For Discussion Wednesday

Extra Credit

This is just a quick post to summarize the Extra Credit assignment I will be proposing for you in our class together tomorrow, Thursday. The extra credit assignment asks you to illustrate ten notions we've explored in the course so far by finding, transcribing, and labeling an example of each one that you find within the pages (whether digital or pulp) of a single issue of a daily newspaper or monthly magazine.

The examples I seek include:

1. A logos appeal.
2. A pathos appeal.
3. An ethos appeal.
4. A piece of formal reasoning, illustrating a valid modus ponens or modus tollens inference or the formal fallacies of either affirming the consequent or denying the antecedent (to be clear, I am looking for an example of just one of these, not an example of each of them).
5. An informal fallacy.
6. A second, different informal fallacy.
7. One of the Four Master Tropes.
8. A second trope, not one of the Four Master Tropes.
9. A scheme.
10. A second, different scheme.

In order to get credit for any of the illustrations you find you must provide examples of all ten. You will receive one extra credit point for each of the ten illustrations you get right. If you provide good illustrations for all ten you will receive an extra five bonus points in addition to the ten you receive for each individual correct illustration. And so, this Extra Credit assignment is worth fifteen points at most. Whatever points you earn on this assignment will be added to the score you received on your Mid-Term Examination (as you can see, this might amount at best to a letter grade and a half of extra credit points for the Mid-Term).

Remember, this assignment is entirely voluntary and is due next Thursday, June27, the same day you are doing the Writing Workshop for the final paper. If you do choose to turn in this Extra Credit assignment, I strongly recommend you work on it earlier rather than later -- your time will be better spent ensuring your final papers and notebooks are in fine shape than working for ten to fifteen extra credit points for the Mid-Term!

About the Upcoming Midterm Exam

I encourage you all to arrive at the scheduled start time for our class rather than our more usual ten-minutes delayed "Berkeley time." I will provide you with the first half of your mid-term examination worksheet at 2 o'clock, or any time you arrive thereafter. The second half of the exam will begin at 3.15, or any time thereafter. The examination will continue to the scheduled end of our class at 4.30. You should bring writing implements but otherwise everything will be provided for you.

Again, I urge you to use your syllabus and the Study Sheet I distributed on Thursday to prepare for the exam. So long as you have a decent definition of each of the terms on the Study Sheet and remember the SKILL SETS we covered in our various workshops in the first half of the course you should do very well on the exam. Indeed, I hope you will enjoy completing the exam and its various puzzles and exercises. The following video clip provides a clue to assist you in one of the exercises on Tuesdays exam, enjoy the cheesy retro 80s hair...



By all means, use the comments section under this post to ask questions of one another or make plans for study sessions if you like. I hope everybody has a lovely weekend.