Homework answers / question archive / Much of the writing you do will not be limited to description or analysis—you will have to take clear positions on topics of interest and defend those positions, using description, analysis, and other means to support your side

Much of the writing you do will not be limited to description or analysis—you will have to take clear positions on topics of interest and defend those positions, using description, analysis, and other means to support your side

Writing

Share With

Much of the writing you do will not be limited to description or analysis—you will have to take clear positions on topics of interest and defend those positions, using description, analysis, and other means to support your side. In this project, you will do just that, by identifying a debatable issue related to a topic with which you have direct and personal experience, choosing a specific position on that topic, and then doing the research, reflection, preparation and writing that will contribute to strong advocacy of your position.

When you think about a topic, one of the key aspects that you will need to keep in mind is direct and personal experience. In the past, you probably wrote about issues that were in the news headlines, or were common social concerns that you read or heard about but never encountered in your own life, or were just standard topics for test preparation. Unfortunately, that doesn't allow you to appreciate how your words might have a real impact on your life and the lives of those around you. This inquiry will begin to remedy that. The topic that you pick does not have to be one that is currently being argued, but it must be one that could really be argued and should be argued, and addresses something that you have genuinely encountered in some form or another, and has not yet been resolved. Whatever choice you make, it should be a topic that you do not completely understand. This way, you will learn something new about it as you research and write. However, it should not be something that is primarily or only personal. It should also have potential relevance to a public audience.

As you plan, write, and revise, there will be opportunities to use rhetorical analysis to think about your own argument and understand the challenge of persuading a primary audience much more closely.

Unless there is a compelling reason otherwise, the research that you do must be limited to English language sources, and everything you find must come from the Miami University libraries. During this inquiry, we'll talk about how to use the library, and about what you are finding and what you need.

The final draft will be five to six pages long with at least six high-quality researched sources, not including the Works Cited section or headings.