“The Island of Plenty” by Johnson C. Montgomery

Reading Guide

Directions: Read the essay and complete the following before, during, and after reading.

Before Reading—

  1. Do you agree or disagree that it is more important to help and protect the people of the future than it is to help and protect the current population? Explain your answer.
  1. Do you agree or disagree that individual people are responsible for the whole of humanity? Explain your answer.

During Reading—

  1. What is Montgomery’s thesis in this argument? Write it below.
  1. While reading, note how the author addresses each side of the argument. Write the claims and evidence he provides from each perspective in the table below.

Claim 1: / Claim 2:
Supportive arguments and evidence provided: / Supportive arguments and evidence provided:
  1. There are 7 Major Lenses or Perspectives one can use when exploring a topic or issue:

  • Environmental
  • Historical/Political
  • Artistic and Philosophical
  • Cultural and Social
  • Economic
  • Scientific
  • Futuristic
  • Ethical

Explain how 3 of these lenses are used in “The Island of Plenty.”

Lens / How does the author use this lens or perspective to develop his argument?
  1. How does Montgomery use persuasive appeals?

Persuasive Appeal / Example from the text and explanation
ETHOS: The speaker may appeal to your values-good OR bad! Think-greediness, beauty, status, etc. Also, ethos addresses the credibility of the speaker. Does the audience trust what the speaker is saying?
LOGOS: Clear thinking audience; including “proof”-anything that has the appearance of truth-something that looks like evidence but is disputable.
PATHOS: Appealing to emotion; placing the audience in a certain frame of mind.
  1. What problem does Montgomery address?
  1. What solution does Montgomery propose? Is it an effective solution to this problem? Why or why not?

After Reading—

  1. Write a thesis statement and 3 topic sentences in response to Montgomery’s main argument.

Although ______

______(address the opposing view),

______(state your claim).

Reason for my claim #1:

______

Reason for my claim #2:

______

Reason for my claim #3:

______

  1. Tomorrow, we will conduct a class discussion using this essay as an anchor text. Use the space below to write 3 WHY or HOW questions to prompt the discussion. *Each person will be required to contribute both questions and responses to the class discussion.

Question 1:

Question 2:

Question 3: