research time!

You're all in the midst of the research stage!

During the research stage, try to keep your mind open to different perspectives. You might learn something about the topic that changes your own opinion. That's great. That's why we research in the first place: not to confirm our opinions, but to help us build a knowledge base from which we can formulate a true and insightful perspective about something.

Anyhow, enough philosophizing! Here's the deal. You need a minimum of FOUR credible sources to support your opinion. Once your sources are approved by me and your secondary advisor, you'll need to read/annotate them email me and your secondary advisor research notes by midnight on Wednesday 29 April.

Use this template to complete your research notes. One side is for your source or any direct quotes, and the other side allows you to summarize, comment, question, etc. Make sure to save all citation information. If you need a bit more guidance, check out this sample of another student's research notes.

Note: Your minimum number of sources is four, but you are always encouraged to use more! If you do add sources to your paper along the way, please always run them by your advisors so we can check for credibility. 

evaluating online resources

As you research for the debate, please consult this website and refer to its guiding questions about whether an internet source is credible...

Good luck researching!

more AP essay practice

If you're super-motivated to do well on the final exam and want some additional practice, feel free to check out the essay questions on this website. The AP includes all past essay questions.

Try out questions by either annotating and planning an essay, or taking the step of writing one. I'm happy to sit with you and look at your practice essays at any time -- just let me know!

Citing and editorial analysis...

We need to get into the habit of following citation styles so we can learn how to participate in the academic community. The standards these academic organizations set can often seem annoying and too picky, but we don't make the rules: we just learn how to follow them.

For this class, please practice MLA citation, which is the primary style used in humanities writing. The best online repository of information on MLA citation is OWL at Purdue.

This paper will require you to cite one source -- your editorial. The normal format for that type of text is below:

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.).

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print.

If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name and state in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats." Post and Courier [Charleston, SC] 29 Apr. 2007: A11. Print.

Trembacki, Paul. "Brees Hopes to Win Heisman for Team." Purdue Exponent[West Lafayette, IN] 5 Dec. 2000: 20. Print.

(The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 24 August 2013.)

To read more on in-text, parenthetical citation, check out this page. For this paper, since most of you are using short, electronic articles, you can just cite the paragraph number. We'll talk about this in class.

I hope you'll become more comfortable with this format as you practice it. Let me know if you have questions.

meeting mr. capote

If you want to hear Capote saying more about writing in general - and ICB specifically - check out these interviews!

open space notes

Nice work in class the last few days! I'm doing my best to decipher your notes about the various topics you covered in your open space discussions. This might not be 100% accurate, so please have patience...

SECTION AP11-1 (in Media Centre)
Why does Capote make Perry seem innocent?
-depressing childhood
-author's perspective
-trust-worthy Dick
-sympathy toward Perry?
-main focus on Perry
-find out the deeper meaning behind the murder
-our interpretation
-Perry had no hope; Dick had a family

Forgiveness/Sympathy/Understanding
-he wants us to be sympathetic toward Perry
-people who do wrong have a past - which may force them
-Dick: portrayed his lifestyle to be happier; Perry seems more sympathetic
-we understand but we don't sympathize
-blame goes hand-in-hand - Dick wouldn't plan if Perry didn't pull the trigger

Media's Influence on Crime
-exaggerate
-biased
-twist the plot
-personal preferences
-intervene
-uncertain information
-rely on sources
-take the law in their hands
-concentrate on incident rather than solutions
-don't realize the power in their hands
-target the influence

What does Capote say about the death penalty?
-says it's wrong
-says Dick is innocent and got the death penalty
-Perry killed four; Dick intended to rape
-mental health (INSANE)
-Dick used Perry
-Perry's background made him commit the crime
-Further examination needed to be done to see if Perry was sane or not
-Perry saved the girl from rape and then shot her
-Capote says Perry didn't know the difference between right and wrong
-Capote develops a relationship with them; visiting them in jail and sending them reading material

In-depth analysis of a criminal mind
-inconsistencies
-difficult background of murders (murderers?)
-why would Dick do this?
     -such a good life
     -was it because he was poor?
     -pushed Perry
     -just a witness?
     -blamed for murder?
     -EXPLOITER
     -BYSTANDER
-RAPE IS AS BAD AS MURDER
-Perry = unstable (wanted to be an artist)
-not knowing v. knowing (psychopath v. sociopath)
-trigger

