18 Oct How Do the Top Dogs Do It? Learning from Example Toward Effective Drafting

How Do the Top Dogs Do It? Learning from Example Toward Effective Drafting

 

Required Resources

 

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

 

Textbook: pp. 469-494.

 

Lesson

 

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

 

Apply the following writing resources to your posts:

 

Link (website): APA Citation and Writing  (Links to an external site.)

 

Initial Post Instructions

 

Main Post Paragraph 1: Evaluate an argumentative point

 

Choose a reading from the assigned pages in your textbook and note how the author addresses an argumentative point in the body of the article (in other words, not in the introduction paragraph(s) nor in the conclusion paragraph(s). Work to find a body point that demonstrates a range of strategies like logic, refutation, and author’s voice.

 

Then, please take the time to read and re-read the entire piece and your chosen section a few times, jotting down notes to help you, before composing a paragraph that addresses all of the following:

 

In what ways do you see the author’s voice being used? How does the author’s own voice (not the sources’ voices) drive and frame the argument?

 

What does the author use for support for the point? (for example, logic created by the author, sources, a combination?) Is this effective, in your view? Why or why not?

 

Does the author use any logical fallacies? If so, name them and explain why they are fallacies. If not, explain why the author’s logic is solid.

 

Does the form of this reading match the form of the writing we are learning: full essay paragraphs? If so, explain why and how. If not, explain why you think this particular piece of reading does not use academic essay format and what you might do to revise it. In other words, if there are many short paragraphs, could you put some together to form single paragraphs that are still driven by the author’s voice?

 

Main Post Paragraph 2: Practice Using Your Voice in a Full Body Paragraph Toward Your Essay

 

Referring back to the lesson, please compose and present a single, well-developed draft of one body paragraph for our argument research essay, paying special attention to making your voice the driving force and to using solid logic. Remember the parts of a good body paragraph for an argument essay:

 

Composing a smooth, clear topic sentence in your voice that provides a transition and that asserts your topic for the paragraph

 

Using your voice to introduce and present your evidence that supports your topic sentence

 

Using logic in your voice to tie the evidence to your argumentative point

 

Avoiding logical fallacies

 

Using concession and rebuttal if you are presenting opposing viewpoints

 

Ending strongly with your voice in an extended explanation of how all factors involved in this paragraph drive home your argument in this particular point

 

Making sure to synthesize throughout, with clear connections between all evidence and all of your logic and assertions

 

Follow-Up Post Instructions

 

Respond to at least one peer. Here, in reading others’ posts and replying to them, you will learn a great deal more about approaches to composing good argumentative points. In your follow-up posts, please share your thoughts on your classmates’ analysis of the textbook reading and review your classmates’ own paragraph drafts, using the best practices studied this week to evaluate how well the student has applied all principles and to offer suggestions for improvement. Please fully explain your evaluations.

 

Approaches to the Poverty/Health Care Connection

 

 *Your sources must be published between 2018 and 2021 and must be scholarly in nature. You will perform your research in our library, narrowing your search to these years and to “scholarly sources only.”

 

For your major argument research essay, please identify a very specific connection between poverty and healthcare. Consider multiple reasonable approaches, choosing the approach you believe is best. Your thesis will be similar to the ones below; you will choose the very specific topic that most appeals to you and will argue for your approach as more viable than other reasonable approaches.

 

A possible thesis pattern (fill in the brackets and the blank with your specific choices):

 

While there are multiple viable solutions to lowering the impact of poverty on [choose a health impact like: mental health/one specific age group like prenatal/neonatal/preschool, elementary, ‘tween, teen, young adult, geriatric], the best approach is _________________________.

 

 Another possible thesis pattern (fill in the brackets and the blank with your specific choices):

 

Many approaches to addressing [choose an issue like the lack of mental health care/higher rates of a specific condition like heart disease or diabetes/physical access to health care/negative attitudes toward health care/less action regarding preventative care and minor illnesses/a specific health care issue of your choice] for people living in poverty exist; however, the most effective course of action would be to   _______________________.

 

This theme is broad and offers many possibilities for specific argumentative research topics. So, please keep in mind that you must find a narrowed focus related to this theme that is arguable and that is not based in personal belief. 

 

If we plan to persuade our readers about a controversial issue, we need to know what the experts have said about our topic.

 

You will use the Chamberlain library to find articles where experts discuss the pros of your chosen topic.