Welcome

Welcome to our collaborative blog!

In her essay “The Argument Culture,” Deborah Tannen urged us to get rid of the idea of argument and debate as only two-sided by asking ourselves “What are the other sides?” This space (our own little nook in cyberspace) is a place where we can do just that. With your partner, offer up an issue that is typically argued as having only two sides and move on to introduce and explain two other useful ways of looking at the issue.

In many ways, this is an exploratory setting, a place where ideas can be stated and then tested out by comments from others, so there aren’t many rules of composition that we must follow. However, here are the guidelines we came up with in class:

--Try to use proper spelling and grammar.
--No excessive profanity (like random "f-bombs").
--No slander or insults. Be positive, even when you disagree.
--No text talk or emoticons.
--No comments should be longer than two paragraphs.
--Try to speak your mind.
--No clustering (unless you cluster three times).

If these guidelines are infringed upon constantly, each person in the class has the responsibility of bringing it to attention. If these infringements continue, the administrator will delete your invitation.

Look for an example post coming from me in the next few days! In the meantime, keep in contact with your partner and keep the ideas flowing.