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For this assignment, you are to choose a global issue (political, social, environmental, etc

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For this assignment, you are to choose a global issue (political, social, environmental, etc.) that is NOT in the USA. Choose something you think should have more attention or that you want to explore. This is (probably) the SAME TOPIC you will use in Essay Four (in which you'll call for action). Use Essay Three to build a base that your audience will need to know/understand before they can do anything. As Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz state on page 153 of our textbook, “People need well-reasoned factual arguments on subjects…to make informed decisions. Such arguments educate the public.” They also state that, “arguments about causes and effects also inform many choices that people make every day” (244).

You will be combining the goals of arguments of fact (what happened or is happening? Who or what is it happening to? Where is it happening? etc.) and causal arguments (What is causing this to happen? What are the effects? Why?). See chapters 8 and 11 in Everything’s an Argument. Also see pages 14-18 for more about forensic and deliberative arguments and for more on arguments of fact/cause.

Narrow your topic to something you can cover in the remaining weeks of the semester AND that is also focused enough for your audience to see as a real problem AND that you’ll be able to do research about (6—see Basic Expectations). For example, if you say, “people around the world need drinkable water,” your audience will have difficulty understanding where “around the world” applies. Further, they could feel the problem is too big to fix; therefore, they won’t act. However, if you argue “many communities in parts of Peru lack adequate access to clean water and sanitation,” you are more able to help your audience understand the realness of the problem. They can see a map of the area, they can imagine/see images of real people, and they can learn about the impact this problem has on a community, country, and region.

Since the purpose of this project is to present information about a subject to an audience that doesn’t know much (or anything) about it, your writing should identify and describe the problem/issue with the purpose of informing, of “proving” the problem exists, of demonstrating the causes leading to it and/or resulting from it (raising awareness). You likely will need to include a history or a background of the subject and/or its controversies in order for your audience to understand why it is important.  It is also likely that you will need to define, narrow, or otherwise set boundaries for your topic and your approach to it. You also should consider including:

• what is known about the issue and how/where this information is accessible to others
• what proof exists that it is happening (and other proof of fact; cause)
• who or what it affects and how/why
• where it is happening
• how long has it been happening (forensic argument)
• what’s causing it and/or what are the effects
• what’s being done already to address it—or not—and why
• what outcomes or ramifications is the issue leading to and/or projected to lead to if left unchallenged (deliberative arguments),
• anything else your audience will need to know to be fully informed (money, time, resources, etc.)

Prompt: Choose a topic that is a global problem, concern, issue, or challenge. This means it might affect many groups of people across the world or is something that has serious potential consequences to the people involved.

In essence, the topic should be something that you believe a real audience should know about and pay attention to. Keep in mind that for Essay Four you will be offering a solution or way to address this problem and will persuade your real audience to get involved in real ways, so choose something that you can work on for the remainder of the semester and that you think you can “solve” (or suggest a good way to address it). This doesn’t mean that you should stay away from big, complicated topics. Instead, choose something that you think you can eventually contribute ideas to solving, addressing, or altering.

Topics to Avoid:

Legalizing marijuana (except as it relates to politics and/or recent changes in state laws), smoking cessation, gun control, gay marriage, abortion, global warming, recycling (unless it is a new take on the issue or shows new/different ways of recycling), capital punishment, lowering the drinking age, prayer in school, anything related to the belief system of any religion, or any other topic that has been argued to the point of impasse

Basic Requirements

Write a paper that contains:

• an issue/challenge/concern/problem that is truly a “global” theme
• a clear central thesis
• background or history of the issue that sets the theme in context
• identification and description of various aspects of this issue (who, what, when, where, why, how, etc.)
• well-developed, logical, supported arguments of fact and of cause
• solid research that expands arguments and demonstrates you now have extensive knowledge of the topic
• incorporation of summary, quotes, paraphrases
• in-text citations and Works Cited in MLA standard
• five to six pages long
• Sources: six—the majority (at least four of them) must be from databases or print sources; all must be solidly credible (no Wikipedia, about.com, e-how, web-md, etc.)