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WritingtoListenProjectGuidance.docx

5.4: Writing to Listen Project Guidance

How to Think About Writing to Listen

The purpose of the Writing to Listen project is to describe and negotiate different perspectives that address a common topic or social issue. Naturally, you will want to study a topic or social issue that matters to you. As you do so, you may encounter articles or essays that advance arguments you do not agree with. How do you handle this situation when it occurs and increase the probability of your success in this assignment? 

1. Focus on description first. Argument descriptions involve explaining the claims that a writer makes, the sources of evidence that they use to make those claims, and the conclusions that they draw from such evidence. You may also document specific word choices that the author uses to make their claim persuasive to a particular audience, given the situation. At this point in the assignment, you are not evaluating or even engaging the argument. You are simply describing how the argument works with the goal of understanding the topic or social issue from the perspective of the author. 

2. Avoid judgmental language.  When students skip or skimp on the description of an argument, they tend to use judgmental language as they engage the article or essay. Consider, for example, the following example from one of our former learners:

"This draft contains language that is implicitly biased; it presupposes that one perspective is the best view early on."

This example does not meet the criteria for the assignment for two reasons. First, it does not actually explain what the author's argument is because it judges the argument as "implicitly flawed." Second, although it can be helpful to identify core assumptions or presuppositions that drive the author's argument, this student's argument does not tell us anything meaningful about the essay because it is focused on judging the perspective as limited (e.g., "it presupposes that one perspective is the best view early on"). A better way to write this sentence might be:

"This essay argues for school policies that allow students to choose the books that they would like to read. To make this argument persuasive to its audience (e.g., readers that might be inclined to agree with their perspective), it uses forceful language such as (x, y, or z). As the author makes the argument for reading choice, they do not cite other perspectives that might offer a counterargument. The author concludes (x, y, or z)."

Notice how this revised example describes the argument by documenting the argumentative decisions that the author made. Notice, too, how this example both draws on examples from the essay to support the description and includes considerations of counterarguments, situation, evidence, language choice, and conclusion. What it does not do is judge the article for advancing the argument in a particular manner.

3. Switch topics if the argument description becomes too difficult. Writing about topics that you care about is an important step in your learning process. But sometimes you can become so impassioned about a topic that you have a hard time negotiating it fairly. If that's the case, try writing about a different topic where you can describe arguments that you disagree with without judging them. Remember, the goal of the assignment is to understand a topic or social issue from a number of different angles. To fulfill this goal, you will need to learn how to disagree with other writers without dismissing the value of their contribution to the conversation. 

Final Thoughts

We designed this assignment because at some point in the near future, you will find yourself in a workplace environment with people who say or think things that you don't agree with. To maintain a healthy workplace, you need to find ways to disagree with colleagues in a manner that helps and supports them, rather than tears them down or isolates them. Learning to be a good colleague means listening to their argument, understanding what they are arguing, reflecting on why they believe their perspective is reasonable, repeating back to them what you hear, and working together to find a win-win outcome. This assignment should help you develop such skills if you follow its parameters and the advice above.

Good luck!

 

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