TOW #30: Letter to Incoming APELC Student by: Julie Silverman

June 10, 2014

Dear Incoming APELC Student,

   

I’ll be brutally honest. APELC is not for the faint of heart. You’ll start out with worse grades than most of you have ever had. You’ll work really hard just to increase one score on the essay scale, not necessarily even for the A. You’ll stress over presentations and over perfecting essays. You’ll have some weeks where you’re swamped with readings. That being said, I have learned more from this class than any other in my life. Don’t let the talk scare you. You can most definitely do it. Not only will you learn how to really write, but you will learn how to approach harder school work. This class is a true AP in that it prepares you for college like no other. In finishing this course, I have an advantage over students in honors or academic classes. My writing has improved in leaps and bounds and I have a new-found confidence in my abilities as a student. I want you to leave this year with that confidence as well. My experiences are as follows:

I started coming into the year with a summer essay that I thought was amazing. I had both my parents edit it and I must’ve made at least 4 different drafts of it. I ended up getting a 74%. As of that moment, that was the worst grade I had ever received on an essay. And I worked so hard, at least ten times as hard as I had ever worked in honors. That scared me a lot. In the next weeks we learned about how to rhetorically analyze, something that was completely new to me. However, I was finding it was applicable in almost every other subject area. As the middle of the year approached, I was stuck at getting a 5 on the AP scale. All of my essays received the same score, which was extremely frustrating. Finally, (and I’m not even sure which essay this was), I got a 6. I was honestly so happy, and a 6 isn’t even an A. I really felt like my writing was improving. As the year went along, we learned different styles, we analyzed different pieces and we discussed advertisements. Later, we learned about constructing arguments, and fallacies not to commit. The Socrates symposium was intellectually challenging but fun. The timed essays got easier. Honestly, a lot of it is a blur now.

When I finally sat for my AP English Exam, I was confident there was nothing more Mr. Yost could have done to prepare us. We knew exactly how the exam was going to work, we had done countless practice multiple choice passages, and we had written a timed essay almost every other week for the entire duration of the school year. I’m here at the end of my year in APELC knowing that I learned so much. Yes, I am still concerned with getting an A, and I’m right on the border between an A and a B. I got an 84 first marking period, so, it can be done. But, even if I get the B, I’m proud of myself for enduring the challenge that is APELC.

I know people who dropped APELC in the first few weeks because they let the talk and the beginning of their year stress them out. Incoming APELC Student, please don’t make the stupid (for lack of a better word) mistake that they did. If you quit now, you’ll be giving up a year full of improvement and college preparation. You’ll be giving up an infinitely more beneficial year than another year of Honors English (and who wants to read books like Like Water for Chocolate and analyze for themes for a whole other year). If you quit now, you’ll regret not taking AP. Because everyone can do it, but only some people have the heart and perseverance to.

Good luck,

    Julie Silverman

P.S. Please find me come to me with any questions!

TOW #29: Jesus Camp directed by: Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing

Watching Goals: Same as above (same movie)

Writing Goals: Correctly identify a claim and support with various sources

Jesus Camp, a 2006 documentary following radical Evangelical Christian children, clearly did not set out to just follow these children. The documentary by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing set out to make waves and educate people on the under-the-radar presence of this growing religious power. Radical Evangelicalism has a cult-like following in many areas, and they believe in a different type of Christianity than the norm. Many followers pledge that they would “die for Christ,” in a similar fashion to terrorism. Throughout the documentary, Jesus Camp, makes the claim that radical Evangelical Christianity is a movement that, although its aim is to uplift American ideals in a twisted way, it challenges the fundamentals of American society. Rightfully so, radical Evangelical Christianity does threaten the fundamentals of American society because of the growing political pull a religion has, and the fundamental differences between their teachings and the Constitution.

The Evangelical radicals are in fact threatening the American way of life as we know it because of their immense political pull. As Jesus Camp specified, the lead pastor of the National Association of Evangelicals, Ted Haggard, spent every Monday with President Bush in his early presidency. Not only does this show how close the men were, but obviously if Bush and Haggard spent that much time together, their political agendas were entangled. This, along with the fact that Bush backed many Evangelical focal points like the war on abortion. This challenges American ideals because for essentially the entirety of the United States’ history, the separation of church and state has been a fundamental pillar of our society. This re-intertwining of church and political motives are an injustice to that American belief. In addition to threatening the belief that separation of church and state is essential, radical Evangelicalism challenges the Constitution.

The Constitution indoctrinates all citizens of the United States with the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, Evangelicals teach that all other religions but their faith are in the wrong. They say they have a duty to right the wrongdoings of this country and “save” others by converting them. These radicals do not believe that citizens should have the right to practice whatever religion they choose (or no religion, for that matter), but they support the view that you’re either with them or against them. And, if you are against the Evangelicals, there will be war to pay. Thus, this radical sect of Christianity challenges the fundamental American belief that each person is born with natural rights, and in our country they are able to exercise those rights.

