Using Rhētorikós Spring 2021 in the Classroom: Evaluating Arguments

Rhētorikós: Excellence in Student Writing is a peer-reviewed online journal that publishes first-year student writing for Composition I & II courses at Fordham University's Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses.

I have been volunteering for my time at the journal since my 2nd year as a graduate student, and over the years, I have become acutely aware of how the journal benefits not only the student contributors but also the composition instructors. Having access to a reservoir of essays composed by Fordham students is pedagogically useful, as it allows instructors to engage in writing at about the same level as the learners in their classrooms. While I integrate excerpts from the journal regularly in my own pedagogy, it is not an approach as widely practiced in our English department as it might be.

Thus, in Spring 2021, I collaborated with with my fellow editor-in-chiefs of Rhētorikós, Jessica D’Onofrio and Ellis Light, on an instructor's guide to this issue. Below you will find my contribution to this guide, an in-class lesson plan designed to get students reflecting on and evaluating the arguments advanced in essays from our Spring 2021 issue.

Evaluating Arguments

• Use three or more of the following essays: “Pageant Material,” “Prehistoric Animals: Could They One Day Walk Among Us?” “Not Just Lustful Literature: Self-Liberation through Fanfiction,” “Reel to Real: An Analysis of Harmful Stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims in American Film and Television” from the Spring 2021 issue of Rhētorikós: Excellence in Student Writing.

• Each of these essays contains a generally clear and compelling thesis statement. Yet this set also covers a variety of essay topics, scopes, and relevance. Comparing one essay alongside the others demonstrates to students the spectrum of argumentation and their range of strengths and limitations.

Assignment:

This is an in-class group work and discussion that will take between 45 to 60 minutes. First, start class with an overview or brief lecture on argumentation. Ask your students to consider the art of argumentation with questions such as What is an argument? What arguments are the most compelling or useful? What arguments are less compelling or useful? As class, come up with a list of 3-4 qualities of compelling theses. During this discussion, you might prepare a few examples of effective and/or ineffective arguments to give them examples to engage.

Next, break up the class into four groups of 3-4 students. Provide each group with an excerpt of a thesis statement from the latest issue of our journal. Ask your students to evaluate the thesis based on the rubric for effective arguments that you crafted together earlier in class. Ask them to come up with a 2-3 minute informal presentation explaining their findings to the rest of the class.

Finally, transition into group presentations. Ask each group to read their thesis statement aloud and explain to the class what is both effective and less effective about the thesis. Try to encourage each student in the group to speak. End the class with a short comment that summarizes, again, what makes a compelling thesis and share with the class something you learned from their perspective on this important topic.

By Alex Finn-Atkins