arguing a local issue: the final assignment

For your final major assignment in Composition 106, I am asking you to take all that you have learned about your local community and use that knowledge to enter into the arena of public debate. Make an argument about an issue of importance to your own local community. This can be an issue currently facing Metro Detroit in general or something unique to your own neighborhood or suburb. You may pick up on a theme you discovered in the process of researching or writing a previous paper. You may expand an idea you have been writing about on your blog. You may pick up on a theme from one or more of the articles we read from Cities, Cultures, Conversations, provided you localize that theme by exploring what is happening at the local level. Or you may go in a new direction. One suggestion would be to expand on the argument you began making in your visual rhetoric assignment.

Regardless, demonstrate knowledge with the issue as well as the community in which the issue currently has importance. In other words, become well-versed in ALL SIDES of the debate and understand the debate’s current social context. How did this issue become important to the community? What is the current status of the debate? Why is the issue being debated? Who are the important players? What’s at stake for these players?

Choose any public issue or current event that you find interesting, as long as the issue is a local one and a current one. You might look at local reaction to (or local implications of) a large-scale issue like the job cuts recently announced by the Big Three. You might write about a particular labor dispute going on right now. Or the lawsuits surrounding Troy's decision not to give Hooter's a liquor license in their community. Or ways that Michigan universities are dealing with last-year's ban on affirmative action in the state. You might examine an issue currently being debated by your town’s school board or city council. It has be local—and it has to be current.

There are numerous possibilities. If you’re unsure of what to write about, browse local media, such as The Detroit Free Press (www.freep.com), The Detroit News (www.detnews.com), The Metro Times (www.metrotimes.com), and other Detroit links from our course syllabus. In particular, pay attention to the local news and the opinion sections, where you will find many, many ideas for argumentative writing.

Do your research so that you understand all dimensions of the debate. You should conduct online research as well as real-world interviews. I am requiring that you consult at least eight sources for this paper, including at least one interview. Use reliable, published sources. News articles, magazine articles, or professional websites are appropriate. Webpages published by individuals (as opposed to professional organizations) and wikipedia entries are not appopriate.

You may address any audience you choose. You may write to members of your local school board or parents in your school district. You may write to Governor Jennifer Granholm. You may write to Detroit-area anti-war activists. You choose the audience--as long as you target the needs of that audience in your final paper.

Your final report should be at least 5-6 pages long and should make a coherent argument that considers multiple points of view, that acknowledges the complexity of the issue (avoiding simplistic, black-and-white views), and puts forth a focused thesis, backed up with evidence and thorough explanation of why you think what you think. In other words, be accountable for your ideas. Format your paper in MLA Style.

Due Dates:

* “First Blog Draft.” Write a few paragraphs explaining to your classmates what issue you plan to write about. Include enough basic information so that all of your readers (myself, students enrolled in our sections of Comp. 106) understand the issue. Include links to some news stories discussing the issue. Educate us. Due (posted to your blog): Tuesday, March 27.

* “Second Blog Draft.” Write a paragraph or so stating your tentative thesis. What is your opinion about the issue? Include a list of sources you plan to use in your paper. Due (posted to your blog): Tuesday, April 3.

* Browse each other’s blogs and talk to each other. Respond to at least three different classmates, asking them questions, challenging their points-of-view, giving them suggestions about what they haven’t taken into consideration. Feedback due: Saturday, April 8.

* Talk to community members about the issue. Ongoing.

* First complete draft due: Tuesday, April 10 (bring three copies to class).

*Second draft due: Tuesday, April 17 (bring three copies to class).

*Final draft due: Thursday, April 19

Sample Photo Essays

Some "professional photo essays"

Caring for the Wounded in Iraq, from the New England Journal of Medicine

Stop and Smell the Sakura, from an online journal called The Foriegner Japan

Farewell to Bosnia, from a site called Picture Projects

See also Time Magazine's Photo Essays Page which has numerous examples of interesting photo essays.

Some sample "student photo essays"
->These are what my students have done in recent semesters...

Open Space

Out and About in Ferndale

Industrial Wasteland

The Legacy Initiative

Abandoned Homes

Photo Essay

You have been working all semester to document your communities using a variety of genres and intellectual approaches. First you used descriptive and analytical writing proficiencies to analyze a significant artifact in your neighborhood. Then you profiled a prominent community member whose values reflect and/or impact the place you call home. Finally you studied a particular genre—the restaurant review—and put the conventions of that genre into effect as you evaluated a restaurant in your community.

The next assignment asks you to continue using critical thinking to write your community. This time, you should create a Photo Essay that combines photographs and texts to create a piece of visual rhetoric. Your photo essay must center on some aspect of your own local community here in Metro Detroit and make a coherent, critical, and original point (have a thesis). Use at least 15-20 photographic images and at least one-hundred words, combined with one another in any way you deem effective. Present your photo essay as a blog entry.

