AP Chalkboard an AP Support Newsletter
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\ AP Chalkboard An AP Support Newsletter Advanced Academic Services January 2010 Archived AP Chalkboard available online at http://www.austinisd.org/academics/curriculum/gt/ap.phtml Improve Your Mind by Reading the Classics Bigger Vocabulary. When reading the classics you’ll come across many words that are no longer commonly used. Why learn words most people don’t use? Having a bigger vocabulary is like having a tool box with more tools. A larger I NSIDE T HIS I SSUE arsenal of words enables you to express yourself more eloquently. You’ll be able to communicate with precision and create a perception of higher intelligence 1 Improve Your Mind by Reading the Classics that will give you an advantage in work and social situations. 2 The Pep Talk: Cause Rhetoric Improved Writing Ability. Reading the classics is the easiest way to improve your writing. While reading you unconsciously absorb the grammar and style of the 100 Words to Know 4 author. Why not learn from the best? After reading, I’ve observed that my thoughts begin to mirror the writer’s style. This influence carries over to writing, helping form clear, rhythmic sentences. Improved Speaking Ability. Becoming a better speaker accompanies becoming a better writer because both are caused by becoming a better thinker. Studying works of genius will teach you to express yourself with clarity and style. By College Match Maker improving your command of the English language, you’ll become more persuasive, sound more intelligent, and enjoy an advantage over less articulate people. Fresh Ideas. Isn’t it ironic that the best source for new ideas is writers who’ve been dead for centuries? It makes sense when you consider the competition. Everyone you know is reading the same popular blogs and bestselling books. Observing the same ideas as everyone else leads to generic and repetitive thinking. No wonder it’s difficult to sound original! Find the Right Colleges for Historical Perspective. I could argue this point myself, but why bother if Einstein You! has already done it? Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best the books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely nearsighted We know that choosing a person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices college is a big decision. and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. College Search is here to help you make the best decision for you. Search by Educational Entertainment. Reading great books is fun. The key is getting past location, majors, cost, and the initial vocabulary barrier. It’s actually less difficult than you think. Even more to find colleges that fit -- challenging authors use a limited vocabulary. After the initial learning curve, from a database of 3,800+ you’ll find the classics as readable as modern books and infinitely more schools. stimulating. Classics have endured because of entertainment value. There’s a reason filmmakers keep remaking old books — they have the best content. http://collegesearch.collegeb (continued on page 3) Page 2 AP Chalkboard Pep Talk: Cause Rhetoric Cause Groups (political, social, religious) seek committed collective action using emotional appeals. The persuasion of any cause group can be analyzed with this predictable four-part pattern of the "Pep Talk," a useful structural framework to identify and to sort out parts of complex, emotional controversies. 1. The Threat 2. The Bonding 1. Alerting the audience to a threat (a danger, a harm, 2. In all causes, three basic themes are the same, any "bad") from a foe or enemy, is the first step. involving: Unity ("united we stand"), Loyalty ("be true to Persuaders are problem-makers who intensify a threat your . ") and Pride ("we're number one"). Bonding by using words (warnings, name-calling, horror activities involves many kinds of organized group stories) and images (atrocity pictures). activities (teams, parades, music, picketing, chanting, wearing uniforms). Such activities are important not only Persuaders know that people have predictable fears, for gathering the group together, but also for keeping it which can be summed up in one sentence:"We fear together, ready for action. that someone stronger (DOMINANCE) will take away Once a group is bonded, a structure and organization our life (DEATH), our possessions (DESTRUCTION), comes into being. Individuals often gain self-esteem our territory (INVASION), our freedom from joining such groups. People, especially leaders, (RESTRICTION); or that someone else has more have roles to play and jobs to protect. So, bonded (INJUSTICE); or that a human system will break groups need a sense of movement and progress, often down (CHAOS). done by introducing new threats and new causes. 