Tuesday, July 14 2009

Part One Goals:

• Pathos

• Review Precis concept

• Role of MLA in Precis

• Workshop Precis of Daum’s article

Part One

Journal (10 min)

a.      Today we had to write a response to the following prompt:

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?

b.      For the next minutes, I want you to write a journal response to the following question:

Now that you have identified a pathos-based argument in your own life, I want you to identify and describe other kinds of pathos-based arguments you MIGHT or COULD encounter on a day-to-day basis. What is it about these arguments that would qualify them as being pathos-based?  Explain in SIGNIFICANT DETAIL.

Group Discussion of writing.  (5-7)

Class Discussion of Pathos based arguments. (5-7)

Now get out your précis. I want you to take a moment to review it and to underline those comments that you think are the most important in the document.

a. When you are done, I want you to organize yourselves into group of  three. Look at our work, and edit it to make sure it is following the specifications.

If it is NOT, you need to let the author know where the problems are.

Discussion of MLA-format in Precis, and other issues. You must find an MLA-resource, and find how to cite a works cited citation for a work in an anthology.

Works Cited Citation:

Son of Citation Machine

Easy Bib

KnightCite

In-text citation:

We need to know the author and the page number if one is available.

Let’s look at our documents and come up with a plan for revision for next time – when I will collect them for a grade.

Let’s Re-visit the purpose and structure of the Précis

There are three 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.

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?

• Individual assessment of writing

• Group Assessment of writing

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.

• Individual assessment of writing

• Group Assessment of writing

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.

• Individual Assessment

• Group Assessment

Break

Part Two Goals:

• Ethos

• The Oblivious Empire by Mark Hertsgaard 1015-1025

• Question Clusters

• Homework: Complete a draft of the précis for “The Oblivious Empire.” 1015 – 1025. Bring two copies of this document with you to class.

Part Two

Ethos Based Argument: What is it?

b.     For the next 10 minutes, I want you to write a journal response to the following question:

I want you to identify and describe other kinds of ethos-based arguments you MIGHT or COULD encounter on a day-to-day basis. What is it about these arguments that would qualify them as being ethos-based, as opposed to pathos-based?  Explain in SIGNIFICANT DETAIL.

• Group Discussion

• Class Discussion

On page 1015 of your book, you will find an article entitled “The Oblivious Empire” by Mark Hertsgaard. In class, you are going to begin to read this document and begin to collect the information you will need to write a précis for it.

While we now all know what goes into the individual sections of a précis, I am going to give you six basic question groups to consider as you read. By answering these questions in your in-class reading, you will build a very strong foundation for yourself for the first draft of your précis. The questions are as follows:

1) Who is writing this article? What is his or her name and profession? Who are they writing to? Is there an event that this article is written in response to? If so, what was it?

2) Does the author use any technical jargon or academic lingo that an average reader may not be familiar with? If so, what are these words and phrases, and what do you think their definitions are?

3) What are the basic questions that the author addresses in this piece?

4) What is the fundamental question this author addresses?

5) What is the author’s thesis?

6) What are the author’s basic claims, and what is the evidence the author uses to back up those claims?

Homework: Complete a draft of the précis for “The Oblivious Empire.” 1015 – 1025. Bring two copies of this document with you to class. Remember to begin with an MLA citation.

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