Mandatory Conferences
You’ll be required to meet with your instructor three times this semester for one-on-one conferences. Follow the Mandatory Conferences link to a chart where you can schedule your own appointment. Sample Agendas include: I need help researching my topic. I’m afraid my thesis can’t be proved. Am I missing a counterintuitive angle?
- Meet once by WED MAR 04
- Meet again before WED APR 08
- Meet during Finals Week for a Grade Conference
Critical Reading Unit
- A Demonstration of Critical Reading
- The Lecture/Demo:
- The Video:
Claims Analysis Task
- Claims Task: PTSD
- Source Material for your Critical Reading
- “Is PTSD Contagious?” print version
- “Is PTSD Contagious?” podcast
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Counterintuitive 
What happened
Mandatory conferences
Critical reading unit
Analyzing claims
Organ harvest video
Claims analysis task- due wed, should only take an hour
What I learned
Required to meet professor three times during the semester for one on one conferences (meet once by Wed March 04, Wed April 08 and during finals week)- very helpful for research project
When you find sources and need to evaluate how helpful they are- you have to find out what they are claiming and how they are supporting their claims
“Let’s do this” or”We should do this”- a proposal claim (a strong recommendation for what should happen next)
Harvesting plants is different than harvesting organs
Death row inmates lose their rights in jail which is why they are chosen to harvest their organs.
Death row inmates are chosen to harvest their organs because they are going to die eventually
Death row inmates relinquish their rights of the organs
Unfortunate side effect of hanging or poisoning a man is that his organs go sour
Unfortunate side effect is that we don’t get their organs
Death row inmates have repeatedly asked to donate their organs (they had to have more than once- but they don’t state the number of inmates)
But their requests are always denied- the video does not state the number of requests denied (the visual adds the persuasive detail that a judge turn the requests down)
Execution ruins organs of death row inmates which prevents them from being donated
Certain organs will being ruined by certain execution methods
Hanging and electric shock is irrelevant to the topic which the video visualizes
Lethal injection visual is relevant
So far the organs of the death row inmates have stayed with them- not used for donation
Visual of kid shows how organ donations are important for the survival of others
The claim is that people die because convicts took their organs with them because of the method of the execution
The video uses “math” to support their claim
Put death row inmates under anesthesia and take their organs
38 states allow capital punishment
Counter arguments to the video include: might get a higher rate of death row inmates because their use for their organs
Today the class was informed on the topic of conferences with the professor. I have the tab with the chart open so I won’t forget my appointment. We cover the topic of claims as well and discuss how a claim works. A sentence can have multiple claims in it. As a sentence becomes more specific, more claims appear. Some words can have a claim with one connotation, while the same word can be used to bring forward another connotation. In the sentence “Let’s Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates” has multiple claims. Let’s is let us. It is suggestion that is taken as command. That’s a claim. Harvest has to do with farming and gathering the produce from the fields, but the article uses it as reaping the rewards, being the organs, of having death row inmates. Inmates being plural claims that there are at least 2 inmates whose organs are up for grabs. We watched a creepy video explaining the logical alternative to current execution methods. It dramatizes the topic to an extent. It’s strange how so many phrases or statements can be considered claims. That sentence there was a claim. Claiming the sentence was a claim was a claim. Claiming the sentence was a claim was a claim was a claim. It can go on forever.
today in class we discussed claims, harvesting organs from death row inmates and PTSD
Professor starts off with a video stating how a single word or phrase could be claimed in different ways. Prisoners who hang themselves or get the lethal injection, there organs are no longer useful and can’t be used. The use of organs from people on death row is being undervalued and the amount of lives that could be saved would be thousands. A counterintuitive argument you could use against this is that someone who is on death row for a crime that they did not commit who gets their organs harvested is not fair since they never got the chance to really plead there case. Professor than went over the different types of claims and gave a description of each one in depth with some examples of each. PTSD which is talked about as the main example of claim tasks and is a serious problem but the argument of wether its contagious can be debated.
View a piece of media to analyze and critique claims
Proposal claim is a strong recommendation of what should happen next
Death row inmates lose some of their rights to their body, so that is why we chose them
We don’t use inmates organs because after hanging and poisoning, the organs go sour and are unable to be used
When analyzing a claim you have to look at what the author is actually saying, for example “Death row inmates repeatedly ask.” Does this mean 2 or 1000, does this mean 1 of them asked twice, or they all asked numerously.
