Liberal Arts and Students Essay Example For Students

Liberal Arts and Students Essay Graduate students also need to construct their arguments in response to what others are saying, and my work benefited from using the they say / I say approach. At the University of Cincinnati, I continued to use the book in my teaching, and was honored when Russell Durst asked me to serve as a research assistant for the second edition and o author this instructors manual. I believe wholeheartedly that academic writing at any level requires a knowledge Of What they say and how it impacts What I say, and that when students understand this, they will find writing arguments more manageable. This manual includes brief summaries Of the rhetoric chapters (1-13), as well as additional activities to supplement the exercises included in the book itself. These activities include both written and spoken exercises, based on my belief that preprinting can include speaking. In all of the activities, students get to practice the skills taught in the book. In addition, this manual has short summaries of each of the essays in Chapters 14?18, as well as teaching notes, lists of related essays, and answers to the Joining the 5 Conversation questions. Also included are two sample syllabi so that instructors can see various ways of putting the books approach into practice. Finally, you will find three drafts of one of the student papers thats included in the book itself, Sara Markets Move Over Boys, Make Room in the Crease (up. 537-544), along with brief commentary on the drafts to help you discuss revision with your dents and see how the principles of the book help students as they write am grateful to Gerald Graff, Cathy Bernstein, and Russell Durst for the opportunity to work on this manual. Great thanks also go to Marilyn Miller and Betsey Manually at Norton. Thank you to Mark Gallagher for composing answers to the Joining the Conversation questions for the first edition of this book, and many thanks to Brandon King, Mary Misfield, and Sara Marietta for their hard work on their essays in the book. Thanks especially to Sara Marietta for being Willing to share her drafts in this instructors manual. Thanks also to all the great teachers eave had as colleagues at George Mason University, Fontanne University, and the university of Cincinnati. Your own teaching practices continually inspire me. Thanks to friends and family, and to my wonderful husband, who was a great source of support while worked on this project in the final days of our engagement and the first days of our marriage. And, finally, thanks to the late Rose Shapiro, for introducing me to this book and for being a passionate teacher. We miss you. Chapter 1 THEY SAY: Starting with What Others Are Saying Chapter 1 begins with an implied they say: that a claim can stand on its own, The authors counter hat good academic writing responds to what others are saying. This chapter provides methods for addressing what they say, including templates for introducing standard views, something the writer him / herself once believed, things implied or assumed, and ongoing debates While Chapter 2 the second chapter focuses on longer summaries, this chapter establishes what writers need to do early in a paper, such as present the they say and I say as a single, concise unit. Additional Activities Identifying What They SAA/ Have students read one (or more) of the following: the first four paragraphs of Liz Additions Two Years are Better than Foul ; the first three paragraphs Of Raddled Balbos What You Eat Is Your Business ; the first two paragraphs objection Hoofers In Defense Of Cheering ; or the first paragraph Of Brandon Kings The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold? [p. 5721. Ask them to annotate the paragraphs, noting where the they say argument is included. Talk as a class about the tone of the essays as they safe statements are addressed. As well as about the placement of the statements within the paragraphs. Sustaining What ahoy Say Have students pick a template in the chapter (or assign a specific one), and ask them to complete it as a sentence about a topic of their choice. Then have students use the sentence to start a quick five-minute ferrite about their topic, trying to include both a they say and an l say. Once theyre finished, ask a few students to share what they wrote. Ask them how much time they spent detailing the they say part of the argument before moving on to the l say. Ask them what they find most challenging when writing about what they say, (This assignment works best as an end to Chapter 1 and transition to Chapter 2. ) Chapter 2 YEAR POINT IS: The Art of Summarizing Chapter 2 teaches students how to write an extended version of what they say. The authors explain what a summary is, and some students may need help understanding the difference between summary and paraphrase. The chapter gives students strategies for writing summaries?playing the believing game, keeping your own argument in mind as you choose What points to focus on, writing a satiric summary? as well as