Hi folks,
This weekend, you'll be composing your first draft of the Long Essay assignment. Please start by reading the full assignment sheet.
While this week's discussions of topic sentences and paragraph development will be essential—especially for the final version of the essay—and can be useful to think of while you're composing, you will want to aim this 3-4-page draft on clarifying these features:
what the conversation / problem is and how other people respond to it
what your own unique argument is
how you engage with sources
how you differentiate your own unique ideas from those of your sources
Since the prompt asks you to define the worst possible solution to a problem facing your community today, you may need to re-define your framing topic. It's okay to develop further from your initial op-ed. It is also alright to continue performing research as you refine the focus. Get more narrow; do not go more broad.
The idea behind this paper is that you'll be demonstrating disagreement with the opposition. This will require you to explain the thinking presented by writers who have opposing perspectives from yourself. (Hence the "opposition op-ed" experiment.) You'll respond to these points by rebutting them using your own evidence and argumentation, perhaps drawing upon sources that agree with you for further support. (Leveraging ideas from the "position op-ed" to counter the opposition.)
This paper should not merely re-state other sources' ideas. Paraphrase of sources not only needs to be cited but also needs to be rhetorically distinguished from your own ideas. They say / I say moves will be crucial, and they should extend throughout the paper, not just in the intro. For your reference, the readings and slideshows on "They say, I say" are all available on our Course Resources page.
Most important is that you determine what your viewpoint is. You should be using sources as other voices to be in conversation with, but you should not merely repeat the ideas of others as a way of piecing together an essay.
The 3-4-page draft for Sunday should give you an opportunity to lay out the basics of the argument and perspective, while giving you room to expand your evidence and support further in later revisions.
Some logistical notes
Please upload your draft to the proper shared Group folder, linked on our Assignments page.
Convert the document to a Google doc or create a new Google doc in the folder.
Name the document properly (example: Vestri - Draft 1)
Ensure that you set the "Share" settings to "Edit" with permissions set as "Anyone with this link."
If you have technical difficulties or questions, just email me the document before the deadline and I will add it to the folder for you.
There will be no extensions permitted with this draft. Late submissions will not receive feedback and not receive credit.
Please contact me over the weekend if you have questions or concerns. You can email me or try reaching me by text on Microsoft Teams.
Best,
Dr. V