4.15

=(30 min) Independent Reading=

=Small Group Discussion= Read the following excerpt from The Decline of Radicalism (1969) by Daniel J. Boorstin and consider the implications of the distinction Boorstin makes between dissent and disagreement. Then, using appropriate evidence, write a carefully reasoned essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify Boorstin’s distinction.

//Dissent is the great problem of America today. It overshadows all others. It is// //a symptom, an expression, a consequence, and a cause of all others.// //I say dissent and not disagreement. And it is the distinction between dissent and// //disagreement which I really want to make. Disagreement produces debate but dissent// //produces dissension. Dissent (which comes from the Latin, dis and sentire) means// //originally to feel apart from others.// //People who disagree have an argument, but people who dissent have a quarrel. People// //may disagree and both may count themselves in the majority. But a person who dissents// //is by definition in a minority. A liberal society thrives on disagreement but is killed by// //dissension. Disagreement is the life blood of democracy, dissension is its cancer.//

=(10 min) Individual Pre-Write=
 * Compose a THESIS.
 * Sketch out a plan for your argument:
 * Claim
 * Data
 * Warrant
 * Backing
 * Counter/Rebuttal

=Read Student Exemplar Essays=
 * Student Exemplar Essays
 * Why do these essays score an "8" and a "6"?
 * What does the writer do well?
 * What can the writer improve?