What are We Doing and Why?

The purpose of this activity is to begin to learn more about how to civilly agree or disagree with someone's spoken or written argument. This is easier to achieve when you are willing to explore both sides of an issue or argument. In our online class discussions we can use some civil and respectful guidelines for our responses even if we may be on opposite sides of an argument.

After completing this activity, you will be able to say:

I can agree or disagree with multiple perspectives in a respectful and civil way.

What Steps do I Take?

You will start by reading the article "How to Disagree with Civility" by Ellen Finnigan.
After reading, think about what sentence stems you can use in your future discussion responses if you agree/disagree with a classmate's argument.
You can refer back to this article when you are ready to respond to a peer's argument in this module's speaking project activity.

How do I Know I've Been Successful?

With the information in this activity you should be able to explain what a Socratic seminar is and prepare to participate in an online version.

Submission Guidelines

This information is for you and doesn't need to be submitted for a score.

Assignment References and Resources (click to expand)

Finnigan, E. (2025). How to Disagree with Civility. Kolbe Academy. https://www.kolbe.org/blog/how-to-disagree-with-civility#:~:text=Be%20more%20concerned%20with%20being,can%20learn%20from%20each%20other.