Content Units

Aligning Content with the End Goal

Having established both my objectives and my writing structures, I needed to consider the content.

Textbook Chapters

My favorite textbook offered:

Option 1

Rottenberg, Annette T., and Donna Haisty Winchell. Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. 11th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003/2015. ($15 hard copy on Amazon)

Option 2

Rottenberg, Annette T., and Donna Haisty Winchell. Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. 12th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003/2018. ($33 to rent, $57 to own on Kindle or VitalSource--Kindle is best version)

While the chapter order and names vary slightly between editions, the chapter topics roughly cover:

Chapter 1: Introduction to rhetorical arguments
Chapter 2: Critical reading
Chapter 3: Multimodal arguments
Chapter 4: Writing argument analysis
Chapter 5: Writing arguments
Chapter 6: Claims
Chapter 7: Support
Chapter 8: Warrants
Chapter 9: Definition
Chapter 10: Language
Chapter 11: Logic
Chapter 12: Research
Chapter 13: Writing research

A New Structure

After mapping out paper sections on the course calendar, I re-examined the papers and content alignments, resulting in this structure:

Unit 1: Active engagement and team building
Unit 2: Thinking patterns and obstacles
Unit 3: Research methodology and methodology structures
Unit 4: Historical background and linear reporting on history using scholarly sources
Unit 5: Language
Unit 6: Argument development, academic sources, and academic research and writing
Unit 7: Defining key terms for the reader
Unit 8: Counter argument and the introduction of online or multimedia sources
Unit 9: Using warrants to develop common ground
Unit 10: Using news sources and statistics to establish significance
Unit 11: Establishing a research based solution, writing a comprehensive (and appropriate) introduction and conclusion, and revising transitions
Unit 12: Testing for logic
Unit 13: Presenting your research

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