The visual claim is often different then the audio claim
If we start to use the organs of death row inmates, will the rate of inmates killed go up?
There are 9 different types of claims that we will be making throughout our papers
NOTES
2/17
MEETINGS
– I will need to schedule two midterm appointments with Mr. Hodges to be able to pass
– They are used for us to get help as we may need and ask any questions on our final research paper
ANALYZING CLAIMS
– Watched video on Harvesting Organs
– You can gather claims right off the bat when all you see in the video is “Lets Harvest the Organs”
– Argument here is that inmates lose the rights of their organs which is the claim being placed
– You have to be careful with what you read or see to choose the claim
– We can assume that a judge turned down the want to donate organs, but it was never said it was just implied by a visual
– There are way more in need then willing to give
CLAIMS
– Learned the basic claim types
– Choosing the type of claim something is can be difficult as it can be seen as a fit in multiple categories which is fine, but it may only fit in one
– Given a claim exercise for Hw in which we listen to or read a podcast and write all the claims we can find for an hour straight
– Task isn’t made for you to write the most and go over board, but is to identify claims throughout the work the best we can
– The first conference is due by March 04. Students must request a conference by writing down their name in a google doc. Students can also write about what they want to talk about during the meeting.
– What is a useful claim? If you have a skin cream that was studied by doctors with 107 years experience you would probably trust that statement even though the claim only shows that they studied the cream. The cream could be dangerous because it isn’t stated in the claim.
– Every word could be a claim. For example, the word “let’s” this word can show that the action is a suggestion. When we learn the next word is “harvest” that shows that we need to collect something. Together we can see this means we need to come together and collect something.
– In the example, we can see why the claim of “harvesting organs of death row inmates” starts to make sense. Inmates have asked multiple times to donate their organs but are always denied.
– More detail comes into the picture as the author discusses more parts to the claim. One death row inmate could save up to 16 people.
– The removal of organs is an effective method of execution. Under general anesthesia removal of organs would instantly kill without any pain.
-need 3 meetings during the semester, one before March 4, one before April 8 and one during finals week
-using the word “let’s” is a proposal claim (not quite a suggestion, but not quite a command)
-lots of claims can be broken down and made in the video “Let’s Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates”
-types of claims: definition, analogy, categorical, factual, evaluative, ethical/moral, quantitative/numerical/comparative, causal, recommendation/proposal
We talked about conferences about our research paper; we must meet once before March 4th and once before April 8th.
We talked a bit about the claims analysis task, which is due by next class, Wednesday, Feb. 19th. The length of the assignment is not as important as the depth of information.
We watched a video about harvesting the organs of death row inmates, stopping every few seconds to analyze the context and claims made in the video. Death row inmates are not permitted to donate their organs, which could save many lives in need of an organ transplant; a better method of execution is removing organs. General anesthesia can put them out, with removing organs is a better alternative: saving lives with a painless death. However, it may raise the convictions of death row.
We also talked about the possibility of PTSD being contagious. It may be, or it may not be.
Today after attendance we picked conference times to meet with the professors. Then we went over the critical reading unit. The unit covered claims and suggestion in writing. We also talked about the information authors choose to leave out when writing, and were directed to the claims task on PTSD. The claims task had information on different types of claims and we talked about how their definitions can overlap. At the end of class we went over the due date and requirements for our claims task, and were instructed to ask for feedback on a previous assignment.
Professor first went over that all students are to sign up for a mandatory conference before March 4th. After I had signed up for a specific date, we went over analyzing claims. Professor explained that every word can be used as a claim and he showed us exactly what he had meant. After this we had talked about the possibility of PTSD being contagious.
Class Notes 02/17/2020
Mandatory Conferences:
-Make 1 request by March 4, and once before April 8
-Click on link “Mandatory Conferences” and fill in name (as many time slots as needed)
-Do not schedule an appointment the morning-of
Claims:
-“This cream was studied by dermatological experts that combine for over 100 years of experience” is a weak claim because it doesn’t provide any further detail about the success, or lack-there-of, of the experiment as well as the quality of the product (1 million experts could study something but the product could still be poor)
-Even one word can be a claim
-Proposal Claim = recommends what should happen next (not a command)
e.g. “Let us….”
