Monday, July 13 2009

Part One Goals:

• Introduction

• Discussion of Argumentation

Welcome to Eh 124!

1)      Introduction to the Course

2)      Our fantastic Hub-Blog

3)      Our Policy and Procedure Sheet

4)      Our Syllabus

5)      An Introduction to Blogging and Eh 124

6)      Who are you?

7)      Who am I?

8)      What is this course about?

9)      What is an argument? What is argumentation?

10)    Everything’s an Argument/ with Readings 4th edition

In-class work:

Take out a piece of paper and something to write with.

This course is constructed to build off of Eh 123, Rhetoric and Composition I. In that course, you spent a great deal of time investigating your own culture and thinking about what it means to be a member of the student community at Husson University.

As I have already said, this class focuses closely on argumentation, and in your reading for next time you are going to be learning a lot about the different kinds of arguments that you encounter in a given day.

Let’s begin our work together by writing a response to the following prompt:

When you think of the word “argument,” what comes to mind? What are some different kinds of arguments that people can have? Describe in detail an argument you have had with someone over the course of the last  semester. What was the reason for the argument? How did you state your case? How was the argument resolved? You are to write TWO pages on this topic.

Group and Class discussions of the assignment

Break (10 minutes)

Part Two Goals:

• Introduction to the Precis

• Homework: Precis for “Those Unnerving Ads…”; Reading assignment on Pathos, pages 45-59; Write assignment, 1.5 page blog post on pathos-based argument.

Introduction to the Precis:

To succeed in this course, we  need to be able to summarize academic arguments IN writing.

We are going to learn a tool for doing that today. This tool is one that you will work on for the next few days.

We are going to be writing summarizes of formal, or academic, arguments.

There is a new vocabulary word you will need to know in order to do this. The word is “précis” (pronounced pray-see).

We write a précis to summarize moderately complex arguments for people who will not, themselves, be reading the entire argument. Being able to write a précis is an extremely useful professional skill:

• Break down complex ideas into their rhetorical components

• Demonstrate your clear understanding and mastery of a text

• Create useful documents for disseminating ideas within the workplace

There are other benefits, which will become more apparent to you as we work through this part of unit one.

The Précis (Pray-SEE)

There are three simple parts to a Précis.

The point of a précis is to lay out an argument for an audience who needs to know about the argument without reading the entire ten, twelve or twenty page document. We have to inform the audience on the argument without “dumbing it down” or oversimplifying it!

To write a précis, you will need to incorporate direct quotations from an article to express those points that are better articulated by the author than you yourself could articulate them. You will sometimes need to use words in quotes to emphasize the author’s original tone. It is hugely important to show an author’s bias without commenting on it and editorializing, without using “I” anywhere in this piece.

You will need to paraphrase quite a bit in this document, and can expect to use phrases like “according to….” or “X claims” every couple of lines. The point here is to report on the author’s thoughts and comments, and to leave your own opinions at the door (there will be time enough for voicing your opinions in the future).

The three parts of the précis: Situation, Issue, Thesis

*Each section should be titled as such. This is okay in a précis.

But it is going to be easier to understand the precis if we consider it against an actual document. So let’s look at Meghan Daum’s “Those Unnerving Ads Using ‘Real’ Women” on 618-620.

After we have read it, we cab begin to think about how a precis is structured.

Situation

• The very beginning of your précis.

• It should lay out what the audience needs to know about the author, the full title (including subtitle), and whatever publication info you have in MLA-style (except for the author’s name which should be done first name first).

• Next, you need to establish the basic context for the writing: who is writing it (what do we know about the author and or his or her position, profession etc), to whom are they addressing the piece (audience), when was it written, and whether there is any particular EVENT that has driven this response. Some arguments may have this, some may not. You can expect to take the better part of a paragraph to convey this information.

• SITUATE the writing for an audience who WILL NOT READ THE FULL ARTICLE. What general information do they need to know about it?

Discussion of which parts of the article might be included here.

Section II

Issue

• The author may use technical jargon or academic lingo in the argument. You need to begin your ISSUE section by defining these terms for the reader. Clarify for the ready any terms or phrases you think may cause him or her difficulty.

• Lay out the basic questions that the author addresses (NOT the answers).

• END WITH THE MAJOR ISSUE QUESTION. The major issue question is the question the author attempts to answer with his or her thesis.

Discussion of which parts of the article might be included here.

Section III

Thesis

• Thesis section. This is where the THESIS appears (the answer to the major issue question.)

• It is also where the other claims and evidence for those claims (as well as the major claim) will appear.

• This is the lion’s share of the précis.

Discussion of which parts of the article might be included here.

Homework:

1)      Write a précis for:

“Those Unnerving Ads Using ‘Real’ Women”  - Meghan Daum (page 618-620)

I want you to print off three copies and bring them to class, so we can examine them in groups.

Read:

“Arguments from the Heart: Pathos.”  Required 45-59

Write:  a 1.5 page blog post on the following topic:

Clearly identify and describe in detail a pathos-based argument that you have encountered recently. What was the argument? How was the argument designed to appeal to your emotions? Did this appeal work? If so, why? If not, why not?

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