Argument Abounds

Drafts due this Friday, March 2nd. Please review this list of Requirements for Annotated Bibliography.

 Also, please be aware that I have added a new page containing a Sample Annotated Bibliography.  

Wanted: Sample claim detection papers for use in my teaching portfolio! If you are willing to contribute a copy of your paper for this purpose, you will receive my grateful thanks. Since this is for my own professional advancement, I cannot in good conscience offer bonus points, but I really will be thankful, and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that your paper was put to good use!

 I would especially like to use your paper if one or both of these is true:

1. You revised your paper significantly from the first draft to the final draft as a result of my comments.
2. You received a grade of A or B on your final draft.

Your name will be removed at your request, and you will receive your original paper back. I need a copy of both drafts and the grade sheet for my portfolio.

A teaching portfolio is used by professors as they enter the job market, apply to other graduate programs, apply for fellowships, etc. It is intended to demonstrate the kind of interaction/feedback the teacher gives to students, etc.

 If you are willing to let me use your paper, please bring it to class on Monday or drop it by my office. Thanks!

Handout from the fallacy files

The Fallacy Files website is extensive … it is easy to become lost while perusing this site!

Some pages to pay especially close attention to include:

The Straw Man Fallacy

Appeal to Misleading Authority

Quoting out of Context

The Black or White Fallacy

The Existential Fallacy

The Writing Center is planning to hold two MLA Workshops. Students will be taught to handle in-text citations and to properly create and format a Works Cited page.

Date(s): Monday, Feb. 27th at 2:00 PM and/or Wednesday, March 7th at 2:00 PM.

Location: Room 411 of the Central Library

Phone: 817-272-2601

There seems to be general confusion about these Reading Logs. I did cover this information in class briefly, but I do realize that we discussed it at the last minute before class was out. For this reason, I am adjusting the due dates:

• READING LOGS 5 and 6 will now be due Friday, 2/23; however, if you have completed the logs, bring them to class tomorrow!
• READING LOGS 7 and 8 will now be due Monday, 2/26.

Please read carefully if you need further explanation of this assignment:

The purpose of these Reading Logs is to either: a) help you find an issue for your research paper, or b) get you started reading the actual research. In order to do well on your issue proposal, it will be helpful for you to have done at least a little reading about your topic.

The articles or essays you will read for these four Reading Logs will be CHOSEN BY YOU so that you are not wasting time reading material that has nothing to do with your research paper.

In order to choose your articles, follow these directions:

• If you DON’T KNOW your research topic, choose essays from the back of your Wood textbook (from the section called “The Reader” at the back). Use the Alternate Table of Contents on page xxiii to find essays that seem interesting to you.
• If you DO know your research topic, first check the Wood textbook Alternate Table of Contents on page xxiii to see if any of the essays in “The Reader” are related to your issue. If so, choose essays from the textbook.
• If you DON’T FIND any related essays, search the UTA library database for articles that may be related to your topic. Everyone should know how to do this, because we did it during the library presentation. Good databases to search include Academic Search Premier and JStor.

After you have CHOSEN your articles or essays (you need one for each Reading Log – a total of four due by Monday), READ THEM to get ideas for your Issue Proposal and/or to get started on your actual research.

After you have read one of the articles or essays, write a brief (150 – 250 word) summary response. This is informal writing intended to help you remember what you read, get ideas that will improve your Issue Proposal, and begin thinking about the available research on your issue. Your Reading Log is for you. The more effort/thought you put into your responses, the more of your research and thinking will be already done when you begin the next section of the Researched Position Paper.

Review chapter 1 (especially pages 24-26) for help in selecting your topic. I have also posted a page entitled “Argumentative Issues,” which lists some ideas that can help get you started. Remember that in your Issue Proposal you will need to be specific and more narrow than a general topic like “war” or “immigration.”

Please review the post entitled “Issue Proposal” for further information. Thanks!

Just FYI – I received this notice in my email today:

SNAP Job and Student Employment Services offices are offering free Customer Service Skills and Workplace Etiquette trainings for UT Arlington students.

Call 817-272-2895 to register.
Call 817-272-3461 or 817-272-2895 with any questions.
Light refreshments will be provided.

 Here is a copy of the assignment sheet which details the steps of the research paper process, due dates, etc:

Researched Position Paper Sequence

The issue proposal (1-2 typed, double-spaced pages), is due Monday, February 26th. Please review the assignment sheet for details.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN, you may want to explore the steps listed in Exercise D, page 24 of Wood. You are actually already being required to complete this process – this is why you are asked to read articles and complete reading log entries (the first two are due Wednesday, February 21st).

YOU WILL ALSO WANT TO BE SURE that you have used the “12 Tests of an Arguable Issue” (page 25) on your idea.

MORE DETAILED DIRECTIONS and a SAMPLE ISSUE PROPOSAL are located in Exercise G of Wood (page 26).

As always, feel free to ask questions if anything seems unclear!

Duncan Robinson Essay Contest Form  

Duncan Robinson was formerly chair of the English Department.  His family has established a memorial fund which is used to fund a freshman essay contest.  Four winners are chosen each year and each receives a $50 scholarship and a certificate.  For each academic year, all students taking 1301 or 1302 are eligible to submit their essays for this award. Students from both the fall and the spring semesters are eligible, and essays written in either fall or spring semester may be submitted. There will be a spring banquet toward the end of April and the winners of the Duncan Robinson awards will be honored at it.  The deadline for entries is April 9th.

Remember that we have two required Toulmin Assignments. Together, these activities comprise ten percent of your final course grade. Although technical difficulties necessitated some changes to our original assignment plan, we will forge onward, and the online syllabus has been edited to reflect recent changes. Please feel free to check it, print it, or use it to revise your previously printed syllabi.

TOULMIN ASSIGNMENT #1 is due Monday, February 19th. For this assignment, you will consider an article of SPAM (included in handout) as an argumentative text. Following the directions on the handout, identify each part of the Toulmin model. Next, identify elements of logos, ethos, and pathos used by the author. Finally, find and correct some of the many, many grammatical errors. Have fun!

TOULMIN ASSIGNMENT #2 and EXTRA CREDIT are due on Friday, February 23rd. Remember that on Friday, February 16th you were asked to bring a magazine or newspaper advertisement to class? This ad should make an argument with which you strongly disagree. Following the directions in this handout, you will generate a Toulmin analysis, identify elements of logos, ethos and pathos in the advertisement, and (specifically) identify the target audience. This analysis will require considerably more thought and explanation than Toulmin Analysis #1, since the parts of the argument will be less blatantly stated – and may even be visually represented.

Your extra credit assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to design and create your own “anti-ad” in response to this advertisement. See handout for details. 

Remember: due to the infamous unopenable worksheet and to the fact that many students already worked with the dentist/military ad in the Wood textbook, I have CANCELLED the homework due on Wednesday 2/14. This decision was announced in section 013, and everyone has received an email notification to this effect. Remember to check UT Arlington email on a regular basis.

 We meet in the computer classroom located in the basement of the library during our class time this Wednesday. See you there! Attendance at this presentation counts as a daily grade.

Happy Valentine’s Day! <3