Raise Your Voice: Composing Written and Spoken Arguments

Raise Your Voice: Composing Written and

Spoken Arguments

Ann M. Bomberger, Assistant Professor of English Gannon University

Vesta T. Silva, Associate Professor of Communication Arts

Allegheny College

Marquette Books Spokane, Washington

Copyright © 2012 Ann M. Bomberger and Vesta T. Silva

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording,

or otherwise, without permission of the author.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging Number

Pending

ISBN for This Edition

978-0-9833476-6-8

Published by

Marquette Books LLC

3107 East 62nd Avenue

Spokane, Washington 99223

509-290-9240

[email protected]

www.MarquetteBooks.com

Preface for Instructors In November 1914 a small group of speech teachers attending the an-

nual conference of the National Council of Teachers of English voted to

withdraw from the NCTE and form what became known as the Speech

Communication Association (now the National Communication Associa-

tion).

Since that time, there has existed at least a perception of a sharp di-

vide between Communication departments and Composition programs —

each covering its own aspect of students‘ development as writ-

ers/readers/speakers.

For a while it seemed that an easy distinction between written and

oral modes of communication could and should be maintained. But as

technology has fundamentally changed the world into a communication

saturated environment, our pedagogy again seems to be undergoing a

needed and fundamental shift: to see practices of communication — writ-

ten, oral, and visual — as linked exercises fundamental to a student‘s

growth both within and outside of the classroom.

Raise Your Voice meets the need of our changing Composition and

Communication programs by intertwining the written, spoken, and

visual in its examples, key concepts, activities, and major assignments.

It also speaks to students in terms of their own life experiences. It

brings in examples from college campuses, business, and the headlines.

It encourages students to

reflect on their existing literacies

evaluate persuasive messages in written, spoken, and visual form

choose modes of communication,

address multiple audiences.

We know that students are bombarded with messages from the media,

friends, school, and the workplace and are often very busy. To avoid

reader fatigue, we include

inspiring quotations

handy checklists

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the many people who supported our work on this

book.

David Demers for support of our project.

Gannon University and Allegheny College for financial support.

Research assistants Norma Yocco, Jessica Badach Hubert, Kaitlin

Hindman, and Jessica Nelson who tracked down photos,

quotes, and examples.

Proofreaders Carol Hayes, Berwyn Moore and Pat Bywater, who

took time out of a busy summer to help spot the typos.

All the talented photographers who post to Creative Commons so

that others might enjoy your artistic vision of the world.

AMB: To Pat and Maya for the laughter and energy needed to sus-

tain the project. To Vesta: I could not have had a better co-

author. Your drive, creativity, and knowledge were tre-

mendous assets to this project.

VTS: To Jon, my partner in adventure. To Ann, your wit, insight,

and incredible perseverance saw this project through to the

end. It was my pleasure to work with you.

Table of Contents

1. Entering the World of Public Argument _________________ 1

Getting Started: What Is an Argument? 3 Claims of Value 3 Claims of Fact 4 Claims of Policy 4 Evidence 4 Warrants 6

Arguments are Not Just Two Sided 6

Arguments Must Come from Someone 7

Reading the Arguments of Others 9

Checklist for Chapter 1 10

Classroom Activities 10 Sample Column: The Biggest Lie the Internet Ever Told: Free Everything,

All The Time 11

Additional Exercises 12

2. Learning to Read and Listen in College and Beyond _____ 14

The Importance of Reading, Listening, and Seeing to College Success 15

Obstacles to Comprehension 17 Noise 17 Focus 17 Self-Sabotage 18 Knowledge Barriers 19

General Strategies for Improving both Reading and Listening 20 Keep an Open Mind 20 Practice Paraphrasing 21 Be a Skeptic 21 Think About Who the Author/Speaker is and Who the Intended Audience Is 21 Consider Context 22

Specific Strategies for Reading 22 Consider the Type of Reading 22 Read Short Texts or Challenging Sections of Long Texts Multiple Times 23 Stick With It 23 Mark Up the Text 24

Specific Strategies for Listening 24 Keep Your Attention on the Speech 24 Take Notes 25 Be a Positive Listener 25

Specific Strategies for Visual Messages 26

ii Raise Your Voice: Composing Written and Spoken Arguments

Notice Details 28 Ask Critical Questions 29 Assign Meaning 29

Final Thoughts 30


Classroom Activities 32


3. Finding and Narrowing Your Topic ____________________ 34

Generate Lots of Ideas 35 Brainstorming 35 Mind Mapping 36 Freewriting 36 Web Skimming 37

Narrow Your Topic 37 Brainstorm Some More 38

Determine Your Purpose and Audience 39

Develop a Research Question 39

Craft a Preliminary Thesis 40

Learn About the Context Surrounding Your Message 41 Talk With an “Insider” 41 Learn About the Genre You are Adopting 42

Moving Forward 42




4. Analyzing Your Audience ___________________________ 45

Targeting Your Message 46 Who Do You Want to Talk To? 46 What Is It You Hope to Do with Your Message? 46 What Does Your Audience Expect? 47 What Does Your Audience Already Know? 48 What Characteristics Do Your Audience Members Have? 49 What Does Your Audience Believe and Value? 53 What is Your Audience’s Likely Interest Level? 55 What is Your Relationship to Your Audience? 55


Table of Contents iii



5. Prove It!: Using Evidence Effectively __________________ 59

Types of Evidence 61 Statistics 61 Examples 62 Analogies 64 Authority Evidence 67 Visual Evidence 70




6. Conducting and Using Research _____________________ 75

Tips for Searching 75 Start Early 75 Get Help 76 Think Long-Term 76 Find The Right Sources 76 Use Efficient Searching Techniques 85 Example: Sleep Deprivation in College Students 86

Develop A Note-Taking System 88

Incorporating Research Into Your Project 89 Summarizing and Paraphrasing 89 Quotations 91 Citations 92

Final Thoughts 94




7. Thinking about Media and Genre ____________________ 101

Some Questions To Consider On Medium And Genre 103 How Formal Is Your Message? 103 How Complex Or Detailed Is Your Message? 103 How Quickly Do You Need A Response? 103 Does The Occasion Call For A Particular Kind Of Medium? 104

iv Raise Your Voice: Composing Written and Spoken Arguments

Which Medium Does Your Audience Prefer? 104 Does The Organization You Are Communicating With (Or Within) Have

Requirements About Which Medium To Employ? 104 Should There Be A Paper Trail For Your Message Or Might An Informal

Conversation Or Speech Be More Effective? 104 How Does Your Audience Feel About Visuals And Are Visuals Appropriate

For The Situation? 105

Some Strengths And Weaknesses Of Some Common Genres 105 Face-To-Face Meetings 105 Speech In Front Of A Group 106 Phone Call 106 Email 106 Letter or Memo 107 Essays In College 108 Wiki 108 Letter To The Editor 108 Broadcast On The Student Radio Station 108 Flier 108 Brochure 109 Facebook 109

Determining The Genre’s Conventions 109

Genres Do Change Over Time 111

Choices Exist Even When You Cannot Select The Primary Genre 112




8. Organization and Outlining _________________________ 116

Common Patterns of Organization 118 Chronological 118 Sequential 118 Topical 119 Spatial 119 Problem-Solution 119 Cause-Effect (or Cause-Effect-Solution) 120

Outlining 120 Different Purposes For Outlines 120 Sample Outlines: Plastic Bags 124




Table of Contents v

9. Composing a First Draft ___________________________ 133

Drafting A Paper 133 Tips To Make It Easier To Draft Smoothly 136 What If The Draft Is Too Short? 136 Let It Sit 138 Revise Carefully 138

Drafting a Speech 139




10. Introductions and Conclusions _____________________ 142

Communicate Clarity And Confidence 143

Ways Not To Start 144 Overgeneralizations 144 Information Or Jokes That Are Unrelated 144 Dictionary Definitions 145 Typos, Grammar Errors, Mispronunciations, Or Anything Factually

Inaccurate 145

How Informative Or Creative Should The Introduction Be? 145 Does The Assignment Specify How Straightforward Or Creative The Piece

Should Be? 145 Are There Disciplinary Expectations? 145 Is It Likely That The Audience Would Already Be Interested In Your Topic Or

Might They Not Care Very Much About It? 145

Some Ways To Open 146 Succinctly And Precisely State The Core Issue 146 Use A Brief Story To Put A Face On The Issue 147 Open With A Powerful Quotation 147 Pose A Question 147 Start With An Example 147 Startle With A Powerful Statistic 147

Craft A Conclusion That Ends Decisively With A Positive Final Impression 147

Ways Not To End 148 Adding Filler To Make The Paper Or Speech Meet Length Requirements 148 Stopping Mid-Argument 148 Signaling Your Conclusion When You Are Not Really Concluding 148 Using A Cliché Or A Trite Expression 148

