Estimated In-Class Time 10 min
Estimated Pre-Class Time 20 min
Downloads Handout 9A-1
Answer Key 9A-1
In-Class Procedure
Pre-Class Preparation

Students match the names argument components to the definitions of components.

Other activities in this series: Activity 9B, Ordering Argument Components.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

  • List components of an argument.
  • Define each component of an argument.

Relevant Threshold Concepts

  • Information creation as a process.
  • Scholarship as conversation.

Suggestions for Use

  • This activity should be helpful in classes where students will be making academic arguments in the form of term papers, essays, or other assignments.
  • This activity should precede Activities 9B.
  • Students can complete Handout 9A-1 electronically or in print.

Pre-Class Preparation

  • Review the handouts and answer keys for this activity.
  • Read Choosing & Using Sources Chapter 9, Making an Argument.
  • Review In-Class Procedure below.
  • Decide whether you want students to complete Handout 9A-1 on paper or electronically.
  • If you decided on electronic handouts, put Handout 9A-1 in your learning management system.
  • If you decided on paper copies, print Handouts 9A-1 (1 copy per student and 1 for yourself) and Answer Key 9A-1 (1 copy for yourself).
  • Assign students to read before class Choosing & Using Sources Chapter 9, Making an Argument.
  • Prepare for introducing the session, using your own remarks or In-Class Procedure below, if it seems helpful.
  • Using Answer Sheet 9A-1, plan your discussion of the answers on the handout.
  • Download and perhaps print In-Class Procedure and Answer Key 9A-1 so you can take them with you to class.

In-Class Procedure

  1. If you’re having students use printed copies of Handout 9A-1, pass them out or set them where students can pick them up as they come in.
  2. If you’re having students use an electronic Handout 9A-1, tell them how to find and open it.
  3. Introduce the activity by saying that most academic writing makes an argument and that students will be making arguments via their final products for assignments (term papers, essays, etc.). So knowing the components that make up an argument will be helpful to them.
  4. Ask students to complete Handout 9A-1 in 5 minutes.
  5. After 5 minutes, consider projecting the answers from Answer Sheet 9A-1 to help students focus.
  6. Go over the answers to the handout with students. Consider projecting the table on the answer sheet to help students focus.
  7. If you’re planning to use Activities 9B or activities on arguments of your own, conclude this activity by telling students that they will get more work on making an argument in the future.

Relevant Choosing & Using Sources Chapters:

Chapter 9, Making an Argument.

Credit: Developed with the help of “Making Good Arguments” in The Craft of Research, by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams, University of Chicago Press, 2003.