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Text Structure / Features Rhetorical Appeals / Author’s Purpose …
Text Structure / Features
Rhetorical Appeals / Author’s Purpose
Directions: Highlight any evidence found in the texts that supports the author’s primary claim. ANSWERS ALL THE QUESTIONS ON THE SIDE.
Read Passage 1 – “Limit Your Screen Time!”
1 Over the last several decades, people have increasingly replaced face-to-face contact with screen time, whether by playing video games, browsing the Internet, or texting with others. The results of this increased time in front of a screen are poorer physical fitness, increased attention problems, and a growing detachment from others. As a country, we should set strict parameters to limit our exposure to screensand increase our exposure to each other. It’s estimated that most children spend five to seven hours a day in front of a screen for one reason or another. This exposure leads to a host of problems.
Health
2 People who sit in front of a screen for long periods of time engage less in physical activity. And, due to the influence of junk-food commercials on television, the food they eat is frequently unhealthy. Together, these factors lead to a wide variety of health problems.
Attention and Mood Problems
3
Watching television or using a computer for more than two hours a day can sometimes lead to attention problems. Screens can trigger a “stress response,” causing overstimulation in a child. Playing video games heightens the problem even more. And a study in England found that children who spent more than two hours a day in front of screens had greater psychological difficulties. The kids reported greater feelings of sadness than those who received less screen
exposure. This problem occurred even when the children balanced the screen time with regular physical activity.
Relationships with Others
4
People addicted to the Internet or gaming have shown atrophy, or shrinkage, in the gray matter areas of their brains. These areas are related to processing. Damage to one specific region, called the insula, results in decreased empathy for others and a reduced ability to link physical signals with emotions. These deficiencies can affect personal relationships with others. During one study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, researchers divided sixth graders into two groups. One of the groups went without access to technology, instead spending time at an outdoor-education camp. The other group had normal access to phones, computers, and televisions. At the end of the five-day period, researchers showed the two groups of sixth-graders the pictures of 50 people’s faces. The researchers then asked the kids to identify
the emotions reflected in the faces.
5 The kids who’d attended the camp and refrained from using technological devices did significantly better in identifying the emotions than the other group of kids did. Going just five days without any exposure to technology somehow enabled the group to read emotions better. The researchers attributed the difference in responses to the fact that the kids at camp had far more direct interaction with people
6 People may ask why the problem with screen time is any worse now than it was before. After all, people have been watching television since the 1950s. While this is true, the more recent advent of cell phones, personal computers, and gaming devices has greatly increased our level of screen exposure.
7 We now know that technological devices can have an adverse effect not just on our health but on our relationships as well. It is important for families, schools, and communities to recognize the problems associated with too much screen exposure. We should disconnect from our devices and reconnect with each other.
Text Dependent Questions:
Read Paragraph 5 and answer questions 1 & 2:
1. What is the claim?
2. How does the author use multiple text structures to develop this claim? (Hint: Identify two text structures.)
3. What is the author’s purpose of passage 1? (Hint: What is the reason behind why the author wrote this article? What is the author trying to prove?)
4. Read paragraphs 3, 5, & 7 and HIGHLIGHT and identify examples of rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos).
Read Passage 2 – “The Upside of Screen Time”
1
A lot of people argue that we should spend less time in front of screens. They say we devote too much time to activities like surfing the Internet and playing video games. But critics fail to acknowledge the upside of these activities. In fact, these practices can actually improve children’s learning skills and moods and also help create greater bonds between people. For this reason,
we should be more hesitant to condemn any time spent in front of a screen.
Video Games
2 Studies have shown that gaming can help develop such cognitive skills as reasoning, memory, and spatial navigation. These skills can be useful in a person’s personal and professional life. For example, good spatial-navigation skills are often necessary in fields such as engineering and technology.
3 Furthermore, studies have shown that video games involving roleplaying can help improve a person’s problem-solving skills and games requiring quick thinking can help players learn how to make decisions more quickly. Simple video games, which are quick and easy, can improve a player’s mood by helping him or her relax.
4
Successfully playing a video game can also help build a player’s self-esteem and sense of achievement. But even when a player doesn’t do well, he or she gains some benefits. Video games can help teach players to be persistent and resilient in the face of failure. They can also help players cope with feelings like aggression and separation in a non-threatening environment.
These skills can ultimately help people address similar challenges in their daily lives.
5
One common misconception of gamers is that they’re socially isolated people. In fact, it’s estimated that 70% of gamers play with friends, while many others engage in virtual play with worldwide communities. This exposure allows gamers to develop cooperation and team-building skills. Furthermore, those who play on teams rather than individually report a lower occurrence of
hostile feelings. This is even the case when gamers play more aggressive video games. In fact, Oxford University conducted a study that found that children who played video games every day, but for less than one hour per day, had more positive social interactions than children who either
didn’t play any video games at all or who played for longer than three hours a day. So the key may be not to eliminate game time completely but to limit it to a reasonable amount of time.
The Internet
6
Video games aren’t the only screen based activity that provides social benefits to participants, however. The Internet also offers many chances for people to connect with others. Social networking sites, for example, allow people to share their interests with each other. And online virtual study groups let students interact and exchange ideas. Some researchers even believe
that online study groups help students learn more effectively than they would by studying on their own.
7 To summarize, people need to take a more measured approach to forbidding screen time. Activities like gaming and social networking can actually help develop important cognitive and social skills. They can even put us in a better mood. And who doesn’t want that?
5. What is the meaning of “Upside” as it is used in the title? (Hint: Does the word have a positive or negative connotation/meaning?)
6. How does the use of ‘headings’ impact the overall organizational structure of the text? (Hint: How are the headings helping you understand the text?)
7. Part A: Read the “Video Games” section. What text structure is used in this section? (Hint: Problem/Solution, Cause & Effect, Description, Sequence)
7. Part B: Highlight an example from this section that supports your answer for part A.
8. Part A: After reading both passages, identify which passage “supports the use of technology” and which one does not.
8. Part B: How do the author’s support their arguments? (Hint: Do both authors use evidence to support their arguments?)
9. Based on your highlights for evidence, which passage has a more valid argument? (Hint: Which passage has strong evidence that supports their argument?)
Read Passage 3 – “Senator Obama’s Keynote Speech at the Democratic National Convention, 2004”
1 On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant.
2 But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place; America which stood as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before. While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor he signed up for duty, joined Patton’s army and marched across Europe. Back home, my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through FHA, and moved west in search of opportunity.
3 And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream, born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or “blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential. They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with pride.
4 I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible. Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
5 That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody’s son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be countedor at least, most of the time.
6 This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations. And fellow AmericansDemocrats, Republicans, IndependentsI say to you tonight: we have more work to do.
10. Read paragraph 4, What is the central idea? (Hint: What is the paragraph about?)
11. Read paragraph 4, why does Senator Obama include an excerpt from the “Declaration of Independence” in this paragraph?
12. Read paragraph 2, How do the people, places, events and eras help develop the central idea?
11. Read paragraphs 4, & 5, and HIGHLIGHT and identify examples of rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos).
