AP/IB Basics

If you are wondering how to improve the quality of your writing, speaking, and analysis browse through the following topics.

Focusing on Argument

Evaluation Questions For Argument Ask the following questions of any selection with argumentative elements.

1. What is the assertion (proposition or claim) made by the author? State this in your own words. 2. What is your initial position on the issue? Do you have any prejudicial attitudes, sentiments, or stereotypes? 3. What arguments (logical reasonings) are made? Do they meet the USA AR test (unified, specific, adequate, accurate, and representative?)

*Does the author represent the important opposing arguments fairly? This is usually mentioned early, then refuted throughout the remainder of the essay by confirmation and amplification.

*Does the author use specific examples, detailed description, quotations from authorities, facts, statistics, etc. that meet the USA AR test?

*Does the author¡Ùs use of amplification (widening of perspectives through analogies, comparisons or other aspects of experience) meet the USA AR test?

*Are there any omissions?

4. What emotional appeals are made?

* Does the author arouse desires useful to the persuader¡Ùs purpose and demonstrate how these desires can be satisfied by acceptance of the persuader¡Ùs assertion (proposition or claim)

* Does the author's summary include an arousal of indignation for the opponent's view, and an arousal of sympathy for the speaker/writer's view?

* Be aware of illogical fallacies which are based on appeals to traditions, desires, prejudices, etc.

5. What attempts are made to establish the writer¡Ùs credentials?

* Does the writer use a reasonable tone, treating the opponent with respect by avoiding such things as illogical statements or inflammatory language?

* Does the writer seem to have any prejudicial attitudes, sentiments, or stereotypes? * Does the writer make an attempt to embody some evidence of personal knowledge of the subject, good evidence of personal knowledge of the subject, good will toward the reader/audience, good sense, perspective, taste in judgment, or disinterest in personal benefit?

* Note the features of the writer's style: sentences or vocabulary which was effective, too simple, or too difficult. Where was the writing clear? Where was it difficult to tract? Where was the language appropriate or inappropriate for the intended audience?

6.Did the article change or modify your initial position on the subject? ________________________________________

The Parts of an Argument 1. Assertion: An assertion is what a person is claiming. It is a person's main point.

2. Evidence: Evidence is the data, information and knowledge which a historian, social scientist, or any communicator uses to support an argument.

It is only when we know the sources of the evidence that we can judge how valid the evidence actually is. There are many sources of evidence. The following are some of the more common sources: statements by witnesses or people close to the scene, written documents, audio recordings, video recordings, object, artifacts, and relics.

Four ways to evaluate criteria (PROP)

P:Is it the primary or secondary source? Primary sources are better. Secondary sources are not as valid.

R: No reason to distort. Does the author have reason to distort, cover up, give false impressions, lie, sensationalize, and manipulate?

O: Are there other sources of evidence? Having other sources to help verify is better.

P: Is it a public or private statement. Private is better because it is usually said in confidence 3. Words: Word choice cues the reader to the author's beliefs.

Jargon: Needless use of big words

Equivocation: Use of key word in two more senses in same argument. "How can we oppose television, since we live in a society where televisions are everywhere?"

Weasel words: Suggest without giving proof. Assists, helps, best, better, improved, people say are all examples. "People say that this new and improved product is better than all other brands."

4.Reasoning: Reasoning gets from evidence to conclusion.

*Comparison and analogy: This type of reasoning compares two cases. The cue word "like" identifies comparison reasoning

*Sample or generalization: Argues that is true for some art or sample of a group will be true for the rest of the group in the same way. Ask yourself how many were sampled.

*Cause and effect: Reasoning that argues that something cause, brought about, or will cause something else. Ask yourself if there is a reasonable connection between the cause and the effect? Are there other possible causes for this effect?

*Assumptions: An assumption is something that is not stated but is taken for granted in an argument. Some assumptions are not warranted and should not be accepted. Others are reasonable.

