Additional Writing Assignments

1. Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper or a newsmagazine in which you agree or disagree with the publication’s editorial stand on a current question. Make clear your reasons for holding your view.

2. Write one claim each of substantiation, evaluation, and policy for or against a specific policy or proposal. Indicate an audience each claim might address effectively. Then list reasons and types of evidence you might need to support one of these claims. For the same claim, indicate what opposing viewpoints you would need to consider and how you could best do so.

3. Write a short paper, blog entry, or class posting expressing your view on one of these topics or another that comes to mind. Make clear your reasons for thinking as you do.

   Bilingual education	Raising the minimum wage
   Twitter activism	Protecting the gray wolf
   Dealing with date rape	Controlling terrorism
   Crimes committed by professional athletes	Prayer in public schools

4. Working with a classmate or a small group online, develop a discussion or collaborative blog to inform your audience about multiple points of view on an issue. Present the most compelling reasons and evidence to support each view. Counter other views as appropriate with reasons and evidence, but avoid emotional outbursts attacking them. Before you begin posting, decide which view each person will present. Considering your purpose and audience, also decide whether the discussion or blog should cover certain points or be organized in a particular way. Before you post your contribution, write it in a location or file where you can save and return to it. Take some time to revise and edit before you send it or paste it in.

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   For more on supporting a position with sources, see Ch. 12.

5. Source Assignment. Find a letter to the editor, opinion piece, or blog post that takes a stand that you disagree with. Write a response to that piece, countering its points, presenting your points, and supporting them with evidence. Be sure to cite the other piece, and identify any quotations or summaries from it. Decide which audience to address: The writer? Readers likely to support the other selection? Readers with interest in the issue but without loyalty to the original publication? Some other group?

6. Visual Assignment. Select one of the following images. Analyze its argument, noting its persuasive visual elements. Write an essay that first explains the image’s argument, including its topic and its visual appeals to viewers, and then agrees with, disagrees with, or qualifies that argument.

   

   A young person hospitalized with cancer watches a fundraising walkathon.

   Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images.

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   A family in Connecticut reads after dinner.

   Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times/Redux.