English notes unit 2 PDF

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24 September 2019: -Stasis Theory: -from the Greek meaning “a stand” -generally refers to the place where a rhetor takes a stand -it’s the level of the argument where disagreement occurs in a debate -important because it helps you better enter the conversation -identifying the point of stasis is essential for having a productive argument/ using stasis helps a rhetor identify the arguments that are available in a given rhetorical situation -Identifying Stasis: -General Questions: require more knowledge and wide range of research/take longer to answer -Specific Questions: requires a more focused knowledge and hands-on research/ can be answered in shorter formats -The generality or specificity of a question is not a dichotomy, but rather a continuum. -4 Arguments of the Stasis Staircase: -Conjecture—>Definition—>Quality—>Policy -Conjecture: Does it exist? -you cannot debate a subject without first acknowledging its existence -an argument at the level of conjecture seeks to answer these questions: -does it exist? is it true? -where did it come from? how did it begin? -what is its cause? -how can it be changed? -Definition: What is it? -once we've established that an issue exists, we must ask questions about the nature of that issue -an argument at the level of definition seeks to answer these questions: -what kind of thing or event is it? -to what larger class of things does it belong? -what are its parts? how are they related? -Quality: Is it good or bad? -simple questions of quality: -is it good or bad? -should it be sought or avoided? -is it right or wrong? -is it honorable or dishonorable? -complex questions of quality: -is it better or worse than something else? -is it more desirable than other alternatives? -is it less desirable than other alternatives? -is it more or less wrong than something else? -is it more or less honorable than something else? -is it more or less base than something else?

-Policy: What do we do about it? -deliberative questions of policy: -should some action be taken? -given the rhetorical situation, what actions are possible? desirable? -how will proposed action change the current state of affairs? or should the current state of affairs remain unchanged? -how will the proposed changes make things better? worse? how? -forensic questions of policy: -should some states of affairs be regulated by some formalized policy? -which policies can be implemented? which cannot? -what are the merits of competing proposals? -what are their defects? -Stasis is where a rhetor stands in relation to another rhetor. -a debate is considered in stasis when rhetors are intervening at the same level -Video: -Kent Ivory: doesn't agree with governments treatment of the land/federal government should get out of management of the land -rancher: state shouldn't have right to public land -Annotated Bibliography: 1. Citation 2. Summary 3. Analysis In Class Writing: Everyday Stasis Theory For my senior thesis, I argued for pro-life in the abortion argument. While writing my senior thesis, I faced many arguments with those who didn't believe the same, arguments with those who were pro-choice. I argued that life began at the time of conception and that abortion was a form of murder while many argued back at me that there is no life until birth. I was able to state my point clearly in my senior thesis declamation. I clearly laid out what abortion was and the effects of abortion, I gave examples on why I believed abortion was wrong due to the killing of an innocent child as well as harmful effects on the mother, and I shared my ideas on what should be done about abortion such as legal change and prevention as well as providing proper care for pregnant women. I had many people, even close friends, fight back against me with opposing beliefs, but I stood strong to my beliefs and my argument and displayed the different types of arguments.

26 September 2019: Summarizing Texts -A Good Summary: -is much shorter than the original text -overviews what the text as a whole says -tells whose ideas are being summarized -names the source of the information -fully attributing the sources -is truthful to the ideas of the piece and focuses on the main points -What a Summary does NOT do: -a summary does not quote from or use the same word choice as the original text -a good summary does not include any sources, stats, facts, or commentary from the text -If you can’t summarize a text, you don't understand it yet. -If you find yourself struggling to understand text, break it down by the main ideas. Look at: -topic sentences, key words, conclusions -Try your best to explain the text to friend/family before writing a summary. -Improve your Summary Skills: -Use Signaling Verbs -many verbs signal to readers that they are about to read quoted words -Depending on how you can use them, signaling verbs help indicate whether they agree or disagree with the words you source. -Composing a Summary: RC pg 74 1. Read the text first for its main points. 2. Reread carefully and make a descriptive outline. 3. Write out the teat’s thesis or main point. 4. Identify the text’s major divisions or chunks. Each division develops on of the stages needed to make the whole main point. 5. Try summarizing each part into 1 or 2 sentences. 6. Combine your summaries of the parted into a coherent whole, creating a condensed version of the text’s main ideas in your own words.