Some Ways To Close 149 Return To The Opening Hook 149 Finish A Story You Began Earlier In The Piece 149

vi Raise Your Voice: Composing Written and Spoken Arguments

Encourage The Audience To Take A Specific Action 149 Bring In An Inspiring Quotation 149

Introductions And Conclusions Are Important, But Not The Only Thing 149




11. Revision and Feedback ___________________________ 153

Why Getting Feedback Matters 154

Giving Feedback to Others 156 Take Your Time 157 Give the Person a Perspective of an Audience Member 157 Be Honest 158 Respect Your Classmates And Value Their Strengths 158 Study The Assignment Description Carefully 158 Talk To The Speaker Or Writer 159 Ask Questions Related To The Content Of The Piece 159 Do Not Rewrite 159

Not Getting Offended by Feedback 160 Ask For Clarification 160 Combine All Feedback 161 Value All Reviewers 162 Remember The Review Is Of The Assignment, Not You 162

Using Feedback Effectively 162 Sort Out All The Feedback On One Sheet Of Paper 162 Weigh Competing Feedback 163 Prioritize The List 163 Check Off Each Item On Your List As You Revise To Help You Keep Track 164 Review The Comments On Your Previously Graded Assignments For

This Course 164 Polish The Writing And Fix Errors 165

Challenges to Revision 165 Having Trouble Approaching The Problem In A Different Way 165 It Doesn’t Fit, But It’s My Favorite Part! 167

Final Thoughts 168




Sample Speech Peer Review Form 173

Sample Research Paper Peer Review Form 175

Table of Contents vii

Sample Peer Review Form for a Summary 176

Sample Persuasive Letter Peer Review Form 177

12. Style and Language ______________________________ 178

Putting Your Ideas Into Words: Thinking about Language and Reality 179

Elements of Style 181 Correctness 181 Formality 181 Literalness 182 Vividness 183 Exactness 184

How We Make Style Choices 185

Images Have Style as Well 188 Visual Prominence 189 Tone 189 Lighting 189 Camera Angle 189 Color/Black & White/Other 189

Final Thoughts 191




13. Presenting Oral Messages Effectively _______________ 194

The Elements of Delivery 195 Vocal Delivery 195 Volume 196 Rate 196 Tone 197 Enunciation/Pronunciation 198 Physical Delivery 198 Stance 198 Eye Contact 199 Gestures 200 Appearance/Clothing 200 Body Language Versus Spoken Language 201

Visual/Multimedia Elements of Presentation 201 Text 203 Graphs/Charts/Tables 203 Images/Photographs 204

viii Raise Your Voice: Composing Written and Spoken Arguments

Audio/Video Clips 205




14. Coping with Communication Anxiety ________________ 209

What is Communication Anxiety? 210

Speech Anxiety 211

Other Forms of Communication Anxiety 211 Procrastination 211 Denial/Avoidance 213 Obsession 214

Overcoming Anxiety 215 Step One: Identify Your Communication Anxieties 215 Step Two: Identify Your Common Self-Defeating Behaviors or Thought Patterns

216 Step Three: Use Strategies to Help Overcome Procrastination or

Denial/Avoidance 216




Course Progress Assessment Forms 226

15. Working in Groups _______________________________ 230

The Advantages of Group Projects 232 Accomplishing Bigger Tasks 232 Building Organizational And Leadership Skills 232 Practicing Your Persuasive Skills 232 Developing New Skills 232

The Components of Effective Groups 232 Common Vision 232 Roles In Collaboration 233 The Need To Take Responsibility And To Know When To “Let Go” 233 Even Distribution of Workload 234 Regularly Solicit Feedback From Group Members In A Variety Of Ways 234 Communication Strengths and Weaknesses Inventory 235 Organization 236

Get Working and Have Fun! 239


Table of Contents ix

Class Activities 241


Chart: Behaviors Needed for Successful Groups 243

Appendix of Assignments ____________________________ 245

Editorial Column 245

Speech to Move An Audience to Action 247

Pitching A Product (Speech) 249

Advertisement Analysis 251

Analyzing & Evaluating an Argument 253

Research Paper 255

Annotated Bibliography 255

Poster Presentation and Elevator Speech 257

Collaborative Project, Proposal, Minutes, and Oral Presentation Assignments

259

Index _____________________________________________ 263

-1- Entering the World of Public Argument

"True persuasion is based on truth, honesty, inquisitiveness, and the ability to

tell a good story and to elicit the persuasion criteria of those you hope to per-

suade so as to meet their expectations easily,"

Dave Lakhani, marketing speaker, author, and trainer

YOU WILL READ THIS BOOK!!!

Hmmm….did that work? Though you are clearly still reading at this

point, it is probably not because the first line of text tried to order you to

do so. More likely, it is because you were assigned to read this chapter for

your class. But why isn’t the command at the top of the page likely to

work? Well, for one thing, you don’t know us and have no reason yet to

listen to us. We aren’t your instructors or your parents, so we don’t have a

relationship with you that allows us to tell you what to do. Without our

being part of your lives in some way, you probably won’t do something

just because we demand that you do so.

Let’s start again:

Entering the World of Public Argument

This book contains information that can help you succeed in col-

lege and in your eventual future career. If you read carefully and use

the ideas and exercises presented here, you will write better essays,

give better presentations, and perform better in your classes and

workplaces.

2 Raise Your Voice: Composing Written and Spoken Arguments

Okay, so did you respond differently to that opening? It still might not

be the reason you are continuing to read, but it is certainly working in a

different way from the first opening. While the first opening was a com-

mand and would need to be backed up with force or authority, the second

was an argument, which relies on reasons and evidence to work. In the

academic and professional worlds, an argument is not a fight or disa-

greement; it is a way of using language to try to persuade people of your

point.

Using language to convince someone of your ideas is something that

people have been doing almost as long as there has been language, and

people have been studying these persuasive acts, at least in the Western

world, since the time of the Ancient Greeks. Famous teacher and philoso-

pher Aristotle was one of the first people to systematically study the idea

of persuasion. He called this area of study rhetoric, and he realized that

it was vitally important to any society that wasn’t ruled simply by force. If

you cannot just force people to do what you want them to do, then you

need a way to convince peo-

ple to work together. Argu-

ments are the tools that you

can use to convince, and

rhetoric is the study of how

and why those tools work.

Aristotle could not have

imagined the concept of

blogging or even film or tel-

evision, yet the ideas he de-

veloped can still help us un-

derstand how any of these

media persuade audiences to

accept different ideas or be-

liefs, to see themselves in

certain ways, or to take par-

ticular actions. In this book,

we will draw on the best

So What?

Arguments exist in formal set-tings such as electoral politics, higher education, and corporate realms, and exist as part of our everyday conversations. They are a huge part of how we function to-gether—how we make decisions as families, communities, and profes-sionals. Learning to read the arguments of others well and to create strong arguments of your own are essen-tial skills for whatever you hope to accomplish in life.

Entering the World of Public Argument Chapter 1

3

thinking about communication from Aristotle and beyond to help you be-

come as skilled as possible in analyzing the arguments of others and cre-

ating your own arguments.

So, why should you care? Almost nothing gets decided or done in our

world without arguments. You and your friends use arguments all the

time, whether you are deciding what movie to see, what type of pizza to

order, or who to invite over on Saturday night. On a larger scale, daily we

encounter all sorts of public arguments — arguments directed toward a

public audience. Public arguments come to us from our advertisers, our

politicians, our professors, etc. Though you have encountered public ar-

guments most of your life, this book will help you to be able to more clear-

ly understand them and analyze how and why they work. You will also

learn to create your own public arguments to impact your world.

Getting Started: What Is an Argument? At the simplest level, an argument has two basic components: 1) A

claim, or statement that is debatable, and 2) the support for the claim.

Claims can be about anything that is not known for certain. Let’s look at a

few examples:

Coke is better than Pepsi.

Alien life exists on Mars.

Having pets helps reduce your stress level.

Students should attend class every day.

Claims of Value The Coke/Pepsi example is a claim about worth. This type of claim is a

claim of value. Statements about value are almost always debatable be-

cause they deal with judgments about what is good or bad, better or

worse, valuable or worthless — things about which many people will disa-

gree. People use claims of value to help set our standards and to help us

choose between differing ideas. You’ll see them in marketing and com-

mercials or a Senate debate over the best option between two proposed

laws. Any time you are trying to get someone to decide that one item or

idea is better than a competing item or idea, you are using claims of value.


