Use the following questions to help you brainstorm possible research topics for your final paper. Write for as long as you want to, but free-write about each issue for at least 10 minutes. Write as fast as you can without stopping or worrying about grammar and spelling. At this point you are composing material for your use only, don’t worry about neatness or completeness, or correctness; write to discover what you think about these issues. These writings should give you a clearer view of what you think about a few urgent issues. Let them sit for a while — an hour is good but a couple of days is better. Then read them again. Remember, you are writing about all 3 issues below for 10 minutes each. Check the rubric for grading criteria.
Look around you and listen. Where do you find people practicing rhetoric? Watch television and read popular newspapers or magazines. Jot down at least two of the rhetorical arguments you hear or see people making. Politicians are good sources, but so are journalists, parents, attorneys, ministers, and teachers. Do such people try to support their arguments with facts? Or do they use other means of convincing people to accept their arguments?
Think about a time when you tried to convince someone to change his or her mind. Answer these questions. What arguments did you use? How did you go about it? Were you successful? (Be specific.) Now think about a time when someone tried to get you to change your mind. What arguments did the person use? Was he or she successful? (Be specific.)
What are at least three hotly contested issues in the communities you live in (your hometown, the university you attend, the state, the nation, etc.)? Make a list of these issues and state your opinion on them. What positions do you take on issues that are hotly contested in your communities? If you don’t know what these issues are — ask someone or read the editorial and front pages of a daily newspaper, watch the local and national news on television or access news sources on the internet.
Formatting Requirements:
You must include your 10-minute free-writing for ALL of the 3 prompts above in a document upload.
Since this is a pre-writing activity, there are no other formatting requirements.
