Writing More About Less

1. Writing More About Less Attaining depth

2. Analyzing Evidence in Depth: “10 on 1” •  How do you move from (a) making details speak and (b) explaining how evidence confirms and qualifies the claim to composing a paper? • Phrased as a general rule 10 on 1 holds that it is better to make ten observations or points about a single representative issue or example than to make the same basic point about ten related issues or examples (Writing Analytically, p. 207).

3. 10 on 1 Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 Representative Example: Point 5 (conclusion, argument, main point, anecdote, etc.) Point 6 Point 7 Point 8 Point 9 Point 10

4. Audience Interest • The more interesting claims you can make about your evidence and how it relates to your thesis, the more interesting your paper will be. • The number “10” does not always have to be reached in drawing conclusions about your example; “you should draw out as much meaning as possible from your best examples” (Writing Analytically, p. 211).

5. Goals for 10 on 1 • to locate the range of possible meanings your evidence suggests • to zoom in on specific variations within the general pattern of data found • to make you less inclined to cling to your first claim inflexibly • open the way for you to discover a way of representing more fully the complexity of your subject • to slow down the rush to generalization • ensure that when you arrive at a working thesis, it will be more specific and better able to account for your evidence.

6. Outcomes for 10 on 1 • Pushes you to start thinking more critically about your topic • Allows you to draw out the implications lying at the heart of your paper • Impels your mind to create as many new and interesting claims as it can

7. Applying 10 on 1 • Find 10 examples that share a trait (or as many examples, points, issues as you can). • Focus on one of these for in-depth analysis. • Proceeding in this way will guarantee that your example is representative. • In doing 10 on 1 you will take one part of the whole, • put it under a microscope, and • then generalize about the whole on the basis of your analysis.

8. Writing Development The Four Stages

9. Writing Development: Stage 1 • Dualism: • typical of college freshmen • dualists believe in a fixed or single truth that is available to all • when asked to choose between two or more alternatives, likely to do so based on the belief that a particular position is right or wrong • do not admit uncertainty and believe that authorities (teachers, texts, etc.) have the answers (From the Instructor's Manual for Writing and Reading Arguments: A Rhetoric and Reader, by Richard P. Batteiger)

10. Writing Development: Stage 2 • Multiplicity: recognize that multiple views can be found • impossible to be certain which are right • because no way (writer believes) to compare or evaluate alternatives; all are equally valid (From the Instructor's Manual for Writing and Reading Arguments: A Rhetoric and Reader, by Richard P. Batteiger)

11. Writing Development: Stage 3 • Relativism: • recognize that most questions and issues are complex and uncertain • compare and evaluate competing positions • may not know how to choose among equally plausible and convincing alternatives (From the Instructor's Manual for Writing and Reading Arguments: A Rhetoric and Reader, by Richard P. Batteiger)

12. Writing Development: Stage 4 • Commitment toRelativism: • use values to choose among available alternatives (From the Instructor's Manual for Writing and Reading Arguments: A Rhetoric and Reader, by Richard P. Batteiger) • Have developed CT Traits: • Humility • Courage • Empathy • Integrity • Perseverance • Faith in reason • Fair mindedness (From Gerald M. Nosich, Learning to Think Thins Through , 2009)