Acknowledgment and Response

Example: In her article “What’s Lost As Handwriting Fades,” Maria Konnikova argues that students learn better when they write information down by hand rather than typing it. Brain imaging, she reports, suggests that the effort involved in handwriting activates the brain’s neural pathways in unique ways. On the basis of this research, many college professors have barred laptops in the classroom. But are the ostensible benefits of writing by hand really worth losing the learning opportunities enabled by computers? Indeed, computers are exceptionally flexible, allowing students to take notes in a multitude of ways, and they offer quick access to important resources such as online dictionaries. Revisiting the research on computers in the classroom, it is obvious that their advantages far outweigh the possible losses involved in giving up handwritten notes.

Now you try it! Invent an acknowledgment for an introduction that will end up arguing that it is better not to read the news.
[Insert acknowledgment/current situation]
However, evidence also suggests that reading the news can lead to spikes in anxiety and depression. Is being informed really worth it? In the end, compromising one’s mental health by following world events seems foolish, especially because it is clear that knowing about the things going wrong in the world does not mean that we can change them.

Submit your response to your instructor.

Konnikova, Maria. “What’s Lost As Handwriting Fades.” The New York Times, 2 June 2014.

1. What was the one most important thing you learned from this module?
2. Do you have any unanswered questions for me?
   

For this activity, you’ll need an issue, debate, or question with which students are familiar and on which there are two reasonable positions (from the course readings or class discussion, for example).

Your instructor will pose a question to you, or remind you of an issue or debate. You will then be placed into small groups according to your position vis-à-vis the question.

Each group should do the following:

1. List three objections you can imagine to your own position, and then to respond to each objection.
2. Then, list three objections you can anticipate making to the “opposing” groups’ position, and then imagine how the opposing groups would respond.
3. Your professor may then lead a general discussion of the various acknowledgments and responses, or even lead you in a debate that draws on your work.

Download Worksheet 1

Download Digital Implementation of the Activity

Choose a draft you have in progress, and complete the following steps:

1. 1. Begin by stating your working thesis.
   2. List four objections that you can imagine someone having to your argument, or that you are aware of in the scholarly conversation.
   3. Choose, from your list of possible counterarguments, the two that are most likely to represent your readers’ concerns, and explain why.
   4. Finally, offer a substantial and thoughtful response to the two “best” objections you chose in (3).

Download Worksheet 2

Download Digital Implementation of the Activity

Online in-class activity – Acknowledgement and Response – option 2

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.

Harvey, Gordon. “Counterargument.” Harvard College Writing Center.

Turabian, Kate L. Student’s Guide to Writing College Papers, 5th ed., University of Chicago Press, 2019.

Williams, Joseph M., and Gregory C. Colomb. A Guide to Teaching The Craft of Argument. Pearson, 2007.