If I were to guest lecture in the next section of this 181 course, I would select the skill of they say, I say statements to teach to incoming freshmen.  This is due to the fact that I feel I have gained prolific knowledge in this area, and feel most confident explaining this concept.  I would go about this by first explaining that they say, I say statements are an important part of academic writing and they can be utilized in many different formats, settings, and genres.  Describing they say, I say statements as “entering into conversation” by using a summary of others’ arguments as a way of tying in one’s own argument, would allow incoming students to understand the purpose (Graff xvi).  Breaking down the statements into the different parts would be necessary, so I would begin by giving examples of ways to state others’ arguments in the context of different situations paired with examples of the three ways to respond to an argument.  I would provide a hand out with many of the different templates for they say, I say statements so that they could visualize these examples in context.  Naysayers and “So What?” statements along with transitions should also be briefly mentioned since they are important for the continuation in the writing process following the they say, I say statement.  One activity I would implement would be to practice they say, I say statements in the context of each students personal life.  This would be a good introduction because it is known information and allows one to interact and learn new and interesting things about individuals which keeps people engaged.  The other activity would be to use they say, I say statements in discussion about the reading.  This would be more difficult, but would show one of the many practical applications.

Good morning!

My name is Karol Oviedo, and I will be your guest lecturer for this section of this 181 course, Writing about Science Fiction Literature and Film. Your Professor is in Spain as we speak.

Today, we will be talking about the theme “Entering Class Discussions.” An overview of today’s class will be: an icebreaker, perceptions of entering class discussions in high school, and how different it is entering a class discussion in college. Since most, if not all of you, are First-Year Students, you might remember how high school discussions went. The teacher would pose a question, a student would answer, one would agree or disagree and the conversation continued. In college, this might differ a bit. But I am getting ahead of myself. I would love to meet your first. Let us do an icebreaker. Everybody, get on your feet and lets stand in a circle. You will say your name and a movement. For example, I will say Karol while making a piece sign with my fingers.

In this Eng 181 course, entering the discussion involves a small convention that one should follow. This convention includes: stating the name of the last person who spoke (this will help you remember their name), summarize what they have mentioned briefly (this will allow you to make clear any misunderstandings), and extend or refute on what the previous person has argued (if possible, include references to the text being discussed or any other source that contributes to the discussion). Any questions? No? All right.
To be able to put all of this information into practice, let us set the chairs in a circle. Let us read this article by Clay Shirky, a professor of media studies at NYU.
Here is the link: https://medium.com/@cshirky/why-i-just-asked-my-students-to-put-their-laptops-away-7f5f7c50f368
After reading this article, the topic question for today is; should laptops, tablets, phones, and other technological devices be allowed during lecturers? Please, when you answer, cite the article accordingly…

If I were asked to guest lecture in the next section of this course, I would cover constructing a thesis using a They Say/ I Say Structure. I would teach this because I think it is vital for all writing. The biggest concept I learned in this class is that writing should be a conversation. One enters a conversation through their writing. In this way one can engage the audience, capturing their attention as if you were talking to them. A thesis constructed using a They say/ I say structure not only talks about common opinions on the subject matter, but it also responds to it, explaining why it is important that the reader read your paper.

To begin teaching this skill I would begin by explain the “they say” aspect in a thesis. I would explain that you must start with stating what others are saying, or summarizing. I would teach that the art of summarizing is stating the other person main points to either agree with them or rebuttal them. Here, I would teach that you can even include a quote of what “they say” and then further comment on it. I would further explain the second part of the thesis, the “I say” part. There are 3 ways you can respond: yes, no, or okay, but. From this one must include a “so what” factor, distinguishing what you are saying from what they are saying.  With these two aspects to a thesis one can engage the audience through writing as if they were entering a conversation.

If I were to guest lecture a concept for this class, it would be about integrating quotes. This topic of writing is something that I feel comfortable doing, from introducing the quote to explaining it. I feel like I can easily summarize the relative plot points leading up to the quote, use the quote, and then explain the quote’s significance to my argument. Therefore, I feel like I can explain this topic to others and help guide them through any troubles with the process.

