Illustrate the “Conversation”
I talk about argument as conversation as part of my effort to snap them out of the “I
have to prove my claim” mode and to explain conceptual versus practical problems, our
goal in writing to be “enlarging knowledge.” I often do this exercise after I assign a
paper. It works for both WR 100 and WR 150.
I draw a giant circle on the board, emblematic of a table. I write the topic in the center.
Then I draw three or four faces around the table, each representing a conversant,
someone whose work we have read. So if we are discussing water as an economic
good versus human right, I might have Mikhail Gorbachev, a writer from The Economist,
a poor woman from rural India, and the head of the U.N. “at the table.” In the center I
would write “Water: Human right or commodity?”
Then we have a “conversation” in the following manner.
The Exercise
I point to individuals at the blackboard “table” one at a time and ask students to speak
for them. Here is how it might go:
“What would Gorbachev say about paying for water?” I call on a student to explain. If
the student fumbles or doesn’t know, I encourage him or her to ask for help.
Then I point to the Indian woman. “How would she respond? Would she agree or
disagree? Why?” I call on students or wait for someone to raise a hand.
I point to the economist. “This individual would counter with what argument? How
might he/she justify this stance?”
“Who would most strongly cast doubt on this individual’s claim? On what basis would
they object?”
“How would the head of the U.N. respond?”
And so on.
Toward the end, I add another face to the blackboard “table.”
“Now you are at the table. What do you want to add to the conversation? Your job is
not to solve the world’s problems in five or six pages, but you can help us to understand
some facet of this issue. That is the goal of your argument.”
It is a nice paradigm shift.