5 page argumentative paper on a book you have read in your lifetime. It must have 1 quote and 3 sources from oakland community college database.

In this lecture it is important to begin to see how your own argumentative style is beginning to form. We are going to discuss some other writings and look at how to construct paper 2.

While doing this you need to be sure to focus on how the readings reflect real world experience. We will not go paragraph by paragraph on these but will discuss them and have some assignments alongside them.

Then, we will come to our discussion on Paper #2. This will be another opportunity to argue, but from a different perspective.

So, let’s look at the readings for today. You need to be sure to read Ellison’s piece Living with Music and then complete the work that goes along with the article.

Ralph Ellison captures what it means to be a part of music and have it surround you in the world. This is a Narrative piece but one that suggests how your presentation and discussions about music should be framed.

What do you think of the way he incorporates music into his life? The most important thing here is to focus on the fact that he is a writer first and then music surrounds him.

This piece strikes me because I grew up playing trumpet as well and also, as you could guess, write for a living. That is not the only reason for this piece to be read though. It is to demonstrate how important music is within society.

So after reading this piece you need to do an exercise that demonstrates this fact.

Before that can you find the argumentative point within this article? It is pretty simple if you get to the end of the piece. Look at the argument with the upstairs neighbor who is a singer.

Also be sure to focus on how music is structured as a way to live not simply an escape.

So what is the argument, “Perhaps in the swift change of American society in which the meanings of one’s origin are so quickly lost, one of the chief values of living with music lies in its power to give us an orientation in time” (Ellison par 25).

Do you think that this is true? Does music orient us in time and allow us to get back to our origins? Is it a way to generate discussion and argument amongst friends and family? Or do you simply view it as a distraction while studying, driving etc.?

What I would like you to do is to find examples of the music that you listen to and post these examples in the discussion board along with an explanation of how you use these examples in your everyday life.

These do not have to be complex. Do you use metal music to ramp up for a sporting event? Do you use classical music to study? Etc.

Please post links to songs if possible, if not the song title and artist.

You need to post three examples to receive credit. Good luck and have fun. Consider this preparation for the presentation.

DO NOT PASS WITHOUT COMPLETEING EXAMPLES AND POSTING

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So now that we have some examples in our head let’s read another argument on music and see what we think of this piece. Take a look at Stapleton’s article focusing on Hip-Hop entitled From the Margins to the Mainstream: The Political Power of Hip-Hop. In this article you have someone trying to give you a great deal of information about Hip-Hop. Does this work for you?

The main question that comes about with this article is whether it works as an effective argument or is it simply a discussion on things that you already know.

Read the article and come on back.

DO NOT PASS WITHOUT READING STAPLETON’S ARTICLE

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So what did you think? Does she give you any new information or is it simply a rehash of older things that you already know about? The biggest thing for me here is that she over-quotes. Almost as if she has no voice of authority of her own on the topic. Do you think that this is true?

When you are writing an argument, especially a political one, you must have a strong voice. This piece is not ASAP in anyway and leads the reader to question the author as even having the right purpose behind writing it.

By using too many sources and losing her voice, it as if she is second guessing herself and her argument falls flat. If you do not see this, please go back through the piece and look at all of the examples from other people.

Alright, now that we have a good example and a bad example let’s look at paper #2

This paper is very similar to the first paper in structure and argument but the focus is shifted to a full length book. What you need to do for this paper is to read a book that is at least 100 pages in length. This can be on anything, it does not have to be on music. Then you need to construct an argument either for the argument the book gives, against the argument the book gives or through the argument the book gives. More is discussed below.

Please make sure that this is not a book report. It must be an argument where the only discussion of the book happens in the ethos and then it is used to support the argument.

The structure and explanation are below. They are very similar to the discussion in Lecture 4 so please go back if you need more clarification.

Here is the one structure of Paper #2 with the strongest argumentative structure used. Intro

Ethos

Counter

Strong (1)

quote your source here

Explication (1)

Mid (2)

Quote your source here

Explication (2)

Weak (3)

Quote your source here

Explication (3)

Conclusion