EXTEND, COMPLICATE, QUALIFY,
CHALLENGE, ILLUSTRATE
Tuesday , 10/6
TUESDAY, 10/6
• Please pass your Annotated Bibliographies to the front of the class.
• Controversial Issues you wrote about.
• Batman, Boyd and “Extending, Complicating, Qualifying, Challenging and
Illustrating” arguments.
• Video.
• In-class activity.
• BRIEF Body Paragraph Structure Overview/Example.
• Homework.
CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS YOU WROTE ABOUT
 Kylie Jenner (celebrities and online
harassment/judgement)
 Adoption for gay couples
 Black Lives Matter (Sandra Bland/police
brutality)
 Gender Identity Disorder
 Poaching endangered animals
 Date rape prevention nail polish
 GMOs
 Defending The Patriots in DeflateGate
Gay Marriage
 Abortion (pro-life and pro-choice)
 The Bullet Train in California
 Legalizing Marijuana
 Tougher Sentencing in Juvenile Hall
 De-forestation
 Pro-plastic surgery
 Caitlin Jenner winning over Noah Galloway for
Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
 Mt. Soledad Cross
 Jail System corruption/mistreatment of the
mentally ill
THE ARGUMENT OR MAIN CLAIM
We begin with a simple argument or claim from our original text (source 1).
 Claim from source 1: Batman is the best superhero ever depicted in popular literature
because he relies on intelligence instead of super powers. Film adaptations help
establish his superiority.
Use Source 1 to develop & analyze this claim. How can we do this with Boyd?
 What is Boyd’s argument/main claim?
And then we put it in conversation with other texts’ claims.
EXTEND
Claims (from Additional Source) that extend do the following: they advance or extend
the claims (from source 1). They work together in the same direction, but go farther
than either could go alone.
Main claim from (Source 1) is that Batman is the best superhero because he uses his
brain instead of superpowers, and the movie depictions help establish his superiority.
Example that extends: Additional Source claims that the movie depictions of Batman
and Bruce Wayne establish him as more likeable than other superheroes. This is the
“how” part:




Orphan
Vigilante—but one with a heart
Reviles killing
Good-looking actors
BOYD’S ARGUMENT/MAIN CLAIM
Boyd argues (Source 1): “Both adults and youth need to develop media literacy and
technological skills to be active participants in our information society” (198).
Additional Source that extends :
 What responsibility do educators/engineers/companies play in empowering people to be active
participants in our information society?
 What role does brain chemistry play in how people interact with digital media?
 What specific challenges influence and reinforce digital inequality?
 What are the repercussions of digital illiteracy?
 These claims are what They Say/I Say classifies as “Yes” responses because they agree with Boyd and
take her argument further. They are agreeing with a difference that makes them unique.
COMPLICATE
Claims (from Additional Source) that complicate claims (from source 1) introduce
information that is at odds with or contradicts the information in claims from the first
source.
Example from Additional Source : Because the Batsuits look so ridiculous, no criminal
would ever be afraid of Batman. How intelligent can he be if he dresses like this?
BACK TO BOYD’S PIECE…
Boyd argues (Source 1): Today’s youth don’t know as much as adults assume they do
about technology; adults need to support them to learn media literacy.
Additional Source that complicates:
 If most adults are digitally illiterate themselves, how are they supposed to fully support students in
learning digital literacy?
 If companies are primarily interested in making a profit, what motivation do they have in encouraging
digital literacy? Perhaps policy makers need to step in to make a change.
 If the majority of employees that work for digital companies are white and male, what are we
teaching the youth of today by re-enforcing the importance of this biased and under-presented pool
of information?
 These claims contradict Boyd’s Argument/Main Claim, and are what They Say/I Say classifies as a “No”
response for that reason.
QUALIFY
Claims (from Additional Source) that qualify do the following: they limit the scope or
extent of the main argument/claim (from source 1). They suggest that the author of
the original (Source 1) claim went too far in his/her assertion.
Main claim from (Source 1) is that Batman is the best superhero and that film
adaptations help cement this theory.
Qualifying claim: Not all of the film adaptation were successful: Batman is intelligent
and appealing in only a few of the movies; in others, he’s the butt of jokes.
BURTON’S ORIGINAL VISION….1989 & 1991 (♥)
JOEL SCHUMACHER’S DEBACLES… ()
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN’S DARK REBOOT…. (♥ ♥ )
BACK TO BOYD…
Boyd argues (Source 1): It is more and more important that youth learn how to
critically evaluate media (which is increasingly hard to navigate).
Additional Source that qualifies:
 While digital literacy is a key skill for youth to develop in evaluating online media, Boyd fails to fully
explore the responsibly companies share in manipulating online information.
 These claims limit Boyd’s Argument/Main Claim, and is what They Say/I Say classifies as an “Okay,
but” rhetorical move.
CHALLENGE
Claims (from Additional Source) that challenge disagree outright with the main
argument/claim (from source 1). They suggest that the author of the original (Source
1) claim is just wrong.
Main claim from (Source 1) is that Batman is the best superhero and that film
adaptations help cement this theory.
Example of Challenging Claims from Additional Source :
 The use of the term “superhero” requires the presence of superpowers—thus, Batman is not even a
superhero.
 Batman films depict a brooding, sulky, anti-hero bent on revenge and should not be part of the
superhero canon.
