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AP Language: Welty and Barry Revisions

AP Language

Deadlines and Prompts

The Welty revision (prompt, page 2) will be due Monday in class. I will give you your first draft with comments on Wednesday or Thursday.
The Barry essay (prompt, page 3) has a more complicated process. You need to find a peer editor and turn in a final draft attached to your peer-edited draft on Friday in class.

Suggestions for the Welty Revision (and really all analysis essays)

Please make sure to fix end punctuation and quotation marks. The comma and the period go inside the quotes.
Your thesis statement needs to answer the central question of the prompt. In the case of the Welty essay, that means answering how her feelings about reading changed.
Topic sentences need to extend to answer the purpose of the paragraph, not just the subject.
Combine sentences!
Make sure that your topic sentences make your structure clear.
Use the author’s name correctly. The first time you can use her first and last name; following that always use her last name. Unless you are Facebook friends with her, using her first name is inappropriate in a formal essay.

April 2, 2014/by dpogreba

Debate: Class Debate on Whaling

Debate Class

We’ll be debating the issue of whaling during the block schedule on Wednesday. Our topics will be:

Do nations and cultural groups have the right to hunt whales as part of their cultural expression?
Is hunting whales cruel because of their intelligence and socialization?
Do the economic/scientific benefits of whaling justify it?

Some evidence will be available here, but you should primarily do your own research.

Arguments in favor of whaling
Arguments against whaling

Some of the best articles on the topic are available here:

April 1, 2014/by dpogreba

Daily Wisdom: Should Childless People Pay Higher Taxes?

Daily Wisdom

Slate’s Reihan Salam argues that couples with above-average incomes who have no children should pay higher taxes because of the social benefits of parenting:

So now, as a childless professional in my mid-30s, I often reflect on the sacrifices working parents make to better the lives of their children. And I have come to the reluctant conclusion that I ought to pay much higher taxes so that working parents can pay much lower taxes. I believe this even though I also believe a not inconsiderable share of my tax dollars are essentially being set on fire by our frighteningly incompetent government. Leviathan is here to stay, whether I like it or not, and someone has to pay for it. That someone should be me, and people like me.

Who should pay more? Nonparents who earn more than the median household income, just a shade above $51,000. By shifting the tax burden from parents to nonparents, we will help give America’s children a better start in life, and we will help correct a simple injustice. We all benefit from the work of parents. Each new generation reinvigorates our society with its youthful vim and vigor. As my childless friends and I grow crankier and more decrepit, a steady stream of barely postpubescent brainiacs writes catchy tunes and invents breakthrough technologies that keep us entertained and make us more productive.

April 1, 2014/by dpogreba

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Deadlines and Prompts

Suggestions for the Welty Revision (and really all analysis essays)