Criteria: an issue for which you are passionate, that you care deeply about, that affects you or affects people you know
Audience: smart, educated, curious readers and critical thinkers
Length: 1000-1250 words
We’ll begin by thinking together about the aims and purposes of argument, advocacy, and persuasion, drawing on our SMH, pp. 160-162: to persuade; to understand; to change yourself.
Then you will choose an issue to write about — something that affects you, your family, or community. Brainstorming inquiry questions from recent office hours visits and conferences:
- What is fashion for?
- Where does confidence come from?
- In one NYT article: “Art is a way of learning about ourselves.” In another: “the only road to freedom is self-education in art.” Do you have art in your life? Why not?
- What is empathy?
- What is an immigrant?
- What is a feminist? Are you one?
- What is privilege, white privilege, and unearned privilege?
- Does technology bring us closer together or does it isolate us?
- What are you doing for justice?
- What does depression feel like?
- How is your generation using the words “bitch” and “bitches”? Why? Would Tupac be of help here, or a hinderance?
- Why is youth & teen culture hyper-sexualized?
- How do we write about love? Scroll down to “Attention College Students …”
- Why should 18 year-olds care about politics? Or why not?
- Is there such a thing as a “suburban ideology”?
Next you’ll you’ll do some exploratory writing on that issue:
In an exploratory essay of 500 words +/-
Connect & Analyze
- What am I a part of? What matters to me?
- What problems exist that I can treat as opportunities?
- What do I see well, and what am I blind to? How does my own perspective impact what I see?
- What are the “parts” of the world, and within those parts what deserves my creativity, affection, and sustained effort?
Contextualize
- What is the history of this problem?
Imagine & Design
- What is possible? What would be awesome?
- What am I uniquely suited to do? How can technology amplify my potential?
- Who can I work with to improve the response?
- What absolutely has to happen for this to work?
Act & Socialize in an Op-Ed Essay
- What is the most meaningful action I can take in response?
- Who is my primary audience? How can I best reach them?
- How can I best package my work so that others understand & are moved by it?
- How will I know if what I’m doing is working?
This process helps you — or forces you — to explore doubts about your issue, engages you in some necessary perplexity, and may even result in some truth-seeking behavior.
