DWRL Lesson Plans - Stasis

How to Advocate a Course of Action via Excel

gertken — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:11:20 +0000

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Brief Assignment Overview:

Students will use a combination of rhetorical analysis and Microsoft Excel formatting to brainstorm and write a two-page policy proposal that advocates a particular course of action. Students will watch and discuss a presidential speech and read a short literary essay to generate ideas, and use Microsoft Excel to draft an outline for their own policy proposal before writing it.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Multiple Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Software

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

To advocate a position within a controversy with recognition of strongest arguments against it; to understand difference between advocating opinion and advocating policy; to craft a policy proposal that considers questions of feasibility and implementation; to answer or appeal to skeptics and opponents by means of anticipating, refuting or conceding to their claims; to understand important organizational, rhetorical and logical features of a policy proposal or statement; to gain awareness of ethical considerations inherent in policy advocacy.

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Computer work stations with Microsoft Office and an Internet connection. Optional: access to Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), an electronic database.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Full Assignment Description:

Day One:

The class begins with a video clip showing a rhetorical moment devoted to advocating a policy: President Barack Obama’s speech requesting Congress to vote for his proposed jobs act - a video avaiable on YouTube. Students watched a brief introduction to the speech (3:08-3:35) and then a section covering education (7:35-9:45), since education is the broad theme of the course to which all students’ writing topics relate.

After the video, we held a discussion. I asked students what policy or course of action the president proposed, and what he proposed in particular for education? Then they discussed a series of general questions that I raised. I made it clear that they should ask these questions when analyzing any policy:

Is the proposal desirable? Is it possible? Is it feasible?
What are the pros and cons of the proposal?
Would the proposal require formal (official) or informal (unofficial) action?
Would the proposal reinforce the status quo or change it?
Qui bono? Who would benefit (or suffer) from the proposal’s adoption?

Following discussion, I asked students to go to their work stations and begin writing a draft of their own policy proposal by applying these questions to their stance. I instructed students to put emphasis especially on (1) making sure that their proposal addresses the strongest arguments against their own position and (2) ways in which their proposal demonstrates compromise with at least one major objection. I also told them to recognize obstacles to implementation, whether economic, political, ethical, or otherwise.

I asked students to come to class on on Day Two having read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," showing them how to access it through ECCO's facsimile or (in modern type) Project Gutenburg's version. I warned students that although the essay is short, the slightly archaic language and drawn-out sentence structure can make it a challenge to read, and I made it clear that nevertheless they were responsible for reading it closely and preparing to discuss it.

Day Two:

Day Two was devoted to making use of the reading assignment, Swift's essay. The purpose of this session was to discuss the logical, rhetorical and organizational aspects of policy proposals by showing the greatest parody of one. My goal was to teach the lessons of Swift's satirical policy proposal in an accessible way, so I started the class by clarifying problems with comprehension. We then discussed students' general responses to the essay, and I guided discussion to make sure that we adequately addressed the essay's demonstration that there are ethical implications for every political or economic policy, and also that intentions (however "good") do not ensure ethical or effectual policy.

One of the indispensable mechanisms of the satire is Swift's successful appropriation of the organization of a genuine policy proposal. Working through the text section by section, I asked students to identify the purpose of each section, and we arrived at the following outline:

Identify main problem and need for solution
Define scope of problem and group of people to be most affected by proposed solution
List minor problems to be solved or averted by upcoming proposal
Present policy proposal itself, explaining how it solves main problem directly
List additional benefits of proposal
Consider anticipated objections, refute them
Explain willingness to consider other proposals, but insist that they address root of problem
Disavow any conflict of interest on part of author

Finally, I asked students to identify the use of logical and rhetorical figures in the essay. Some examples included the three chief rhetorical modes, the lesser of evils, the law of unintended consequences, Ockham's razor, reductio ad absurdum, etc.

After discussing the essay's organization, and logical and rhetorical methods, I encouraged students to review genuine policy proposals (from think tanks, corporations, NGOs, and other organizations) to think about they could utilize these methods in their proposals for non-satiric purposes.

