Category Archives: essays

750-1000 words

Drafts Due: Friday, December 4th (Google Doc)

Final Op-Eds Due: Monday, December 14th (turnitin.com)

Your final essay assignment this semester is writing an Op-Ed essay.  The name op-ed comes from the fact that, in most newspapers, the opinion pieces we call “op-eds” appear opposite the newspaper’s editorial page.  (The editorial page is where the editors of the newspaper express their own opinions through short pieces known as “editorials.”) On a newspaper’s op-ed page, you can find opinion-based pieces from both regular columnists, scholars and other experts, and ordinary citizens who are sharing their perspectives on subjects that are important to them.

Your task in this essay is to take a stand on an issue that is important to you that relates in some way to the broad subject of your research project.  You will need to start the process by thinking deeply about what your most strongly held convictions are regarding your topic.  (Perhaps you are in the Poverty group and want to write about the minimum wage, or you are in the Climate Change group and want to write about fracking, or you are in the Immigration group and want to discuss Trump’s Muslim Ban….). Whatever issue you decide to write about, keep in mind that your op-ed should express a specific, well-defined point of view, informed by your research and by your own lived experience.  The more specific and personal your essay is, the more effective it will be.  It might be helpful here to reflect on the op-eds you were assigned to read for class and think about what kinds of rhetorical moves you responded to as a reader.  What brings an essay alive and makes you sympathetic to the author?

The op-ed is a persuasive genre, whose goal is not just to inform, but to persuade, so think about how to convince the reader to embrace your point of view.  For the purposes of this assignment, let’s assume your peers are your readers.. What arguments are most likely to be compelling to them?  Remember that you can (and should) draw on your understanding of logos, pathos, and ethos in constructing your argument.  You can stick to one rhetorical strategy or use more than one over the course of this short essay.  This essay should have a voice that is authentically your own.  Don’t worry about trying to sound authoritative or scholarly; use your own natural voice to address an audience of your peers.  How will you connect with them and bring them to share your perspective?

For additional resources and tips on writing an op-ed, see this guide produced by Harvard University:  “How to Write an Op-Ed”

Length: 3-4 pages, double spaced

Draft Due: Sunday, September 13th, shared with me ([email protected]) via Google Docs

Essay Due: Sunday, September 20^th, uploaded to turnitin.com by midnight

 In a 3-4 page essay (double-spaced), describe an experience that has shaped your worldview or political outlook in some important way. Thinking about the works we explored in Week 2 as models, you may want to think about a way in which your own personal story has intersected with a larger historic event or trend (Takei is a good example of this), how your lived experience has shaped the way you see a contemporary issue (Cruz and Flanagan both do this), or share a chapter of your own story that weaves together the personal and the political/historical/ideological context of that story (Trevor Noah does this in “Chameleon.”)

Whichever structure you choose, your primary job here is to tell a personal story and to connect that story to a larger, real-world issue. Personal means that it happened to you; it doesn’t mean that it has to be intimate. You decide what you are comfortable sharing, but keep in mind that successful personal narratives are rich in detail and specificity. Your essay should read as though only you could have written it. This extends to the voice of the essay. You can (and should) use the first person pronoun “I”; moreover, your essay should sound like you, so don’t worry about trying to conjure up a more polished, more academic authorial persona. This is a chance for you to tell your story and reflect on an experience that has been formative in shaping your view of the world.