warnings about common tendencies Of those inexperienced at writing summaries, such as the closest lice © syndrome and the list summary. For students struggling with the closest click © syndrome, you might suggest taking a look at Chapter 12 (on Reading for the Conversation). At the end of the chapter the authors include a helpful list of signal verbs that students can turn to fifthly find themselves using the same verbs over and over again, Additional Activities List Summary Writing and Revision Have students read the description of list summaries on pages AS- 36, Then have them write a list summary of David Cozinesss Dont Blame the Eater ; Dennis Barons Reforming Egypt in 140 329]; or another essay youve discussed as a class. Have one or two students read their summaries out loud, and discuss as a class the flaws this surly. Then have students cut up the summaries into separate sentence and reorganize them, or ask them to edit the transitions between sentences to show more explicitly than and or then how the ideas relate. Study the revised summaries to see how they avoid being list-y. (May take at least two class periods. ) Summary Writing and Review Either during class or on their own, have students write a short summary (no more than a paragraph or one double-spaced, typed page) of Dennis Barons Reforming Egypt in 140 Characters? or another essay youve discussed as a class. Let them know if you vent them to write a summary that could function as a they safe to an argument they themselves might make. Then have students read and respond to one another summaries in small groups. If youd like, you too can read them and give feedback after class. Another alternative would be to have students revise the summaries after the peer review. Chapter 3 AS HE HIMSELF PUTS IT: The Art of Quoting This chapter introduces the strategy of quoting what others say. The authors ran students that quoting too little or too much can hurt an argument, and that its important to frame any quotations. The chapter offers a few tips for finding relevant quotes and gives a helpful example off dangling or hit- and-run quotation from a paper about Susan Borders ideas. It also explains a strategy the authors call a quotation sandwich tort introducing and explaining quotations, and an example of how the Bored quote might be better framed. It might help your students to read both bathos examples out loud in class and to discuss the differences, Some students may think that talking too much bout a quotation is overbalances, and the final section in the chapter will help to respond to their concerns. Cigars vs Cigarettes (an observation of recent tob EssayHave students read the text, and ask them how the author represents points Of view and how the authors tone affects their experience eating the text. Chapter 7 SO WHAT? WHO CARES? : saying Why It Matters This chapter explains the importance of addressing the so what? and who cares? questions when making an argument and offers specific strategies and templates for doing so. Students papers will become stronger once they begin to address these questions, as doing 50 shows that their arguments are part of a larger conversation and that what they are saying matters. The authors urge students to consider who has a stake in an argument cares? ), as well as what the larger consequences of the argument are (so what? 3. Although who cares? or 50 what? statements work in many different parts of a paper, students who struggle with introductions or conclusions might find it helpful to address these questions there, Options for Exercise I These essays may serve as good examples for evaluating how texts address the so what? and Who cares? questions in their arguments: Liz Additions Two Years Are Better Than Four (p. 1 1]; Will Hayseeds Kentucky Town of Manchester Illustrates National Obesity Crisis ; Jason Sinners The Good, the Bad, and The Daily Show ; and Paul Germans Confronting Inequality . Additional Activities Asking and Answering so What? and Who Cares? When students have a draft of a paper written, ask them to write either their major claim or a sub-claim on a piece Of paper. Then ask them to brainstorm for five minutes about all the groups who have a stake in their argument (who cares? ). Next have them ferrite for another five minutes or more about why those groups care or why the topic matters (so what? ). Have a few students share what theyve written, and add to their vhf cares? and so what? lists as a class. Alternately, you could have students expand their lists in small groups. Finally, you might have them draft a paragraph (perhaps an introduction or conclusion to the draft) incorporating the 50 what? and Who cares? factors. Role-playing the One Who Cares Students should work in small groups (2-4 people). Each student should state a claim, perhaps one for a draft he or she is writing, Each of the other group members should think of a group that has a stake in that argument and why the argument matters to them, stating both in the first person, For example, in reaction to a paper arguing that 14 school lunches