Claims of Fact The alien and pet examples both deal with whether a thing exists or is

true and are most often called claims of fact. These statements might

seem less debatable than value claims, but most of the arguments we en-

counter in the world begin with a basic claim about the existence of a

problem or the effect of an action or object. It would be hard to make any

changes in our world if we cannot first convince people a problem exists!

Often these claims deal with human behavior or cause/effect relations.

For example, some people believe that listening to violent music or play-

ing video games increases children’s violent behavior, while others think

that such a connection is nonsense. These differences exist even though

many people have studied the issue.

Claims of Policy The example about attending class is about a future action or what is

usually called a claim of policy—what we want someone to do. Different

than a command or order, such as “Attend class every day!,” which works

or fails because of the power of the speaker to enforce it, claims of policy

work by getting a person or group to take an action because they are per-

suaded that it is the right or best thing to do.

Claims of policy often link with other kinds of claims to form more

complex arguments. Look at this linking of claims:

There is not enough parking on campus (claim of fact).

Parking garages are better than parking lots (claim of value).

Our school should build a new parking garage on campus

(claim of policy).

These three claims all work together, but even together they are not a

complete argument because they are still missing the support needed to

make them convincing.

Evidence Next, we need to consider what evidence would be needed to back up

the claims. We’ll address evidence more thoroughly in Chapter 5, but let’s

consider the evidence that would be necessary to make a convincing park-


5

ing argument. First, you would need to prove that there is not enough

parking on your campus (claim of fact). How might you do this? Could

you survey the students and staff? Find out how many cars are on campus

compared to how many parking spaces? Look for particular buildings that

are seriously underserved by current parking availability? Take a picture

of an overcrowded parking lot at 8 a.m.?

Next, how could you show that garages are better options (claim of

value)? You would need to look at cost, time, efficiency, and do a compari-

son to parking lots on these factors. You would also need to look at how

much space is available on your campus and where the garage or lot

would be placed. Finally, you would need to back up the claim of policy by

showing that parking is the best way to spend some of your school’s lim-

Photo credit: Hillman 55, “Traffic Jam,” Flickr.com, Creative Commons, attrib-ution license.

Analyze this photo. Do you think it is making an argument? If so, what do you think the argument is and why? Would the photo mean different things in dif-ferent contexts?


ited resources and that the benefits of building a new garage are greater

than the costs (money, time, space) such a project would need.

Though this process may seem complicated, remember that building

arguments is something you’ve been doing unconsciously for a long time.

The key is to build on the skills you have, use the tools learned in your

courses, and practice the tips in this book to increase your skill and so-

phistication.

Warrants Most people understand the idea of evidence, but warrants—the ide-

as that link a claim and its evidence together—are usually not something

that we think much about. Warrants are not complicated, however. In

fact, most of the time they are so clear and accepted that we don’t even

have to write them or speak them in our arguments. The warrant answers

the “why” that links your claim and your evidence. In our sample parking argument, for example, what warrant supports

our claims? In this case, it would seem to be that students and staff are

entitled to convenient and accessible parking to reach their classes or

jobs. It is wise to consider your warrant carefully because some people

might challenge it, arguing, for instance, the university is not obligated to

provide parking or that students and staff should find other means of

transportation. If you have thought through your reasoning, you will be

more prepared to address such challenges.

Arguments are Not Just Two Sided Most of us fall into the bad habit of thinking there are only two sides

to an argument. We imagine an argument as a boxing match or chess

game where one side has to lose for the other to win. However, in the real

world, public arguments are usually more complex and involve many pos-

sible sides and perspectives all working at once. Instead of a boxing

match, we can think about public arguments as a conversation among

many people, each with differing views. If we take our parking garage ar-

gument, for example, we could see that the administrators of the college

want to support the student desire for more parking, but only if the mon-

ey for the garage comes from private donors so no other college programs


7

have to be cut. The security office is in favor of more parking to help stop

students from parking illegally, but worry students would not be safe in

the garage unless the budget included money to hire a full time garage

attendant. One environmental group on campus opposes the lot in order

to encourage students to use mass transit or to walk, but another envi-

ronmental group decides to support the garage if it is a “green building”

(uses environmentally-friendly building materials, lighting, etc). And so

on, and so on. This is not a simple case of for/against; rather, this is a

complex web of overlapping concerns and ideas.

When we can see the positions of people that we read or hear as being

part of a complex range of possible perspectives, we get a much better un-

derstanding of the workings of public argument. Keeping this complexity

in mind can also help us to avoid seeing the people we disagree with as

“enemies,” and we may even sometimes find ourselves persuaded by some

of their ideas.

Arguments Must Come from Someone At some point each of us has heard an argument that is supported on-

ly by the mysterious phrase, “that’s what they say.” Whether “they” are

telling us breakfast is the most important meal of the day or great minds

think alike, these ideas exist in our culture without any clear source. Since

we don’t know who said them and we cannot see the evidence “they” used

as support, these types of statements are almost always poor arguments.

Good public arguments have clear authors/speakers. Those au-

thors/speakers will draw on the ideas and work of others, but they are not

anonymous. Who a person is has a real impact on how we read, hear, and

interpret the arguments she/he makes. Initially we would want to know

the person’s qualifications for making an argument. That is, we would

want to know what training, position, or activity gives her authority to

speak on the issue. An argument by an Economics professor on the caus-

es of the Great Depression would have a different weight than if the ar-

gument was being made by a chef. They might both know what they’re

talking about, but without more information about her qualifications, we

are less likely to be convinced of the chef’s ideas.


Good public arguments have clear authors/speakers. Those both

Analyze the images and pitch in this 1916 ad. One of the quotes says, “Brings back to lace curtains all the beauty of their original newness,‘Wonder how I ever got along without Lux. We use it always for finest of laundry work. Can-not recommend it too highly, especially for lace curtains.’ Mrs. T. C. Brewster, Greenville, Mass.” What kinds of claims does the ad make? What kinds of evidence? What is its warrant? What attitudes does it convey? How do the images presented differ and why?


9

Any speaker/writer has a relationship to the topic, what is often called

her stake in the issue. As readers of public arguments, we want to know a

person’s stake in the issue when we evaluate her ideas. Think about the

organization known as Mothers Against Drunk Driving. This group does a

lot of lobbying to change the ways that state and federal laws deal with

drunk driving and underage drinking. The group was founded by Candi

Lightner in 1980 after her daughter, Cari, was killed by a repeat drunk

driving offender. The power of MADD’s messages comes from the fact

that Lightner and many other members who joined her in MADD are par-

ents who have suffered tragic losses. This gives the group’s arguments a

different force than if they were a group of religious leaders or a group of

addiction researchers. MADD’s stake in the controversy is clear, and we

can take it into account as we read their arguments.

When you begin making your own arguments, you will need to think

about your own stake in the issue—who you are in relationship to your

topic, why your audience should listen, and what you have to contribute to

the ongoing conversation. This will make your point of view stronger and

clearer, and ultimately will help you to make better arguments.

Reading the Arguments of Others You are already familiar with understanding many of the simple ar-

guments you encounter daily. If you watch a McDonald’s ad, you will al-

most certainly see good looking people having fun while eating McDon-

ald’s food. The ad doesn’t say what claim it is making, but you probably

can guess: eating at McDonald’s is fun. This claim is implied, which just

means it is not actually said out loud or written out specifically. Even for-

mal public arguments will sometimes work with implied claims, so be on

the lookout for these in arguments you encounter.

While the claims of ads are usually pretty obvious, most areas of our

lives actually deal with far more complex ones. Learning to read and eval-

uate these arguments is one of the first skills successful college students

need to master. Whether you want to major in education or engineering,

you will have to analyze experts’ arguments. The best way to learn how to

read and analyze arguments is to do it. Analyze your favorite blogs to see

what arguments are being made, consider the last film you and analyze


what overt or implied claims it made. These real world examples will give

you the practice to become a strong reader of public argument.

As you read, watch, and listen to the world around you, start asking

about the claims, evidence, warrants, and authors in the messages you

encounter. By thinking about all the types of communication you encoun-

ter as potential arguments (and using your skills to see the way those ar-

guments are put together) you will be well on your way to developing your

own identity as a communicator and building strong, focused, well-

supported arguments of your own.

Classroom Activities: 1. Read the following column carefully and then, work in small groups to an-

swer the following questions:

Checklist for Chapter 1: Entering the World of Public Argument

An argument is not a fight or disagreement; it is a way of using lan-guage, evidence and reasons to try to persuade people.

If you cannot just force people to do what you want them to do, then you need a way to convince people to work together. Arguments are the tools that you can use to do that convincing, and rhetoric is the study of how and why those tools work.

