This is your space to post your questions.
Something along the lines, "Hi Miss C., I don't really know / understand how to ... (describe SPECIFICALLY, what your learning problem is) ..."
I cant help you if your question is ambigous. E.g. "I don't understand how to hedge an argument ..." <== How do you expect me to answer such a broad question like this?
On the other hand, if you ask me a SPECIFIC question, e.g. "Why can't I argue that the writer is generalizing that ALL foreign workers are dangerous?, I wont be hard put to give you a response. I would tell you, because you have to give the writer's argument a charitable reading and it is highly unlikely that any writer would be so foolish as to postulate that ALL foreign workers are dangerous. HOWEVER, you CAN safely assume that the writer makes the ASSUMPTION that BY AND LARGE, foreign workers pose a threat to his safety and security because he seems to harbour certain prejudices against them, for example, he perhaps thinks that because they are supposedly of a lower socioeconomic standing, and they are poor, they would be more prone to criminal behavior. This is where you can then go on to evaluate if he has good grounds to assume / believe what he does.
Post your questions here. I will respond to some (not all - such would be impossible).
Love,
Miss C.
Hi Ms Chia :)
ReplyDeleteIn the Chinese Mothers are Superior analysis right, you wrote "Obviously" in comment 13. May I ask what you were referring to? xD
And for commment 16 - Threatening a child with food and denying her things is not a logical punishment that makes sense within the context of not wanting to try. Did you mean the threats were not reasonable because Lulu was indeed trying to play the piece?
Thanks! ^^
Miss Chia, :)
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand why in the student example of don't clear your trays if you really want to help, she can just give one alternative example, whereas in some of our writing, you say that we cannot just give one example as well.
I think that was a typo. Ignore the obviously. I don't have my error analysis sheet but I do remember making a typo. When I use the word "obviously", I usually am trying to say that the notion or idea is obvious.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to logical punishments, what I mean is that the mother's punishment upon her child was illogical. If you want to punish a child for not trying, the punishment must have something to do with not trying. E.g. if a child vandalizes a school, logical punishments would involve undoing the vandalism and doing something to spruce up the school. To punish a child for not trying, assuming that she did indeed not try, then would entail making her try and try again. Denying her food and drink hardly has anything to do with correcting bad behavior of not trying.
Thanks for the question!
Wee Lin,
ReplyDeleteYou can give one example to disprove another example if the writer herself provides only one example dealing with an isolated incident. If on the other hand, the writer is talking about a general trend and uses that example, and you use an example to do with one person to disprove a general trend example, such cannot work.
Consider this:
1. Writer's assertion: Nanyang girls are generally quiet. I have met many Nanyang girls who are quiet. <= evidence.
Your rejoinder to this example would then necessarily have to disprove the writer's provision of examples (many Nanyang girls), rather than cite only one case of a noisy Nanyang girl.
2. Writer's assertion ==> Nanyang girls are generally very quiet. I have met one or two who absolutely keep mum whenever you ask them questions.
Your rejoinder - the writer cites one or two isolated observations to generalize and assert that Nanyang girls are generally quiet, but one can also cite many examples of Nanyang girls who are not quiet, e.g. ...
The difference lies in what the writer is saying and what the writer is providing as evidence (example).
If the writer is stating that he or she has observed on many occasisions that X is a certain way, you need to disprove the trend or question the veracity of the trend (think foreign workers being dangerous example).
If the writer is stating that he or she has observed in one instance that X is a certain way, you need to call the writer out on making a hasty generalization and show that there are instances that prove otherwise.
I think the context of your question arises from the Chinese mother's SRQ. A lot of you tried to argue that it isn't true that Chinese children are more successful and you used one or two western successes to disprove this. This isn't a good retort. Why? Because the writer is saying that by and large, Chinese children are more successful. You can't use one or two success stories to disprove this! It still remains true, after your objection, that Chinese children are by and large more successful!
Hi Ms Chia, in response to your Nanyang girls are generally quiet (2) e.g.:
ReplyDeleteWriter's assertion ==> Nanyang girls are generally very quiet. I have met one or two who absolutely keep mum whenever you ask them questions.
If the writer's context is where Nanyang girls keep mum when being asked questions, would it be off topic if we say that among themselves, Nanyang girls are very chatty?
Thanks!! xD
Hi Miss Chia:
ReplyDeleteyou said that identifying and reponding to core issue of the writer is what separates a average script from a good script. However, is there any method to allow us to easier identify the core issue behind the writer's arguement?
For example for the Chinese Mothers are more Superior analysis, the core issue is mainly on what is success and effective parenting methods. So how can we identify the core issue? Thanks.
Core issues are usually larger philosophical concepts like what is justice, what is beauty, what is fairness, what is success. You need to read the text and think to yourself about the concept that you use to evaluate the argument. For example, in the Serangoon gardens example, the core issues of what is fairness, what is prejudice, power and pride, help you decide if the writer's argt is good or bad. Likewise, the core issue of what success is helps you determine if the writer's methods really ensure success as she claims they do.
ReplyDelete