Activity: Reading Sources Critically

Begin by composing a retrospective outline of the key article you brought in to class today. Follow the procedures we talked about in class last week, beginning by identifying the author's thesis statement or central claim and identifying the central claim or idea in each paragraph. If your article is very long, please complete the outline for at least 6 paragraphs. Add your retrospective outline to your Unit 1 Project Google Doc, share it with me and your group members, and in the same document complete the following tasks:

1. Describe, in a few words, the article's organizational scheme. Is there an order or a logic to the way the article unfolds? Why do you think the author chose to present the information in the order s/he did?

2. Identify at least three or four SPECIFIC places in which the author makes an appeal to his or her audience. For each appeal, note whether the author relies on ethos, pathos, or logos, and briefly explain why this appeal would be convincing for the author’s audience.

3. Note any places in which the author addresses a counter-argument to his or her thesis. Summarize both the counter-argument and how your author responds to it. Does this counter-argument prompt your author to limit his or her claim in any way? If so, how?

4. In order to write authoritatively about the subject you have chosen you will probably have to do more research on the topic. Jot down some notes about where you think this research might take you. Are there any specific references in the article that you should track down? Will you be looking for scholarly sources or popular ones? What kinds of search terms might you use? How will the research you find help to shape your argument and make it convincing?

5. Finally (and this is a tough one!) ask yourself, "what is missing from the article?" Are their any ideas, opinions, arguments, or references that seem to be missing, left out, avoided, or not addressed? Is there any aspect of the topic that the author just doesn't want to deal with, at least not in depth? Speculate as to why the author made these omissions, and how exploring these areas might be useful to you as you develop your own counter-arguments.

In-Class Activity and Homework

Continue researching for your Unit 1 Project. In the Google Doc for your Unit 1 Project (which you will need to create if you haven't already), write 2 or 3 sentences about what types of appeals you think will be most useful for your project given your audience and topic. Using the research skills we have developed in class, work on finding sources (both scholarly and popular) that will allow you to construct those appeals in your essay. Keep a working bibliography of the sources you find in your Google Doc.

Homework:

Bring in at least one secondary source (preferably a scholarly one, or failing that a detailed popular source) that will be integral to your Unit 1 Project.

Activity on Appeals

Read the following article from slate.com:

http://www.slate.com/id/2267094/pagenum/all/#p2

This article contains appeals of all three types: ethos, pathos, and logos. Work in your groups to identity at least one of each type of appeal in the article. Which of these appeals is most persuasive to you? Why do you think that is the case? In which order does the author present these appeals? Why do you think he chose that order?