Claim: a debatable statement Claims of value deal with judgments about what is good or bad,

better or worse, valuable or worthless. Claims of fact address whether a problem exists or a statement

is true. Claims of policy prescribe courses of action we want someone

to take. Evidence is something used to back up a claim. Warrants are the ideas that link a claim and its evidence together. Most arguments are not just two sided, but rather are complex and

involve many possible perspectives. Who a person is has a real impact on how we read, hear, and inter-

pret the arguments she/he makes. When analyzing someone else's argument, look not only for the

stated claims, but also for the implied ones.


11

a. What kind of ethos (persona) does Brian Barrett create? How formal or

casual is he and why? Find direct quotes to back up your claims.

b. What is the primary or main claim being made in this column? In other

words, what is the idea that the whole essay is trying to persuade you

about? Is the claim stated or implied?

c. What other claims can you find in the editorial?

d. What evidence is given to support the author’s claims? Evidence can be

statistics, quotes from experts, examples, or comparisons to similar sit-

uations or ideas.

e. Are there any claims that don’t seem to have supporting evidence?

f. What is the warrant that underlies the argument (the “why” that connects

the claim to the evidence)?

g. Who is making the argument? In this case, it’s Brian Barrett, who is a

Senior Editor at Gizmodo.com You can find out more about Gizmodo by

looking at the ‘About Us” section of the site. Does Barrett’s position at

Gizmodo change how we understand his claims?

After all the groups have worked through the questions, discuss the answers to-

gether as a class.

Sample Column: The Biggest Lie the Internet Ever Told: Free Everything, All The Time

By Brian Barrett, Gizmodo.com; July 27, 2011, reprinted with permission

Since you clicked your first link, you were promised one thing about the in-

ternet: you may have to pay a cover charge, but once you're in, everything's free.

Except that suddenly doesn't seem as true anymore. You know what? Good.

Hulu Plus. The NY Times paywall. Ditto Time magazine. Fox's decision to

delay new episodes from streaming. Each one a flaming arrow launched straight

at the heart of free. Outrage! Except for one thing: content on the internet was

never going to be free forever. In fact, it's never actually been free at all.

It's easy to forget—especially since I'd imagine, at this point, the internet has

been around as long as most of you can remember—that web-based content is

only just now coming out of its infancy. Newspapers and magazines wasted a

decade dithering over exactly how much dead tree content to share online, and

where, and how. Streaming TV shows and movies? We've only had the bandwidth

http://gizmodo.com/5822645/time-magazine-is-cloaking-itself-behind-a-paywall

http://gizmodo.com/5824982/fox-just-tightened-the-noose-on-hulu-meet-the-8+day-content-delay

http://gizmodo.com/5824982/fox-just-tightened-the-noose-on-hulu-meet-the-8+day-content-delay


to do that for a handful of years, and the implementation's been shoddy for most

of them.

Plain and simple: online content's been in beta. Magazines and newspapers

needed to figure out exactly how digital layouts differed from print, weigh the

right breadth of offerings, learn how to redirect from physical media to the web

and vice versa. Studios needed to figure out how many episodes to offer, how

deep into the back catalog to reach, how and where to place ads. We weren't

asked for money any more than you'd bill a guinea pig for running that maze.

So we paid, instead, in wonky UIs and unreliable streams. We also paid by

being advertised to, in a dozen different ways: pre-roll, post-roll, pop-up, expand-

ing, display. But it's hard to keep the lights on with advertising alone, especially

four years deep into a massive economic clusternut. And even harder to keep in-

novating and making things actually worth paying for without subscription reve-

nue. Vicious cycle, and all that.

And you know what? It's still in beta. All of it. Newspapers, magazines, TV

studios, everybody. They still don't know what they're doing or if it'll work (alt-

hough some of Conde Nast's apps are certainly getting there). What they do

know? They're finally, for the most part, providing an experience that's worth

something. And that's not sustainable without the funds to back it up.

Look, I get it: we've been torrenting music and movies for a long time, for

free. Great! If that's your bag, there's not much to stop you. But the idea that

we're entitled to free content just because it's on our laptop and not on a disc or

in a glossy magazine is absurd. Ideas don't cost anything, but they sometimes

need a Brink's truck to bring to life.

So when people who invest a lot of time and money creating things put those

same things on the internet and ask you to pay for them, by all means don't. Your

choice! But maybe don't bitch about it, either. That's just part of growing up.

2. One of the times in our lives when we often become very aware of arguments

is when we are deciding on a major. Write a paragraph that explains your ra-

tionale for going into a particular major. Begin with the claim, “I should ma-

jor in x,” and provide your reasoning that supports your decision.

Additional Exercises: 1. Post an advertisement you find online on your course discussion board or

bring one into class and write a brief reflection. Are there any claims explicit-

ly stated? If so, are they claims of value, fact, policy or some combination?

What claims are implied? Why? Be prepared to show your ad to the class and


13

to explain the ad's claims.

2. Keep a journal for a day of the claims you encounter in your conversations

with others outside the classroom. Note what the claims are and what sup-

port (if any) is provided.

-2- Learning to Read and Listen in College and

Beyond

“I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business

people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail

to realize that real communication goes in both directions,"

Lee Iacocca, Business Leader

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body,”

Sir Richard Steele, writer and politician

“It is unlikely that people ever swallowed advertising claims whole. Yet even

when an advertising photograph is recognized as a performance, it touches real

wishes and anxieties and invites belief or wish fulfillment, at least subliminally.

For those in search of identity, advertising offers a kind of pictorial window-

shopping. The innumerable images show products that promise to create a new

sense of self, and they do so with all the brilliance and conviction photography

can offer. Seeing through the photographic sales pitch may not be that difficult

— but resisting it can be,"

PBS, “Advertising and Persuasion”

You’ve come to the end of a blind alley. The door to the next level is

visible above you, but the walls seem smooth with no stairs or ladder to

climb up. You try everything you can think of to reach the door, jumping,

running at the walls, feeling for secret passages. Frustrated, you consider

turning off the game, when suddenly you notice a thin pipe running paral-

Learning to Read in College and Beyond Chapter 2

15

lel to the wall. You execute a neat jump and your character grabs the bar

and flips easily up to the door. Success! But without attention to detail

and knowledge of how video games work, you would have been stuck in

that alley.

At first, understanding the materials you will encounter in college can

seem just as daunting as a difficult video game, but the same skills that

enable you to succeed in the game — practicing, focusing on details, and

understanding the conventions of the game — are also what you will need

to deal effectively with a wide variety of texts (we will use this term to re-

fer to all written, oral, and visual materials you encounter).

You may be wondering why a book on writing and speaking devotes

an entire chapter to what would seem to be their opposite skills: reading

and listening. While constructing messages is very important, communi-

cation also depends upon audience members. Over 75% of the time you

spend communicating will be spent reading and listening to others (Wolff

and Marsnick). Taking your audience into account and tailoring your pro-

ject to “fit” them will make it much more likely to be effective.

The Importance of Reading, Listening, and Seeing to College Success Whatever your major, you are likely to spend more time reading tradi-

tional texts than doing any other single academic activity during your col-

lege career. And it’s not just a lot of beach reading, it’s often seemingly

impenetrable prose written by specialists for specialists. It may seem as

though your best strategy is to skimp on the time spent on reading, hop-

ing to get the needed information during class meetings. After all, why

should you spend hours reading when surely the instructor will discuss

the important ideas? However, reading shares something in common with

chores like doing the dishes — if you don’t do it on time, it just piles up,

gets harder, and still has to be done. Think about it: washing a pot that

you used to heat up pasta sauce right after dinner is pretty easy. Washing

the same pot after a week or two when the sauce has dried out is much

more difficult and takes a lot more time. Skipping some readings may

seem like a quick fix to your time crunch, but you will still have to do the

reading before an exam or paper, and in most cases, the reading that


comes next will make less sense because you skipped over an earlier sec-

tion, so all your reading ends up taking longer.

If reading is the most frequent academic activity, listening is the most

overlooked. Listening is not just a passive activity, it is a complex process

of perceiving sounds, sorting those sounds into recognizable categories

(such as words), fitting the words/sounds together to make sense, and

remembering what we hear. With so much involved it is easy to see how

listening carefully can be taxing, particularly when you’re tired or busy

Increasingly, courses are also asking you to engage with materials that

are heavily visual—including web pages, charts, films, advertisements,

and television programs. Certainly we “see” this material, but this style of

seeing/reading is different from reading words alone. Indeed, at first,

reading images can seem to be the easiest of all the skills we’re discussing;

Photo credit: Evan Osherow, “Concentration,” Flickr.com, Creative Commons, attribution license.

Concentration skills can be honed with practice. What strategies help you con-centrate and what are your biggest distractions?


17

after all, most of us watch similar texts for pleasure and entertainment.

