We begin the Public Debate assignment today. Do the Mission Critical assignment to the right in the panel on our class website –>
– work each section to the end, including exercises. Type your answers in a document file and send them to me at cynthia@firstyrcomp.org When finished, in the same file do the Argument Quiz (also to the right on the website –> ) completely from page 1 through the end. Do not type the questions, just include your answers to each question typed out in full. This is in preparation for completing your own argument paper at the end of the course due in hard copy on the day that we will do our final exam.
Your final essay is one in which you write your own argument in the stakeholder’s public debate you have chosen to do your literature review on. Before you write an argumentative paper it might be important to learn how to avoid common fallacies hence the worksheet approach to argumentation today. Please raise your hand if you have questions or send me an email.
cynthia
Writing Project #4: A Public Argument
We have spent a great deal of time looking at arguments made by others—many of them academics or professionals who make a living by making various claims and reporting them to the public. Our last project (Writing Assignment #3) allowed you to look at a variety of sources in order to develop a greater understanding of a particular topic and the way it is portrayed. Now that you have become familiar with the debate, it is time for you to make your argument.
The Conjectural Essay—This is the text the previous assignment was leading up to and preparing you to write. If you have done all the previous work to the best of your ability, you should already
have a focus for the essay, a plan for getting it done, and the research necessary to support the points you will make. But you still have a few things to think about:
1. What kind of argument will you write? You may have written position arguments—also called pro-con arguments— but for many issues, position arguments are not effective. For example, suppose you decided to write about the possibility of an influenza pandemic. A position argument would require you to take a position for or against, but you can’t really be either for or against a flu pandemic—it might happen regardless of your position. But you could investigate
various proposals for preventing one and argue for the proposal you think is the best.
You could also investigate the causes for pandemics in the past and argue for the reason or set of reasons you think is most likely responsible for the global spread of a disease. You could also argue for the effects you see that a pandemic would have on today’s world. Another way to approach this argument might be to focus on conditions that currently exist that will promote such a pandemic — and argue that these conditions need to be attended to. The above approaches constitute a proposal argument, an argument for cause, an argument for effects, and a call-to-action argument.
These are four types of arguments that work well in academic arguments, and you should choose one of them for your argument.
2. What sources will you use in the argument, and what material from those sources will you include and where? Choose carefully—you don’t want to throw in a quote or paraphrase just to use it. You need to integrate it into your argument in a meaningful way, using it to directly
support points you are making in the argument. Remember that you going to use 4 separate sources in your paper—not just 4 quotes or paraphrases but at least one quote or paraphrase from each of the 4 sources. That’s the minimum—you can use more than that but not less without a significant reduction of the grade. You must include a Works Cited page (and, no, it doesn’t count toward your total page count).
3. How will you make the argument your own? You need to make sure that you are in charge of your paper, not that your sources are. The argument should be in your words, not your sources’. The type of paper you need to avoid here is what I call the “Raggedy-Ann paper”—an essay in which one quote or paraphrase after another, “stitched together” with a line or two of your own, is the basis
of the paper. In this type of paper, your sources are in charge, and the language is your sources’. Use your sources to support what you say, clarify your points, or provide the exact words of your
opposition. Do not use them to state your points. If you submit a raggedy-ann paper, you cannot receive higher than a C on it.
Above all, strive to make your essay as engaging and interesting to your audience as possible. By investigating the texts available to you and becoming thoroughly aware of who your audience is —including their concerns and expectations of an argument—you can help yourself make your argument as effective and successful as possible.
Please Note: Your essay should have a clear and concise thesis statement. Make a clear argument, you can check your argumentation skills by doing the handouts provided: Arguments are important! Consult both your Argumentation and Rhetorical Moves handouts frequently please. Basic requirements for this assignment:
Please Note: Your essay should have a clear and concise thesis.
Due Dates: December 11th final draft due.
* Typed, stapled
* 12 pt. font, Times New Roman
* Double-spaced with 1-inch margins
* 5 full pages (not 4 ½)
* Must have an interesting and relevant title
cynthia
