This week is all about the final project.
Form a personal decision for the topic (remember, you may change your position on the topic from what you originally settled on. Try not to reconfigure your entire argument, though).
Develop material to defend your personal decision. Review the pro and con discussions and, if necessary, do some extra research.
Write out your first draft, and then refine it. You may wish to use Toulmin’s Model as you go over your work to be sure that you have a fully-developed argument. Be careful to use Standard English.
Re-read your paper (OUT LOUD if you've been having trouble with comma splices and run-on sentences once) it has been refined to be sure you haven’t missed anything.
Please check to make sure:
• Your thoughts are complete and clear; your claim is distinctly articulated; there are no logical fallacies. You may incorporate a graphic or visual if it useful in supporting or strengthening your argument.
• Your claim is supported by the use of the four basic kinds of evidence (this should not be based just on your opinion, but on the evidence).
• Your thoughts are well developed.
• Concepts taught in Composition classes (proper grammar, syntax, and spelling) are used.
• There are no typographical, formatting, or citation errors.
Deliverables and format:Submit your Individual Personal Decision Paper (AKA your project) in a Microsoft Word document in a
minimum of three pages.
Format: 1” margins
Font: Arial; 10
Friday, May 14, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Week 8 - Establishing Claims
Major Writing Assignment: "Did I Miss Something?"
Read “Did I Miss Something” found on pages 171-172 in your textbook. Using what you learned in this lesson about Toulmin’s Model, complete “Questions for Analysis and Discussion” 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 on page 173 in your Goshgarian textbook.
Write a minimum of one paragraph for each answer and submit your assignment to your instructor.
Project
Actually, you've already done the project assignment listed in the syllabus for this week. So take it easy and get caught up on anything you might be missing.
Read “Did I Miss Something” found on pages 171-172 in your textbook. Using what you learned in this lesson about Toulmin’s Model, complete “Questions for Analysis and Discussion” 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 on page 173 in your Goshgarian textbook.
Write a minimum of one paragraph for each answer and submit your assignment to your instructor.
Project
Actually, you've already done the project assignment listed in the syllabus for this week. So take it easy and get caught up on anything you might be missing.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Week 7 - Evaluating Evidence
Major Writing Assignment: Who’s to Blame?
Reread the article, "Violent Culture: The Media, the Internet, and Placing Blame," by Darren Beals, pages 147-150 in your Goshgarian textbook. Using all you know about the role of violence in the media and on the Internet (i.e. personal experience, Outside Authorities, statistical studies), deliberate about your position on violence in the media. Respond to the following question after your deliberation by writing a minimum of 1 page:
Do you believe the media or the Internet is/are responsible for real-life violence? Why or why not? Use at least three of the basic forms of evidence we talked about this week. Note that you can use evidence that Beals himself uses in his essay
Submit your assignment to your instructor.
Project Part D2 (Don't worry about the earlier debate parts, as we aren't following the debate format exactly)
Develop a minimum of a five-paragraph essay for one or more claims explaining why you consider the claim to be strong and pointing out areas where you agree or disagree. Be sure to take personal notes to reference for the final paper.
Deliverables and format:
Five paragraph essay
Microsoft Word document.
Font: Arial; 10
Line Spacing: Double
Reread the article, "Violent Culture: The Media, the Internet, and Placing Blame," by Darren Beals, pages 147-150 in your Goshgarian textbook. Using all you know about the role of violence in the media and on the Internet (i.e. personal experience, Outside Authorities, statistical studies), deliberate about your position on violence in the media. Respond to the following question after your deliberation by writing a minimum of 1 page:
Do you believe the media or the Internet is/are responsible for real-life violence? Why or why not? Use at least three of the basic forms of evidence we talked about this week. Note that you can use evidence that Beals himself uses in his essay
Submit your assignment to your instructor.
Project Part D2 (Don't worry about the earlier debate parts, as we aren't following the debate format exactly)
Develop a minimum of a five-paragraph essay for one or more claims explaining why you consider the claim to be strong and pointing out areas where you agree or disagree. Be sure to take personal notes to reference for the final paper.
Deliverables and format:
Five paragraph essay
Microsoft Word document.
Font: Arial; 10
Line Spacing: Double
Friday, April 23, 2010
Week 6 - Analyzing Arguments
Major Writing Assignment: Two Types of Arguments
Find an example of a "Position Argument" and a "Proposal Argument" somewhere in the mainstream print media - newspapers (including online newspapers), magazines and the like. The arguments should be written by people who make at least some of their living from writing. Include the following for both:
• Thesis
• Key features, such evidence used or competing positions that are acknowledged
• How does the argument begin?
•How does the argument conclude?
