Teaching Artifacts

Argumentative Project:

Researched Op-Ed or Blog Post

Argumentative Project Description

Students will use stasis theory to determine an important question to explore within a topic of their choosing that is relevant to their future discipline. The scaffolding for this project will teach them about argument as a means of inquiry and exploring perspectives rather than “winning.”  for this major assignment, students will practice “public” argumentation and audience awareness by writing either a blog post or an op-ed, and their projects must include at least two argumentative techniques or types (e.g. narrative, definition, causal, etc.). They will also turn in a reflection on their revision and peer review processes.

Context Statement

This argumentative assignment aims to help students further solidify some of the concepts covered with previous assignment, such as the importance of argument, the necessity of audience awareness, and the appropriate uses of different communicative modalities. Its main focus is on teaching students that argument is about more than just winning or losing--argument is about discovery and exploring different perspectives. The scaffolding practices leading up to this assignment explore the many methods and techniques within argument, along with the diverse perspectives that can and always have been expressed through argument. Students are exposed to arguments of the past, and they are asked to form connections with these voices to realize that they, too, can impact communities with their own words.