Fast-Food Summary

Write a summary of the thesis and main supporting arguments of the essay you are responding to. Keep it clean and simple. Include the author's name and the title of the essay. Leave out the supporting detail. You can discuss the details in the paragraphs that follow if you need to.

Post your paragraph by Thursday at 5 PM.

Fast-Food Assignment

Length: 750+ words

Due Dates: See syllabus (3/9
7 as a draft and 3/14 for a grade)

1. Pick one of the two essays on pp. 151-161 of TSIS and argue in favor of (confirmation) or against (refutation) its premise/ thesis. However, you should try as best you can to develop your own thesis, your own unique perspective, about the topic. Note that whatever you do, you will have to respond to arguments in the other essay.

2. In the first paragraph, develop your perspective as a response to the source. You might want to mention the author’s name and the title of the essay in paragraph one.

3. In paragraph two, summarize the source’s thesis and main supporting ideas. Note: You have already written such a summary paragraph, so you should know what you're doing

4. In subsequent paragraphs, confirm or refute the source’s thesis and main supporting ideas in separate paragraphs. Let the summary paragraph guide the organization of these “body” paragraphs.

5. As you write those paragraphs, think in terms of the paragraph “moves” we discussed in class. In any given paragraph, are you discussing the effect(s), positive or negative, of the source’s general thesis/ proposal? Are you confirming its general argument/ thesis in a way that the writer did not? Are you confirming one of its supporting arguments/ sub-points? Are you refuting the general premise/ thesis? Are you refuting one of its supporting arguments/ sub-points? Are you responding to one of its counter arguments? (Are you refuting its refutation? Doesn’t writing a response essay get durned complicated?) Each paragraph is an argumentative move and therefore requires a specific argumentative pattern.

6. Provide evidence for the source’s point of view in the form of SHORT quotation and paraphrase. You want to sound objective and even-handed here even if you disagree.

7. You may use any or all of the sources in the rest if the TSIS section. Cite the sources informally in the text.

8. Include a concluding paragraph, but in an essay this short, you should not be summarizing your essay or the sources ideas. We will discuss approaches to introductions and conclusions in class.

Post some notes here by Tuesday at 5 PM.

Coherence and Transition

Write one paragraph on the issue of who is to blame on the health issues associated with fast food. Don't write the whole essay -- just one paragraph. You'll need to narrow the focus to just one of the issues raised in the first two essays in TSIS.

Pay particular attention to your argument's structure and flow, what we will call "coherence" in class. Also, indicate the structure of that argument using the various methods of transition we will discuss in class on Wednesday.

Please post by Thursday at 5 PM to allow all of us to check out your writing and make useful comments in class.

Fast Food

By Tuesday 2.22.2012, blog a set of discussion notes for the essays on 153 - 161 of TSIS. Please don't think in terms of paragraphs here. A list of points that the essays cover and the points you wish to discuss or want to make will be sufficient. Frankly, I'm hoping that forcing you to brainstorm a few points will make for better and more universal class discussion. On Wednesday 2.23.2012, I expect everyone will have something to say about the issues raised in the essays.

Your next assignment will be a three-page research exercise on the fast-food issue using all the essays in the TSIS unit (pp. 151 - 210). You can help yourself and others by helping to define the issues on Wednesday.

PA#10 -- Refutation of Refutation

Look over the torture essay and find one of B & G's points of refutation and respond to it. They spend considerable time and space responding to objections to their very controversial thesis, so you should have no problem finding a refutation to refute.

A typical downshifted paragraph could (but might not) look like the following:

the idea that B & G are responding to,

their response to that idea (perhaps including a quotation),

some explanation and development of their response (if necessary),

your response to their refutation,

some explanation of your point of view (if necessary), and then

evidence and detail to support your point of view.

Note that any of the above points might take more than one sentence, but try to show a little self control in the early sentences of the paragraph

The last point will certainly take more than one sentence, so plan the points that come before wisely. You don't want to write a whole essay here -- just one paragraph in what could be a longer essay.

Don't forget to provide transitions that clearly indicate when you are representing B & G's ideas and when you are providing your own.

Still, try to write the paragraph in the third person. Every reader will know that you are writing the essay. Concentrate on the ideas, not yourself. Remember, you are trying to persuade the reader that a certain IDEA is true or false.

Also, limit the focus to a single, narrowly defined idea. Imagine that you will be writing other paragraphs in a longer essay.

Please post the paragraph by Sunday at 5 PM. I know you have a paragraph portfolio due on Monday, but you should have been working on that project for weeks.

