Session 1: Welcome
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9.30: Intro to RWS100 and the lower
division writing program
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TA Introductions; photo session
(program of assimilation and mind control revealed)
Overview of RWS100
 10.00:
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Overview of RWS100
The program, RWS100, ITC, Fall
students, expectations, assignments,
and options.
RWS 100 and the lower division
writing program
 See
the handout for contact info
 A lot of material on the wiki (let us
know if you need help finding)
 Argument is at the center of the
writing program/100.
 We mostly focus on non fiction,
argumentative texts.
RWS 100 and the lower division
writing program
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We ask students to interpret, analyze, evaluate
and produce written arguments, because this is
central to academic literacy, critical thinking, and
civic life
- Lasch: “argument is the essence of education,”
and “central to democratic culture”;
- Norgaard: Universities are “houses of argument.”
- Graff: “Argument literacy” is key to higher
education.
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We want students to be able to identify claims,
evaluate evidence and reasons, locate
assumptions, identify argumentative moves, pose
critical questions, produce sophisticated
arguments, etc.
We do this not only because it’s good for their
souls, critical thinking, ability to reason, deliberate,
be engaged citizens, etc. But also because it’s key
to their professional futures – every gateway
requires it.
Why We Fight!
(4 your right to write, argue & analyze well)
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The ability to interpret arguments, locate claims and
evidence, analyze moves and strategies, and evaluate
arguments are crucial skills.
They are central to business, law, professional life, and
to academic study (including graduate school).
Students tested for these skills in the WPA, the LSAT,
GMAT, and GRE – all the gateways to professional life.
Consider the LSAT…
Sample LSAT Question
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FIND THE MAIN CLAIM
Pediatrician: “Some parents have decided not to have their children receive the MMR vaccine
because they fear that it may cause autism. They cite a study that found a possible link
between the vaccine and the disease. However, two other much larger studies have found no
link between the MMR vaccine and autism. These parents have, therefore, willfully put their
own children and many others at risk of catching measles, mumps, and rubella, while failing to
do anything to prevent their children from becoming autistic.” Which most accurately
expresses the main claim of the pediatrician’s argument?
(A) Parents should not pay attention to medical studies because they can’t understand them;
instead, they should get advice from their pediatricians.
(B) The study that found a link between autism and the MMR vaccine was unsound because
the doctor who conducted it was being paid by a group of trial lawyers who wanted him to find
a connection so they could carry out a lawsuit.
(C) Public health needs require that parents have their kids vaccinated regardless of their
fears about the procedure.
(D) Parents’ refusal to have their kids take the vaccine is both medically unjustified and
dangerous, because the vaccine has known disease-preventing benefits and refusing it will
have no effect on whether their kids become autistic.
(E) Despite the results of the two large studies, there is still some possibility that the MMR
vaccine might cause autism.
Analytical Writing Tasks
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Present Your Views on an Issue (45 minutes,
choice of 2 topics)
Analyze an Argument (30 minutes)
Each essay is scored on a 0-6 scale using
holistic scoring
 Two scores for each essay
GRE Website presents directions, actual
topics, scoring guide, and sample essays for
both the Issue and Argument tasks
(www.gre.org/gentest.html)
Argumentation/Justification
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In Wolfe’s 2010 study, assignments from a broad range of disciplines
were collected and examined. Results?
“A majority of writing assignments (59%) required argumentation. All
engineering writing assignments required argumentation, as did 90% in
fine arts, 80% of interdisciplinary assignments, 72% of social science
assignments, 60% of education assignments, 53% in natural science,
47% in the humanities, and 46% in business. Argumentation is valued
across the curriculum.
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Example: Stockton found that the history faculty she interviewed
unanimously, “agreed that argument is the key word for good
writing and that the absence of argument constitutes the central
problem in students’ written work” (Wolfe, p. 50). This finding was
echoed in other fields.
