Suburban Junky

Mastery of Persuasion: Draft 1

Goal: This writing assignment asks you to demonstrate all the skills thus far in the semester: comparing and contrasting, evaluating an author’s argument, using relevant evidence to support your argument, incorporating the three appeals, establishing an appropriate and effective tone toward your audience, acknowledging all sides of an argument, and using cause-effect strategies.

Prompt:

Focus on the problem/issue in your Argumentative Non-Fiction book as well as the author’s argument about the problem/issue. This portion of the essay should be 150-200 words in length.

What details does the author include to showcase the problem itself as well as support his/her argument about the main cause, the proposed solution, and/or the effects? This portion of the essay should be 400-500 words in length

Then, using your personal opinions and experiences, discuss whether you agree or disagree with the author’s stance on the topic. Here, you will use philosophical arguments, hypothetical evidence, and personal evidence from your own life to convince your audience of the correctness or incorrectness of the author’s opinion and/or to side with your beliefs. Do not use any research, statistics, or outside sources: instead, approach the argument using the rhetorical modes (logos, ethos, pathos). Develop clashing commonplaces and what you see as the fundamental arguments to both sides of the issue that you are looking to reckon and to resolve. This portion of the essay should be 750-1000 words in length.

Requirements:

I recommend conferencing with your teacher before beginning to write, so you can receive feedback on your approach.

MLA Format

See word count requirements for each section in the prompt.