Karah Parks

Lesson Plan #2

Classical Structure of an Argument

4/25/19

Materials Needed for Class:

● Writing utensil
● Notebook
● Laptop for accessing essays
Reading Prior to Class:
● Fearless Writing - ​“Parts of a Full Argument” p. 330-332

Learning Objectives - by the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
● Know the six parts that make up a classical argument structure
● Identify parts of a classical argument in sample essays
● Apply the structure to their own papers
This plan comes at the beginning of the position paper unit, the final unit in ENGL101 this
semester. The students need to learn the six parts of a classical argument in order to be
able to write their papers effectively, because for many of them this is their first long form
paper. This lesson plan seeks to not only teach the parts of an argument, but to also remind
the students of the community of students and support network that surrounds them in
their classes.

Time Estimate: 30 minutes

1. Journal - 5-7mins: If you have not written a longer paper, i.e. 8-10 pages, what are
some concerns you have? If you have written a longer paper, what are some things
that helped you structure it? What are some things you learned while writing it,
about structure, time management, etc.?
2. Briefly discuss journal entries in small groups - 2-3 minutes
3. Read sample essays independently - 7-10 mins
4. In small groups, try to identify where these essays use the six elements of a classical
argument. If you don’t see one of the elements, talk about where/how the writer
could add those elements in and make their argument stronger. - 10 mins
5. Discuss with the class what elements of a classical arguments your group found in
the sample essays. 10 mins
● How effective did you think the elements of the classical argument that the
writers use in these essays were in proving their point?
 ● If you did not feel the authors used an element of classical structure, how did
it affect the way that you read their argument? Was it more or less impactful?
● Why is it important to see how not using one of the six parts can weaken
your argument? Do you feel the parts of a classical argument are important
or do you think they give too much structure?
● How effectively do you feel you could employ these strategies in your own
papers?

Reflection:

I wanted to structure this lesson in a way that builds solidarity among the students. I

remember my first longer format paper in college being very daunting, I had never written

anything of that length before and I had no idea where to start. I want the students to know

that they can rely on their classmates and on their instructors for help with their longer

format paper, and that the elements of a classical argument structure can be a helpful

jumping off point when they are beginning their writing. I paired small group discussion

and full class discussion to keep the lesson moving and not stagnant. The essays I chose are

relatively short and I think they show good examples of classical argument on a small scale.

Reflection #2 (4/25/19):

When I first gave this lesson plan, it went over well for the most part. The students really

seemed to enjoy and appreciate talking not only about their concerns about writing a long

form argumentative paper, they also liked talking about things that had helped them in

writing a longer paper. The activity I created is where the difficulty arose. I assigned
multiple short essays from the New York Times that were argumentative, but they weren’t

long enough for the students to really be able to identify the six parts of a classical

argument, and they seemed confused. I improved the lesson plan by only assigning two

essays that are slightly longer, so that the activity can be more streamlined and easier to

understand. These essays are both opinion pieces from The Atlantic, and they each are

missing parts of the classical argument structure. When I did this lesson plan in my second

semester class, it turned into kind of a discussion about why it is so glaringly obvious when

an argumentative piece does not have one of the six parts of a classical argument. It was

also interesting to do this plan with second semester freshmen, because I had business

majors and computer science majors in my class who told me they had already had to write

a fifty page single-spaced paper in the previous semester. This presented an interesting

change from last semester, because some students had experience writing longer form

papers. I tried to present it in a way that was helpful to them, to either reinforce their ideas

about writing a longer form paper or giving them some tools through the six parts of the

argument to help them feel more comfortable as they continue to write longer papers.