4
Additional Activities
These are activities — individual, group, or classroom — that instructors may choose to use as part of their curriculum.
Name:
chapteR 3: ethical communication
defining PLAGIARISM activity
Directions: Your task is to research your university/college's plagiarism policies. How does the school define plagiarism? And, what are the consequences of getting caught? Then, take the chance to reflect your plan to avoid plagiarism.
How does your school define plagiarism?
What are the policies set forth by the university/college? (Be sure to cite where you obtained the information):
Name:
chapteR 3: ethical communication
defining PLAGIARISM activity, CONT.
What are the consequences of getting caught (from the university and beyond)?
What steps will you take to avoid plagiarism?
Name:
chapteR 5: choosing topics
Topic SELECTION & construction:
informative speech
I. Narrowing the Topic & Audience Analysis
Directions: After you have generated ideas for your topic, you must select the topic. Remember to consider you, your audience, and the occasion. The following template can help you to consider these important focuses for your presentation.
1. Identify your topic:
2. Briefly describe your topic:
3. Provide a rationale for selecting this topic:
4. Why is this topic important for your audience?
5. How can you relate your topic to their experiences?
6. How much time do you have to prepare for your presentation?
7. How long is the presentation?
8. How many sub-topics will you have to present in your limited time?
9. What sub-topics are possibilities?
II. Thesis Statement Construction
Directions: After you have selected your topic, it is time to begin constructing your thesis statement. The following template will help guide you through the process of doing so. Please consult your text for additional examples and guidelines for constructing these items, as well.
1. State your General Purpose:
2. State your Specific Purpose:
3. Identify the how you will divide your speech (time, space, or sub-topic):
4. Create Labels for Your Main Points or Claims in 2-3 words (ensure that they are parallel):
a.
b.
c.
5. State your Thesis Statement:
Check the box if your thesis statement contains:
4
q General Purpose
q Specific Purpose
q Topic and Direction
q Main Points/Claims
q Clear & Parallel Labels for Main Pts.
q Organizational Pattern
q Complete declarative statement
q No figurative language
4
What is missing/needs revision?
6. Revised Thesis Statement:
4
Name:
chapteR 6: analyzing your audience
USING the Questionnaire Method to Analyze Your Audience
Directions:
1. Get speech topic approved by instructor.
2. After your informative speech topic has been approved, create a short 3-5 question survey for your classmates to complete. (As you have read about in Chapter Six, there are open and closed questions and scaled questions. The best questionnaire incorporates a combination of all types of questions.)
Things to Consider When Creating Your Questions:
§ What does this audience currently know about the topic? What prior experience does the audience have with the topic?
§ What questions do they have about the topic?
§ What are the audience members' interests in the topic? What aspects about the topic would they like to know more about?
§ How does the audience feel about the topic?
§ What are the audience members’ attitudes about the topic?
3. After you have obtained all of the questionnaires, you will need to analyze the information, and select and incorporate the key (or most interesting) information into your speech.
4. Incorporate a statistic or part of your results into your speech. Your relevance statement is perfect place to incorporate results from your questionnaire.
Example:
Questionnaire item: What would you do if you saw someone having a seizure?
Incorporation into speech:
What should you do if you see someone having a seizure? First, do not put anything in the individual’s mouth. 40% of the 21 students surveyed in this class indicated that you thought this was one thing you should do for a person having a seizure. This is a common misconception. Remember, the individual cannot swallow his/her tongue.
24
Name:
chapteR 7: locating supporting material
TESTING EVIDENCE
Directions: Read the following statements, and determine which of the tests of evidence that the following excerpts violate—timeliness, credibility, or bias.
1. According to Sean Penn in a recent interview, the United States needs to change its foreign policy in the Middle East otherwise it will be impossible to bring about lasting peace in the region.
2. Dr. Sherwood B. Idso, a research physicist with U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory, in Phoenix, Arizona, has found when enriched with more carbon dioxide, plants grow bigger and better, much like those of past geological epochs of biological prominence. "It well could be that the rising carbon dioxide content of Earth's atmosphere is actually a blessing in disguise and one of the better things that could happen to mankind and nature."
