NJASK Narrative Task - Hofmann (from 2014)

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Rhetorical Fallacies Writing Project (A Way to Write Fallaciously...And Still Write Well!)

Click on the screenshot below to be taken to the Logical Fallacies form where you'll paste your response...

Logical Fallacies:

Click on the screenshot below to be taken to the Emotional Fallacies form where you'll paste your response...

Emotional Fallacies:

Click on the screenshot below to be taken to the Ethical Fallacies form where you'll paste your response...

Ethical Fallacies:

What are Rhetorical Fallacies?

Rhetorical fallacies, or fallacies of argument, don’t allow for the open, two-way exchange of ideas upon which meaningful conversations depend.

Instead, they distract the reader with various appeals instead of using sound reasoning. They can be divided into three categories:

1. Logical fallacies depend upon faulty logic.
2. Emotional fallacies unfairly appeal to the audience’s emotions.
3. Ethical fallacies unreasonably advance the writer’s own authority or character. 3.

Keep in mind that rhetorical fallacies often overlap.

Why Study Fallacies?:
  • To more effectively understand and communicate our own beliefs.
  • To more effectively analyze other people’s beliefs. 
  • To spot faulty arguments on the part of ¾ The Media/Advertising ¾ Politicians ¾ Salespeople ¾, etc... 
  • To keep ourselves rooted in reality.

Compare/Contrast with "The Right Dog for The Job"

This is the QR Code for this Blog Post:


Read these directions carefully: Click on the image below to be taken to a Google Doc containing everything you need to compare and contrast these two texts!  Feel free to import that PDF into Notability, but first, be sure to click on the Link in the Doc for "Should Dogs Work?" because links stop working in PDFs.




Compare/Contrast with "The Right Dog for The Job"

Here is a link to the Expository Prompt and the Companion Materials:


Here is a link to the Read-Write-Think website:




Finding the Main Idea and Using Direct and Indirect Details

ReadWorks Passage: Stargazing
ReadWorks Passage: Catch a Breeze
Main Idea:


Main Idea:

Copy and paste from the PDF to the appropriate space below
Copy and paste from the PDF to the appropriate space below
Direct Detail: Without this information, the MAIN IDEA wouldn’t exist.)
1.


2.


3.

Direct Detail: Without this information, the MAIN IDEA wouldn’t exist.)
1.


2.


3.
Indirect Detail: Information that’s good to have, but the MAIN IDEA can exist without it.
1.


2.

Indirect Detail: Information that’s good to have, but the MAIN IDEA can exist without it.
1.


2.
Retell the Main Idea Directions: In your own words--not to be taken directly from the text--state the main idea

Retell the Main Idea Directions: In your own words--not to be taken directly from the text--state the main idea

Finding and Supporting the Main/Central Idea



Main/Central Idea
MAIN IDEA: This is the “Big Picture,” the one MAIN thought s/he is trying to say.  Sometimes this can be found in the first sentence of the first paragraph, sometimes in the last sentence of the first paragraph...and sometimes it’s nowhere to be found and you have to do some serious thinking!  

What this means for you is that when you read, you should always be thinking about the “big picture”--what is the one MAIN thought the author is trying to say?

DIRECT DETAIL: Without this information, the MAIN IDEA wouldn’t exist.

INDIRECT DETAIL: This is good information to have that SORT OF relates to the MAIN IDEA, but the MAIN IDEA would exist without it.

NOT A DETAIL: This is information that might not have anything to do with the MAIN IDEA.  It’s put there because it’s nice to know, but the MAIN IDEA can totally exist without it.  

(Sometimes people who make tests use this information to purposely distract test-takers--just ask yourself “Can the MAIN IDEA exist without this information?” and you’ll be fine!)
Main/Central Idea:


Copy and paste from the PDF to the appropriate space below...
Direct Detail: What are 3 direct details from the text that support your Main/Central Idea?

1.

2.
Indirect Detail: What are 2 indirect details from the text that support your Main/Central Idea?

1.

2.
Retell the Main/Central Idea Directions: In your own words--not to be taken directly from the text--explain the main or central idea










Response Questions:
  1. Using both the text and the graph, what is disturbing about the top two selling cereals?  Explain.
  2. Using the text, find an explanation for these brands being successful.
  3. Look up the word “trend.”  Using both the text and the graph, what are some trends for healthy cereals for the coming years?
  4. Look up the word “trend.”  Using both the text and the graph, what are some trends for non-healthy/sugary cereals for the coming years?
  5. Based on the two main direct details that support the main/central idea of the text, do you agree or disagree with these details as being true? Explain.

Genre Study - Compare & Contrast

Genre Study: “Forms of Art - Watercolor” & “The Painter’s Studio”
PARCC Constructed Response Questions
Literary Text
Informational Text
Can be more entertaining, BUT you usually have much more thinking to do about deciding what the Main Idea is and what information supports the Main Idea.
Can be less entertaining, BUT the information is all there in front of you.  Sometimes there’s so much information, you have to decide what’s most important to the Main Idea.
ReadWorks Passage: The Painter’s Studio
ReadWorks Passage: Forms of Art - Watercolor
“The Painter’s Studio”
Main Idea:



Copy and paste from the PDF to the appropriate space below
Direct Detail:




Indirect Detail:
“Forms of Art - Watercolor”
Main Idea:



Copy and paste from the PDF to the appropriate space below
Direct Detail:




Indirect Detail:
What’s significantly SIMILAR about these two texts?
What’s significantly DIFFERENT about these two texts?

Colonization and Revolutionary War Jamestown


Main Idea:



Copy and paste from the PDF to the appropriate space below
Direct Detail:




Indirect Detail:




Not a Detail:

ReadWorks Passage: Colonization and Revolutionary War Jamestown
Retell the Main Idea Directions: In your own words--not to be taken directly from the text--explain why the main idea is that of early development and hardships of Jamestown.







Now Practice Searching for and Retelling the Main Idea

“Stargazing”


Main Idea:



Copy and paste from the PDF to the appropriate space below
Direct Detail:




Indirect Detail:




Not a Detail:

ReadWorks Passage: Stargazing
Retell the Main Idea Directions: In your own words--not to be taken directly from the text--explain why some stars in the night sky brighter than others…