Introduction to
Composition and
Argumentation
ENCS 272
Emily Follett-Campbell
Class: Mondays and Wednesdays 14:45
Location: H 820
Office hours: Friday 12:00-14:00
Location: Zoom or Teams
emily.follettcampbell@concordia.ca
Composition
For Engineering
What is
composition
?
In writing, composition can mean
the act of writing, or a piece of
writing, such as an essay (Kramer,
2022)
Kramer (2022) states that there are four main
types of composition:
• Description: states the facts
• E.g., a definition
Different
kinds of
composition
• Exposition: interprets the facts
• E.g., a description of a product
• Narration: explores a subject from the
author’s point of view
• E.g., a personal essay
• Argumentation: uses logic and evidence to
evaluate and take a stance on a claim
• E.g., an analysis
Covered in
this course
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Different types of essays and thesis statements
Research methods, referencing and academic integrity
Problem statements and research questions
Audience analysis
Structuring and outlining
Writing definitions and paraphrasing
Grammar
Use of persuasive language
Debate
Rhetorical analyses
Annotated bibliographies
Recommendation reports
Professional communication
Using visuals
Oral presentations
Argumentation
For Engineering
Covered in
this course
• Reasoning and persuasion
• Kinds of argumentation
• Artificial intelligence (AI), ChatGPT, and
ethics
• Psychology of argumentation and audience
analysis
• Theory and persuasive proofs
• Rhetoric and debate
• Rhetorical analysis
• How to structure and argument
Kinds of
argumentation
Break into pairs and list as many
different kinds of argumentation as you
can.
Payne (2019) states that like a recipe,
algorithms are a set of instructions that
modify an input; they include:
Algorithms
• An input (e.g., cake ingredients)
• Steps to change the input (e.g., mixing the
ingredients and baking the cake)
• An output (e.g., the cake)
Are algorithms a form of composition?
Artificial
intelligence
(AI)
AI is a type of algorithm with three specific
parts:
• Dataset
• Learning algorithm
• Prediction
(Payne, 2019)
Generative
AI
“Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
describes algorithms (such as ChatGPT) that
can be used to create new content, including
audio, code, images, text, simulations, and
videos.”
(McKinsey, 2023)
Covered in
this course
• Ethics and AI
• MIT Moral Machine
• Generative AI and Large Language Models
(LLMs) in Education
• Concordia’s three pillars of AI in the
classroom
• Eight allowable outputs of ChatGPT
• Academic integrity and academic honesty
Ethics and
MIT Moral
Machine
MIT Moral Machine:
https://www.moralmachine.net/
Ethics and
MIT Moral
Machine
What kinds of ethical dilemmas are raised by
AI?
1. In pairs, brainstorm as many ethical
dilemmas as you can.
2. Post them here:
https://PollEv.com/discourses/CWpMY9p
yEnNVwzroyL4vp/respond
3. Vote on which you think pose the greatest
threat to society.
Persuasion
1. In pairs, write, or find, a definition of
persuasion.
2. Post it here:
https://PollEv.com/discourses/nLdpnpsE
qwKPvwsQ5Vsyo/respond
3. If you use a source, be sure to include a
link.
4. Upvote the responses that resonate most
with your team.
Reasoning
1. Create an account, or log into ChatGPT:
https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt
2. Define: “reasoning”
3. Ask: “What is the difference between
‘thinking’ and ‘reasoning’?”
4. In pairs, discuss the ChatGPT responses.
Do you agree with the responses
provided?
• Kramer, Lindsay. “Composition Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide | Grammarly
Blog.” Composition Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide | Grammarly Blog,
Grammarly Blog, 18 Aug. 2022,
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/composition-writing/.
• Mathewson, Adrienne. “Format an APA PowerPoint Reference Slide”
Works cited
• Milano, S., McGrane, J.A. & Leonelli, S. “Large language models challenge the
future of higher education.” Natural Machine Intelligence 5, 333–334 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-023-00644-2
• Payne, Blakeley, “An Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Curriculum for Middle
School Students,” MIT AI Ethics Education Curriculum, MIT Media Lab. Aug.
2019.