9.2: The Classroom Lecture and Activity

 Responding to Texts-Reading Texts Rhetorically:  Active Reading Strategies to facilitate Writing.(Presentation) By Ukaisha Al-Amin

What are Texts?

You might only think of a newspaper article or an essay in a textbook as texts, but there is more to it when you discuss texts in academia.​

Texts are any piece of media that you interact with.​

Texts come in print and visual format.​

Essays, articles, speeches, documentaries, commercials, and billboards are some of the type of texts that you are familiar with.​

Stories in print or in visual format are also considered texts.​

Novels, short stories, poems, plays, movies, and songs are also texts that you interact with and 'read' every day.​

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading Texts

- When you read a text, you are not just reading and pronouncing the words on the page or listening to the words spoken. ​

In academia, when you read a text you must be active and pay attention to how that text connects to the world around you.​

The best way to do this is to annotate or keep a reading journal.​

If you aren't annotating, or actively reading, you aren't reading at a college level.​

 

 

 

Why is Being and Active Reader Important?

- Being an active reader has many advantages.​

It helps you with comprehension of the text.​

Being able to understand the text allows to you summarize it accurately. ​

However, the most important and relevant advantage for actively reading in a writing course or for a writing assignment, is that it will help you respond to the text.​

 

 

 

There are 3 ways to respond to a text

- You might want to respond with how you feel about the text. This means you would be writing a reflection.​

You might want to respond to the argument or arguments in a text. This means you will write about how you agree or disagree with the author's ideas.​

You might want to respond to how the text is written. This means you will evaluate the text and analyze how successful the author was at using rhetorical appeals or literary concepts.​

 

 

 

Putting Texts in Conversations

-ONE OF THE OTHER WAYS THAT WE READ TEXTS IN ACADEMIA IS TO PUT THEM INTO CONVERSATION WITH OTHER TEXTS AND THE WORLD.​

 

Definition:Conversations with other texts 

This means comparing the argument that the author is making to arguments that other authors are making.​

This also means comparing one expert's research to another expert's research.​

 

Example \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Author A says -------------, but Author B suggests that--------------. On the other hand, Author C thinks that both authors have missed the mark.​

Expert J conducted research on -----and came to the conclusion that----------, while Expert K has used that research to create ----------.

Definition: Conversations with the World 

This means reading for how that text connects to a social, political, cultural, historical, or religious context.​

This also means looking for the texts' importance in that space.​

Example \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Author W argued in their 1969 speech that------------. This speech would become the ------ of a generation, but Author E claims that the speech is no longer relevant.​

The movie-------- is a commentary about ------- insists Expert G. This idea is furthered by Expert V who suggests that--------.​

 

Key Takeaways: At HWC, you will get a chance to do all of these things. This will allow you to build your reading and interpretation skills.​

Be an active reader!​

Figure out how you want to respond to or use the text.​

Think about how that text connects to other texts and to the world.​

 

 

Reading to Analyze Rhetorically: Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Fallacies, and Kairos

When you encounter sources like critical articles and essays that are arguments on a specific issue you will need to be able to analyze them rhetorically. In these texts, the authors make a claim whether implicitly or explicitly and therefore, when you read the essay, you not only have to run it through a general evaluation, but you also need to read the text rhetorically. This means discussing how the author uses rhetorical appeals - ethos, logos, pathos, and kairos-to get their point across to the audience. This is what we mean when we say that you can respond to text by how it is written. You also want to consider the other types of strategies the author uses including rhetorical styles/strategies.

Styles of Development and Rhetorical Styles

You probably have some experience with rhetorical styles. Maybe you have had to write a compare and contrast essay, or perhaps you learned about using a descriptive style in a narrative essay.

Most essays contain more than one rhetorical style (method of development), but some essay assignments will follow one particular style more than others.

For example, an essay that discusses the various means of taking courses may give examples of how each student would manage his or her time while taking a specific course. The writer may use the illustration rhetorical style to give examples of time management techniques in one of the paragraphs in a classification and division essay. In this case, since the essay categorizes the various means of taking courses, the essay may be called a classification and division essay—even though the illustration rhetorical style is present.

Once you learn the various rhetorical styles, you’ll have a variety of tools to help you as you develop your writing assignments.

Here is a great resource!

In the Rhetorical Styles area of the Excelsior OWL, you’ll learn about different rhetorical styles or, essentially, different strategies for developing your essays and other writing assignments. These basic strategies are not all encompassing but will provide you with a foundation and a flexibility to help you as you engage in writing assignments in your introductory writing classes and beyond.

In the following pages, you’ll find support for nine major styles of development, including narrative, process, definition, and compare and contrast. For each style, you’ll find visual instruction, an interactive outline, a sample paper, and a sample paper from across the disciplines, showing you how each style works outside of your writing classes. Each sample paper includes tips and instructions, making this learning area one you will want to visit for support for most major types of assignments you’ll encounter in college.

It’s also important to remember that there are certain features that all of these styles or methods have in common:

• A clear thesis statement usually provided at the beginning of the essay
• Clear and logical transitions
• Focused body paragraphs with evidence and support
• Appropriate format and style if you use source material
• A conclusion that expands upon your thesis and summarizes evidence
• Clear writing that follows standard conventions for things like grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

As you explore Rhetorical Styles, think about the key features of each type of essay as well as the features that all effective essays have in common.

 https://owl.excelsior.edu/rhetorical-styles/

Each method, when used masterfully creates convincing texts. Since critical texts are solidified in the author's claim, some authors try to do whatever they can to get the audience to their side. This means that they will sometimes create logical fallacies either on accident or on purpose to appeal to the audiences' beliefs or emotions. Logical fallacies can undermine an argument, making it weak, thus it becomes easier to critique as not credible. You will learn how to look for these rhetorical methods and watch out for logical fallacies.

Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that are based on poor or faulty logic. When presented in a formal argument, they can cause you to lose your credibility as a writer, so you have to be careful of them.

Sometimes, writers will purposefully use logical fallacies to make an argument seem more persuasive or valid than it really is. In fact, the examples of fallacies on the following pages might be examples you have heard or read. While using fallacies might work in some situations, it’s irresponsible as a writer, and, chances are, an academic audience will recognize the fallacy.

However, most of the time, students accidentally use logical fallacies in their arguments, so being aware of logical fallacies and understanding what they are can help you avoid them. Plus, being aware of these fallacies can help you recognize them when you are reading and looking for source material. You wouldn’t want to use a source as evidence if the author included some faulty logic.

Classroom Activity:

Students should be able to identify fallacies, which will help them evaluate arguments.  Working in a group, watch some ads from either the last Illinois Governors Race or Chicago Mayoral Race. It is important as you think about doing research that you consider the issues that surround you or impact you on a day to day basis.

Here are some videos to choose from, but the group can find their own as an option.

  

 

 

 

 

What fallacies do you find? Discuss the fallacy your group found and why you all think the ad had that particular fallacy. Share your groups reasoning with the class for participation. Journal/Discussion: How do you think these local ads help or hinder you as voter in the City of Chicago or State of Illinois?

Simple Discussion Rubric (Formative or Summative)

Criteria	Meets All Requirements	Meets Most Requirements	Missing Some Requirements	Missing Most Requirements	Criterion Score
Completeness/ Correctness	Student answers the full question correctly using details, instances, and/or adds personal examples and meets the word count of at least a 150 words.	Student mostly answers the full question somewhat correctly using some details, instances, and/or personal examples, and meets the word count of at least 125 words.	Student mostly answers the full question somewhat correctly using some details, instances, and/or adds personal examples, and has a word count of 100 words.	Student does not answer the full question using details, instances, and adds personal examples, and does not meet the word count.	Score of Completeness/ Correctness,
Focus	Student's answer is focused, clear, and stays on topic throughout the post.	Student's answer is mostly focused, clear, and stays on topic during most of the post.	Student's answer is somewhat unfocused, clear, and stays on topic during most of the post.	Student's answer is not focused, not clear, and does not stay on topic throughout the post.	Score of Focus,

 

Grammar and Mechanics

Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation shows evidence of editing. Appropriate vocabulary with complex sentence structure.

Mostly correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation shows some evidence of editing.

Some correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Frequent grammatical and mechanical errors in each sentence. Inappropriate language.