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Spring 2016

Page history last edited by Chris Werry 7 years, 3 months ago

  1. Class Photos 
  2. Blogs
  3. UNIT 1: Kevin Carey's "Why Do You Think They're Called For-Profit Colleges?"
    1. College Inc - introducing the arguments and issues 
    2. Resources for Analyzing and Evaluating Carey
    3. The Prompt for Paper 1
    4. Evaluation
    5. Drafting the paper
  4. Unit 2 Lens Assignment: Rhetorical Characteristics of Demagoguery
  5. Unit 2: The Prompt
  6. Using Roberts Miller to Explore Contemporary Figures
    1. More Trump Links and Quotes
  7. Unit 3: Argument, Citizenship & Civility in a Digital Age
  8. Readings & Resources
  9. Exploring The Problem
  10. Unit 4: Entering the Conversation: Argument, Citizenship & Civility in a Digital Age 
    1. Links & Texts
    2. Debates & Collections of Short Arguments
    3. Angles
    4. Case Study: Female sports writers & writing publicly in traditionally "male" domains
  11. Homework
    1. Homework for Wednesday, April 20
    2. Homework for Monday, April 18
    3. Homework for Monday, March 21
    4. Homework for Wednesday March 09
    5. Homework for Monday March 07
    6. Homework for Wednesday March 02
    7. Homework for Monday February 29
    8. Homework for Wednesday February 24
    1. Homework for Monday February 08
    2. Homework for Wednesday February 03
    3. Homework for Monday February 01
    4. Homework for Wednesday January 27
    5. Homework for Monday January 25




 

Class Photos 

 

 

Max,              Andrew G,       Louie,          Ally          Julia,                

 

       Jimmy,                         Natalie,        Hannah,     Yasmin,         Harlow

 

          Travis,   Paige,           Leo

       Marli,     Camille,         Leonard,     Lauren

 

    Ryan             Alan,                                            Leah,    Alex

 

             Harrison,       Derek,               Bree                    Elise    
      Maddy,                   Josh,                           Zak,            Andrew C  

 

 

Blogs

 

  

Leonard

 https://leonardalyashaa.wordpress.com/ 
Louie
 https://louieariasblog.wordpress.com/
Leonardo
  https://leonardocaldasblog.wordpress.com/
Andrew C
 https://andrewcrabillblog.wordpress.com/ 
Allen 
 https://allensblogblog.wordpress.com/
Travis Dattilo
 https://travisdattilo.wordpress.com/
Massimo https://thoughtsofmassimo.wordpress.com/ 
Allyson https://allyfreedblog.wordpress.com/ 
Yasmin https://yasmingrwordpresscom.wordpress.com/ 
Andrew G https://andrewrws200.wordpress.com/ 
Zak https://rws200zharrison.wordpress.com 
Alex https://alexhristovblog.wordpress.com/  
Madeline https://mlavellecom.wordpress.com/ 
Breeaunna https://breeaunnalewis.wordpress.com/ 
Paige https://pmartinwordpresscom.wordpress.com 
Lauren https://laurenmitchell15.wordpress.com/  
Julia https://julianareyblog.wordpress.com/   
Samantha https://samoliva.wordpress.com/ 
Marli https://marliovergard.wordpress.com/ 
Natalie https://nataliepeel.wordpress.com/  
Leah https://leesblog44.wordpress.com/ 
Camille https://camilleq32.wordpress.com/ 
Harlowe https://harlowesteele.wordpress.com/ 
Ryan https://ryanstubo.wordpress.com/  
Elise https://eliseurbaniak.wordpress.com/  
Hannah https://hannahwaldron1.wordpress.com/ 
Harrison https://harrisonwiley.wordpress.com
Josh
 https://blog1868.wordpress.com  
Jimmy
 https://ji2015.wordpress.com/ 
Derek 
 Www.solfect.WordPress.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNIT 1: Kevin Carey's "Why Do You Think They're Called For-Profit Colleges?"

