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Speech & Debate Class Final on Tuesday

For our final, we will have a class debate on the following resolutions:

Helena High School should require all students to wear uniforms.

Helena High School should install video cameras in the hallways and parking lots.

The use of outside research and information would certainly improve the quality of this debate and your score. The final will be about 10% of your grade for the semester—and your participation in the debate should reflect all of the skills you have developed in the first semester of the class.

January 14, 2013/by dpogreba

AP Language Final

AP Language

Remember there are two parts to your AP Language final:

Modest Proposal Assignment
Reading and Discussion about My Satirical Self

When we discuss My Satirical Self, we will address these questions:

Mason suggests (page 1) that satire offers relief from having to endure a reasonable argument in unreasonable times. Discuss his premise and conclusion.
Mason metaphorically compares our love of satire with a coffee addiction. Is this a fair comparison?
How (page 2) does satire serve our culture?
Mason evokes Juvenal’s argument that Rome had become a “monstrous city” that needed satire. Has the United States become so monstrous that satire is the only reasonable response?
Mason argues that modern satire is less about societal improvement, more about the appearance of cleverness. Is he correct?
Are we, as Mason suggests (page 6), living in a vice-blighted age?
Should politicians like President Bush and President Obama use satire (page 6) or does this demean their offices?

January 12, 2013/by dpogreba

It’s Not Paranoia if They’re Out to Get You

Daily Wisdom

If you happen to be the kind of person who worries that other people are talking about you, you could well be right, because you worry about them talking about you. Slate summarizes a study by Jennifer Mason Carr:

Another study about how your private insecurities are to blame for troubled work relationships and probably everything else that’s going wrong in your life. Researchers from the London Business School have determined that self-conscious, paranoid people are more likely to be gossiped about behind their backs, because they’re so insanely self-conscious and paranoid.

January 11, 2013/by dpogreba

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