Category: Weekly Assignments (Page 2 of 6)

Your main assignment is to write the draft of your article. Here is how to organize your draft! You should email me the draft or upload it to Dropbox.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU MODEL YOUR ARTICLE ON YOUR MENTOR ARTICLE. USE THE STYLE, TONE, ETC. AS A GUIDE! I SHOULD BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THAT THEY ARE BOTH FROM THE SAME PUBLICATION! 

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCE YOUR Topic (a 1-2 sentence description)

INTRODUCE YOUR Problem and Proposed Solution

State YOUR Thesis Statement (thesis + reasoning)

BODY PARAGRAPHS

Explain the problem that your community faces. Provide AT LEAST 3 reasons (should be more!) to support your argument. And provide evidence from your research to support the argument (quotes, paraphrased sections, summarized key ideas). 

Example: One reason that {your problem} exists is ________. {Insert author} explains why this happens. She argues that, ____________ (CITATION).

Explain your proposed solution. Provide reasons AT LEAST 3 reasons to support your argument. And provide evidence from your research to support the argument (quotes, paraphrased sections, summarized key ideas). 

Introduce and refute (disprove) the counterargument / opposing solutions to your proposed solution.

CONCLUSION

How do you want your audience to react (think / act)? Add a call to action or a memorable statement that leaves your audience thinking.

We are about to begin Drafting Our Article. Make sure that you have a specific Genre Chosen (based on your mentor article) and that you know the elements of the genre (what you have to include in order for it to be an example of the genre. 

For your Homework this week, I want you to look carefully at your research questions, the quotes, paraphrased information and summaries of your sources that you wrote. Using that information, it is time to start to answer questions. 

FIRST, DEFINE THE PROBLEM!

1. Think about what you know about the problem. Look at your (What I Know / What I Want to Learn charts). How can you frame or provide context about the problem in a way that your audience will understand?
2. Describe the problem. 
3. Analyze the problem to identify its parts, its causes and its effects. (look at your research questions, quotes, summaries and paraphrased information) 
4. Describe what other people think about the problem (both those who agree with your position and those who disagree. (use your sources and research)
5. Identify and describe: Who suffers from the problem?
6. Identify and describe: Why should readers care about the problem?

SECOND, DEVELOP A POSSIBLE SOLUTION

1. Go through your research. What possible solutions to the problem have been proposed? Which do you think is the most effective? Or do you have a better solution?
2. Propose a possible solution to the problem and then explain why you think this solution could work.

MAKE SURE TO USE THE SENTENCE STARTERS / QUESTIONS FROM THE WEEK 9 POWERPOINT (SLIDES 43 TO 50) AS A GUIDE. 

LINK TO POWERPOINT.