Day Three:

Students arrived at class with the draft of their policy proposals. I had them pair up and conduct a peer review of each other's proposals, with the specific purpose of probing the series of questions outlined on Day One, identifying objections to the policy or difficulties in feasibility that the writer had not considered, and analyzing the organization and rhetorical style of their argument, as discussed on Day Two.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

On Day One, students will come to class already having written papers both summarizing and analyzing different arguments in a particular controversy in an impartial manner, and aware that they will now need to choose a side of the debate and advocate it. I familiarized them with the concept of rhetorical stasis, and basic questions arising from stasis such as conjecture, definition, quality, and especially policy. But even if an instructor has not spent time teaching rhetorical theory, the students should come to class already having formulated their own opinion about the controversy they are investigating and having decided their answer to the question “What is to be done?”

On Day Two students should come to class having read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." On Day Three students should come with a typed draft of their own two-page proposal.

Instructions For Students:

In order to solidify these lessons, I asked students to create a short (one page) spreadsheet on Microsoft Excel that contained three columns (see image below). First, in the left column, students named the organizational components of their partner's essay, section by section, so that the entire structure would appear in sequence in that column. Second, in the middle column, students paraphrased each section of their partner's text, being careful to cover the key arguments or rhetorical figures. Third, in the right column, students explained their response to the section, for instance by stating an objection or qualification to the argument or evaluating the success of a particular rhetorical figure. After completing the Excel sheet, each student emailed it as an attachment to each partner, so that the partner could use it to help revise the draft.

Evaluation Suggestions:

The best way to evaluate the assignment is to compare the students' first draft of their policy proposal with the revised draft. Excel sheets are sometimes cumbersome to print off, although in this particular case it is feasible since they are short (see image below). But the important evaluation is whether the assignment was helpful in giving each student a clearer mental picture of the organization of their paper in a way that will help them anticipate objections to their argument or to their rhetorical techniques in specific sections. The only way to evaluate that is to compare the revised draft.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Students responded variously to each component of the assignment. Day One was easy and trouble free. Day Two was more difficult because it focused on Swift's essay, which (as expected) was a challenge for student's reading comprehension abilities. However, students responded enthusiastically to having a prototypical structure to use for their own policy statement. Day Three was successful: students did not generally have trouble using Excel and could assist each other as needed, and the process of laying out each paper in the three-part format (organization-argument-objection) seemed helpful in visualizing it and preparing for revision.

Additional Resources:

Clearly my decision to use Swift led to complications that some instructors might wish to avoid. Another way to execute this lesson plan would be to draw the reading assignment from a sincere policy proposal published by credible think tanks, institutes, corporations, NGOs, or other organizations. My reason for avoiding sincere proposals is that I think parodies of policy proposals make for better and more enjoyable reading, which is helpful when talking about organizational and stylistic principles and makes the lesson more memorable. If an instructor wanted to use a parodic form without bothering with Swift's slightly archaic diction and numerous subordinate clauses, he or she would find ample material from the Onion, or even the local satirical paper (UT has the Texas Travesty, which, for instance, recently featured an article entitled,"Congress Discussing Failure as an Option.")

Here is a sample image of what this spreadsheet might look like:

swift excel_0.png

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE 306 – Rhetoric and Writing is a course in argumentation that situates rhetoric as an art of civic discourse. It is designed to enhance a student's ability to analyze the various positions held in any public debate and to advocate his or her position effectively. Work in this course will help the student advance the critical writing and reading skills he or she will need to succeed in courses for the university degree.

Tags:

Introductory Rhetoric Course - Final Multimedia Presentation

RMazique — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:06:31 +0000

Author:

Rachel Mazique

Image Credit:

Cartoon by Ben Sargent, published in The Alcade (2011)

Brief Assignment Overview:

A five-minute multimedia presentation showcasing skills developed over the entire semester: summary, analysis, and refutation/rebuttal of a position in a student's chosen controversy.

Type of Assignment:

Major Course Project

Assignment Length:

Multiple Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Students will engage with multimedia texts as they showcase their synthesis skills and create a coherent and concise five minute presentation, which includes a brief introduction to the controversy, a showing of the multimedia (viewpoint) text that they created or found in their research, determination of the point of stasis, and refutation of the position within the multimedia text.

This final assignment thus brings together the major goals of each unit:

1. Summarizing and mapping the controversy,

2. Analyzing a position within the controversy, and

3. Refuting a position within the controversy.

The oral presentation should also help students refine their refutations and rebuttals in their final written argument.

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Computer with internet connection and projector with volume control for videos/songs and "Final Multimedia Presentation Rubric" so students understand how they will be evaluated (or, if using the Learning Record, how they should evaluate themselves)

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Late in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

A five-minute multimedia presentation showcasing skills developed over the entire semester: summary, analysis, and refutation/rebuttal of a position in their controversy.

