The Syllogistic Method Where Good Thinking Good Writing

The Syllogistic Method Where Good Thinking = Good Writing

Constructing a Thesis Statement: Follow the Pattern the Cheese http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=cl 7 jr 9 EVcj. I

From the Lyceum to MCC

Syllogism Premise 1: All men are mortal. Premise 2: Socrates is a man. Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

Syllogism Premise 1: Arsenic can be deadly. Premise 2: My dog ate arsenic. Conclusion: It may die.

Inferences How compelling are the premises and how strong are the inferences in these examples? Example 1: I wrote her twelve letters but she never answered. She does not want to correspond with me. Example 2: Although we have been in two classes together, David has never invited me to go mountain climbing. David hates me.

• What is the prompt asking me to do? • * Agree or disagree with the article’s stance? • Any key words in the prompt or passage that I must analyze? • * YES!!! …. “Drug” … “Drugged” … “Drag” • What does it remind me of? Declarative or Inverted Thesis? *

• I’ve been taking “drugs” since the day I was born. From the days of my infancy when I wanted to stick my fingers in the electrical outlets, I was “drugged” into time-out; from the days I disrespected my parents with a mouthful of tantrums, I was “drugged” to my bedroom to think about my actions; from the day I came home with less than standard grades, I was “drugged” to the kitchen table every evening to do my homework, to do better; from just the other day when I got caught in a lie, I was “drugged” to a two week suspension of my driving privileges. Randy and Melanie Bordelon are suggesting that we take the right drugs – the drugs of respect, responsible parenting, and self-dignity. These are the drugs I’ve been taking all my life.

• Although it’s become a cliché, when our parents tell us the following story, it shows the divide between the two generations: “When I was a kid, I used to have to walk to school uphill both ways through the knee-high snows, both ways, with arm loads of wood for the stove. ” The Bordelon’s have it right: today’s generation are taking the wrong kind of “drugs. ” It seems as though for most kids, the “drugs” of self-respect, accountability, and decency have been lost. In general terms, many parents are not fulfilling their obligation to parent in a responsible manner. Being the case, kids get let astray and begin to take the wrong kinds of ‘drugs. ’

• Everyday on the news there are reports of a “drug” problem. It’s so common that it’s practically normal now. However, back in the day there weren’t any ‘drug’ problems. Their ‘drugs’ actually helped then develop and learn, not get high. The war on drugs that the media reports on is the wrong war – we need to start the ‘drug’ wars of respect, parenting, and decency.

The Syllogistic Method Where Good Thinking = Good Writing

From the Lyceum to MCC

Syllogism Premise 1: All men are mortal. Premise 2: Socrates is a man. Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

Syllogism Premise 1: Arsenic can be deadly. Premise 2: My dog ate arsenic. Conclusion: It may die.

Inferences How compelling are the premises and how strong are the inferences in these examples? Example 1: I wrote her twelve letters but she never answered. She does not want to correspond with me. Example 2: Although we have been in two classes together, David has never invited me to go mountain climbing. David hates me.

So Kristian … How Does This Apply to My Writing?

1 st Premise = Statement with a Literary Term OR Statement Pertaining to Your Thesis 2 nd Premise = Textual Support (Personal Experience) Conclusion: Analyze Your Textual Support

http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=mm 5 FGr. QEy. BY

The syntax in the opening line immediately reveals the narrator’s conflict – “In math I was the whiz kid, keeper of oranges and apples. ” Our narrator qualifies his “whiz kid” status with a past tense verb. He “was” the master of simple addition and subtraction equations. But now, under the pressure of his father’s high expectations, he is lagging behind and is no longer a whiz kid. The imagery in the second stanza reinforces the child’s self-conflict. We are told that there is “one bud on the teacher’s geranium” and “one clear bee sputtering at the wet pane. ” Much like the bee, the child is slapping against the “pane” trying to escape the high expectations of his father. But the child is also lonely, like the one bud.

