March 3: Working on a draft for the persuasive essay

You spent today's class working on the drafts for your persuasive essays.  We began by going over the brainstorming for topics you did for homework.  As we wrote down the list, we began looking at the internet to see where we could find information relevant to your topics. 

Some useful links:

For federal legislation: www.Thomas.gov

Civil rights / human freedom issues (national) http://www.aclu.org/

Internet freedom issues http://www.eff.org/

Immigration reform http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer

Legalizing Marijuana http://www.justice.gov/dea/ongoing/legalization.html

Drinking age http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/alcohol/community%20guides%20html/PDFs/Public_App7.pdf

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26271328/ns/us_news-life/

General process for developing some pre-writing for your topic.

READ THE ASSIGNMENT SHEET  Throughout the process you should use the assignment sheet to direct your planning and drafting process.
Once you are clear on the demands of the assignment (who is your audience?  what do you need to do?  what form are you expected to use) - you might work through the following process.

1.  Find a statement you can argue against=> pay attention to the domain (.gov .org  .edu   .com)  + "importance" of the site you use for your statement to argue against

2. Locate other arguments on your topic - again- pay attention to the domain

3. List the point syou will need to argue to reply to "the other side"

4. list your points  (both what you will argue for and what you will argue against)

5.  map out the organization for your argument - what do you need to say first?  how will you establish your authority?  how can you get your audience (the other side) to "hear" your point of view?  What do you need to write to get them to listen?

General suggestions for organization (summed up from book)

1.  Set up the focus for your argument + why it is important

2. Sum up the position (and identify the group that takes that position) you will argue against

3. State your position (you don't necessarily have to do this directly or in terms of  a 3-part thesis => you might tell a story, or give an example to suggest another point of view; you might quote some experts who raise other points - etc)

4. Connect to your audience + establish your authority (why should your readers listen to you?  What special authority or expertise do you have to offer on this point?)

5. Make your points for and against the position - keep thinking about how your audience will receive your points

6. End with a strong point

7. Write a conclusion.  Again - this could be a story, a reflection on what this issue means or why it is important that sums up your ideas, or it can be a logical re-statement of the arguments 

For Tuesday:

Write:  Draft for the persuasive essay - send your essays to ENG1031@gmail.com before class Tuesday.  You will workshop your drafts and work on revising them in class.  

Have a good weekend!