3. The most recent precedent for a blanket clemency came 16 years ago when the governor of New Mexico commuted the death sentences of the state's five death row inmates. However, calling his state's record on death penalty convictions "shameful," the governor of Illinois pardoned four men who claim to have been tortured into confessing murders they did not commit. In addition, he will announce before leaving office if he will grant clemency to any or all the state’s 160 death row inmates.
4. According to a survey conducted for Honda Motor Co., most people prefer cars produced by Honda to that of Ford, Mazda, Toyota and even Hyundai.
5. After months of preparations and the deployment of thousands of troops to try and bolster security, Iraqis anxiously await to cast ballots in the nation's first major free election in more than 50 years.
6. A "60 Minutes" story reported by Dan Rather, disclosed 30-year-old memos, shedding a negative light on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. According to Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, he helped Bush get into the Air Guard, which was seen as a way to avoid serving in Vietnam.
7. According to www.celebritygossip/insiderinformation/123.com, Julia Roberts and her husband Danny Moder hired a former Secret Service agent who served for the Clinton administration as their twins’ live-in nanny.
8. The White House announced that President Bush has nominated Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser and one of his closest counselors, to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state. If nominated and confirmed, Rice would be the second woman and the second African American to be the nation's top foreign policy representative.
Name:
chapteR 7: locating supporting material
EVALUATING SOURCES—A LOOK AT MULTIPLE SOURCES
Directions: Your group is responsible for determining the credibility of your assigned source. Using your source as the discussion point, answer and discuss the following questions with your group members.
Name of Source:
Title of Article:
Author of Article:
Source Credibility
1. If I were listening to a speech and someone used this source, would I think the source was credible? Why or Why not?
2. What is the reputation of the source?
3. Is this source known for making fraudulent claims?
Author Credibility
4. What credibility does the author(s) of the article have?
5. How did the author(s) of the article find the information they report?
a. Is that the best way to collect information?
b. How would I collect information differently than the author(s)?
Argument Credibility
6. Do the claims in the article make sense in the context it is presented in?
7. Can these claims be generalized to other fields of study/contexts?
8. Is the information presented objectively or is it skewed in one direction?
Speaker Credibility
9. If I were listening to a speech and someone used this source, would I think the speaker was credible? Why or why not?
10. What are the implications of using this source for the speaker? Discuss strengths and weaknesses.
Name:
chapteR 7: locating supporting material
CITING SOURCES
Directions:
Part I: Using your sources, create a Reference List. Use your Student Workbook as a reference for citing the sources properly. Be sure your list is in alphabetical order.
References
Name:
chapteR 7: locating supporting material
CITING SOURCES, CONT.
Part II. Find a passage for each source that you would present in your speech. Create an oral citation for each source. Use your textbook as your guide for orally citing sources.
Source Type:
Oral Citation:
Source Type:
Oral Citation:
Source Type:
Oral Citation:
Source Type:
Oral Citation:
Source Type:
Oral Citation:
ORGANIZATION & OUTLINING
Directions:
In your small group, choose a sitcom character to write about and share with the class. Outline the body of a presentation about that person, organizing a description of that person chronologically, topically, or spatially. Add support (fictitious examples and sources) to your speech. Later, we will add the introduction and conclusion. Then, be prepared to present your mini-speech to the class as a group. Remember, be creative!
EXAMPLE: Joey on Friends
II. Chronological
A. His past
B. His present
C. His future
OR
II. Topical (Joey’s escapades)
A. Escapade 1
B. Escapade 2
C. Escapade 3
OR
II. Spatial
A. Joey’s Head
1. Physical
2. Psychological
B. Joey’s Body
1. Characteristic 1
2. Characteristic 2
3. Characteristic 3
INTRODUCTIONS & CONCLUSIONS
Directions:
Use the body of your sitcom character presentation and add an introduction and conclusion. Remember to include all the goals of an introduction and conclusion.