5.Values: Values are conditions that a communicator of an argument believes are intrinsically good, or thinks are important or worthwhile. Sentences containing words such as "good," "bad," "right," "justified" usually indicate that a value judgment is being made.

How to evaluate a value judgment:

*isolate the factual part "Executing criminals will cause criminals to commit fewer crimes." (statement should be investigated by getting statistics on the number of crimes with or without capital punishment.)

*state values in general terms "Something (notice the general word) which causes fewer crimes should be done." Is this solution good in all cases?

Words That Describe Language

Students often need to develop a vocabulary that describes language different from tone, these words describe the force or quality of the diction, images, and details. These words qualify how the work is written, not the attitude or tone.

Critical Reading of Prose Passages If you are able to offer an informed opinion about the purpose and merits of a text, then you are on the road to true literacy.

The AP Exam in Language and Comp seeks to identify readers who can not only describe what happened, but also explain why and how it happened.

More specifically, as a critical reader you will:

Summarize and outline complex material

Critically examine a text's reasoning

Analyze the ways a text achieves its effects, especially through stylistic choice

Evaluate a text, deciding whether it is accurate, authoritative, and convincing

Determine a text's significance

Compare and contrast different text

Synthesize information from one or more related text

Apply concepts in one text to another

There are six strategies a critical reader can employ when reading prose passages:

1. Get the facts straight Preview Annotate Outline Summarize

2. Analyze the argument What is the author≠s thesis? What kinds of support are used? Fact VS opinion Is support sufficient and appropriate? Emotion VS reason Satisfactory conclusion?

3. Identify basic features of style Diction (word choice) Tone Sentence structure (syntax) Sentence types Verb choices

4. Explore your personal response Be certain you can account for the sources and causes of your response

5. Evaluate the text and determine its significance Era Social Intellectual

6. Compare and contrast related texts As you analyze a work the following will help you organize your response.

Passage Analysis

Genre

1. Typically, the four purposes of academic nonfiction prose are: Describe Explain Inform Persuade

2. Persuasion stems from three sources Ethos - an author may rely upon his own reputation to move an audience Pathos - an author may rely upon an audiences≠ feelings Logos - an author uses reason to persuade an audience

3. Is the passage an excerpt from fiction? These passages tend to be a description of character or location, seldom a philosophical commentary

Organization

1. If the passage is descriptive, is it organized spatially or by order of importance? What is the overall effect? 2. If the passage is narrative, is the chronological order of events interrupted by flashback, foreshadowing, episodic events? 3. If the passage is expository, are any of the following devices or methods used: definition, cause and effect, comparison/contrast, classification, examples, analogy?

4. If persuasion is used, what methods does the author use to bolster the argument? Does the author deal with opposing evidence? Does the author fall into any logical fallacies?

Tone and Mood

1. What is the mood(effect upon the reader)? 2. What is the tone(author≠s attitude)?

Language and Style

1. What is the word choice? Is it colloquial, idiomatic, scientific, Latinate, formal, concrete, abstract, scholarly, allusive?

2. To what senses does the author appeal?

3. What literary devices of sense does the author use (personification, metaphor, simile, allusion)?

4. What literary devices of sound does the author use (alliteration, assonance, consonance, repetition)?

5. Does the language have rhythm?

6. Are the sentences long or short? Where does the author use short sentences or fragments for special emphasis? Where are there long sentences or run-ons for special effect?

7. Are the sentences simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex? Where does the author use sentence variety to emphasize an idea?

8. What specialized sentence structure does the author use? Balanced, freight-train, inverted, parallel, periodic? Anaphora, antithesis, asyndeton, chiasmus, negative-positive restatement, polysyndeton?

9. Do any sentences begin or end with a significant word or phrase? Do any sentences have the main idea hidden in the middle, in an interrupter, so as to create surprise or suspense?

10. Does the author use colors to enhance moods or characterize someone?

11. What are the best-worded phases or best chosen words?

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