But when a college instructor asks you to read an ad or website, she is

likely asking you to see that text as a “critic,” someone who understands

how and why the text is working in a particular way and what various

messages (in addition to “buy my product”) the text includes about its

context, society, and culture.

Obstacles to Comprehension

It is easy for us to write that reading, seeing, and listening are vital to

college success, as it is easy for you as a student to say that you want to

improve such skills. But that is a lot like saying all you need to do to win at

basketball is get the ball in the hoop every time you shoot. It is easy to say,

but challenging to accomplish. Let’s look at some of the obstacles that can

get in the way of your goals. Communication breakdowns occur for a few

basic reasons:

Noise Physical Construction outside the window, people laughing and talking in the

hallway or dropping in to say “hi.” Physical sounds can not only prevent

you from literally hearing what is said, but can also keep you compre-

hending a lecture or a course reading by drawing your attention else-

where.

Psychological Far harder to combat than physical distractions, psychological noise is

when the “sounds” in your head get in the way of your comprehension.

You could be “listening” to your hunger or sleepiness. You could be dis-

tracted by replaying a fight you had last night with your roommate. In any

case, these internal “noises” keep you from devoting your active attention

to the text or the class.

Focus Wandering Minds Perhaps your class is discussing the Cold War and the Berlin Wall.

You hear what is being said, but the Berlin Wall reminds you of a travel


channel show you saw the other night with your friend who is now acting

moody, etc., etc., etc. Before you know it, you’ve been daydreaming for ten

minutes.

Trying to Do Multiple Things at the Same Time If you were diffusing a bomb, you wouldn’t say, “hmmmm . . . I think

I’ll play Solitaire to help relax me while I’m saving the world from a nucle-

ar disaster.” All your attention would be focused on one place: that ticking

bomb. Watching TV while reading or cutting your fingernails while listen-

ing to a lecture (true story!) will not imperil the world’s very existence, but

they’ll certainly impact your ability to concentrate.

Over-focusing Believe it or not, you can actually also focus too hard on listening to

the information in the class or gleaning every detail from a course read-

ing. If you try to listen or read so that you remember every single detail of

what is being presented, you will lose sight of the big picture, making it

very difficult to truly comprehend a complex lecture or text. Imagine high-

lighting every single line in an essay—at the end you have nothing to help

you understand what were the most important ideas, where the evidence

was presented, etc.

Wrong Focus It’s easy to dwell on a minor point in an essay, a particular section of a

website, or a story in a lecture that resonates with us in some way. Maybe

it reminds us of an experience we’ve had or it’s a topic that pushes one of

our buttons. Although it’s not a problem, and is often even desirable, to

think more closely about issues that we care about, it’s possible to forget

to attend to the key points that the author or speaker is emphasizing.

Self-Sabotage Pretending to Pay Attention It’s possible to fool ourselves into thinking we’re reading, just because

we’re highlighting every word on the page or to fool others into thinking

we’re listening by nodding occasionally and looking attentive, but while

such techniques may convince others of our diligence, if we use them to


19

screen our own wandering minds, we will be the ones paying the price in

the end.

Dismissing the Ideas You Disagree With When we hear, see, or read something that we don’t like or don’t agree

with, many of us have a tendency to tune out the rest of what is being said.

Not only will this prevent you from being exposed to new ideas, but it will

also damage your ability to do well in a class. Listening and reading care-

fully do not imply that you agree with what is being presented—but they

do require you to avoid snap judgments and take in the entirety of a per-

son’s position.

Dismissing People Who Are Different From You Think for a moment about the people you most listen to or the types of

texts you most like to read and watch. For many of us, we listen better and

more easily to those people that we already admire, or those whom we

perceive as being “just like us,” and we read and watch more effectively

when we like or are familiar with that type of text. What this means is that

we will often not listen well or read as carefully when people or texts vio-

late our expectations or seem too different from our own experiences. In-

stead of focusing on the message, sometimes people focus on the fact that

a speaker looks differently than they do, dresses differently than they do,

speaks with an accent, etc.

Knowledge Barriers Jargon Much of college level reading was written by specialists for other spe-

cialists. Jargon — the terms that one specialist uses to talk to another

specialist in the same field –

can confuse people hearing

those terms for the first

time. Even those readings

(like textbooks) and lectures

aimed squarely at college

students often make inaccu-

“Reading is a means of thinking with another person’s mind; it forc-

es you to stretch your own,” Charles Scribner, Jr. publisher


rate assumptions about what the audience knows. Often specialists — like

faculty, car mechanics, or sports enthusiasts — will use jargon when talk-

ing to people outside their field of study and not even realize that they are

doing it. You’ll learn the jargon of your field over a period of time, but un-

til you do it’s going to slow down your speed of comprehension. But have

hope: just think about how quickly people pick up on the unique jargon of

text messages!

Complex and New Ideas When encountering a new or complex concept, it can be challenging to

see the connections a text/lecture is making and to understand the ideas

being discussed. Particularly in academic disciplines (fields of study),

there are established conventions for presenting material that you are un-

likely to be familiar with. If you don’t slow down and try to work through

them, these conventions can end up hurting your ability to master new

material. It’s like entering a new social scene: if you start gossiping to

someone you just met, you may have the distinctly uncomfortable experi-

ence of learning that that new acquaintance is best friends with the person

you’ve just been talking about.

General Strategies for Improving both Reading and Listening In this book, and in most of your courses in college, you are going to

be asked to read, listen, and think “critically” about course material. Criti-

cal reading/listening/thinking is quite different from reading/listening for

pure entertainment or enjoyment, but it does not mean, as many students

initially think, criticizing a text. Reading/listening critically means that

you are able to break the text down into its component parts, that at the

end of your work with the text you understand the how and why of its in-

ner workings and have your own opinions about the ideas it presents.

Keep an Open Mind An open-minded person is receptive to new ideas. Let’s say that you

are listening to another student give a speech on having deep-fried Twink-

ies for your class picnic. Your first response might be to block out the stu-

dent’s words, but keeping an open mind means that you hear him out. For


21

the moment, assume that maybe deep-fried Twinkies aren’t as nasty as

you think!

Being open-minded does not mean that you have to agree with every-

thing (or anything) the person says, but it does mean that you have to

make a genuine effort to understand his or her point of view. Okay, so in

the end, you confirmed you dislike deep-fried Twinkies, but at least you

tried them.

Practice Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is an excellent way to be sure that you really understand

an author or speaker’s ideas because it forces you to “translate” those ide-

as into your own words. Always try to paraphrase the main claim you

think a speaker/author is making, then ask yourself—is this really what

the text is trying to argue? This is a great check to be sure you’ve found

the main claim.

Be a Skeptic Skepticism might initially seem to contradict “keep an open mind,”

but both principles are fundamental to academia. Maimonides said, “Do

not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will

deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen.”

Even when an author is not trying to deceive, people’s values shape what

they write and say. If you think you might disagree with a point made, or

see a hole in the logic, make a note. BUT, as noted earlier, it’s important

to keep an open mind and to not immediately dismiss an idea. It’s likely

that when you read some texts, your thinking will start to shift and your

ideas on the subject will get more complex.

Think About Who the Author/Speaker is and Who the Intended Audience is All communicators will have some stake in the issue that they are ad-

dressing. It is important to know what the author/speaker’s credentials

are, what their experience with a topic is, and what, if anything, they hope

to gain from persuading the audience in a particular way. An argument


presented in favor of increasing funding for education has a different

credibility when presented by a scholar, a senior citizen with no children,

a student, a politician, or a teacher. The author’s position will not neces-

sarily make her argument either good or bad but it is important to consid-

er.

All texts should be geared to a particular audience. Many of the texts

you encounter, such as academic essays, political speeches, government

websites, weren’t written with you in mind. As you read, look at, or listen

to a text, look for cues about who it is trying to reach. Sometimes these

will be explicit (“My fellow Americans . . .”) but many times they are im-

plied (references to "your children" may mean that a text is primarily

geared towards parents). You need to know who a text is addressing in

order to fully evaluate its power/effectiveness.

Consider Context Texts do not exist in isolation—essays are published in particular

books or journals, speeches are given to specific audiences, television pro-

grams air on certain dates and times. These external elements (the con-

text) greatly impact how we read a particular text. For example, the origi-

nal trailer for the 2002 film Spiderman featured a scene in which a heli-

copter was caught in a large web spun between the two towers of the

World Trade Center. After the events of September 11, 2001, the trailer

had to be changed. The context had completely shifted and the text no

longer worked in the same way.

