you will argue your viewpoint in a current (within the past two years) controversy concerning an aspect of American identity in a rigorously researched 4-6 page essay. Choose one of the three course threads to focus on: gender, race or ethnicity. You could also choose a controversy in which these topics intersect with each other or with other aspects of American identity. As a persuasive argument, the essay should advocate that the audience do, think or believe something.
Research Requirement
Your argument’s major claim and reasons must be supported with a carefully considered balance of rhetorical appeals and evidence gleaned from research. You are required to incorporate a minimum of six sources into your essay. At least one of these should be a peer-reviewed journal article. You may use the research you did for your Annotated Bibliography assignment to support your claims. If you find you need more or different support, you may also include new sources.
Do not drop the summaries from your Annotated Bibliography into the persuasive essay. They weren’t designed for your audience. You are now making an argument expressing your viewpoint, not merely summarizing.
Choose a Target Audience
Choose an educated audience that does not agree with you on the topic at hand. Your ideal hostile audience are stakeholders who disagree with you on a central question in the debate. For example, if arguing that businesses should cap paid maternity leave at twelve weeks, you might choose to address business owners who support six months of paid maternity leave. This audience could potentially be reached through Forbes magazine.
You will provide a brief description of the audience and venue you have chosen between the MLA heading and the essay title. Here is an example:
“The Daily Texan serves over 50,000 University of Texas at Austin students. Austin is known as politically more liberal than the rest of Texas. Of the student readers, 79% are Texans and thus may have benefited from UT’s top-six-percent automatic admissions rule. That means a large portion of the audience probably will be hostile to my proposal to abolish automatic admissions entirely.”
Format Requirements
Length: 4-6 pages not including Works Cited page, typed, double-spaced
Follow MLA guidelines for format, headings, quotes, and citations.
Include a descriptive title.
Audience description should be placed after the heading and above the essay title.
Tips
Consider targeting local venues where your argument could have real-world impacts such as a community association or the leadership of an institution you have a stake in.
State a compelling claim.
Think carefully about the most effective organizational strategy. Note that when writing to a potentially hostile audience it might be appropriate to withhold the claim until after the presentation of evidence to build support.
