RWS 100 and the lower division writing
program

We ask students to interpret, analyze, 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.
 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

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

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)
Skills Measured in General Test:
Analytical Writing Section
• Articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
• Examine claims and accompanying evidence
• Support ideas with relevant reasons and
examples
• Sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
• Control the elements of standard written English
Argumentation/Justification
•
•
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.
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)
These are points you may want to share with future
employers, on grad applications, etc., as you are part of
an unusually comprehensive and integrated writing
program.
The WPA
• WHAT IS THE WPA?
Every campus in the CSU is subject to the Graduate
Writing Assessment requirement, or GWAR. At
SDSU, students take the WPA, or Writing
Proficiency Assessment test to fulfill the GWAR
requirement.
• WHY THE WPA?
CSU Vice Chancellor David Spence says that the
GWAR “certifies that students are prepared to
address writing demands in the workplace or in
graduate school, and ensures that all students in all
majors have he opportunity to learn to write
well.”
What does the WPA focus on?
• “The WPA focuses on your ability to read and analyze
written arguments. It measures your ability to express
yourself clearly, logically and specifically and to organize and
develop your ideas well. In addition, it assesses your ability to
write coherent paragraphs and appropriately structured
sentences.”
What does the WPA focus on?
• “You will be given a short reading in the form of an
argument and asked to write an essay that responds to a
series of questions that relate directly to the reading
selection. The questions you will be asked to address in
the essay will focus specifically on analysis of the
argument presented in the reading rather than a
personal response. You will be asked to assess the
argument's structure, to explain how the author uses
rhetorical strategies to persuade an audience, and to
evaluate (using evidence from the reading itself) how
convincing the argument is…You will be allotted ninety
minutes to complete the exam.”
A Sample WPA Exam Question
• “Craft a coherent essay (i. e. one that is not just a series
of paragraph responses to the prompt) in which you
respond (in an appropriate order) to all of the following
components: Identify and provide a brief explanation of
the author’s argument; Describe and discuss two
strategies that the author uses to support his or her
argument; Describe the overall structure of the reading
selection and explain whether it furthers the aims of the
author’s argument; Discuss the premise(s) and/or
assumption(s) on which the argument is based; Evaluate
the extent to which you find the argument
convincing.”
Key Terms Used in the WPA
• Here are some terms to look for along with brief
definitions:
• Brief Explanation: Requires you to put the author’s
argument in your own words. You want to keep this as
brief as possible by limiting this discussion to only 1
paragraph.
• Describe, Explain, Discuss: Moving beyond summary,
these terms require you to analyze, to go beyond what is
written to how it is written. Effective description,
explanation, and discussion are objective and
impersonal, rather than subjective. Furthermore, they
employ specific, direct, concrete language. [Do versus
say]
Key Terms Used in the WPA
• Strategies: Strategies are moves or devices that help build and
support arguments. Commonly used strategies include examples,
statistical support, appeals to the emotions of the reader (pathos),
demonstrations of authorial credibility (ethos), analogies and
comparisons, irony, refutations of opposing arguments, and
quotations from experts and famous sources. Stylistic devices such
as repetition, alliteration, and metaphor can also be characterized as
strategies.
• Evaluate: More subjective than objective analysis, evaluation
requires judgment and assessment based on explicit criteria,
reasoning, and evidence. Evaluating an argument goes beyond
declaring whether or not you agree with it. You are required to
assess how its strengths and weaknesses contribute to or
undermine its convincingness. Attention to the writer’s efforts to
respond to potential opposition is particularly important.
Key Terms Used in the WPA
• Structure: The way a piece of writing develops
and unfolds over time.
• Premise and Assumption: Treated as synonyms
in this assignment, premises and assumptions
are the principles, propositions, beliefs, and
values upon which arguments or parts of