should be healthier, one group member might say, Im a detent, and this topic matters to me because I want to eat French fries for lunch, and I dont care if I get tired later in the day. Another might say, Im a nutritionist, and this topic matters to me because I want children in my community to be healthy as they grow up. You can even give students the template, Im and this topic matters to me because Have students continue to give suggestions until no one else can think Of another group With a stake in the issue. Chapter 8 AS A RESULT: connecting the Parts This chapter discusses the connective tissues of writing. The authors emphasize hat creating connections between sentences and ideas both increases sentence variety and helps construct a more convincing argument. They consider transitions both within a paragraph and between paragraphs, and they discuss four ways to connect the parts: using transition terms, adding pointing words, developing key terms, and repeating yourself, with a difference. Additional Activities Between Paragraphs / Within Paragraphs Part 1:Thai activity works best when students have a draft to work with. After discussing ways tot connecting the parts, have them look at their drafts and annotate them, noting what ACH paragraph is saying. Then have them write a sentence that shows the relationship between the ideas in each paragraph. Art 2: Have students choose a key paragraph of the paper they want to improve and note what transitions, pointing words, and key terms theyve used. Then ask them to do a sort of dissection, looking at sets of sentences to note what purpose they serve in the paragraph After they do so, they should revise sentences to include transitions, pointing words, or key terms. Taking the paragraph apart c an help them see the chunks Of meaning in the paragraph and how connecting words can help hose chunks fit together. Connective Tissue The following is a paragraph from Tom Vessels Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter With all the transitions and other connective tissue removed. Ask students to read it once and evaluate What they think about how its working. Then ask them to add transitions (either individually or in groups) and perhaps share a few examples once theft finished. End by having them read the paragraph as it appears in the book (p. 356, 12) to see how the writer himself uses connective tissue. Had problems with Fallout 3. These problems seem to me emblematic of the intersection at which games in general currently find themselves stalled. Take Fallout gs tutorial. One feels for game designers: It would be hard to imagine a formal convention more inherently bizarre than the video-game tutorial. Every time you open a novel, you are forced to suffer through a chapter in which the characters do nothing but talk to one another about the physical mechanics of how one goes about reading a book. Game designers do not really have a choice. Controller schemas change, sometimes drastically, from game to game. Designers cannot simply banish a garn?s relevant instructions to a directional booklet. That would be a violation of the interactive pact between game and gamer. Many games have to come up with a narrative plausible way in which ones controlled character engages in activity comprehensive enough to be instructive but not so intense as to involve a lot of failure. Games with a strong element of combat open with some sort of indifferently conceived boot-camp exercise or training round. Chapter 9 ANTI SO / IS NOVO. Academic writing Doesnt Always Mean setting Aside Your Own Voice This chapter argues that students can blend formal, academic language with more everyday, colloquial language. The authors caution, however, that students shouldnt fall back on colloquial usage as an excuse for not learning more rigorous forms of expression, but they point out that a mixture of academic and casual language can enliven an essay and help writers underscore points they want to call attention to. They teach one interesting technique: to state something formally and then translate it into everyday language, providing examples from Geneva Smithereens and Gloria Anza(AU. Youll want to remind students to consider genre and audience when thinking about language choices, and as the chapter notes, to remember that lending formal and informal language is appropriate in some fields more than others. Additional Activities Two Student Essays Ask students to read Sara Marinas Move Over Boys, Make Room in the Crease and Liz Additions awe Years Are Better Than Four . As a class, discuss how these two students incorporate their own colloquial voices into their writing. Ask students to find representative samples of language that exemplify the students own styles. This activity might be a good jumping-off-point for Exercise I in the book. Dressing Down the Draft This activity works best later in the writing process. Have students bring in a draft Of a paper, and do the activities in Exercis e I (p. 128) with a chosen paragraph: Dress it down, rewriting it in informal colloquial language.