IGCSE Assignment 3Respond to a text

• 40 Marks Writing- usual criteria• 10 Marks reading

Reading Band 1 – (9-10 Marks)

Candidates analyse and evaluate several ideas and details from the text(s), and develop lines of thought. Their own ideas are closely related to the original text(s) and show good understanding of the main arguments.

What are the key words in this description of the top grade? Underline at least 4. Clue- look for the verbs: the things you have to do to get this grade.

Key Words• Analyse several ideas / details• Examine, study, consider

• Evaluate several ideas / details• Weigh, value, assess

• Develop lines of thought • Advance, grow, enlarge

1 minute challenge!

• Rearrange the scrambled letters to reveal the answer to the anagram!

1 minute challenge!

r e o i t c l s o n k a w s

1 minute challenge!

Social Networks

What issues about Facebook does this humorous piece raise?

I am trying to make friends outside of Facebook while applying the same principles.

Therefore, everyday I walk down the street and tell passers-by what I have eaten, how I feel at the moment, what I will do later and with whom.

I give them pictures of my family, my dog and of me gardening and standing in front of landmarks.

I listen to their conversations, give them the “thumbs up” and tell them I like them.

And it works just like Facebook! I already have four people following me: two police officers, a private investigator and a psychiatrist.

Facebook

• Positives • Negatives

Watch the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB95KLmpLR4

What key ideas and perspectives does this video present about Facebook?As & Bs- positivesCs& Ds - negatives

What key ideas and perspectives does this video present about Facebook?

•Facebook allows everyone the chance to communicate.•Facebook provides a way for people to belong

•Gives you access to something you can control – post your own photos, write your own comments, add the people you want to.•Social networking has become a global phenomenon

BUT…•People who use Facebook are vain, attention seeking and controlling.

•They care a lot about what other people think of them.•They are presented with an abundance of information about

individuals that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.

Learning Journey

• Read ‘Why I Hate Facebook’ by Janet Street Porter.

• Identify the main points in her argument.• Analyse her use of language. • Evaluate the veracity of her argument.• Challenge and develop her argument.

Identify the main points in the argument: Why I Hate Facebook

What do you notice about Porter’s use of language in her argument?

Homework• Research Janet Street Porter.• Try to find out :• What she has a reputation for.• Which newspapers she used to be a journalist for and

what reputation these papers have. • Whether she uses social media. • What books she’s written and your first impression of

them. • Watch some videos of her and sum up your impressions

of her.

Use the following list of questions to help you read critically

Stage 1: Analysis - What are the patterns of the text?

What is the main idea or argument? What are the supporting points that create the argument? How do they relate to each other? What are the examples used as evidence for the supporting points? How do they relate to the points they support? What words and sentence structures have been selected? What arrangement has been selected to present the ideas in? Stage 2: Interpretation - What do the patterns of the argument mean?What are the implicit assumptions? What is the point of view, or perspective, like? What alternative perspectives remain unconsidered? How might my reading of the text be biased?  Stage 3: Evaluation - How well does the text do what it does? What is its value?Is the thesis strong? Are the points argued well? Are the examples valid? Are the sources reliable? Is the argument logically consistent? Convincing? How can I use the text in creating my own argument?

In groups note down your ideas in response to these questions.

Use the following list of questions to help you read critically

Stage 1: Analysis - What are the patterns of the text?

What is the main idea or argument? What are the supporting points that create the argument? How do they relate to each other? What are the examples used as evidence for the supporting points? How do they relate to the points they support? What words and sentence structures have been selected? What arrangement has been selected to present the ideas in? Stage 2: Interpretation - What do the patterns of the argument mean?What are the implicit assumptions? What is the point of view, or perspective, like? What alternative perspectives remain unconsidered? How might my reading of the text be biased?  Stage 3: Evaluation - How well does the text do what it does? What is its value?Is the thesis strong? Are the points argued well? Are the examples valid? Are the sources reliable? Is the argument logically consistent? Convincing? How can I use the text in creating my own argument?

In groups note down your ideas in response to these questions.

To do well in Assignment 3 you need to be able to read critically in order to respond to a text.

The purposes for writing covered in Assignment 3 are to:

comment, analyse evaluate, develop, and to argue and persuade.

To do this you will need to be able to identify and differentiate facts, opinions and arguments.

.

What is reading critically?

