December 8, 2009

Homework:
Pictionaries and synonyms unit 6

Today:
We discussed artificial means of persuasion using the children's book Earrings, by Judith Viorst.  The 9 year old girl in the story wants earrings, and she does not persuade very well.  She argues like a child: whining, threatening, bribing.  Her arguments are weak, but the parents do not argue very well either.  The girl lists the reasons her parents do not want her to get earrings.  Basically, they don't want her to get them, but they really don't have any logical reasons.  Their reasons are opinionated and weak. 

We did not get into the depth I like to with this, but I think the kids got the point: examine your opponent's reasons carefully.  Tomorrow we will begin to outline the essay, and the first debates begin Friday.