This is supposed to be an argument based research paper. The following is the instructions from the teacher. Your argument should do all of the following: – Be aimed toward an audience outside the classroom/assignment context. – Introduce those readers to the general subject matter in a gradual, thorough way that doesnt slingshot them into the thesis within one or two sentences. What you want to do is start drafting your position on your topic, with plenty of VOICE. Voice in writing is articulation, through attitude, confidence, personality, cleverness, curiosity, criticism, and precise diction. Here’s an example of writing with no voice: This action causes harm to the ocean and should be regulated. Now here’s the same statement but with voice: This unregulated destruction of the oceans by the plastics industry needs to stop right now. And the only way that’s going to happen is through tough environmental-protection regulation out of Washington – not by deregulating the EPA protections that are already too weak. No voice: We need to be aware of how our behaviors affect others. Voice: We all need to quit being arrogant, rude, selfish creeps to each other. No voice: Voting either Yes or No on the bear hunt issue today will have no impact. Voice: Dont even waste your time voting on the bear hunt issue today. Our state legislators decided months ago that our opinions dont count, and neither does the democratic process. They’ve already passed a law overriding whatever we say at the ballot. No voice: “Vaccination has become controversial. Many parents support it but many others have concerns about vaccine safety. It is important for everyone to learn the facts about childhood immunization before deciding whether or not vaccination is right for them.” Voice: “Lets say theres a big spiky rock rolling down a hill toward a small town. Someone in the town has sound-wave technology to blast that rock into a million little harmless rocks before it arrives. All it takes is everyone in town singing the same note at once to make the sound wave. But two people read a report almost 20 years ago saying that sound waves cause Alzheimers. The report was made-up bullshit, but those two independent thinkers refuse to acknowledge this. So the town residents get together to fight the rock thats coming to crush them, and to sing that note, but two people refuse to sing because theyre scared of a bogus report and refuse to research the actual facts. So the rock hits the town and kills 700 people. If youre a parent who refuses to vaccinate your kids because a bogus 1998 report said vaccines cause autism, then you are that rock, and the 700 people you just killed are your friends, family, and neighbors.” Here’s your writing assignment, due by 7pm on Tuesday, November 5: 1. Ask yourself the basic question about your topic: Who needs to do What, and When, and How, to address what specific problem? This will identify your audience, the best group to consider your message. (Note that you can write to a legislator to persuade them what they need to do about bear hunting, or you can write to bear hunters to persuade them what to do about the legislators who need to make changes, or to non-hunters to persuade them to support hunters in the need to get legislators to change…. Really think about the best, most appropriate audience for your message and topic. 2. Use one of these introduction methods to get the paper started and let the audience know whats on your mind regarding the general subject. (Re-read Introductions in your textbook, pp. 66-67.) Types of introductions: history personal narrative scene description a series of key questions a hypothetical or future scenario a famous quote Use the chosen technique to introduce only your general subject, but not all of the supporting points that you will present later. Take your time. There’s no race to get your reader to a thesis statement in the fastest time possible. Make sure they’re fully familiar with the subject matter first. 3. When that’s done, then you can craft a careful main point (thesis) and place it at the end of the introduction. Your thesis must make clear the key items in the starter question above: Who needs to do What, and When, and How, to address what specific problem? And it must have a clear, strong voice. Samples of thesis statements that follow this structure are here: – All dog and cat owners must spay and neuter their pets within three months if the animals are newborns, or at the time of purchase or adoption if adult animals. If cost is a problem, then use Humane Society adoptions that are more affordable than veterinary procedures. Population control is the only way we’re ever going to see the tragedy of mass pet euthanasia decreased. – Anyone who’s ever bought a Nestle product needs to contact the company immediately to demand an end to its extraction and bottling of Michigan groundwater for only pennies per gallon. Pay us a fair price or get out. State government is too worried about fundraising to “interfere” with corporate rights to exploit our resources, so Michigan consumers are the only ones with power to send this company the message it needs to hear: STOP IT. – Management for both the Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers should be much more transparent about what’s taking place during salary negotiations, especially after star players like Max Scherzer and Ndamakong Suh publicly stated in the last couple of years that they were willing to stay with the teams. Both teams let their star players walk away before the ticket-buying fans knew all the facts, and that’s an outrage to all of us. Give us a daily update of what’s being discussed, and give us a chance to give feedback about it. Comerica Park was almost empty at the end of the 2019 season does management really want it to stay that way? Notice how in every case, the WHO needs to DO WHAT, and WHEN, and HOW, are clear. 4. Support your thesis with clear explanation, at least several pages worth (typed and double-spaced). In this “body” of the argument, focus on turning up the vocabulary. Again, an example: Harm is weak. Damage is better. Destruction is best. (As long as its accurate, and isnt just severe damage.) And step out in front of your writing. Kill the wordiness triggers. (Review your wordiness assignment in Week 6.) Swear (effectively – the word “bullshit” above is there only because the report WAS bullshit. Otherwise, the cursing would have no purpose or effect). And start sentences with conjunctions. Dont forget that contractions are okay. Short sentences are fine, too but once in a while, mix things up so that an occasional longer one breaks the pattern (like this). And most of all, prove that you care. Project an ethos of connectedness and concern, so that the audience wants to adopt your viewpoint. DO NOT WRITE A SAFE, GENERIC, “SCHOOLHOUSE” ESSAY as past teachers instructed you to do. This assignment is about your writing voice. And having a topic you genuinely care about is going to make or break your ability to convey that. By 7pm on Tuesday, November 5, upload your beginning “voiced” draft with introduction and thesis to the appropriate forum when it’s as strong, clear, and LOUD (. voiced) as you can make it.
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