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An Examination of Argumentation in Undergraduate Composition Textbooks

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An Examination of Argumentation in Undergraduate Composition Textbooks University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Open Access Dissertations 2015 AN EXAMINATION OF ARGUMENTATION IN UNDERGRADUATE COMPOSITION TEXTBOOKS Wendy Lee Grosskopf University of Rhode Island, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss Recommended Citation Grosskopf, Wendy Lee, "AN EXAMINATION OF ARGUMENTATION IN UNDERGRADUATE COMPOSITION TEXTBOOKS" (2015). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 331. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/331 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN EXAMINATION OF ARGUMENTATION IN UNDERGRADUATE COMPOSITION TEXTBOOKS BY WENDY LEE GROSSKOPF A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2015 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DISSERTATION OF Wendy Lee Grosskopf APPROVED: Dissertation Committee: Major Professor Robert Schwegler Michael Pennell Kevin McClure Nasser Zawia DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2015 ABSTRACT This dissertation describes an investigation of the practice of teaching argumentation in the undergraduate composition classroom in large part by examining a corpus consisting of 16 commonly used argumentation textbooks with publication dates from 2010 to 2014. The purpose of this project is to help advance the teaching of written argumentation by examining how it is defined, justified, and taught via textbooks, by ranking the textbooks on a 1-3 sliding scale according to how well the lesson plans within them are equipped to teach students how to write arguments according to what the authors and publishers describe as the ideal argument. This study is conducted in two phases: The first is a process in which the textbooks are categorized into one of three types, or uses, of argumentation (academic/professional, advocacy, or exploration). The second phase is the evaluation of two chapters in each book to see how well the activities in them are developed as to help student learn to write the classified argument. The final chapter of this dissertation contains recommendations that can be adapted by future textbooks authors, editors, and publishers, recommendations that involve developing books that more clearly identify with one or more of the three categories making up this taxonomy, as well as adding sections that teach students to use a stasis-mapping formula to evaluate existing, as well as to create new, arguments. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Michael C. Pennell, formerly Associate Professor at the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Rhode Island and currently associate professor at the College of Communication and Information at The University of Kentucky. Dr. Pennell not only served as my chief advisor on this dissertation project, but has been a constant supporter since my arrival at The University of Rhode Island in August, 2009. I also hold deep gratitude for the other members of my dissertation committee, who provided warmth, encouragement, and feedback that was much appreciated and necessary to get me through the process of completing this work. These faculty members at The University of Rhode Island are Dr. Robert Schwegler, Professor in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, Dr. Kevin McClure, Professor and Department Chair in the Communications Department, Dr. Diane Kern, Associate Professor in the Education Department, and Dr. Renee Hobbs, Founding Director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media and Professor in the Communications Department. I owe deep gratitude as well for the administrative work of Donna Hayden and Michelle Caraccia, who worked to assure I was provided with all of the knowledge and paperwork necessary to move this dissertating process along. I have tremendous respect and appreciation for my husband, Dr. Wolf Grosskopf. The project of obtaining this PhD would not have even gotten off the ground without his unwavering support of and belief in me. And for their much-appreciated moral support, I’d like to thank my dear friends Stephanie Gendron-Wall, Teka-Lark Fleming, Dr. Patrick Logan, Agnieszka Grace Rosner, Gary Allan Fellows, and last – but far from least – Patrick Anthony James Mooney. iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my father John Francis Grosskopf (February 12, 1941 – August 24, 2012) who encouraged me to believe in my dreams and taught me that hard work can turn them into realities. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ............................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ viii CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction to the Arguments for Stasis, and the Stases of Argumentation CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................. 21 Taxonomy of Contemporary Argumentation Models, Systems of Logic Behind Them, and What We Can Do to Make Practical Sense of Them CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................. 39 The Design, Results, and an Analytical Discussion of This Study CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................... 57 Tracing Stasis in Argument from Triggering Issue to Desired Telos by Solving for Formula [(TI) * (CSL) * (DT) = (LOSQ)] APPENDIX ONE ................................................................................................................. 76 Existing Argumentation Theories as Categorized According to Three- Use Taxonomy APPENDIX TWO ................................................................................................................ 80 Phase One: Classifying Academic/Professional Textbooks According to Three-Use Taxonomy APPENDIX THREE ............................................................................................................ 82 Phase One: Classifying Advocacy Textbooks According to Three-Use Taxonomy v APPENDIX FOUR .............................................................................................................. 84 Phase One: Classifying Explorative Textbooks According to Three-Use Taxonomy APPENDIX FIVE ................................................................................................................ 85 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on The Aims of Argument (7th edition) by Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell APPENDIX SIX ................................................................................................................... 87 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on A Little Argument (2ND edition) by Faigley and Selzer APPENDIX SEVEN ............................................................................................................ 88 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on A Practical Study of Argument (7th ed) by Trudy Govier APPENDIX EIGHT............................................................................................................. 93 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on Argument (2nd ed) by John Gooch and Dorothy Seyler APPENDIX NINE ................................................................................................................ 95 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on Argumentation: Understanding and Shaping Arguments by James A. Herrick APPENDIX TEN ................................................................................................................. 99 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on College Argument: Understanding the Genre by Irene L. Clark APPENDIX ELEVEN ....................................................................................................... 101 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing: A Brief Guide to Argument by Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau APPENDIX TWELVE ...................................................................................................... 105 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on Dialogues: An Argument vi Reader and Text by Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger APPENDIX THIRTEEN................................................................................................... 108 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader by Annette T. Rottenberg and Donna Haisty Winchell APPENDIX FOURTEEN ................................................................................................. 111 Phase Two: Select-Chapter Lesson-Plan Analysis on Everything’s an Argument
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