Evangelical Christian radicals are, by innate fact, a threat to American values. They disregard the importance of separation of church and state with their movement to change countless abortion laws and other laws in the name of the lord, and they do not agree that every person is entitled to their own beliefs. However, this does not mean that Evangelical Christians cannot co-exist with the rest of our nation. As long as they do not take over our country politically, and do not bother others so much as the occasional pamphlet here and there, they can go on their own way like any other American born citizens.

TOW #28: Jesus Camp directed by: Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewin

Watching Goals: Correctly identify the director’s purpose in making the documentary, and pinpoint the two most used devices.

Writing Goals: Correctly apply the relevant devices to their rhetorical effects

The main way to tell if a documentary was a good one is if it leaves you thinking. Jesus Camp, directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, was one of those films. I found myself almost paralyzed in shock as the credits rolled with “Spirit In The Sky,” a Christian rock song playing. Jesus Camp is not about mainstream Christianity, rather, it followed Radical Evangelical Christians. It focused mainly on their tactics for “training” their youth for the “war” of faith. Then, it touched upon the enormous political pull that this group has today in America. There is no doubt that Grady and Ewing achieved their purpose in alerting non-radicals of the growing radical movement, and striking fear into the average citizen through interviews with the children, and suspense.

Interviews with children helped the directors to achieve their purpose because they flushed out the insanity of the movement and created shock value. Kids throughout the film would say things like: “when I meet a non-Christian, my soul feels icky” and, “I think Galileo made the right choice by giving up science for Christ.” Statements like these create shock value within the audience because they’re so blatantly radical and seemingly uneducated. As the film goes on however, and more and more of these statements are present, the viewer learns that this was their education, and that is the very nature of this radical movement. Statements like these exemplify the ideas radical Evangelicals instate in their kids, and thus shed light on the movement, inciting fear in the viewer because of how different and seemingly misguided this school of thought is.

Quotes from children strike a sense of fear into the audience, while suspense is discomforting and emotional. In the scenes where the pastors are preaching to the children, suspense builds. First, the camera focuses on the sermon and cuts to a few listening children with no music in the background; but as the sermon heats up, and the kids start screaming, music starts and the camera angle changes more rapidly. This creates a sense of discomfort in the viewer for a similar reason the interviews do. The radical ideas and practices are foreign to most of the audience and the whole belief system seems misguided, and on multiple occasions the people in the film threaten American life as we know it. Suspense builds to the highest points at places where they declare their war on all other faiths and small children declare they would die for christ in a fashion all too similar to terrorism.

With the interviews of the children, and the building of suspense, Grady and Ewing craft Jesus Camp to strike a sense of urgency into the audience, that this radical Evangelical Christian movement could have more effect on us than we had anticipated. With these devices, the film shouts to its audience: pay attention, they are stronger than we think.  

TOW #27: TOW Reflection

     My TOWs throughout the year have gone through a huge metamorphosis that I can only attribute to APELC. In the beginning of the year, I could tell that my TOWs were a little formulaic. I had just been taught to write an analysis essay, and I was sticking to the basics. An intro, a short thesis, at least two devices to analyze the piece, and a short conclusion. In the middle of the year, I was branching out a bit, using various sources, using different and new devices, and I could tell that my analysis of what the devices did for the piece was really maturing. By the end of the year, I was doing all this and more; I even dared to write a few TOWs on how the authors did not achieve their purpose through their devices. I also thing my general tone has evolved throughout the year in that I can pinpoint when an academic vs a casual tone may be used.
     I think overall, I've really mastered telling which devices are utilized in the piece. I think towards the middle and end of the year, all of the devices I said were in the passage really were there, and not only that, they were used in abundance. In the beginning of the year, I wasn't as familiar with all of the different devices I could use to analyze a piece and I was new to the writing. As I progressed and learned the devices, I was able to use this wide variety to describe pieces with better accuracy.
   However, not all is perfect in my writing (and I know it will never be). I still strive to improve analyzing the effect that the devices had on the piece. Sometimes, my analysis is completely on point with what effect they have, but others, I can find the devices, but can't figure out what they actually do for the author. Thus, my analysis of the devices has its good days and bad days, so I'm still working to make that even stronger.
   Overall, I think these TOWs benefitted me in that it gave me a way to constantly practice, or rather, made me constantly practice (lets be real, no kid wants to practice analysis essays on their free time). It helped me keep up my analysis skills into the argument and synthesis portions of the year. Not only that, the TOWs made it easy to see where I was clearly improving and where I still needed work. I think occasionally, I would get lax on my TOWs, and those weeks the TOW wasn't necessarily benefitting me. Of course, it added stress to my weekly load, and if I forgot about them Sunday night, and had a bunch due on Monday, taking the time to do the TOW could be infuriating. However, I think overall there is no doubt that the TOWs were helpful and my writing matured through them. So, thank you TOWs!

