Art of Argument: Informal Logic
Required Materials:
Books and supplies are not included in the purchase of the course.
- The Art of Argument: An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies 20th Anniversary 2023 Edition
- MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
- A binder or notebook for keeping track of daily class notes.
Ash White
[email protected]Ash White holds a BA in English and Theatre from Mary Baldwin University, and has taught literature, writing, and logic at the middle and secondary levels for twenty years. Ms. White is passionate about classical education and homeschooling. She and her husband Jon live in the Shenandoah Valley and are voracious lovers of books and music. If you visit their home, you'll find it difficult to determine which collection is largest: books or vinyl records!
Francie Longshore
[email protected]Francie Longshore has taught Latin, humanities, writing, and logic to middle schoolers, high schoolers, and undergraduate college students for over fifteen years. Most recently, she worked as the lead humanities teacher at an ecumenically-minded classical Christian school. She possesses an M. A. in Medieval Studies (Catholic University of America), an M. A. in Christian Thought with an emphasis in philosophy of religion (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), and a Ph. D. in Philosophy (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium). Francie lives in the Portland, Oregon area with her husband, two elementary-aged kids, and three cats. The kids are home-schooled and the cats are self-taught. When not reading Virgil or facilitating Socratic seminars, Francie enjoys a good game of Scrabble and the occasional British game show. In the summer, she can often be found turning tomatoes into salsa or blackberries into jam.
Jimmy Schambach
[email protected]Jimmy Schambach holds a Master of Divinity from Regent University, and a BA in theology and philosophy from Evangel University. Currently, he works as the executive director of a faith-based nonprofit organization called M28 Ministry, which operates out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In his past, Jimmy worked as a youth and young adult pastor at a large church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since his time in college, Jimmy has grown in his love for philosophy, logic, and theology. He has taught in many settings over the years and enjoys his classes at Scholé Academy. Jimmy and his wife, Tristin, live in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, where they have a young daughter named Aviana and a dog named Panda.
Peter Belfry
[email protected]Peter Belfry has a range of teaching and tutoring experience in a variety of subjects and age levels from kindergarten through to adult education at the college level and has taught at several classical, Christian and public schools. He has enjoyed having the experience of teaching Programming and Logic classes to students, which ties well to his background in philosophy and computer science. In addition to serving as an instructor with Schole, Peter serves as a professor of Computer Science and Video Game Development with Canadore College, teaching courses on Operating Systems and programming languages such as Windows, Linux, HTML, CSS, C++, C#, and Visual Basic as well as Artificial Intelligence, Object Oriented Programming, Mathematics, Business and Workplace Skills. Peter holds an Honors BA from Trent University in History as well as a BA in Education, specializing in History and Computer Science. He holds an MA from Knox Theological Seminary in Classical and Christian studies, which provides him a background for teaching from a classical perspective. For his MA program, he read and reflected on many of the Great Books as well as studied Scripture and church history. Peter has completed a week-long teacher training with the Association of Classical Christian Schools and Rockbridge Academy. His favorite piece of classical literature is Dante’s The Divine Comedy.
In addition to teaching, Peter also has experience serving in a pastoral role and enjoys volunteering to serve in his local church and community. He helps in evangelistic outreach as well as teaching lessons from the Bible. Peter has experience and training as an English as a Second Language instructor as well. He has experience teaching both online and in person. He believes in Scholé’s approach in seeking “restful learning” and believes that education should be life-giving and freeing for the soul as it should acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the source of all that is true, good and beautiful. Peter lives in the North Bay, Ontario area with his wife and twin boys.
Peter provides tutoring services with Scholé Academy and teaches the following classes: The Art of Argument: An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies, Formal Logic: The Discovery of Deduction, The Logic of Computer Programming, and The Art of Computer Programming.
Quarter 1
- What is Logic: Critical Thinking as a Way of Life
- Formal vs. Informal Logic
- Fallacies of Relevance: Ad Fontem Arguments
- Fallacies of Relevance: Appeals to Emotion
Quarter 2
- Continue Fallacies of Relevance: Appeals to Emotion
- Fallacies of Relevance: Red Herrings
- Unit 1 Cumulative Fallacy Assessment
Quarter 3
- Fallacies of Presupposition
- Fallacies of Induction
- Unit 2 Cumulative Fallacy Assessment
Quarter 4
- Fallacies of Clarity
- Unit 3 Cumulative Fallacy Assessment
- Final Exam
- Final Project
Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.
High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.
Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)
Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm
Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:
- Visit zoom.us/download.
- Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
- Open and run the installer on your computer.
- In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.
Scanner: In this class, students frequently submit homework assignments by scanning pages from their workbooks. Students and/or their parents should have easy access to a scanner and the ability to use it.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Explore our courses!
First, read the available course descriptions, noting prerequisites, target grades, and course objectives. If you think your student is prepared for the course, go ahead and register. After registration, a placement assessment may be provided to students, depending on the course and the student’s previous enrollment with Scholé Academy. Registration is finalized when the student’s placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.
All Courses | By Grade
Read the Student-Parent Handbook.
Please take careful note of our teaching philosophy, our technology requirements, our school policies, the parent agreement, and the distinctions between our grade levels.
Double-check the course section dates and times.
Make sure they don't conflict with other activities in your schedule or other courses you are purchasing. Our system will not catch double-bookings!
You're ready to add course selections to your cart!
Our Assistant to the Principal will be in touch with you after your enrollment to help you with next steps, including any placement evaluations that may be required for your course selections.
This registration will be finalized when the student's placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.