Most photo essays follow one of two formats: the narrative essay or the thematic essay. A narrative essay tells a story through images and text and may proceed chronologically or not. An example of a narrative photo essay would be the “story” of a veteran’s parade in your town. A thematic essay meditates on a particular idea, theme, or concept, using images and text to develop that theme. An example of a thematic photo essay would be a story about civic engagement that makes an argument about the value of volunteerism.

Your priority should be creating a creative, original, critical argument. Remember that your photo essay must be an example of “rhetoric,” which means it must have a point, an agenda, an underlying message that you hope to convey to your audience members (your classmates and professor). You will present your photo essay to the class, showing us the images and talking through what your argument is. Don’t just read your text off the screen. Be ready to talk to the rest of us about your thesis and your visual images. Make it engaging. Have fun!

In addition, you must hand in a reflective essay of approximately 2 pages that analyzes your photo essay, explains your intentions as a rhetorician, and describes the process you went through creating the photo essay. The reflective essay should be self-critical, explaining your strengths and weaknesses, what you learned, and how well you think your photo essay does at creating a piece of visual rhetoric.

Deadlines:
Tuesday, March 20—Have a rough draft of your photo essay posted on your blog for
your classmates to look at and critique
Thursday, March 22-No class today. Take advantage of the day "off" to work on revising your photo essay.
Thursday, March 29—Have a final draft posted to your blog before class begins today and have the two-page self-analysis ready to hand in. We'll begin presentations today and continue hearing presentations in subsequent classes.

restaurant review

In addition to blogging your community, you have now written two formal papers about Metro Detroit: an analysis of a place or artifact and a profile of a community member. As yet another way to use writing to engage with your local community, your next assignment requires you to review a local restaurant. I hope that you will have some fun with this assignment.

Since all of our writing this term centers on Metro Detroit, I ask that you choose a restaurant unique to our city, a non-chain restaurant (avoid McDonald’s, Olive Garden, etc.). In fact, I would urge you to pick a place that you think has character that reflects something about Detroit. For example, why not review an ethnic restaurant where the food and atmosphere has the potential to teach you something about a community-within-our-community? The Dearborn area has numerous middle-eastern restaurants, of course, but you can also find soul food joints all over Detroit. These are just a few possibilities. Let me also suggest that you choose something inexpensive. College students are generally on tight budgets, and one positive outcome of this activity can involve your classmates trying out places you recommend.

Restaurant reviews are an ideal place to employ descriptive language—as long as it does not become too inflated or flowery. As with other types of persuasive writing, your review should be clear and concise while you support general statements with specific examples. When you write a restaurant review, your job as a critic is to comment on five basic areas: food, service, atmosphere, price, and cleanliness.

---Food
*The quality of the food is typically the main thing that a reader looks for in a restaurant review. And quality can be judged on both the ingredients and their preparation.
*As part of your analysis of the food in an ethic or regional restaurant, you might consider authenticity. Or have recipes been modified to fit the taste of the local region? For example, most Americans would not be pleased if a fried egg and slice of beet were served on top of their McDonald’s hamburger. But consumers in New Zealand would be disappointed if that were not the case. You might be amazed to learn what passes as McDonald’s food outside of Livonia, Michigan. (Fishstick)

---Service
*Service involves how you were treated during your dinning experience. Were people polite to you? Did you have to wait for your order? Was it prepared correctly?

---Atmosphere
*Sometimes called ambiance, the atmosphere includes how the restaurant is decorated and its general mood. When evaluating atmosphere, you need to consider context. For example, it would be unfair to criticize a sports bar for having a noisy atmosphere.
*One factor in atmosphere is history; either the history of the restaurant or its location.

---Price
*If price were not a factor, we would all eat at five star restaurants. In your restaurant review, you should at least give a price range for a typical meal. And you might want to comment whether or not the money is well spent.

---Cleanliness
*In your review, comment on the condition of the bathrooms, the silverware, and floors.

Report Your Experience with Evidence! As a critic, you are reporting your own experience and using specific examples to prove your point. For example, Jane Slaughter (2004) is critical of Pampas Churrascaria in Birmingham, Michigan because “The rib eye, sirloin, skirt steak and pork were all overcooked.” On the other hand, Molly Abraham (2004) reported that at Pampas Churrascaria “The beef, appropriately enough, is the star of the show, tender, juicy and not at all overcooked.” It might be interesting to read both of their reviews to see what evidence they used to support their conflicting claims about the restaurant.

References and Resources

Abraham, Molly. “Brazilian Restaurant in Birmingham is Hard to Pronounce, but Easy to Swallow.” 10 December 2004. Detroit News. 2 March 2005.

Detroit News Restaurant Guide. nd. detnews.com. 2 March 2005.

Fishstick. “The Love Burger, Seaweed Fries, and Other Curiostities” nd. Tiki Fish. 2 March 2005.

Slaughter, Jane. “Sounds Like Pompos.” 29 December 2004. Metro Times. 2 March
2005.

