Weekly Notes and Advice

This week aims to move students forward to the development of their claims from last week.  We emphasize argument strategies such as development and organization, the use of appeals, and Rogerian tactics.  Use arguments from as many sources as you can for this portfolio as a whole; but keep each context in mind (academic and public).

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

Connection to Course Goals

The objective this week is to help students think about organizing and developing their arguments. By looking at sample arguments and discussing such things as claims, reasons, evidence, narration, and opposing arguments, students will begin to see that there are many approaches to writing arguments. (Remember that you have a steady supply of arguments in the Editorial/Op-Ed pages of the Times.) We want to show students that there is no single correct way to organize or develop an argument. Rather, the effectiveness of an argument depends on the choices a writer makes in response to his/her audience and context. The integration of analysis of graphics from the NYT also helps students to see that visual rhetoric is an important tool for developing stories/arguments, although the use of visuals will play more of a role in the second context for Portfolio 3.

Goals for this Week

• Discuss the development and organization of arguments.

• Discuss the use of appeals in argumentation and Rogerian argument. 

• Read, analyze and discuss sample arguments.

• Engage students in reading and collecting editorials and op-ed pieces from the NYT as well as graphics, photos, and other visual forms of story and argumentation.

Required Readings and Assignments

Assign the following to students this week:

• Read pages 487-488 in the PHG about developing and organizing arguments.
• Read pages 448-455 in the PHG about appeals and Rogerian Argument.
• Design an assignment where students read two or three arguments (from the PHG, from the Web, and/or from the NYT). Use these samples in class to discuss how each writer makes different choices about structure and development based on their purpose, audience, and context. Most of this can be covered during class, but assign two or three questions for students to think about or respond to when reading each essay. This will encourage critical thinking and promote more discussion. The questions on page 482 in the PHG can be adapted for just about any essay to meet the goals of this activity.