Summary of Article: The writer begins by discussing how a misunderstanding led to awareness of the debate of protecting public land. He tells the story of how someone misunderstanding the wording of the Forest Service discussing how to try to stop wildfires led to people believing the Forest Service was willing to cut down the rarest trees, sequoias. The writer goes on to discuss the population of timber in America. He discusses how the Forest Service did their part to supply timber, but over time Americans became more involved with land then they did timber and now logging has simply moved to other parts of the world and we now mainly receive our timber from timber suppliers. The writer goes on to begin his conclusion by stating, “We have learned that what we leave on the land is more important than what we take away.” As Americans spread out over the land, we face urbanization, habitat loss, and unmanaged outdoor recreational land. The writer concludes that the purpose of the Forest Service is to protect the land we still have left, not to tear it down or take away from it as many believe.

-Evaluating a Summary: 1. Is the summary economical and precise? 2. is the summary neutral in its representation of the original author’s ideas, omitting the current writer’s own opinions? 3. Does the summary reflect the proportionate coverage given various points in the original text? 4. Are the original Categorizing Arguments: -chart on canvas -Composing Annotations: Sentence 1: name of the author, genre, and title of the work in quotes; a rhetorically accurate verb, and a “that” clause containing the major assertion of thesis statement in the work. Sentence 2: An explanation of how the author develops and supports the thesis, usually in chronological order. Sentence 3: A statement explaining what kind of argument the author is making and how you identified the level of argument. Sentence 4: A comment on how the author’s argument agrees or disagrees with the other authors in the debate.

Annotation: In the speech, “Changing Public Land Uses: A Tale of Two Debates,” at the 76th annual conference of the Outdoor Writer’s Association fo America, the argument was made that public lands are changing, and being lost, and a debate must begin on the threats to public lands. The speech gives the examples of how the land is being

damaged and lost through urbanization, and how there is habitat loss and and unmanaged outdoor recreation land that must be protected. The argument is mainly a definition argument discussing what the problems are, but the argument always has bits of quality discussing how these problems are wrong. While the speech discusses opening a debate, there are no strong points as to what people should do to change the problems. The argument made in this speech is very similar to other authors and shares a lot of the same goals and ideals as the speech is an argument to protect public land and raise awareness about this topic.

1 October 2019: -Why do we analyze a debate using Stasis Theory? -It allows us to more productively enter the debate. -Showing us what to say and how to say it well 1.Listening Closely -Analyzing a debate helps you listen closely to the voices and perspectives that compromise the debate. 2. Knowing What to Say -Analyzing a debate using stasis theory helps you know what to say. 3. Boosting Your Ethos -Analyzing a debate using stasis boosts your ethos. -How do we fully analyze a debate? -Answer 2 Questions: 1. What is primarily at issue in the debate? 2. How should a rhetor who wants to intervene in the debate proceed? -Understanding What’s At Issue: 1. Close Reading -read individual arguments closely multiple times, identify all the claims the argument makes, and tag or code each one using the four stasis terms 2. Categorical Approach -thinking about how the debate as a whole features arguments at each of the four levels, classify arguments from the debate into categories of conjecture, definition, quality, and policy 3. Holistic Approach -once you have read the debate closely and categorized its arguments, you can then take a step back and answer the holistic question: In the debate as a whole, what is primarily at issue?

8 October 2019: -What is a genre? -a repeatedly used framework for organizing texts -used to inform our choices when composing a text and our expectations when interacting with a text

-Genres and Social Situations -genres develop from recurring social situations -genres provide a context or setting that tells people how to behave and what to do -just as genres can let us low how to bechance and what to do in a given context or setting, they can also tell us what not to do and how not to behave -because genres are linked to social situations, they can change as a society changes -Academic Genres and Discourse Communities -Discourse Communities: a group with a shared goal or purpose that use communication as a measure -Goals: -share and disseminate knowledge -come to a greater understanding of a topic -engage in a debate, but rather than focus on winning. the goal is to contribute to a growing body of knowledge -Values: -building knowledge -logical development of ideas -objectivity and lack of bias -getting to and staying on point -explicit (defining terms/clearly stating the point) -considering a range of reasons and opinions/doubting your own work -less conservational -The social situation that leads to the creation of academic genres is the desire to contribute to an expanding body of knowledge. -Academic Argument -clear, explicit thesis -reputable sources -fully cited sources -organization -economy of language -objectivity -logic

