Return to Unit Two:MWF

Class Plan -- Unit Two, Day 27

• Introduce elements of the argument: claims, appeals, reason, evidence
• Analyze an argument
• Collect Group Annotated Bibliography & Definition of Perspectives

Activities:
Daily - Reading Quiz.

• What is a claim?
• What are the four types of claim?
• What is an appeal?
• What are the three types of appeals?

• A Claim is the statement of position on a debatable issue.
• The four types of claim are fact, cause-effect, value, policy.
• An appeal is what a writer uses to support or refute claims for a given audience.
• The three types of appeals are to character (the writer's good character), to reason (the logic and evidence the writer uses supports the claim), and to emotion (the writer's expression of feelings and/or evocation of feelings in the audience support the claim).

The elements of argument also include evidence and reasons.

Let students know the purpose of focusing on these terms is in part having a common language to talk about arguments.

We also want to analyze arguments so we can better understand the writer's position and why we agree or disagree with that position and what perspective the writer's position fits into. This will allow us to evaluate perspectives to see what Two we want to align with or which perspective our position fits with.

Analyzing an argument - Choose a relatively short (1-2 pages) argument from the sources you found for your example research. As a class identify the claim, appeals, reason, evidence, values, assumptions.

Discuss whether we agree or disagree with the writer's position (claim) and why. Get students to speak in terms of claims, appeals, reasons, evidence, assumptions, etc.

Remember that what we are setting up today is students' ability to evaluate perspectives. This first step is designed to get them thinking about what an argument or position consists of, how a position reflects a perspective, and what causes us to align with or reject a particular perspective. Expect students to experience some confusion as you work through this process as they often will when we make explicit something they already do unconsciously.