About this week

This week you will continue working on your Argument/Persuasive Paper by finding academic, peer-reviewed sources and using those sources to create a thesis statement for that paper. You will also be introduced to Toulmin’s rhetorical concepts of claim, evidence, warrant, backing, and qualifier and Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos and consider how these can impact the persuasive effects of texts. The week will culminate in a plan for your first draft of Project 3 including a list of sources you found, a preliminary thesis for your paper, and an outline of how you will use your sources to forward your thesis.

Learning Objectives:

• Locate and utilize peer-reviewed sources
• Create a thesis statement and structure an essay around it
• Understand and utilize the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos
• Understand and deploy Toulmin’s concept of claim, evidence, warrant, backing, and qualifier

Task List:

1. Consume this week’s required readings and media
2. Submit Low-Stakes Assignment #7: Planning Project 3

Required Readings

• Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother with Logic? and Assessing Source Credibility for Crafting a Well-Informed Argument: These chapters will help you prepare the outline or plan for your essay. Read them carefully—and again, annotate and take notes—so you can employ some of the strategies they offer.
• Excelsior Writing Lab’s Toulmin Model for Creating an Argument: The Toulmin Model is a really helpful way to think about how persuasive arguments are constructed, and it will help you to think about this as you build your own. Sometimes it can take a little while to get used to thinking about arguments this way, so if you have questions about it, please do feel encouraged to post on the Q&A forum; your questions will likely help a classmate as well! 

Required Media

These videos offer clear and informative overview of all these rhetorical concepts. I strongly encourage you to take notes as you watch them since you will need this information as you build your paper’s argument.

An Introduction to Ethos, Logos and Pathos (Duration 4:20)

Toulmin Model of Argument (Duration 8:35)

Suggested review: Unit 1 on Academic Inquiry

As I am sure you recall, we spent a few weeks during Unit 1 learning about and practicing research and composing strategies such as finding academic, peer-reviewed sources through the library databases, constructing a thesis statement using those sources, and planning a writing project that includes academic data. Before you work on this week’s Low-Stakes Assignment, go back to Unit 1 and review this information; it will refresh your memory and remind you of the strategies you need in order to complete this assignment.

LSA 7: Planning Project 3

ENG-101-LSA-7 (145KB)Download

Last week you identified key terms and potential research databases for Project 3. For this assignment you will continue that process and search within those databases to find applicable sources for your paper. Once you have found and reviewed those sources, you will develop a preliminary thesis and a plan for your paper. 

As you know, this prewriting step is an important part of creating a successful academic paper; and, for an argument paper such as this, finding credible, relevant sources is especially important. Not only will these sources help you construct a viable thesis statement, but they will also enable you to create a persuasive text. So please, get started right away and take your time researching so you locate sources that relate directly to the topic you decided to pursue for this paper. 

See the assignment sheet, LSA-7, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.