Write your answer in narrative form, devoting one paragraph for each section. The entire assignment should be AT LEAST one full page long.
Project Assignments
1. From the claims you came up with last week, select the claim and corresponding evidence that you believe is your strongest and/or most unique and share it with your team and side you are assigned. Feel free to share a second claim and evidence if you wish to share it as well.
Tasks:
1. Discuss the claims and their supporting evidence. Select the claim that you feel is the strongest or most unique.
2. Select the strongest claim and its supporting evidence
3. Rank the claims from the strongest to the weakest
Turn in your ranking of the claims, along with a brief summary of relevant evidence for the strongest claim. This assignment should be at least 1/2 page long.
2. You will discuss evidence with your side of the team and provide additional evidence to make the claim for your side stronger. You will also respond to your side of the team and discuss the evidence they gave. Remember you are still supporting your assigned side of the topic.
Your goal as a team is to try to make the strongest case possible for your side. You are encouraged to participate in the discussion as much as possible. Enter into team discussion. Develop a strategy to debate the other side of the issue.
Deliverables and format:
Summarize the strategy that will be used. This assignment should be at least 1/2 page long
Find an example of a "Position Argument" and a "Proposal Argument" somewhere in the mainstream print media - newspapers (including online newspapers), magazines and the like. The arguments should be written by people who make at least some of their living from writing. Include the following for both:
• Thesis
• Key features, such evidence used or competing positions that are acknowledged
• How does the argument begin?
•How does the argument conclude?
Write your answer in narrative form, devoting one paragraph for each section. The entire assignment should be AT LEAST one full page long.
Project Assignments
1. From the claims you came up with last week, select the claim and corresponding evidence that you believe is your strongest and/or most unique and share it with your team and side you are assigned. Feel free to share a second claim and evidence if you wish to share it as well.
Tasks:
1. Discuss the claims and their supporting evidence. Select the claim that you feel is the strongest or most unique.
2. Select the strongest claim and its supporting evidence
3. Rank the claims from the strongest to the weakest
Turn in your ranking of the claims, along with a brief summary of relevant evidence for the strongest claim. This assignment should be at least 1/2 page long.
2. You will discuss evidence with your side of the team and provide additional evidence to make the claim for your side stronger. You will also respond to your side of the team and discuss the evidence they gave. Remember you are still supporting your assigned side of the topic.
Your goal as a team is to try to make the strongest case possible for your side. You are encouraged to participate in the discussion as much as possible. Enter into team discussion. Develop a strategy to debate the other side of the issue.
Deliverables and format:
Summarize the strategy that will be used. This assignment should be at least 1/2 page long
Friday, April 16, 2010
Week 5 - Considering Audience
ASSIGNMENTS
Minor Writing Assignment: Eliminating Clichés and Trite Expressions:
Complete Exercise 7, pages 104-105 in your textbook. Read the paragraph as a whole and make sure you followed the Standard Rules of English. It is also recommended that you use spell check. Submit your assignment to your instructor
Project Reminder:
For Part C1 of your project, you are asked to state and support three claims for your side of the topic.
See project description document for the complete project and the details.
FOR NEXT WEEK
Read in text, Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader, Chapter 5, “Researching Arguments: Thinking Like an Investigator,” pp. 106-135.
Project Part C1
You will now carefully present evidence to support the claim you are making for your side of the topic.
Tasks:
1. Determine three claims to make for you side of your topic.
2. Develop one to three paragraphs of evidential support for each of your three claims.
Minor Writing Assignment: Eliminating Clichés and Trite Expressions:
Complete Exercise 7, pages 104-105 in your textbook. Read the paragraph as a whole and make sure you followed the Standard Rules of English. It is also recommended that you use spell check. Submit your assignment to your instructor
Project Reminder:
For Part C1 of your project, you are asked to state and support three claims for your side of the topic.
See project description document for the complete project and the details.
FOR NEXT WEEK
Read in text, Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader, Chapter 5, “Researching Arguments: Thinking Like an Investigator,” pp. 106-135.
Project Part C1
You will now carefully present evidence to support the claim you are making for your side of the topic.
Tasks:
1. Determine three claims to make for you side of your topic.
2. Develop one to three paragraphs of evidential support for each of your three claims.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Week Four - Researching Arguments
Major Writing Assignment: Preparing to Interview
Conducting interviews is an excellent way to gather information about a topic. Conduct an interview as research for an essay. Refer to Goshgarian, pages 204-205 regarding interviews.
• Select a topic of local interest. Assuming you were going to conduct an interview with an expert on that issue to gather information, list three individuals with whom you would strive to set up an interview. (Be realistic: list people who you actually would have an opportunity to interview.)
