    Program Resources Online Student Edition Glencoe Online Essay Grader Progress Reporter Online Assessment Media Center Unit Resources Interactive Reading Practice Unit Skills Assessment About the Big Ideas (English) About the Big Ideas (Spanish) Big Idea Web Quest Author Search Interactive Literary Elements Handbook Literature Classics Literature Library Study Guides Online Student Resources Interactive Writing Models Writing and Research Handbook Selection Resources Reading-Writing Connection Activities Selection Quizzes (English) |  |  LiteratureAbout the Big Ideas (English)Part 1: Looking into Lives Overview The nonfiction selections in Part 1 portray people from diverse cultural and historical backgrounds. The personal stories narrated in the following autobiographies and biographies remind readers that, although we come from very different backgrounds and perspectives, we share similar struggles and joys. The human condition is the common thread that binds us together. The personal accounts in this section are categorized as autobiographies or biographies. In an autobiography, a writer narrates his or her life story. Autobiographies are usually written from a first-person point of view. A biography, on other hand, is an account of a person's life written by another person. Most biographies chronologically trace a person's life. Because they are written from an outsider's perspective, biographical texts incorporate the author's attitude toward the person that he or she is writing about. Web Sources The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin The Biographical Dictionary Overview The personal and expository essays in Part 2 describe the writers' travels around the world. The authors share insights about their backgrounds and themselves, gained as a result of their journeys, Adventure or travel writing is informative as well as reflective in tone and style. Many prefer to write about their travels in the form of an essay because of its shorter length and focused topic. Personal essays are more informal than expository or persuasive essays and are frequently written in the first-person point of view. In an expository essay, the writer's main objective is to explain an idea, a place, or an experience. A persuasive essay aims to convince the reader of an idea through clear and logical arguments. Web Sources The Online Writing Lab National Peace Essay Contest Overview Men and women have altered the course of history using their ability to persuade others to imagine a different reality. Sometimes these individuals conveyed their message through gentle appeals; other times, their provocative words incited people to take action. The writers in Part 3 also demonstrate the power of persuasion, whether they are asking their audience to take responsibility for American ideals or asking them to build a new ballpark. Persuasive writing attempts to convince readers to think or act in a particular way and often makes appeals to emotion as well as to logic and reason. An argumentis a specific type of persuasive writing or speaking in which logic and evidence is used to appeal to reason. An effective argument usually has a clear assertion, or statement of belief. Evidence to support the assertion follows in a logical, organized manner. The writer or speaker will sometimes acknowledge counterarguments, or ideas that support the opposing view, and offer a solution or response that addresses them. Web Resources American Rhetoric The Gettysburg Address Log InThe resource you requested requires you to enter a username and password below: |
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