write on the topic of
Israel/Palestine or something you consider conceptually related. It matters
that you choose a question on or related to this topic that you can approach with
an open, curious, and analytical mind
and that engages you without triggering or
traumatizing you.
In this piece of writing,
I ask you to present – in first person
– your process of exploring possible answers to a specific issue question,
defined in your paper’s introduction, by summarizing, analyzing, and responding
thoughtfully to multiple arguments you locate through your own research.
Throughout this piece of writing, you will need to include a direct discussion of at least four (4) argumentative texts
that you deem worthy of your attention to help you think through multiple
possible answers to your issue question.
Your final draft
of the assignment should accomplish the following:
· Introduce your readers to your topic and
your issue question, helping them understand the nature of your interest in and
relationship to this topic, as well as why your issue question matters to you.
· You should include
your issue question in the form of a
question in your introduction.
· In multiple well-developed and
logically connected paragraphs, provide a
chronological narrative of your process of locating and studying
others’ arguments – as they appear in at least four (4) explicitly
argumentative article-length texts – to
help you think through your topic and consider multiple possible answers to
your issue question.
· Explicitly describe your search
process and announce why you
selected each argument/text you did. Beginnings of paragraphs are likely the
most logical places to do this.
· Provide a summary, rhetorical
analysis, and personal response
for each of the arguments/texts you explore, devoting at least one paragraph to
each distinct argument/text.
· Summary: Accurately reconstruct the relevant
argument of the text, using attributive tags and signal phrases such as
“According to X” and “X claims(ed)/argues(ed)/supports(ed) their primary claim
with…” (ß
Verb tense will depend on whether you use MLA or APA style.) This will require
you to make some observations about the basic structural features of each
argument, including the claims and other statements (factual or counterfactual)
that support those claims.
· Rhetorical
Analysis: Make
observations about the apparent purpose(s) of the author(s) of the piece and
particular strategies they use to try achieve it/them. Note that this will
require you to think about the likely audience for each text/argument, considering
its place of publication, as well as the assumptions the authors seem to make
about the values and beliefs of their readers.
· Personal Response: Include your own thoughts about
the text/argument: Is it compelling to you? Why/how? Why not/how not? How has
it affected your thinking in relation to your issue question? What questions
has it left you with?
· Show meaningful connections between texts/arguments. Again, the
transitions you offer between sections of your paper, as well as your
conclusion, are likely the most logical places to accomplish this, but you’re
not limited to offering such synthesis to just those two places. J
· Offer readers a conclusion in which you synthesize (“bring together”) in some
meaningful way all the arguments you explored and reflect on the state of your
thinking on your topic and issue question as a result of this exploration. Are
you feeling committed to any particular answer to your issue question that
someone else presented in one of the arguments you explored? If not, why not?
Explore where you finally “land” in relation to your issue question and where
you might take your relationship with this topic and issue question next. Aim
to offer truly thoughtful reflection here, and don’t settle for mere summary of
what we’ve already read in the preceding paragraphs.
· Give proper credit to all outside resources you
discuss in your paper, using either MLA or APA format (for both in-text
citations and your bibliography) and making sure to indicate any direct
borrowing of others’ phrasing through quotation marks. Please use our guide to
MLA and APA styles to help you accomplish this.
· Revise, edit and proofread your composition for maximum clarity and power for
readers.
