Introduction
Students,
The blog will be divided into five weeks, and each week will correspond to your first five Extended Responses that will need to be written, printed, and made ready for class during the first month of the course (September 2019). However, the virtual discussion can help you gather the ideas that likely will surface in Extended Response I-V. You are not required to answer all of the questions for any given week, but you will need to answer all of them for your Extended Responses. In other words, the more that you do now, the less work that you will have when you return to school. While your ideas may be influenced and even shaped by posts in the virtual discussion, avoid plagiarism at all costs. Plagiarism includes both intentional and unintentional missteps.
Good Luck,
Mr. La Plante
I bid you a hearty welcome to AP Seminar and this virtual discussion that will unfold over the course of the summer 2019. I am excited to read your interactions with other students (both juniors and seniors), and my primary role will be to function as a moderator or question generator. While I may add some comments in regards to specific observations and analytical threads, my hope is the bulk of the exchange of ideas will come from you.
The blog will be divided into five weeks, and each week will correspond to your first five Extended Responses that will need to be written, printed, and made ready for class during the first month of the course (September 2019). However, the virtual discussion can help you gather the ideas that likely will surface in Extended Response I-V. You are not required to answer all of the questions for any given week, but you will need to answer all of them for your Extended Responses. In other words, the more that you do now, the less work that you will have when you return to school. While your ideas may be influenced and even shaped by posts in the virtual discussion, avoid plagiarism at all costs. Plagiarism includes both intentional and unintentional missteps.
Before we begin our virtual discussion and blog experience, I want to make sure that a few foundational expectations and norms are firmly established:
- AP Seminar will consist of two sections: One will be comprised mainly if not entirely of juniors, and the other will be populated with seniors. All will access this blog and join in the conversation; all can be made better from the diverse perspectives and contexts; all voices matter. I do not want to see some petty schoolyard rivalry develop now or at any point throughout the year. You all are esteemed members of AP Seminar.
- Our number one goal is to seek understandings and not judgments. Make sure that your observations and reactions about the pieces that we read and the various discussion comments seek to understand. Consider context and perspective of the author, speaker, or situation before you articulate your thoughts and analysis.
- Be critical and specific yet kind. All of these pieces have been crafted by talented writers, and whether you agree with the ideas or not, the selections are quality works of nonfiction. Furthermore, all of your peers deserve that respect and more. Observations often are hollow and meaningless when they do emanate from specific illustrative details. Ground all of your discussion comments with specific textual references before you extrapolate and attempt to make generalizations about the human condition. Intelligent generalizations do exist, but they rarely come without integrating very specific details and circumstances into your understanding.
- Keep an open mind, and know you will be asked to leave this blog if your comments become mean-spirited, judgmental, or bombastic. We seek to understand divisions not enlarge them; we will maintain a critical yet respectful discourse. (Hopefully, you recognize a theme here.)
- Do not "talk" (write) to hear yourself speak. Do not be self-aggrandizing, pompous, or arrogant. Listen. Be thoughtful. Do not reverse-engineer your arguments. Maintain a flexible mind that is capable of intelligent synthesis and integration.
- Do not be bullied by the appearance of a majority opinion. All ideas count, especially divergent ones. We value intellectual pluralism, and that plurality hinges on minority opinions.
- Participate regularly (at least once a week beginning the week of July 22nd) for a minimum of five quality posts. Feel free to participate more. However, as long as the minimum requirements are met, I grade more on the quality of a post as opposed to the sheer quantity. If you miss a week due to a vacation or something else that prevents you from contributing, simply add an extra post when you rejoin the conversation, but I do not want you writing five hurried posts in the final week. More posts are not necessarily better, but the more active you are with critical, creative, and intelligent posts, the better your grade will be.
- A quality post needs to germinate from specifics, but it does not have to be some profound theory that encapsulates all of the human condition. We want to make arguments about arguments, delve into the implications, and evaluate multiple perspectives on our way to achieving more nuanced understandings. Explore points of digression; juxtapose ideas and sources; embrace paradoxical, antithetical, and ironic contrasts as fertile plots for discovery.
- A quality post could be a series of questions or reaction to a previously established idea. You should react and "talk back" to the texts, and you should react and "talk back" to one another. Feel free to offer new discussion threads if the conversation leads to a new route. Be flexible and reflective, but you also should adapt to new ideas that germinate and branch off.
- Do not be a cheerleader and simply repeat or reiterate what was said. The real danger with this virtual discussion, other than being mean or judgmental, is that your posts and discussion comments are repetitive. While you are not precluded from agreeing with a point, use that agreement (or disagreement) as a way to make a new point. Ideas can be contagious.
Good Luck,
Mr. La Plante