Bradley Hammer Teach Effectively Composition Classes Summary

Bradley Hammer writes an argument focused on the question of what writing medium should be used nowadays to teach effectively composition classes. His aim is to prove that classes of composition should use the mediums available today, rather than maintaining the same old format that does not favor students’ expression. Hammer supports that with our world that is constantly evolving, it is imperative for composition classes to embrace the new ways of communication that technology brought to our world, and principally, the Internet. In order to do so, Hammer uses observations he did as a teacher. He employs an inductive reasoning based on specific premises, in this case, his own personal experience. Furthermore, he analyzes how the new means …show more content…
His opinions is that the books studied in literature class should challenge students’ curiosity, and engage them in the classes’ discussions, but foremost, the students should be able to relate to these books and understand them better. In order to support his point of view, the author uses facts and personal/anecdotal stories as evidences. Okun used the inductive reasoning to support his argument. In effect, he goes from very specific premises, in this case, his own experience as a literature teacher and the bad experience he had with classic readings, and draws out a more general conclusion that more simplistic and easy-to-read books might be better to ignite students’ interest for literature. Also, Will Okun tells the stories of how the reading of classics in his class makes the lecture boring, and how he caught up some of his students “snoozing” in the middle of the lectures. This shows his use of personal/anecdotal evidences to support his opinion. While personal/anecdotal stories are to be considered carefully, but in the events of their veracity, it is a great evaluation of the impact that classical readings hold on students’ attention. Moreover, Will Okun supports that the study of classics is not an appropriate learning method, if only a …show more content…
Will Okun on the teaching of literature classes to students. While she agrees with him that the complexity of that task is to get students to be interested and involved by their reading material, she also supports that this reason alone is not a reason why classics should be thrown away form composition classes. Far from this point of view, she states that making students read different books is a great way for them to come across things they have never known before and leave them thinking. Here, Mrs. Venable argument seems also addressed to a general audience, the information conveyed by the argument are clear, concise, and easy to understand. Mrs. Venable acknowledges both sides of the issue of what to teach in literature class, but tries to convince the readers that the study of classics is a great mean to challenge students’ curiosity and make them relate to characters or stories that are different from their daily lives. In order to do so, she uses personal/anecdotal evidences to back up her point of view, and also uses factual information from the NEA. Shelly Venable uses the pathos and logos appeal in her argumentation, but also establishes her credibility by showing her professional experience in teaching, and makes the reader relate to her by mentioning the fact that she also has been a student, and knows the flaws and the perks of being one. She uses the inductive reasoning, going