syllabus.html

Op-Ed
Assignment Guidelines

Due Dates:

Requirements:

Proposal—September 4th, 2024
Working Draft—September 11th, 2024
Final Draft—September 18th, 2024

Objective: Write a persuasive piece that advocates for a policy change of some sort at the campus, community, or state level.

Procedure:

Choose a topic relating to an issue that interests you and about which you can argue persuasively.
Take notes identifying current policies that shape the communityÕs approach to this topic and possible ways to improve these policies. Identify an existing policy that, in your view, needs to change.
Sign up for a one-on-one meeting with the instructor to discuss topics.
Formulate a thesis statement and list three to four subtopics that you will address to back this thesis up, and bring this to a one-on-one meeting with the instructor on September 4th or 5th 2024.
Write a working draft of at least 500 words, and be ready to share it in class on September 11th, 2024, for peer-review.
Revise this draft with the help of peer-review feedback, and submit a final draft to the Canvas page on September 18th, 2024. Turn in your peer-reviewed draft with your final draft.

Topics:

This is not an exhaustive list. Please feel free to refine topics as needed, or come up with your own:

Drinking age and enforcement of alcohol policies on campus

Improvements to student life on campus including amenities, infrastructure, campus community

Connections between college curriculum and future employment

Sexual harassment and sexual assault

Addressing the needs of an ethnically diverse campus community

Educational opportunities for all regardless of differences in background and level of preparedness

Connections/interactions between UMD and the surrounding city of Duluth

Affordable housing

Rental ordinances and college housing

Employment opportunities in Duluth

Transportation in Duluth

Building better neighborhoods

City policies and the environment

The urban-rural divide

K-12 education policies

Higher-education funding

Environmental protection

Taxation

Agricultural policy

Criminal justice

Grading standards

This paper is worth 10% of your final grade, and I will base your grade on the following criteria:

Clarity and focus of an arguable stance on your topic.
Appropriate support of claims in the essay.
A coherent approach to a specific audience, including acknowledgment of possible counterarguments.
Effective organization of the argument, sign-posted with clear topic sentences, transitional expressions and keywords.
A command of Edited Standard Written English demonstrating that the writer has carefully revised and proofread to remove grammatical and spelling errors.