advance composition

(1)Due Wednesday

After you have chosen an article of interest to you, go through the article and highlight passages to which you felt you had a response. As you read, write comments in the margins next to the quote or write thoughts or questions that occur to you.

Choose three quotes that you highlighted in the article and copy the quotes below. Write a brief response to each quote in which you share your thoughts or questions on that quote. If it is a long section, you are free to briefly quote then provide the page and paragraph number. Remember from ENG 100, that there are many ways to respond. You could agree, disagree, or qualify ("yes, but".)

An example might look like this:

Article: Steven Johnson: "Why Games are Good for You."

Quote #1: "So it is with games. It's not what you are thinking about when you're playing a game, it's the the way you're thinking that matters" (493).

I found this logic a little dubious. Surely what you are thinking about when playing a game matters. For example, what about reductionist types of thinking in a game like sexist, racist, or homophobic sentiment? Aren't what you are thinking and how you are thinking linked? I feel like his separation between these two terms is problematic.

Quote #2: "But almost all the standards we use to measure reading's cognitive benefits--attention, memory, following threads, and so on-- the nonliterary popular culture has been steadily growing more challenging over the past thirty years."

When I read this quote, I noticed that Johnson focuses mainly on "cognitive benefits." But what about content? I agree that video games are requiring more cognitive skills, but this eschews the idea that what we learn is less important. Do, for example, children get a sense of literary technique, writing style, or character building? It would be hard to argue that video games can convey the complexities and nuance of great literature.

Quote #3: "The question is why kids are so eager to soak up that much information when it is delivered to them in game form."

I felt that this statement held an assumption that I disagree with. Johnson assumes the goal of education is to "soak up [...] information" and the easier this is done the better. The benefits of reading are exactly because it is a more difficult task, one that draws more attention to how knowledge is created and less toward receiving it unquestioned. In his example about Sim City the child learns that lowering industrial taxes helps spur business, but this is a model built to stress one particular ideological truth, that growth and industry are de facto public goods. If we were to look through another lens, say environmental, or religious, then the choice becomes clouded.

The point of this activity is to get you in conversation with the article of your choice. At this point, you might not know what your paper will be about or what your main claim will be, but this activity will help you generate some ideas.

(2) Due Friday

Inquiry Plan

As your textbook notes, academic writers make inquiries. As you read through the article of your choice, did questions occur to you? In asking these questions, did you realize that you might need more information to properly answer them? For example, in our last activity, "Entering the Conversation," I responded to the article "Why Games are Good for You" by Steven Johnson. I primarily disagreed with his article, so I thought of some good points that might refute his claims, but I also realized I would need more research to properly do so. The following research questions occurred to me:

Are there sources that talk about the detrimental content of some video games?

Should I explore the idea of video game addiction? Is that relevant to my main point? Are there articles on this?

Can we really separate how we think from what we think?

Are there philosophers that discuss this distinction?

All of these questions would require research. In this activity, you are going to ask questions like these ones and let them lead you to a plan of inquiry that will guide your research in Week 2.

This assignment has three steps:

Step 1. Copy your "Entering the Conversation" assignment into this discussion board.

Step 2. Below your initial quote and response, ask questions that occurred to you that would need to know. You may have more questions for some quotes than others.

Step 3. After you have asked the questions and considered them, come up with an inquiry plan. This will be a statement of what you will research and why. It doesn't have to be exact, and it can ask questions you don't quite know the answers to yet. There is no set form for this plan. It is primarily for your use in thinking about your overall project.

Here is an example:

Article: Steven Johnson: "Why Games are Good for You."

Quote #1: "So it is with games. It's not what you are thinking about when you're playing a game, it's the way you're thinking that matters" (493).

Are there sources that talk about the detrimental content of some video games?

Should I explore the idea of video game addiction? Is that relevant to my main point? Are there articles on this?

Can we really separate how we think from what we think?

Are there philosophers that discuss this distinction?

What benefits does literature provide that video games can't?

What cognitive benefits does the difficulty of reading provide?

Quote #3: "The question is why kids are so eager to soak up that much information when it is delivered to them in game form."

I felt that this statement held an assumption that I disagree with. Johnson assumes the goal of education is to "soak up [...] information" and the easier this is done the better. To me the benefits of reading are exactly because it is a more difficult task, one that draws more attention to how knowledge is created and less toward receiving it unquestioned. In his example about Sim City the child learns that lowering industrial taxes helps spur business, but this is a model built to stress one particular ideological truth, that growth and industry are de facto public goods. If we were to look through another lens, say environmental, or religious, then the choice becomes clouded.

Do video games promote passive learning?

Do video games help children question the "lens" of the game itself?

Do video games promote dangerous or one-sided ideology?

Inquiry Plan

I plan on arguing against Johnson's article. Since Johnson's main distinction is a separation between the action and content of video games, I plan to research some articles that discuss the negative impact of the content of video games. I thought the two articles preceding the article by Johnson in the textbook-- "The Wonder Woman Precedent" by Julie D. O'Reilly and "Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt" by Jean Kilborne-- might help me make my argument about sexism and implied "lenses" and ideology in many video games, through the aforementioned articles don't write specifically about video games. Outside of the textbook, I plan to look in academic journals that might cover the cognitive benefits of reading so I can dispute or complicate Johnson's points on the cognitive benefits of video games. Journals in psychology, cultural studies, or even neuroscience (if I plan to bring up addiction) might offer critiques of the content of video games. I also plan on doing internet searches to figure out which philosophers have discussed the differences between the content and structure of thought because if I can prove that the two cannot be separated, Johnson's argument falls apart.

Discussion 4 (due saturday)

Assignment

Peer responses should be a minimum of 100 words each).

In this assignment, you are going to write a brief summary of your primary response article. Next, you are going to respond to that article by bringing up your thoughts or feelings on it. As we learned in ENG 100, academic writing is a conversation, and an important part of the conversation is to summarize what someone else has written before we respond to it. This helps our audience understand the broader conversation that we are entering.

The Summary (100-300 words).

Our summaries should try to capture the main arguments of the paper as fairly as possible, even if we disagree with the points the article is making. Though we try to be fair, we are also selective, for we want to focus our summaries on what is relevant to the point we want to make.

For example, if I were writing a summary of "Why Games are Good for You" by Stephen Johnson (pg. 481 of our textbook) I would survey the article first. I would notice that much of the article is focused on the distinction between books and games and some of the article is devoted to discussing the virtues of hand-eye coordination. If my argument is primarily about the content of games, these aren't areas where I will focus my summary. I will focus my summary on the areas that are relevant to my paper.

For example:

In "Why Games are Good for You" Steven Johnson argues that the beneficial ways a person thinks when playing video games is an under-explored subject. He stresses interactivity and community, but mainly he mainly focuses on why video games are so entertaining. To do so, he delves into neuroscience and what goes into the idea of gratification. He argues that video games are beneficial mainly because they practice the player in delayed gratification. He claims that "It is not what you're thinking about when you're playing a game, it's the way you're thinking that matters" (493).

This summary tries to get across the basics of Johnson's argument without getting bogged down in parts of the paper that aren't necessarily relevant to the point that I want to make. After all, the point of a summary is to set up the "They Say" before you get to your claim, the "I Say".

The Response (~ 600 words)

In about 600 words, you will analyze the article— discuss strengths, weaknesses, why you think the article is worthwhile to your academic discipline. Areas that are weak or lacking in the article may provide a space for you to “enter the conversation.” For instance, if an article discusses some serious environmental problems but offers no solutions, you could point out the lack of solutions and possible ways to solve the problem.

You have likely already formulated a basic response to the article in your "entering the conversation" activity. Now it is time to build on those thoughts. Keep in mind that it is okay if your thoughts on the subject have changed or shifted. Also keep in mind that you may need to return to the "entering the conversation activity" and reread what you wrote, for what you believe might have shifted, or you might have realized there is a better point to argue.

For example, just in writing the summary above, I realized that I also don't quite agree with Johnson's point that video games teach delayed gratification. Perhaps that would be a more productive argument than the original one I explored. Part of thinking like a scholar is being willing to follow where your thoughts lead.

Write a 600 word (min) response to the article you chose above. After you have written your response write three different thesis statements that you think best encapsulate your main argument.

THESIS STATEMENT TIPS

Thesis statements should meet three criteria:

1) Specific - Thesis statements should be reasonably specific in making a claim in response to one or more points in the primary response article you choose. Generally, the more specific the claim, the more easily you will be able to address it in the page length for the final assignment. Please name the specific article you will be using in your thesis statement.

2) Arguable - Thesis statements should be arguable. That is, two sides could have reasonable and intelligent debate about your claim. They should not be statements of fact, common sense, or assertions that almost no one would disagree with.

3) Statement - Thesis statements should not be questions. They should be assertions, claims - in other words - statements.

Sample Thesis Statement: My primary response article, X by author A argues that… Though nurses understand the definition of patient care, they must learn the ethical duties that go along with caring for a patient by attending ethical training classes.

Read through two of your classmates posts. Respond in 100 words to their post. Respond to the ideas in the summary response and help them choose which thesis statement you think is the best using the criteria above.

The Summary Response Paper should look like this:

(Your Name)

ENG 240

Professor _______

Summary: Name of Article, Author.

(300 words max, 50 min)

Response: (600 words, min).

Theses:

Thesis #1:

Thesis #2:

Thesis #3:

Citation of your primary response article in preferred citation style of your field.

Below is the rubric I will use to grade Week 1’s Assignment:

Summary Section Content & Organization (10 points maximum): Summary is 100-300 words and presents the article’s core arguments in a focused but detailed manner. Core issues are identified, and quoted passages are integrated from the article. All points are presented in a logical progression of ideas.

Response Section Content & Organization (15 points maximum): Response is around 600 words and shows critical thinking in identifying both strengths and weaknesses in the author’s arguments. Special attention is given to “gaps” in the author’s analysis that might serve as points of entering the conversation by adding to or by challenging those points. The response must go beyond merely summarizing the author’s views. All points are presented in a logical progression of ideas.

Thesis statements (5 points maximum): Thesis statements make a reasonably specific, arguable claim in response to one or more points in the article. They are not questions.

Basic mechanics (5 points maximum): The response is free of major grammatical or citation errors. Quotes are introduced with signal phrases for smooth integration and clarity of authorship. Parenthetical in-text citations are used following quoted passages.