The BEST Way to Break Down the Argument Prompt!

Summary

The video by Tim Freitas from Garden of English is tailored for AP students grappling with the argument essay prompt. Tim, addressing students from Holy Cross High School and Mount Saint Mary's, offers strategies to tackle the deceitfully simple-looking prompt under exam pressure. Emphasizing understanding positions, perspectives, and optional assumptions within prompts, he guides viewers through a systematic approach. He illustrates using an example prompt, aiming to build confidence in students so they can excel in their AP exams with effective planning and thesis development.

Highlights

• Tim Freitas gives a motivating shoutout to AP students, highlighting the dedication of their teachers. 🎉
• Tim reveals the nuanced approach needed to tackle deceitful prompts effectively. 🧐
• The video introduces an 'organizer template' helping students structure their thoughts visually. 🗂️

Key Takeaways

• Understanding the difference between positions and perspectives is crucial for analyzing prompts effectively. 😊
• Finding assumptions isn't mandatory, but it adds depth to your analysis. 🔍
• Engage with prompts critically to generate complex arguments. 🧠

Overview

In this engaging video by Garden of English, Tim Freitas demystifies the tricky world of AP exam argument prompts. With a friendly nod to students at Holy Cross High School and Mount Saint Mary's, Tim illustrates how seemingly straightforward prompts can pose challenges under time constraints. Using a method that pinpoints positions, perspectives, and assumptions, he empowers students to dissect prompts effectively, making the task more manageable.

Tim takes students through a step-by-step breakdown using a sample prompt from the AMSCO AP Language and Composition book. He emphasizes the importance of identifying positions and perspectives, showcasing how these elements form the backbone of understanding the prompt. While analyzing assumptions is optional, it can enhance analytical depth, helping students generate robust arguments.

Finally, Tim provides practical tools and examples, including an organizer template, to streamline students' exam prep. He encourages AP students to practice these strategies to handle prompts efficiently, promising improved confidence and performance. Future videos promise guidance on translating these planning steps into articulate thesis statements and essays.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Acknowledgements In the opening chapter titled 'Introduction and Acknowledgements,' the host Tim Freitas greets everyone to his educational platform, 'The Garden of English.' He extends special acknowledgments to AP students from Ms. Hudic's class at Holy Cross High School and Ms. Gazette's class at Mount Saint Mary's, applauding the dedication of their teachers. Tim expresses excitement to hear about the students' success in their upcoming exams. He then transitions into the primary focus of the day, which is discussing argumentative essays, warning that despite their seemingly straightforward nature, they can be quite challenging.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Understanding the Argument Prompt Chapter Title: Understanding the Argument Prompt Summary: The chapter provides guidance on managing the pressure of writing an argument essay during an exam, especially when time is limited, such as on an AP exam. It suggests strategies to confidently break down the argument prompt and compose the essay regardless of whether it is written first, last, or in between other essays. This guidance is aimed to help alleviate the anxiety of the task.
• 01:00 - 02:30: Step 1: Springboard Step Chapter Title: Step 1: Springboard Step Summary: In this chapter, the focus is on the 'Springboard Step' as introduced through an argument prompt from the AMSCO AP Language and Composition book. The prompt is described as highly accessible. The chapter begins by encouraging the reader to engage with the prompt thoroughly, emphasizing that this is the starting point for the exercise.
• 02:30 - 04:00: Identifying Positions and Perspectives This chapter focuses on teaching the difference between a position and a perspective, which is crucial for responding to written prompts effectively. It emphasizes the importance of identifying these elements within a prompt to craft a well-thought-out response. While similar, a position is defined as what is being argued, while a perspective refers to the relationship of the person arguing to the subject they are discussing. Understanding these nuances can enhance one’s ability to analyze prompts accurately, especially in test situations.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Considering Assumptions The chapter discusses the importance of understanding and considering different assumptions when evaluating a situation or prompt. It presents an example of how an educator and a child's guardians may share the same goal in wanting the child to succeed, but their underlying reasons, or assumptions, are different due to their distinct perspectives. The chapter emphasizes the need to identify and record these assumptions to better understand the intent and context of a given situation.
• 05:00 - 06:30: Using the Organizer and Additional Resources This chapter focuses on the importance of identifying key elements such as positions, perspectives, and assumptions when analyzing a prompt. While finding assumptions may not always be necessary, pinpointing positions and perspectives is crucial for critical thinking. Identifying these components serves as a springboard for developing thoughts and forming a comprehensive understanding of the prompt.
• 06:30 - 08:00: Step 2: Agree or Disagree In this chapter, the focus is on developing different ways to engage with an essay prompt. It starts with the recognition of two clearly articulated positions within a text. One position argues that warning labels are beneficial as they help individuals avoid troubling material, suggesting this as an appropriate action. The opposing position emphasizes that tolerating offensive material is essential in a free society. The chapter encourages stepping beyond just the discomfort of writing and engaging more critically with the prompt.
• 08:00 - 10:00: Step 3: Find the Command Chapter 3 explores how to identify different positions and perspectives within a prompt, especially when analyzing AP exam prompts. It emphasizes the importance of not prioritizing one perspective over another simply based on its source, but rather considering which viewpoint you might naturally align with. The chapter also reassures readers that some prompts might present only a single perspective, which is acceptable. It encourages examining past AP questions, such as the 2018 prompt about exploring the unknown, for further understanding.
• 10:00 - 11:30: Step 4: Generate the Conquer Question In Chapter 4, titled 'Generate the Conquer Question,' the focus is on identifying assumptions within prompts. The process involves searching for underlying implications that are not explicitly stated. Using the prompt under examination, it is implied that media contains offensive and troubling content. The chapter encourages readers to mine prompts for such areas and understand the potential effects of actions like applying warning labels on media.
• 11:30 - 13:00: Step 5: Initial Reaction Chapter 5, titled 'Initial Reaction,' focuses on the reader's or individual's ability to tolerate and analyze assumptions found within a given text, particularly those assumptions that aren't expressed as absolute truths. It stresses the importance of identifying language snippets that imply something is true without explicitly stating it, as doing so encourages more complex reading skills. The chapter acknowledges the challenge in mastering this skill, suggesting practice and patience. It also reassures readers that if identifying assumptions becomes too difficult, skipping this part is acceptable as the primary goal is to encourage deeper thought processing.
• 13:00 - 15:00: Practice and Overview The chapter 'Practice and Overview' focuses on preparing for the test day by organizing thoughts and positions in a chart. It emphasizes the importance of identifying various positions, perspectives, and assumptions related to the argument prompt. The practical advice includes using white space for quick notes during the test and suggests using a detailed organizer for practice.