arguments rest. Premises and assumptions can
be explicitly stated or implicit (merely implied or
suggested) in an argument. They are effective to
the extent they come to be shared by the reader
and writer, thus forming “common ground.”
Frequently Asked Questions
• Q: When do I take the WPA?
A: Continuing students must take the WPA during the semester in
which they are completing 60 units or in the semester immediately
following. Transfer students are eligible to take the WPA once they
have received an offer of admission. They must take the examination
by the end of their first semester at SDSU.
• Q: How many times can I take the WPA?
A: Students are allowed to attempt the WPA twice within the time
frames and restrictions described in the question above.
• Q: What happens if I don't take the WPA during the required time
frame?
A: Students who do not take the examination by the end of the
required time frame will not be able to register for future terms.
FAQ
Q: Can I see sample WPA tests and explanations of how they
were scored?
A: see the GWAR site:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~gwar/samples.html
Q: What are the scoring criteria?
A: They are listed here, and connect closely with skills covered
in RWS 100
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~gwar/scoring.html
RWS
280
Score 6
or less
RWS
281
(ESL)
RWS 305W
(General/
Engineering)
(60 credits)
RWS
100
RWS
200
WPA
Score
8 or 9
Score
10
RWS 503W
(Professions)
RWS 500
(Grad
Writing)
No "W" class req'd
unless major req's
it: English, History,
etc. (See your
advisor)
Tips
• You will likely take RWS 200 next semester.
• I suggest you take the WPA right after that, when
you are most familiar with material from RS 100
and 200.
• If you take it early and don’t score well, you
can take it a second time and still have plenty of
time to prepare (rather than leaving it late, when
you are getting ready to graduate.)
For more info…
• See the WPA site:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~gwar
Some skills we have focused on
• Reading rhetorically/critically
• Reading for purpose, context and audience
• Identifying the argument, claims, evidence and project in a
text
• Charting – examining what texts do as well as say.
• Identifying and analyzing rhetorical strategies
• Mapping and analyzing relationships between texts (how
one text “illustrates,” “clarifies,” “extends,” or
“complicates” another.)
• Interpreting and analyzing strategies in different genres
• Evaluating evidence
• Rhetorical strategies in academic discourse (CARS)
• Using one text as a lens on another, applying concepts,
claims or arguments to the “target” text.
• Etc.
Opening Sequence Reflection
Questions
• What we the most significant critical reading
skills you learned as a result of this opening
sequence?
• Which class assignments/discussions helped you
to learn these skills?
• What were the most significant writing skills you
learned as a result of this opening sequence?
• Which class assignments/discussions helped you
to learn these skills?
Survey Questions
• A) To what extent have you found this work more or less enjoyable
than previous reading and writing assignments in other classes?
1. Much less enjoyable 2. less unenjoyable
3. about the same
4. more enjoyable 5. much more enjoyable
• B) To what extent do you think these critical reading and writing
skills might be valuable, especially as applied outside the classroom?
1. No value
2. a little value
3. not sure of value 4. valuable
5. very valuable
Sample from Micah’s reflection
questions
• Introduced you the role of critical reading in this course, college in general, and “out
in the world”
• Discussed challenges that many readers encounter in working with texts
• Been introduced to two general reading strategies
• Listening to the Text
• Questioning the Text
• Been introduced to and practiced two specific reading strategies: charting AND prereading
• Read, reread, and charted Robert Heilbroner’s “Don’t Let Stereotypes Warp Your
Judgment,” working toward a solid understanding of the text as a whole, the
relationship among ideas, AND the main argument
• Read, charted, reread, and discussed Jeremy Rifkin’s “A Change of Heart About
Animals,” working toward a solid understanding of the text as a whole, the
relationship among ideas, AND the main argument
• Been introduced to “reading rhetorically” and various subtle persuasive strategies
writers employ to achieve their aims AND speculated about such choices in both
Heilbroner and Rifkin’s essay, as well as the Hilton and Coca-Cola texts.
• Reflected on the Heilbroner Warm Up Rhetorical Analysis Writing Assignment (written
prior to instruction and our work with the text).
• Went through a drafting and revision process with a warm up rhetorical analysis of
Rifkin’s “A Change of Heart About Animals.”