English 9 - Week 1 - Quarter 4

• Informational text


  Text based on author's ideas, beliefs, or opinions. Authors present their ideas and support them with specific reasons and evidence to convince the reader, but the reader should not assume everything is true.
• Argumentative essay


  Your job is to make the reader agree with your opinion about a controversial topic. You state your opinion, give reasons to support it, and argue against the opposing viewpoint.
• Argumentative essay


  • Must be balanced - include your viewpoint and the opposing viewpoint (counterargument). You must then refute the counterargument.
  • Commonly has 6 paragraphs, with an intro and conclusion.
• Body paragraph in argumentative essay

  1. Support your opinion

  2. Present the opposing point of view

  3. Tell why that viewpoint is wrong
• Five types of argumentative essay

  • Fact - whether the statement is true or false
  • Definition - the dictionary definition plus your own interpretation
  • Value - the importance of what you're arguing
  • Cause and effect - what causes the problem and what effects it has
  • Policy - why you should care and what you should do about it
• Introductory paragraph


  1. Should have a hook as the first sentence to capture the reader's attention

  2. Provide background info, outline the evidence, and state your thesis
• Thesis statement


  One-sentence summary of your main point and claim. The most important part of the essay.
• How to write a thesis statement

  1. Turn the topic into a question and answer it

  2. State an argument and then refute it

  3. Briefly outline your main points
• Body paragraphs


  1. Comprise 3 or more paragraphs explaining the reasons why you support the thesis

  2. Each paragraph covers a different idea or piece of evidence and contains a topic sentence

  3. Back up claims with examples, research, statistics, studies, and text citations

  4. Address and disprove opposing points of view
• Conclusion


  1. Restate thesis and summarize arguments

  2. Appeal to reader's emotions, may use a personal anecdote
• Not everything we see or hear in social media is true, so we should learn to assess and filter data before reacting or believing
• Our capability to judge the truthfulness and relevance of ideas is imperative as we gather information from various sources
• We should check if information is factual or misleading, and know tips to distinguish truthful from faulty information
• Tips to spot factual or truthful information

  • Consider the source
  • Read beyond the headlines
  • Check the author
  • Verify supporting sources
  • Check the date
  • Check your own biases
• Relevance


  How appropriate something is to what is being said at a given time
• Truth


  Something that has been proven by facts or sincerity
• Listening is very important as it allows us to give feedback and response, and evaluate whether we should believe the point being raised
• Evidence


  The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid
• Steps in analyzing and evaluating the validity of evidence

  Not provided
• Types of evidence


  • Anecdotal evidence
  • Statistical evidence
  • Testimonial evidence
  • Analogical evidence
• Testimonial evidence


  Use of celebrities, experts, and authorities
• Analogical evidence


  The weakest type of evidence, used when information is scarce and little is known