Specific Strategies for Reading Consider the Type of Reading The video game we mentioned at the start of the chapter is only one

type of game you could choose to play. There are many different types of

video games — role playing games, puzzle games, sports games, etc. —

just as there are many different types of materials you will be expected to

read in college. Your reading strategies will be different for textbooks,

scholarly essays, novels, lab reports, etc., but a few core skills will allow

you to adapt your reading strategies to maximize what you can get out of


23

each reading encounter and overcome your particular reading obstacles.

Read Short Texts, or Challenging Sections of Long Texts, Mul-tiple Times With scholarly essays, dense chapters of textbooks, or types of texts

you may be less familiar with (poetry, plays, etc.) try to set aside sufficient

time to be able to read them twice. This may seem like too much, but, be-

fore you reject the idea, think about your favorite movie. Now think about

all the elements of the movie that you noticed and remembered when you

watched the movie a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 15th time that you did not notice the

first time you saw it. We are only able to take in so much at one time. The

first time you read a text or watch a film, you are reading/watching for the

big elements—the action, the main events, the thesis, etc. and you will

miss some of the other

points—humorous lines, spe-

cific evidence, etc. When you

read/watch something a se-

cond time, you already know

what the major upcoming

events will be—this frees

your mind to notice the

smaller, important details of

how the film/text gets to

where it is going.

Stick With It It would be silly for

someone with little dance

experience to buy a “Salsa

Dance Lesson” DVD, watch it

once, and reasonably expect

to be able to do the Salsa. If,

however, that person had a

lot of dance experience,

watched the same DVD, and

Reverse Outline If you are having difficulty figur-ing out the argument of an essay, a specific note-taking strategy called a reverse outline may come in handy: 1. Go through the essay para-graph by paragraph, summarizing in one line the point of each para-graph and write it down. 2. Once you’ve completed doing that for the whole essay, look over your reverse outline and ask your-self how the various sections are related to one another. 3. From the relationship you should be able to determine the author’s main idea as well as the basic structure of the argument.


did so several times, it’s more likely that she would be able to master the

Salsa. The same principle applies to honing your reading skills. At first,

reading college-level writing or reading visual texts with a college “eye” is

going to take more time, but if you keep at it, your speed and skills will

improve.

If you see a sentence and don’t understand it, rather than just shrug-

ging and moving on, try looking up words you don’t know and reading the

sentence again. Sometimes you might know all the words in the sentence

and still not understand it. Breathe deeply and read it again and see if you

can understand. If you still don’t understand it, mark the spot so that you

can go back after you’ve read the entire piece. You can also ask your in-

structor about it in class or office hours.

Mark Up the Text How you mark a text depends on the medium you are working with. If

you are working online, you may have a feature that allows you to add a

comment to a section. Perhaps you can cut and paste a section of a text

into a word processor and add your notes there. When “reading” an im-

age, taking notes might be easier than actually marking the image itself

(online programs like Voicethread allow you to mark up images). If you

are working with something on paper, either a photocopy or a book, you

can write your notes right in the margins. Whatever your particular strat-

egy, in college it’s vital that you mark up your texts—underlining key ele-

ments, scribbling in the margins, adding notes, and generally sorting as

you read. This does not mean you should mark everything. Going crazy

with a highlighter, or underlining every sentence in the book may feel sat-

isfying, but it will not help you as you prepare to write a paper or take an

exam.

Specific Strategies for Listening

Keep Your Attention on the Speech The human brain is capable of understanding speech at over four

times the rate that most of us talk. Imagine playing your favorite game on

a level designed for small children; you would soon get bored and your

attention would wander. The same can be true for your brain when you


25

are listening. Without extra effort, your brain has too much “free time”

and is prone to distractions.

Use the “extra” time your brain has to take in the nonverbal elements

of a presentation (gestures, pauses, visual aids, etc.) and make new con-

nections between ideas. Don’t spend all your time thinking how you’re

going to respond. Try to really hear the person out before forming judg-

ments.

Take Notes Better yet, agree to take notes for someone who is not present: you’ll

have even more incentive to stay focused. Don’t try to write down every

word—few of us know shorthand and so trying to write down everything

will just cause incomplete notes and won’t allow you to prioritize the most

important information. Review those notes shortly after you take them so

that you can fill in any big gaps and clarify illegible spots.

Be a Positive Listener Many people are remarkably unaware of the negative signals they can

send out when they’re listening. Negative feedback can upset a presenter

or derail a conversation quite quickly, destroying the potential for effec-

tive communication. To avoid giving negative feedback:

Assume there is value in what the speaker is saying. Later you can as-

sess how much you agree with the assertions, but for now, give the benefit

of the doubt.

Consider your body language: Many new speakers, like some of your

classmates, get very anxious while giving a presentation. Positive feed-

back, such as eye contact, smiling, or nodding when appropriate, can help

them feel comfortable and can increase their confidence thereby increas-

ing the likely suc-

cess of your listen-

ing experience.

Don’t interrupt

or even jump in

immediately after

she stops speaking.

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to

reply. They are either speaking or prepar-ing to speak,”

Stephen Covey, professor of Business


Specific Strategies for Visual Messages Since the invention of photography, we have had a cultural tendency

to see images as simply “true.” Yet, of course, images are shaped, often

quite carefully, by photographers and editors. Photographers decide what

to take a picture of and from what angle. Eventually they crop, edit, and

enhance the photos. Although we know images can and are manipulated

(the airbrushing of fashion models’ photos is hardly a secret), we still tend

to assume that images are “real” or “accurate” representations of our-

selves and our environments.

One of the most famous photographs of a protest in the U.S. was taken

in 1970 at Kent State University. It shows fourteen year old Mary Ann

Vecchio screaming as she kneels over the body of Jeffrey Miller, a student

just killed by a National Guardsman during a protest against the Vietnam

War. The photograph has become iconic in American culture, but it is not

printed exactly as it was taken. In the original photograph, a fence post

Photo credit: Matthew Brady

What differences do you notice between this photograph and the one on the next page?


27

behind Vecchio looked like it was coming out of her head. Newspapers,

books, and magazines that printed the photo edited out the fence post to

make the image more visually appealing.

Such a small edit probably isn’t a big deal. Certainly, the removal of

the fence post didn’t change the argument the photo was trying to make.

However, more drastic photo edits have been used to purposefully mis-

lead. Famed civil war photographer Matthew Brady routinely changed

the content of his pictures to make them more compelling. In an 1865

photo of William Tecumseh Sherman’s civil war generals, Francis Blair (a

key commander during the final offensive in Georgia) was missing. Brady

inserted him (he is the figure on the far left) and sold the image with all

the generals present to the publications of the time!

Such manipulations have become increasingly common as the tech-

nology to edit photos has progressed. A widely circulated image of 2004

Presidential Candidate John Kerry showed him sharing the stage with an-

Photo credit: Matthew Brady

To create a picture with all of Sherman’s generals, Matthew Brady added Francis Blair into this photograph. What other changes did he make?


ti-Vietnam war advocate Jane Fonda was proven to be a fake, but the

power of the image was difficult to undo.

Photos often tap into the emotions and seem to portray “the truth,” a

somewhat dangerous combination. Manipulations of photos, therefore,

can spark feelings of betrayal. We point to these manipulations of photos

not so that you can spot them, but rather to highlight how photos, even

unedited ones, can be highly emotional and should therefore be analyzed

carefully and critically.

Notice Details When evaluating and critiquing a photo, slow down and look at its

various components. For instance, consider the photograph above taken

in Iran in 2009. Here are some details we noticed:

A woman protester with her arm raised is shouting while the people in

the background are moving the other direction. Is she shouting for

help? Calling out to others to follow her? Yelling at someone?

The woman is wearing a headscarf as is at least one woman in the

background. Many of the other people in the photo appear to be wear-

Photo credit: Olivier Laban—Mattei,"Iran protests," AFP/Getty Image, Creative Commons, attribution license.

This photograph was carefully composed by the photographer. What details do you notice in it?


29

ing t-shirts and jeans. The people appear to be on a street but there

are no cars anywhere to be seen. A few people are riding motorbikes.

What additional details do you notice?

Ask Critical Questions After you have noted the components of the image, it is time to ask

yourself some critical questions. You might begin by considering what po-

sition is being given to you as the viewer—in other words, where is the

camera? Called physical perspective, this framing determines a great

deal about what you see and do not see. In photographs the viewer and

the camera have the same perspective. In this image, for example, the

perspective of the viewer/camera is very close to the woman facing for-

ward. The rest of the people in the photograph are slightly out of focus,

giving us a sense of distance from them.

This physical perspective influences what is being given visual prom-

inence (what stands out) in the image. Elements of any image are made

prominent by contrast—their size, shape, color, and placement can all

make them stand out. The placement of an element can also make it

more prominent—in English we read from left to right, so we tend to look

first at the upper left-hand side of an image. In this image, the shouting

woman is visually foregrounded in the picture through her size, her

placement in the front left, the color of her scarf (hot pink), and the direc-

tion she is looking.