•
Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa’s Academically
Adrift, a comprehensive review of undergraduate
education, identifies lack of argumentation skills as a
major problem. (They also show that liberal arts
degrees produce some of the most literate,
sophisticated thinkers)
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The Common Core State Standards Initiative of the
National Governors’ Association – argument=key.
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These aren’t so much “justifications” of our approach
as points you may want to share with students, future
employers, other academics who sometimes think
teaching writing = comma placement.
You will (not) be assimilated…
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You need to work within the course framework and
assignment sequence, but you can be creative and adapt
it – we’re interested in hearing your ideas (esp. for the
start and end of the semester).
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RWS100 represents just one way to design a writing
course – many others are possible (genre, critical
literacy, cultural studies, expressivism, etc.)
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Writing programs often serve many masters, since
general education programs are collaborative
enterprises. Had we world enough and time (and money
and control) I like the idea of a hybrid WID-based
approach.
You will (not) be assimilated…
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But even so, your experience in this program will be
valuable as a) it’s an influential model, b) the trend is
toward aligning k-12 and higher ed. around argument,
and c) SDSU’s program is regionally influential.
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Our program is fairly “mainstream.” Our mission
statement and learning outcomes are similar to WPA
and NCTE statements on teaching writing.
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CSU-wide articulation efforts shaped by work at
SDSU.
You will (not) be assimilated…
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In other words, in the future, you may go on to teach
writing in an entirely different way – and that’s great.
But it will be useful to have familiarity with a program
like this, which is large, multi-leveled, comprehensive
and tightly designed.
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This semester there will be more opportunity to
customize texts and assignments.
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We’ve assigned short texts you can supplement, as
there will be more focus on evaluation of strengths and
weaknesses.
ITC: Expectations
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ITC = an important part of your work. You are
expected to attend. You get credit for it.
Wednesdays @ 1.00 – 1.50 in AH 2103
 More importantly, it’s part of collaboration,
professional development, and networking.
 Modest home work is assigned but it’s all to prepare
for your class. Meetings are 50 minutes.
 Your contribution is important and most welcome. We
provide a lot of support, but you are welcome to adapt
& remix, or add your own materials. TA contributions
have improved 100 a lot – many TA ideas are on the
wiki.
Teaching in a time of budget cuts…
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Class sizes are 30 - big for a writing class
Most professional organizations say writing classes
should have at most 20 students.
Our pedagogies aren’t really designed for classes this
big. We may wish to share coping strategies.
We may want to “jigsaw” the work of preparing class
plans, etc.
You will likely teach RWS200 next semester, where
learning curve is steeper, and you may benefit from
the support of your fellow TAs.
Meet your audience
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Fall semester students are often quite well prepared.
Some may be fairly sophisticated writers, but you’ll be
presenting them with a new, challenging way of
approaching texts
You may have some 3rd semester students who have
come through 92a and 92b. If you do, roster will say
level “1,” as opposed to “0”. They register late, tend to
come in clusters, will be weaker writers; some will be
ESL.
You may have some ESL/international students. You
can refer them to LING100 if you think they’ll struggle.
About 500 students will have done “early start” classes
over summer as college prep. They tend to be serious,
hard working students, and are often grouped in a few
classes.
Main Texts
1.
2.
3.
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6.
7.
Diamond, Carey, LaPierre/Harris
RWS 100 Reader
Graff et al. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in
Academic Writing.
Little Seagull Handbook
Short texts in the Reader: Kristof, Rifkin, Parry, etc. You can
select your own, and other short texts on the wiki. Use to
introduce the course/key concepts
Texts for unit 2 and 3– you can select, or use ones on wiki.
Some texts can be used repeatedly. E.g. you may wish to
consider Parry’s “The Art of Branding a Condition” for
introducing rhetoric, and also in the strategies unit.
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BUT - in a sense the “central” text in the class = the
students’ texts. (Your fabulous teaching
performance vs. their written performance)
You may want to delve deep into the issues raised in
texts. You may want to perform brilliantly, and model
your teaching on the last class you took (a grad
class).
