What is thesis or main idea?
For this week’s discussion choose one reading and one visual text. Write one paragraph for each selection. (One written text and one visual text)
PLEASE DO NOT ATTACH WORD DOCUMENTS TO THE DISCUSSION FORUMS. TYPE DIRECTLY IN THE TEXT BOX, OR TYPE IN WORD AND THEN COPY/PASTE.
First focus is on the main idea. This is a course link to the discussion board. Select the title to access the discussion thread. You can access the full discussion board and view all the forums from the Discussion Board link in the course menu.
For this discussion, complete one main post and two peer responses. For full participation credit, posts must occur on three or more days during the active week. First post should occur on or before Wednesday. See rubric for full assessment of discussion posts.
Main Post #1: Choose one reading and one visual text from the options below and answer the following questions. (250 word minimum). Pose a question for your classmates to grapple with.
Written Text Answer Three Questions:
- What is thesis or main idea?
- Describe the plot in one or two sentences by identifying the conflict, climax and resolution.
- Select a specific part, passage, or phrase from the story; quote it and identify which rhetorical strategy it represents.
- Rhetorical Modes.pptx Rhetorical Modes Handout.docx
Visual Text Answer Three Questions:
- What is the main idea or thesis?
- Describe the conflict or tension
- How do the elements in the image support the main message?
For Your Peer Responses: In no less than 150 words, respond meaningfully to your peers’ posts.
Written Options:
- Mother Tongue, Any Tan pp. 697 – 703
Sample of Written Response (based on Rebel Music, p. 81)
In Rebel Music, Daniel Felsenfeld shares his coming of age as a musician and composer. The story is his journey as a rebel and surprising discovery and passion for classical music. The main idea or thesis is what is means to be different. Unlike other teenagers who listened to punk, goth, heavy metal music, he finds something that really sets him apart. The climax comes when he heard “something really wild” that changes his life: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The resolution was his decision to become a composer of contemporary classical music.
He describes how his life in Orange Country, California takes an unexpected turn by using compare and contrast. He compares the lush landscape of his childhood neighborhood to the arid or desert-like life without high art and culture.
“The O.C. was billed as the ideal suburban community, but when you are raised in ta palm-tree lined Shangri-La,… it is hard to grasp what is missing. Now, I realize: even though we had enough water to keep the manicured leans just so, I was experiencing a personal drought, an arid lack of culture of all kinds, especially music” (Felsenfeld, 2010, p. 81).
