What is an argument?
What makes an argument different from other forms of communication?
After everyone had a chance to respond to this question, we discussed the various responses that people had generated. Some of the ideas that were brought up were:
An argument is a discussion where each person is trying to prove something.
An argument is when one person really wants to convince someone else of something.
People care more about the outcome of an argument than they do a regular conversation.
With these ideas in mind, we watched the "argument clinic" sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus (see below) and everyone responded to the following question:
Does the argument clinic actually provide an argument according to your definition of an argument?
Explain why or why not.
After everyone had a chance to respond to this question, we discussed the answers people had come up with. This lead us back to the clip where we re-visited the protagonists definition of an argument as "a connected series of statements to establish a definite proposition" (~2:10) and the clinicians previous assertion that he had come for "an argument" not necessarily a "good" argument. This seemed to fit with the class' reading that they were having an argument, but that it was not a very detailed one.
With this perspective, I introduced a statement and asked everyone to write an argument in relation to this statement (for or against the statement and with or without conditions). The statement to write an argument about was as follows:
Schooling should be optional at all levels.
Once everyone had written their argument, they met with a partner to discuss the arguments that they had constructed. Next, we went around and talked to each group about the arguments that they had used.
I then handed out papers on rhetorical appeals that are used in arguments (ethos, pathos, and logos). Each person received an informational sheet on one sort of appeal. For homework, everyone should read the sheet they received and then come up with three new arguments regarding schooling being optional for tomorrow.
Everyone had the last 15 minutes of class to explore this class site using some guiding class site questions to help them in their exploration. Questions not finished in class should be finished for homework.
Handouts:
Appeals - Ethos
Appeals - Logos
Homework:
Write three new arguments regarding optional schooling using the type of appeal you recieved information about today.
If you did not do so in class, finish the "Exploring the Class Site" sheet.