TOW #26: Russia Can't Decide if Ukranian Jews are Victims or Villains By: Alina Polyakova

Reading Goals: Understand the main purpose of the article (this one is quite complex)

Writing goals: Practice writing about a topic that I may not know a lot about, but while sounding convincing and finding examples in a seemingly rhetoric-free article

  Civil unrest in Ukraine this year has been multi-dimensional and convoluted. Russia has invaded a peaceful country and attempted to take back what was once their territory. Russian troops have taken over the Crimean peninsula, and this action has shocked the world, and split many opinions about the matter. Possibly one of the most confusing issue within the topic of Ukraine may be the difference of those citizens who support Russia and those who oppose Russia, and want a free Ukraine. The most recent accusation from those who support Russia is that the Jewish leaders of the Ukrainian opposition are the enemy, and in some way, supporting Nazism. Alina Polyakova, a journalist for the New Republic aims to tackle and report on this complex topic by utilizing concise statement.

  Polyavoka uses concise conclusions and statements in order to clearly come across to the audience. Throughout the article, she first explains the complexities of an issue, and then, at the end of her explanation, she offers a concise conclusion, such as, "the protesters are Nazis, the interim government contains Nazis, and before long they will come for the Jews," and "the term neatly captures two deep fears of Putin's regime. The first is Jewish oligarchs have too much power...The second fear is of successful democratic movements". With these two statements, Polyavoka is able to summarize both of the main points in her article. Who the people were, what they were doing, and why. 

   Thus, Alina Polyakova is able to achieve her purpose, to tackle and inform about the complex topic of the Ukranian and Russian statements about Jews, through concise statements which clearly outline her conclusions. These concise statements allow her reader to comprehend and the article has more impact on the reader as they go on about their lives. And because the reader now understands this topic, they may go on to use this information in a casual dinner conversation, write a report, understand any new news even more,  or even, to help the Ukrainian Jews. 

(zhidobandera, the derogetory term Russian-supporting Ukrainians use about democratic Ukranian Jews, with a menorah depicted with Nazi colors, showing just how complex the countries' dynamics are presently)

TOW #25: Donut Picture circa 1948

Reading Goals:  find the message and find at least one device

Writing Goals: Write a concise essay, even if I just have one device (change it up a bit)

(Source)

Everyone loves donuts. Kids used to line up at our neighborhood’s local KrispyKreme just to watch the donut production line. They would start bubbling in the hot grease, and move along to the oven, where they were warmed to perfection. Then, the glaze machine would pour the sweet sticky syrup of gods over them and they would be left to cool. Kids loved those donuts for decades. The donut is often the symbol for obesity. Homer Simpson is always pictured eating donuts, and cops who don’t do much of anything are stereotyped to be always eating a donut. This picture, photographed circa 1948, is aimed to illustrate how the American donut hole is getting smaller, but the actual dough amount is getting larger through parallelism.

Parallelism between the donuts of the different decades illustrate the prevalent difference in dough-to-hole ratios. As one can see, the donut is the largest in hole diameter in 1927, but has the least amount of dough. As the years continue, the picture includes the same setup but you can see the donut start to change. This parallelism allows the viewer to clearly see the difference in the donuts throughout the years. This difference in donuts brings the readers attention to the fact that with each passing decade, the donut hole is getting smaller and the amount of dough is getting larger. This brings to a point the underlying message. It shows that throughout the years, Americans have wanted more dough and a smaller donut hole. This alludes to the obesity epidemic in America. This increase in dough might be one of the many things that exemplify Americans’ mounting greediness and overall inclination toward more food. Therefore, this parallelism allows you to see the evolution and difference in eating habits of Americans.

Parallelism in this image exemplifies the difference between donuts and donut hole size throughout the years, which in turn gets the picture’s underlying message across: more dough in our donuts is exactly why Americans are becoming fatter. We just don’t need the extra food.

IRB Intro #4: Lies My Teacher Told Me by: James Loewen

  As we approach May, AP tests loom in my future. The one with the most hard-core information that I have to remember is by far AP US. History (APUSH). I will surely be cramming and re-cramming my brain with dates, presidents, and wars. With laws, legislation, and amendments. But, I will surely be thankful when it is all over, because I officially have the CollegeBoard's approval that I know all about United States History.
   My dad, however, disagrees. This past summer, when I was reading The Crucible, to gear up for APUSH, my dad was reading a book called Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen. He told me that I absolutely have to read the book. Lies My Teacher Told Me is specifically about United States History. It examines the flaws in American textbooks and teachings across the country, and, supposedly, tells the reader what US History was really like. It cuts out all of the extra fluff details about our founding fathers, and other "great" leaders of America. Occasionally it exploits the glorified leaders for who they really are, often, they are not the good men you would expect. Most of all, it attempts to tell history from other points of view than just who wrote history.
  I hope to learn a few things from this book, especially now that I've just about finish the AP course. I strategically did not want to read this before so that I would not mess up the information I need to know for the test (because we all know how important that is). But now, I will be able to compare my two sources of information and maybe find faults within the book's claim, or even our education ethics here in America about our own history. After all, the losers never get to write the history books...something that Lies My Teacher Told Me aims to set right.

(Source)