The BEST Way to Break Down the Argument Prompt! Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 first things first folks welcome to the garden of english i'm tim freitas i want to give a huge shout out to the ap students in ms hudic's class at holy cross high school and ms gazette's students at mount saint mary's i've been chatting with your teachers as of late and you are super fortunate to have such dedicated folks guiding your classroom i look forward to hearing of your success after the exam in may all right let's get into what we're taking care of today it's time for argument and this essay can be quite deceitful it may seem nice and easy but let me tell you sometimes it's tricky
• 00:30 - 01:00 but i've got you covered you just gotta stand by me now this particular essay test can be especially sticky if you've already written two other essays and only have a little less than an hour to write the final essay on your ap exam talk about anxiety and pressure or agony and pain whether or not you save your argument until the end write it first or sandwich it between the other essays i'm going to reveal the secrets of how to break down the argument prompt so that no matter how much pressure you feel you'll be able to own this essay so let's get to
• 01:00 - 01:30 it for this video i'm going to rely on an argument prompt taken from the amsco ap lingan composition book did you know i heard that book has some pretty amazing authors all right all fun and kidding aside this prompt is extremely accessible and you'll see it on the screen right about now all right so you've read the prompt but you haven't actually read the prompt so let's look at what you need to do starting with well step one this step is called the springboard step because it's
• 01:30 - 02:00 going to give you a springboard to build your thoughts about what you need to write about when you get a prompt while you read it you first need to search for the positions perspectives and assumptions that are contained within it this may sound super simple and oftentimes it can be but there is a little bit of nuance i want to explain so that you can do this like a champ on test day to do this right you need to know the difference between a position and a perspective a position is what is actually being argued a perspective is the relationship of the person arguing to the subject that he or she is arguing about for
• 02:00 - 02:30 example i can want to help prepare one of my students to grow up and be incredibly successful and so can that child's parents or guardians so we share the same position but why i care about that student's success is different than the guardian's reason for curing because i'm coming from the perspective of an educator and the guardian is coming from the perspective of well exactly that when you look for assumptions in the prompt you need to consider what's implied by different parts of the prompt and then just record those implications if you're going to neglect one of these three elements in your initial search
• 02:30 - 03:00 ignore the assumptions part though you might not need to do the assumption part i'm still going to show you what finding these assumptions looks like because if you can do it it'll help you think more critically about the prompt but remember you'll make it out alive if you don't find that last element i'm alive yeah the positions and perspectives though now those parts are non-negotiable you gotta make sure you pinpoint those when you read through the prompt the first time the reason why you want to find as much of what i just mentioned as possible is because this step will be the springboard for your thoughts it'll
• 03:00 - 03:30 also help you develop different ways to engage with the prompt besides just sitting there wishing you didn't have one more essay to write so let's actually try step one out with this particular prompt if i go back to it i want to recognize that there are two positions clearly articulated within the text these would be warning labels allow individuals not to encounter troubling material and this is an appropriate action and the other position is that tolerating offense is an integral part of a society that is free in regard to the perspectives for these positions
• 03:30 - 04:00 you'll notice that the first position is attributed to general advocates and the second position is attributed to a lecturer at the yale child study center now is one position more important than the other because of whose perspective it comes from not necessarily but there may be one you gravitate toward more and you just want to consider this you should also know that sometimes prompts only offer just one position in perspective that's okay too if you'd like an example of a prompt like this check out the 2018 publicly released ap lane question 3 about exploring the unknown anyway once you find these positions and perspectives all you need
• 04:00 - 04:30 to do is just mark them in the organizer that's linked in the description down below this video i'll show you what it actually looks like in just a few moments before i do though i want to draw your attention towards searching for the assumptions in the prompt as well all i'm asking you to do is mine the prompt for areas that imply something is true without necessarily articulating that position in the case of this prompt it implies that the media is filled with offensive and troubling content troubling content is consistently definable and applying warning labels may negatively affect an
• 04:30 - 05:00 individual's ability to tolerate a defense if you were to go check out that 2018 prompt i mentioned a little while ago you'll notice that one of the assumptions in that prompt would be that there is actually value in exploring the unknown all you're doing to find these assumptions is searching for snippets of language that suggests something is true without making the absolute truth claim about it seriously complex reading skill here so that's why you need to practice it a bit and if you really struggle with it like i said no big deal don't do the assumptions part the point of this particular part of searching for assumptions will only just allow you to generate more nuanced thoughts about the