-There are less factual claims than one would assume
-Claims can overlap in type
-In our research papers, we will likely use causal claims, evaluative claims, definition claims, etc (9 total)
Death Row:
-Death row inmates repeatedly ask for their organs to be donated (could be a very small sample size, maybe 2 prisoners have asked, and 1 of them asked at least twice)
-Hanging and electrocution suffocate the bodies’ organs, rendering those organs unusable
-Inmates could be put under anesthesia and have their organs removed with no pain
-Inmates appear to be rejected by a judge/court system when requesting to have their organs donated after death
-Guaranteed supply of organs that could be used to save several lives
-People convicted to life-sentences are relinquished of all rights
-By “contagious”, the author is implying that by living with someone with PTSD, one might inherit a sense of PTSD because of the way that person acts and how it effects the way they have to think when around them
Class Notes 2/17/20:
– talked about the upcoming mandatory conferences
– discussed how to analyze claims in someone’s writing and how to properly interpret them
– assigned a claim’s analysis task
– told to please request feedback on one of our last assignment, is we did not already do so
What I learned:
– we will have to schedule times for our one-on-one meetings to discuss ou research project or anything we’re concerned with
– must schedule meeting at least 1 day in advance and if it is the night before, must send a text to the professor notifying him of the upcoming meeting.
– some writers make claims that may lead the reader to a different conclusion than what the hard evidence on the topic might show
– by breaking apart what the writer is saying, as the reader you can more clearly see the information that is being presented to them
Notes 2/17
Mandatory Conferences
– Happen 3 times in the semester to ask questions about current grade or essays.
– Great opportunity to discuss status of the semester-long research paper.
– Schedule: Meet once by WED MAR 04, again before WED APR 08, and during Finals Week for a Grade conference.
Critical Reading Unit
Finding and Analyzing Claims in Organ Harvest
– Video author made claims in almost every sentence, some flawed.
– The main point: we should not only be encouraging legislators and judges to allow death row inmates to donate their organs, but organ harvesting should be a means of death.
– The author made some implicit claims without support: that judges who deny the organ donation requests of death row inmates are immoral or shortsighted, that many people on a waitlist are dying because death row inmates cannot donate their organs, that death row inmates are automatically killers, etc.
– Shifted goalposts without notice: from “we should allow death row inmates to donate their organs” to “organ harvesting should be a method of execution.”
– Left us with unanswered questions: were gallows and lethal injection really inefficient at keeping organs alive, or are we just approaching them the wrong way when we want to harvest organs from an executed person? were the Mayans known for their ethical and humane methods of punishment? if organ harvesting is now a method of execution, do the prisoners get to decide then? is this idea worth it, given only a few dozen people get executed every year?
Types of Claims
– Definition Claim: “PTSD is a psychological disorder.”
– Analogy Claim: Claiming a similarity of one thing to another. “PTSD is similar to other communicable diseases because it can be spread by a victim to others with whom he interacts.”
– Categorical Claim: placing something into a category. PTSD belongs to the category of ailments that can be spread of communicable ailments.
– Factual Claim: A claim that circumstances or conditions exist beyond doubt. Can be proved by appealing to indisputable evidence. Can be quantified and proved.
– Evaluative Claim: A claim that involves judgement of the characteristics of an item or situation. Evaluations are arguable and can be supported by expertise, authority, credentials, or a preponderance of evidence. “Family members of veterans suffering from PTSD are not getting adequate support to deal with their own traumas.”
– Ethical or Moral Claim: A type of evaluative claim that places a judgement on a social situation expresses an ethical or moral judgement. Appealing to morality. “Families are not getting the support THEY DESERVE” blames the Veterans Administration for a failure to support the veteran’s family.
– Quantitative, Numerical, or Comparative Claim: Can be factual or evaluative depending on the reliability of the measurements.”There are MORE (also comparing to the number of veterans before) returning veterans with PTSD now than ever before in the history of warfare” is an evaluative numerical claim.
– Causal Claim: Assertions of cause and effect. X causes Y. “Trauma causes PTSD.”
– Recommendation or Proposal Claim: Asserts what ought to be done. Authors who write to convince an audience to adopt a course of action or different point of view are making a proposal claim.
– Analogy claims and categorical claims can be similar. Calling PTSD “contagious” conveys a similarity between common ailments like colds and flus, though it is not contagious in the same manner (this is similar to saying that yawning is contagious).