“Welcome to Holden Caulfield's PowerPoint Party!” said Kim Perillo to her eleventh-grade Brewster High School English class.
“Remember, this is a competition and there are golden tickets at stake,” she added.
The classroom had the feel of a party–with decorations, dimmed lights, popcorn and party blowers.
A PowerPoint Party comes straight from TikTok. It is a party where people get together and present a slideshow of their random opinions and then defend them with facts, reason, and evidence. These topics are usually funny (i.e: why cereal is actually a soup), and there are typically prizes and lots of laughs involved.
The class has just finished reading “The Catcher in the Rye” and are learning about the components of an effective argument. Among the major concepts that students are learning about are the persuasive appeals–ethos, pathos, and logos. Students prepared what they know about persuasion and argument and were ready to persuade the class about something to do with protagonist Holden Caulfield's future.
Some of the questions posed were humorous, such as would Holden survive the zombie apocalypse? Others were more serious, such as does Holden marry Jane Gallagher, a key character in the book? The students learned that any argument can be presented using persuasive appeals. Students were asked to judge each other’s presentations on their effective use of persuasive appeals and the soundness of their claims, reasons, evidence, and counter arguments.
Aaron Armisto, Alex Abzun Urrutia, Michael Sandoval, and Jose Benitez posed the question: Will Holden Caulfield be President of the United States?
The group argued yes–”with Holden’s mastery of satire, his empathy for others as shown by the way he took care of his sister Phoebe, and his persuasiveness–he would be a good albeit flawed–president. In fact, they argued, Holden would provide hope and determination for the country.”
The class gave the group a round of applause and blew their horns in support of Holden Caulfield for President.