Group Assignment - Round 3

With your first two group assignments, you were responsible for presenting material to an
audience of listeners, but for this assignment you will be in charge of leading discussion for an
entire period. Four groups of five each will be leading one class session in discussing one of the
"Readings" chapters from Everything's an Argument. These students will be named "Instructors
for the Day," being given an entire 50-minute class period in which to lead discussion on a
"Readings" chapter, which focuses on multiple viewpoints on a significant and relevant
controversy.
This group discussion should revolve around the three main units of the course - analysis,
mapping, and advocacy. Discussion should analyze the readings as well as map the way they
approach the controversy; students not presenting will be expected to talk about their own
subject positions on the issues as well as analyze and map those issues. In terms of form and
style, discussion can be molded in any way small groups, large discussions, performance-based
exercises, etc. Discussion leaders are also free to bring in supplementary readings, videos, or
anything else that will aid our comprehension of the controversy at hand.
Leaders, take note: this discussion leadership should focus more on conversation than on
presentation. Your fellow classmates will have already read the assigned chapter, and so you
should focus on getting students to analyze the pieces in the chapter and discuss the issues
behind the readings. The instructor's role in these sessions will be fairly limited; discussion
leaders will be in charge of keeping conversation on task, as well as preventing discussion from
dying altogether.
The schedule for Group Leadership in Round 3 will be as follows:
October 31 - "How Many Friends Have You Made Today?" (EA. p. 651-718)
November 2 - "What Should 'Diversity on Campus' Mean?" (EA p. 901-969)
November 7 - "How Does Popular Culture Stereotype You?" (EA p. 601-650)
November 9 - "What Role Should Religion Play in Public Life?" (EA p. 849-900)
As before, this group assignment will be graded on a scale of 0 to 10. More of your grade will
be determined by your engagement on the day of your presentation, since the bulk of your
responsibility will come on the day of your leadership and not in "behind the scenes" meetings
with your group before class meetings. As always, issues of group dynamic should be brought to
your instructor's attention before grades are assigned, but the division of labor in group
leadership will be left to the discretion of the group.