305W ASSIGNMENTS
1. Workplace Writing Memo & Resume Assignment (15 points)
Length: 3-5 single spaced pages
Due: October 06
1. Interview a person or persons who work in a career area you are interested in. You can
conduct the interview by email, phone, or in person (see "Interview Preparation & Sample
Preparation" handout.) If you are planning on doing further academic study, interview a
professor and some graduate students in the field you wish to enter.
2. Find out what kinds of written and oral communication skills you will need, what kinds of
writing you will be expected to do, and what format, genre, length and audiences you will
need to deal with.
3. Write me a memo explaining what you have discovered (see the handout "General Notes on
Memos".) The memo content should be organized under headings, and you should not just
reproduce an interview – you should turn your interview material into a report that describes
how writing and communication operate in the area you chose to study.
4. Write a resume tailored to the position/area you are interested in (see Resume Handout.)
2. Argument Sketch (5 points)
Due: October 20
Length: 2 double spaced pages. Select one of the Iraq war articles and use the Toulmin model to
produce a brief sketch of the argument. (If you wish, you can choose your own articles about the Iraq
war or some other topic, but you must provide me with a copy) That is, identify the major claim,
some warrants, evidence, a qualifier, rebuttal, etc. The argument may not contain all the parts listed in
the Toulmin model, so don’t worry if you can’t map every part of the model to the argument you are
examining. For example, some arguments may contain little or no qualification.
Write a brief analysis of the argument – describe the main points you agree or disagree with, what
you consider strengths/weaknesses, and why. State your own position and argument on the issue.
3. Fallacies and Demagoguery Group Presentation (5 points)
Due: October 27
Length: 2-3 double spaced pages.
In groups of 3 or 4, use the material on fallacies and the article by Robert’s Miller on demagoguery to
analyze a text of your choice. You might choose to analyze the transcripts of a cable news show, a
blog, a talk radio transcript, a political speech, or some other text. Describe to what extent the text
contains the types of reasoning discussed in our work on fallacies and demagoguery, but also consider
(where relevant) whether in some contexts such forms of reasoning can be valid or reasonable.
4. Civic Writing (15 points)
Length: 2 single spaced pages, + 1 page ARC (analysis of rhetorical context)
Due: November 17
An important part of a university education is learning how to identify and think critically about the
many different types of argument you will encounter in public life. Being able to critically evaluate
texts and respond in writing to important public issues is a crucial part of citizenship in a democracy.
In this paper you will research and present an argument about some social problem or controversy.
You can choose a topic from the class readings (media influence, theories of bias, the representation
of gender/race, the war in Iraq, affirmative action, etc.) or you can choose some other issue you
consider important (the genocide in Sudan, immigration reform proposals, families without health
insurance, gay marriage, the budget deficit in California, the death penalty, campaign finance, etc.).
Compose a letter to the editor, a letter to an organization or politician, a letter to a friend or relative,
an opinion piece for a magazine, a weblog, a critical review, or some other type of writing designed to
intervene in a contemporary issue, advocate change or persuade a particular audience. If the genre
you choose is a short one - e.g. letter to the editor - you should consider composing two (consult with
me if you are unsure about this).
You should also compose a 1 page ARC, or analysis of rhetorical context. This should describe your
purpose (what you want to accomplish and why), a description of the audience you’re addressing, the
context, and what criteria one uses when judging writing in this genre.
5. Final Paper (30 points)
Length: approximately 8 pages
Due: last day of class
In the final paper you will produce a substantial piece of writing that helps prepare you for your
future work or study. If you wish, this paper can significantly advance one of the assignments you
have done in the class so far. For example, if you plan on going to graduate school, you could
develop the work done in the first assignment by interviewing a graduate studies director and working
on a statement of purpose and resume for your graduate school application. Alternatively, you might
decide to do a literature review of key texts in your field. Or you could outline a research paper topic
(based on work in your major) and structure it according to the CARS model. If you would rather
explore workplace writing, you could do a study of a particular genre of vocational writing. If you
would like to apply for an internship, you could study how to put together application materials
and/or review books on how to maximize your internship experience. If you wish to write about
public/popular issues, you could write a review essay, a proposal or a web page, start a blog, compose
a piece of writing that constitutes and “intervention.” You can meet with me to discuss your options.
Note: depending on the topic, you can work in groups of 2 or more.
You should also write a one page ARC (analysis of rhetorical context). This should describe your
purpose (what you want to accomplish and why), a description of the audience you’re addressing, and
the context. You should outline evaluative criteria for this piece of writing – what the writing should
do in order to be successful.
If you prefer to do a more traditional, structured assignment, you can do the analysis assignment
below:
Analysis Paper
In this paper you will identify a problem/question and establish its significance; synthesize and
analyze the work of authors whose positions are relevant to your problem/question, and then
present your own argument about how the question/problem ought to be thought
about/addressed/solved. You should:
1) Identify a problem/question in the introduction and describe how: 1) the problem/question
really exists; 2) it is significant and deserves the attention of the community of writers addressing
the media issue.
2) Select three articles which address a media issue (you may use articles we have read in class,
or select articles we have not read which you have located via research). The 3 texts you choose
should embody 3 different positions or perspectives that relate to your problem/question in a
significant way. Give each of these perspectives a name. Make sure that you present these 3
approaches in a way that clearly distinguishes them from each other. Be sure to introduce and
define the approaches early on in your paper.
3) Summarize the position of each author. Support your presentation with evidence (i.e., textual
evidence that an author really holds a certain position).
4) Analyze the approaches and the individual positions in terms of how well they address your
definition of the problem/question. Justify and support each strength and weakness with your own
good reasons (i.e., explain why it is a strength or weakness). In analyzing an author's position,
you can consider the many criteria we have looked at for analyzing arguments. For example you
could consider the assumptions which underlie his/her position and think of counterexamples
(from your experience, reasoning, or from another author's argument). You could identify the
main ‘chain(s) of reasoning’, or warrant(s), that each claim depends on, and evaluate their
strengths. In considering the strengths and weaknesses of the author's arguments, draw where
relevant on the work we have done on Criteria for Analyzing texts critique, formal and informal
logic, fallacies, as well as other factors we have discussed in class with respect to analyzing the
qualities of an argument.
5) Present your own position on how the question/problem ought to be understood. Argue for
your position, and try to be as persuasive as you can, drawing on whatever evidence, reasons,
support, etc. that you can.