Critical reading is a process of analyzing, interpreting and, sometimes, evaluating the larger meanings of a text and how those meanings are created by the text.

When we read critically, we use our thinking skills to question both the text and our own reading of it. The questions you ask will depend on the type of text you are reading and general questions should lead to more specific questions.

Questions should also consider relationships between the text and the author, the reader, and the context. While reading critically, you interact with the text by highlighting important points, taking notes, testing answers to your questions, brainstorming, outlining, describing, and reflecting on your own reading and thinking.

We are going to:

• Identify the main argument;• Identify facts and opinions;• Question the text.

To be able to interrogate and challenge a text you will need to identify what are the main arguments and ideas.

What viewpoint is being communicated here?

Reading Band 1 – (9-10 Marks)

Candidates analyse and evaluate several ideas and details from the text(s), and develop lines of thought. Their own ideas are closely related to the original text(s) and show good understanding of the main arguments.

What are the key words in this description of the top grade? Underline at least 4. Clue- look for the verbs: the things you have to do to get this grade.

Fact or Opinion?

Facts:

A thing that is indisputably the case.

Information used as evidence.

Opinions:

A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

Why do writer’s use both facts and opinions when writing articles?

What are the advantages/disadvantage of using facts/opinion in news articles?

Earlier this month, serial sex offender Peter Chapman was convicted of raping and murdering a sweet 17-year-old girl he initially contacted through Facebook using a fake identity. 

Fact or Opinion?We can check the date against records.

Name is provided so that we can verify the individual.

We can check the conviction records

Is this still fact? Why has the writer included this adjective? What does it tell you about her opinion?

Social networking isn't just - as I complained last year - a pointless waste of time, because for a worrying number of young people it is proving to be harmful, if not deadly.

Is this statement fact or opinion?

Good readers ask questions!

Experts have confirmed what parents and teachers already feared - youngsters who use Facebook do worse in exams.

A study showed that most pupils who regularly surf the social networking site under-perform in tests - some by as much as a grade.

Which experts? Names/backgrounds? Why should we believe them?

Do all parents and teachers fear this? Emotive vocab used to strengthen an opinion.

Which youngsters? What age? Which exams?

What is meant by most pupils? Where is the data?

What does regularly mean? Why isn’t this quantified?

Social networking isn't just - as I complained last year - a pointless waste of time, because for a worrying number of young people it is proving to be harmful, if not deadly.

How can you challenge JSP’s view. Create a counter argument for each of these points.

“but I won't be wasting time 'poking' cyber friends - that's contacting them to you and me - and celebrating online.”

-Consider language use. Why place poking in inverted commas? What does this suggest about her view? Why try to create a relationship with the reader.

“Nothing sums up the shallow world we live in more than a group of people chatting away to each other for hours each day via sites like Bebo, MySpace

and Facebook.”

- “nothing” Isn’t this a rather larger claim? Do we live in a shallow world?

“I don't bore the rest of the world outside my best friends with my anxieties, my miseries and my objects of hatred.”

Well what is she doing in this article this article then? Look at her own website – it contains a lot of opinionated articles! Who does she assumes reads them?

What do you need to do to be successful?

1. Act as group leader. Can I suggest that we start by looking at the violence and crime in the novel and think about how that may reflect teens’ anxieties.

2. Argue ideas in persuasive detail.

Yes, good idea. I think that Chapter 16 is a good example of Brooks describing bullying that is a reality for many teens. Listen to this, “I could hardly breathe, my head was exploding with pain.” When I re-read that I was thinking about people like Steven Lawrence, and that girl, Sophie Lancaster, who was beaten to death because she was a goth. It brings it home that violence isn’t just something adults experience. It’s in the teen world too.

3. Consider the views of others.

I think you’ve got a really good point there 2. Pete’s parents don’t seem to know what he’s going through and how much danger he’s in. I think that’s the way many of us feel about the dangerous things that happen to us- our parents haven’t got a clue!

2. .Refer to previous point. 1 mentioned crime too, but don’t you think that’s exaggerated in the novel? I mean how many of us have been involved in a murder?

1. Argue ideas in detail. Not necessarily. I mean, yes, not all teens are going around committing murders, but think about Raymond and how he is a victim of real crime. He’s clearly been abused by his parents in many ways. The part that affected me strongly was when Pete said that one day he was given a lunch box full of raisins. Maybe that’s not a serious crime, it’s not going to hurt him-

3. Act as leader. Actually, I do think that’s serious. It’s emotional abuse isn’t it. Who agrees that that’s just as damaging to a kid as physical abuse?

