Unit 3
Two Kinds of Reasoning
This unit (sometimes called a "session" or a "chunk") is comprised of several assignments or tasks. Please read through all the tasks, conceive a plan to accomplish all the tasks in the alloted time, decide to execute the plan, and then...do the plan.
(Please print this webpage for your reference. The webpage will be approximately three printed pages long. There is a space next to each task for you to "check off" the task when you have accomplished it. And the margins should be wide enough for your notes.)
___Writing a "Think Piece"
Read the following question. Ponder the question for a while. Do not talk to anyone else or read anything about this question.
After some reflection, write a one and one half page (maximum of one and one half page, minimum of one page, typed, double spaced) response to the following question. (I call this a "think piece.") Using a word processing program, write your think piece, save it, copy it, then log on to Canvas. Post to the appropriate assignment in the content folder labeled “Think Pieces.”
This is the question for your reflection:
You are reading the work of another student in this class. And the student's work sounds very familiar. You read it more closely. And you begin to anticipate what the student is going to say. Hmmmmm. You read it more carefully. Then you look at the writing that you submitted for your assignment and you realize that your work is identical–word for word, comma for comma, spelling error for spelling error–to that student's work. You check the timestamp function in Canvas and it shows that you posted your work on Tuesday at noon; the other student posted her work the following Sunday at 11:00 PM.
You write a letter that is addressed to both the student and the instructor regarding this situation. Your letter is your think piece.
___Participation in the Discussion Forum
Post under the appropriate Unit’s Discussion Forum and interact with your fellow students. Remember, this is a portion of your grade.
___Reading the Text
Your assignment here is to read the chapter on Two Kinds of Reasoning in Moore and Parker's book. As you reread or review the chapter, try one of the following tasks to organize your reading and to make your reading more interactive. You might try to make a topical outline of the chapter. Do not get too detailed. In fact, try to limit yourself to one side of one page. You could go through the chapter and list any idea or concept along with a short phrase indicating the start of a definition. Any way that you can make the reading active and based on questions is good.
___Working the Material: Listening to the Guided Tours
Your instructor has created "Guided Tours" of the text. These are audio recordings that guide you through the key ideas of the text, page by page, example by example. This resource has proven valuable to those students who benefit by "hearing" or "listening to" the material as a complement to reading the material.
For the recorded guided, you will need to have QuickTime (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. installed in your computer. (Installation of Quicktime was described in the first unit for the class.) Click on the links below to go to the guided tours of sections of the reading for this unit.
Arguments: General Features (Pages 32--34) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Two Kinds of Arguments (Pages 34--36) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Page 37) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Balance of Consideration (Pages 40--41) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Ethos, Pathos, Logos (Pages 43--44) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Evaluating Arguments (Page 52) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
___Attendance
If you have completed the tasks for the unit during the allotted time, then there is nothing for you to do here. Go on to Assignment #1 of the next unit. But if you are behind on some work and haven't completed this unit's tasks in the allotted time, look again at the syllabus where it describes "Late Work" (there is no such thing) and the rationale for not getting credit for work that is posted late.
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Checklist for Two Kinds of Reasoning
_____Assignment #1: Writing a Think Piece
_____Assignment #2: Participate in Discussion Forum
_____Assignment #3: Reading the text
_____Assignment #4: Listening to Guided Tours
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