American dream
In the previous assignment, you chose a side to a current issue to defend. Now you are going to do one of the following in a 5+ page essay:

• Using the category and/or topic you chose for Essay 2, propose a change. That is to say, what about your category/topic do you disagree with and how would you suggest making (a) change(s)?

OR

• Choosing a new category and/or topic from They Say/I Blog, what do you disagree with within that category/topic and how would you suggest making (a) change(s)?

To do so, you should
• provide a focused presentation of the issue
• take a clear position
• develop an argument supporting your position with plausible reasoning and convincing evidence and explanation (support)
• anticipate and rebut opposing positions and objections
• argue with an appropriate tone
(look at the assignment sheet for the Position essay for help with these elements)
In addition, you should use at least three outside sources to support all aspects of your argument. You may also use your own experiences, knowledge, and personal interviews. All sources should be used with appropriate documentation.
You may also want to
• evaluate your argument in terms of criteria for judging your topic;
• make a definitional argument about a key concept in your essay. If so, see the assignment sheet for the Position essay;
• make a causal argument as part of your overall argument. If so, see the assignment sheet for the Position essay;
• and/or propose (and argue for) an alternative.
Purpose: To persuade your audience to agree with your position.
Audience: You will direct your argument to whoever is appropriate given your topic choice.
Points to consider:
• Refer to the assignment sheets for past essays for guidance.
• Throughout your argument, be aware of what else your audience knows or does not know about your topic and what your audience’s priorities are.
• Make sure that all terms are clearly defined throughout your essay. Terms such as “reasonable,” “responsible,” “extreme,” “destructive,” and “moderate” are examples of words that would need to be defined in context for your reader.
• Remember you are trying to persuade your reader to agree with you. Readers will not agree with you just because you have an opinion; instead, you need to figure out why you have that opinion and then convey that why to your readers.
• Question your own assumptions. Such questioning may lead you to revising your initial opinion or may lead you to strengthening your initial opinion. Considering counterarguments is one way to question your assumptions.
• Remember that reasons should be arguable assertions about values, not statements of fact, and that they should be able to be stated as complete sentences. A reader should be able to state your reasons clearly and definitively after reading your essay.
• I cannot stress strongly enough that your essay must have ample specific evidence. You cannot simply make assertions and generalizations to have a successful argument. You are expected to be familiar with the arguments and information in the articles we read in class and to use them where appropriate. Be sure that you support all aspects of your argument.
• Although there is no minimum or maximum requirement for how much you use outside sources, you should use enough outside evidence to give your argument credible but not so much that you drown you own argument in the arguments of others. Also, you will need to put outside sources in context in your own argument.
• Remember you must anticipate and rebut objections. You will need to think about your rebuttals early in the writing process so that you can be sure none of your opposition’s points are more persuasive to you than your own position.
• This argument is the culmination of the work you have done this semester, so I expect it to be complex. This essay is a POSITION essay, but, although NOT required, incorporating aspects of an evaluation, causal, definitional, and/or proposal argument can make your argument stronger and more comprehensive However, do not insert evaluation, causal, definitional, and/or proposal arguments just for the sake of including them; rather, include them only if they are an integral part of your overall argument.
• Be aware of your audience as you organize and construct your argument and also as you adopt a tone: be aware of how your audience may react to your argument so you know how accommodating or how confrontational to be
• Think of your argument as a pyramid: a broad foundation of evidence supports a smaller section of reasoning that supports the very small top of the pyramid, which is your judgment. Thus, the bulk of your essay will be EVIDENCE.
• Do not automatically write a five paragraph essay; make your argument as long as it needs to be. Organize your essay around your argument, not around how long you think an essay is supposed to be. Please note that this essay is to be LONGER than your other essays.
• You will need to follow MLA guidelines for using quotations in your essay. Refer to the NFG, PPTs on Angel, and me for guidance.

You will also “present” this paper to your classmates. This will entail one of three things:

• Create and present a PowerPoint presentation
• Create and present a Prezi presentation
• Create a video and/or audio supplement to your essay discussing your essays highlights
o See the Prezi/video I’ve posted on Angel with a more detailed explanation of what this all entails!

You cannot simply read from your essay! Give us the Cliff’s Notes version of your essay in a presentation of up to 5 minutes. While you present this assignment, you will also be evaluating your classmates on their presentations. Explanation of the grading of this presentation – both my rubric and the one you will use – will be included at the end of this assignment sheet.

Composing Strategies:

Getting Started. Choose a style of pre-writing that suits you. As a reminder: Make lists, freewrite, create an idea web, etc. Don’t forget about the hints on p. 212-213 and in Ch. 23 in NFG!

Drafting. For this Essay, you will compose a minimum of 2 drafts: one for your classmates to respond and one for me to respond. As well, you and I will meet one-on-one to discuss the assignment. When you arrive to our meeting, I will expect a revised draft and any questions you may have regarding revisions, MLA format, etc. While I will be happy to look over any drafts of this assignment, I will only grade the final version!

Draft due for Peer Review: April 21 – 27

Draft due for my review: April 28 – May 4

Revising and Editing. Take all suggestions made into consideration when working on your drafts; these suggestions are made for a reason: missing information, lack of clarity, etc. Unless you are quoting dialog or song lyrics, you should write your essay in correct standard English. You may write to inform, move, or entertain your readers–but don’t try to impress them. To help you, consult the chapters for rhetorical situations in NFG.

This is a refrain you will hear often and for a good reason: save enough time to proofread carefully. Don’t let surface errors distract the reader and undermine your hard work.

Readings: The following are suggested readings so that you can successfully complete this assignment.

Norton Field Guide Ch. 17 p. 171-179 (by Draft 1) They Say/I Say Ch. 3 p. 42-50

NFG Ch. 46 p. 408-419 They Say/I Say Ch. 5 p. 68-75 (before Draft 2)

NGF Ch. 47 p. 420-424 They Say/I Say Ch. 6 p. 78-90

NFG Ch. 49 p. 432-476 They Say/I Say Ch. 7 p. 92-100 (before Draft 2)

They Say/I Say Ch. 1 p. 19-28 They Say/I Say Ch. 8 p. 105-118 (before Draft 2)

They Say/I Say Ch. 2 p. 30-40

ORDER THIS ESSAY HERE NOW AND GET A DISCOUNT !!!