Task 3 – Group Activity Band 1

• Contribute equally to the discussion: tick how many times you contribute:

• Argue ideas and opinions in persuasive detail.

• Act as group leader.

• Refer back to previous points.

• Suggest new approaches.

• Move the discussion forward.

• Listen sympathetically.

• Consider the views of others fully.

How is this paragraphed structured in 3 parts? I found Janet Street Porter’s article highly emotive, bordering on the hysterical in places. She opens dramatically claiming: ‘Social networking…is deadly.’

It’s hard to take such a claim seriously when there is no evidence to support it; she just hints at ‘ a worrying number of young people’. Pick a number, any number: 3, 55, 789? She herself states herself that Facebook has 400 million users; are they seem to all in imminent danger of some terrible social network-related death? To make such a sweeping and emotive statement is irresponsible and frankly shameful in a journalist of her credentials.

Even the black death only killed 1.5 million Medieval Britains! There have been some tragic and pitiable deaths connected to social networking; where vulnerable young people have been led astray by predatory sex offenders- she cites the case of Peter Chapman. But the awful truth is a ‘serial sex offender’ like Chapman would have found a victim whatever ; the internet just made it a bit easier. The moors murderers didn’t need any help from social networking sites in the 1960s to take the lives of five innocent children.

• But it’s shocking and deeply worrying how negative many teens feel about themselves and the situation they are in. In her interviews with teens, Lousia Young found time and time again that teens feel , “there’s no point trying”. This feeling of hopelessness is increased by the fact that while these teens may be “ adorable and beautiful”, many of then (girls in particular) don’t “know their own worth”. Young has discovered that behind this lurks a generation who are simple “scared”. Sacred about failing, scared about trying to fit in and scared about growing up. This is totally unacceptable. It’s vital that we deal with this soon, before we lose this generation these negative feelings. The truth is, Young has only identified the tip of the iceberg. I have been looking into this and have been shocked by what I have found out. The charity The Children’s Society, which spoke to 42,000 children between the ages of eight and 17 , said those aged 14 and 15 have the lowest life satisfaction of all children. Another study I looked at found that out of 21 nations across the developed world, British children are the unhappiest. The unhappiest children in the developed world! Why on earth is this not being taken more seriously by the government? Unhappy children can only grow up and become unhappy adults whose impact on the world around them will be negative. We need to remember that childhood is precious and we only get one shot at it. Making sure that our nations children have a safe, happy and secure childhood must become our priority.

Blue = clear topic sentence.

Green = show you understand the argument in the text. Quote and comment on the article.

Red= extend and develop the ideas in the article. Add your own thoughts and opinions. Use your own research to back these ideas up.

Responding to and ‘developing lines of thought’

Now present your own ideas, supported with evidence, to explain why Porter is wrong.

1)Discuss Porter’s career, reputation and the tabloid the article was printed in- The Daily Mail. Who is the audience for this paper? What’s its style and angle? How has the article clearly been intended to manipulate a particular readership?2)Take the other points from the article and create counter arguments: own ideas + evidence.

3: Act as leader.

2: Argue idea in detail.

1: Listen and consider 2’s views.

3: Refer back to 2’s point and develop in more detail.

1: Suggest a new or different approach to that point.

2: Act as leader and sum up and move on to next point.

3: Argue this point in detail.

1: Listen and agree.

2: Listen and disagree.

3: Listen sympathetically to 2’s disagreement.

1: Move the discussion forward.

Who is Janet Street Porter?

What do you need to find out about her?

What are her views generally on social networking?

Has she ever written anything like this before?

What type of writing is she known for?

Why is she writing this article?

What do you know about The Daily Mail?

What kind of stories does it usually publish?

Does it have a political slant?

Who is the target audience?

http://www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail/

Based on its readership statistics, the Daily Mail's target audience is lower-middle-class British women. However, the paper's promotional gimmicks, prizes and contests, and low price make it appealing to lower-middle-class readers in general. The Daily Mail was the first newspaper in the United Kingdom to provide articles directed specifically at women. As of 2013, almost 55 percent of its readers were female, making it the only British paper with a majority female readership. Its online branch, Mail Online, focuses on celebrity news and controversial topics, and one of the major features of both the printed and online versions of the paper is a section called Femail.