PA#9 -- Refutation

Now take one of the ideas in the two essays and refute it. Remember, you're trying to refute just one of the ideas. Don't try to write the whole essay here -- just one of its paragraphs.

A typical downshift might look like the following: An objective statement of the author's idea (perhaps including a short quotation), an objective explanation of that idea, a statement of your idea in response, an explanation of your idea in response, and evidence and detail that supports your idea in response.

Above all, watch your tone. Don't characterize the author's idea. Refute it with facts and evidence.

Blog your response by Thursday at 5 PM. We'll talk about your paragraphs in class on Friday.

BTW, in response to requests by several members of the class who have been ill, I'm postponing the due date of the paragraph portfolio until Monday. If you haven't posted previous paragraph assignments, GET THEM POSTED. You may also include this assignment in your portfolio if you wish.

PA# 8 -- Confirmation

Find something to agree with in the two essays mentioned below. You may not agree, but do so anyway. You might agree with the writer's main point (thesis) or you might agree with one of the supporting arguments.

If you agree with the main premise, find an argument that the writer DOESN'T use to support his/ her premise. (That step in particularly easy if you do the Singleton essay.) State and develop that argument. Your downshift might look like the following: State the author's main idea, develop it, state your supporting argument, and then develop with details you may have culled from research on the Internet.

If you agree with a supporting argument, note that the writer(s) don't do an adequate job of providing evidence and supporting detail. Do that job for him/ them. Your downshift might look like the following: State the author's supporting argument, develop it, and then give supporting evidence and detail that the author does not provide.

Note: The paragraph should not simply summarize. You are trying to develop the writers' arguments, not repeat them. Repeat only as much as you need to to get to your own supporting detail.

I realize you may disagree with both essays. Force yourself to find evidence for its position anyway. We're learning to argue (in the best sense of the word). Sometimes, you will write academic essays that state a thesis contrary to your own position. Successful essays go with the best evidence available.

Please post the paragraph by Tuesday at 5 PM.

PA#7 -- They Say (Redux)

For Monday read the two essays on pp. 192 - 94 and pp. 196 - 200 in WFS. Write a careful ONE PARAGRAPH summary of one of them, and come prepared to discuss the essays in class on Monday and Wednesday. We'll discuss the "grades" essay on Monday and the " torture" essay on Wednesday. The writers have distinct points of view. Be prepared in the class discussion to agree or disagree.

You can't cover everything in one paragraph. Assume that you will be able to discuss the details of the writer's arguments and examples in further paragraphs. This paragraph is only a "They Say" exercise. For now, simply state the writer's main point and the main arguments that he/ she/ they use to advance those arguments. The paragraph is harder than it seems. You'll have to ferret out the writers' main arguments, no easy task. Thus, get an early start.

Post your summary paragraph by Sunday at 5 PM to give everyone, including me, a chance to look at them. Also, bring a hard copy of your paragraph to class on Monday.

PA#6 --Ain't So/ Is Not (Refutation)

Once again, identify one of the characteristics that Roz Chast describes in the cartoon on p. 282 of TSIS, preferably a different characteristic than you did in PA#5. This time, disagree with her, provide some evidence that your claim about the cartoon is true, state your point of disagreement, explain your point of view, and provide some evidence that your POV is true In that order).

Try not to repeat yourself from previous PA's. Imagine that you are writing an essay on the cartoon. The paragraph is just one of several.

In addition, try to work in some informal language. Don't be afraid to use texting abbreviations, but don't overdo it. The idea here is to achieve a moment or two of the informality in Chapter 9 of TSIS, but remember that you are still doing academic writing. You're looking for the prof to chuckle a bit and (maybe) forget that s/he is reading a big stack of essays at 3 AM.

Try to limit yourself to a single element of the cartoon and a single point of refutation, but develop each point completely. DOWNSHIFT.

"Git this thang" posted by Sunday at 5 PM, and try to look over other students' paragraphs before class on Monday.

PA#5: "As a result" (Cause and effect paragraph)

Again, identify one of the characteristics that Roz Chast describes in the cartoon on p. 282. This time, agree with her and then describe one effect or consequence of that characteristic.

Don't forget that you'll have to provide some evidence for both your claim about Chast's POV and each consequence you choose to write about. Don't try to write a whole essay. Concentrate on a single point and its effect(s). Develop each point completely and DOWNSHIFT.

Please post the paragraph by Thursday at 5PM so that we can discuss some of them in class.