EXAMPLE: Joey on Friends
I. Introduction
A. Attention Getter: "How YOU doin'?"(impersonating Joey)...a famous pick-up...originated by the one and only loveable Joey Tribbiani from Friends.
B. Relevance Statement: When asked in a class questionnaire only 75% of the class has seen a Friends episode and, of those, 45% said Kramer was their favorite character. While this show may only be present in re-run format currently, it is definitely a classic, and it has paved the way for many situational comedy sitcoms today.
C. Credibility Statement: We are avid viewers and fans of Friends, especially the Joey character. One group has a member who has seen every episode and was actually able to attend a live taping of the show.
D. Preview Statement: Therefore, we would like to present some unique information regarding Joey's past, present, and future.
II. Body
A. His past
B. His present
C. His future
III. Conclusion
A. Summary: To close, Joey Tribbiani may not be the sophisticated television character. But, we love him, not for his sophistication, but for his secret past, comical present, and unpredictable future.
B. Memorable Close: When the world issues can become somber, and we are stressed with our normal daily lives, Joey Tribbiani can bring some laughter to lighten our load.
Name:
chapteR 11: using APPROPRIATE language
JARGON SLEUTH
Directions: Read the following short stories. Decode the jargon, and determine what occupation is represented in the story.
1. Babyface lost the card. Unfortunately, Face was juicing in the squared circle. Many popped at the heel. There were many smarks as well as marks at the over house show.
What occupation is represented in this story?
2. At the Nosebag Show, one Bucker reported seeing a barber chair as well as conks. The Buckers discussed their fear of a crown fire as they had hiyu evidence to predict its coming.
What occupation is represented in this story?
3. The individual comprehensive plan team expects the person to have face-to-face contacts or a collateral contacts in order to monitor, coordinate, and refer the consumer to rehabilitative or habilitative services.
What occupation is represented in this story?
4. The WCM code migration caused an outage for the portal. During the RCA, it was found that the WCM DB connection was lost and the portal CPU utilization spiked. This caused garbage collection to fail and the JVM crashed.
What occupation is represented in this story?
Name:
chapteR 16: bUILDING ARGUMENTS
QUESTIONING ASSUMPTIONS
Definition:
A social assumption is a statement which most people accept as true. A social assumption may or may not be true based on the conclusions of tests and may or may not have a strong factual basis. Indeed, a social assumption may be based on fact, but it is often the case that many people accept the statement for incorrect reasons.
Directions: Read the following social assumptions. Brainstorm at least two or three alternative explanations for each. [Remember, true brainstorming allows even far-fetched ideas to make the list.] Then, choose the explanation you think is the most realistic. When you are finished, come up with your own social assumptions and alternative explanations.
Class Example:
Social Assumption: Most scientists are men.
Example Explanation: Men are better scientists.
Other Alternative Explanations:
1. Social Assumption: Fast food leads to obesity.
Alternative Explanations:
2. Social Assumption: Watching television leads to violent actions.
Alternative Explanations:
Name:
chapteR 16: bUILDING ARGUMENTS
QUESTIONING ASSUMPTIONS
3. Social Assumption: Women over 30 conceive twins more often than younger women.
Alternative Explanations:
4. Social Assumption: You get what you pay for.
Alternative Explanations:
Other Ideas...
Social Assumption:
Alternative Explanations:
Social Assumption:
Alternative Explanations:
Name:
chapteR 16: bUILDING ARGUMENTS
Evidence CREDIBILITY
Directions:
A. Answer the following questions.
1. Identify the claim to be supported by evidence:
2. What type of evidence will you use to support the claim (example, statistics, testimony)? Is this the most appropriate means of supporting this claim? Is this evidence appropriate for this audience?
3. Identify the author(s) of the evidence and develop a brief statement of credibility. Is the person(s) an expert on the subject? Is the person(s) reasonably objective? List the credentials of the author(s).
4. Identify the date of publication. Is this evidence timely? Does it account for what is currently happening in the status quo?
5. Where was the information published? Is this a credible source? Can you identify source bias?