Reading + writing

Project  #4   Writing  Science  to  Persuade:  The  Op/Ed   Draft:  1000  or  more  words   Final:  750-­‐900  words  (standard  length  for  publication)       An  op-­‐ed  is  a  short  argumentative  essay  developed  for  a  broad  public  audience  on   an  important  issue.  The  genre  was  named  for  its  original  placement  in  print   newspapers  (opposite  the  editorial  page),  but  as  today’s  op-­‐eds  often  appear  online   and  in  audio  radio  commentary  format,  the  name  is  commonly  used  as  an   abbreviation  for  “opinion/editorial.”  What  hasn’t  changed  is  the  genre’s  purpose:  to   persuade  an  audience  to  consider  the  author’s  point-­‐of-­‐view.     Examples  of  op-­‐eds  relating  to  academic  and  scholarly  fields  include  a  whole  series   of  op-­‐eds  on  evolution  and  “intelligent  design”  or  on  artificial  intelligence  and  the   future  of  the  workplace.  Some  op-­‐eds  advocate  understanding  an  issue  in  public  life   within  the  terms  of  a  specific  field.  For  example,  an  op-­‐ed  in  the  New  York  Times   discussed  the  usefulness  of  what  the  author  called  “cultural  geography”  in   understanding  regional  conflict.     For  this  project,  you  should  be  sure  that  your  op-­‐ed  relates  to  your  field  or  discourse   community.       The  most  successful  op-­‐eds  make  a  primary  claim  (policy-­‐,  value-­‐,  or  fact-­‐based)  and   balance  their  use  of  rhetorical  strategy  (logos,  ethos,  pathos)  based  on  the  topic  and   public  audience.    We  will  evaluate  and  discuss  a  series  of  published  examples  from  a   variety  of  venues  (NYT,  WSJ,  The  Washington  Post,  and  others)  in  order  to  identify   genre  conventions  and  best  practices.  We  will  also  consider  publication  guidelines   (including  those  from  the  NYT’s  “Op-­‐Ed  and  You”  and  The  Op-­‐Ed  Project).