Student writing is the key text, and teaching them
how to read their own writing practices (reflexivity) is
important
“The ability to reflect on what is being written seems
to be the essence of the difference between able
and not so able writers from their initial writing
experience onward”(Yancey 4)
Assignment Sequence
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1. produce an account and analysis of a single
argument (Diamond)
2. gather sources, situate an argument within a field of
other texts, map out and analyze relationships between
them (extend, complicate, illustrate, etc.) (Carey)
3. identify, analyze and evaluate rhetorical strategies
LaPierre/Harris
4. an optional 4th assignment
Optional Final Assignment (Assignment 3.5/4)
■ For the final assignment, you can select from a
number of options. We recommend one of the following,
although you are welcome to suggest alternatives.
■ Some TAs chose to extend the strategies assignment
– so 3 & ½ major assignments. They do a formal written
strategies assignment, plus a presentation (sometimes in
groups) and self analysis of rhetorical choices.
Assignment Options
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1. Portfolio: Students have done small writing
assignments over the semester. You can
assign further short writing assignments in the
final part of the course, and give students an
aggregate grade for the completed portfolio.
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2. Reflection essay – have students write a
paper that asks them to reflect on the writing
work they have done, what they have learned,
the way they approach writing, the things they
still need to work on, etc.
Managing the Final Paper
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3. Group projects/presentations where students get to
make an argument that draws from one of the issues raised
in the class, or which focuses on one of the texts covered. If
you choose this option, we suggest you construct a group
assignment with clearly defined roles for each student, so
that individual grades can be assigned and you minimize
“free riding” and conflict.
 4. Lens paper: the “traditional” 4th assignment was to use
the “lens assignment” (see past 100 syllabi, assignments,
materials etc. for details.) This paper involves taking one of
the texts we’ve read and using it as a “lens” through which
to analyze another text or a contemporary issue. The
student can present an original argument, interpretation or
analysis. (e.g. “Characteristics of Demagoguery” and
Wallace or LaPierre.)
 5. Roll your own assignment
Overview of RWS100
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Sample syllabi, schedules and
assignment sequences are on the wiki
11.00 The First Week(s):
The first day: crashers,
scheduling, class management
(Jamie)
11.30 Reading Diamond
Glen McClish
12.30-1.00 Admin
1.00 – 2.00 LUNCH
2.00 – 3.30
• Introducing rhetoric, the course,
and working with short texts
• Overview: common classroom
activities
Common Class Activities & Patterns
[See p. 3 of handout]
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Pre-reading and “pre-discussion” work (questionnaires to get at
assumptions, surveys, etc.)
“Jig saw” work (students share researching key parts of text and share in
class)
Class discussion, group work
Critical reading/rhetorical reading – posing questions, interrogating
assumptions, reading actively and critically (modeling qns to ask)
Charting – what is the text doing; what/how/why moves are made
PACES (project, argument, claims, evidence, strategies)
Pre-writing exercises + templates, rhetorical precis, metadiscourse,
transitions, quotations, mechanics
Drafting, peer review, student “read alouds,” conferencing
Assessment and response
Analysis (single argument, relationship between texts, strategies, “lens”
work, evaluation of arguments) and presentation of student arguments
Reflection and reflective practice (applying concepts to students own
writing – e.g. charting, analyzing students’ moves and strategies, etc.)
Example: pre-reading exercises
1. In Class test
“Careful, you might run out of planet: SUVs and the
exploitation of the American myth,” by Goewey.
Questions:
1. Is Goewey critical or complimentary of SUVs?
2. Does the author believe that there is time to make a
change?
3. Does the author put more emphasis on car quality or
social issues in assessing the value of SUVs?
4. Is the author likely to be a supporter of major oil
companies?
5. Was this essay written in 1979, 1989, or 1999?
Pre-reading
Examining Titles Carefully: Chua
- Chua’s article “A World on the Edge” is part of her book
World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds
Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability.