• Gather and write a brief summary of: 1) the background information on the issue, 2) the expert’s stand on the issue, and 3) the basis for considering the expert an expert on this topic prior to the interview.
• Prepare a list of 15 to 20 questions you want to ask and rank them in order of priority according to the purpose of the interview.
Project Reminder:
This week you will begin research on your team's topic.
See project description document for the complete project and the details
Reading assignment for next week:
Read in text, Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader, Chapter 4, “Researching Arguments:
Thinking Like an Investigator,” pp. 74-105.
Conducting interviews is an excellent way to gather information about a topic. Conduct an interview as research for an essay. Refer to Goshgarian, pages 204-205 regarding interviews.
• Select a topic of local interest. Assuming you were going to conduct an interview with an expert on that issue to gather information, list three individuals with whom you would strive to set up an interview. (Be realistic: list people who you actually would have an opportunity to interview.)
• Gather and write a brief summary of: 1) the background information on the issue, 2) the expert’s stand on the issue, and 3) the basis for considering the expert an expert on this topic prior to the interview.
• Prepare a list of 15 to 20 questions you want to ask and rank them in order of priority according to the purpose of the interview.
Project Reminder:
This week you will begin research on your team's topic.
See project description document for the complete project and the details
Reading assignment for next week:
Read in text, Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader, Chapter 4, “Researching Arguments:
Thinking Like an Investigator,” pp. 74-105.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Week 3 - The Writing Process
Minor Writing Assignment: Exploring Topics
Explore the Internet by doing a keyword search on your project topic using a Web search engine (see pages 212-213 of your Goshgarian text).
• Describe the results of your search.
• How many different sites devoted to your topic did you locate?
• What did you find surprising about the comments and opinions expressed by the participants on the sites?
Do the same search in the ITT Tech Virtual Library.
Describe the results of your search.
How many different sites devoted to your topic did you locate?
Did you find anything surprising?
Write a minimum of ½ page describing the results of each search.
Project Reminder:
This part of your project is to help you get started on your project. You will write a minimum of a one-page paper. See project description document for the complete project and the details on part A.
Explore the Internet by doing a keyword search on your project topic using a Web search engine (see pages 212-213 of your Goshgarian text).
• Describe the results of your search.
• How many different sites devoted to your topic did you locate?
• What did you find surprising about the comments and opinions expressed by the participants on the sites?
Do the same search in the ITT Tech Virtual Library.
Describe the results of your search.
How many different sites devoted to your topic did you locate?
Did you find anything surprising?
Write a minimum of ½ page describing the results of each search.
Project Reminder:
This part of your project is to help you get started on your project. You will write a minimum of a one-page paper. See project description document for the complete project and the details on part A.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Week Two - Reading Critically
ASSIGNMENTS
Major Writing Assignment: Critical Reading
Go to the ITT Tech Virtual Library > Periodicals > EBSCOhost > Ebscohost Databases > Read "How Bingeing Became the New College Sport." By Barrett Seaman. Time; 8/29/2005, Vol. 166 Issue 9, p80-80, 1p, 1c
Complete the following exercises related to the Seaman article:
• Preview the Seaman reading assignment to identify the title of the article, the author’s name, and the date and place of publication. Along with that information, include a sentence or two about what you feel you can expect from the article based on this information.
• Skim the reading and note its topic and claim. Describe these in one or two sentences, also note the author’s point of view.
• Consider your own experience – Write one or two paragraphs (or more if you’ve had a lot of experience on the issue) on your own experience with the issue covered in the article. What have you seen or heard about the issue? What have you experienced? If you haven’t experienced anything about the issue, write down some questions you have about the issue.
• Summarize – Write a one-paragraph summary of the article.
Minor Writing Assignment: Identifying Logical Fallacies
For each of the following statements, identify the fallacy or fallacies that best describe it (there may be more than one). Offer a brief one- or two-sentence explanation of your reasoning. NO SENTENCE FRAGMENTS!!
You can find my class notes, including the list of fallacies, here (NB. you need MS Powerpoint to open the file)
a. When did you stop hiring other people to take your exams for you?
b. He’s too smart to play football; besides, he broke his leg ten years ago.
c. If we don’t stop the publication of this X-rated material now, it won’t be long before our children will be reading it at school.
d. Karen must be depressed; she wore dark clothes all weekend.
e. How can you accuse me of being late? You’re such a slowpoke.
f. Rap music isn’t music because it’s just noise and words.
g. He’s at least 6 feet 6 inches tall, so he must be a terrific basketball player.
h. WGBB is the most popular radio station on campus because it has more listeners than any other station.
i. Indians living on reservations get the necessities of life at government expense, so they have no worries.
j. Take Tummy Tops laxatives instead of Mellow Malt, because Tummy Tops contains calcium, while Mellow Malt has aluminum and magnesium.
k. Lite Cheese Popcorn contains 34 percent fewer calories!
l. Any decent person will agree that Nazism has no place in modern society.