Here are some essential websites:

The Metro Times “Taste” Section (see the links under “Recent Reviews”):
http://www.metrotimes.com/taste.asp

The Detroit News Restaurant Guide:
http://info.detnews.com/restaurants/index.cfm

Due Dates:
Tuesday, March 6 (bring three copies of a first draft to class today)
Tuesday, March 13 (one copy of a final draft to hand in to me; you should also have
your review posted on your blog by this date)

This assignment adapted from Schoolcraft College Writing Program: http://www.schoolcraft.edu/fellows/default.asp

interview tips

• Set up your interview
  *make contact with your potential interviewee
  *ask his or her permission to conduct the interview
  *be flexible and work with the person’s busy schedule
  *decide together whether you will conduct the interview via e-mail or in person
  *give the person a sense of how long the interview will take
  
• Prepare for the interview
  *do background research on the person
  *find out as much as you can before the interview
  *write out your questions in a logical order
  *avoid questions that have simple yes/no answers
  *word questions in a way that elicits thorough responses (open-ended is good)
  *avoid unclear or leading questions
  *get necessary supplies: a tape recorder, pens and plenty of paper
  
• Conduct the interview
  *present yourself professionally (dress depends on specific context of interview)
  *be ready to improvise a bit, asking follow-up questions or for further clarification
  when necessary or appropriate
  *take careful and thorough notes, asking the interview to repeat key lines and phrases
  when necessary or appropriate
  *don’t take up more of the person’s time than necessary
  *use common courtesy—appreciate the person sacrificing his/her time
  
• Follow-up afterward
  *send a thank-you note, or at least a thank-you e-mail (most experts suggest that a
  formal letter is preferable)
  *cite the interview properly in your written report (see handbook for guidelines about
  how to do this in MLA Style)
  
  Ethical Issues:

*Do no harm to yourself; do no harm to your interviewee.
*Don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation. Don’t take risks (beyond the risks
associated with living your everyday life) in order to conduct the interview.
*Represent your interviewee fairly, accurately, honestly. He or she has generously
given you the time of day; reciprocate that consideration.
*Explain the context of your research. What’s your purpose? What’s the scope of
your project? What’s the assignment?
*Give the interviewee the option of seeing your final written report.

some profiles to read and enjoy

Brainstorming ideas for your profile paper? Here's a few examples to get you thinking...

Wendy Case of local band The Paybacks.

Bill Goodman, local activist and attorney.

D. Duane Hurtt, local businessperson.

Mike Babcock, hockey coach.

profile of a community member

On your first writing assignment for Comp 106, you began to write about your community by analyzing a place or artifact with personal and public significance. You wrote about ballparks, memorials, cider mills, bookshops, and parks. You started creating a mythology of your community by telling stories, identifying values and concerns, and contemplating the significance of various community dynamics.

Now, continue to build that mythology, continue to write (about) your community by profiling a prominent community member. To write a profile means to write biographically about a person. Describe the person and his or her role in the community. Tell some of the person’s stories. Talk about what the person does and what his or her impact is. Paint a picture of the person’s identity in relation to your neighborhood or town. You might want to pick someone associated with the place or object you analyzed, but this is not a requirement for the assignment.

I do require that you conduct at least one formal interview with the person and hand in a list of questions you asked the person as well as formal, typed notes from the interview. When you conduct an interview, I highly recommend recording the interview. I require, though, that you prepare for the interview by writing out a list of questions and also that you take thorough notes covering what the person says in response to you. Write down key quotations that capture the individual’s voice. In your paper, draw on these quotations. Give the interviewee a voice.

Also, I require that you do some outside research on the person. You may also conduct other interviews with relevant individuals, getting their impressions of the person. You may also find articles and/or other print or online information about the person. I am requiring that you cite at least three outside source besides the interview you conduct with the person.

Most importantly, say something fresh and original about the person. Don’t just summarize and report dry facts and figures. Do some of your own analysis and interpretation. Make an argument about how you see this person fitting in to your community.

Part of the purpose of the assignment is to get out in your community and meet new people, so I am also requiring that you do NOT profile a relative, family member, or close friend. Choose a person you would like to get to know—not a person you already know well.

See syllabus for further requirements for written work. Be sure to format your paper and document your sources using MLA citation style.

Due dates: Thursday, February 15 (bring 3 copies to class), hand in a complete draft.
Thursday, Feburary 22, hand in a final draft for me to grade.

welcome to the "D"

Detroit's Convention and Visitors Bureau unveiled a new ad campaign, using this new metallic symbol and the slogan "Cars, Culture, Gaming, Music, Sports." They hope to increase the amount of tourism in the area and make Detroit seem "cool" to young people. Full story here.

What do you think of the campaign? Of the visual?

Practice photo-blogging by placing the image in your blog and responding to the above questions. Include a link to the full story, too.

sarcasm

Here's a good example of one writer using sarcasm to make a point.