Consider the Source: “A Variety of Religious Experience” is a
chapter from a book titled The Meaning of Sports: Why Americans
Watch Baseball, Football, and Basketball, and What They See When
They Do
Surveys/Questionnaires
■ Diamond asks why Eurasian peoples, rather than peoples of other
continents, conquered much of the world. What factors do you think are
relevant - how would you rank
Geography, Culture, Natural resources, Intelligence, Institutions, Religion?
■ Why did the Spanish come to invade and take over South America, rather
than the other way around? What were the key factors that allowed a relatively
small group of Spanish soldiers to do this?
■ Do you agree with the statement that regarding a civilization’s ability to gain
power, wealth, and strength, “...what’s far more important is the hand that
people have been dealt, the raw materials they’ve had at their disposal.” Why
or Why not? Always, or at certain points in history?
■ Etc.
2.
Modeling close reading strategies –
annotating, posing questions, reading
actively and critically.
Unit 1: Common Activities cont.
3.
Charting – what is the text doing (what,
how, why moves are made).
Students chart their own and their peers’ writing
Showing that
this claim really
is in the text,
and why E.
makes it.
An important part of Ehrenreich’s
argument is that the poor are invisible
to affluent people. She suggests that
the affluent “are less and less likely
to share public spaces and services with
the poor,” that political parties are
unwilling to “acknowledge that low-wage
work doesn’t lift people out of poverty”
(217) and that media attention focuses
more on “occasional success stories”
than on the rising numbers of poor and
hungry people (218). The fact that the
poor are invisible contributes to the
lack of attention that the problem of
low wages is getting.
Writer telling reader
one piece of E.’s
argument, one
claim.
Explaining why the
“invisibility claim”
is significant
Common Activities cont.
4.
PACES (project, argument, claims, evidence,
strategies)
Identifying claims – a good rule of thumb is to look for the following
cues:
- question/answer pattern
- problem/solution pattern
- self-identification (“my point here is that…”)
- emphasis/repetition (“it must be stressed that…”)
- approval (“Olson makes some important and long overdue
amendments to work on …”)
- metalanguage that explicitly uses the language of argument
(“My argument consists of three main claims. First, that…”)
Identifying and sorting claims
Common Activities cont.
Drafting: models, outlines, templates,
rhetorical precis; metadiscourse, quotations
6. Drafting: peer review, workshops, review
plans, student “read-alouds,” conferencing
7. Assessment and response
8. Reflection and reflective practice (applying
concepts to students own writing – e.g.
charting, analyzing students’ moves and
strategies, etc.)
5.
They Say/I Say Templates – verbs for talking about
arguments
Templates:
The Graff & B Template
One of our templates
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There are handouts, class exercises,
and class plans based on each of these
key activities (see wiki or Blackboard).
Introducing rhetoric
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We ask that you tell students that RWS 100 is a rhetoric
class. Some may base their expectations on high school
English classes/literary analysis. Emphasize that the
interpretation, analysis and production of argument is central,
that they will be reading non-fiction texts, doing a lot of
analysis.
 You may find “Content is king” - locate, remember and deliver
content. You may encounter a “textbook mentality” in the
reading practices of many of your students, and an
“information processor” model of writing.
 Textbooks are often “anti-rhetorical” - presenting knowledge in
terms of a decontextualized, disembodied voice of authority, a
“view from nowhere,” and of knowledge as “settled,” unified
and authoritative
 The contested, contingent, contextual, community-centered,
argument-driven…in short, the RHETORICAL dimensions of
knowledge – of academic discourse, are largely absent.
Nudging students toward a
rhetorical stance…
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We want to move students from a focus on what texts say
(content) to what they do and how they do it (rhetoric). Rhetorical
self consciousness = achieving a kind of double vision – of
looking “at” as well as through language.
Rhetorical self consciousness – understanding what texts do - is
an important skill for students. Revealing the rhetorical moves
that writers make, the strategies they draw on, is part of achieving
academic literacy, and of acculturation into disciplinary
communities. When you recognize the moves you not only
understand the disciplinary conversation better, you are better
equipped to join it.
