Class Plans. Students had already been introduced to the enthymeme, but I re-introduced it here and ran through the earlier examples again:

Transcription

1 Class Plans 1) The Enthymeme-Meme: Today we ll be Cutting up our already Explosive Discussions using the rhetorical equivalent of something like a rocket propelled chainsaw... Synopsis: We used enthymemes to structure a discussion, to discover and shape claims, and then to draft a real-time collaborative rhetorical analysis of the graphic novel Birth of a Nation to be posted to an online forum as a review (this time a Google Books Review) by the end of the day. This class plan came about after I had a bit of a rough go teaching the enthymeme my first semester using the GTA wiki common syllabus (in the first cohort edition as Ellen says). It didn t seem to stick the first time through and I wanted students to be more comfortable and take more time working with enthymemes this semester (in all honesty the same applied for me in some ways). So I re-read Barbara A. Emmel s article Toward a Pedagogy of the Enthymeme: The Roles of Dialogue, Intention, And Function in Shaping Argument and drew up this class to take place a few periods after introducing project two, and after we d all read the graphic novel Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel. Emmell notes that those who ve advocated teaching the enthymeme don t teach the form quite so much as they teach the process involved in forming one a process that involves inquiry, thinking, questioning, defining, conversing, understanding, connecting, and concluding (133). Students had already been introduced to the enthymeme, but I re-introduced it here and ran through the earlier examples again: Basic Components of the Enthymeme: 1. The claim (assertion/thesis/conclusion/position) [I also review different kinds of claims: of fact/value/recommendation, and refer to the stasis questions we d recently talked about] 2. The stated reason (because...) 3. The unstated assumption 4. (Grounds) 5. (Rebuttals) Then I discuss how the process of discovering and shaping enthymemes is most often worked out through DIALOGUE... and that they can use enthymemes to naturally discover claims in (or about) the text through a discussion and note taking process we go through as a whole group. This quote from Emmel is one that seems to resonate:

2 "As a pedagogical tool, the enthymeme enables us to make students conscious both of the processes of thought that are inherent in reasoned discourse and of the organic connections that exist among those processes, the process of writing a paper, and the final structure of that paper. In other words, there is an organic connection between talking about something and writing about it... we can learn to think through how our discussions shape how we read and how we write... reasoned discourse can productively lead to close reading and intelligent writing. So the enthymeme is used as a multipurpose TOOL to generate and shape discussions in the following straightforward ways: 1. It is a tool for discovering (or inventing) claims: It allows you to enter a process of discovering and shaping claims to realize the potential intention of others (or to more clearly articulate your own intention about why the text in question matters). It leads you to elaborate on your own claims-- and allows you to think about the claims others (or other texts) are making, where they are going, and how they're constructed. 2. As a tool of arrangement where you work out (or come to realize) the key components of claims and how they function, which helps us arrange claims and ideas in a logical order with reasons, assumptions, grounds, warrants, and rebuttals. If we slow down and play with the parts of an enthymeme, we can also make connections or figure out the relationship between claims (of your own or others). The discussion and note-taking process allows you to keep record of general ideas in a form that you can work with by tracing a pattern of inquiries into a text, tracing out questions and claims, and even developing further research questions. The Process: Smooth Talking Enthymematically Students initially focus on making general claims about the graphic novel, and we detailing ethymemes on paper (I ve used scrap and paper with templates for structuring them). This will lead eventually to crafting short paragraphs or clusters of individual sentences with more time and care than they re often accustomed to. The discussion initially follows a line of thinking that extends initial claims with some gravity made by the graphic novel. Prompting questions included: what is the text claiming or saying about politics (or certain political situations) in America? About race in America (or particular areas in America)? About the "little pieces of the third world right here in America"? About our current or past administration? About our energy dependencies? About conspiracy theories? About rhetoric? About our propensity for military action? About the role of the CIA? We spent at least fifteen minutes discussing and taking notes in the general pattern of the enthymeme, thus detailing and listing the potential claims the book is making (this lasted a half hour). window on our wiki, where I have a series of enthymeme templates that slowly get swallowed by our notes. From our (messy) notes, we end up with a short version of some of our better claims here, all of which is generated as we discuss. I work to keep the conversation lively and to take the best notes but they help me fill in as we rethink some of the claims. I try to post the best from our discussion in a Class Notes I tell them to keep in mind that not everything we come up with will be correct or well structured at this point -- rather it should generate some our best initial ideas that they will then reflect back on as enthymemes and IMPROVE them later in the class in small groups.

3 ~~A few of the enthymemes: Initial claim: The "comic novel" Birth of a Nation has a surprisingly serious message/claim involving a portrayal of the conditions required for becoming a powerful or sovereign state The stated reason: The steps the mayor and his city take in the book would be key steps for building a powerful Western nation (acquiring financial independence and economic power; acquiring the 'muscle' needed to police a state; finding military strength; developing energy 'independence'... The unstated assumption: States need serious economic sway and military power if they hope to stand on their own / states need key allegiances (many of which may not be for strictly upstanding or strategic reasons) /... Grounds: Energy is often an unstated factor underlying the power of states / Rebuttal: This is just a comic book and much of the steps East St Louis takes to find independence are far-fetched or inaccurate ~~ Enthymeme: (second major claim that was made) The claim: Birth of a Nation's portrayal of the disenfranchised city of East St Louis draws important analogies to New Orleans and Detroit (among other cities in the Rust Belt) and to the current condition of many cities at present during our economic and environmental crisis. The stated reason: The key similarities include: economic turmoil; lack of city services; modern forms of segregation (white flight); the city is mostly "invisible" or forgotten by the broader public... The unstated assumption: These similarities show a pattern or broader problem in the U.S. Rebuttal: this similarity is forced/not really important/ or oversimplified ~~Enthymeme: (third major claim we made) The claim: The graphic novel Birth of a Nation by Hudlin, McGruder, and Baker crafts a relevant moral lesson. The stated reason: The main character, Fred Fredericks, strives to do the right thing for his city, in the face of economic, racial, and political dilemmas//fredericks stands out as virtuous leader among other less-principled characters/ The unstated assumption: an implication throughout is that American people often tend to hold onto their rights without actively trying to do the right thing Rebuttal: This is a minor aspect to the story//or...you can read morals into anything or turn (reduce) any story into a moral-tale... ~~ Enthymeme: (4th major claim we made) The claim: This graphic novel is a potent lesson in the power of rhetoric

4 The stated reason: Fred Fredericks displays rhetorical powers to address an audience, to argue effectively, to unite people around a cause, and to win political power. The unstated assumption:? Rhetoric plays a significant role in building a nation? ~~ Enthymeme: (5th major claim we made) The claim: Birth of a Nation is a commentary about enduring racial discrimination and disempowerment in America. The stated reason: The story creates an analogy to the disenfranchised voters in Florida during the 2000 election/ all the details about problems in East St Louis should be seen in light of the fact that it is a primarily black city / other examples of racial tension and hatred... The unstated assumption: Racial discrimination is a less talked about problem connected to other social problems like poverty...globalization... Part two: Group work: Designing and improving enthymemes We spend some time (5-10 minutes) improving one enthymeme from rougher notes to something half baked (more like above) as an example of the first step in part two. The students are then organized into small groups around an enthymeme they find particularly interesting and told to IMPROVE the enthymeme in a similar way, and then to turn this into a paragraph with a suitable example or two well cited from the text. In the process of improving the enthymeme they are asked to think about what type of claim they are making (one of fact or definition, cause and effect, value/evaluation, or about solutions, policies or recommendation), and we referred back to a knowledge building through stasis procedures we had used previously. The hope is that at this point they see the value in how something like this rhetorical setting we establish in class can move them from class discussion to writing. In their groups, once they have an enthymeme they think is logical, and well supported, they are then reminded to take their enthymeme and properly cite an example or two in support of their claim. If this is done and some time remains, they are asked to connect it with a rhetorical device we ve used/discussed already this semester. This happens at different intervals as they take the enthymeme, example, and/or explication of a rhetorical move and generate a short paragraph. Before the end of the class they need to link up their paragraph with a transition to the group to the right and to left of them. The result is a seemingly impromptu review (as it is not quite an analysis) that we post to an online forum. I tell them this is the goal either at the beginning or at some point during the class. They have until the end of the day to finish their draft. This time our writing was posted to a Google Books Review (two examples here:

5 Fun! The following class starts with reading the speedily produced review and reflecting on the structure of paragraphs, the connections between paragraphs, and the overall product.