Portfolio entry # 12 A video - Death penalty

Key words: death penalty; crime; crime rate; criminal chaos; abolish; capital punishment; irreversible; execution; horror; human right; torture; equality; human being.

Key phrases: "When a country abolishes death penalty they are not plunged into criminal chaos. " "Every one has the right to live and no one should be subjected to torture." "The death penalty is irreversible." "They crossed the line but we do really want to join them?"

In the following video, Jeremy Irons talks about death penalty and outlines his arguments against it saying that:

- Death penalty does not guarantee a lower crime rate. Even if it did, it would not be acceptable.
- Irreversibility is an important point to consider since you cannot bring back the dead. 

- Inadequate legal representation means capital punishment.

- The abuse of a basic human right is evident: the right to live.

- The panic of waiting for your death implies a psychological and physical torture.

- Equality means human rights are applied to all human beings. Equality is not social discrimination. Equality is not arbitrariness.

- People and the judicial system should be able to differentiate imprisonment and execution.

Portfolio entry # 11 A letter

After Mark Chapman, the man who shot and killed John Lennon, had been up for parole, Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, wrote a letter to the Parole Board opposing to his release. In that letter she expressed that:
1) if the subject were to be released, many people would feel betrayed.
2) herself and John's sons would feel unsafe for the rest of their lives.
3) other people who would like to receive world attention could do the same as Chapman, bringing back the chaos and confussion again.
4) it would not be fair that Chapman enjoyed a normal life when Lennon had lost his life.
5) it would not be safe for Chapman since Lennon's fans might decide to take justice into their own hands.

Portfolio entry # 10 A podcast

Jennifer Gonzalez was a writing teacher for seven years. She was certified as an English language arts teacher but she was always interested in teaching children how to write.

In her podcast on " A step-by-step plan for teaching argumentative writing", she describes the process she uses for teaching argumentative writing and the strategies to improve it.

The first step would be watching how it is done. Learners should start reading mentor texts in order to be exposed to samples of  real writings in the genre they will be required to write. Teacher should ask learners to read  and compare two pieces of writing to study the way the writers have used the strategies and evidence to back up their points of view and persuade the reader to think in a certain way.

Secondly, the teacher should use an interesting topic as an icebreaker and start a verbal arguing so that each student can defend his position.

In a third instance, a second debate is be set up but in this occassion, students should be supplied with a few articles that can give them arguments or evidence to support their assertions. Once the verbal argument is finished, students are asked to write what their position is and give three reasons to back up it. In sum, they are asked to write the thesis statement.

Next, teachers should introduce the peformance assessment, describe the task and the score that will be used. It would be a good idea to give students separate topics and provide reliable research material.

As a fifth step, it is necessary to build the base. Students should spend time in pre-writng work and outline the main points in a graphic organizer. For that, the teacher can write a model in class, on a different topic, to show how the process is and in this way, help students to start moving at their own pace.

Another instance is workshop. It would be a good idea to provide students with teacher created-samples of argumentative essays to show the kind of writing the teacher expects from them and they can appreciate how the writing skills are implemented. The teacher should monitor the students' performance and give feedback at all stages of the assignment as well as encourage collaborative work among students and benefit from each other.
Finally, students are ready to submit. In case they have not been able to meet the basic requirements, they should be given the opportunity to revise their assignment and resubmit.

Source: 

Retrieved from: http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/persuasive-writing/