Groups

• Charmaine Laurence Elle P Kate• Josh Jack Kate Ellie B• Jaz (Sam) Maike Casey Joe• Charley Noah Jess Peter• Leah Alex Lauryn Emily P• Francesca Dom Charlotte Harry• Sophie Ollie Ellie T Nicole

Key Points• Waste of time• Idiots wasting time on the banal • Losing social skills• ‘Real’ / Cyber friends• Stranger danger• Privacy • Advertising

Key Points• Waste of time• 31% teens send fewer than 20 SN messages a day. • Online word= opportunities to be literate and creative with a real audience. • Joseph Kahne professor of education Mills College California studies 400 teens over 3 years found kids who

participate online are more likely to do real-world volunteering. • Idiots wasting time on the banal • Support for people with medical conditions: US research found using online support sites improved quality of life

of patients. • A good source of psychological support. • Losing social skills• Teenager interviewed by Guardian journalist Clive Thompson: “I’m a skilled writer. People sometimes

misunderstand tone, so you have to be precise.”• Gaining social skills! Oxford Internet Institute interviewed 200 teens over 3 years- found over time teens “gain

experience with living on line…begin to adjust their behaviour.”• “Working out how to behave online is a new social skill” Clive Thompson• Not eroding literacy skills: Andrea Lunsford study of 1st year college papers from 1917- present: found essays

have grown in length / complexity. Computers “have vastly increased the ability of students to gather information and write more fluidly.” Clive Thompsom

• Linguist Naomi Burt found as teens grow older – less likely to use slang / short forms as writing well online “confers status”. Teen Sydney interviewed by C T Guardian: “ If you want to look serious, you don’t use ‘u’”

• ‘Real’ / Cyber friends• Pew centre researcher Amanda Lenhart found texters are also most likely to spend time with friends in person. Also found

that as they get older and have freedom to see people in person they ease up on Facebook.• “One form of socialising doesn’t replace another. It augments (enhances)it” Clive Thompson. • Psychologist Christopher Moeller “Using Facebook has become a sign of having a healthy social network.”

• Stranger danger• Daily Mail article – bosses concerned lack of Facebook is suspicious / has been deleted. Prominent criminals / terrorists

have had no FB/SN because keeping out of site: Norwegian mass murderer Andreas Breivik / James Holmes.

• Pew Study: only 15% teens said someone had been mean/cruel online in the last month. • New tech always = panic! • Danah Boyd (author of “It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teenagers.”) “Internet-initiated sexual assaults are

rare- and overall numbers of sex crimes against minors have been steadily decreasing since 1992- which suggests that the internet has not created a new plague.”

• Child abuse far more likely to be perpetrated by people who know the child: family, friends, teachers- not strangers. 1930s radio seen a threat gaining, ‘an invincible hold over children.’• Privacy • Advertising

Key Points

• Waste of time• Idiots wasting time on the banal • Losing social skills• ‘Real’ / Cyber friends• Stranger danger• Privacy • Advertising

1 Hates SN- waste of time.

2 Real friends are more important

3 Everyone’s involved in SN- pop stars and politicians.

4 Thinks internet is important for other things, but SN a ‘beast’5 Cant compare subtle and complex real friendships to cyber-cronies6 SN part of an age of over-communication, most of it rubbish.7 Huge numbers using FB but it has a dark side.

8 They feel anonymous

9 But do daft things with serious consequences.

10 There’s a danger of young women and children being duped by men with false profiles. 11 Facebook can also lead to bullying in schools.

12 Advertisers are also using it to bombard us.

13 Using SN can have a bad effect on real relationships

14 Pleased by growth of people leaving FB.

15 Young people lose their social skills.

16 No one needs cyber-friends.

Janet Street-Porter: Why I hate Facebook – Main Points

1. Users are idiots Josh, Charmaine, Elle P

2. Waste of time Jack, Laurence, Sophie

3. Real / Fake Friendships Jazmin, , Casey,

4. ‘Verbal diarrhoea’ and over-communication. Ellie B, Charlotte, Harry

5. Privacy Lauryn, Leah, Oli,

6. Stranger danger Kate, Charley, Alex,

7. Advertising Peter, Ellie T, Mieke

8. Ruin relationships: Nicole, , Emily9. Lose social skills: Francesca, Joe

Analysing what and how it’s been said.• Check the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary!!• Are there any supporting facts / evidence?• If not, how does she suggest what she says is true?• Is the language emotive? What’s the tone?• Is she using any other language devices? • Does the language she use repeat style / semantic field to enforce her

idea? • Make connections to different parts of the text. • What’s the implied suggestion lurking underneath what’s been said?• Does she expect her opinions to be shared or disagreed with by the

reader?• Who is the audience? How does this affect the text?• Make connections to different parts of the text.

Vocabulary of Criticism

• To question the truth of the argument: veracity , validity, cogency, reliability, implausible, falsehood, questionable, dubious.

• To describe her tone: acidic, sneering, vitriolic, scornful, acerbic.

• To dismiss her ideas as rubbish: absurd, bunkum, preposterous, ill-conceived, specious, illogical, laughable

• To question the right she has: disrespect, audacity, gall, nerve, impudence, impertinence

• To accuse her of imbalance: one-sided, narrow-minded, bigoted, biased, intolerant, blinkered.

• To reveal the subtext of her argument: Suggests, implies, evokes, conjures.

Porter’s most preposterous premise is that social networking is akin to an addiction that will end in death. She uses the laughable simile ‘chat is like taking crack’ to compare this innocent pastime to the most addictive form of cocaine available illegally on the street. But she doesn’t stop there, oh no. According to Porter it’s not just addictive, it’s life threatening as it ‘can end in death.’ Can it Janet? And why didn’t you provide us with evidence of this in your bigoted article? Her use of language implies that after creating their Facebook profile ‘vulnerable’ (and note the highly emotive language aimed at concerned parents!) teenagers will be instantly hooked with no escape; book the hearse now mums and dads. To make matters worse ‘there’s nothing we can say…to stop’ this murderous habit. Frankly, I’ve never read such hysterical bunkum.

JSP’s Point Your Counter Argument Ideas

Coursework Planning

Advice from the Exam Board

Lively writing, expressing strongly held personal views is better than formal writing.

However, angry students should avoid personal attacks on writers and confine themselves to the opinions and ideas that have been read.

Introduction

• How you felt when you read the article• What your general opinion of JSP is• What your opinion of the Daily Mail is• What your opinion of the target audience is• What your opinion about the top is

Introduction It’s not often that I feel moved to put pen to paper and

write to a newspaper. However, having read your article ‘Marmite Rules World’ I just couldn’t rest until my voice (the voice of reason) was heard. Although I will challenge many of your points in detail later in my letter, I will start by simply stating that you are wrong. Marmite is hideous.

Of course, it was no surprise to me that the author of your ridiculous article was Jeremy Clarkson. Never one to keep his opinions to himself, Clarkson was yet again acting as if his view point was the be all and end all. In addition, I shouldn’t really have expected anything less from your publication as ‘The Breakfast Times’ has, let’s face it, a certain reputation for printing this sort of drivel.

The article was clearly aimed at a target audience who have no imagination when it comes to breakfast and who will spread anything they are told to on their toast without questioning the alternatives.

Well, I’m here to tell your readers that there is an alternative to that bitter, brown bile. Let’s take a look, shall we?

It’s not often that I feel moved to put pen to paper and write to a newspaper. However, having read your article ‘Marmite Rules World’ I just couldn’t rest until my voice (the voice of reason) was heard. Although I will challenge many of your points in detail later in my letter, I will start by simply stating that you are wrong. Marmite is hideous.

Of course, it was no surprise to me that the author of your ridiculous article was Jeremy Clarkson. Never one to keep his opinions to himself, Clarkson was yet again acting as if his view point was the be all and end all. In addition, I shouldn’t really have expected anything less from your publication as ‘The Breakfast Times’ has, let’s face it, a certain reputation for printing this sort of drivel.

The article was clearly aimed at a target audience who have no imagination when it comes to breakfast and who will spread anything they are told to on their toast without questioning the alternatives.

Well, I’m here to tell your readers that there is an alternative to that bitter, brown bile. Let’s take a look, shall we?

• How you felt when you read the article- disagree! Your opinion.

• What your general opinion of JSP is

• What your opinion of the Daily Mail is

• What your opinion of the target audience is

• What your opinion about the top is. Creating a link.

Conclusion So, I hope I have convinced you that Clarkson needs to re-think his argument and get to grips with the fact that Marmite just isn’t an acceptable breakfast condiment. I am sure that your readers will also see sense and embrace the alternatives.