The multimedia source should be a viewpoint source relevant to the student's chosen controversy. Students have the option of creating a multimedia argument themselves, or finding a multimedia argument that has already been published.Since the assignment's requirement for a multimedia source is open-ended, students may choose from a variety of possibilities—from already published cartoons like the Ben Sargent example above—to original songs of their own creation.

The assignment is intentionally open-ended so students will most likely choose to create a multimedia argument with the technology that they are most familiar with—whether PowerPoint, iMovie, Prezi, GarageBand, etc. Since I teach using the Learning Record, students have the opportunity to demonstrate going above and beyond the requirements in the course strand of Digital Literacy—if they create their own multimedia argument (as this is only an option, but not a requirement). Most students will likely find and refute an argument that has already been published online.

In their presentation, students must spend the first thirty to sixty seconds introducing their controversy to the class. Then, they will introduce and show the multimedia viewpoint source that they created or found. After showing the source, students will refute the argument within the multimedia source.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Introduce the assignment and its instructions at the introduction of the final unit of the semester so students have time to create a multimedia source if they choose to go the creative route with an original multimedia argument. Provide for class time so students may ask questions about the assignment. I'm also planning a day into Unit Three so students can work on their presentations during class and ask any questions as issues come up.

Students will need an understanding of refutations and rebuttals and practice applying these skills (during whole class instruction and activities) before creating their individual presentations.

Instructions For Students:

Create or find a multimedia viewpoint source that makes an argument; it can be a photoessay, TV clip, documentary clip, movie clip, slideshow, image, cartoon, podcast, song, etc. The only requirement is that this form of multimedia relate to your controversy. During the last week of class, you will give a brief talk (thirty seconds to one-minute) on the context of your controversy, introduce and show us your multimedia source or creation, and then refute/rebut the viewpoint/argument that you've shown us. In total, the entire presentation (including the viewing of multimedia) should be NO longer than 5 minutes.

This presentation will require you to synthesize the skills you've developed throughout the entire semester: summary, analysis, and refutation/rebuttal. Your one-minute talk on the background of the argument requires that you summarize the context of your controversy and all of your research from the entire semester into one minute. The refuting argument that you build requires that you determine the stasis point—ensuring that the multimedia argument speaks to, or opposes your position, which is a skill that requires analysis.

Evaluation Suggestions:

Before I used the Learning Record, I used a rubric for traditional assessment. However, with the Learning Record, I still provide rubrics, so students have a concrete form to check their work from.

Although I will not assign a specific grade to this assignment, I will still provide comments following the rubric below. Students will then be able to use the rubric as evidence of their learning processes in their final analyses. Because their final analysis relies upon a selective Learning Record portfolio, the rubric is only one possible piece of evidence that students may use to assess their progress throughout the semester.

Name: ________________________

Final Multimedia Presentation

Baseline Requirements for a “C” (Bold categories have most weight in the overall grade)
	Excellent (A/B)	Satisfactory (C)	Unsatisfactory (D/F)
One minute talk on context of your controversy (must be comprehensively synthesized and summarized)
Refute/rebut viewpoint in your multimedia source (with analysis/explanation of how the multimedia argument relates to your position on the controversy)
Source is a multimedia viewpoint source that relates to your controversy
Total presentation only five minutes long (including viewing of multimedia source)
Effective and coherent
Arrived to class on time and prepared for in-class presentation:

Overall Grade:

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This assignment was a great way to wrap up our class and to give everyone an understanding of the research their classmates had been conducting throughout the entire semester. I really enjoyed seeing the students display their summary, analysis, and refutation skills. The multimedia arguments that they chose to refute were striking and engaging so the class did not become bored. The five minute time constraint (including the viewing of the multimedia source) also eases the anxiety of those who do not relish public speaking, and it requires that students prepare, time themselves, and remain as concise as possible. Seeing the students take their presentations seriously and come to class dressed to the nines was also fun to see.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE 306 – Rhetoric & Writing is a course in argumentation that situates rhetoric as an art of civic discourse. It is designed to enhance your ability to analyze the various positions held in any public debate and to advocate your own position effectively. Your work in this course will help you advance the critical writing and reading skills you will need to succeed in courses for your major and university degree.

Tags:

Visual Rhetoric

Refutation

Rebuttal

Multimedia Presentation