Persuasive Letter

Homework #6 August, 2016

EAPS 10000 Y01 Planet Earth online courseSp14

Homework #6 (20 points)

Persuasive Letter or Career Paper (Choose one option)

Option 1: Persuasive Letter on a Geoscience Issue

Objective: Writing a letter, brief report or memorandum that is designed to convince others about a

particular issue or action is an important skill. This assignment also provides an opportunity to

investigate a geoscience issue that is significant to you.

Procedure: Write the text of a letter (omit the address block and other information that is normally

contained in a letter) to the editor (such as your local newspaper) or to your US representative or

senator, that is intended to inform and persuade the reader on a geoscience issue that is important to

you. Because such letters, to be effective, must be concise and short, your letter must be well-

organized, clearly written and no longer than one page, single-spaced typed text. You do not need

to actually send the letter to the editor or to your US representative or senator. Please use the

following steps:

a. Select a geoscience topic of interest to you. It might be easiest to select a relatively

controversial and current topic. A list of some suggested topics is given below.

b. Research the topic using library and Internet resources. You may include one key reference

(citation of a book or article or an Internet URL address) in your letter to provide the reader with

a source of information about your issue.

c. Because, in practice, letters to the editor and letters to representatives and senators must be short

and “to-the-point”, your letter must be well-organized, clear, well-written (see d. below), and

short. The length of your letter must be 500-700 words (equivalent to about 3/4 to one page

of text, single-spaced, typed, Times Roman 12 point font, normal margins). Word

processing programs such as Microsoft Word have a word count feature (select the section,

number of words shown in status bar) that will help you determine the correct length for your

letter. For example, this single page, with the existing headings, spacing and indentations that

are included for ease of reading, contains 535 words.

d. Organization/Content: Your letter should have three distinct sections. Begin by clearly stating

why you are writing – state the geoscience issue that you are concerned about. Next, provide a

small number of persuasive statements, arguments and information (data, facts, observations,

reasons) that are designed to convince the reader that your position on this issue is correct. End

the main part of your persuasive letter by stating what you would like to see happen or your

proposed solution to the problem or the approach that you favor to address the issue. Finally,

end with a brief summary sentence that emphasizes the significance of the issue and the need for

your proposed solution. Also, see discussion of plagiarism in the Writing Assignment 1

(WA1.pdf) document.

e. Hand in (or submit electronically) your one page letter (500-700 words) on or before the due

date in the EAPS 10000 Y01 course. You can submit as an email attachment. Please use the

file naming convention described on the EAPS 10000 Y01 syllabus. Be sure to include your

name on the paper.

2

Suggested topics (the topic must be a geoscience issue):

coastal erosion/overdevelopment

beach nourishment/protection

ocean pollution

energy policy

development on floodplains

flood insurance

radioactive waste disposal

nuclear power

alternative energy development

air pollution

groundwater pollution

science education

building codes for earthquakes or other

natural hazards

national insurance for natural

hazards/natural disasters

petroleum exploration policy

mining restrictions

global warming

restrictions on fossil collecting on

public lands

CO2 production

climate change

ozone depletion

Option 2: Geoscience Careers

Objective: Writing a brief report on a geoscience career that is (or might be) of interest to you

(select one career specialty such as paleontologist, weather forecaster, seismologist, marine

biologist, astronomer, etc.). In researching a geoscience career, you will learn more about an Earth,

ocean, atmosphere or astronomy specialty area (such as petroleum geology, meteorology, ocean

engineering, volcanology, paleontology, environmental geoscience, astronomy, etc.), the work that

people in these fields do, and the career options that exist in these fields. Also, see discussion of

plagiarism in the Writing Assignment 1 (WA1.pdf) document.

Procedure: Research a geoscience career and write a brief paper (same length requirements as for

the persuasive letter, above) about that career. Be sure to read one or more first-person accounts or

essays on the selected career written by someone who is working in that career. Be sure to

comment on this first-person account in your report. Also, include some reasons why this career is

interesting to you and the significance of the career (to you or to society). Some excellent reference

material is available at the following sites. You can also do a web search for more specific

information by searching on “oceanography careers” (or similar phrases).

Geoscience Career Resources:

American Astronomical Society, http://aas.org/jobs/career-resources

American Meteorological Society, http://www.ametsoc.org/pubs/careers.html

http://www.meetmeatthecorner.org/episode/an-interview-with-a-meteorologist

http://voices.yahoo.com/interview-meteorologist-7892578.html

The Oceanographic Society, http://www.tos.org/resources/careers.html

American Geological Institute, http://www.agiweb.org/workforce/careers.html