The Research Seminar: Building a Defensible Position: Reading Unit 7, Grade 12 (Letters & Devotion)

Description

The Research Seminar: Building a Defensible Position is Unit 7 of Literature, Rhetoric, and the Examined Life (Part 2) (Grade 12), the Letters & Devotion Reading course, complete in one printable PDF: 10 lessons, the unit check-up and the answer key, 91 pages.

• The difference between a researchable question and a debate prompt
• The four-part credibility checklist (authorship, evidence base, affiliation, currency) run mechanically on a source where all four data points are visible without extra searching
• Credibility criteria (authorship, evidence base, affiliation, currency) applied to an unfiltered source
• The independence of source credibility from agreement with the student’s claim
• Counterargument-hunting as a deliberate search strategy distinct from evidence-gathering
• Synthesis of conflicting sources versus additive summary
• Thesis revision in response to counter-evidence as strengthening versus abandoning an argument
• Citation mechanics across five source types in one citation style
• Transfer of the full research-planning cycle to an unrehearsed contested claim
• Identification of one’s own argument’s weakest point under live questioning

Every lesson is written for a parent with no teaching background: it opens with a short script to read aloud, names the specific wrong idea a student is likely to reach for and how to correct it, and closes with a practice sheet you may copy for your household. Scripture references are King James Version throughout. Black-and-white, 8.5 x 11 in. The whole year of this course is also in this store as a single book.

AI note: The written content of this resource was drafted with AI tools, then reviewed and edited by the author.