First discussion text on Islam and Immigration

7 Outubro 2015, 14:00 • David Alan Prescott

Analysis of language and content of first thematic text on immigration and Islamic extremism, written by Charles Moore in The Daily Telegraph on September 11th 2015.

Discursive Essays

7 Outubro 2015, 10:00 • Paula Alexandra Carvalho Alves Rodrigues Horta

Guidelines for writing an effective essay.

Persuasive Writing

7 Outubro 2015, 08:00 • Hilda Alexandra Prazeres Eusebio

Persuasive Writing (WriteToDone.com)

Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle developed his own philosophy on the best way to beat an opponent using words. He called this rhetoric.

Rhetoric, Aristotle said, is “the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion.”

The three main means of persuasion are:

• Reason – appealing to your audience’s rationality and logic.  Giving your point of view in an informed and fair manner.
• Emotion – creating feelings in your audience that lead them to your point of view.
• Beliefs – using the values and beliefs of your audience to build your argument.

You can use all of these for persuasive writing techniques.  Of course, just because a tool is availabgle to you doesn't mean you should use it.  Different persuasive approaches will be more successful depending on the situation.

• Want to show your point of view is the correcto one?  Use reason.
• Want to motivate your audeince to take action?  Use emotion.
• Trying to get your audience to care?  Use beliefs and vavlues.

(Source: http://writetodone.com/a-step-by-step-approach-to-persuasive-writing/)

Persuasive writing is used to convince the reader of the writer’s argument. This may involve persuading the reader to perform an action, or simply consist of an argument convincing the reader of the writer’s point of view.  Persuasive writers employ many techniques to improve their argument and show support for their claim.

Ethos, Logos and Pathos in Persuasive Writing (according to Wikipedia!)

By appealing to their credibility, writers can make their claims more believable. This is called an appeal to ethos, as defined by Aristotle.

–The writer builds on his or her ethos by writing with clarity (an important element of style) and eliminating contradictions within the text itself.

–The writer will be more credible to the target audience if there are no internal errors in syntax and mechanics as well as no factual errors in the subject matter.

The writer will also appeal to logic when writing to persuade. This appeal is known as logos.

–This appeal is manifested in the supporting statements for the writer’s claim.

–In most cases, a successful appeal to logos requires tangible evidence, e.g. a quote from acknowledged written material. The writer will appeal to the rationality of the audience.

Finally, and possibly most importantly for persuasive writers, is the appeal to emotions or pathos.

–“A successful pathetic appeal will put the audience in a suitable mood by addressing their knowledge of or feelings about the subject” (Mendelson). This can be a very effective way to win over an audience.

Most persuasive writing techniques use an effective combination of all three appeals.

Examples of Persuasive Writing

•Advertisements

•Political Speeches

•Public Service Announcements

•Essays

•Letters to the Editor;

•Closing argument (court);

•Etc.

Students read and listened to an áudio tape of exerpts of Winstone Churchill's We Shall Fight on the Beaches, a speech delivered to the House of Commons, United Kingdom, 4 June 1940.  Students then analyzed and identified the persuasive elements of the text.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKQV9bEcV28

Students read and listened to an áudio tape of exerpts from Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.  Students then analyzed and identified persuasive elements of the text.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKQV9bEcV28

Reading "Multiculturalism in Piazza Vittorio, Rome"

5 Outubro 2015, 16:00 • Paula Alexandra Carvalho Alves Rodrigues Horta

Reading and discussion of the central concerns of the article "Multiculturalism in Piazza Vittorio".

Punctuation Class

5 Outubro 2015, 14:00 • David Alan Prescott

Lesson on use of punctuation, particularly the colon, semi-colon and comma.