 

College Inc - introducing the arguments and issues 

 

Resources for Analyzing and Evaluating Carey

 

The Prompt for Paper 1

 

Evaluation

There is some useful material in the reader on evaluation on page 37-47.  As a rule of thumb, you may want to consider the following areas:

  • Reasoning - how are claims organized and constructed? (chains of reasoning; GASCAP) 
  • Support - how are claims supported? 
  • Source selection, representation, and fact-checking 
  • How are strategies used?  (For example, how effectively and fairly are opposing views represented? How well are appeals - ethos, pathos, logos - established given the rhetorical situation?)
  • Frames - how are definitions, categories, narratives and metaphors used to establish a frame
  • Assumptions and implications
  • Vulnerability to counterexamples, counterarguments and objections
  • What is left out of the argument? 


These criteria (and others) should always be analyzed in relation to the author's audience, context and purpose. 

Drafting the paper

When drafting your paper, remember to refer to the following resources:

  1. The prompt, particularly the section that states, “Your paper should…”
  2. The course reader pages 24-25 for help with signal verbs, talking about claims, and managing quotations. See also the Raimes handbook.
  3. The course reader pages 26-27 for help with MLA format (12 point, Times Roman, 1 inch margins, double spaced, etc.) See also the Raimes handbook.
  4. The writing resources page on the wiki.

 

 

 

Unit 2 Lens Assignment: Rhetorical Characteristics of Demagoguery

 

Unit 2: The Prompt

 

 

Using Roberts Miller to Explore Contemporary Figures

 

 

More Trump Links and Quotes

 

 

Unit 3: Argument, Citizenship & Civility in a Digital Age

 

 

Readings & Resources

 

Exploring The Problem

 

Stases

  1. Questions of fact: Does online incivility/bullying/hate speech exist to a degree that is a) increasing, b) of significant concern, c) of particular concern to some vulnerable groups?
  2. Questions of definition: what is online incivility/bullying/hate speech, and how is it related to other factors, like anonymity?
  3. Questions of interpretation: What does online incivility/bullying/hate speech/anonymity mean, and why does it matter?
  4. Questions of value: to what extent is online incivility/anonymity/bullying/hate speech good or bad?
  5. Questions of consequence: What are the causes?
  6. Questions of policy: What should be and can be done?

 

 

Unit 4: Entering the Conversation: Argument, Citizenship & Civility in a Digital Age 

  1. Key handout for Unit 4: Prompt, assignment guidelines,  advice on how to construct your argument.

 

Links & Texts

  1. (Video) Debate about online anonymity at Arizona State University
  2. "The dark side of Guardian comments"  As part of a series on the rising global phenomenon of online harassment, the Guardian commissioned research into the 70m comments left on its site since 2006 and discovered that of the 10 most abused writers eight are women, and the two men are black. Hear from three of those writers, explore the data and help us host better conversations online  
  3. Do We Still Need Comments? They're a powerful tool, but very easy to abuse—as the recent controversy over Genius annotations shows.
  4. Trolls Trample Political Discourse. Owen Jones 
  5. Solutions:  Leigh Alexander, "Online abuse: how women are fighting back." Guardian series on how online abuse, threats and incivility can be addressed.  "With the world only half paying attention to online threats, women are rising up to help each other, from strategy to support." 
  6. "The Web We Want" - a collection of stories, reports and articles from the Guardian newspaper. Excellent resource for making arguments about the problem, causes and impacts, issues and solutions.

 

Debates & Collections of Short Arguments

  1. New York Times Debate 
  2. Collection of Texts Debating Anonymity and Online incivility
  3. Further Texts

 

Angles

  1. Gap, shortcoming, limitation – your work will address this.
  2. Extend, add support, clarify, illustrate, ADD TO
  3. Critique/redefine/present new frame
  4. The stases – facts, definitions, problem/solutions, causes, values/principles
  5. Context - a case, situation, your experience.

