Update Oct. 29

Writing Portfolio
We are working this week on writing rhetorical analyses. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. In a rhetorical analysis essay, students examine how a text persuades (A text could be a poster, a commercial, a speech, an essay, a song, even a wardrobe. Anything that attempts to persuade others.) We are doing rhetorical analyses of propaganda. For practice, we conducted an analysis in class on Tuesday of a propaganda poster from Mao's Cultural Revolution. We started by observing as many details as we could in the image. As we discussed the details, we considered how they contribute to the overall message of the poster.

We next answered two key questions:
1) WHAT is it saying?
"The poster is saying that following Chairman Mao will lead to a new, prosperous, and equal society."

2) HOW is it saying?
"The poster communicates its message through symbols, lines, colors, and facial expressions."

The thesis statement is constructed by uniting these answers:
"Using symbols, lines, colors, and facial expressions, the propaganda poster 'Mao is Our Reddest Sun' argues that following Chairman Mao will lead to a new, prosperous, and equal society." (Note that since this poster is untitled, we have used the caption as the title.)

On Thursday, students will write the essay based on this thesis statement. The essay will have four body paragraphs based on the four "Hows": symbols, lines, colors, and facial expressions. Then next week, students will write a rhetorical analysis of a propaganda poster of their choosing (anything from WWII forward).

Core
On Monday we had a read-in day. Students had both class periods to read from The Red Scarf Girl.

On Tuesday Class A completed Bellwrite #24 and discussed it at length in preparation for the essay they will write at the completion of the book. Class B enjoyed a Q&A session with guest Abdul Raman from Saudi Arabia. Thanks to Mr. Holmes for helping arrange this opportunity!

On Wednesday, students took an in-depth reading quiz on the reading packet about the history of the People's Republic of China. Class B completed Bellwrite #24.

Bellwrite #24: What are you learning about communism from reading Red Scarf Girl that you did not learn from Marx's "Communist Manifesto"?

Homework: Read through page 155 in Red Scarf Girl by Thursday.