| Essay #1 builds on the research you
have already done this semester, even as the writing of the project
itself will demonstrate why additional research will surely
need to be done. There is a particular "structure" to most academic
arguments, one expected by college professors, and this piece of writing
should fit into this fairly traditional model. The purpose of this
project is to give students an opportunity to test their skills at
academic argument.
The following parts are usually (though
not always or in this order) part of academic argumentation.
- kairos: the writer demonstrates through reference to culture/society
or other writers or both why this topic is relevant now, why
this point in history is an opportune time to explore this issue and
thus to act in some way.
- refutation: the writer, either in a section or throughout the argument,
makes reference to opinions contrary to his/her own and demonstrates
why these ways of thinking/acting are not appropriate and
thus why the writer's argument/suggestions/plans/etc. are more workable
or approprite or practical.
- ethos: the writer demonstrates his/her credibility by effectively
citing source (and thus avoiding plagiarism), using only those sources
most suited to the current argument, bridging the gaps between the
reader's knowledge of the topic and writer's advanced (i.e.,
researched) knowledge of the topic.
- logos: the writer uses the most logical arguments available
to him/her and attempts to convince the reader that these arguments/suggestions/plans/etc.
are likewise the most logical course for the reader to follow.
- Works Cited: the writer includes a list of his/her resources that
have been quoted, summarized, or paraphrased as elements of the writer's
argument.
These five "traits" will be central to the evaluation of Essay #1
Cover Memo: Essay #1
For the Writer's Memo, I want you to demonstrate your abilities as the
type of writer who knows his/her choices, makes decisions carefully
and effectively. If we spend two weeks (or more, sometimes) inventing
information, drafting possible
versions
of
a text,
responding
to each
other, revising our texts, etc., then you should be able to talk about
the processes you went through to get to this finished draft. To that
end, please draft a memo to me, as teacher-evaluator, to help me see
your particular processes and what vision you have for this text (that
I might have a context in which to read). Below is a template you can
use for your memo:
Student Name
Course # & Section
Teacher Name
Date
Writer's Memo
Paragraph #1: Trace the evolution of this project. When did
you decide on this topic? What topics did you reject in favor
of this one? How did your topic evolve from what you knew at
first to what you know now? (Other comment relevant to topic
evolution)
Paragraph #2: Discuss the specific revisions you've made to
the project. What revision suggestions did you get? from whom?
Which did you choose to use? Why? Which did you reject? Why?
Where in the project did you make these changes? What effects
do these choices have on your project/your readers? Why? Be specific
about who helped you and what the reviewers suggested!
Paragraph #3: Purpose/Audience. Explain in one sentence
what the purpose of your project is: are you trying to argue
something? persuade a reader about something? tell as story to
illustrate a point about the world? explore pertinent issues?
etc . . . Then, tell me who your primary audience is
(those you most want to write to) and why you chose them. (For
your academic paper, you might explain which major/discipline
would be most interested in your research and why.)
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You should be able to produce this memo in one single-spaced page. If
you can't say it in one page, cut cut cut. Sometimes, to write reflective/analytical
pieces like these, we start by rambling, trying to figure out what we
have to say. Fine, but go back and get rid of the "fluff." I
won't accept them if they're not typed and single-spaced in Times New
Roman 12 pt. font.
Essay #1 Packet
For your first essay packet, you'll need to turn in all the materials
you've used/created as part of the process of creating the essay itself.
In a folder (like your research packets), you should turn in the following
materails:
- Cover Memo
- Essay (double-spaced in MLA style, included
Works Cited)
- Draft 2 with Peer Review from class
- Draft 1 with Peer Review from class
- Stasis Heuristic/Worksheet
Items 1 & 2 should be on the left-hand side, stapled together; items
3 - 5 should be on the right-hand side, included as "evidence" of your
process.
Achieving Stasis
In order to do the best argument, writers have to think through their
proposed course of action (their argument) and determine what questions
readers may need answered. The following heuristic questions have been
with us since ancient times as a way to think through the important questions
readers will have. Your first "invention" activity for Essay #1, then,
is attempting to achieve stasis on your argument/topic/issue. Questions of Conjecture: “Is there an act to be considered?”
- Does it exist? Is it true?
- Where did it come from? How did it begin?
- What is its cause?
- Can it be changed?
Questions of Definition: “How can the
act be defined?”
- What kind of thing or event is it?
- To what larger class of things does it belong?
- What are its parts? How are they related?
Questions of Quality: “How serious is the act?”
Simple Questions
- Is it a good or a bad thing?
- Should it be sought or avoided?
- Is it right or wrong?
- Is it honorable or dishonorable?
Comparative Questions
- Is it better or worse
than something else?
- Is it more or less desirable than any alternatives?
- Is it more/less
right/wrong than something else?
- Is it more/less honorable than something
else?
- Is it more/less base than something else?
Questions of Policy: “Should this act be submitted to
some formal procedure?”
Deliberative Questions
- Should some action be taken?
- Given the rhetorical situation, what actions
are possible? Desirable?
- How will proposed actions change the current
state of affairs? Or should the current state of affairs remain
unchanged?
- How
will the proposed changes make things better? Worse? How? In
what ways? For whom?
Forensic Questions
- Should some state of affairs be regulated (or not)
by some formalized policy?
- Which policies can be implemented? Which cannot?
- What are the merits
of competing proposals? What are their defects?
- How is my proposal better
than others? Worse?
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