11 February 2021

TO: Students in Writing 1120, Section 3

FROM: John Schwetman, Associate Professor, Department of English, Linguistics and Writing Studies

RE: Assignment Two

Below, please find guidelines for Assignment Two, "They Say". This assignment will require students to analyze two different articles in the "Readings" section of They Say / I Say with attention to the techniques these articles use to persuade their readers.

The first requirement, due on 16 February 2021, will be a proposal in memo-form 300-500 words long, which means you can use this first page to model its structure (please note that this memo is 361 words long, so you can also use it to estimate the length as you write your own). Memos are in a standard format for simple business communication between employees of the same company or division and tend to be less formal than business correspondence between companies or organizations.

This proposal involves imagining a hypothetical discussion forum at UMD and requesting institutional support for it—in this case, support from the UMD Student Association. Consider an event that will most effectively inform UMD students about the chosen topic. Imagine inviting the authors of the two articles to the event to participate in a panel discussion for a larger audience. You will need funding to pay the guest panelists, and this memo will argue for such monetary support by explaining the significance of your chosen topic and its importance to UMD students.

For the second deadline, you will then discard the memo-structure and adapt the content into an essay with more information and a clear argument that compares the two different articles more carefully and with more detailed support. This will be an opportunity to develop organizational and documentation strategies as you write and revise this 3-4 page essay. Classmates will peer-edit this draft, due on 23 February 2021 in accordance with guidelines that I will hand out in class.

The third deadline—2 March 2021—will be the date when students turn in their polished final drafts of these 3-4 page essays.

For more details, please see below, and let me know if you have any questions about this assignment.

Guidelines for Assignment Two: "They Say"

Objective

Write a persuasive piece that examines arguments in two different essays in They Say / I Say in one of the book's five topic areas—differences that divide, university education, technology, gender, or the politics of food production/consumption.

Procedure

1. Choose one of the five topic areas in They Say / I Say and then two essays within that topic area that are of particular interest to you. You are welcome to choose a topic that we have not yet addressed in class.
2. Take notes identifying elements in those two essays that make them especially appealing or thought-provoking.
3. Write a proposal memo, and submit it on 16 February 2021.
4. Write a working draft of at least 3 pages, and share it with a classmate on 23 February 2021 for peer-editing in accordance with guidelines to be provided. Once peer-editing is complete, be sure to share a copy of the edited draft with me, so I can assign your peer-editor a peer-editing grade.
5. Attend a one-on-one Zoom conference with me to discuss plans for revising the working draft into a final draft.
6. Make a new copy of this draft, then revise it with the help of peer-editing feedback. Clear out or resolve all of your peer-editor's comments and suggestions before submitting the draft through the Canvas assignment page on 2 March 2021.

Proposal Memo (300-500 words)

Pretend you are planning a one-hour discussion session on the topic area that you have chosen. Hypothetically, gather UMD students, faculty and staff together to go over this topic and produce a set of related recommendations to the UMD administration. Structure in a manner that brings in people of various perspectives, ranks, and stances in an effort to provide the administration with guidance about how UMD and the larger community can best address this issue.

Write a memo to the UMD Student Association seeking funding for this discussion session according to the following format:

• Memo heading including sender, recipient and memo topic.
• Brief topic overview.
• Identification of two essays in They Say / I Say with brief summaries of each and analyses of how their arguments challenge readers to re-examine their preconceptions and advance the discussion.
• A final overview of the topic and appeal to the reader regarding the importance of more thorough consideration of it.
• 300-500 words in length.
• Submit this memo through the Canvas assignment page on 16 February 2021.

Essay Working Draft (3-4 pages)

Re-work the memo into an essay that elaborates on the memo's claims about the articles and their means of arguing their points. Remove references to funding and panel discussions and format this draft as a normal manuscript—not as a memo. Refer to specific details and quotations from each essay to answer the following questions:

1. Which unique perspective does each essay contribute to the topic?
2. Which techniques does each essay use to persuade its audience?
3. What is the ideal audience for each essay?
4. How do the two essays work together to facilitate discussion of the topic?

Complete this working draft in advance of class on 23 February 2021 so you can share it with peer-editors who will provide feedback in accordance with peer-editing guidelines that I will make available in class.

Sign up for a one-on-one conference with me on 24, 25, or 26 February 2021 to discuss paper revisions. Be sure I have access to a draft of this paper during this meeting.

Final Draft (3-4 pages)

Revise your working draft in response to feedback you receive from peer editors and from me at the one-on-one conference. Submit this final draft through the Canvas assignment page by the end of the day on 2 March 2021.

Complete a process post for this paper on Canvas by the end of the day on 3 March.

Grading standards

This paper is worth 20% of your final grade, and I will base your grade on the following criteria:

1. A clear explanation of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the two articles under consideration along with a central argument for the importance of giving this topic consideration.
2. Appropriate support of your essay's claims with a careful selection of paraphrases and direct quotations from the two articles under consideration.
3. An understanding of the expectations of the essay's audience and acknowledgment of possible counterarguments that might emerge from this audience.
4. Effective organization of the argument, sign-posted with clear topic sentences, transitional expressions and keywords.
5. Adequate documentation of the two essays in accordance with the MLA format governing in-text and end-of-paper references.
6. A command of Edited Standard Written English demonstrating that the writer has carefully revised and proofread to remove grammatical and spelling errors.
7. Page design and layout in accordance with the conventions of the memo for the first draft and of standard manuscript format the third draft.