978-0205827022 Class Activity Part 1

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CHAPTER THREE

WORKING WITH THE CLASS ACTIVITIES AND

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS IN EACH CHAPTER

The purpose of this chapter is to provide instructors with a preview of each of the

eleven chapters in Essentials of Argument. In fact, it may facilitate class planning to read

about a chapter here before reading the chapter itself in the text.

The following information is provided for each of the chapters: 1. a description of

the focus and purpose of the chapter; 2. a description of each of the class activities and

writing assignments at the end of a chapter, along with ideas for using them in class; and

3. when appropriate, additional supplementary information. The “Where Is It?” section

on the inside front cover of the textbook provides a list of the major writing assignments.

Chapter 1: Recognizing Argument and Finding Issues

The purpose of Chapter 1 is to introduce students to some of the special

characteristics of argument. Students are asked to write out their current ideas and

Class Activities and Writing Assignments:

1. Understand Common Ground.

a. Build common ground with your classmates.

This activity is a great icebreaker and helps students create a classroom

community where they all participate. When asked to identify areas they have in

common, both the initial pairs of students and, later, the groups of four will identify all

sorts of things, from their college major to what they like to eat for breakfast. Usually,

b. Discover common ground about argument.

In the second part of the activity students are asked to identify what they think

about when they hear the word “argument,” to come up with a working definition of what

most of them mean by argument, and then to link the idea of common ground with

2. Demonstrate that “Argument Is Everywhere.”

a. Ask students to bring in examples of argument and to explain why they think

their examples are arguments.

3. Discover Your Predominant Argument Style.

a. Is your personal argument style consensual or adversarial?

This activity invites students to analyze their own styles of argument, to speculate

about the origins of these styles, and to begin to conceptualize a classroom that will

accommodate all styles. Students enjoy this activity, and it tends to encourage broad

b. Write an argument-style paper.

This writing assignment follows the self-evaluation activity naturally and asks

students to think about their argument styles in action, to evaluate the effectiveness of

their styles, and to consider how they might change them in certain situations. If students

c. Create a classroom environment for argument and understand your class as an

audience.

Upon the completion of activity b, have students read their papers (or a portion of

them) aloud. Then discuss the various styles and how the class might accommodate them. Ask

students to characterize their class as an audience and describe how they can create a

classroom in which every student will have a voice. They can do this orally or in writing.

4. Identify and Test Issues for Future Argument Papers (Optional Sequence).

This is the first in an optional sequence of writing assignments that have been

tested repeatedly in argument classes. They are marked with a diamond ( ) icon in

a. Make an issue list.

Begin by telling students about two issues you care about and tell them why you

care about them. These serve as examples. Then ask them to identify one or two of

“their” issues that they care about, think about, would like to learn more about, and might

b. Apply the twelve tests of an arguable issue.

This activity calls students’ attention to the twelve tests of an arguable issue. They

5. Read and Write About Campus Issues.

a. Read the student editorial.

Students should do the pre-reading activity on page 25 before they read the

editorial. Ask them what they think about grading policies in their classes. Then ask them

to read the student editorial and answer the questions for discussion at the end.

b. Write a short essay on a campus issue.

Chapter 2: The Rhetorical Situation: Understanding Audience and Context

The purpose of Chapter 2 is to teach students to analyze the entire rhetorical

situation for argument both when they are readers and when they are writers. Extended

examples of how to use the rhetorical situation, both as a reader and as a writer, are

included. Students are taught to focus their analysis on the text itself, on the intended

reader of the text, on the author, on the constraints that either drive the reader and author

Class Activities and Writing Assignments:

1. Understand the Rhetorical Situation.

a. Analyze the rhetorical situation in a written argument. First ask students to

identify the five parts of the rhetorical situation and write them on the chalkboard. Use

the acronym TRACE to help them remember the parts. Then ask students to answer the

pre-reading questions on page 38 of the textbook before they read the essay by Charles

M. Blow. Finally, ask them to answer the “For Discussion” questions at the end of the

essay to help them apply the rhetorical situation to this essay. For example, the text is a

newspaper editorial, the readers are people who are interested in racial profiling, the

b. Apply the rhetorical situation to your issue by completing Worksheet 1:

Rhetorical Situation on page 41. Ask students to respond to the questions on this

2. Understand the Audience.

a. Write a letter to a specific audience. This is a whole-class activity. The

instructor first reads “The Rhetorical Situation” on page 42. Then students are randomly

assigned to write on one of the four writing prompts. Make certain that some students

write on each of these prompts and that they do not know which prompts their classmates

b. Analyze your class as an audience by completing Worksheet 2: Audience

Analysis on page 43. Set up peer groups of four students for this activity. Try to create

groups of students who are writing about related topics. Have each of them, in turn, ask

their audience. Discuss how that might influence the way they write their papers. Remind

them that they will be writing academic papers to fellow college students. This is not an

invitation to resort to slang and vernacular.

