E319

Robin

Winter Break Portfolio Prompts

Dear Students:

The prompts below are completely optional. 

They are merely meant to supplement the number of opportunities that you have for your portfolio.

If you have already finished a majority of the prompts from the beginning of the quarter,

I highly recommend #6, 8, 9, 10 (actually, I recommend these for everyone).

These prompts do not need to be done in any particular order.

Some you will be able to start right away;

whereas, some require you to read some more Everyday Use and/or Sirens.

You may do as many as you wish – they are due 1/5/08.

The portfolio is due 1/9/08.  Each of these prompts are 2 STP min.

1.  Choose any of your article assignments:  use your article annotation to create a cogent analysis of how the article accentuates a theme in Sirens.

2.  Using the prompt in #1, rhetorically analyze this article. 

3.  Syllogistically analyze a paragraph from The Sirens of Titan.

4.  Which basic and common topic does Vonnegut use the most in The Sirens of Titan?  Why?

5.  Everyday Use Activity – “The ABCs of Home Schooling”

around page 49

6.  Find an example of a loose sentence and a periodic sentence in The Sirens of Titan. 

The sentences should be in very close proximity to each other (no more than a few pages away). 

Which is more effective to accomplish Vonnegut’s purpose?  Why?

7.  Everyday Use Activity – “Patricia Williams – prominent lawyer and legal theorist”

around page 65

8.  Everyday Use Activity – “Latinate vs. Anglo-Saxon diction”

9.  How do jargon and/or slang affect the ethos of a speaker?  

Respond to this question and then find an example of the effect you explain in The Sirens of Titan.

10.  How does Vonnegut play with the rhetorical canon of delivery?

11.  Find an example of litotes in The Sirens of Titan.  Why is it out of place?

How does it affect the text?  How does it advance a character’s purpose and/or Vonnegut’s purpose?

12.       Rhetorically analyze the scene of your family opening presents

                                                OR

            Rhetorically analyze the scene of your family at a winter activity

13. "BWBW" alternate prompt