Iris Farrou

Class Plan for Drafting boyd & Outside Sources

ITC Fall 2015

The Main Elements

• At the beginning of class, quickly go over boyd’s argument and claims to put it all together.

• Resolve concerns that have to do with those claims.

• Discuss with class at length what it means to illustrate, extend, challenge, qualify, or complicate an argument.

• Pick one of boyd’s arguments and model one of the actions—the one that seems to confuse students most, using not an outside source (yet) but their personal experience as evidence.

Bringing In Outside Sources

• Before class, provide students with the selected outside source I want them to use (the other 2 are their own choice). During class, we will discuss the text’s main argument and other claims.

• See what connections they can draw between the claims of this source and boyd  class activity for this will be free writing, short group discussion and presentation of each group’s ideas. Maybe omit group discussion if there is no time.

• Since selected outside source extends boyd’s argument, homework will be a paragraph that illustrates this. Our class discussion should be used as a source for ideas, since we will have discussed more than one ways in which the selected source extends boyd. If there’s time at the end of class, ask students to start drafting such a paragraph.

What about the other sources?

• Each group picks a different source, so before class they need to have read it. During class, they will be given some time to compare notes on the relationship between their source and boyd. Each group will then present their findings. This activity might need two class periods.

• Cover the research process and go through the basic steps of how to locate a source. Note some important elements students should have in mind when selecting a source.

Putting everything together

• Discuss a suggested outline for the essay and provide students with sample paragraphs that illustrate, extend, challenge, qualify, or complicate an argument. See how they are structured and address any concerns.

• See how to make a works cited page and model citation for boyd.