Overview:

As we turn this week towards our final writing project of addressing issues through a research-based essay, one important first step is to read and evaluate different ways that writers choose to address issues. You will read several different kinds of arguments that address issues in different ways: response, evaluation, cause/effect, proposal, and explaining/extending. While you are reading, think about how each  of these approaches to addressing arguments might be useful to you in writing your research essay.  

Note: for whichever of these approaches to addressing issues you find useful, look to the appropriate chapter for more example essays and strategies for writing.

Readings:

Read three of the five (3/5) essays listed below. Choose the essays that correspond to the approach that you think will be most useful to you in writing the Addressing Issues research essay. 

Note that the first essay is an online article; the rest are from the CEL.

• Explaining / Extending – (online article) Mikki Kendall, “Hot Sauce in Her Bag” (Eater magazine) (Links to an external site.) 
• Responding – Winhover, “Power of Failure” in CEL Ch. 9, p. 279
• Evaluating – Abdul-Jabar, “Important and Flawed” in CEL Ch. 10, p.305
• Finding Cause / Effect – Greenwell, “Why Millennials Are Weak” in CEL CH. 11, p. 346
• Proposing Solutions – Zomorodi, “Hi, I’m a Digital Junkie” in CEL Ch. 12, p. 367

Assignment:

Write a short response (at least 200 words) in which you discuss the purpose and effectiveness of the essays you read. Address as many of the questions below as you can in your response. Refer specifically to passages from at least one reading to illustrate your ideas.

• Of the readings, which did you find most compelling? Why?
• What was the writer’s primary purpose in the essay that you found most compelling? How did the writer supportthis purpose?
• Which of the different approaches to addressing issues stood out to you as most useful to you as a model for how you want to write your research essay? Why?
• What elements of writing (content, organization, style) and rhetorical tools (context, thesis, appeals to audience) can you take away from these readings to use in your own writing?  

 (Links to an external site.)

 Grading:

This writing activity will be graded out of 20 possible points, and will count towards the total “Activities” grade for the course. See the writing activity rubric below for criteria and scoring.