Term 1 Week 9 Tutorial 3 Brainstorming & Writing the Introduction (Thesis Statement and Roadmap of Arguments)

Term 1 Week 9Tutorial 3

Brainstorming&

Writing the Introduction (Thesis Statement and Roadmap of Arguments)

1-minute Routine

• Take the next 1 minute to:– tidy the classroom up,– dispose of litter,– open all windows*– make sure your attire is in order, and– clear your desks of everything except for writing

materials, your GP notebook.

• You may place your water bottle on your desk.

*if applicable

Administrative Matters • If you happen to be absent from class, be sure to find

out from your classmates what you missed out on. • After you have done this, come and look for me “armed”

with the questions you have (from reading your friends’ notes).

• Make sure you are taking notes in your GP notebook diligently.

• Make sure you are completing your handouts, as I expect them to be filed for your own reference.

• I post the suggested answers (when applicable) for the following:– Introduction to Question Analysis: Tutorial Handout– Brainstorming: Worksheet

• I expect to see these completed, corrected if necessary, and filed.

• Always bring your GP notebook and GP file for GP classes.

Homework Check

Recap: Brainstorming

Argument:

a reason or set of reasons given in

support of an idea, action, or theory

In GP, we are interested in an argumentative response;

your opinions must be backed up with reasons!

Consider other perspectives to avoid the frog-

in-a-well syndrome.

In GP, examiners reward wide-ranging examples.

This means that your examples should not be all from Singapore.

They should be from all over.

Remember: Critical Awareness!

Important Concepts

3 Stereotypes

The Pragmatic Man

“Does this action bring about net good consequences, or net bad consequences?”

e.g. If I go back to the time where Hitler was just a baby and kill him, I would be killing an innocent baby but saving millions of Jews.

The Pragmatic Man

• What would he say about lying?– “The rightness or wrongness of lying depends on

what the net consequences are.”– “If I lied to my sensitive, overweight friend that he

doesn’t look fat…”– “Negative: I was dishonest to my friend.” – “Positive: I made him feel good about himself.”– “Overall effect: Positive!”

CONSEQUENTIALISM

3 Stereotypes (cont.)The Moral Teacher

“What does this action say about your character?”

“What kind of character trait are you displaying?”

e.g. By standing up for the nerd who is getting bullied, I am showing courage and kindness.

e.g. By participating in the lottery, I am showing greed and laziness.

The Moral Teacher

• What would he say about lying?– “The rightness or wrongness of an action depends

on the kind of character traits that are being exhibited.”

– “e.g. Lying to save a friend”– “e.g. Lying to save my own skin”

VIRTUE ETHICS

3 Stereotypes (cont. II)

The Religious Guy

“Does this action break any religious/moral rules?”

e.g. It is wrong to use people as tools.

e.g. The golden rule: Do unto others what you would have them do to you.

e.g. The silver rule:

The Religious Guy

• What would he say about lying?– “The rightness or wrongness of an action

depends whether religious/moral rules are being followed or broken.”

– “e.g. My religion says I cannot tell lies, no matter the circumstances*”

– “e.g. The Golden Rule says I must treat people as I want to be treated, so…”

*I personally do not know of any religion that actually says this

DEONTOLOGY

Writing the Introduction (Thesis Statement and Roadmap of Arguments)

Crystallising your Arguments

Now that you have all the necessary ideas in your head, it’s time to respond to the question in writing:

Is telling lies always wrong?

Ask yourself, after you have considered everything, what is your stand/position?

e.g. [not on the same qn]

Thesis Statement

• A thesis statement is what you get when you sum up your response to the essay question in a single* sentence.

• In other words, after I read your thesis statement, I should know EXACTLY where you stand on the issue/debate.

*Not always the case, but should not far exceed 1 sentence.

Which Thesis Statement do you Prefer?

• Question: To what extent should poor nations be held responsible for environmental degradation?

• Thesis Statement 1: Poor nations should be held responsible for environmental degradation to a small extent.

• Thesis Statement 2: Environmental degradation cannot be blamed on poor nations to a large extent.

• Why do you prefer that one?

Thesis Statement

• Make sure it directly answers the question. • As far as possible, the thesis statement should

correspond to the format of the question.• No ambiguity • Your thesis statement cannot be a question.

Roadmap Of Arguments

• The Roadmap of Arguments (ROA) should summarise your reasons for why you believe the Thesis Statement

• Use a signal marker to show that the ROA supports the Thesis Statement:

“This is because…”

An examplePoor nations should be held responsible for environmental degradation to only a small extent.

This is because

poor nations have been contributors to industrial pollution in only recent decades, they have a limited ability to employ environmentally-friendly methods of industrialisation, and richer nations have, in the grand scheme of things, been responsible for the greater part of the environmental degradation that we see today.

Signal Marker

Thesis Statement

Roadmap of Arguments

Let’s Try

Based on the question analysis and brainstorming that you have done on the question, “is telling lies always wrong,”:

a) Think of what your stand/position is.b) Think of 2-4 of the strongest arguments that support

this stand/position. c) Write out this stand and arguments in the form of a

Thesis Statement and a Roadmap of Arguments d) Do this on a piece of foolscap paper

Peer Checking

Checking one another's’ work…

• Take out a red pen

• Exchange your work with your neighbour’s

• Evaluate it according to 3 criteria

– Directness– Clarity – Conciseness

Directness

• Does the thesis statement answer the essay question directly? [If yes, award 1 ]

“Is telling lies always wrong?”

• Does the roadmap statement clearly support the thesis statement? [If yes, award 1 ]

Clarity

• Is the thesis statement easily understood? [If yes, award 1 ]

• Is the roadmap of arguments easily understood? [If yes, award 1 ]

• Could they be any clearer? If yes, how may they be made clearer?

Conciseness

• Are you able to re-express the thesis statement more efficiently (i.e. shorten it) whilst preserving its meaning?

• What about the roadmap statement?

Homework

• Complete question 6 of the Brainstorming worksheet:– “6) For each of the following levels, think of one

example/situation where telling lies is not wrong.”

• Complete the Recap of Question Analysis worksheet:– QA for 8 essay questions

• https://thegeepeebee.wordpress.com/

End of Lesson Proper

1-minute Routine

• Take the next 1 minute to:– tidy the classroom up,– dispose of litter,– open all windows*–make sure your attire is in order, and– clean the whiteboard

*if applicable

Ways to persuade others…

Bonus Content

How is this advertisement trying to persuade you to buy the featured brand of products?

Background Info:

- Police is a sunglasses brand

- Neymar Jr is one of the world’s most recognisable football stars

What about this advertisement?

What is it trying to do to the reader? How does it try to do this?

What about this advertisement?

What is it trying to do to the reader? How does it try to do this?

LOGOS

PATHOS ETHOS

Aristotle’s 3 Modes of Persuasion

Ancient Greek Philosopher

“OK, I trust you; you’re the expert!”

“I am emotionally

moved by what you say.”

“I believe you because you

make sense.”

LOGOS(Logical)

PATHOS(Emotional)

ETHOS(Credibility)

Where you want to be!

Aristotle’s 3 Modes of Persuasion