Language Arts 11: Memes and News Satire

View memes found by classmates

Create your own meme (electronic or paper) with a social or political message

Define satire

Watch episode of The Colbert Report, and list as many satirized people, places, and things as you can find in the episode!


Homework: 

Meme due Thursday, if not finished in class

Language Arts 11: Viral Marketing and Memes

Warmup: vocab check. Define the five words (from the last articles we read) listed on the screen.

Notes with definitions of viral marketing and of meme.

View examples of each.

Write your own "First-World Problems" meme.


Homework: For Monday, bring in your favorite meme. Print out a copy, or email it to me by Sunday
evening.

Language Arts 11: The Internet and Your Brain

Writer's Journal entry: What is multitasking? Do you do it well? Give some examples of multitasking and how it fits into your life. Is it a valuable skill in today's society?

 

Take New York Times "task juggling" test to see how well you truly multitask.


Read two Wall Street Journal articles ("Does the Internet Make You Dumber?" and "Does the Internet Make You Smarter?") and answer questions about them on the handout.


Writer's journals were collected for a grade. 

Homework:  Wall Street Journal article responses due Thursday.

Language Arts 11: Truth Ads

Writer's Journal entry: write a paragraph about a specific product you think currently has the most misleading, or even harmful, advertising. What is the difference between the reality of that product and the image the corporation tries to portray in its advertising?  

Finish rhetorical appeals ad presentations

Discuss examples of "truth ads"

Create a colorful, artistic, Adbusters-like (or even a Dove-like) “truth ad,” revealing the reality of something that is often misleading in advertising.

Your ad should contain:

•At least one of the rhetorical appeals

•Colorful, persuasive imagery

• Persuasive text

Your appeal should be STRONG, so you will need several sentences or points of text and images.

On the back of your ad, write a short paragraph explaining:

--which appeals you used

 --why you chose the images and words you used for your appeals.

Homework: Truth ad due Monday, September 10. 5 points.

Language Arts 11: Persuasive Design in Print Ads

Review ethos, pathos, and logos by identifying the appeal used in three commercials

In groups, select a print ad from a magazine. Answer the questions in the analysis packet about the rhetorical and persuasive purpose behind the ad's design.

Present your ad analysis to the class.

Homework: None

The ultimate example of pathos in advertising: 

Language Arts 11: Rhetorical Appeals in Advertising

Writer's Journal entry: In this day and age, many of us believe that we have become pretty savvy about advertising tactics. Write about some techniques that advertisers use to try to get you to buy goods and services. Be specific. What exactly do they do in commercials, Internet ads, and magazine ads to try to persuade you to buy products?  Do these techniques ever work on you, even though you see through them?
 

View and discuss television commercials. What persuasive techniques are being used? How have some advertisers become more sophisticated in their techniques?

Notes on the rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. 

Check for understanding: identify the appeals used in a variety of commercial examples. 

Homework: None. 

Be ready to analyze print advertisements in great detail on Thursday, and to create your own "truth ad," showing your understanding of persuasive techniques and the rhetorical appeals.

Language Arts 11: Writing Diagnostic

Write an in-class persuasive essay supporting a position about Internet addiction, using the Newsweek article we read in class and information from class discussions.

Ten points based on ideas, effort, and basic grammar and spelling.

Language Arts 11: Internet Addiction?

"Internet Use Survey" (really a questionnaire used to diagnose Internet addiction.

View two network news clips on the concept of Internet Addiction in China and the U.S.

Read and discuss Newsweek article, "Is the Web Driving Us Mad?"

Homework: Finish Newsweek article for Thursday, and be prepared to write a diagnostic persuasive essay on whether Internet addiction is a serious issue and should be considered a disorder. 

Language Arts 11: "The Veldt," adapting text into film

Questions about Bradbury, "The Veldt":

Summarize the author's theme

In a paragraph, use details from the story to support the your position on the "reality" of the veldt's lions

Discuss the story

Watch the Ray Bradbury Theater film version and complete the "Text to Film" handout

Homework: None

Quiz on class procedures

Writer's Journal entry: Pick one of the following pre-reading questions and answer it in writing:

1. What might happen if rooms could become environments sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of their human occupants? 

2. What is your perspective of the viewpoint held by some parents that “nothing's too good for our children”?

Read "The Veldt," by Ray Bradbury, and fill out Connections reading strategy sheet. Write at least two connections for each column on the sheet, and explain each in at least 2 sentences.

Homework: Finish reading "The Veldt" and complete Connections sheet for Thursday, August 16.

Discuss class procedures 

Present two to three procedures to class using art (poster, skit, song rap, etc.)

Handouts: Language Arts Class Procedures sheet

Homework: Procedures Quiz Monday, 8/13

                   Have all class supplies Monday, 8/13

Fill out "Getting to Know You" sheet.
Teacher Quiz
discuss Course Syllabus

Homework: Have course syllabus signed for Thursday, 8/9.