- Students will recognize and analyze the uses and types of evidence in argument.
- Students will define and evaluate the affect of bullying in young adulthood.
In order to enhance our skills at recognizing evidence within an argument, we are going to analyze the documentary Bully. Each day you will be given a specific set of notes to maintain throughout the viewing process. You will use these notes to journal and reflect upon the argument of the documentary.
These notes will be created in a Google document, so you will have your computer on during the documentary; however, you are not allowed to have any other documents or Internet sites open during this time. If you are caught with some open, your computer privileges will be revoked for the remainder of the documentary and you will need to maintain handwritten notes.
PART 1: Personal Narrative and Anecdote
Our first set of notes will focus on the evidence the documentary produces in support of the argument: bullying is a social issue in which aggressors target those viewed as different.
- Describe the students the documentary introduces. Briefly describe their stories.
- What are the different types of bullying these student encounter?
- Why are some young adults more vulnerable to bullying? Why do they become targets?
- Who are the bullies? How do they get away with the bullying? How can bullies be stopped? What are the consequences?
- What impact does bullying have on the family and friends of people who are bullied?
PART 2: Persuasion
Evidences and Purposes
Every piece of writing constructed has a a specific purpose. The format of the writing is determined based on that purpose. In order to determine the purpose of a text, you must answer the following questions:
- What is the argument of the text?
- What evidence is used to support the argument/opinion?
- Who is the audience?
After you have determined the answers to these questions, you can begin to analyze how the writer presents these ideas. These elements will vary based on the type of text. Together we will analyze the different types of argument listed below. We will analyze the elements utilized in the text and we will determine the texts’ purpose.
Informational: Informational texts increase the reader’s knowledge of the topic. Think definition.
Text: Bullying Definition, StopBullying.gov
Opinion: Known as op-ed pieces in the media, is a piece of media typically found in magazines or newspapers. It is a piece of writing, constructed by a columnist, in which they state their opinion about a relevant topic or issue in society.
Then with your partner, you will find different types of argument about your topic.
Text: Fighting Back Against Bullies, James E. Causey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Persuasive: Persuasive writing attempts to coarse the reader to perform a certain action or view the topic in the same way as the writer using appeals. An appeal is a device used in nonfiction to persuade you as the audience to feel and react in a specific way. There are three different types of appeals. This persuasion occurs using specific appeals: ethos, pathos, logos. Although persuasive pieces can utilize all three appeals, the tone of the piece usually has one dominate appeal.
Ethos (appeal to character): this is when the filmmaker (or writer) attempts to present an authoritative or credible self-image to convince the audience of the argument.
Pathos (appeal to emotion): this is when the filmmaker (or writer) attempts to make the audience feel a certain way, emotionally, in order to make the argument more believable.
Examples: The personal narratives and anecdotes of the bully victims in the Bully documentary.
Logos (appeal to logic): this is when the filmmaker (or writer) uses facts, evidence, statistics, graphs, basically any type of reason to make the audience believe their audience.
Fiction: Fictional texts can create arguments or messages that are conveyed to the reader through literary elements such as characterization, dialogue, conflict/plot, theme, etc.
Text: The Swan, Roald Dahl
- Identify a specific aspect of 