Essay

WRITING 102

Essay #2: Rogerian Argument

Due Weds. Feb 25 www.turnitin.com account # 1118249 and password argument

Rough Draft Session Monday Feb. 23 (bring 4 copies to class)

Length: 4-5 typed pages, not including Works Cited page

In this argument I would like you to present your point of view to an audience that won't necessarily agree with you; this means you will need to begin from common ground, and then persuade your readers to come over to your side or at least to listen carefully to your side. This is a Rogerian strategy (see handouts and class web page). You will need a very clear claim (thesis) and a good idea of who your audience is in order to come up with the right evidence to persuade them. The choice of the topic is up to you; I've listed some possibilities below. One of the big problems here will be to limit your thesis sufficiently; don't forget to consult Prentice Hall, the Writing Center, and/or me as you focus on a target.

This essay will incorporate outside sources. You should find and use at least three but no more than five secondary sources for this argument. They will have to be presented without plagiarism, and documented correctly in the MLA style. Depending on what kinds of sources might best impress your audience, you could use books, magazines, newspapers, Internet sources, popular culture, interviews, or many other kinds of information. Do not limit your source search only to the InternetB use some print sources for balance! No more than three sources can come from the Internet. Again, papers must be submitted both in hard copy and through www.turnitin.com.

Some possible topic areas

Should musical lyrics (or TV performances) be censored?
English as the official language of the US
What constitutes sexual or verbal harassment
Hate language
Words you can't or shouldn't use on television
Derogatory team names (Redskins, etc.)
Should there be an official language for the Internet?
Should T-shirts with certain slogans be banned from public schools?
Faith-based prisons
The right to download files off the Internet

There are plenty more topics; these are just the first bunch I thought of to get you started.

Topics that will be hard to work with because people get too emotional about themB

Abortion

The existence of God or the supremacy of a particular religion

The Confederate flag

Euthanasia

Gay marriage (or adoption or schoolteachers, etc.)

I am not ruling these or similar ones out as topicsB I= m just warning you that they are much harder to succeed with than some other topics. If you choose them, you= ll have to work a lot harder.