Home Teaching Resources Composition Archive CO150 2006-2007 Syllabus Week 13: Monday, Nov. 13th - Friday, Nov. 17th

Week 13: Monday, Nov. 13th - Friday, Nov. 17th

Remember, students will need to turn their essays in BEFORE Thanksgiving Break. This will give you adequate time to evaluate their papers and provide some feedback for writing their final public argument. Our second goal this week is to introduce the P3B assignment and ask students to start thinking about which publication/audience they will target for their P3B argument.

Please remember to provide lesson and course connections each class day and to introduce and conclude your lessons along with providing transitions between activities.

Conduct a Class Workshop (you determine time)

Decide how you want to conduct the workshop for students' academic audience arguments. You may conduct a full in-class workshop as we did for Portfolio 1. If you are running short on class time, you can create an out-of-class workshop to be done on a forum, via email, or even using the Chat Room feature in the Writing Studio.

See the Appendix for workshop questions and guidelines. Or, have students complete a backwards outline workshop (see below).

Backwards Outline Workshop: This type of workshop helps students think about the organization, focus and unity of their argument. Students can apply this to their own writing or to a partner's:

• On a sheet of paper, write down your or the author's main claim or the controlling idea in the essay. Divide the rest of the paper into three columns. Then complete the following tasks, one by one.
• In the left-hand column, write a brief summary of the content and purpose of each paragraph (e.g. Suzy Q example to support argument about body image). If there are two distinct ideas or purposes in the paragraph, write a brief phrase for each.
• In the middle column, write a sentence that explains the connection between what this paragraph says/does and the overall claim at the top. If you don't know or it isn't clear, write a question mark.
• In the third column, write a sentence that explains the connection between the paragraphs (i.e. paragraph one and paragraph two; paragraph two and paragraph three, and so on). If there is no clear connection, put a question mark in the third column.
• What changes need to be made to improve the focus, development or organization of the argument? Does the body clearly develop what the claim promises? Does the claim need to be revised? Where there are question marks, how will you improve the transitions?
• Have students read over the guidelines for the public audience argument. Highlight the concept of revision (you can connect this back to Portfolio 1) and the new expectations and limitations that accompany their new writing situation.
• Explain that the analysis of a publication will serve as a foundation for the choices they will make when they revise their academic audience arguments for their public ones.

Complete a Postscript for P3A (7 - 10 minutes)

Have students reflect on the writing they did for their academic argument. Generate questions that will encourage them to consider their thinking and writing process, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their argument.

Introduce P3B (10 minutes)

Writing an Argument for a Public Audience

Have students read over the guidelines for the public audience argument. Highlight the concept of revision and the new expectations and limitations that accompany their new writing situation.

Discuss New Audiences and Writing Contexts (20 minutes)

Use this activity to model approaches to choosing a publication and audience. Ask two or three students to put their claims up on the board (ask for volunteers - try pitching it as "free help" with their essay). Then, check to see if these claims are narrow and debatable (you may not have had time to look over the academic audience arguments yet). If they aren't, have students revise them to meet this criterion. If they are, use them as models for argumentation. Ask the class to brainstorm a list of possible audiences for each claim.

Use these points as a guide for this discussion:

• Look at the claim and ask - who needs to hear this argument?
• Who would be most interested in this argument?
• Who would be the most realistic audience to target (those who would actually read it and be affected by it)?

Discuss how the argument would look differently based on each group of readers and their various needs and interests. Also, discuss where readers would likely encounter the argument.

• Where might these different readers encounter this argument? Where would they be likely to read about it?
• What is the best way to reach this audience (web or print form)?

After modeling the activity, have students write down potential audiences and contexts for their own arguments. The goal in this activity is to set students up for the work they will do in the final weeks of the course.

Possible Publications

Broaden students' knowledge of possible publications they could choose by sharing a list like the one below.

Harper's
The Independent
Atlantic Monthly
The Economist
New Republic
The Nation
National Review
Progressive Farmer
Parents or Parenting Magazine
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Progressive
The Weekly Standard
Earth Island Journal
TIME
Business Week
Utne Reader
The Christian Science Monitor
The Humanist
Scientific American
New York Times Magazine
The Rocky Mountain Collegian
The Coloradoan

*Note that this list is by no means comprehensive.

Read and Discuss Sample Public Arguments (you determine time)

To encourage students to begin thinking about the differences between their academic and public arguments, have them examine one or two samples from the editorial pages of the types of publications they'll be targeting for P3B (most major newspapers & magazines are available on the web or through the library databases - see one of the lecturers if you need help locating sample arguments). Then, discuss how the writing choices in these arguments differ from those made for an academic argument. Compare:

• Purposes and connections to an audience.
• Use of language, tone, and voice.
• Style of writing.
• Use of evidence or examples.
• Use of visual elements.

Homework

Assign the following to students this week:

• Complete and turn in P3A.
• Decide which publication you want to target with your P3B argument and familiarize yourself with its audience, editorial mission, stylistic conventions, etc. (You may even ask students to purchase a copy of their target publication, or to review several editions of it in the Morgan Library's journal room.)