Writing 1

Subject to argue : Social media impact on young adults

· IMPORTANT NOTE: this assignment is intended to be performed over the course of modules 'The Building Blocks of Arguments' and 'Extended Argumentative Reconstruction'. I recommend writing the essay first and then doing the analytic steps as you get that material under your belt. 'The Building Blocks of Arguments' will give you what you need for the annotations and 'Extended Argumentative Reconstruction' will prepare you for arranging the argument in Standard Form and Diagram.

· Writing Assignment 1:

· Start by just composing a 500 word essay arguing for some position (any position!) you want to (on any issue!).

· Advice/Request: make it something you honestly care about please! A good idea is to just use something you’ve been thinking about recently, or perhaps had a conversation about. Also, you can write SUPER casually. This isn’t a formal academic paper you’re putting together.

· After you are done (don’t do this along the way!), annotate your own argument by looking for the following elements: Reason Markers (RM), Conclusion Markers (CM), Assuring (A), Discounting (D), Guarding (G), Positive Evaluative Terms (E+), Negative Evaluative Terms (E-).

· I want to see every use of these terms identified, not just a couple. Really pour over your writing and see what you naturally got!

· And finally arrange your argument in Standard Form and diagram the argument.

· Do NOT use the copy/paste method! Listen for the main appeals your argument is making – what are the IDEAS you are presenting?

· Build the structure as you go – start with the conclusion and work your way backwards through the lines of support.

· I will grade for effort. To judge this I will look at 1) length and 2) richness (ex: Is there a lot of different points, or just one or two dragged out to 500 words?) This is also where I’ll be checking to make sure your essay is actually making arguments!

· 2 total points

· I will grade for skill. I will be looking at your analysis and seeing how exhaustively you were able to analyze your own argument.

· 1.5 total points for the analysis

· 1.5 total points for the arranging in Standard Form/Diagramming

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