Applying George Hillocks Jr.’sTEACHING ARGUMENT WRITINGto core texts

“Argument is at the heart of critical thinking and academic discourse; it is the kind of writing students need to know for success in college and life—the kind of writing that the Common Core State Standards puts first.” George Hillocks, Jr.

“Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.” CCSS

My Brother Sam Is Dead

Quick Write: What is happening?

The Arrest of Sam Meeker

Close to midnight on December 12, 1778, Private Kinney and Private Grace escorted Private Samuel Meeker to the stockade. Meeker had a bloody nose and a cut on his chin. He was bound and unarmed. The three men had struggled in the woods off of the training ground. There were no other witnesses to the fight. The investigating officer took statements from these three, as well as Sam Meeker’s girlfriend Betsy Read, ad his younger brother Tim Meeker. The penalty for looting is death by firing squad.

Based on this diagram What do we know? Evidence data that supports a claim Warrants common sense rules laws scientific principles Backing support for warrants

TheDirections Step #1 1. Each group will read one witness statement. The

purpose of this activity is to reach a conclusion based on the evidence. Therefore, please suspend judgment until all of the evidence has been evaluated.

Use the Evidence/Warrant T-Chart to list the evidence. A warrant explains why the evidence is significant--how we know that this is true. Complete the chart based on the witness statements. Please use complete sentences.

 

Statement of Kinney and Grace On the night of December 12, 1777, we were crossing the training

ground looking for kindling wood. We heard a cry; seemed like it was coming from the forest. Then there was sounds that could have been a struggle. We thought we should investigate, so we walked down softly though the snow.

When the trees thinned out we saw a man bending over a dead cow. That sound we heard must have been when he killed her. He was busy cutting up the carcass before it could freeze, so we snuck up and knocked him down. Turns out he was Sam Meeker from our own regiment. He wasn’t any match for the two of us, and we brought him back to face justice.

 

Statement of Samuel MeekerAdapted from Collier and Collier, My Brother Sam is Dead, pages 180-181

On the night of December 12, 1777, I was with my brother Tim in the tavern pantry. We heard a noise coming from the barn. I think I said, “There are people out there.” Tim and I ran out to the barn and found four of the eight cows were gone.

I told Tim to pen up the remaining cattle while I ran around the house to the road, following the tracks in the snow. I knew the thieves couldn’t drive the cows very far through the deep snow. Most likely they’d be butchering them in the woods nearby.

I soon caught up to them. A soldier was just beginning to cut up a newly slaughtered cow. I yelled at him to stop when the second thief hit me from behind. I fought them as long as I could, but there were two and they had the butcher knife. After they tied me up, I heard them plotting to turn me in as the cattle thief—as if I would steal from my own family!

I did leave the barracks without permission, but I needed to warn my brother about thieves like these two. I never took and killed a cow, and my brother Tim can verify that.

Statement of Tim Meeker Late in the evening of December 12, 1777, I heard a kind of thump and then a cow

bawling. It sounded like something was bothering my eight head of cattle. I ran out through the kitchen toward the barn. It was dark, but there was a nearly full moon reflected on the snow and plenty enough light to see what happened. The barn doors were open. Two cows were standing in front of the barn blinking, and I could see two more behind. I dashed into the barn. Four of the cows were gone.

  I could see hoof prints in the snow, leading away from the barn. I snatched up a shovel

and drove the remaining four cattle back into the barn with the handle. They were balky, and it took me a few minutes to get them inside and the door shut and latched. Then I raced across the snow and around the house to the road. I saw nothing, but distantly I heard the noise of shouting, off toward the end of the training ground. I ran in the direction of the sounds, and then suddenly I saw three men walking toward me through the moonlight, side by side. I stopped and waited. They came up. The one in the middle was my brother Sam. His nose was bleeding and there was a cut on his chin. His hands were tied behind his back.

“Timmy, get Colonel Parsons,” he cried. “They’re taking me in as a cattle thief.”

  Adapted from My Brother Sam is Dead, pages 180-181.

Second Statement of Tim Meekerbased on My Brother Sam is Dead pages 173-174

Yes, I did imply that I was alone when the theft occurred, but that was only because I didn’t want to get Sam in trouble for being off base. I swear he was with me when we heard the commotion. He ran off to try and save the cows. He would never steal from us.

