US History · Studio 1 · Week 2 — Dig

Read for the Argument

Every text in this studio was written to change something. Find out how.
8-min Huddle. Model the 3 tiers live on the MLK line, then release to source work.
The move this week

Digging isn't collecting quotes. It's finding each source's argument for why the system is failing, seeing how it's built, and judging whether it holds.

The three appeals — mark them in the margin
Ethos

credibility — "trust me, I would know."

Logos

logic — facts, reasons, evidence.

Pathos

emotion — makes you feel it.

The protocol — it climbs the R.9 scale
2.0
Find it

What's the claim? Where are ethos, logos, pathos?

3.0
Analyze it · target

What evidence backs the claim? How do the appeals work together? Who's the audience?

4.0
Evaluate it

What does the author assume? Where's it weakest?

Let's model it — MLK, from the Birmingham jail
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
— Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963 (fair-use excerpt)
Claim? Appeal? Who is his audience — and why does that make this line so pointed?
✍️ On your Source Annotation Protocol + Source Log now
Studio A & B

Run the three tiers on your first source. Then log it: what it says · what it means · the author's purpose · is it reliable. You need 1 primary + 1 secondary by Friday.

Using Beals' memoir? Add R.8 — what does her narrative do that a history book can't?
Before you leave Dig

Let your question
get sharper.

Most good research questions change in Week 2 — the argument comes from the reading. If your angle shifted, update your Contract.

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