 

Case Study: Female sports writers & writing publicly in traditionally "male" domains

There is a story and short video about online abuse that is getting a lot of attention lately. Two female sports journalists who regularly receive abusive online comments have been talking and 

writing about this, and made a short video (7 minutes) where men were asked to read some of the nasty tweets received. There is a piece in the NYT today, and also NPRs "Here and Now" 
show, with links to the story and video: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/sports/more-than-mean-women-journalists-julie-dicaro-sarah-spain.html

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2016/04/28/mean-tweets-video-goes-viral

 

One issue this raises is the nature of the abuse women and men tend to receive - it appears to be quite different, and the worst cases seem to occur in areas that have been defined in some way as "masculine," such as video games and professional sports.This might provide some useful ideas for those of you who are asking what drives online incivility. It also connects directly to the This American Life Story "Ask Not For Whom The Bell Trolls; It Trolls for Thee." The transcript is here.  (note - there is some strong, upsetting language.)  These two stories could provide you with much of what you need to make an argument that asks about what drives online incivility in a particular area, or could be used as an "angle," i.e. the online abuse women who are public figures often have to deal with, and why this is different for men.

I believe there is also a twitter conversation going on (started by these women) called #morethanmean, but have not yet looked at it. It may be that you'll find some useful ideas you can use there - some claims, solutions, ways of thinking about the problem, etc.

The video and the project also can be interpreted as one way of trying to find solutions and "educating" people about the issues and problem.

 

 

 

 

Homework

 

Homework for Wednesday, April 20

Your proposal is an important part of the assignment. It is your plan and/or outline for the final paper. It can be provisional – you may change 
direction. But it should get you thinking about the argument you will make. 

 

Read pages 1-5 of the unit 4 handout, and start brainstorming. You should also look at the resources on the wiki. There are 
some good materials on the wiki you could use to make an argument (the Guardian articles have a whole set of “solutions” that 
are very new and quite detailed – you could draw from these to argue for solutions of your own. Here are some things to 
consider as you write a proposal. Try to answer some of these questions: 

 

1. Is there a problem or case you’d like to focus on?


2. Is there a question(s) you’d like to ask about the issue (you don’t need to know the answer at this point).

3. What claims are you thinking of making? What texts are you thinking of using? 

4. Are you going to focus on one of the following: the facts (how bad is the problem), the definition (how should the problem
be understood), the causes, the solutions, or a principle you think is most important?

5. Is there a text or position you would like to extend, add support for, or use as a lens to explore some new case?

 

6. Is there a text or position you’d like to critique or challenge? Have the authors we have read missed or ignored something?

 

7. Can you use your experiences, or those of people you know, in your paper?

 

 

Homework for Monday, April 18

Re-read the prompt for assignment 4. Browse three or more of the articles or videos listed on the unit 4 class web page. Then make notes on any material, quotations, or ideas 

that seem promising for the argument you will write (If you plan to write on a different topic,  conduct your own initial search for texts and resources you will use in paper 4.,

and talk about those). Draft some preliminary ideas for your paper. Post this to your blog.

 

 

1. What texts did you look at, and what did you find that was useful? (share this).

2. What quotations, points, leads or materials did you find that seemed helpful?

3. What are your initial ideas for your paper?

4. What do you need to find, and what do you need to do, to advance the paper?

 

What are your main claims?
What evidence do you need?

What support, research, data, etc. would help you?

How does your position relate to the synthesis texts (“They Say”)? What do you add to the conversation?

Can you imagine any objections? Can you imagine some rebuttals?

 

 

 

 

Homework for Monday, March 21

  1. Read these 5 short texts on anonymity, online hatespeech, and what causes/solutions we should consider. The texts are by 1. Stafford, 2. Wilson, 3. Zhuo, 4. Boyd, 5. Thompson.   If your last name is A-L, read Stafford and Zhuo really closely, and be prepared to summarize and defend their arguments in a debate.  If your last name is M - Z, read Wilson, Boyd, and Thompson
    really closely, and be prepared to summarize and defend their arguments in a debate.   
  2. On your blog post an account of the strongest claims from the texts you focused on (see above).