3. Write a One-Page Issue Proposal (Optional Sequence)

This assignment is an effective way for students to focus their ideas and research

needs at the beginning of a writing project. Issue proposals, about issues that have been

submitted to the twelve tests of an arguable issue (page 24), are a useful way to begin any

argument paper students might write. In this case, students are writing a proposal for the

issue that will be the subject of the exploratory paper in Chapter 4 and the position paper

Chapter 3: Learning More About Issues: Conducting Research

The purpose of Chapter 3 is to teach students to conduct research for future

argument papers. Students are taught to use strategies that help them think and access

what they already know. They are also taught how to locate additional information in

both print and online sources and, in the process, how to use the library. They are taught

Class Activities and Writing Assignments:

1. Create Peer Writing Groups.

List and briefly discuss the issues that class members have selected for research. If

you have not done so already, ask students now to commit to an issue that they will write

2. Start Thinking and Writing About Your Issue.

a. Freewrite what you know about your issue. Ask students to write rapidly,

b. Apply the critical-thinking prompts to your issue and write out the results. Ask

c. Develop a tentative research plan using Worksheet 3: Research Plan on page 66.

3. Write an Annotated Bibliography (Optional Sequence).

a. Collect ten quality sources about your issue. You may want to divide this

assignment in half and ask students to collect five sources for the exploratory paper they

will write when they get to Chapter 4 and then to collect an additional five sources on the

of thinking about the cloning issue by reading the sample items from an annotated

bibliography on the subject on pages 67–70. They should use this bibliography as their

model.

b. Survey, skim, and read selected parts of each source. Students should be told

that they do not always have to read an entire book or an entire article to get the

c. Write a summary, a response, and an indication of how you might use each

4. Write Summary-Response Papers.

You may decide to have students write summary-response papers, particularly if

the entire class is reading essays that you have assigned for all to read. The summary-

response paper is a good way to get students to distinguish between the author’s thoughts

handout in Chapter Six, page 96, of this manual will help students think about the

different components of this assignment.

5. Evaluate your research.

Chapter 4: Writing the Exploratory Paper

The purpose of Chapter 4 is to teach students to understand and write an

exploratory paper and also to improve their processes for writing argument. Students

Class Activities and Writing Projects:

1. Analyze an Exploratory Paper from a Newspaper.

This activity will help students recognize the main features of the exploratory

paper by applying the information from the chapter to reading and analyzing an

2. Analyze a Student’s Exploratory Paper.

to the main features of an exploratory paper. They can be directed to answer questions 1

through 5 that precede the student paper and be prepared to report their answers to the

class.

3. Find Three Positions in the Annotated Bibliography.

Ask students to find three different perspectives on the cloning issue in the

annotated bibliography on pages 67–70. Discuss the results. When students have

identified the different perspectives explained in the annotations, point out to them that

4. Writing Assignment: Review Your Annotated Bibliography, Identify at Least Three

Perspectives, and Write an Exploratory Paper (Optional Sequence).

Students will now write an exploratory paper much like the ones they have read

and analyzed at the end of Chapter 4. Students report that they gain a much broader view

of an issue through writing this paper. Since they compile and explain at least three

positions or perspectives on the issue, they usually emerge with a clearer idea of their

Chapter 5: The Toulmin Model of Argument: Understanding the Parts

The purpose of Chapter 5 is to acquaint students with the Toulmin model of

argument and to suggest ways that they can use it to read and analyze other people’s

Class Activities and Writing Assignments:

1. Use the Toulmin Model to Analyze an Advertisement.

This activity asks students to study the advertisement on page 110 of the textbook

and apply the Toulmin model to analyze it. It is important to tell students that, when

analyzing advertisements, they should consider how the photos, layout, and other non-

text elements affect the argument. Possible answers to the questions are as follows:

homeless people’s dental needs. The warrant we are asked to accept is stated in the last

sentence: His passion to help people “came from an organization that emphasizes respect

for people and commitment to a cause larger than one’s self: The United States Navy.”