In the first week of class we’d like you to introduce key concepts
through the analysis of some short texts. There is a folder on
Blackboard to help you with this.
Focusing on strategies and what texts do = good ways of
introducing rhetoric.
Basic Rhetorical Strategies
How do texts position readers?
 What point of view do they adopt?
 From what perspective do they invite us
to view the world?
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Consider these chewing gum ads:
Rhetoric Is “Everywhere” & an “Everyday” Thing
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When a politician tries to get you to vote for them, they are using
rhetoric.
When a lawyer tries to move a jury, they are using rhetoric.
When a government produces propaganda, they are using rhetoric.
When an advertisement tries to get you to buy something, it is using
rhetoric.
When the president gives a speech, he is using rhetoric.
But rhetoric can be much subtler (and quite positive) as well:
 When someone writes an office memo, they are using rhetoric.
 When a newspaper offers their depiction of what happened last night,
they are using rhetoric.
 When a scientist presents theories or results, they are using rhetoric.
 When you write your mom or dad an email, you are using rhetoric.
 Thought itself is rhetorical - when you think, you engage in “inner
argument,” or “inner persuasion” in order to reach a decision or
act.
HEADLINES DESCRIBING MEDICAL MARIJUANA DECISION
 Salon Magazine “Court rules against pot for sick people”
 New York Times: “High Court Allows Prosecution of Medical
Marijuana Users”
 USA Today: “MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN UPHELD”
 San Diego Union Tribune: “Court OKs Marijuana Crackdown”
 L.A. Times: “Justices Give Feds Last Word on Medical Marijuana”
 Christian Science Monitor: “US Court Rules Against Pot For Sick
People”
 Christian News Source: “Medical Marijuana Laws Don't Shield
Users From Prosecution”
Telemarketing Strategies Script
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Pre-introduction: (Ask to speak to the decision-maker)
Introduction: (Introduce yourself and the reason for your call)
Attention Getter: (Mention the key features of the offer and qualify them
for eligibility)
Probing Questions: (Always ask for information that will be useful for
rebuttals)
Offer: (Explain the product/service and terms of commitment)
Close: (ALWAYS ASK FOR THE SALE)
Rebuttal (deal with objections)
Sales Continuation: (Agree, use rebuttals, sell benefits, CLOSE)
Up/down/cross-sell: (If there is another product of less-price this is the
time to sell it.)
Confirmation Close: (Review the terms of the offer to reduce buyer
remorse)
Final Close: (End on a positive note. Thank the customer and leave a
dial free number for customer support)
Everyday words, names, definitions, categories – how
they are selected or constructed = rhetorical. Consider:
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Cash advance (vs. high interest loan)
Second Mortgage vs. Home equity loan
“War on terror,” vs. “war against Islamic extremists,” vs. “fight against
Al Queda” (scope, agents involved, action)
“The 1%,” “job creators”
Military contractors, mercenaries
“War on drugs”’ “Axis of Evil”;
“Body bags” vs. “transfer tubes”
“Doctor assisted suicide” vs. “death with dignity”
“Defense of marriage” vs. “marriage equality”
“French Fries/Freedom fries”
“Death Tax/Estate Tax”
“Habit forming” vs. “addictive”
“Erectile dysfunction” vs. “impotence”
“Halitosis” vs. “bad breath”
“Male pattern baldness” vs. “losing your hair”
“Viagra!”
Common expressions reveal rhetorical moves
“TO BE HONEST/FRANK/FRANKLY/TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH..”
"Parrhesia" or "sincere style.” Most common strategies:
False sincerity (sales pitch)
To establish intimacy/insider status (because we are close, I can confide in you).
To signal seriousness. To signal shift to serious topic – politeness or performance
is being set aside in favor of frankness
To establish emphasis. I want to really emphasize what comes next.
E.g. Obama & “look” as emphasis marker. He’ll say to audiences, “Look, the
reality is…” = I’m dropping out of performance mode and speaking to you plainly
and seriously.
