Drawing Arguments (Prewriting Activity)

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Assignment by Sierra Mendez, Bedford New Scholar 2020

During the Bedford New Scholars Summit, each member presented an assignment that had proven successful or innovative in their classroom. 

Sierra: I like to do this pre-writing class activity in the final unit of class. It’s fun and it helps students generate ideas and structure for their final argumentative essay and accompanying argumentative infographic. Prior to this activity, students should generally know what they want to write/argue about. In this activity, to loosen up their brains, students start by drawing an object (a unicorn, Batman, whatever) for increasingly shorter increments of time. At the end of this first part, they will have four versions of the object with different degrees of detail and, somewhere in there, something recognizable as the essence of the object. I always let them talk to each other about what they’ve made/discovered and share with the class if they want. This kind of drawing and forced quick thinking gets their brains moving and raises room energy. It also helps them think about the pieces that make a thing. The activity then asks students to go through the same steps again but, this time, writing about their argument for increasingly shorter periods of time. When they are done, they will have their topic, something like a thesis, primary paragraph claims, and key details and evidence. I’ve done this activity with undergraduate and graduate students. It seems to help most people think more creatively and openly about their argument.

Context

Students taking RHE 306: Rhetoric and Composition are required to engage with a specific “controversy” of their choice throughout the semester.

• For Unit 1, they research their chosen topic to produce a two-page neutral summary of the issues and ten-source annotated bibliography.
• For Unit 2, they write a rhetorical analysis of a viewpoint article about their controversy.
• For Unit 3, they are responsible for composing their own cohesive, persuasive, and professionally-voiced proposal that argues for a specific course of action.

I like to give this assignment in the second or third week of the final unit as a kind of pre-writing exercise. It also helps prepare them for the infographic they are required to produce alongside their final paper.

Preparation

Prior to this activity (via in-class discussion or homework post) students should be asked to generally identify what action they are proposing and advocating for in their final paper.

Exercise

Goals

• Help students identify their primary argument and key points
• Help students develop deeper understanding of their argument
• Help students structure their proposal

Necessary supplies 

• Paper
• Pen or pencil

Part 1: Brain Warm Up 

• Step 1: Identify a well-known object with which all of your students are familiar. (If you want, you can decide as a class although this might take unnecessary time.) You could choose an inanimate object like “your house” or “the perfect sandwich.” You could also do an animal (dragons are fun) or a character everybody knows like Batman, the tooth fairy, or Harry Potter. (Note: Try to avoid picking something that has a well-known identifiable logo like McDonalds or Nike.)
• Step 2: Have them divide their piece of paper into for quadrants. They can do this by folding or by drawing lines. Have them label each quadrant.
• Step 3: Have students draw the object in Quadrant 1 for two minutes. Their pencils must be moving the whole time. They must draw until you say stop.
• Step 4: Have students draw the object in Quadrant 2 for one minute. Again, their pencils must be moving the whole time. They must draw until you say stop.
• Step 5: Have students draw the object in Quadrant 3 in 30 seconds. Their pencils must be moving the whole time. They must draw until you say stop.
• Step 6: At this point, they’ll be freaking out a bit. Have students draw the object in Quadrant 4 in 10 seconds.
• Step 7: Let them share what they drew with the people next to them. Ask for volunteers to share their image with the class. Ask them to think about what they identified as the “essence” of their object and what that means. Ask them to think about, at what point, the object is recognizable to an outside audience as the object.

Part 2: Argument

• Step 1: Have students flip their piece of paper over or let them open their computer if they want to type. Have them label their Quadrants 1-4 or create numbered bullet points in a Word doc.
• Step 2: Tell students to write about their proposition for two minutes in Space #1. They should explain 1) what their proposition is and 2) why the proposition is the best solution/option. They should write until their time is up.
• Step 3: Tell students to write about their proposition for one minute in Space #2. They should explain 1) what their proposition is and 2) why the proposition is the best solution/option. They should write until their time is up.
• Step 4: Tell students to write about their proposition for 30 seconds in Space #3. They should explain 1) what their proposition is and 2) why the proposition is the best solution/option. They should write until their time is up.
• Step 5: Tell students to write about their proposition for 10 seconds in Space #4. They should explain 1) what their proposition is and 2) why the proposition is the best solution/option.

Part 3: Activity Explication

Demonstrate to students (perhaps with an instructor example) what they have made. How:

• Box 4: Holds their topic and title (for infographic and proposal)
• Box 3: Holds their thesis and main point
• Box 2: Holds their proposal’s topic sentences and infographics’ headings
• Box 1: Holds ideas and arguments to incorporate into different pieces of their argument

It is helpful to explain to students these pieces can (obviously) change as they write and perhaps find Point 2 follows Point 3 better than Point 1, but that this activity has shown them the key parts of their argument. I like to map these pieces onto the “5 paragraph academic essay” just to show students how it works, but I don’t necessarily hold them to that map.

Part 4: Activity Application

Using their activity, give students time to develop their proposal outline with a partner and ask you questions.

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