Girl Sues Parents...

POSSIBLE ANSWERS (Compare yours to these.)

What is the author's debatable claim for this article?

1. The author's debatable claim is that children and parents should solve their
problems in person, not in court, especially when those problems don't involve
abuse.
(Other debatable claims might be along the lines of: If a child chooses to leave
his/her house, his/her parents don't owe the child support. OR Children are
spoiled. OR Children should work to make their own way, not rely on their
parents.)
Remember, a debatable claim is CONTROVERSIAL, not factual. It requires an author to convince you he
is correct. Remember also, a debatable claim is NOT usually stated directly in the text-- you need to infer
to get the claim in most cases

What is the strongest evidence used to argue the debatable claim?

2. The best evidence to help support this claim is: 1) His own experience with
his dad, selling programs, and doing what his father told him. This evidence
shows that times have changed and relationships have changed-- and Albom
would say for the worse. 2) Rachel Canning left her family, yet still wanted her
parents to support her financially-- and even went so far as to sue them instead
of talking to them. This evidence shows that in this situation, a conversation
around the dinner table would have been a more reasonable way to solve the
problem than taking her parents to court.
Remember, your answer here should EXPLAIN the evidence. Show how it supports the claim. Your
answer would be incorrect if you just said "Mitch Albom and Rachel Canning." Your answer should also
not just copy from the text, but rather explain the evidence in your own wording.

Quote one of the counter arguments directly from the article "Girl Sues
Parents..."
3. A correct answer will include a passage directly from the article, contained in quotation marks, which

One counter argument is "I know iPhones are

expensive..." (Another possibility: People say that kids today mature faster.)
shows the counter-argument, like this:

What is the argument strategy or technique Mitch Albom uses at the beginning of
the piece?

4.The beginning of this piece uses a personal anecdote which tells about an
experience from Mitch Albom's own life, using a bit of pathos (storytelling).
Remember, your answer should explain the strategy-- so the correct answer lists ETHOS or PATHOS or
LOGOS, as well as the way we see that in the text.

How is this beginning strategy or technique effective in persuading the audience

of his debatable claim?

5.This opening story about Mitch Albom's own life helps the audience to relate
and think about a time in their own life when they were told to grow up and live
with the consequences of their decisions. It helps us relate to his claim.
In the following passage, what does the phrase "pulled your own weight" mean?
Its time you pulled your own weight around here.

6.The phrase "pulled your own weight" means that the person took responsibility
for doing his fair share of the chores or work. Pulling one's own weight is a
way to tell a person to do more to contribute to the work. If you pull your own
weight, you are doing a lot!
In the following passage, explain what the phrase "knee-jerk society" means.
The answer is a knee-jerk society that too quickly hears the words emotional
abuse and immediately wants to imprison the parents.

7.In this passage, "knee-jerk society" means that the society responds too
quickly, on instinct, without thinking or without hearing all of the details. Its like
the doctor testing your reflexes-- you cant stop your knee from jerking. Thats
a knee-jerk reaction.
In the following passage, what is a word you could substitute for "cutting"?
Rachel cutting high school.

8.A word you could substitute for "cutting" would be "skipping."

In the following passage, what is a word you could substitute for "barometer"?
The answer is media that now act as if reality TV is the barometer of what makes
news.

9.In this passage, the word "barometer" could be replaced with "measure" or
"standard."

Give one example of Albom using logos in this article.

10.Mitch Albom uses logos when he gives details about Rachel Canning, like that
she goes to a private school, or that her mother called her "fat" or that she was
not being enslaved. All of these are facts that could be cross-checked and
confirmed, plus they help to argue his point-- that she deserves nothing for her
choices and should really just talk with her parents instead of suing them.
Why is Rachel Canning a good choice to help Mitch Albom support his claim?

11.Rachel Canning is a good choice to help Mitch Albom support his claim since
she made a ridiculous law suit against her parents when she could have just
talked to them (and she returned home right after a judge ruled that her claims
were ridiculous, so she clearly isn't in any danger here). Her story is a perfect
illustration of Albom's claim.
From the article, give an example of ethos that was used to convince the target
audience of the claim.

12.In this article, Mitch Albom uses ethos when he asks the rhetorical question:
"Six hundred fifty-four a week?" This question helps argue his claim since we
all know that is a ridiculous amount of money PER WEEK for a teen, again
arguing about the unbelievable nature of this law suit, showing the right-versuswrong nature of the situation.