Post your blog domain, please!

Everyone in Sam Teacher's 2nd grade writing class, please reply to this blog post with your student number, name and a link to your blog URL or domain.

**If you are in Agnes Teacher's 2nd grade writing class, please go to this post instead.

What Topic Should You Choose?

You started researching your topic broadly. You wanted to look at a general research question and in that find your argument for your persuasive essay. You want to write a paper you think is interesting. You can choose any topic you want to write a persuasive essay about. It is possible to relate any topic you  choose to the Harvard Sampler. Here is an example (Number 4).

If you are struggling to think of a good topic, here are some ideas to get you started.

1) What do you want to do in university? Choose a topic related to that. Do you want to be a diplomat? How about connecting it to the medical detectives topic: "Global health should be the primary concern of future global leaders." Or, if you want to be a PA for a news team, maybe you could connect it to the internet topic: "Social media expertise is a requirement for any successful journalist."

2) What are you studying in your other classes? Debate? Literature? Korean? If you're interested in history, maybe you could do an argument like, "The internet should be used to "normalize" world history and remove the biases of history produced by single countries. If you like biology you could discuss evolution in terms of anything that interests you. For example, "What is the evolution of education in Korea?" Or, "how has the Korean language evolved?" Maybe you could combine the evolution topic with the internet and the human mind: "We need to replace natural selection with artificial selection by creating technology that directly links our minds to the internet.

3) What are your hobbies? Do you really like manga? You could relate it to the human mind by arguing, "Reading manga is more intellectually stimulating than watching movies." What about bike riding? "The evolution of bike mechanics is the most profound evolution of technology in sports."

Again, remember that any topic is acceptable, and the most important criteria for your argument is that you think it is interesting. You can write an academic and intellectually stimulating paper on any topic, academic or not. 

Week 4 and 5 Objectives

UPDATE First draft is not due until October 26. 

After many trials and tribulations I believe we have finally started researching our papers and preparing the foundation for what will be very successful final projects. Good job! Through September 12th I want you to focus on finishing all the previous assignments and one polished first draft.

For the requirements for the first draft, please refer to the grading post.
For the structure of the first draft, please refer to the classical argument pdf.

1. Share your blog URL domain with Sam Teacher or Agnes Teacher.
2. Finish week 1, 2, 3 and 4 objectives
3. Finish a first draft by Sept. 12. October 26. Click here for instructions for your first draft. 

First Draft Instructions or FAQ

First, label (태그) your post "first draft".

1. When is it due? September 12, 23:59 October 26 11:59 pm
2. How long should your first draft be? Long enough. Probably 3-5 pages.
3. How many sources should use? Use enough sources. Probably 3-5. 
4. Do you have to cite your sources? Yes - Just a web link or site name is sufficient for now. 
5. Is there a structure I must follow? Yes - Use the classical argument format.
6. How is the first draft graded? Mostly based on whether or not you use the classical argument format. 
7. What if I have questions? Ask Sam or Agnes teacher, ask a friend, email samlandfried@gmail.com. You can post questions on these blog posts, below, too.

Week 3 Objectives

1. Continue researching. (Record your research with blog posts! Your research grade will come from these posts)
2. Articulate your argument.
3. Start outlining your first draft in the classical argument format.

Remember, you can change your topic/research proposal/argument whenever you want. If you do, please write a NEW blog post about what change you made and why. Label or 태그 it as "change".

Classical Argument Outline Example

Please tag or label this post as "classical argument outline".

This is the outline for your 1st draft of your persuasive essay. This is in the classical argument format. If you need more information on the classical argument, check out the sample classical argument or the classical argument PDF. 

1. The introduction, which warms up the audience, establishes goodwill and rapport with the readers, and announces the general theme or thesis of the argument.

I will start by describing the situation everyone is already familiar with: Computers are powerful and are becoming more and more powerful. Then I will shift attention to how these current computing powers are not as powerful as the pile of gray matter in each of our heads. I will end with my thesis, "The human brain is the most powerful computation tool in the Universe." 

2. The narration, which summarizes relevant background material, provides any information the audience needs to know about the environment and circumstances that produce the argument, and set up the stakes-what’s at risk in this question. In academic writing, this often takes the form of a literature review.

I will summarize the research I've done and provide an explanation for how I will quantify or measure the power of the brain in comparison to other computational tools. I will give a brief history of the evolution of computational tools, from the abacus to Big Blue, the famous chess playing computer. 

3. The confirmation,which lays out in a logical order (usually strongest to weakest or most obvious to most subtle) the claims that support the thesis, providing evidence for each claim.

I will start by examining how computers lack autonomy and therefore any achievement of a computer is really a human achievement. I will examine the ironic list of accomplishments of humans compared to that of computers. I will describe a set of problems that computers can't solve that humans can. I will examine the mathematical comparison between the computational power of the most powerful computers versus the human brain.

4. The refutation and concession, which looks at opposing viewpoints to the writer’s claims, anticipating objections from the audience, and allowing as much of the opposing viewpoints as possible without weakening the thesis.

I will concede that certain tasks computers obviously excel at, but in such a limited set of conditions that it doesn't matter. I will use the metaphor of a professional swimmer that can only excel on sunny days with 78% humidity and 22.3 degree water temperature in a room with no windows and a coach that has to micromanage every decision of the swimmer. 

5. The summation, which provides a strong conclusion, amplifying the force of the argument,  and showing the readers that this solution is the best at meeting the circumstances.

I will close with a summary of my previous points, then a brief consideration of the unquantifiable abilities of the human brain, like emotions and creativity that demonstrate a nuanced level of intelligence that computers have not even started to approach. I will end with a reaffirmation of my original thesis. 

How to Write Your Articulation

Make sure your 태그 says "articulation".

You want to explain what your argument will be for your final project. Remember, your final project will be a persuasive essay, which means you are persuading your reader about something. Maybe, "Skateboarding is a healthier habit than internet surfing," or "The best way to prevent cancer is a healthy diet." I want you to explain how you discovered this argument through your research.

*Your post should look like the following. Red font is notes or explanations for what to do.*

1) My argument Write your argument in one sentence. Then, spend some time explaining it. 
I want to argue that the human brain is the most powerful computational tool in the Universe. We are obsessed with upgrading computers and talking about the technological developments that allow our cellphones, computers and even refrigerators to think quicker, and I want to emphasize that none of these technologies come close to the computational power of the human brain.

2) How I found my argument Explain how your research helped you find your argument. Or, in other words, how did your research evolve into your argument? Start with your research question.
My first research question was, when will my cellphone be smarter than my brain? It seems reasonable that eventually, as technology continues developing, our hand held devices will be smarter than our head held ones (Our brain). This article helped corroborate that theory. As I continued researching, it seemed obvious that everyone agreed that we were moving to a world where eventually humans would not be as smart as computers. I thought if I wrote an article saying the same thing, it would be boring. I started looking at the opposite perspective. How smart are people now? How amazing are our brains right now? Articles like this one helped me quantify the real power of our brain. Eventually I realized that even though neuroscientists think our brain is at its limits, it is still the most powerful tool out there. I think this is a fresh and interesting argument to make.

3) New research questions What do you still need to know? What is your research plan?
I have several questions that need to be resolved.
a) How can I compare the brain to a modern computer?
b) What areas are the brain objectively and obviously better at than computers?
c) What are the moral implications of possessing the most powerful "thought" apparatus in the world?
I'll continue browsing the internet and looking for interesting articles and keeping track of my research with blog posts.

4) Connections to the Harvard Sampler How is your argument connected to the Harvard Sampler? ANY CONNECTION IS VALID. Please focus on choosing a good argument first, then think about how it is related to the Harvard Sampler. I will help you think of the connection if necessary.
This argument has many connections to the Harvard Sampler. First, it obviously is directly related to the human mind. Second, it connects to medical detectives because there are lots of medical questions about the physical nature of our brain. It also relates to evolution because I can address how the power of the brain is what led to humans being the dominant species on the planet. Last, the internet is the most powerful product and playground of modern computing, so when comparing the mind to computers I will need to look at the mind versus the internet. NOTE: Here I connected the argument to all 4 Harvard Sampler topics. THIS IS NOT NECESSARY. You only need to connect it to one, but can connect it to more if you want.