Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is an argument? What do you associate with argumentation? 

Teaching Suggestion: One of the primary goals of Everything’s an Argument is to offer students a broader definition of “argument” than they may have previously held. This prompt asks students to clearly articulate their pre-existing beliefs. This functions as schema-activation. Because this prompt requires personal reflection, it may be best-suited to individual written responses. After students write down their own answers, you might offer one or both of the resources below and ask students to discuss the ways in which these definitions might be too narrow or limited in their scope.

• This page from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines the word “argument.”
• This page from the philosophy department of Texas A&M University offers an extended definition of “argument” with examples.

2. What qualities does an effective argument have? What rhetorical techniques do people use to persuade others?

Teaching Suggestion: Another important goal of Everything’s an Argument is to explore how effective arguments are constructed and presented.