Assignment: Informed Rhetorical Argument Proposal
Your Topic
1. Provide me with a brief summary of your research (this should be a revised version of the summary you posted in the Rhetorical Research Discussion Board, reflecting the additional research you have done since then). Where is the conversation currently taking place (on blogs? op-ed pages? academic journals? social media? somewhere else?)? Whose voices-or what kind of voices-seem to be most prominent in the conversation?
2. Propose the central claim you intend to make in your final paper.
3. How will your claim add to or further the conversation?
4. What category/categories of argument1 will you be making (fact/definition/proposal/evaluation)?
5. What audience2 do you want your essay to reach?
6. How will you compose your essay to appeal to this audience?
7. Outline the support for your central claim (from question 2) in Toulmin terms.
• Central Claim:
• Reason/Evidence:
• Warrant:
• Backing:
8. Do you have any questions for me at this stage in the project?
1Limiting your initial claim to one or two categories of argument can be an excellent way to qualify your claim appropriately for a project of this length. After you've decided which category(ies) of argument you'll construct, I strongly recommend visiting the respective guides to each argument in your textbook to help develop your writing. Arguments of fact (p.167), arguments of definition (p. 199), arguments of evaluations (p. 225), and proposals (p. 288).
2Any variation of "the general public" is not an acceptable audience. Even if an issue affects everyone on the planet, it does not affect every group of people in the same way. You will need a nuanced and specific conception of your audience in order to argue successfully.