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Lesson 2

We will read and analyze an article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that outlines what would happen if we stopped giving vaccinations. The text presents a first opportunity to delineate an argument for its perspective, purpose, position, reasoning, claims, and use of evidence, as we move toward writing our own arguments later in the unit.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the information in an argumentative text about vaccinations?

  • Can I identify the perspective, position, claims, and evidence used in an advocacy article about why vaccinations are important to maintaining public health?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “New Media, Old Messages: Themes in the History of Vaccine Hesitancy and Refusal,” Jason Schwartz, AMA Journal of Ethics, 2012
    • “What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations?,” Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Domain, 2018

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Write – Discuss

We will review the elements of argumentation as an introduction to delineating an argument about vaccines.

Step 1

Before working on delineating an argument about vaccines, access your prior knowledge of argumentative writing.

With your partner, discuss what you know about argumentative writing and write your ideas in your Learning Log.

After your partner discussion, share your ideas with the whole class. Create a class list of terms and characteristics of argumentative writing.

Step 2

Examine the Argument Reference Guide and compare the class list of terms and characteristics with the terminology and ideas found in the guide. Do you have anything the guide does not? Is there anything you missed that you need to add to the class list and definitions?

Step 3

Reread the explanation of counterclaims. Why do you think authors might include counterclaims in their arguments? How might including counterclaims impact the reader of the argument?

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Activity 2: Discuss – Write

We will review and discuss “What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations?” to learn what the CDC says would happen if people chose not to vaccinate. We will analyze how the authors establish their perspective and position.

Step 1

Examine the following definitions of perspective and position in the Argument Reference Guide.

Perspective: The way someone understands, views and presents an issue, based on their relationship to and analysis of the issue.

Position: The stance someone takes on what to think or do about an issue or problem based on their perspective and understanding of it.

Identify and discuss what you think the central position of the CDC article about vaccinations is. Consider the following questions as you further review and discuss "What Would Happen if We Stopped Vaccinating?"

  1. The article states, “If one or two cases of disease are introduced into a community where most people are not vaccinated, outbreaks will occur." Think about these communities. Why would most people in a community not be vaccinated?

  2. Consider this statement from the article: "The United States has very low rates of vaccine-preventable diseases, but this isn’t true everywhere in the world." Why do you think America has such low rates?

  3. What may be preventing other countries from having these low rates? What does the following quote tell us about the perspective of the CDC? "We know that a disease that is apparently under control can suddenly return, because we have seen it happen, in countries like Japan, Australia, and Sweden."

  4. How do you think this perspective differs from that of someone who opposes vaccinations?

Share and compare details from the text that you have annotated during your reading and explain what you have learned from those details.

Step 2

Analyze the last sentence of the article:

We could soon find ourselves battling epidemics of diseases we thought we had conquered decades ago.

Discuss this sentence as a central idea, statement of position, or thesis for the article.

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will learn how to delineate an argument considering its perspective, position, supporting claims, and use of evidence.

Step 1

Follow along and participate as your teacher explains what delineating an argument entails and models how to use the Delineating Arguments Tool.

Delineating means to describe or portray something precisely. Additionally, the word is used to describe sketching or tracing something in an outline form. As we read through the subsequent arguments in the unit, we are going to practice delineating arguments by describing each part in detail so as to form a comprehensive outline of each text. This outline will help us deconstruct or dissect all the elements of an argument so that we, in turn, can learn from other writers and effectively draft our own arguments for the Culminating Task.

Before we analyze the text, review the Delineating Arguments Tool, considering the following questions:

  1. Are there any terms on the tool that are unfamiliar to you? If so, find the terms in either the Argument Reference Guide or the Delineating Arguments Guide and reread the explanation.

  2. What are the key differences among purpose, perspective, and position?

  3. Is it possible that you might not use all the claims or counterclaims sections when delineating arguments? Why or why not?

We will discuss the Organization and Reasoning patterns in the following activity.

Step 2

As a class, we will complete the top portion of the Delineating Arguments Tool for "What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations?” based on our discussion in the previous activity.

