This assignment is two parts each part has to be answered in a different file.
Part 1
Assignment instructions (OUTLINE)
As you begin your editorial for Unit 4, one of the first steps is to complete an outline to organize your plans.
First, keep in mind that an editorial is a persuasive essay that responds to a particular topic. It’s easier to write an editorial when you are responding to a particular perspective on a topic. This is why you had to choose an editorial to respond to in last week’s discussion. Most editorials deal with responding to an opposing point of view, but it is possible to write an editorial that agrees with an opinion and adds more information. Chapter 4 in They Say I Say does a great job of covering ways to respond, including templates.
Here is an overview of the parts and order of a template from another teacher, Mr. Alan Weintraut:
https://www.geneseo.edu/~bennett/EdWrite.htm
This is an outline template I created to help you organize your information and begin your draft. Use this template to complete this outline assignment.
Topic
Position you are responding to
Your position (agree, disagree, or both AND why)
Introduction
Hook/Attention-getter
Explanation of the Controversy (context for background information)
Thesis (Opinion pro or con) statement:
Body Paragraph I
Reason the Opposition Supports Its Stand
Opposition’s Claim
Opposition’s Evidence:
Your Analysis
Body Paragraph 2 (start with weaker point first)
Reason 1 why your stand is best:
Claim
Evidence
Warrant(s):
Body Paragraph 3
Reason 2 why your stand is best
Claim
Evidence
Warrant(s):
Conclusion
Restatement of thesis:
Call to Action (what do readers need to do to participate in the solution)
Final Punch
Just as you analyzed rhetorical techniques in previous assignments, you are now selecting and USING those same techniques in creating your own argument. You might be arguing using pathos, logos, and/or ethos in your body paragraphs. This is your opportunity to not only express your opinion, but to really support it by crafting a strategic, well supported argument.
Part 2
Write an essay responding in some way to the article that you worked with in the previous assignment for this unit. You’ll need to summarize and/or quote some of the author’s ideas and make clear whether you’re agreeing, disagreeing, or both agreeing and disagreeing with what he or she says. You will work closely with the templates in Chapter 4 of They Say I Say to structure your thesis statement and argument.
Use templates from Chapters 1-3 of They Say I Say to represent other people’s ideas and templates from Chapter 4 in your response. As you write, pay careful attention to voice markers, and use templates from Chapter 5 to clearly distinguish the points of view you are representing in your essay. You may find it best to write the essay first using Chapters 3 and 4 as resources, and then go back and revise for voice markers using Chapter 5.
This essay should be 3 pages in MLA format, including in-text citations. Don’t forget a Works Cited page at the end–that will be the fourth page. You will cite the article you are responding to, and you may include one or two additional sources as evidence for your claims. These sources must be scholarly, like peer reviewed articles or well researched editorials from published newspapers. Do not use blogs, Wikipedia, or any other source that would have not stand up well to scholarly evaluation.