• 05:00 - 05:30 topic but you could totally do just that when finding the positions and the perspectives that are mentioned so now once you consider the positions and the perspectives and the assumptions if you so choose you're going to want to put them in the chart and this is what it will look like on test day you can just make quick notes about these things on the white space underneath your argument prompt but if you're just trying this out you should really have a nice organizer to fill in and of course you guessed it you
• 05:30 - 06:00 can find that blank organizer in the description right below you know what else you can find right below this video things like this the like button and the subscribe button and the super thanks button and the channel membership button and if you even look further in the description for what else is there you'll find a link to my ultimate review packet this is a complete study guide for ap english language that walks you through everything you need to know about the course so you can get an a in your class and a five on your exam it provides you with tons of multiple choice practice practice tests student samples and scoring commentary you can
• 06:00 - 06:30 sign up to access it for free and get all of unit one without even paying a penny but let's get back to the organizer that we're talking about in this video if you search in the description and you look at that organizer after you fill in step one you're gonna notice there's a step two so let's take that step step two super easy once you identify the positions perspectives and assumptions i need you to look at them and just mark whether or not you agree with what's presented there if you agree with a particular position put a plus sign next to it if you disagree with a particular position just toss a minus sign next to it you could do the same with the assumptions
• 06:30 - 07:00 if you chose to mark those and if you partly agree or disagree just put a little plus and minus sign next to it based on my thoughts here's what step two would look like if i were to fill in the organizer i'm not asking you to think of examples or anything yet i'm just looking for you to think about what you do and don't agree with because doing this will help generate the complexity of your argument when you begin to produce your thesis and your paper after you mark your initial thoughts it's time to search for the command element of your prompt this
• 07:00 - 07:30 will be step three in the argument prompt finding the command will always start with the word argue and then you're gonna wanna go to the end of the sentence just underline this language on test day but for the sake of our organizer i want you to copy from the word argue to the end of the sentence into the box it's gonna look like this you may remember that i made a video about how to break down the rhetorical analysis prompt to really help you prepare to write the essay when i did i told you to find the command and then
• 07:30 - 08:00 use it to generate a question that will allow you to conquer writing that rhetorical analysis essay well the same is true for the argument prompt we're going to use this command to generate a question or questions that we will have to answer in our thesis in order to actually ap which of course stands for answer the prompt in this case what you're going to do is you're going to look at the language in the command and you're going to ask a question about what you need to clarify when you actually respond to the prompt with your thesis generating this conquer question is step four when you make this question
• 08:00 - 08:30 you absolutely must start it with either the word what or the phrase to what extent and i encourage you to use the latter so you'll notice that if i were looking at the command of this prompt i would need to clearly answer either of the following questions what is my position on the use of warning labels or warning messages to signal potentially troubling content or to what extent should warning labels be used to signal potentially troubling content they are essentially the same question but one does bring us to a little bit more nuance and that's the second one and notice if i were to answer either of
• 08:30 - 09:00 those questions it would delineate my position clearly about the use of warning labels turning the command element of the prompt into a question makes thesis generation significantly easier because you can know if you are not clearly answering this question in your sentence and if you're not you're not setting yourself up for success but if you do answer that question clearly you know you've nailed it filling in this step on my organizer would look like this
• 09:00 - 09:30 once we've generated a question or questions that our thesis will have to answer we're going to finish the job by quickly jotting down our initial reaction to the question we generated in step four no need for extreme nuance here but you need to have a position about what the prompt is asking you so think about all that you've covered in the prior steps to make the claim that you're about to for right now go with your gut even if it's emotionally charged and it might be unreasonable we could change things up later you're going to want to record your position in the table and it would look something
• 09:30 - 10:00 like this good you've broken down the prompt you've gotten your feet wet with the topic but now just because your initial reaction is the final step of your planning don't think you're home free first you need to practice what i went over here today so that you can internalize these steps and complete them in under five minutes on test day so go practice with a bunch of ap exam prompts you can access them online you'll also need to learn how to turn all of your planning thoughts into sophisticated thesis statements and essays and that's why you're gonna need
• 10:00 - 10:30 to join me in this video right over here where you can learn how to do exactly that