Calendar Post for October 26 + Academic Argument Proposal Assignment Posted

• Browse each of our 14 wikis pages and recollect the readings we have encountered thus far, particularly those that put forward arguments. Then, just for practice, draft two questions-at-issue that might guide your upcoming paper, the Academic Argument. These questions should feel narrow, debatable, and significant both to you and an academic audience interested in climate change. For example, you might rephrase or make more specific questions on political science or foreign policy already researched on our wiki. You might also refine a question addressed by Thomas Friedman, "Why go green?" or Michael Pollan, "Why bother?"
  

• Read about argument and claims on pages 509-516 of the PHG. Then, much like we did in class on Friday, practice writing four possible claims in response to the two questions-at-issue you just drafted (use either question-at-issue, or both). These claims should include: a claim of fact or definition, a claim about cause and effect, a claim about value, and a claim about solutions or policies. Type these two questions and four claims, and post them on a Writing Studio forum ("Academic Argument: Two Questions, Four Claims"). You won’t necessarily use any of these claims for your final argument, so don’t worry about perfection.

• Read “The Argument Culture” by Deborah Tannen on pages 474-480 of the PHG. Be ready to talk about Tannen’s definition of “argument” and how it does or doesn’t coincide with your own ideas about arguments.

• Make sure to bring your four claims and your PHG to class on Monday, along with a handout on claims and "Proposal: From Inquiry to Argument" (at drop.io), which describes the first of two phases in our upcoming assignment.