Class Minutes: 09/16/08

Mr. Lazarow started class today by answering any questions we had regarding our essays. He went over that the point of the essay is to convey to him how we look at ourselves as writers/readers. Mr. Lazarow then deliberately did not give an example because he does not want to set any grounds for less-individualistic responses. (Basically- he does not want every essay turned in to somewhat resemble the example he gave.)
THIS ESSAY IS DUE TOMORROW.
After he finished with our questions (there were few), Mr, Lazarow told us that we will start reading Beowulf tomorrow! He also reminded us that we should start blogging as soon as we finish our first reading assignment because it is not likely we will be interpreting everything correctly. So tomorrow night, start asking questions! Also note that Mr. Lazarow has seen all the movies and repeatedly stated that watching them is not a SUFFICIENT replacement for reading the poem. He also suggested that we go out and buy the book in order to take our own notes and mark our pages. This will later prove to be a better way to study - but it is NOT a requirement. For those buying it; the title is Beowulf and the version we are reading is translated by Seamus Heaney. It's relatively easy to find and you can probably buy it at Barnes and Noble.

We then continued to go over the Toulmin Model PowerPoint. The slide we started on was going over the dangers of using Causality as a main argumentative strategy (GASCAP.) Mr. Lazarow briefly went over the meaning of ETHOS again. ETHOS is someone's value or authority (credibility.) We continued to go through the rest of the strategies; authority and principle. We then moved on to the second triad! This consists of the backing, qualifier, and rebuttal.

The backing is not always necessary, but it provides justification for the warrant. So if your warrant is questionable then you probably should have backing. Backing is just more evidence to support the type of reasoning you have employed. Next is the qualifier. This states the probability attached to claim (how sure the arguer is about correctness.) It establishes conditionality when necessary. Reservation allows the arguer to say claim is incorrect in one aspect or another

EXAMPLE:

Claim: Hearing aids do no harm to ears.

Claim with reservation: Unless there is evidence to the contrary, hearing aids do no harm to ears.

We started on the rebuttal which acknowledges exceptions or limitations to the argument. It admits to times when the argument would not hold. And this completed the class period.

Good luck on your essays everyone!

-Emily Wallace