Thesis Quickfire Challenge
AP English Language and Composition, Rebekah Follmer
1/24/2018
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One of the most difficult aspects of the writing portion of the exam lies in time constraints. Students receive prompts and must not only formulate a concrete argument but also convey their thoughts with sophistication. I have found that some students jump to facile arguments rather than the complex claims that will earn them higher scores. Thus, throughout the year, I challenge students to respond quickly and articulately to argument prompts in a tournament format I call the "Thesis Quickfire Challenge." Here are the rules:
- Throughout the semester, Mrs. Follmer will post a statement, image, or prompt. Students are to write a claim in response to this posting.
- All claims may defend, challenge, or qualify the claim being made.
- Students will be paired in “face-offs” as they compete in the tournament. The bracket will be posted on the class website, and the google doc will clearly identify matches. The winners of face-offs will advance to the next round, but all students are required to participate each round as practice.
- Contestants should take five minutes to write their claims (self-timed). Students may choose to write introductory paragraphs as part of their claims, though length alone will not necessarily signal superiority.
- After receiving feedback from Mrs. Follmer and the class TA, students will vote on the best claim on the class and sometimes revise their work.
- Exemplary claims will be posted and discussed on the class website.
- Students who lose face-offs may still win the tournament by winning in the loser's bracket.
- The winning student may choose to receive extra credit or skip a short assignment (as agreed upon with Mrs. Follmer).
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