1qaSADJ

Special Focus:
Writing Persuasively
and her own argument for the freedom to indulge our individual and quirky interests
effectively incorporates those five sources.
If you are to base your decision on these reports, then culture is a crazy,
mixed bag of values. As a larger society we are worried about death, beauty,
ambition, and marketing. As individuals, we are just plain weird. Apparently
many of us consult the local newspaper for a listing of “arts” events (the old
definition of culture), while others of us are really interested in the lives of
famous people who have posed nude as a way of advancing their careers.
We enjoy “seeing” (literally!) not only the expected Janet Jackson or Sylvester
Stallone but the surprising volleyball player from Florida State University
and Katarina Witt, the Olympic skater. Some of us say “Hola, way to go”
with the argument by the Hispanic columnist that the swimsuit and evening
gown competitions will bring the Venezuelan Suncoast community together,
while others think “maybe not.” But, among all of us, somewhere out there, in
Los Angeles actually (where else?) we thrill to going to a celebrity cemetery
filled with deceased movie stars where we living people can now watch old
movies and have picnics. Others of us cannot wait to go online, answer some
questions (a regular bowel movement?), and get a prediction for our own,
personal, projected death date. These last two possibilities stretch most of us
into the most advanced definition of “culture.” Weird. Just plain weird. What
is wonderful about this overall sense of culture is that it is broad enough to
give all of us the room to be ourselves.
A discussion of her choices for documentation included her use of parentheses. Some
students felt that the tone this form of punctuation created made the content confusing.
The parentheses serve too many different purposes. The first set is necessary to contrast
with the ultimate definition, the second emphasizes the pun, the third is sarcastic, and
the fourth is unclear as to the source. After playing around with revision, purpose, and
audience, they suggested that Masielle keep them all and clarify the last one, which they
rewrote to read “(asking for personal responses such as whether or not you have ‘a regular
bowel movement’).” When the issue of audience was extended to that of an AP Reader and
whether she would find this tone and these parentheses appropriate, they finally decided
that the tone fit the sources, and an AP Reader would have the sources in front of her.
Activities such as these seem to facilitate a better understanding about sources and their
incorporation. Students understand that they themselves must have “something to say” as
well as knowing what makes good evidence and how to include it.
AP® English Language and Composition: 2006–2007 Workshop Materials 17