  3.  If your last name is A-L, read these short claims about YikYak, and write a brief summary of the main claim in each text.
    http://middleburycampus.com/article/a-letter-on-yik-yak-harassment/
    http://middleburycampus.com/article/changing-the-way-we-yak/
    http://middleburycampus.com/article/why-not-ban-yik-yak/

  4. If your last name is M-Z, read these short claims about YikYak, and write a brief summary of the main claim in each text.
    Yik Yak Sows hostility at Emory      http://emorywheel.com/yik-yak-sows-hostility-at-emory/
    Yik Yak promotes hate speech and should be banned from LSU   
    http://www.lsureveille.com/daily/opinion-yik-yak-promotes-hate-speech-and-should-be-banned/article_2cb2d258-be1a-11e4-a1c6-371467668b19.html
    Larry Magid, "Banning Yik Yak from College Campuses Is Counterproductive" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-magid/banning-yik-yak-from-coll_b_6779168.html 

 

Homework for Wednesday March 09

The schedule for conferences is on the wiki at https://rws200.pbworks.com/Conferences If you would like to sign up for one take a look at the schedule and send me an email

(or talk to me on Wednesday).

For Wednesday, your homework is 1) revise your paper so you have a full draft (use the feedback received today), print this out and bring to class, and post to your blog, 2) perfect 
your main body paragraphs, and be prepared to read them out loud in class. 

 

 

Homework for Monday March 07

For Monday, compose a draft paper. See the prompt for details. Remember to email me if you wish to work with another student or as part of a group.

You can look to this sample draft and some model body paragraphs. In the paragraph in which you explore a fallacy read the sections of Roberts Miller

(pages 64-67) in which she explains the rule of argument that fallacies violate. You should try to include this in your fallacies sections. That is, don't just 
point out the fallacy, but say something about why - according to Roberts Miller - the fallacy undermines argument.

 

 

Homework for Wednesday March 02

  1. Use one of the categories in Roberts Miller to write a paragraph discussing an element of demagoguery in Wallace's speech. Discuss how/why it is used, and possible effects on the audience. (Some of the most obvious examples may be polarization, demonization, victimization, and motivism.) 
  2. Describe one fallacy you see in Wallace. Select a quote and explain why you think it is an example of a fallacy.
  3. Read the first 4 pages of the attached file. It is a transcript of a speech by Trump. What do notice about the way Trump uses language to persuade? Can see any examples of characteristics described by Roberts Miller?

 

 

Homework for Monday February 29

Re-read Roberts-Miller (reader pages 50-68) and then examine Wallace's speech (pages 72-77). Answer the following questions:

  1. In Wallace’s speech he establishes ingroups and outgroups. List all the types of people he places in the outgroup and what qualities (adjectives) and values they are assigned.
  2. List the types of people who are part of the ingroup and the qualities and values they are assigned.
  3. What seems to be the two choices with which he presents his audience?  How does he characterize these two choices?
  4. How does Wallace create a sense of insecurity in his audience?  What outside threats does he present them with?
  5. What other aspects of demagoguery (as defined by Roberts-Miller) can you see in Wallace’s speech (victimization, demonization, anti-intellectualism, motivism, fallacies, etc.)

 

Homework for Wednesday February 24

For Wednesday read pages 38-46, 50 - 57, and 72-77 in the course reader. On your blogs answer the following questions:

  1. After reading pages 38-46, list some of the things you learned about interpreting and evaluating arguments, plus any questions you have.
  2. After reading the material on demagoguery, pages 50 - 57, and the Wallace speech (pages 72-77) discuss three elements of demagoguery that you noticed in the text.  

