Embedded Files
"Civil Disobedience"
Argumentative essay
Objective
Objective
To analyze foundational documents and delineate and evaluate arguments.
Essential Question
Essential Question
How do we describe the nature of injustice and ways to end it?
Open Discussion
Open Discussion
Let's discuss the protests around Black Lives Matter. Just before these protests we saw all the women's marches. Before that it was Occupy Wall Street and so on and so on... Why? What is the point of a protest?
(on the back of the KWL charts) Read and respond to the quote below. What does he mean by oppressor? What does he mean by neutrality? Do you agree that we must always take sides?
THINK. PAIR. SHARE. (Write your thoughts, pair up and share, then share as a class.)
Unit 1A Academic Vocabulary
Unit 1A Academic Vocabulary
How can we use these terms in the context of voices of protest in America?
Ethics (noun): rules of conduct or set of principles.
Radical (adjective): extreme; desirous of change in established institutions or practices.
The Word Nerd vocab card activity: This will lead up to a vocabulary game activity!
First - Write the definition on your index card.
Second - Let's come up with a sentence together.
Third - Synonyms & Antonyms: What are some similar words and opposite words?
Fourth - Any connections/emotions or images come to mind?
Fifth (for 5 pts extra credit) - Get in front of the class and act it out!
Survey
Survey
Background of the Author (volunteer to read?)
Background of the Author (volunteer to read?)
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) published only two books before his death at the age of 44. Neither book sold well, but in the years following his death, his renown grew. Today he is highly regarded for both his nature writing and his political ideas. The nonviolent principles he espouses in Civil Disobedience have influenced activists throughout the world, including Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Thoreau lived a life of nonconformity, refusing to do anything that conflicted with the dictates of his own conscience. For example, he refused to pay his poll tax to protest the war in Mexico and slavery. As a result, he spent a night in jail, which he refers to in this essay. Overall, he was an active and outspoken abolitionist, helping slaves escape through Massachusetts to Canada as part of the Underground Railroad. His work protests government actions during the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. The practice of his brand of nonviolence to achieve political goals continues to this day.
About the Reading
About the Reading
Thoreau contends that people's first obligation is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law dictated by the majority. When a government is unjust, people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from the government in general.
Question
Question
What does the term civil disobedience mean?
What are things that we see protests about today and historically? What kinds of protest are there?
What does protesting have to do with becoming an adult? (Consider military service, voting, taxes, etc.)
Read
Read
Read and annotate the text (the first R in SQRRRL) in order to answer the guiding questions (preview the questions before you start your reading). You can underline, highlight, write out reactions, as well as circle or note on things you don't understand. There is no particularly right or wrong way to annotate a text. It's a way for YOU to track YOUR thinking and reactions as you read.
You will turn in your annotations (when all questions and steps are completed). Your annotations are part of your grade for this reading.
Re-Read
Re-Read
Answer the Analyzing the Text and Critical Vocabulary Questions (at end of reading)
Challenge, try to use the transition words at the end of the packet similar to how the author uses transition words to make the writing clearer
Turn in handwritten answers
Review (Part 1)
Review (Part 1)
Go Go Rhetorical Device!
Oh the persuasive devices! In small groups:
The claim: As a group identify and agree on the claim
The reasoning: Identify and debate/discuss specific examples from the text where you find the argument compelling or uncompelling. Answer the "premise" and "illogical reasoning" bullets in the "Delineate and Evaluate an Argument box."
The evidence: Analyze the author’s support of it by color-coding the types of arguments/evidence Thoreau uses in his essay. As a group discuss and annotate on your text (in the margins) if it's an effective argument.
NOTE: EVERYONE IN GROUP TAKE NOTES TO TURN IN! Your blog post will also use these notes (in part); this is just giving you a chance to discuss first and work together to identify rhetorical devices in addition to clearing up any confusion over the claim and support he uses.
Civil Disobedience - delineate an argument.pdf2. Word Nerd Vocabulary Cards!
Expedient (adjective): providing an easy and quick way to solve a problem or do something
Liable (adjective): legally responsible for something
Unscrupulous (adjective): unprincipled or not honest, not fair; doing things that are illegal
Transgress (verb): to do something that is not allowed; to disobey a command or law; to go beyond a boundary or limit
Strait (adjective): a situation of perplexity or distress (this word can also be a noun!)
The Word Nerd vocab card activity!
First - Write the definition on your index card.
Second - Let's come up with a sentence together.
Third - Synonyms & Antonyms: What are some similar words and opposite words?
Fourth - Any connections/emotions or images come to mind?
Fifth (for 5 pts extra credit) - Get in front of the class and act it out!
Review (Part 2)
Review (Part 2)
Blog Post Instructions: How-to add a blog post to your site
NOTE: Write your blog in a Google Doc first and then paste in. Someday, when Google releases spellcheck etc. in Google Sites, that won't be needed :)
2. Prompt for blog post:
Now that we've thoroughly discussed Thoreau's Civil Disobedience analyze the ethics of his argument that following laws makes people "agents of injustice." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Write a short analytical essay addressing these points, using textual evidence and following MLA style (remember to review blog post rubric as well and fill out self-assessment; it's part of the grade). Bullets indicate number of paragraphs.
Intro: Do you agree or disagree with Thoreau's statement that by following laws it makes people "agents of injustice"? Is his argument ethical? (This is your thesis statement.)
Body: Be thorough in your explanation of your thesis by providing at least two examples to support your argument from the text. Then in your commentary, relate to your own personal examples, cite historical events, other news stories, etc.
Conclusion: Evaluate whether or not you think Thoreau's argument is relevant to issues today. What issues, and how so? Be specific.
Remember to also review and fill out the self-assessment in the blog post rubric before turning in.
Learn it, Live it!
Learn it, Live it!
AKA - let's test your knowledge and progress!
... And that completes SQRRRL for this reading!
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