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Speed Dating: AP Argument Practice Prompts

Instructions

Give yourself about 5-7 minutes for each of these. In that time, develop and write your intro and thesis statement. I will post more here if you are interested in doing them.

Prompt 1

In his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton argues that the chief aim of humorists is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” Think about the implications of de Botton’s view of the role of humorists (cartoonists, stand-up comics, satirical writers, hosts of television programs, etc.). Then write an essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies de Botton’s claim.

Prompt 2

In his famous “Vast Wasteland” address to the National Association of Broadcaster in May of 1961, Newton Minow, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, spoke about the power of television to influence the taste, knowledge, and opinions of its viewers around the world. Carefully read the following, paying close attention to how timely it is today, especially in light of the worldwide Internet.

Minow ended his speech warning that “The power of instantaneous sight and sound is without precedent in mankind’s history. This is an awesome power. It has limitless capabilities for good—and for evil. And it carries with it awesome responsibilities—responsibilities which you and [the government] cannot escape…”

Using your own knowledge and your own experiences or reading, write a carefully constructed essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Minow’s ideas.

Prompt 3

Former Vice President Al Gore argued that “we are monumentally distracted by a pervasive technological culture that appears to have a life of its own, one that insists on our full attention, continually seducing us and pulling us away from the opportunity to experience directly the true meaning of our own lives.”

Using your own knowledge, experience, or reading, defend, refute or qualify Gore’s assertion.

May 6, 2015/by dpogreba

John Oliver on Fashion

AP Language

This video, which probably contains some salty language, discusses some of the themes we discussed with Thoreau and personal responsibility today.

April 29, 2015/by dpogreba

Quotes About Letter from a Birmingham Jail

AP Language

These are a couple of great quotes from Gospel of Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle That Changed a Nation by Jonathan Rieder:

The “Letter” is compelling as well on literary grounds. Its swerves and swings are remarkable. One moment it offers reflective argument; the next it crackles with prophetic anger. The poise and politesse of the author dissolve into hints of sarcastic disdain, passive aggression, even self-pity. King drops the names of revered philosophers but leavens his erudition with a voyage into the inner recesses of black vulnerability (“When your first name becomes ‘nigger,’ your middle name ‘boy’”) and a tour of white America (“I have looked at the South’s beautiful churches … [and] found myself asking … Who is their God?”). There is also the staccato embrace of extremism, with a sequence of questions and answers that startle like a slap in the face.

And:

As we move through the “Letter,” we witness a striking transformation. In the first half, we are mainly in the presence of a patient and gracious man, who crafts little moments of brotherhood and tries to win over his critics through appeals to their reason, sympathy, and conscience. But around the midpoint, there’s a distinct shift, really a second act. King drops the mask. He begins to speak more bluntly. Instead of explaining himself, he chides and criticizes. He shows himself to be not just a black man but an angry black man. The diplomat gives way to the prophet.

Enjoy. If you let yourself, you’re going to have the opportunity to read one of the finest pieces of rhetoric ever written.

April 16, 2015/by dpogreba

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Instructions

Prompt 1

Prompt 2

Prompt 3