No Plot Summary!! A Look at Another Student Sample In the poem “Flash Cards” by Rita Dove the narrator is a ten-year-old boy trying to impress his father. The father has high expectations for the narrator when it comes to school. The poem shows the narrator relationship with his father. Rita Dove is trying to show the narrators need of approval from his father.

Imagery is shown in the second stanza with the narrator explaining what he was seeing while he was in class. – “One bud on the teacher’s geranium, on clear bee sputtering at the wet pane. ” Like the bee he narrator keeps on hitting the “pane” trying to get out. But is stuck hitting the windowpane doing what he really doesn’t want to do. Also like the one bud on the “geranium” he is lonely. Within the second stanza the narrator is also expressing his tone toward going home. –“The tulip tree always dragged after heavy rain so I tucked my head as my boots slapped home. ” On the narrator’s way home he is tucked over, he is not all that thrilled. And like the tulip tree after a heavy rain the water left on the tree makes it drag over. The narrator is dragged over with the heavy load he is expecting once he gets home.

Although the poem is taking place in different settings, most of the poem is taking place at the narrator’s house. –“After supper we drilled and I climbed the dark. ” Some of the poem takes place in the school. But over all, the poem takes place at the narrator’s house. When the narrator is done with eating dinner he is asked even more questions by his father. Even though he gets asked plenty of questions in school his father feels the need to keep on pushing him, and pushing him. The very last stanza ends the poem. And with in the stanza an ambiguity is presented. –“Before sleep, before a thin voice hissed numbers as I spun on a wheel. I had to guess. Ten, I kept saying, I’m only ten. ” One meaning is that he is answering the constant questions being asked by his father. Or he is stating his age. Trying to convey the pressure that is being forced onto him. He is just a young boy that is only ten.

1 st Premise: Statement that Contains a Literary Term 2 nd Premise: Textual Support (Quote or Paraphrase) Conclusion: Textual Analysis (Analyze the language of your quote in relation to your thesis and 1 st premise)

The second stanza illustrates the narrator’s isolation. In school, she concentrates on every part of the classroom except mathematics. She notes the “one” bud on the teacher’s flower and the “one” bee flying by the window. Like her, each one is isolated from its surroundings; the bud from the rest of the flower and the bee from the outside world. All three are trapped inside, doing something that is not natural. As the narrator walks home, she “drags” her feet under the “heavy” rain. Dove’s imagery is burdensome and gloomy and illustrates the narrator’s unhappiness with what is expected of her. Her boots “slap” against the ground, as if stalling against the military drilling that awaits her at home.

Contrastingly, the narrator’s father is relaxed. He puts his feet up and sits with a highball as he watches the Life of Lincoln. After supper, the narrator only studies. Even when night falls, she still can’t escape. As she prepares for bed, the narrator “climbs the dark. ” With the hamster-snake imagery in the last stanza, this cavern could symbolize either father’s strict power over her or how consumed she is with her grades. The narrator’s father “hisses” while she “[spins] on a wheel. ” She is like a hamster escaping the dark cavern of the snake’s mouth. She is unable to escape her world of math. The choppiness of the concluding lines, “I had to guess. Ten, I kept saying, I’m only ten, ” represents her rushed life. Their predator-prey relationship uncovers the poem’s appealing tone. As prey who cannot escape the constant pressure of her father’s drilling, the narrator appeals, “Ten, I kept saying, I’m only ten. ” Ten represents the narrator’s recently answered question and her final plea to her father that she is too young to answer it.

• The very beginning of the poem seems light hearted – “In math I was the whiz kid, keeper/of oranges and apples. ” This line suggests the normal side of learning, of classrooms and games and children learning about math through word problems with one especially bright student being “the whiz kid. ” But by the very next line, the true story begins to unravel. The rhyme of “master” and “faster” as well as the repetition of the word “faster” in the third and fourth line speeds up the tempo, making the tone become much more anxious and hurried, unveiling the child’s mix of fear and need to satisfy.

http: //www. nme. com/video/id/3 GVzsu. Dsx. W 8/search/race