Assign Meaning We cannot look at any image without assigning meaning to what we

see. The meanings that we bring to an image are based in our previous

experiences, our expectations, and our worldviews: our cultural per-

spective. This is just as important as the physical perspective of the im-

age. Our cultural perspective will affect everything about our understand-

ing of the image—even the words we use to describe what we see. For in-

stance, in our notes above we said the woman was a protester. This frames

her quite differently than if we called her a rioter. Culturally, the U.S. val-


ues the rights of people to protest actions or institutions they think are

hurtful to our society, but we do not endorse rioting or violence in these

actions. By labeling the woman a protester, we revealed something of our

own cultural perspective and assigned a particular meaning to the action

in the photo.

The images we encounter may be making certain arguments—how we

are able to read these arguments is also part of our cultural perspective.

For example, reading this image with Western eyes may make us sympa-

thetic with the woman and her attempts to have her ideas heard. Con-

versely, we could read this image as an example of instability in and dan-

ger in the Middle East. Neither reading is right or wrong, but both would

require us to use evidence from the image to support our interpretation.

You might rightly note the argument and meaning of an image also

depends on its context—where and when we see it. As an image included

in a photo anthology of the struggle for democracy in the Middle East, for

example, the meaning of this image would differ than if it ran on a news-

paper‘s front page with a headline about increasing violence in Iran.

Final Thoughts Reading, seeing, and listening in college are complex, sophisticated

activities, but if you keep practicing, the tasks will become more familiar,

and you will become more successful. It may take some time, and you may

develop your skills moving more slowly than you would like, but such is

true of any worthwhile activity. After all, what satisfaction would there be

in a game you could conquer the first time you played it?!


31

Checklist for Chapter 2: Learning to Read and Listen in College & Beyond

Over 75% of the time you spend communicating will be spent read-ing and listening to others.

Much of the reading and listening will be challenging and it will be important to develop a system to analyze, sort, and organize the ma-terial.

Obstacles to comprehension: Noise, either from your surroundings or from internal voices. Not focusing on the key points. Can be caused by wandering at-

tention, trying to multitask, trying to grasp too many of the details all at once, or focusing on unimportant items in the message.

Self-sabotage: Pretending to listen, dismissing someone's ideas before you hear and understand them, not listening to someone because of what they look like.

Knowledge barriers: Some texts have jargon, terms used by specialists when addressing other specialists. Other texts might have complicated ideas that are difficult to understand.

Strategies to Improve Reading, Listening, and Seeing

Keep an open mind. Practice paraphrasing. Be skeptical of claims without immediately dismissing them. Think about who created the text, his/her credentials and what

he/she might hope to gain through persuasion. Consider who the audience is. Consider the context.

Additional strategies related to reading

Consider the genre of the text you read Read short texts and important sections of long texts multiple times. Keep trying, even if it is difficult or frustrating reading a particular

piece. Mark up the text.


Classroom Activities

1. Remain silent for 2 minutes. Identify sources of distraction (both ex-

ternal and internal) that could be keeping you from listening or reading

effectively in your present location. What strategies could you use to re-

sist these distractions?

2. Look at the Admissions webpage for your college. What images do they

use? How do the images add to the ideas about the college that the page

promotes? What cultural understandings about colleges/college life are

at play in the images?

Additional Exercises 1. An even more emotional cultural element exists in the Iran protestor

photo in this chapter. Different groups “read” headscarves in drastically

different ways. Some view it as a statement of faith while others view it as

a sign of oppression. To get some more background context about the

Additional strategies related to listening Keep your attention on the speech.

Look at nonverbal elements of the speech. Don’t spend all your time thinking how you’re going to respond.

Take notes. Provide positive audience feedback.

Assume there is value in what the speaker is saying. Consider your body language. Don’t interrupt.

Additional strategies related to seeing

Look at the photo closely and write down a list of details you notice. Consider the physical perspective of the camera. Ask what is being given visual prominence. Consider how culture may be imbedded in your interpretation of the

photo or in the photo itself. Is there an argument in the photo? What evidence supports that ar-

gument? What is the context of the photo?


33

debates about headscarves, go to the web and type in “headscarf debate.”

Why has the headscarf been controversial in Turkey and in France? What

kinds of headscarves have been in dispute in France? In Turkey? Try to

respect each side and thoughtfully think through the pros and cons of the

various positions.

2. The next time you read a provocative piece for this class, circle any posi-

tive or negative trigger words that provoke a strong emotional response

from you. Think about why each word has that impact on you.

3. Read an editorial from your campus newspaper or The New York Times.

Taking a paragraph at a time, paraphrase the text into your own words.

Have a friend read both your text and the original and compare the

meaning of the two. Did you effectively convey the message of the text

without using the original author’s words or sentence structure?

-3- Finding and Narrowing Your Topic

“We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are

responsible for their lives. Mankind's greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that

we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear,”

Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, Grief Specialist

“If there are things you don't like in the world you grew up in, make your own

life different,”

Dave Thomas, Wendy’s founder

Can you imagine saying to your boss, “hmmmm, no, I’d rather write

poetry than write the minutes to our meeting”? Many times in the work

world and in college, we are not given the luxury to decide what project to

work on next. If you are given the opportunity to pick your own topic in a

class assignment, relish it. It means you have the chance to learn about

something you really care about or investigate new ideas. College is about

exploring new ideas and asking yourself difficult, but important questions

about what you want out of life. Consider any assignment in which you

can choose your topic as a chance to help define yourself and your goals.

The next section of this chapter is designed to help you choose a topic for

an upcoming assignment.

Of course, sometimes when you get an assignment you may immedi-

ately know what your topic will be. That’s great, but you will still want to

complete some of the exercises in this chapter to help you refine your ini-

tial ideas and perhaps even move in a new direction altogether. Spending

Finding and Narrowing Your Topic Chapter 3

35

the time to ensure that you have a really strong topic will both increase

your enjoyment of the assignment and, likely, your success in it.

Generate Lots of Ideas In this next section, we provide a variety of techniques to spark ideas.

Some people really enjoy lists, others find images or writing more useful,

and so we’ve provided a variety of techniques to meet different learning

styles.

The techniques all encourage your subconscious to make connections

that you might not have thought of otherwise. Remember: it’s very im-

portant not to criticize any

of your ideas at this prelim-

inary stage. Self-criticism at

this stage may cause a block

that would be unproductive.

Many of the topic ideas you

generate won't be practical,

but that’s okay. You can

worry about feasibility later.

Brainstorming Many times the really fantastic ideas and the truly

ridiculous ones are not very different. Brainstorming — putting all of

your ideas down without criticizing any of them — allows you to gen-

erate a lot of ideas in a short amount of time. If you are completely un-

sure about a topic, use an open brainstorming technique with the goal

of just generating a list of random ideas. In other situations, you may

Brainstorming Example Campus: Personal Life:

food sleep deprivation

tuition rate noise

cost of books lack of exercise

paper wasted in the library roommate’s behavior

electricity usage at night Facebook

attitudes of fellow students mother’s heart attack

need for a crosswalk at 12th St. teeth grinding

“Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come un-

sought for are commonly the most valuable,”

Francis Bacon, scientist


want to focus your brainstorming a bit by concentrating on ideas such

as issues that

o bother you on campus

o are related to your family or friends

o connect to your major or future profession

o are in the news

Mind Mapping Some people think more effectively and deeply when

they allow themselves to visualize their ideas. Mind mapping is one

such way to do that. You can create your mind maps with a piece of

paper and a pencil, using the draw tools in Microsoft Word, or playing

with a website like bubbl.us. Pick one of the topics from your list that

strikes you as most interesting and put a circle around it. Then think

of subtopics and related issues, making any connections that you see

fit.

Freewriting Set a timer for 5 minutes and write (or type) about a

topic that you are considering for your project. The only rule is that

you should not edit your work at all, but instead just let your ideas


37

come out. After five minutes, calmly ask yourself, “so what’s this all

about?” Try to articulate that idea and then write for another 5

minutes, either on a new topic or trying to expand your initial topic.

Web Skimming Spend a few minutes skimming newspapers and/or

websites related to your future profession or a hobby, jotting down po-

tential topics and thinking about ways to connect different ideas. Look

at what’s happening around the world and see if something grabs your

interest. What issues are before the Supreme Court? What stories are

in Scientific American? What concerns Greenpeace?

Narrow Your Topic It’s very common to initially select a very broad topic, particularly

when faced with the prospect of a very long paper or presentation. Profes-

sors often ask students to take a much closer look at an issue than they

may have in the past. A narrower topic is often a more interesting one.

