You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Turning Rants into Valid Arguments Context: The in-class activity Turning Rants into Arguments was designed with the learner in mind. The purpose of this exercise is to engage students in a process where they are active participants in their own learning as they form argumentative skills. This activity was developed as an introduction to argument writing. It connects common experiences relatable to students to identify the commonality of argument in everyday conversation. Students are challenged to understand the dual realities of multiple rhetorical situations interacting simultaneously and to respond appropriately and professionally. This activity will be best understood by students after they have learned the components of the rhetorical situation. It will also be best for students as a pre-writing activity to proposal writing. Goals: In light of the WPA outcome statement, this activity focuses on two categories of the WPA outcome statement: rhetorical knowledge and critical thinking, reading, and writing. The primary focus of this activity is critical thinking, reading, and writing. This activity helps students to use reading and writing for learning, thinking, and communicating, and to respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations. These outcomes encourage students to attain the following goals: Focus on a purpose Adopting appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality Write in a specific genre (proposal writing, problem/solution writing) Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating Understand the relationship among language, knowledge, and power Work collaboratively to integrate ideas with others

Materials: The Complaint Box: Counter Culture reading (attached) A white board/marker Student writing materials (pen/paper) Argument structure handout (attached)

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You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Turning Rants into Valid Arguments Total Time: A minimum of 30 minutes the end of a 50 minute class period Prelude: 3-5 minutes When class begins, pretend that you are talking (texting) on the phone obnoxiously while popping gum or some other obviously inconsiderate act. You may try starting small talk about the students week and then begin texting on the phone as they answer. For example, respond with uh-huh as you briefly look up from your phone. After you capture your students attention, write the words You Know What Really Grinds My Gears on the classroom board. Ask students how they felt when you began class in this manner. Were they confused? Irritated? Did they find you annoying? In-class Writing: 5-7 minutes Ask students to take some time to write about what really grinds their gears (one of their pet peeves). After a few minutes, tell them that you would like to share a story someone wrote to express their pet peeve. Mini Lesson: 25 30 minutes Read the students the following article from the New York Times rant column Complaint Box. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/complaint-box-counter-culture/ After reading the article, ask students the following questions: o What is Davids underlying argument? (Be sure to explain how a proposal is an argument if it is not clear to your students) o What might be Davids underlying proposal? Use the students responses to create the basic structure of an argument on the classroom board. Have students create a thesis, claims to support the thesis, and possible sources of evidence for the argument. Some questions that would probe this are listed below. o Pretend that you are Marks manager. After speaking with David (the customer) what would you do to prevent customers from having a similar experience? o What solutions do you proposal?

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You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Turning Rants into Valid Arguments Students usually veer towards the implementation of a training program or employee orientation. If this is so, you can probe students into further thought by the following questions: o What kind of activities have you participated in during your experiences as new employees of a company? o As Marks manager, which of these activities will be effective for you? Why? o As Marks manager, you will have to present this idea to your supervisor. How will you be able to support your claims? o Based on the activities you have chosen, what steps can you take to create the program? o How will you be able to monitor the effectiveness? Take a moment to wrap up the discussion and help students discover what they have done. Explain to them that they have turned a rant into a legitimate proposal for a solution to a problem. Allow the students to reflect in discussion amongst themselves before moving on to the next portion. Students are not expected to present a perfected argument; they are only asked to illustrate their understanding of the relationship between common experience and complex arguments through critical thinking processes. In-class Writing: 10 minutes Ask students to conduct the same process for the rant they wrote at the beginning of class. They are to turn their rant into the basic structure of an argument. See worksheet. Discussion remainder of class Allow students to share their proposals and receive feedback from their classmates. Suggest that they consider this topic for a paper.

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You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Turning Rants into Valid Arguments

Worksheet
What is your underlying argument?

What is a possible solution to this problem?

What can you propose to meet this solution?

Based on these observations, what is your thesis statement?

Name at least three claims for your argument.

1.

2.

3.

What are potential sources of evidence to support your argument?

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