  I remember the time Colonel Parsons brought Sam to Redding. We hadn’t

seen him since before Father got taken. Mother and I noticed how thin Sam was. He told us then to butcher our cattle and hide the meat. Mother didn’t believe him. “You mean your troops are stealing from your own people?”

Sam said, “A starving man will steal food from babies.” Anyway, the troops knew Redding was a Tory town. “And let me tell you,” he continued, “it’s pretty easy to decide somebody’s a Tory when you haven’t eaten anything but hardtack and pork fat for weeks. I’ve done it myself.”

Statement of Betsy ReadAdapted from Collier and Collier, My Brother Sam is Dead, pages 36-37

• I met Sam Meeker in Tom Warrups’ cabin to say good-bye. He was going to join up in the Continental Army. His father was against his leaving. Well, everyone knows he’s a Tory. Anyway Sam’s little brother Tim showed up, real upset.

• “Sam,” he shouted, “you stole Father’s Brown Bess.” • That was their name for the family musket. Sam tried to explain that he needed it.

“You don’t expect me to fight without a gun, do you?”• “Timmy,” I said, “you don’t want Sam to get killed, do you?”• Tim insisted that the gun belonged to his father, who needed it for protection. But

in the end, he agreed to keep silent, for Sam’s sake. • I did hear that Sam’s father got kidnapped by the cattle rustlers. No, he didn’t have

any gun to defend himself. He died in a prison ship.

Chart the data

Evidence Warrant

Step #2 Share your Evidence/Warrant Chart. Evaluate the testimony. Step #3 Jigsaw: count off to 4 in each group.

New groups will form according to numbers: each new group will have one expert on each witness.

Step #4 Synthesize your conclusions: what really happened?

Evaluating Credibility Consistency Corroboration Bias Probability or Reasonable Doubt

Write The Crime Scene Report1. Describe the physical evidence.2. Summarize the witness statements.3. Formulate a claim.4. Explain how each piece of evidence supports

your claim.5. Make a recommendation.

Share your reports with the class

Quick Write: How could you apply this approach to your class?

from The Testing Trap, George Hillocks, Jr. 2002

1. Current traditional rhetoric (CTR) Assumes: “truth is objective and may be apprehended directly through observation of the world and our experience of it.” (21)“If truth is directly apprehensible, it is necessary for the writer merely to explain it. Argument is unnecessary. Furthermore, if truth is unproblematic … then instruction may focus on the form of the writing.” (21)Classroom focus:” teaching form while largely ignoring content” (25).

Content: How do we know what we know?

2. Expressivist rhetoric

Assumes: “truth is conceived as the result of a private vision that must be constantly consulted in writing” J.A. Berlin 1982 (24)“The development of ideas is viewed as dependent on the person’s beliefs, insight, and experience” (25)Classroom focus: “personal reconstruction of the story…recreated personal experiences of their own…sharing the written or oral products” (25).

3. Epistemic rhetoric Assumes: “learning is socially situated and that individuals learn

procedures for idea development and for thinking through problems in the give-and-take of discussion, especially when problems have been structured for that purpose” (26).

Classroom focus: “substantive arguments, sometimes about facts, what happened or happens in the real world of experience; sometimes about judgments of events, people, and ideas; and sometimes about policies, what should be done in a given situation considering all of the factors involved” (26).

Characteristics of the Epistemic Class Student discussion is maximized. Discussion focuses on structured problems that are

complex and not subject to simple solutions. Discussions often serve as preparation for writing but

may also serve to help students learn strategies for critical thinking that they will later use in writing.

Discussion takes the form of deliberative thinking about alternatives.

Ideas and their development are central, with form emerging from them.

Research shows that when composition is taught from the stance of CTR, results tend to be very weak.

Classroom teaching that makes use of expressivist rhetoric, on the other hand, has positive effects on the writing of students about eight to nine times as great.

In teaching that takes an epistemic stance, the effects are 22 times as great” (Hillocks, 1986).

Works Cited Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. My Brother Sam Is Dead. New York:

Four Winds, 1974. Print.

Hillocks, George. Teaching Argument Writing, Grades 6-12: Supporting Claims with

Relevant Evidence and Clear Reasoning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2011.

Print.

Hillocks, George. The Testing Trap: How State Writing Assessments Control Learning.

New York: Teachers College, 2002. Print.