The first thing I would need to explain is how the setup and analysis works. To do this, I would show a sample of a correct way to integrate a quote and three incorrect ways to integrate it, taking out proper setup, proper analysis, and both in each so there is a clear understanding of what each part needs. This lesson wouldn’t be focused on which quotes are better to use than other quotes, but that could be a lesson on its own.

To reinforce all of these ideas, I would have the class break up into groups, just like we have done, and search their texts for quotes. Each group would be assigned a different prevailing theme from the book to support, and each person in those groups would be responsible for finding their own quote and framing it. After everyone in the group finishes writing, they would go around and read how they integrated the quote they chose. After a person goes, the other members of the group will determine if the quote was properly integrated and suggest revisions where needed. Finally, the groups would choose the best integration that one of the members had and read it to the class to reaffirm how to integrate quotes and hear the different styles of how one person introduced or analyzed the quote compared to another.

If I were asked to guest lecture this English 181 class to incoming freshman, I would feel most confident teaching them how to incorporate quotations into their writing. I feel that I have had a lot of practice integrating quotations this semester, through blog posts, in class and our research paper and that I could successfully demonstrate this skill and help them practice doing it themselves. I think that coming into this class I had a lot of experience using this skill, but now I am much more aware of how to integrate quotations successfully and how to better use the “sandwich” structure. I think that I could explain how to successfully integrate quotations to help them support their argument, like I have learned to do this semester. This skill is very important to use in papers because it gives support and validation to an argument. While this skill is very important, not many people come into college very skilled in it and I think everyone can work on this skill to do it more successfully.

In order to teach quotation integration, I would first explain why integrating quotations is important and then show them different examples, some that are done well and some that are done unsuccessfully. For each example I would ask if they thought it worked well or didn’t and why. What qualities did the well done ones have? What is missing from the ones that aren’t done as well? I would explain how to best structure the integration with an introduction and an explanation- the “sandwich” and explain how the well done ones have a structure that resembled this. I would then have them practice this skill by giving them a theme from whatever we were reading during that time and ask them to create a thesis, find a quotation that supports it and use the sandwich structure to integrate the quotation to support the thesis. I would then ask them to write it on the board and have the class discuss what makes each one successful and how to better improve each one.

Hello class. My name is Favour Nwachukwu and today we will be discussing the ‘So What?’

If I was to guest lecture, I would probably feel most confident talking about how to construct a ‘so what’ statement and convey the ‘bigger picture’ through your writing. I think it is the most vital concept I have learned in this class all semester; it made me realize the importance of connecting what you are saying to the reader so that they can relate and actually care to continue reading. It is an integral aspect that should be present in all writing, no matter what the subject, so it is best to learn it sooner rather than later if you wish to be an effective writer. ***

To go about my guest lecture I would first, of course, explain what the ‘so what’ statement is and the different ways that it can be formatted. I would provide the students with various articles from magazines, newspapers, scholarly sources, etc. and have them see if they can locate the ‘so what’ statement and determine whether or not it was effective. Then to ensure that they are not just following a script (“This is important because…”), I would give them very obscure topics that not many people could ever possibly care about and see if they can devise a unique ‘so what’ structure that would make the reader interested though it seems it is completely unrelated to their life. And then we would end the class with an ice cream party because you’ve gotta end with a bang.

*** I made a so what statement without even realizing it. It really comes in handy everywhere.

If I were approached to guest lecture in the next section of this 181 course, I’d feel confident teaching incoming freshmen what I know about integrating quotes into writing. This particular topic is one that I have always thought myself to be good at, whether it be introducing quotes for analysis or using quotes to support my arguments. The latter of the two is a method that not many incoming freshmen are familiar with, but it’s always been my default method of quote integration. Personally, I feel there are times and places for quote analysis, and times where quotes can speak for themselves and help build an argument. Where scientific evidence is concerned, it must be interpreted before it can be used as a building block for argumentative purposes. When a point has been made and a quote is simply a clear example of the argument in the text under question, I think it is plausible that the quote can be used to build an argument without being restated and analyzed as thoroughly.

