Notes
Claims and reasoning
- An arguable claim takes a position. A nuanced claim is specific and qualified (often, largely, when). Avoid absolutes.
- Build arguments with claim, evidence, commentary. Use ethos, pathos, logos, and avoid fallacies such as straw man, slippery slope, ad hominem, hasty generalization and false dilemma.
Concession and refutation
- Concede a fair point, then refute it: "Although..., ...". Address the strongest counterargument.
Synthesis and sources
- Synthesis puts sources in conversation to support your claim. Your argument leads.
- Evaluate sources for authority, accuracy, purpose/bias, currency, relevance.
Timed writing
- Plan first, state a thesis, support with specific evidence, leave time to review, and finish with a conclusion.
Topics in this unit
Each topic has its own short notes and practice.
Practice
It acknowledges benefits and limits with qualifiers.
It presents only two options when others exist.
The sentence admits a drawback and then argues the benefits outweigh it.
Synthesis must connect sources to a claim.
Funding and interest in the result may affect the study.
Planning and review improve clarity.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
Read these two fictional sources about a school's start time. Source A (district report): "After the district moved first period from 7:30 to 8:30, average tardies fell by 12 percent and morning absences also declined." Source B (parent letter): "The later start means practice and jobs run later in the evening, and many students now get home after dark."
(a) Write a nuanced, arguable claim about whether the school should adopt a later start time.
Show the answer and scoring guide
Moving the start time to 8:30 can improve attendance and punctuality, but schools should adopt it only if they adjust after-school schedules so that sports and jobs do not run too late.
Check off the points you earned:
(b) Write a sentence that makes a concession and then a refutation.
Show the answer and scoring guide
Although Source B notes that later practices end after dark, the attendance gains in Source A suggest the benefits can outweigh this problem if schedules and transportation are adjusted.
Check off the points you earned:
(c) Write one sentence that synthesizes both sources to support your claim.
Show the answer and scoring guide
While Source A shows that a later start reduces tardies and absences, Source B reveals a cost in evening schedules, which suggests that schools should pair the change with adjusted practice times.
Check off the points you earned: