Unit 1RWS 100 Fall 2015

San Diego State UniversityInstructor: Susan Lee Duba

Let’s ReviewWhat we’ve learned in week one – some basics:

Why we study argument

Developing a rhetorical self consciousness

Thinking about texts rhetorically (what they do, not what they say)

“Text” can mean anything that can be “read” (yay visual rhetoric!)

Rhetoric is everywhere and multi-faceted depending on purpose

More Week One - Rhetoric Basics

Rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) – remember that an appeal is NOT the strategy, but the result of a strategy the author uses

Rhetorical Triangle (rhetor, audience, argument)

Rhetorical Situation (context around the argument)

Rhetor, message, audience, social and historical context, and the broader conversation

Argument Elements of an argument

claims

subclaims

evidence,

strategies

assumptions

Claims and Assumptions in Kristof

Claims

Par. 2

Par. 4

Assumptions

Par. 2 – that guns should be regulated

Par. 4 – that the way things are handled now isn’t rational

Par. 15 – that the audience will be persuaded by examples from other countries

Par. 15 – that there is a correlation between regulation and a reduction in gun crime/death

Macro-charting of Kristoff

Par. 1-7: Placing gun violence in a framework of public health

Par. 8-10: Rebuttals

Par. 11-19: Solutions

Par. 20: Conclusion

Some other things in Kristoff:

Prolepsis (addressing and countering a possible opposing argument) Par. 9 & 10

Appeals to pathos (not a strategy) Par. 11

Par. 20

Clive Thompson

Technology writer for the New York Times Magazine and columnist for

Wired, Mother Jones and Smithsonian.

Specializes in the technology and how the average person uses them

About his book: Thompson on CBS This Morning

An introduction to

Homework due Wed 9/2

Read Chapter 2 (pp. 27-38) in EOA

Reading Response on Thompson (on BB Discussion) (due 9/2)

Identify and explain Thompson’s main claim and subclaims

Identify and explain three types of evidence Thompson uses to support these claims

Identify and explain the techniques

Working with Thompson

Wednesday, September 2

“Public Thinking” is an apologia (a written defense)

Project: an apologia/defense of the phenomenon of the new writing being produced online

Larger conversation: technology and writing and the overall effect of one on the other, and on society as a whole

Macro-charting Thompson

pp. 45-51 (middle) – Introduction and background of conversation and situation

pp. 51-58 (middle) – First four subclaims

pp. 58-61 – Last subclaim and a concluding claim

pp. 66-69 – continuation of previous claim support

Toulmin Analysis of “Public Thinking”

Primary Claim: The vast increase in public writing inspired by the internet is good for society.

Claim written another way: The increase in internet writing is a good thing

Data/Reason/Grounds: because it stimulates public thinking.

Warrant (unspoken assumption): We believe that good thinking is connected to good writing. Another warrant: Public thinking is valuable to society &

culture (a basic democratic value) (collectivist concept more valuable than individualist)

Backing (the support for the warrant): belief in democracy and that people’s ideas are important

Micro-charting ThompsonIn small groups, micro-chart your group’s assigned section. Focus on identifying claims, subclaims, evidence, and if you see any rebuttals. If you notice something makes an appeal, make a note of it on your text.

Group 1: 45-47

Group 2: 48-51 (middle at the break)

Group 3: 51-57 (up to new paragraph)

Group 4: 57 (middle) – 61

Group 5: 66-69

Micro-charting Topics Main argument in Thompson

Five primary claims

Subclaims

Evidence for each claim

How does he establish ethos through the text?

Techniques

Homework for Fri 9/41. Finish charting/annotating Thompson (can be

a chart on the text, argument map, list, rough outline). Doesn’t have to be everything in the text (just do a few for now), but bring something to Friday’s class.

1. Claims, Evidence, Rebuttals

2. Techniques

3. Potential problems with the text (if you notice any)

2. Read TSIS Part One (pp. 1-51) on paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing

* Very important for writing paper

Working with Thompson

Friday, September 4th

Some of the claims in Thompson

Public thinking is good for society because it:

1. clarifies our thinking (epistemic – related to knowledge – nature of writing (51)

2. is audience centered (52), which can be transformative (56-57)

3. improves memory (57) a throwaway

4. creates audiences in non-democratic countries (57), starting with small talk (58)

5. enhances connections (theory of multiples) (58), although most of these examples come from pre-internet times (58-9)

Rhetorical Situation of “Public Thinking”

Some questions to consider:

1. Who is Thompson and what type of writer is he? What stance is he taking? What are his beliefs, values, and assumptions?

