5.4. "The Country That Stopped Reading" RI9.

We are talking in this unit about how a society decides what should be learned in school and how it should be taught. I found this op-ed piece ("op-ed piece" is short for opinion or editorial, which is a section of the newspaper where the writer is allowed to express opinions and make arguments, an op-ed is a kind of essay) about how a writer wishes to alter the approach that his homeland takes towards school.

"The Country That Stopped Reading" from The New York Times

For an argument or persuasive essay, remember that when you are thinking about the whether you think the writer is right or not depends of a few things. First, you have to understand his position. Next, you have to understand his supporting reasons. Last, you need to check if those supporting reasons have good enough explanations and sufficient and valid enough evidence.

This is easier than you think if you know how to prewrite for a persuasive essay. When writing a persuasive essay, you think of a plan (the prewrite) and then execute the essay. When reading a persuasive essay, you instead take the finished essay and try and figure out the plan the writer used.

Assignment: Take the author's essay and identify the position, reasons, explanations, and examples that he uses. Copy and paste this organizer below into a document and then fill it in. I have only given room for two supporting reasons, but simply copy and paste the block to make more.

Writer's Position:

         Supporting Reason:
                        
                        Explanation:

                        Evidence:

                  Supporting Reason:

                         

                        Explanation:

                        Evidence: