Instructions Part 1:
Compose a formal op-ed piece in response to a current social or political issue (hopefully an issue that you care about)—one that you actually want to see in print—that bridges the theoretical and conceptual learning of the first half of the summer session. Take seriously the challenge of adding something new to the public conversation, something you would like to have people read, and ultimately something you
Some questions that are useful to ask yourself when getting started include:
- What specific issue or controversy are you responding to?
- Why is it important to consider this issue now?
- What evidence/insight have other authors offered in support of their position(s)?
- What is problematic about the claim and/or the evidence that other author(s) used?
- What additional evidence or insight do you have that could shed new light onto the matter at hand?
Op-ed pieces run approximately 750-800 words. Make sure to adhere to this convention—do not exceed the word count—get used to writing succinctly. Writing less means you must be very precise. Your language should be professional and polished, and free of grammatical and syntactical errors. Also, please include: 1) a title of your work, the title of the source, and an acknowledgement of your target audience (imagine a potential publication outlet like The Appeal Democrat or the NYT); 2) conclude your paper with a one-sentence byline identifying yourself and your expertise (don’t include title and byline in word count).
Mentally annotate your editorial, looking for such aspects as an opening hook, placement of thesis statement, length of sentences, and the closing punch line. Remember to use the references in Module 5 as well as the readings about rhetoric to effectively write to your intended audience.
Instructions Part 2:
The Statement of Goals and Choices (SoGC) is a rhetorical reflection (analysis) that should accompany your op-ed. The purpose of the SoGC is to clarify for the instructor (and anyone else examining what you’ve produced for the phase) your intentions for the text and the specific choices that you have made to best reach your audience and achieve your goals. Your SOGC should be 2+ pages in length (longer than the actual op-ed piece. Questions your SOGC should answer include:
- Describe your goals for this project. What, specifically, is this piece trying to accomplish with your writing?
- What was the rhetorical situation created for this piece? In other words, what are the details of the context that you needed to consider speaker (you), audience, form/genre (including the place of publication), and purpose or goal for the work?
- What rhetorical moves did you make in your writing to make your argument. Why did you make these moves and not others that you may have considered? What were you hoping they would accomplish? Do you think you accomplished your goals? Were you effective? How do you know?
- What writing skills did you use during the course of this project? What can you do better now than you could do before? How has your thinking about writing changed or grown during the course of this project?