1. . ----- Meeting Notes (1/30/13 14:10) ----- Introductory remarks:
Murray and SOFT
Writing Center workshop
"backbone of academic writing"
most students in FYW drilled on it, though may not do it well
"Nice thesis"
A.S. Hill and "unity": "Unity in expression groups out of unity in though; a writer who is in the habit of grouping things in his mind that belong together is more likely to form his sentences on a similar princple that one whose mind is a scene of confusion."

2. m a thug thesis. ----- Meeting Notes (1/30/13 14:10) -----
Another side to the thesis "instead of offering a guiding hand it carries a baseball bat."
Thug thesis
. This thesis is a thug that muscles its way into writers’ thoughts and beats information into submission. The thuggy thesis is a bully, insisting that everything is subordinate to him. He is master. Unfortunately, this is the thesis that most of our students bring with them into our writing classes.

3. I’m not here today to argue that there is no place for the thesis-proof paper in our writing classes. I’m not against thesis statements. What does bother me, though, is how thoroughly this convention dominates our discussions about what is meant by strong academic writing. The thesis has been hogging the bed, and I think it’s time to make more room for its tossing-and-turning partner in academic inquiry: the question

4.  Thesis.
A proposition laid down or stated, esp. as a theme to be discussed and proved, or to be maintained against attack (in Logic sometimes as distinct from hypothesisn. 2, in Rhetoric from antithesis n. 3a); a statement, assertion, tenet.
History
Will return later to WC
Where did it come from? How did we surrender the bed?
Survey of textbooks: tell the story of composition, and can infer the story behind the story
Connors
First mention in single 1939 text. More common in 50’s and 60’s. Now a fixture.
“Proposition” and argument. Thesis applies to all forms.
Origins in classical rhetoric?
5-paragraph theme
Thesis is type of general question
Hypothesis is specific application.
“Should I marry”
Should I marry Karen?”
----- Meeting Notes (2/1/13 07:46) -----
Thesis part of dialectic and was intended to force agreement through syllogism.
Hypothesis.
A supposition in general; something supposed or assumed to be true without proof or conclusive evidence; an assumption.

5. Implies mastery, authority, hiearchy
Form establishes relationship to reality—to knowledge—and patterns thought.
Fort
Fort: the “only ideas that are acceptable are those that can be proved.”
“If the only form in which the writer can express himself in literature requires a thesis, then he has to look at literature as a source of theses.”

6. But this isn’t the kind of thesis we teach!

7. Habit of rushing to judgment
The thug thesis is like the mallet in the arcade game whack-a-mole—a weapon for keeping discovery in its place: out of sight.
Is a valid form of deductive reasoning but rhetorically limited.
“well-defined” vs. “ill-defined problems”

8. Some Problems with the Bully Thesis
It limits what students can write about.
It reinforces simplistic ideas about the nature of knowledge.
It suggests that deductive reasoning is the best method of solving complicated problems.
1. Only topics that can be proved. Inquiry?
Everything can be proved. One right answer. Just have to find “right” authorities.
Rhetorically limited
But what’s the alternative?
At least equal emphasis on the question.
What is a good question?
One that leads to judgment.

9. Is Elvis dead?
What does the enduring belief among some that Elvis is still alive say about the nature of celebrity in our culture?

10. “Questions arise from partial knowledge and not complete ignorance.”
Sintonen, “Reasoning to Hypothesis: Where do Questions Come?

11. Questions of fact or definition: What is known? What is it?
Know little
Questions of fact or definition: What is known? What is it?
What good is it? (Value)
What is the best explanation? (Hypothesis)
What is the relationship? (Analogy and Comparison)
What should be done? (Policy)
What does it mean (Interpretation)
What do the facts suggest is true? (Proposition)
Seeing the developmental arc.—from curiosity to judgment.
Questions loosely linked to certain forms.
Know a lot

12. How do I know what I think until I see what I say?
Open
(to find out)
Direct
(to prove or explain)
How do I know what I think until I see what I say?
I know what I think, now how can I say it?
Question
Purpose
Invention
Arrangement
Question driven discourse: essay. This is what I know now. Alternative pattern of thought, opens up topics. Emphasis on invention.
The world of everyday writing might be seen broadly as constituting two situations. The most common of these, which I’ll call “direct,” are situations in which the writer pretty much knows what she wants to say before she starts writing, and typically her motive is to harness language to prove a point or share information. Most of our students assume that “direct” writing is what we expect from them, partly because that’s exactly what has always been expected of them in school. The other type of writing is “open-ended” situations in which the writer is trying to figure out what she thinks. She starts with questions rather than answers. The motive is to “find out” not, at least initially, to prove or explain. Open writing emerged in the last several decades with the writing process movement, and inspired by John Dewey, the problem-based or inquiry-based learning movements. The Curious Writer is designed to exploit open writing as a method of coming up with ideas that might be either used to more familiar direct writing or used in more exploratory “essayistic” writing.
What distinguishes open and direct writing isn’t just motive. It’s also what process concerns rise to the top. For direct writing, the primary concern is arrangement. How might the information that is already in the head be organized effectively? How can the point be made or the information be understood most clearly? This concern naturally leads to a particular interest in forms of writing, like the thesis-proof paper or five paragraph theme, that provide convenient ways to slot information. Invention (freewriting, listing, researching, observing, etc.) seems largely irrelevant to this process. Why turn to invention if you already know what you think? Open writing relies heavily on invention because this is a tool for exploring a question and encouraging discovery. It is through invention that writers discover their purpose. In direct writing the purpose drives the work from the beginning.
Open writing can lead to exploratory forms of writing like the essay in the Montaignian tradition. This elevates the process of coming to know over reporting on conclusions. And yet, open can lead to direct writing, and this is the model that The Curious Writer embraces. While students start with questions, not answers, they are encouraged to use invention to explore what they think, discover a purpose, and then organize the material in a more traditional way. Another way of thinking about this is that the open process can allow students to discover the thesis or claim behind their direct writing.
“Essay”
Thesis-proof,
Five-paragraph theme

13. Charles Pierce:
Abduction

14. My experiences with “X” make me think this is unique or unusual
My experiences with “X” make me think this is unique or unusual. (Doubt)
What might explain this?
Hypothesis
Look for clues.

16. Portion of men whose attractiveness is judged by U. S
Portion of men whose attractiveness is judged by U.S. women to be “worse than average” : 4/5
Portion of women about whom U.S. men say this : 2/5

18. Takes a situation and finds the story
Takes a situation and finds the story. The situation: the cultural obsession with American girl. The story: In a consumer society, even the lavish things we consume have expensive material needs, too.
Combines observations of with ideas about, narrative and reflection. It is an act of “sense-making” which is a part of inquiry and “higher order questioning.” It demonstrates the process of abduction
Speaks to audience about a familiar category of experience in writer’s own particular terms.
Deduction

19. Ima
Induction

20. The thesis is rhetorical not universal convention
Teach questions before answers