Choosing an Issue and Taking a Position on that Issue: For this assignment, you will decide on a debatable issue related to digital technology: artificial Intelligence, social media, internet privacy, gaming, medical technology, etc. You will then develop an argument that takes a position on that issue. Your position must be debatable–there must be at least another side that opposing your position.
Audience: When writing an argument, who your intended audience is has a huge effect on the writing process: The tone you establish, the words you choose, the kinds of evidence you select to support your ideas, and the analysis you present can influence your audience to trust you and be persuaded by your ideas. For this assignment, you must choose who your intended audience will be. Think about your topic and specific purpose, who are you really trying to persuade in this essay? Then, think of your essay as presenting your side of a conversation with someone who may be on the fence or slightly against your position. What must you discuss in your supporting paragraphs that would persuade this particular audience?
Sources of Information: For this assignment, you must bring in four outside sources. This essay will not only help you develop your skills at presenting and supporting a position on an issue to an intended audience, it will also continue to develop your skills at bringing in other voices to add support and credibility to your ideas.
Remember, there are three ways to use the ideas and words of other writers in your essay: summary, paraphrase, and quote. Within this essay, you should strive to use all three as you bring in your outside sources, preferring summarizing and paraphrasing over quoting. Be sure to cite all sources in the essay itself: author (signal phrase) and page number (parenthetical citation) and to include all outside sources in a Works Cited page at the end.
Consider, Acknowledge, and Refute Opposing Views: Because you are trying to convince your audience of your position on the issue, you must anticipate what questions your audience is likely to ask or concerns they may raise while reading your essay. A good way to do this is to take into account well-known and significant opposing arguments. By addressing these opposing positions, you are telling your reader that you know of these positions, you have considered them, but you have decided to take your position. In other words, grant the validity of opposing arguments by presenting them clearly; then, refute them (argue against them), but respect your reader’s intelligence by addressing the objections to your position on the issue and any other questions your reader may have about your thesis idea, your support ideas, or your evidence and analysis.
The Writing Process: We will be putting this essay through a series of discreet steps as we have done for the past two essay assignments.