 

 

Homework for Monday February 08

For Monday compose a draft introduction. See the prompt for ideas on how to write this, and take a look at the wiki, https://rws200.pbworks.com/w/page/104342509/Unit%201   

Describe the main claims in the second half of the paper (paragraph 11b-16), and describe two critical questions you are exploring. There is a handout full of resources you can use to question, interrogate or challenge some of Carey's claims. Post to your blog and bring a copy to class.

 

 

Homework for Wednesday February 03

For Wednesday I'd like you to take a crack at the following:

  1. In paragraphs 1 - 11 Carey make a series of claims about for profit universities. Compose a paragraph describing what you think are Carey's main claims in this section.
  2. In paragraphs 11 - 16 Carey changes direction and begins discussing "traditional"universities. What are his main claims in this section? 
  3. You have now watched College Inc., and have a better sense of the context of Carey's article. Describe an element of Carey's argument that the movie supports or reinforces, and an element that could perhaps be used to question Carey's argument.  After watching the movie, are you more persuaded by Carey, or do you have questions for Carey's text?

 

Post your response to your blog and bring a print copy to class.

 

 

Homework for Monday February 01

Read “Kevin Carey’s “Why Do You Think They’re Called For-Profit Colleges?” (pages 47 – 49) Write 2- 3 pages addressing the following questions:

  1. Do some quick research and try to find out who the author Kevin Carey is. Briefly explain how you performed your search and describe what you found out about the author. 
  2. When and where was the text published? What kind of publication is The Chronicle of Higher Education? Who do you think reads this text (try to figure out who the audience might be). 
  3. Why do you think the author wrote this text? 
  4. What seems to be his main argument? 
  5. What are three of his main claims? 
  6. Discuss one rhetorical strategy the author uses to persuade his audience, and one strength or weakness in the argument.

 

(Note - the Carey text is in the reader. But if you have any difficulty finding it, you can also access it at 
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Do-You-Think-Theyre/123660/)

 

 

Homework for Wednesday January 27

  1. Read Fischer's "Compared to What?" (page 23 of the reader) and Rockmore's "How Texas Teaches History" (page 92).  Both suggest ways of reading texts critically. What lessons did you draw about reading texts closely and critically? 
  2. Read Hari's "Chasing the Scream." How would you paraphrase Hari's main argument in your own words? 
  3. Identify two major claims, and discuss an example of evidence used to support one claim.
  4. Hari is presenting a position that challenges assumptions most people hold - identify one element of his text where he seems to anticipate his audience's assumptions, and responds to objections his audience may have. 

    Post homework to your blog, and also print it out and bring to class 

 

 

Homework for Monday January 25

  1. Check for an email inviting you to join the class wiki (may need to check your spam folder). When you receive this email, accept the invitation. Follow the link in the email and directions to join the wiki (you will use your email as your username and create a password for yourself.)

  2. Create a blog page that you will use for much of the homework and writing done in this class. Please use http://wordpress.com/. 
    Copy and paste the address into a document, print this out and bring it to class.

  3. Write a response to the following questions. Print them out and bring to class, and also post them to your blog.
    What is your prospective major?  Describe a couple of interests or experiences that help describe who you are. What writing activities do you engage in outside of school (blogging, tweeting, journaling, etc.)?  What do you write about and how often do you do it? How do you feel about yourself as a writer?   

  4. Read pages 5-14 from CR (course reader), and then two short texts by Kristof, "War & Wisdom," and "Do We Have the Courage to Stop This?" (pages 86-89 of the reader.) 
    Compose a response to the questions below. Use full sentences. Print this out and bring to class, and also post to your blog.

    What are Kristof's main claims? 
    List an element of the context that is important for understanding his argument - what was going on as he wrote? (you may need to do a quick google search)
    How does he make himself seem credible?
    Where does he present rebuttals (address objections, or people who might disagree)
    Identify one strategy in each text that Kristof uses to persuade his audience
    Identify an element in one of his texts that seemed weak or unpersuasive

 

 

 

 

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