Confess to potentially unpopular position, and manage “face” - may effect
other’s opinion of you (status-threatening) (“To be honest, I voted for Ralph
Nader in 2000; “To be honest, I thought Paradise Lost was a bore.” "To tell you
the truth, I'm not going to make the deadline."
When ads used a lot of logos
Today’s ads often use different
appeals
WE CAN READ MATERIAL
CULTURE RHETORICALLY
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“By reading…we mean something more than simply
lifting information out of books and articles. To read a
text or event is to do something to it, to make sense
out of its signals and clues…Reading is thus not
something we do to books alone. Or, to put it another
way, books and other printed surfaces are not the only
texts we read. Rather, a ‘text’ is anything that can
be interpreted, that we can make meaning out of or
assign value to. In this sense, all culture is a text
and all culture can be read.” Joseph Harris and Jay
Rosen.
Strategies in Sculpture: Maya Lin’s Vietnam War
Memorial
Why these choices for a memorial – what
strategies might they represent?
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The Vietnam war memorial is black
It is made of reflective black granite. When a visitor looks at the
wall, she will see the engraved names and her own reflection
The monument is built along a pathway that requires people to
move along the small corridor of space
Unlike many monuments, it lists all the names of U.S. soldiers
who died, and it does so in chronological rather than alphabetic
order (Lin has she wanted the wall to read “‘like an epic Greek
poem’ and ‘return the vets to the time frame of the war’)
Information about rank, unit, and decorations are not given
The wall is V-shaped, with one side pointing to the Lincoln
Memorial and the other to the Washington Monument. Lin's
conception was to create an opening or a wound in the earth to
symbolize the gravity of the loss of the soldiers
The rise of the “bum-proof” bench in
Los Angeles
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"One of the most common, but mindnumbing, of these deterrents is the [L.A.]
Rapid Transit District’s new barrelshaped
bus bench that offers a minimal surface for
uncomfortable sitting, while making
sleeping utterly impossible. Such
‘bumproof’ benches are being widely
introduced on the periphery of Skid Row.
Another invention...is the aggressive
deployment of outdoor sprinklers. Several
years ago the city opened a ‘Skid Row
Park’ along lower Fifth Street, on a corner
of Hell. To ensure that the park was not
used for sleeping--that is, to guarantee
that it was mainly utilized for drug dealing
and prostitution--the city installed an
elaborate overhead sprinkler system
programmed to drench unsuspecting
sleepers at random times during the night.
The system was immediately copied by
some local businessmen in order to drive
the homeless away from adjacent public
sidewalks.“Mike Davis, City of Quartz:
Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, p.
233.
Introducing rhetoric
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You may wish to use short texts, visual texts,
advertisements, op-eds and other texts that
students are probably familiar with in order to
introduce rhetoric.
 Email communication is a good place to start –
students are familiar with the genre, and may
find it easier to recognize strategies, acts of
persuasion, positioning, performance, etc.
 This YouTube animation is a good text to start
a discussion about rhetoric – about audience,
purpose, persuasion, strategies, genre, ethos,
rhetorical situation, etc.
Using a YouTube Animation to
introduce rhetorical concepts
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SubText – animation showing a guy composing an email to a
girl he likes. The man “thinks aloud” as he writes, and we
glimpse what goes on “in his head” as he composes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=400w4XnjElI
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Examine how this trivial act is full of rhetorical issues. The
character is asking, how does this language present me? What
persona does it construct? What tactic will be most effective?
What moves should I make, how will this make me seem? How
should I think of my audience? What is my purpose? How do I
avoid embarrassment?
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Have students take the concepts of rhetorical situation,
persuasion, construction of ethos, strategies, etc., and apply to
this visual text.
Rewrite these rhetorically tone deaf student
emails
“Hey prof, sorry I didn’t turn in my paper yesterday in class. I had a
science test to study for that was really important. Is there any way I
can turn it in late just this once? Let me know by tonight that way I
don’t waste my time doing it if you won’t.”