3. The Cause 4. The Response 3. A cause involves a feeling of duty to defend 4. Response is the intent (purpose, ultimate goal): to someone from a threat and gain a benefit. People gather together the collective energy of a group, direct it involved in a cause often have a sense of moral to take a specific action. A gathering process (an superiority, self-righteousness. ("We are informed and escalation) may go on in many ways, but commonly a good; they are ignorant and evil.") series of "horror stories" seeks to increase tensions Causes often conflict, sometimes directly, more often to the point of a "release." Triggering this needs pacing, indirectly. Opponents often disagree on what is the timing. The audience has to be aroused and emotionally main issue. Dominance, or power, is sometimes the engaged Most triggering language emphasizes degree "hidden agenda." Related causes often cluster, so and extremity ("last straw... we've had enough." An urgency plea (Now!) is often used. Effective cause group-bonding attempts often overlap. Cause rhetoric group rhetoric identifies specific actions (fight, stop, can sometimes be controlled, like a thermostat, by free, change, keep on, vote) to be taken by the receptive organized groups, but sometimes gets out of control, like audience. a wildfire, because individuals may internalize a strange mix of messages and respond in violent ways. Excerpted from Rank, Hugh. (2008). The pep talk: Cause rhetoric. Classroom teaching aid, pro bono public, from Persuasion Analysis. Retrieved 7/27/2009 at http://webserve.govst.edu/pa/Political/Cause%20Groups/summary_peptalk.htm AP Chalkboard Page 3 (continued from page 1, Improve Your Mind by Reading the Classics) Develop a Distinct Voice. If you’re a writer/blogger, ignoring the classics is a mistake. This has nothing to do with subject matter. Regardless of what you write about, you need to be persuasive and develop a distinct Do you need to find a college major? A minor? MyMajors.com voice. The best way to learn is from the masters. Spending some time provides useful advice on finding with the classics will give you an edge. a college major that matches your interests and achievements. Learn Timeless Ideas. We like to believe that technology has changed Take the short My Majors quiz everything. In truth, it feels the same to be alive today as it did a and receive five college majors thousand years ago. The lessons of the classics carry as much weight as matching your interests and ever. These are books that keep coming up. They’re a part of human academic experience. You can history that isn’t going to disappear in 10 years. Reading the classics obtain an advisement report develops an understanding of the human condition and a deeper summarizing your inputs and ten ranked major recommendations. appreciation of modern problems. Plus quoting Aristotle or Voltaire is a Review this report with your great way to win an argument. counselor, your teachers, and your parents. My Majors gives you a lot of information about these college majors, the types of courses Excerpted and modified from Editor. (June 20, 2007). 10 ways to needed to get a degree, what improve your mind by reading the classics. Pick the Brain. Retrieved jobs are available, and 7/27/2009 from http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/improve-your- information about great mind-by-reading-the-classics/ institutions offering these college majors. Visit www.mymajors.com College.gov College.gov is being built by the U.S. Department of Education in collaboration with students. This site is intended to be the go-to source for information and resources about planning, preparing and paying for postsecondary education (such as 2- or 4-year colleges and universities, as well as vocational or career schools). Highly interactive, highly informative, and highly engaging! Check it out! Page 4 AP Chalkboard 100 Words to Know ® The editors of the American Heritage dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know. This list is only a beginning in having a strong vocabulary. How many do you know? How many can you use correctly? Abjure Lugubrious Abrogate Metamorphosis Abstemious Mitosis Academic Earth Acumen Moiety Antebellum Nanotechnology http://academicearth.org/ Auspicious Nihilism Belie Nomenclature Bellicose Nonsectarian “Academic Earth is an Bowdlerize Notarize organization founded with Chicanery Obsequious the goal of giving everyone Chromosome Oligarchy on earth access to a world- Churlish Omnipotent class education.” Circumlocution Orthography Circumnavigate Oxidize Full lecture videos available Deciduous Parabola in the following subjects by Deleterious Paradigm top quality professors: Diffident Parameter Enervate Pecuniary Astronomy Enfranchise