Brainstorm Some More

Once you’ve got a general topic, try doing some additional brainstorm-

ing about ways to narrow your topic. As you scan your mind map or

brainstorm list, are there elements that seem particularly compelling to

you? If so, then extend that section by going into more depth

Warning: Emotionally Charged, Common topics:

While you may care really passionately about something like abortion, gun

control, or war, you may want to pause to think about how challenging it would

be to find something to say that could make your presentation unique and also

how likely it is you would honestly be able to convince your audience to change

their minds. That doesn’t mean we’re saying you shouldn’t actively work to

change policy on those issues in your free time, just that they are probably not

wise choices for most classroom assignments. If you feel really strongly that

you would like to pick a very emotional topic, consider consulting your instruc-

tor first.


While researching, you will learn what points recur again and again.

This preliminary research may provide opportunities for you to narrow

your topic. For instance, perhaps when you begin your research about the

cost of textbooks you learn that a federal law was passed in 2008 requir-

ing textbook publishers to inform professors of the cost of each textbook

and requiring publishers to unbundle textbooks and supplementary mate-

rials so that students could purchase only those books they want. You also

learn a governor wants to push schools to use online textbooks to help the

state save money and to keep textbooks up to date. This research prompts

Narrow top-ics, like nar-row spaces, might seem confining at first, but both force you to slow down, allow-ing you to notice de-tails you might oth-erwise over-look.

Photo credit: Miguel Virk-kunen Car-

valho, “Rus-tic,”

Flickr.com, Creative

Commons, attribution

license.


39

the question: should government be involved with the cost of textbooks or

is this an issue better left to the individual? This research may help you

determine which way you would most like to focus the issue.

Determine Your Purpose and Audience Relatively early on in the process, determine what precisely you want

to accomplish and who would be most likely to help you accomplish it.

Potential allies and concerned stakeholders circle every topic. The fight to

lower textbook costs, for instance, could be addressed to many different

audiences; your choices will impact the purpose and focus of your piece.

Will you try to persuade

students to write letters to the campus newspaper asking the uni-

versity to make a commitment to providing lower cost textbooks?

your professor or all professors at your university to sign a pledge

to consider open source (free, online) textbooks sponsored by the

organization Make Textbooks Affordable?

the university to encourage professors to consider cost when they

make textbook choices?

the state government to replace the for-profit campus bookstore at

a state university with one whose purpose is to find the lowest cost

books available?

the federal government to provide rebates for college students?

We’ll talk at much greater length about audience in the next chapter.

For now, just ask yourself, Which audience will be most likely to help me

achieve my purpose?

Develop a Research Question An effective research question needs to be narrow enough to be feasi-

ble to answer within the scope of your assignment, but not so narrow that

there is no room for debate. Try to the best of your ability to leave precon-

ceptions behind and be open to being surprised and/or having your mind

changed by what you discover.


Here are a few examples of ineffective and effective research questions:

Ineffective: Why are textbooks so expensive?

Effective: What policies might our university enact to defray the

cost of textbooks?

Too broad: What is the future of veterinary medicine?

Better: What has caused the food animal veterinary shortage and

what can be done to stop it?

As you begin to research, the information you uncover may cause you to

shift and narrow your topic further, and that’s fine.

Craft a Preliminary Thesis A solid thesis provides the backbone to any effective argument. A the-

sis should

state your argument clearly

and be

Succinct (one or two lines)

Specific

Debatable (a reasonable person could disagree)

Interesting

Original

It is likely that your thesis will shift as you uncover more research and

think through your position, but articulating a preliminary thesis can help

you focus.

Sample theses:


41

The administration should urge faculty to keep costs in mind when

ordering textbooks by sending a letter each semester that encour-

ages faculty to use older editions and by publicizing open source

textbooks.

To protect the safety of the food supply, the government should

help curtail the food animal veterinarian shortage by providing in-

centives for veterinarians to go into this subspecialty.

Learn About the Context Surrounding Your Message No message is received in a void. Recent events, upcoming events and

the way people are used to doing things can all impact the effectiveness of

your message. To get a clearer sense of the expectations of your message:

1. Talk With an “Insider.” Someone who has been at your university

or business for a while and knows the culture can be quite useful to con-

sult before you craft your message. This person might be able to help

a. you figure out to whom your argument might best be ad-

dressed (for example, does the Dean of Students, the Vice President

for Finance, or someone else control the bookstore? Is it appropriate

to send your letter to this person?)

b. update you on the history of the issue at this university or

business. For instance, for your textbook project, many possible is-

sues might be at play that you may know nothing about. Perhaps the

bookstore management just received a 5-year contract to run your

bookstore. That would mean a call for a new organization to run the

bookstore would be very untimely and thus would likely to be ignored.

Or, perhaps, the board of trustees has already established textbook

cost as an upcoming agenda item and your research about the organi-

zation Make Textbooks Affordable might just be what the Dean of

your College would like to read.


c. you learn the culture of your institution. Some institutions

are very casual—informal language, dress, and demeanor are ex-

pected—but more institutions are more formal than you may initially

think. They expect a certain level of formality in written documents

and presentations. If your message doesn’t meet that level of formali-

ty, your arguments might be dismissed.

2. Learn About the Genre You are Adopting. Just as there are cer-

tain elements that are expected in particular genres of music (such as

sampling and synthesizing in electronic music, or syncopation and im-

provisation in jazz) there are certain expectations that come with different

genres of writing or speaking. The genre of a piece prescribes what kinds

of information you will include in what format. For instance, if you go to a

restaurant, you expect a menu to be formatted in the menu genre: lists of

items to eat, each with a short description, and a price. There are conven-

tions for letters, memos, speeches, etc. Sometimes it’s appropriate to bend

or break a rule for a particular reason, but it’s important to know what

your audience expects from your document and to meet those expecta-

tions unless there’s a particularly good reason not to do so.

Moving Forward Once you have chosen your topic, generated a research question,

composed a preliminary thesis and thought about/researched the context

of your message, you are in a great position to move forward with your

assignment. The next steps are to consider your audience in specific de-

tail, to perform any needed research, to draft your message, and to revise.

We will consider all of these elements in detail in the upcoming chapters.


43

Checklist for Chapter 3: Finding and Narrowing Your Topic

If you are given the opportunity to pick your own topic in a class as-signment, relish it.

Even if you immediately know your topic, consider using the tips in the chapter to explore a variety of possibilities.

Generate lots of ideas: Brainstorm: jot all ideas on a piece of paper without criticizing

any of them. Mindmap: Use circles and lines to show the connections among

ideas. Freewrite: Write for five minutes exploring possible topics with-

out stopping. Skim the web: Take a few moments to look at articles on the

web related to your future profession or a hobby. It's common for preliminary topics to be too broad. Narrow your topic

through additional brainstorming and preliminary research. Determine the purpose of your piece and its audience. Develop a research question. An effective research question needs

to be narrow enough to be feasible to answer within the scope of your assignment, but not so narrow that there is no room for debate.

Create a preliminary thesis. The thesis should state your argument clearly, be succinct, and be specific.

o Make sure your thesis is debatable. o Be as original as possible (avoid the obvious topics).

Learn about the context of your message by talking to an insider, someone who is familiar with the culture of your institution and may know the history around the issue.

Determine the most appropriate medium(s) (letter, email, speech, broadcast, poster, brochure, phone, etc).

Learn about the genres you are adopting. Conventions guide various forms of communication, and it's important to know those conven-tions so that you do not upset your audience.


Classroom Activities

1. As a class, generate a brainstormed list of possible topics for an upcoming

assignment. Have one student write the list on the board. After the list is gen-

erated, have the class discuss which brainstormed topics would be worth fur-

ther investigation.

2. Pick one topic you are considering for an upcoming assignment and generate

a mind map or a brainstormed list of subtopics. Pair up with someone to dis-

cuss the strengths and weaknesses of the various topics. Which subtopics are

your favorite and why?

Additional Exercises 1. If you selected a topic related to a campus issue, find an “insider” to briefly

interview to get an understanding of how your issue has been raised on cam-

pus in the past. A faculty member, staff person, or senior might be able to be

an “insider” for you. Type up a one page summary of your results.

2. Go to The New York Times’ topics section or a website of a publication that

interests you, find an article you find appealing, read it, and bring it to class.

In small groups, summarize the contents of the article. After everyone has

described his/her article, the group should generate a list of possible topics (a

volunteer from the group should write it all down). Remember, no criticizing

of ideas at this point. Write the list on the board to share with the whole class.

3. Go to the website for PBS’s program Frontline

(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/). Skim the list of recent shows

and see if it generates any topic ideas that interest you.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/

Documents

Raise Your Voice: Composing Written and Spoken Arguments