ADVOCACY AND OPPOSITION: An Introduction to Argumentation Seventh Edition
INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL AND TEST BANK
Karyn C. Rybacki Northern Michigan University Donald J. Rybacki Northern Michigan University with Sara Potter Northern Michigan University
PREFACE There are three parts to this manual. The first discusses instructional strategies for the argumentation course. It deals with what we feel are your two most important pedagogical decisions: topics and formats for in-class argumentation. Various options are discussed, and we offer recommendations based on our experience using this book. Once you have resolved these questions, you are ready to start putting your syllabus together. The second section of the manual may prove useful at this point since it contains a sample syllabus, including schedules for a fifteen-week semester for courses meeting two or three times per week. It also includes detailed sets of instructions for the written and oral assignments contained in the syllabus. We find that detailed instructions reduce anxiety by providing students with a checklist they can use to reassure themselves that they are on the right track in preparing assignments. We do not suggest including these instructions in the syllabus since this may send students into information overload during the first class meeting. Assignment instructions may be included in a separate handout or distributed and discussed individually at appropriate points in the semester. Regardless of whether your syllabus looks anything like our sample, the final section of this manual should prove helpful at several points during the semester. For each chapter we include learning objectives, a list of key terms with definitions, lecture launchers that we have had good luck with, suggestions for using the Learning Activities at the end of each chapter, with an answer key to those that require one, and a discussion of possible essay questions. In addition, twenty true-false, and twenty multiple choice questions are provided for each chapter, a total of 440 objective test items.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Instructional Strategies
1
Sample Syllabus
4
Assignment Instructions
11
Chapter 1
22
Chapter 2
37
Chapter 3
43
Chapter 4
54
Chapter 5
70
Chapter 6
79
Chapter 7
90
Chapter 8
100
Chapter 9
110
Chapter 10
121
Chapter 11
136
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ADVOCACY AND OPPOSITION: An Introduction to Argumentation, 7th Edition
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES It is not our intention to try to tell you how to teach your course. However, if you have been teaching argumentation from the perspective of intercollegiate debate, or if you have never taught this course before, the following suggestions may prove helpful. They reflect our experiences, both good and bad, with teaching the argumentation course using this book. Selecting a Topic for Argumentation Since the major in-class assignments deal with the presentation of oral and/or written arguments, selecting topics for these assignments deserves some thought. There are three basic options which require either instructor input or at least oversight. Let us discuss these options and the advantages and disadvantages associated with each of them. Option 1: Each student selects a topic area that he or she is interested in, develops a series of propositions (fact, value, and policy if your syllabus includes all of them), and then researches and presents arguments of advocacy and opposition relative to each. There are three obvious advantages to this option. First, because students select topics they are already interested in, their level of motivation is likely to be higher. Second, listening to arguments in class becomes less tedious for you and your students since you aren't hearing the same topic argued over and over again. Third, since the student argues both sides of the issue him/herself, if a student drops the course this action doesn't impact on other students and doesn't force you to reorganize your schedule. Option 1 is not without disadvantages. First, the more unique topics there are, the greater the chance they will represent idiosyncratic, often obscure, student interests. Failure to consider this problem during the topic selection phase practically guarantees that one or more students will come to you two days before their first argument is due to tell you they can't find any evidence on their topic, or that you’ll be seeing nothing but Web sources of possibly dubious quality for some arguments. Second, this option does not work well for large classes. If each student makes two presentations on each proposition, you may have to cut back the number of assignments since it is difficult, if not impossible, to present an opposing argument in the absence of an advocate's argument. Third, this option can foster bad habits. Since the students know they have to attack arguments they have created, some will attempt to make their job easier by building weak or fallacious advocacy arguments. Fourth, with many different topics it is impossible to discuss basic concepts in class in terms of all of them. This makes it more difficult for some students to transfer ideas discussed in class, and apparently understood, to their actual work. Many of these problems can be eliminated by having students work in groups of three or more, selecting a topic area, developing propositions, researching
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Instructional Strategies
them and presenting arguments of advocacy and opposition in a Lincoln-Douglas debate format. We recommend Option 1 for classes with fewer than twenty students, using predominantly oral assignments, and large classes, twenty students or more, using predominantly written assignments. Option 2: The instructor selects a single topic area (hopefully one that students have some interest in), develops a series of propositions, and the students research and present arguments of advocacy and opposition in a Lincoln-Douglas debate format. Compared to Option 1, motivation is somewhat lower, and listening to the same propositions being argued over and over again can become mind numbing. However, careful selection of a proposition eliminates the problem of locating credible sources of information, although it may produce greater competition among students for certain library materials only available in physical form. A drop has little or no impact on the other students in the class, and a single proposition means that in class discussion can be focused. This results in students both grasping and transferring concepts more rapidly, especially if they are average and below average students. The greatest problem with a single topic area is that students who present assignments later during a round of arguments have a tendency to adopt the successful arguments of their predecessors rather than developing arguments of their own. This comes perilously close to plagiarism, but is hard to police unless the case is a word-for-word duplicate of a previous case, and hard to discourage since the purpose of argumentation is to make the best possible case for your position. The problems associated with Option 2 increase as class size increases. We recommend Option 2 in circumstances where class size is less than fifteen, and assignments are predominantly oral. Option 3: The instructor selects a limited number of topic areas, and assigns students to them for various assignments over the course of the semester. Oral assignments can be structured as individual presentations, or as Lincoln-Douglas debates. Motivation is somewhat higher if student interests and preferences are taken into account in selecting topic areas and assigning students to them. A variety of topics reduces the boredom associated with hearing the same proposition argued for the tenth time. Fewer propositions selected by the instructor overcomes many potential problems with library resources, while a range of topics increases the probability that what students making their presentations later in the semester adopt are the techniques of their successful classmates rather than their actual arguments. Selecting a Format for Argumentation From the foregoing, it is obvious that we generally recommend using a LincolnDouglas format for assignments in a course emphasizing oral argument. It works well because it is more realistic, stimulating, and reassuring than having an individual present arguments on both sides of a proposition. While arguing both sides of an issue may be an intrapersonal process, we seldom see people doing it openly. Having the student test his
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