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Lesson 1

Based on our planning, we will draft a paragraph to explain our positions, considering the audience and purpose for our argument. We will determine where to best place this paragraph within our arguments.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I draft a paragraph that clearly presents and explains the position I am taking in my argument, considering the purpose and audience I have specified?

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Materials

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Activity 1: Discuss

Considering our purpose and audience, we will review our position statements, make any final revisions, and determine how to introduce and explain the positions in our arguments.

Review again the task and questions you are addressing for the Culminating Task and the options you have for your argument:

What are the most pressing challenges facing the future of the global food system? How should we go about addressing those challenges?

  • Option 1 - Food Technology: Are new technologies, such as indoor urban agriculture and vertical farming, viable solutions to sustaining the global food system? If so, why? If not, what might serve as alternative solutions?

  • Option 2 - Agricultural Practices: Is industrial agriculture a sustainable means of feeding the world? If so, why? If not, what might serve as alternative solutions?

  • Option 3:- Local Food Systems: Is regionalization a viable alternative to a globalized food system? If so, why? If not, what role, if any, should local food systems play?

Review and potentially revise your position statement.

Explain to a partner the purpose of your argument and its intended audience. Summarize what you hope to communicate.

Consider what to include in your position that will help your audience understand it, how it relates to the issue and question it addresses, and how it is based on your research and thinking.

Activity 2: Write – Discuss

We will draft a clear and concise paragraph that presents and explains our position in response to the question we have previously articulated in a way that considers our purpose and audience.

Draft a paragraph that introduces and explains your position, considering your purpose and audience as you determine the tone and language you will use.

Your statement of position (thesis) might be presented at the start of your paragraph as a topic sentence but could also come in the middle or at the end of your position paragraph.

Work with a writing partner to review your position paragraph, using questions or criteria to determine how well the paragraph works and in what ways it might be improved.

Activity 3: Write

We will determine where and how to incorporate the position paragraph within our overall argument.

Looking at your final argumentation plan and approach to organizing your argument, as developed in your copies of the Delineating Arguments Tool and Organizing Evidence Tool, determine where in your argument you will place your position paragraph: at or near the start, somewhere in the middle, or near the end.