2. What is the text’s message? How is it constructed? How does the text create meaning? How are these meanings influenced by Thompson?

3. What is Thompson’s audience? Why? What is the purpose for writing?

4. In what historical context was the text written? How does the context affect the text’s meaning?

Potential problems with the text?

Democratizing china – argument of direction (although not a negative outcome like usually thought of with slippery slope fallacy)

Qualifiers (Probably, etc.) – can be helpful or hurtful depending on what you expect

Non-democratic countries and internet connection doesn’t always work ISIS uses social media for recruiting (Used for

non-democratic means)

Paper 1 PromptIn “Public Thinking,” Clive Thompson considers the role of social media, particularly blogging, in changing the way we create, share, and think about arguments in civic discourse.

In this essay, you will be identifying important features of Thompson’s argument and evaluating the extent to which those features help him persuade his audience to accept the argument’s main claim.

Your essay should be in the 4-6 page range and engage in the following work:

First, describe Thompson’s argument, including what you see as his central claim and the most important or interesting sub-claims leading up to that larger idea, explaining how those sub-claims relate to the overall claim.

Second, identify and analyze three different types of evidence Thompson uses that are connected to those claims. Evaluate both the strength and weakness of each particular piece of evidence in the context of the sub-claim it supports and the argument as a whole.

Third, analyze the ways in which Thompson uses two different techniques to develop and/or organize his text and evaluate the extent to which those techniques help guide the reader’s understanding of the argument and persuade the reader to accept Thompson’s argument.

These techniques might include: establishing significance

answering possible objections

responding to the larger conversation

use of metadiscourse and transitions, etc.

Important Dates: September 11th: hard copy of rough draft

due in class for Peer Workshop

September 14-16th: Conferencing – Class canceled on Sept 14th and Sept 16th (draft must be a revision from the rough draft – no credit if same as rough draft; bring both rough draft and revised draft to conference)

September 18th: Final draft due to Turnitin (Bboard) and hard copy in class

Homework for Wed 9/9

Due: Complete outline or map of your paper with:

Selected claims, evidence, and techniques you will analyze

(Bring a hard copy to turn in to me at the end of class.)

Drafting Paper OneWednesday, September 9th

Last time:

Group work breaking down the text into the major claims, evidence, and some techniques in “Public Thinking”

Today, you should have brought with you:

A complete plan, map, or outline of your paper with:

selected claims

accompanying evidence

and specific techniques you will analyze

Plan for today:

How to turn your plan/outline into paper one

What a rhetorical analysis paper looks like

Introductions

Using quotations

Conclusions

Drafting Paper 1Turning your outline into a paper:

Your paper should have all the basic elements of an academic paper such as:

Introduction (rhetorical moves in the intro are important)

Body paragraphs with clear topic sentences, textual evidence to illustrate your points

Conclusion

Rhetorical Analysis Body Paragraph Structure

1. Topic sentence establishing the main point of the paragraph

2. Context to guide the reader (explain the claim you’re analyzing from Thompson, and the identification and explanation of the connection to his overall argument should be explained here, which sets up the example you’ll provide)

3. Quote sandwich (still applies even for summary and paraphrase, but different)

Will be the example from the text to illustrate your point (will need some context from the text because quotes shouldn’t be too long)

Explanation of the illustration – what do you want your readers to get out of this example? Use the prompt to guide you (you can explain three claims and three pieces evidence, as in one per claim, or have one claim with three pieces of evidence, or a combination) How many claims will dictate how you structure your essay

4. Explain how the claim you’ve identified, even if it’s the same one – making that connection for your reader about the claim and the evidence is important.

5. Conclude each paragraph by discussing the effectiveness of that piece of evidence as it supports the argument as a whole

Sample Paragraphs online

Quote Sandwich

Top slice = introduction & framing(advance your point or interpretation of the author’s claim, or what the author is doing)

 The meat/tofu = the actual quotation   Bottom slice = explain, restate, discuss significance. Why is it important, and what do you take it to say?

Writing IntroductionsSpecifically, based on conventions for introductions in academic writing, you will:

Introduce to the topic and its significance

Introduce Thompson’s project text and central claim (including him, the title of the text, and his overall argument)

State your own clear thesis (a thesis about the text – you may not have this for the first draft so use a placeholder)

and a project statement, which clearly says what you will do in the paper (In this paper, I will analyze…)

Quick Guide to Quotations

1. Choose Carefully - Choose what you want to use carefully. Make sure you need the quotation to illustrate your point, and that it connects closely with the point you are making.

2. Introduce or “frame” - You should ‘set up’ or introduce quotations – don’t just insert them into your text without providing some background. This means they should be introduced with your own words. You should use introductory phrases that provide context or say what the author is doing in the section of the text the quotation comes from– for example, “Author X is concerned about global warming, and describes her alarm in the following terms. She writes, [insert quotation]…

3. Integrate - Make the quoted words fit the language (part of speech and verb tense) of your writing. You may need to carefully select parts of the quotation to do this.

4. Explain and analyze - EXPLAIN the relevance of any direct quote you include to the analysis you’re doing within that paragraph or section. Never just leave a quote hanging on its own (aka the “dangling” or “drive-by” quotation, as Graff and Birkenstein put it.)

5. Always Cite - Always cite the text, author, page number, etc. you are using..

6. Maintain Your Voice (handle attributions) - Sometimes when a writer is paraphrasing the ideas of others the viewpoints get mixed up and the reader finds it difficult to know who is saying what. The writer needs to provide good "cueing" so that the reader always knows the difference between what the writer believes and what the source believes.

Writing ConclusionsAll conclusions will:

Reiterate the topic and the significance (so what?), highlighting the ways that this essay has made that clear. Don’t summarize the paper or restate the thesis.

Specifically, this prompt requires you:

Conclude with an evaluation of Thompson’s overall argument and its significance

Fri 9/11Due Friday:

Before you begin writing, read TSIS Ch 7 (“So What? Who Cares?”

Bring a completed rough draft hard copy of your paper for Peer Workshop. Only papers that meet this requirement will be given full credit. It must include an MLA header, page numbers, and be

stapled

Do NOT lose this paper once your peer returns it to you – you turn it in to me with the final draft for credit.

There is NO credit for missing the Peer Workshop and having someone else review it outside of class. Also, your final paper grade will suffer if you miss the workshop/don’t do a rough draft.

Don’t forget to turn in your outline plan homework

Paper One Peer Review Workshop

Friday, September 11th

Peer Review Workshop

To receive full credit for the workshop, remember to:

Have a full draft for your peer to review.

Write your name on the worksheet (Author: Name)

After exchanging both documents, write your name as the reviewer at the top of the first page of the paper and sign and date it next to your name (Reviewer: Name). Also write your name as a reviewer on the worksheet.

Bring the worksheet your peer completed and your paper with comments to your conference.

Next Week: Conferences in lieu of class Monday and

Tuesday If your conference is Wednesday, I expect a

more complete revised draft than if it’s Monday. You’ll only have two days to revise again before it’s due.

Friday: The final draft of Paper One is due – online to BB’s Turnitin and hard copy to me in class. Failure to bring the hard copy or to submit the Tii version will be considered late and it will affect your grade.

Library Day – Will not be on Friday, so meet in normal classroom. Library Day date TBD.

Submitting to Turnitin Go to BB

Select “Assignments” from the left panel

Click “View/Complete” and upload the FINAL draft of your paper

Submitting Hard Copy:

Follow MLA, particularly heading in the upper LEFT corner of paper, include page numbers with your last name in upper RIGHT of the HEADER (do not manually type this on every page).

Staple it. There are staplers in the library and at the bookstore. Buy one if you do not have one.

Include a Works Cited page (not bibliography or references)

Include your first draft with peer comments, peer review worksheet, and the revised draft with my comments from conference along with your hard copy final draft. Put them in order from newest to oldest.