10 October 2019: -Rhetorical Invention: refers both to any number of strategies for developing arguments. including rhetorical appeals that will work for an intended audience and a systematic process of developing arguments based on analysis of a rhetorical situation -Purpose: help develop possible arguments

-Rhetorical Invention is Systematic -much like how we approach summary and analysis, rhetorical invention follows systematic steps to achieve its purpose -proceeds intentionally through predetermined steps -not random Questions of Genre and Discourse Community: -Genre: -What are the features of this particular genre? -What do readers of this genre expect in terms of style, evidence, formality, and design? -What is un/acceptable to say in this genre? -What modes are featured in this genre? -Discourse Community: -What kinds of arguments are valued by the discourse community in which I a participating? -What kinds of evidence and support are privileged or even expected by that discourse community? -What are the favored conventions? -Purpose and Rhetorical Invention: -What are you trying to fo? -What is your motivation in this communication situation? -What do you hope your audience will do/feel/think after experiencing your text? -What are the best/worst possible outcomes? -Audience and Rhetorical Invention: -The process of rhetorical invention as it relates to audience looks like this: -Generate a list of audience characteristics? -attributes, beliefs, habits -background -qualities -Filter your list -Context and Rhetorical Invention: -Context is the aspect of rhetorical invention linked to exigence. -Consider: -Time of the communication -Piece of communication -Broader context of communication

15 October 2019: Model of Classical Argument: -Introduction: -attention grabber: memorable scene, illustrative story, startling statistic -explanation of issue and needed background of issue -thesis (claim) -forecasting passage -Presentation of Rhetor’s Position: -main body of essay/video/composition -this is where you provide evidence for the reasons behind your thesis -presents and supports each reason in turn, following the structure forecast in the introduction -each reason is tied to a value or belief held by the audience -longest part-consists of several paragraphs -Opposing Views: -summary of opposing views -should be fair and complete -if there are several different opposing views, you may summarize them altogether and create a single response or respond to them individually -Critique of/Response to Opposing Views -writers may refute opposing positions -you may also concede the strengths of an opposing view, but shift the field of values effectively rendering opposing criticism impertinent to you * -Conclusion: -argument is summarized and brought to a close -leaves a strong lasting impression -may call for action -explains the relevance of the essay relating the topic to a larger context of issues Rhetorical Triangle and Rhetorical Appeals -the rhetorical triangle consists of 3 parts: audience (pathos), message (logos), and the writer/speaker (ethos) Argument: claim supported by reasons Claim: position you want your audience to accept Reasons: claims used to support another claim

22 October 2019: -STAR Criteria for Evaluating Evidence -Sufficiency: is there enough evidence? -depends on the rhetorical context -the more contested a claim is or the more skeptical an audience is, the more evidence you may need -not enough evidence—>generalization -too much evidence—>overly long/tedious -appropriately qualifying c alias helps you to determine the amount of data needed -Typicality: is the chosen evidence representative and typical? -are the examples provided in your evidence typical of the situation -Accuracy: is the evidence accurate and up-to-date? -ehtical concern -if your are responding to a specific exigence, the evidence must be current for that exigence -using inaccurate and out of date evidence harms your credibility -Relevance: is the evidence relevant to your claim? -make sure that the evidence your provided logically supported the claim you’re making

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology has an article that discusses the value of land with ideas similar to those I want to discuss in my paper. The article has sufficient evidence giving sources and statistics. The article discusses typicality in how it will affect the lives of people with examples such as income and housing. The accuracy of all the statistics, however, are most likely not completely correct as the article was completed in 2011 and has not been updated since then. The information however is mostly relevant to my claim. I would like to discuss the different reasons that land is valuable in ways we do not always see and this article discusses the aspects of life that the value of land affects every day.

Ünsal Özdilek. “Land Value: Seven Major Questions in the Analysis of Urban Land Values.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2011. This article discusses the different aspects of our lives that the value of land effects such as incomes and where we live. The article discusses what lands are in question and why they need to be evaluated for value. There is the discussion of why urban lands are valuable in comparison to properties in the cities for example. These views are helpful in the discussion I want to have about how there is value in the lands that is overlooked....