What justifies murder?
-revenge (?) - no. puts in same position :(
-mental/psycho-responsibility
-blame on parents / BG / society?
-choice to kill / not to kill
-alcohol / drugs (personal will and decision)
-legal death penalty
-war / protest - gov's right to kill, personal intentions
-Israel v. Gaza (??)
     -excuse is that G attacked first -media's role in creating bias
     -self-protection justify killing? threat
      before any harm done. no.
      -religion's role

SECTION AP11-2 (in Senior School)
Motives of the killers
-Dick wanted to rape Nancy. Perry stopped him. Dick's idea. Perry blames his past life for the murder. Dick didn't kill anyone, so he took Perry along.
-Anger from the past, anger from the fact that they did not get the money. Dick took advantage of Perry.
1)money
2) sex/rape Nancy
3) killing
-Only reason Dick associated with Perry was because he thought Perry could kill anyone without any feeling. Perry was disturbed.
-Perry was uneducated.
-Clutters were the least likely to be killed.
-They felt relieved when they killed them.
-Psychotic spree
-Dick was frustrated. Tension between Perry as well.
-Dick overestimated himself.
-Dick shows no remorse at the trial.
-They wanted satisfaction. Get rich. Get happy. Go to Mexico. They wanted to improve their lives.
-Perry had a broken family (2 siblings died, 1 sister alive).
-Capote strayed from journalism.

Did the killers deserve their punishment?
-rape (Dick)
-psychological disorder
-Perry doesn't deserve; Dick deserves
-Perry claims (he knew he was wrong)
-Dick denies (sends letters to attorneys)
-Dick was the mastermind
-Perry was weak from inside; he took orders from Dick
-Every action of Perry -- Dick was behind it (the murder)
-Perry was also regretting as we can see when they were travelling, Perry was bringing up the topic over and again to Dick
-Dick surely deserved it
-Perry could have avoided death because of harsh conditions
-Law goes with action (they punish the person who commits the crime)

Do past events affect the future?
-schools (war, nightmares)
-personality
-Perry's uneducated
-Perry was the killer and he had a bad childhood
-Dick did not have any past experiences that he could kill a person but Perry had so he killed the whole Clutter family
-Perry got his diseases from his childhood and that was a reason he could kill a person
-It depends on a person if he could take - Dick wanted what he had-His motive was to steal money
-Going to jail is one of the reasons they end up murdering the Clutter family.
-We totally agree that the past affects the future.

Humanity (?)
-terrifyingly human
-could be anyone, turned out to be Dick and Perry
-humane side; still human
-actions define who you are
-rape then death = worse than killing?
-3/4 book is about past
-killing is only a small part
-some actions are heavier than others
-"make you feel as bad as I do" (Mathai)

Perspectives
-From the killers, the Clutter fam was perfect.
-Perry / Dick feel wronged.
-Clutters didn't do anything wrong.
-Dick influences Perry
-Perry had a horrid life, wasn't taught about wrong and right
-Perry was messed up, in a strong way.
Capote perspective:
-gave a lot of the book to the killers.
-shows how the killers were raised
-psychological reports, supported the killers
-but also showed the killing first, and in gruesome detail.
-and described how nice and supportive the Clutters were at home and in community
-killers were the more interesting people
-Capote paints the manipulation of Perry
-Perry a child, believes in buried treasure
-Until the end, didn't think of the killers as killers - just troubled people.
-Made the killers into the victims.
-Clutters didn't seem to have flaws, but no family can be perfect
Clutters (IIII) v. Killers (III)

blog-rific!

As promised, peruse some of the following blogs for inspiration and an idea of what high-quality writing looks like. Yes, some of these students pushed the word limit at times. (And keep in mind that some used their blogs for more than just class, and they thus include other posts.) However, what most of them consistently excelled at was having something interesting to say and saying that well -- often in an interesting way. Enjoy!

http://fumigateyourmind.blogspot.in/
http://pranitgarg1997.blogspot.in/
http://hyunyoungandherlittlespace.blogspot.in/
http://wsshaurya.blogspot.in/
http://luluandenglish.wordpress.com/