“Dear professor,
I am writing you cuz unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to our
appointment today. yesterday was my 21st bday and I’m still
hangover and don’t think I should drive. let me know when you can
make another appointment.”
List strategies
Introduce self
Apologize
Take responsibility
Establish ethos
Elicit sympathy/pathos
Build a defense
Present evidence (doctor’s note, note from coach,
etc.)
Initiate action/repair
Etc.
 Charting
& Analyzing Sample
Short Texts.
Rifkin and Kristof
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Sample syllabi, schedules and assignment sequences
are on the wiki.
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Reader contains plagiarism “agreement” – should also
be section covering this in syllabus.
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Schedule some evaluation/feedback fairly early
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Outcomes should be listed on your syllabus, and it’s
useful to include them in your assignments
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They can be used as part of student reflections, and to
help prime students for evaluations.
Learning Outcomes: What they are, why they
matter, how to use them to your advantage.
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If things get ugly, the outcomes and syllabus provide you
with backup. In disputes, they matter.
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Our outcomes are now explicitly framed in terms of the
general education program and its “capacities” and goals
(meta-outcomes)

This language adds a certain amount of institutional
authority to your course. You can point students to the
section that states how important our courses and
outcomes are to the educational mission of the university
(i.e. the university’s carefully researched conclusion as to
what constitutes “essential undergraduate academic skills.”)
Discussion & Participation

Prime with a questionnaire, survey or questions
 Call by name
 Put in groups and assign responsibility
 Jig saw work
 “Pyramids” (alone, in pairs, 4s, etc.)
 Freewrite (give students time to assemble thoughts, so
they feel more confidant contributing
 Wait….at least 7 seconds. Try not to get stuck in the
habit of answering your own questions.
 Have students post responses and homework to
Blackboard, so you can bring to class and use to get
discussion going.

Author Interview, Panel or Role-Playing
One student assumes the role of the writer and answers question
from the audience about the article’s main claim, choices
regarding supporting evidence, and the writer’s view of his/her
audience at the time of writing.

Students assigned to play role of author for 10-15 minutes. You
may choose to let that student greet the class “in character,” and
provide a brief summary of the argument that he/she wrote, which
everyone else in class has read. After that, the exercise consists
of class members asking the “writer” questions about the
argument itself.

CAN ALSO be used with assignment 2 (sources) in which
students are responsible to assume the role of different authors,
and you can set up a debate with Pinker.
Seth Taylor’s Seven Tips for Discussion
1)
Beware of cold starts. Consider
directed freewriting, journaling, or the
“Brain Dump” at the start of class.
Quick responses can both kickstart
discussions, and eventually help
students question where their
responses come from.
2)
Be wary of asking the BIG questions
first:
“So… what do you think about the
reading?”
“So what’s the point of the chapter?”
Active Learning: Seven Tips for
Discussion
3) Let your first question be easy, possibly about their
reading process:
“How long did it take to read this?”
“Where does it get interesting (or boring)?”
Were there any passages you found difficult,
interesting or unusual?
4) Open-ended questions will require students to think.
Yes/No questions require very little of them, and can
often shut down discussion before it starts.
Active Learning: Seven Tips for
Discussion
5)
Encourage students to explain,
support, their responses to a text.
Almost every answer can be followed
up with a “Why?” question from the
instructor.
Active Learning: Seven Tips for
Discussion
6) Encourage students to talk to each
other, rather than simply fire answers
back to you:
 Re-directing students to respond to
each others ideas
 Group breakout exercises
 Let students teach
Active Learning: Seven Tips for
Discussion
7)
At the end of class, try to re-cap or
summarize the ground that was
covered. You do not need the
discussion to come to a grand
conclusion, but some sort of review
will help increase retention.
4.00 Surviving the First Day
• Classroom Dynamics
• What to do on the First Day
• The inside scoop from your fellow TAs