I went through the RC in the 70's to try to glean some more information and feel more comfortable going into the sections. Nothing super profound, but I was at least able to categorize them by their most common types. Feel free to add any other common structures that you find!
Straight/Regular Passages:
Topical Focus: Intro – Development – ReasoningDefend an Opinion: Intro – Opinion – Reasoning – Refute Opposing Opinion (last two can be switched)Phenomenon-Hypothesis: Intro/Phenomenon – Hypothesis – Reasoning/Refuting Opposing Hypothesis (last two can be switched)Comparative Passages:
Passage A:
Stating an Opinion: Intro – Development – ConclusionDefending a Thesis: Intro – Implications – ReasoningPassage B:
Building off of a position in Passage A and either refuting it or developing itIntroducing new factors and a new position of its own
1 comments
This is great. I have yet to look at the 70s RC, but have been doing something similar with 30s,40s and now the beginning of the 50s.