Our Goal for Today:Explore the Ways in Which Argument Can Be Used to

Engage Students and Frame Learning 

Respond to the Passage Below

"Our species may live or die via the internet.  We have now embarked on a worldwide conversation that needs to include every human being.  That conversation requires universal reading and writing skills carried to a level never before believed possible.  In the future, no one who cannot read and write e-mail will be included in the games people play.  The word that appears on the computer screen must be read and evaluated. . .This process requires the mental ability to decipher and understand the printed or transcribed word, and the critical ability to interpret it.  Unless we can thoughtfully evaluate the messages we constantly confront, many of which will appear in our lives suddenly and without discoverable context, we will be unable to defend ourselves in a jungle of exploding communications, new information and changing rules that is unlike anything any species has ever confronted before."                        -From Why America's Children Can't Think by Peter Kline

Before Reading

• Essential Question--moving from personal opinion to Activated Knowledge

• Ranking Scenarios• Opinionaires• Vote with your feet• Four Corners• Scales:

o <---------------------------------------->            SA        A        N        D        SD

Argument vs. Persuasion

“The point of argument is to discover some version of the truth, using evidence and reasons.  Argument of this sort leads audiences toward conviction, an agreement that a claim is true or reasonable, or that a course of action is desirable.  The aim of persuasion is to change a point of view or to move others from conviction to action.  In other words, writers or speakers argue to find some truth; they persuade when they think they already know it.” (Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz, Walters, 2004)

 “In a world where argument is as abundant as fast food, everyone has a role to play in shaping and responding to arguments.  Debate and discussion are, after all, key components of the never-ending conversation about our lives and the world that is sometimes called academic inquiry.  Its standards are rigorous:  Take no claim at face value, examine all evidence thoroughly, and study the implications of your own and others’ beliefs.  Developing an inquiring turn of mind like this can serve you well now and into the future.  It might even lead you to wonder, with healthy suspicion, whether everything really is an argument.” (Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz, Walters, 2004)

Common Core State Standards:Argument

• Anchor Standards:o Reading=Delineate and evaluate the argument and

specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

o Writing=Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

o  Speaking and Listening=Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

From "CCSS Appendix A":"The Special Place of Argument in the

Standards""Although all three text types are important, the Standards put particular emphasis on students' ability to write sound arguments on substantive topics and issues, as this ability is critical to college and career readiness."  

Because. . .•  The university is largely and 'argument culture.'• Argument forces a writer to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of multiple

perspectives• Argument is a 'serious and focused conversation among people who are

intensely interested in getting to the bottom of things cooperatively.• What most professionals do is research, think, and make arguments• One of most important skills expected for incoming college students include

articulating a clear thesis; identifying, evaluating and using evidence to support or challenge their thesis; and considering and incorporating counterarguments into their writing

The Toulmin Model“Toulmin was looking for a method that accurately described the way that people make convincing and reasonable arguments.  Because Toulmin argument takes into account the complications in life—all those situations when we have to qualify our thoughts with words such as sometimes, often, presumably, unless and almost—his method isn’t as airtight as formal logic, that is, the kind that uses syllogisms.  But for exactly that reason, Toulmin logic has become a powerful and, for the most part, practical tool for shaping argument in the real world.” (Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz, Walters, 2004)

Elements of Argument

ClaimA statement that asserts a belief or truth

  

Evidence/DataMaterial offered to support an argument

Interpretation/Warrant/ExplanationThe statement(s) that establish the connection between a claim

and its supporting evidence.

(Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz, Walters, 2004)

The Warrant

 “Crucial to Toulmin argument is appreciating that there must be a logical and persuasive connection between a claim and the reasons and data supporting it.  Toulmin calls this connection the warrant.” (Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz, Walters, 2004)

Argument in Literary Analysis--Warrant Workout for Characterization

"Many arguments in school, and on most tests, do not require or reward warranting.  This means that kids learn to write lists of evidence, without ever learning to interpret evidence nor understand how evidence works to support particular kinds of thinking or conclusions."                            (Wilhelm, 2006)

During Reading--Semantic Differential Scales

Concept:  CharacterizationAtticus is. . . _________________________________________________Honest                                                                            Dishonest__________________________________________________A good father                                                                A bad father

Concept:  Point of ViewNarrator is. . .__________________________________________________Equal to Author                                             Separate from Author__________________________________________________Completely Reliable                                        Totally Unreliable

Argument in Literary Analysis--Evaluating Narrators

"The way a story is told--its point of view--is crucially important, and the traditional vocabulary we have for examining how stories are told just isn't enough."            (Wilhelm & Smith, 2010)

Whose Story Gets Told?Narrative Perspective in Things Fall

Apart and Heart of Darkness 

Brainstorming

What ideas do you have for how you might use argument in your unit? 

True Knowledge

"Clearly, knowledge entails belief, but it must be true belief, a belief minimally supported by adequate and publicly confirmable evidence or warrant."                (Hyslop-Margison, 2008)