how do you develop a position?

This week's Construct module is a little off-beat - it's an opportunity to critique a romantic comedy (we'll be using You've Got Mail) and either defending or prosecuting the genre of romantic comedies.

Module summary:

• watch You've Got Mail and take notes on positive and negative elements of the movie
• be assigned to either the pro or the con side of the argument
• read sources supporting or condemning romantic comedies
• develop your argument and defend it in a mini debate

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essential questions

• How do outside perspectives add depth to research?
• How do we synthesize multiple sources to present an argument?

goals

• ​Students will understand that reading articles from multiple authors presents varying perspectives and case studies, which adds depth to an argument.
• Students will understand that intentional note-taking allows us to organize and make connections between information to structure an effective argument.

activities

Expose [Monday/Tuesday]

• Discuss preconceived notions and stereotypes about romantic comedies [doing it on your own? write a 3.8]
• Watch You've Got Mail
  • take notes on elements of the movie (plot, setting, characters, theme) that you like and that you don't like
• Discuss movie - initial reaction based on observations

Practice [Tuesday/Wednesday]

• Split into two sides of the debate answering the question, "are romantic comedies ultimately good or bad for society?"
• Read articles supporting your side (articles are provided)
  • annotate points and examples that will support your side
• Plan a strategy with your team to present your argument
• Write out notes for your position and to address possible rebuttals, practice arguments/speeches

Create [Thursday]

• Participate in class debate: "Are romantic comedies ultimately good or bad for society?"

Reflect [Friday]

• Fill out debate evaluation
• Debrief debate - content and style - for yourself, your team, and your opponents

c-tachs

Writing

• Conduct short and more sustained research projects to answer a question or solve a problem

Reading

• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research
• Cite strong textual evidence to support analysis of explicit and implicit meaning of text 

documents

RomCom Syllabus
File Size:	46 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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