Semester Sequence #1
Originally developed by Jeanne Fahnestock,
Professor of English at the Univeristy of Maryland at College Park for their Academic Writing Curriculum,
this sequence of assignments is intended to gets students to follow
their interests on a subject related to the course's theme. Each
subsequent paper builds on the research of the previous papers, such
that references from the first paper are carried over to the second and
third. Seminar leaders should expect the absolute number of references
to “grow” by a third with each assignment.
Conference Worksheet
Students fill out a questionnaire before
discussing the topic with you.
Assignment #1: Perspectives on an Issue
Length: 5-6 pages
This first paper asks each student to analyze
the subject she or he has chosen by identifying several of the issues
of controversies involved. The paper should provide answers to one or
more of the following questions: What separate points are people
disagreeing about? Where and when did an issue arise? Who takes what
position? The student is to take a neutral (reporter's) stance. In
other words, the reader should not be able to discern from the paper
what the writer's own stance is toward any of the issues presented.
Assignment #2: Pro/Pro Arguments
Length: 6 pages (approx. 3 pages for each
argument)
This next assignment asks each student to write
two short arguments supporting two different positions on an issue,
most likely an issue identified in the previous paper. These two
arguments can be opposed (e.g., Cases of autism are increasing at an
alarming rate; The absolute number of autism cases remains constant
relative to population, even as instances of diagnosis have sharply
increased in the last decade) or they can simply be alternate views
(e.g., Autism is a genetic disorder; Persons with autism have trouble
reading facial expressions). This assignment is intended to help
students support a position, even one that she or he may in fact
disagree with, and thereby encourages her or him to think through more
than one perspective on a subject. The audience for each argument
should be readers inclined to agree with each position. While they may
already agree with the writer's position, they are looking for specific
reasons supporting their views.
Assignment #3: Final Position Paper (with
Refutation)
Length: 10-12 pages
This assignment asks each student to take a
stand and support a single position while taking into account the
perspectives posed by other positions or points of view. The student
may take one of the two positions in the previous paper and expand it.
Such expansion should include refutation of competing positions; that
is, the student needs to argue for her or his position as well as argue
that this position is more convincing than other rival ones. For this
assignment, each student should imagine that her or his audience is
either neutral or embraces a competing position. For instance, a
student could argue that certain environmental toxins (i.e., mercury or
lead) are the most likely explanation for the rapid increase in the
number of autistic cases in the last decade, in which case, she or he
will have to include a section that concedes some points of an
alternative position while refuting others.
Back to the Top
Semester Sequence #2
This sequence of assignments is intended to gets
students to follow their interests on a subject related to the course
theme. This sequence differs from the first one in that it asks takes
students stepwise through the research process from gathering and
evaluating sources, to generating a prospectus, to writing a paper.
Conference Worksheet
Students fill out a questionnaire before
discussing the topic with you.
Assignment #1: Annotated Bibliography
Length: 4-5 pages
This assignment builds on the skills of analysis
and summary developed in the First-Year Seminar. Each student creates a
bibliography that aids her or him in reviewing source material. When
writing the analyses and summaries for each source, the student should
keep in mind an audience of interested non-specialists who are looking
for ways to narrow the range of sources to a manageable size, thus
speeding up the research process.
Assignment #2: Research Prospectus
Length: 2½-3 pages
This assignment asks each student to take the
next step of inquiry and begin to articulate a specific issue within a
larger area of inquiry. The audience for this paper is the teacher,
who, like a research supervisor or editor, will decide whether this
project is doable. The purpose of the paper is to articulate a
preliminary research topic. The student should 1) state what the topic
is about and 2) provide a brief account of how she or he settled on
this topic. The last part of the paper should 1) specify the nature of
the sources with which she or he is working and 2) provide a detailed
description of the audience for the final paper.
Assignment #3: Final Research Paper
Length: 10-12 pages
This assignment asks students to produce a final
research paper that prosecutes an argument about the topics they have
been investigating over the course of the semester. As the culmination
of extended scholarly investigation this paper should present a single,
specific controlling idea supported by several arguments (not pure
opinions) making use of appropriate evidence and supporting detail, at
the same time that it demonstrates a logical progression of ideas. The
audience for this paper is someone who is a stakeholder in the topic or
issue under discussion.
Back to the Top
Semester Sequence #3
This sequence is conceptually the simplest,
insofar as the last paper may be a conglomeration of the first two.
Achieving a coherent and substantially different third paper is going
to be harder than most students anticipate, however. For the first two
assignments, students should be given opportunities to develop and
support one kind of principal claim, such as a claim about the real and
the preferable (i.e., facts, trends, definitions, causation,
evaluation, or action). The last assignment can combine each into one
larger argument or comprise a wholly new argument. For instance, a
student may produce a first paper that supports a causal claim, a
second that supports an evaluative claim, and a third longer paper that
develops the factual and causal claims as further support an evaluation
or plan of action. Alternatively, a student makes a negative evaluation
of a policy or practice and then argues for an alternative policy or
approach. Still another approach would be for the student to conduct
three distinct kinds of argument on the same issue: the first a
definition, the second an evaluation, and the third an extended causal
argument.
Conference Worksheet
Students fill out a questionnaire before
discussing the topic with you.
Assignment #1: Arguing About the Real
Length: 5-6 pages
This assignment asks students to research a
topic and construct an argument about "reality," i.e. arguments that
establish the existence of a factual state of affairs, or establishes
the existence of a trend, or supports an argument about the definition
or categorization of a concept, or establishes a causal relationship.
The audience for this paper is best conceived as neutral but skeptical
readers.
Assignment #2: Arguing About the Preferable
Length: 5-6 pages
This assignment asks students to continue
researching the same topic with the aim of construct an argument about
the "preferable" i.e., arguments about values and actions. For this
assignment, students can make an evaluate a current policy or practice
or argue for a new plan of action. The audience for this paper is best
conceived on neutral but skeptical readers; however, in the case of
proposal arguments, the intended audience must be in a position to act
on the proposal.
Assignment #3: Arguing From the Real to the
Preferable
Length: 10 pages
This assignment asks students to integrate the
previous two papers by creating a full argument from the real to the
preferable on the same topic, but for an intended audience that has not
read the previous two papers. In essence, this paper is a fuller
trearment of both kinds of argument, but for an intended audience
likely to disagree with the writer's position. The student must,
therefore, demonstrate the ability to concede,
refute, or bridge competing positions.
Back to the Top
|
