Joining the Conversation with Video-taped Interviews with FLC Veterans

The Heart and the Fist -- Fall 2012

Fall 2012 Comp 125

Essay 2: Joining a Conversation (350 points)

Due:

Length: 5 pages
Audience: Instructor

Background: Your first essay looked at the rhetorical situation as applied to a visual text. You analyzed the different aspects of the advertisement and showed that you could analyze the persuasive appeals in that text.

In your second essay, you’ll be looking at multiple authors/interview subjects and their conversations regarding a narrowly-defined concept. You will describe what you see as the ongoing conversation that binds these authors/interview subjects together and analyze how each contributes to that conversation.

What You’ll Need: Choose a concept to focus on, one that is narrowly-defined and that interests you.You will want to choose at least three authors, including at least one of our FLC veterans,that discuss this concept. They might do this by taking a similar approach to your concept or they might be in conversation with each other because they have opposing viewpoints. (Or they may do a bit of both.)

Some of the questions you may wish to consider as you write about the ongoing conversation:

  • What is the concept that the authors are all discussing? What’s the central focus of this conversation?
  • Who are the authors in this conversation? What are their backgrounds? What qualifications does an author have to speak on the subject?
  • What is an author’s approach to the concept? How does his/her approach compare to others in the conversation?
  • Why should I be persuaded to believe each author’s approach or opinion? How does an author attempt to persuade me? Are they effective? Why or why not? What might make them more persuasive in this conversation?
  • How do the authors frame this concept as something important we should consider?
  • Where are you in relation to this conversation? If you could speak or have spoken on this subject, what might you say and why?
  • Finally, consider the “so what” question: Why should we pay attention to this particular conversation? If we ignore the conversation or otherwise fail to participate, what might happen? Why should we care?

Format: Your essay must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font, with one-inch margins and your MLA header in the top left-hand corner. Your essay must be a minimum of 5 pages (no maximum). Include a title that reflects the main point or claim of your essay.

A Hint Regarding Organization of Your Paper: You are used to talking about authors and what they think, claim, and argue. But for this paper, you must let theconcept(s) you choose to write about lead your paper. That is, this project should reflect how deeply and thoughtfully you can talk about the concept(s)in the conversation, using the authors as support.

An author-driven paper would be organized with each paragraph about a different author. For example, in a paper examining the concept of organic foods, the first paragraph might talk about Alice Waters, renowned chef of Chez Panisse restaurant and her use of organics only in her restaurant. The second paragraph might talk about Anthony Bourdain, the host of the television show No Reservations, and his insistence that we eat because things taste good, not because they’re good for us. And so on—you can see how the organization of this paper is clunky and author-focused.

Instead, a concept-driven paper would use sub-topics to organize each paragraph. For example, in the same paper examining organic foods, the first paragraph might discuss sustainability: Are organic foods sustainable for the Earth? This paragraph might bring in multiple authors who can talk about the sub-topic of sustainability in organics. The next paragraph might discuss the healthiness of organic foods, not for the Earth but for us: Are organic foods actually healthier for us? And so on. See how each paragraph lets a sub-topic of the overall concept lead the way? You may find that, like in the example used, letting questions about the overall concept lead each paragraph may help you organize.

Finding a Concept for Your Paper: It might be difficult to find a concept for your paper at first. Try to find something that is interesting to you; after all, you’ll be writing an essay about this concept. If you’re not interested in reading and thinking about the concept, you probably won’t be interested in writing about it.

A concept can be too narrow/too specific or too broad. For example, if you were reading Sonia Nazario’sEnrique’s Journey, you could find many different concepts to write about. “Immigration” would be too broad because there are so many varied aspects to immigration that it’s hard to focus. But if you narrowed the concept down to border issues in Arizona, that would be a better concept to write about. It might help to frame your concept as a question at first. For example, you might ask “What should Enrique’s mother have done?” Your overall concept might be something like “maternal responsibility.”

Or to continue the food-related example above, “organic food” is a fairly broad concept, so you, the author of your paper, will have to explain what aspects of organic food you’re interested in examining. It’s important to find the sub-topics in your concept to keep your paper focused. As in the example above, you might look at the sustainability for organic foods overall—for our world, our health, and our economy. Or you might look at the clash between science and nature by questioning whether we should be moving toward organic foods or genetically modified foods to feed the world.

Grading

In grading this project, your careful analysis of the conversation is most important. Focus on carefully articulating and synthesizing the arguments/viewpoints of the authors in this conversation and on presenting them within your own analysis.

Assessment will be based on the following criteria:

Content: (idea in the conversation) 150 points

Analysis (evidence, PIE, “I say”): 150 points

Style (format, organization, delivery, correctness, MLA): 50 points

Assignment Timeline

Draft 1: insert dates here (student-teacher conferences)

Draft 2: insert dates here (in class workshop- bring two typed copies)

Draft 3: insert dates here (in class workshop- bring two typed copies)

Final Draft: insert dates here (turn in your final draft in a soft pocket folder with all workshopping materials and at least three drafts)