Formulating Arguments in Areas of Interest - History/Soc. Studies - Level 2

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Writing - Connect and Dream


Make connections and point to what's important.

Generate some writing by doing one of the following in a new Google Doc: Freewrite, Loops, Composing Guidelines. Then revise your writing based on feedback you recieve from your teacher and peers and by adding, subtracting, rearranging, replacing text. Use Structured Essays to organize your writing, but don’t post it yet. Finish the next two tasks before you post.

Choose one of the following:

Image for a mission on Youth Voices

At the beginning of
each new project,
inquiry, or writing
assignment you should
create substantial
personal, committed,
passionate pieces of
writing. It's a good idea
to collect your freewriting,
focused sentences, and
more freewriting in
Google Docs (or a similar
platform) that you can
share with your teacher
and others. It's important
to give the time, not just
at school but at home as well.
Image for issue at Youth Voices

"The loop writing process
is a way to get the best
of both... control and
creativity. On the one
hand it lets you steer
where you are going...
But on the other hand it
expands your point of
view.... It is especially
useful if you can't think
of much to write or are
stuck with a topic that
bores you." (Peter Elbow,
"The Loop Writing
Process," Chapter 8 in
Writing With Power.
Image for issue at Youth Voices

Sondra Perl's Composing
Guidelines sometimes
work differently for
different people--and
even differently for you
on different occasions.
The main thing to
remember is that they
are meant for you to
use on your own,
flexibly, in your own way.
There is nothing sacred
about the exact format
or wording. They are not
meant to be a straitjacket.
The specific details of the
procedure are much less
important than the
charitable, supportive,
and generative spirit
behind the whole thing.

 

It may seem strange at first to generate a free flow of writing from freewriting, loops or guidelines (in the first part of this task)...

... and then be told in the second part of this task to use a very structured guide, some of which almost seem like fill-in-the-blank exercises.

You need to find your own way between these two extremes. Try both, and you'll end up with a mess, but from this mess you can begin to create your own argument.

Try one of these!

Choose a title in the list below to find detailed scaffolds that make explicit what is expected in many different types of discussion posts and comments on Youth Voices. Once you've internalized these guides, we encourage you to mix and match different paragraphs, and to go beyond the use of a guide as well.

 

When you have finished your second or third drafts by getting feedback from your peers and by using one of the guides listed above, copy this draft from your Google Doc and paste it into a comment here (on this P2PU task), then click Yes, I'm done .

Task Discussion


  • Monisha Nelson said:

     

    How Does Advertisment for cosmetics affect People?


      You can see advertisement in different places. Billboards, magazines, tv shows/ commercials Etc. Advertisement can always be good and bad. Some advertisements can help people find the things they may need or want. Or just not even looking the advertisement may convince them to get something that looks interesting to them. But also it can get you to buy something thats bad for you. I did a research project on the pros and cons of cosmetics, and i learned that most of things that both men and women use daily has certain ingredients that harms you day by day. One of the main reasons we buy these cosmetics is because of the advertisements  



    • Metaphors. If your topic were one of these what would it be? (5 min.)

    • colors; Brown, because its now fall and a lot of the hottest  clothing lines are selling clothing for the fall season.
    • math problem; Long division, because long division is complicated for most people if they're not quick with number. Just like advertisements you have to watch and think really long and hard before buying anything.
    • magazine article; Covergirl cosmetics, they have articles and advertisements in almost every magazine you pick up. I've even seen some in the newspaper before.
    • video; nicki minaj; her makeup always stands out and matches any kind or hairstyle or the color of her wigs.
    • song; taylor swift wide away, her makeup in this video is great and i've heard more than two female say they wish they knew her makeup artist so there makeup could look like hers.

    • Dialogue. Write a dialogue about your question. (10 min.)

    When people purchase their merchandise is it based on the advertisements? As a group of kind walked up and down the blocks of 125th street each and every store they either walked passed or walked in they saw the manikins with the different outfits the store put together. and one girl said she was going to buy everything that was on the manikin just because she “Liked the way it looked on the manikin”. Now a lot of people don't really know this but most things that looks nice on the manikin doesn't always looks nice on you. you maybe be a different skin tone from the manikin, different width length. Now once the girl got home and she tried on her outfit, she notice that she didn't like the way it looked it on her. So she called two of her friends and asked why does it seem so different and one of her friend explained to her, the manikins makes the clothes look good so people like her can buy them not really realising it may not look the same on them.


    • Facts, Lies, Assumptions. List as many as you can in 2 minutes each. (6 min.)       

    • Advertisements are always true.
    • Advertisements does not affect cosmetics and or the people who purchase them in any kind of way.
    • Cosmetics advertisements cell based on the advertisments.
    • Advertisements in general are both good and bad.
    • A Lot of people buy things based on the advertisments. and aren't satisfied after they purchased them.
    • Do you need advertisements to sell everything ?


    • Essay exam. Pretend to be taking an essay exam. Answer your inquiry question to the best of your ability. (10 min.)

      
      How Does Advertisment for cosmetics affect People? Advertisement can affect people in many different ways, both good and bad. I’ve been doing a research project lately about the economics of cosmetics and never realised how important advertisements and how much of a huge effect it had on it. One thing that I’ve learned so far is that one human being gets targeted with thousands of advertisements a day and the average person buys whatever there being advertised to buy. That can be harmful to your spending habits, and the health of your body.
        If your buy every single thing you see on the manikins in the store, every magazine article, or billboards, television commercials. Thats a very bad spending habit. You're not thinking before you buy these merchandise. for all you know these things could turn your body purple, but because the advertisement doesn't say so you buy it.
      Most of these thing people can't afford. But because the advertisements make them look worth the money, They sell and you buy. Now weeks later this brand new toy you're just brought for your son is slowly falling apart because it was expensive for the quality was cheap.
      advertisements also can help you find things you may need or want in life, in the most quickest way as possible. People enjoy looking at advertisements. and or even talking about them as well.  

    on Oct. 17, 2012, 11:05 a.m.