you need to re-read chapter one, do so as your first step.
• Re-read LAW p. 17-18.
Consider p. 17-18 and the following as you form your opinions and answer the below.
Is the following an adequate essay opinion?
“Too much sun exposure is harmful.”
Though one could hold this as a personal conviction or passion, it’s also a provable fact. The above example is fairly obvious. To further determine if your opinion is a valid one, ask yourself, “What is the opposite of my proposed opinion?” For the above, it would be “Too much sun exposure is not harmful,” which obviously is not a defendable position.
As the chapter suggests, ask yourself questions to arrive at a defendable opinion. Several directions are possible for the above. The following opinion could result from asking yourself, “Should this fact lead to any action?”
Ex: “The government, for the same reasons it creates other safety laws, should legally limit sun exposure.”
The original statement could actually be used as one of the facts in a body of ideas to support this position. And the opposite position is fully reasonable as a defensible statement:
“The government should not be involved with limiting a person’s exposure to the sun.”
- Use the above opinion/counter opinion to create two lists as you did in Assignments #2 and #3 in ch. 1. (You are also welcome to ask a different question and come up with an alternate opinion/counter opinion on this topic.)
- First, write the original opinion, followed by three supporting facts.
Second, write the counter option (if you write alternate opinions, be sure the second is the opposite of the first), followed by three supporting facts.
- Similar to what we did in class (and what you did for ch. 1 assignments #2 and #3), write a few sentences (up to a paragraph...but not a full essay), using a least one or two points from each list and convincing me which opinion you think is better. (Avoid using first person..."I think"...if you can.) You will present the points for what you feel is the weaker/wrong opinion in a position of grammatical/logical subordination. You can (you are not LIMITED to these) do this in two ways:
2) Couch the weaker position in a dependent clause.
Ex: Although many people propose that confidence in yourself will defeat fear, it is only through God's help that fear is eradicated.
Weaker position is in the introductory dependent clause (introduced by "although"), and the position you hold to is mentioned last. Notice, no "I believe" is needed. It's obvious the writer holds that position.
Be sure your stronger position is mentioned last in the full paragraph as well.
Again a few sentences on this is sufficient.