The backing for this warrant is in the photo in the ad: the insert that shows Dr. Grossman

as a dentist and as a member of the Navy. Some people looking at this ad might wish for

2. Use the Toulmin Model to Analyze a Cartoon.

Ask students to look at the cartoon on page 111 and to answer the questions. When

they have done that, ask them to read the student analysis of this cartoon on page 113. If

they need to be able to explain them.

3. Use the Toulmin Model to Read and Analyze a Short Editorial.

This activity asks students to apply the Toulmin model to a short editorial. As

students employ the Toulmin model to analyze this editorial, you will once again

discover that there is rarely exact agreement among them when they identify the

elements. Individual readers usually agree on the claim, although there can often be lively

disagreement about that. Students will identify different items of support, depending on

what is most striking and convincing to them. A warrant may vary from individual to

allow small groups to apply the model to the editorial and then to report their analyses to

the class. This usually results in productive analysis even when disagreement occurs

among the groups.

4. Write a Toulmin Analysis and Report on It in Class.

This activity asks students to apply the Toulmin model to an item they locate to

analyze: an advertisement, a letter to the editor, a cartoon, or other brief argument they

papers or use them as talking points. The reports should be no longer than 2–3 minutes.

They will take one class period. These reports help students understand the Toulmin

model well enough to apply and use it during the rest of the semester.

5. Prewriting: Use the Toulmin Model to Get Ideas for a Future Argument Paper.

(Optional sequence).

To this point, students have used the Toulmin model to analyze other authors’

arguments. This activity will teach them to use the Toulmin model as a prewriting

activity to plan an argument of their own. Ask students to write a claim based on the

6. Understand Value Warrants.

Some students are not sure what values are. “American Value Systems” examines

major value systems and identifies the words associated with them. Most students find

that this article helps them understand value warrants and backing, which are often

unstated and must be inferred in argumentative writing.

Question 1. Students enjoy identifying their own value systems, which they are

“The Sense of Community” ad on page 110—Transcendental/Collectivist

“The Price of Oranges” cartoon on page 111—Enlightenment

Success/Enlightenment

Question 4 asks students what happens when their values do not match the values

implicit in a particular argument. The answer is that such a disconnect makes it very hard

Supplementary background information:

The following provides additional background information about syllogisms and

enthymemes and their relationship to the Toulmin model.

Syllogisms

Logicians for centuries have worked to devise systems of syllogistic reasoning to

establish and demonstrate unarguable truth, and they have been successful. No one would

want to argue with the classical syllogism:

Generalization (major premise): All men are mortal;

So long as the first two statements in a syllogism, called the major and minor

premises, are true, the last statement, the conclusion, has to be true. Note also that the

syllogism, what you are expected to accept as true. If one part of a syllogism is false, then

there is room for disagreement and argument about any part of it, and especially about the

main point, the conclusion:

All men are evil;

The major premise in the above syllogism, the generalization, is arguable. The

conclusion is also arguable because the generalization is not true. To make this syllogism

acceptable to most people, the author would have to qualify it by restating both the

generalization and the conclusion:

Some men are evil;

Now we have abandoned certainty and are dealing with probability—that is, what

might be true instead of what is true. We have made this qualification because of the

Students can be taught to distinguish between arguable and unarguable syllogisms

and to qualify the parts of the syllogism to make them acceptable to a wider audience.

Enthymemes

Aristotle observed that the persuasive speakers of his time did not speak in

syllogisms. Instead, they presented part of the syllogism as the central part of their

argument and depended on the audience to use their own knowledge and background to

She does not spell out all parts of the syllogism, which would run like this:

Generalization: People who are different may argue differently;

Tannen leaves out of her argument both the generalization and the example. She

develops the conclusion at length. The accepted truths that people who are different may

argue differently and that men and women are different are supplied by the audience,

Now, imagine another situation where the audience would not be likely to supply

the information required to make an argument convincing. Imagine an arguer explaining

to a Muslim audience:

Generalization: Everyone likes well-cooked pork;

This arguer, not realizing that the audience does not eat pork, states only the