Countering an argument

English 1050: Mann

Paper 2: Countering an Argument

Rough Draft Due (100 points): 11/13 at 11:59 PM on Canvas: 11/15 Hard Deadline

Final Due (200 points): 11/19 1:30 PM on Canvas (Final Exam is technically 10:45-1:15 on 11/19, but time will be flexible. You will create a final draft of Paper 2 with documentation of what you are changing and why)

Paper 2: Countering an Argument

Objectives and Criteria:

Identify 2 specific moments in a social media exchange to intervene in that offer the possibility of developing an argument through addressing the reasoning and assumptions (rather than just strong “feelings”)

Use summary skills to accurately identify and paraphrase the argument to which you are responding

Use principles of rhetoric and logic to identify the reasoning and assumptions that shape these moments and suggest a response

Identify so whats and collected data from the larger critical conversation with which to respond to those reasoning and assumptions

Accurate portrayal of the mega so whats, specific so whats, and selected data from the larger critical conversation to establish and maintain authority

Carefully construct responses to identified moments that move meaningfully between collected data, analytical questions, explanations, and so whats to create a response that looks to change thinking by addressing assumptions

Explanation of the choices made in above tasks so reader understands the reasons for what is addressed and how it is addressed

(OPTIONAL if you choose to post your response and get replies in turn) Explanation of the responses you got and analysis of how your approach was effective and why and where it failed and why, with suggestions for alternate approaches

Creation of a structure that lets the reader follow all of the points and tasks you address in the project, using any templates we have used this semester as needful

Clear, effective language use that helps to explain and support your ideas

Justification:

We’ve been talking all semester about the idea of entering a conversation. Hopefully you can see why this is important in academic circumstances, but we’re going to extend this skill to a more everyday context: an internet fight!! Of course, some internet fights are just that: people whose opinions are not going to change, ever. You don’t want one of those! You want someone who presents an argument and some data: you will be identifying the reasoning or assumptions that person has and offering a different lens: different assumptions or reasoning that you will support with your own collected data (from both the lenses of secondary sources and personal observation).

Your first job is to find some arguments you can engage with. Because you’re thinking about using the skills we have developed in this class to use in “real world” contexts, I want you to find a comment section with a lot of discussion on some social media outlet (Instagram, twitter, facebook, youtube, reddit, tiktok…). Because you’ll use the larger critical conversation/secondary sources as well as your own knowledge and ideas to build your response, you want something that can use the thinking we’ve been engaging with all semester. Anything about how colleges are dealing with Fall 2020 is fair game, of course, but think what else you have a lens for: how colleges should innovate generally, what colleges should offer students and why, re-opening in places besides colleges…. You’re looking for comments with people presenting arguments (lots of people will be just stating their opinions: loudly). You’ll want to find 2 comments that you can engage with: you don’t have to think they’re right (you probably won’t), but there must be an argument and data (vs just opinions).

Useful Comment To Respond To

Not So Useful Comment To Respond To

Once you have selected those 2 comments you will write a summary of each, identifying the so whats—what data they collect and what arguments they create with them. Summarizing these comments will both help you prove you were “listening” and to start to identify the logic of their argument.

Your job is to them create, for EACH of those comments, a 2-3 paragraph response that addresses the reasoning or assumption(s) you identified to create a counter argument. To do so, you will make an argument about a different reasoning or assumption that could be reached and explain why using collected data from both your own observations and the larger critical conversation/secondary sources you have become expert in! We’ll be doing some reading in the next few weeks about how to construct arguments for the internet and why people might not be convinced just by hearing facts.

You’ll then write 2-3 paragraphs/per response that explains the choices you made and the rhetorical reasons for making them. Think about this as basically showing me how much you have learned during class and how you are applying it. This part should clearly state the assumptions you have identified and are responding and why you responded to them with the data, language and order that you did. That is, you might say something like “Senator Chaffetz was building his argument around the assumption that Planned Parenthood should be held responsible for financial malfeasance. I chose to begin with the collected data about Johnson and Johnson and Lockheed Martin because they set up the component of businesses that focused on finance and had committed malfeasance. This was designed to get the reader thinking about the assumption that businesses focused on health care have different standards of evaluation. Next…”

OPTIONAL you can actually post your response and see what happens! if you choose to do so and get replies in turn, some of the explanation above can instead be explanation of the responses you got and analysis of how your approach was effective and why and where it failed and why, with suggestions for alternate approaches.

This assignment draws on the skills of summary and understanding arguments and how they interact that we have been working on, and emphasizes how you can use these skills to develop your own thinking with authority. These are skills that you will need in both your academic life and your larger life as a citizen.

Must Haves:

4-5 pages

Double spaced in 12 pt Times New Roman with 1 inch margins.

Modern Languages Association style documentation and citation of sources (Purdue OWL is helpful)

2 well-chosen comments on the same topic that have an argument (vs just feeling)

A clear summary of each comment’s argument

2 separate responses (1 for each comment) with separate justifications for each

EACH response should include

A clear so what that states your claim about how addressing the reasoning or assumption changes thinking about the issue

Identification of the assumption(s) of the chosen comment

Collected data and explanations that allow you to address that assumption, drawing from class readings as well as your own thinking.

Because I value following instructions, including a recipe for your favorite holiday dish after the works cited on the rough draft will get you 7 extra point.

Accurate portrayal of the mega so whats, specific so whats, and collected from the larger critical conversation to establish and maintain authority

An order that leads the reader effectively through the above

An explanation for each response that explains the choices you made and why, based on what we have learned this semester

A structure to this paper that helps the reader follow your points and ideas. There are a lot of ways you can do this, and no one right way, but I will be evaluating how easy it is for me to follow your process and claims. Feel free to use any templates/models we have discussed and used throughout the semester.