6-page prewriting essay. 4double-space 1single-space

Opinion Editorial Prewriting

All the prewriting assignment should follow the opinion editorial essay(in the file).

First Prewriting(one page): check the file(Opinion Editorial essay)

Prewriting Assignment: Opinion Editorial Portfolio

As you read opinion editorials and letters to the editor, make a list of topics that interest you. What do you care passionately about? Are there arguments with which you disagree? Are there issues on which you’d like to voice your opinion? Also, begin to think about your audience. Make a list of characteristics or traits that will help you understand your audience better. Given that you haven’t decided on a topic at this point, you can think about your audience in the widest possible terms. It might make sense to think of your audience as composed of generally intelligent people who are familiar with the rhetorical situation you choose to address.

Second Prewriting(one page):

You’ve actually already started prewriting for the Opinion Editorial by reading op-eds and letters to the editor in the Universe and other newspapers, making a list of potential topics and audience traits. Now, let’s brainstorm a bit. Let’s start by making a list of campus issues that may be of interest to you and your audience. This list might include curfews, dress and grooming standards, general education requirements, and so forth. Write down any and everything that comes to mind. Now make a list of local issues. What’s going on in the surrounding community? In the state? What issues are in the news? Now consider regional or national issues, and then global issues. You might look at headlines on CNN.com or in the New York Times and other papers. While you are writing for readers of the campus newspaper, keep in mind that your readers are (hopefully) interested in a range of issues, from campus to global issues, so consider all the possibilities.

After you’ve got a good list, choose one or two that strike you as most interesting, and freewrite for ten minutes. The only rule with freewriting is that you don’t stop writing. Just write whatever comes to mind as you think about the topic.

Experiment with these and other prewriting strategies until you come up with a topic you want to write about.

Third prewriting(one page):

Hopefully, you’ve identified an issue you want write about in your Opinion Editorial. On a sheet of paper, state your main claim. It may only be tentative at this point. Then list your reasons and assumptions. This is a brainstorming activity, so list as many as you can, even though you probably won’t use all the claims and reasons you come up with. Remember that a reason can also be a claim requiring its own reasons to substantiate it. You may also want to list counterclaims to your argument. How might your audience respond to your position? As Grant Boswell discusses in chapter 2, you need to anticipate and respond to counterarguments in your Opinion Editorial.

Fourthly Prewriting(one page)

Consider the appeals you might use in your Opinion Editorial. How will you establish your ethos? What types of emotional appeals might be appropriate to your audience and purpose? How will you establish a logical line of argument? What data, facts, and so forth can you bring to bear on your argument? List these in a document.

Fifth Assignment: [a one-page (single-spaced)]

a one-page (single-spaced) reflective memo on the writing process that describes the challenges you found in writing your paper, your paper’s strengths and weaknesses, and what you learned about writing and how it will help you in the future