CHALLENGE CLAIM FROM ADDITIONAL SOURCE:
SUPERMAN IS THE ONLY TRUE SUPERHERO.
BACK TO BOYD…
Boyd argues (Source 1): It is more and more important that youth learn how to
critically evaluate media (which is increasingly hard to navigate).
Additional Source that challenges:
 Digital literacy is not an integral skill for today’s youth. Basic critical thinking skills that are learned the
old fashioned way are most important.
 This claim contradicts Boyd’s whole argument, and is what They Say/I Say classifies as a “No” response
for that reason.
ILLUSTRATE YOUR POSITION
Claims (from Additional Source) that illustrate give additional examples and/or
evidence that correspond to a given argument. These claims also Extend the claim in
question.
Examples that illustrate:
 Additional Source illustrates that many characters—good and bad—in Gotham are normal people
without superpowers: Joker, Catwoman, Robin, Riddler, etc.
 Additional Source demonstrates how Bruce Wayne’s intelligence enables him to devise cool gadgets
and toys.
 Additional Source exemplifies mass appeal of Batman by showing sales reports of all Batman-related
merchandise, in contrast with some other superhero.
Illustrate the Counter-Argument:
Additional Source reveals Superman’s supremacy if the two were to ever fight it out…but that would never happen, right?
2016—STAY TUNED
BACK TO BOYD….
Additional Source illustrates the importance of digital literacy with personal stories
from actual students
Additional Source explicates the debate between lobbyists on both sides in Congress
(consumer rights vs. big business rights)
Additional Source illuminates the lack of diversity in most digital media companies.
CHALLENGING THE CONVERSATION…
Batman is cool, if you’re into Good over Evil…
Superman is cool, if you like your superheroes square...
CHALLENGING THE CONVERSATION…
Choose a thesis for your own paper that you can subscribe to—or be prepared to do
some mental gymnastics—which is, of course, much more impressive.
Research topics that appeal to you:
 How race, gender and/or socio-economics factor into digital literacy/digital inequality.
 How psychology factors into digital behavior.
 How capitalism influences access to information/representation.
 How digital media/technology is affecting youth for the worse.
 Digital Literacy and issues in public education.
SELECT A VIDEO TO ANALYZE
1. Gun control with John Oliver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVuspKSjfgA
2. Is College Worth it? With the Vlog brothers (John):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_N7MAr98CI
3. Psychology behind popular memes with CGP Grey (loosely related to Boyd):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3j_RHkqJc
4. Gender Violence with Jackson Katz (TED talk—20min):
http://www.ted.com/talks/jackson_katz_violence_against_women_it_s_a_men_s_i
ssue
IN-CLASS ACTIVITY
• Take notes on the video.
• To the best of your ability, write down (on a separate sheet of paper with your
name) what you identify as the core ideas/support for the argument presented: think
about P.A.C.E.S. (Project, Argument, Claims, Evidence, Strategies).
• Break up into 5 groups of 4 or 5 people.
• Extend, Complicate, Qualify, Challenge, Illustrate the main argument/claims in one or
two sentences (use your imagination).
BODY PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
Topic – Main claim or Sub-claim from Boyd’s text.
Quote – Boyd.
Outside Source – Author, short bio, title of work.
Action – illustrate, extend, complicate, challenge or qualify.
Quote – correct citation, no more than 4 lines (2 lines of analysis for every 1 line of
quote).
Analysis – Consider and explain what the connection is, illustrate HOW they are
connected in that way, and discuss the significance of their connection (the WHY). What
evidence does each author provide to back up their point? *ANALYSIS IS KEY
You should have several paragraphs interpreting evidence/claims/connections from each
outside source (6-8 pages total).
Additionally, Boyd argues that Wikipedia is a beneficial instrument for seeking knowledge, primarily for educators. Boyd’s frame of
thinking goes against the popular conception that Wikipedia is damaging because it operates as a platform that encapsulates inaccurate
information. Her argument is quite radical in the face of popular beliefs because she argues that Wikipedia is a valuable source for crowd
sourcing information. Boyd explains, “Wikipedia can be a phenomenal educational tool, but few educators I met knew how to use it
constructively” (188). Similar to Boyd’s sentiment on the use of Wikipedia, the biologist and science journalist from Harvard University, John
Bohannon, extends Boyd’s claim that Wikipedia is actually an important resource that educators can utilize. In his article, “Google Books,
Wikipedia, and the Future of Culturomics,” Bohannon asserts that, “Several efforts are under way to improve Wikipedia as a teaching and
research tool, including one by the Association for Psychological Science” (135). Bohannon describes a meeting with scholars at the
American Historical Association where the discussion regarding the effective use of Wikipedia as an educational tool surfaced. Not only
does Bohannon support Boyd in regards to the educational use of Wikipedia and the limited knowledge teachers have about its
effectiveness in the classroom, but he goes beyond his argument by showing how psychologists and experts in the sciences plan to apply
Wikipedia to their educational efforts. Such an action will not only put Wikipedia to educational use, but it will elucidate educators from all
areas on the effectiveness of using Wikipedia as an educational device.
HOMEWORK
• Re-read Boyd’s chapter and fill out an Argument Map for Boyd’s text as well as a
separate Argument Map for at least one of your three outside sources (bring to class
Thursday 10/8).
• Extension on Essay #2 Due Date