Every Friday, I like to bring up a current event for discussion.  (This week, I think that the recent arrest of a North Carolinian who was planning to blow up an abortion clinic is particularly interesting…But I digress…)  Not only does it help you all know what’s going on in the world around you, but it also helps you develop and hone your ability to deliver and support an argument – in accordance with Goal 3 of the NCSCOS for English IV.  To this end, each week, I will ask you to find, share, and comment on an issue of public concern.  Here are your instructions.

1. Create a new category for you blog called “Current Event Fridays”.  Each time you create an issue related post for Fridays, I want you to add them to this particular category.  Once you’ve done this, I want you to add the categories widget to the sidebar of your blog.  This will make particular posts easier to find and categorize.
2. “Clip” a news article that you would like to share.  You may use the ‘nets to find newsworthy events, or you may visit the items I’ve shared via my Google Reader.  This is a good starting place.
   1. You may want to embed video, insert and link to a photo from the news, and include a short quote from the article that sums up what it is about.
   2. You must correctly attribute any information that you grab from someone else to the original source.  You must include author, publication title, publication date, and a link to the original article.  (You may choose to do this by linking the article to the author’s name).  Any words that are not yours should be in quotation marks or set off by blockquotes.
3. Comment on the article.  Your commentary must define and clearly state various claims and the reasoning behind those claims.  It must also then analyze and offer a critique of the event that you are sharing.  Where do you stand on this issue?  What must be considered?  Where would you advocate a person stand, or are you still unsure?
4. Finally, visit, read, and comment on your classmates’ weekly articles.  As a class, we’ll choose one that is the most interesting to talk about.

I look forward to reading and discussing current events in the classroom with you all this semester!