Major Writing Assignment: Critical Reading
Go to the ITT Tech Virtual Library > Periodicals > EBSCOhost > Ebscohost Databases > Read "How Bingeing Became the New College Sport." By Barrett Seaman. Time; 8/29/2005, Vol. 166 Issue 9, p80-80, 1p, 1c
Complete the following exercises related to the Seaman article:
• Preview the Seaman reading assignment to identify the title of the article, the author’s name, and the date and place of publication. Along with that information, include a sentence or two about what you feel you can expect from the article based on this information.
• Skim the reading and note its topic and claim. Describe these in one or two sentences, also note the author’s point of view.
• Consider your own experience – Write one or two paragraphs (or more if you’ve had a lot of experience on the issue) on your own experience with the issue covered in the article. What have you seen or heard about the issue? What have you experienced? If you haven’t experienced anything about the issue, write down some questions you have about the issue.
• Summarize – Write a one-paragraph summary of the article.
Minor Writing Assignment: Identifying Logical Fallacies
For each of the following statements, identify the fallacy or fallacies that best describe it (there may be more than one). Offer a brief one- or two-sentence explanation of your reasoning. NO SENTENCE FRAGMENTS!!
You can find my class notes, including the list of fallacies, here (NB. you need MS Powerpoint to open the file)
a. When did you stop hiring other people to take your exams for you?
b. He’s too smart to play football; besides, he broke his leg ten years ago.
c. If we don’t stop the publication of this X-rated material now, it won’t be long before our children will be reading it at school.
d. Karen must be depressed; she wore dark clothes all weekend.
e. How can you accuse me of being late? You’re such a slowpoke.
f. Rap music isn’t music because it’s just noise and words.
g. He’s at least 6 feet 6 inches tall, so he must be a terrific basketball player.
h. WGBB is the most popular radio station on campus because it has more listeners than any other station.
i. Indians living on reservations get the necessities of life at government expense, so they have no worries.
j. Take Tummy Tops laxatives instead of Mellow Malt, because Tummy Tops contains calcium, while Mellow Malt has aluminum and magnesium.
k. Lite Cheese Popcorn contains 34 percent fewer calories!
l. Any decent person will agree that Nazism has no place in modern society.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Week One - Pro/Con
Minor Writing Assignment 1: Deciding Pro/Con
• Complete Exercise 2 on page 27 of your "Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader," 4th Ed., by Goshgarian, Krueger, and Minc. textbook. Come up with at least 5-6 points and counterpoints for each issue.
• Picking one issue from part a, write a minimum of ½ page of dialogue.
Major Writing Assignment 2: Pro/Con Lists
Create a Pro/Con List for each of the following two essays: "The Case Against Tipping" and "The Consequences of 'Carnage as Entertainment.'" They are found in your Goshgarian textbook on pages 22-26. Come up with at least one counterpoint for each issue that each essay suggests. After creating your list for each essay, write a "Yes, but" exchange for each essay (a minimum of ½ page) that attempts to find points of disagreement, as well as common ground or shared concerns. Using the dialogue you've constructed, deliberate on the issue of each essay. What reasons do you find most compelling? Which concerns have particular merit? Can you balance the interests of both sides of the issue? Formulate a claim for each essay (a minimum of 1 page) that takes into account what you have learned during your deliberations and provide reasons to support it.
• Complete Exercise 2 on page 27 of your "Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader," 4th Ed., by Goshgarian, Krueger, and Minc. textbook. Come up with at least 5-6 points and counterpoints for each issue.
• Picking one issue from part a, write a minimum of ½ page of dialogue.
Major Writing Assignment 2: Pro/Con Lists
Create a Pro/Con List for each of the following two essays: "The Case Against Tipping" and "The Consequences of 'Carnage as Entertainment.'" They are found in your Goshgarian textbook on pages 22-26. Come up with at least one counterpoint for each issue that each essay suggests. After creating your list for each essay, write a "Yes, but" exchange for each essay (a minimum of ½ page) that attempts to find points of disagreement, as well as common ground or shared concerns. Using the dialogue you've constructed, deliberate on the issue of each essay. What reasons do you find most compelling? Which concerns have particular merit? Can you balance the interests of both sides of the issue? Formulate a claim for each essay (a minimum of 1 page) that takes into account what you have learned during your deliberations and provide reasons to support it.
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