To teach this lesson to incoming freshmen, I’d plan a group activity. First, I’d introduce the different methods of quote integration that we learned in class. Then, I’d assign each group a thesis statement regarding a text that the class has read (assuming the syllabus would be the same as this semester, I’d likely choose Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story). I’d ask each group to write multiple paragraphs supporting the thesis using direct quotes from the novel, in each paragraph integrating the quotes differently. One paragraph should introduce quotes then analyze their meaning in order to support the thesis, while another paragraph should integrate quotes in the writing in order to build the argument of the thesis. I would then ask all the groups to pick their favorite paragraph to read to the class, explain which method of quote integration they used, and why they preferred it to other methods.

A concept in class that I feel most confident teaching to an incoming freshman is teaching them about asking closed and open questions because of how it helps out with making discussion times really productive. Since open and closed questions are easy to discuss, I would how open questions lead to a broader and wide range of answers while closed questions have a definite answer. I would also ask the class why each question type would be used in class discussion, and then I would sum up all of their answers and include the right response to it. For instance, open questions are important in order to get an opinion or respond to a difficult and controversial question. Closed questions are important for getting correct facts or simple responses right away. I would have a source that the class would have already read the night before to be the topic of our discussions. Then after describing the two types of questions, I would have the class each write two open and two closed questions independently, have them share their responses to the class and have some volunteers demonstrate some of their answers. Then, I would lead the class into discussion, and the students would be used open and long questions according to the topic for the class that day. Since open and closed questions are pretty simple to understand, I will include some entering class discussion ideas in the lesson in order to make their discussion more productive as well. I would mention how that when you are responding to another person, you should briefly summarize what the last person mentioned or whoever you are responding to and then bring in what else you want to mention in the discussion. Overall, these techniques will all be great for making class discussions more successful and informative.

Of all the key concepts and skills that we have learned this semester, one that I would like to teach to freshmen classes would be the skills involved in discussion. In many classes, discussions are an indispensable part of learning that engages students and compels them to think. The nature of a discussion requires participants to make arguments against one another and this can be difficult to achieve in a classroom setting as people can disregard what others are saying and just talk about what they want to talk about or outright denounce their points.

One particular skill that I have learned about entering group discussion is acknowledging and recapitulating the former person’s argument and using that as a starting point for your own argument. By implementing the template “XXX I hear you think that ooo. I go further to say that YYY” or “XXX I hear you think that OOO. However, I think YYY” within discussions, the discussion is elevated to another level. Not only are you applying the “They say I say” structure and thus making your own argument stronger but you are also showing how you are paying attention to other’s argument and have considered their points. This makes speakers feel comfortable as they know their arguments are being heard and the speakers themselves will attentively tune into other’s contributions to discussion so that may rebut against those who disagree with their point. Furthermore, this prevents the discussion from going off tangent. Because you are making your point in relation to what the previous person had said, it is very difficult to go off topic and whatever is said will always be relevant to the topic.

In terms of teaching this to the class, I think the only way is to actually practice using it in discussion. So whenever a class discussion comes up, I would require the students to recapitulate what the previous speaker had said and then make their point based on what he/she said.

If I were to be a guest lecturer in the next section of this course, I would feel most comfortable explaining how to enter class discussions. This would include leading discussions, as well participating in discussions in a way that is persuasive and supports your arguments while still having a conversational tone. One thing that I think I’ve really become more comfortable with is incorporating other people’s arguments into discussions. The discussions each class have made me realize how important it is to address what other people say and either use it to support your argument or refute it.

In order to explain this topic, I would probably first discuss the methods in They Say I Say. They Say I Say stresses how incorporating what other people say strengthens discussions, as it can bolster your argument and can give a platform to lead into what you want to say. For example, instead of ignoring what someone said before you and jumping right into what you want to say, it is more effective to say, “I agree with what Tom said, and in addition…” or “Although Sam thinks this, I believe… because…” It can also be helpful to restate what the person before you said to clarify that you understand their argument. For example, you could say, “Frank, by this you meant … Am I understanding that correctly?” This helps avoid confusion and can lead to more in depth discussion about the topic as well.

After explaining the methods you can use in discussion, it would be beneficial to then choose a topic on which people have different opinions and have a discussion about it. The students should use the methods described above. After concluding the discussion, I think it would be helpful for the students to think about things they did differently in this discussion compared to class discussions they have had in the past. They should think about if these methods promoted effective discussion and what they could do to continue to build on this.