  1. What issue is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention addressing? What is the background behind the issue?

  2. What is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s purpose in this article?

  3. What is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s perspective?

  4. What is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s position?

Step 3

As a class, we will discuss the following:

  • What are the claims used to support the CDC’s overall position?

  • What specific evidence supports the claims?

  • Write the claims you or your classmates identified in the Claim boxes on the Delineating Arguments Tool.

  • Now, write the evidence you found to support the claims in the Supporting Evidence boxes.

  • Reread the article, looking for the counterclaims that the CDC addresses.

  • Write the counterclaims in the Counterclaim boxes.

  • What evidence does the CDC use to support those counterclaims? Write that evidence in the Supporting Evidence boxes beneath the counterclaims.

Activity 4: Read – Write – Discuss

We will learn the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning so we can better analyze the organizational structures of texts we read and think about the approach we want to use as we craft our own argumentative essay for the Culminating Task.

Step 1

The way an argument is structured can add to both its clarity in message and the effect the message has on the reader. We will learn about three ways to organize an argument so you can begin thinking about the most effective way to structure your argumentative essay later in this unit while also thinking about how the CDC has organized their argument.

Access the Delineating Arguments Guide. Read the explanations of deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, and counterargument reasoning. For each explanation, create three short bullet points that summarize the key aspects of each type of reasoning.

Compare your bullet points with a partner. Did you create similar bullet points? Discuss any differences and adjust your bullet points as needed to help you focus on the most important aspects of each type of reasoning.

Step 2

To practice analyzing arguments to determine whether their main reasoning structure uses deductive, inductive, or counterargument reasoning, reread the CDC’s article “What Would Happen if We Stopped Vaccinations?” while noting the article’s structure.

Thinking about the bullet points you have created that highlight the main aspects of the three types of reasoning, consider the following points to determine whether the article uses deductive, inductive, or counterargument reasoning.

  • The first four paragraphs of the article is background on the previous high rates of lethal diseases that have now been almost eradicated due to vaccines.

  • In paragraph 5, the authors of the article pose a question, which is actually a counterargument to their own: Why keep vaccinating against diseases that most young people today have rarely seen?

  • The next three subsections of the article introduce the CDC’s main claims to support their position that vaccines are still necessary.

  • In paragraph 11, one counterclaim is addressed, and the CDC ends with their position that if vaccination rates continue to decrease many dangerous diseases will return.

Based on your analysis of these points from the article and the bullet points you made, does the article use deductive, inductive, or counterargument reasoning? Discuss your answer with a partner.

Activity 5: Discuss – Write

We will share and compare the details we have written down on the Delineating Arguments Tool.

Discuss the following questions about the relationships among a text’s claims, perspective, and position:

  1. How do the claims presented in the text highlight the purpose of the article and the perspective and position of the CDC regarding vaccinations?

  2. How does the reasoning pattern or organization of the article highlight the perspective and position of the CDC regarding vaccinations?

Activity 6: Write

We will think about and write down what we have learned from reading and analyzing “What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations” in relation to the unit’s Central Questions.

In your Learning Log, explain what you have learned from reading and analyzing "What Would Happen if We Stopped Vaccinations" and how it relates to the unit’s Central Question:

How do we balance the common good with individual rights and personal liberty?

Activity 7: Read – Write

For homework, we will do a first reading of an article that summarizes the history of opposition to mandatory vaccinations.

For homework, access the article "New Media, Old Messages: Themes in the History of Vaccine Hesitancy and Refusal" in the Unit Reader.

Skim the article, identifying the three sections of the discussion by reading the headings.

Read and annotate the introduction to the article, considering this quotation and text-specific tasks that follow:

The historical antecedents of contemporary vaccine hesitancy and refusal reveal that the present state of affairs is not an unprecedented crisis but an opportunity for renewed education, dialogue, and consensus-building regarding the value of vaccines.

  1. Identify where in the article this sentence appears.

  2. Write a short paraphrase of the sentence.

  3. Determine what you think this sentence communicates about the author’s perspective and position regarding vaccine hesitancy and refusal.

Write new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal.