In rhetorical studies, invention refers to the systematic search for ideas that can be shaped into an effective composition. (the term prewriting is sometimes used to refer to the concept of invention.) this section of the assignment, then, is designed to help you generate the required content for your researched position paper. Please note that the following steps are not intended to serve as an outline for your paper. Rather, these steps will help you produce the “raw materials” that you will then refine into a well-organized analysis, and these steps are likely to produce more material than you can use in the draft you submit to readers.
1. You should first choose a publication venue for your paper. For example, will you write a letter directly to an individual, group, or organization? or will you write an article for a newspaper, newsletter, or periodical? Perhaps a piece for a Web site, Web-based publication, or social media site? to ensure that you select a specific enough audience, make sure your venue has an address (physical or electronic) to which you could send your paper. then, investigate the characteristics and values of the readers you will reach through this venue.
2. once you’ve settled on an audience, construct a claim that advances the conversation about your issue and turns it in a new direction. You might disagree with a claim made by an author , you might agree with a claim but with a difference , you might agree and disagree with a claim simultaneously, or you might generate an entirely new claim that addresses an aspect of the issue that has not been addressed in the sources you’ve found
.3.Next, attach as many reasons as are necessary to fully support your claim. Your claim plus reasons, also known as “enthymemes” , will form your thesis.
4. For each separate enthymeme in your thesis, identify the implicit warrant and determine whether it represents an assumption that your audience shares with you. If so, there’s no need to address the warrant explicitly in your argument. If the warrant represents an assumption some readers might resist, however, consider how you might persuade them to accept it. If you think it would be impossible to persuade your audience to accept the warrant, then you might consider changing the reason to produce a warrant that relies on an assumption that you and your readers share. Please note that each reason in your thesis will produce a different warrant, and you must assess the audience’s response to each one.
5. For each of your reasons (and any warrant that needs explicit sup-port), provide sufficient evidence to convince your audience that your reasons are true statements. Your personal experiences, observations, and reasoning count as evidence, but you should also draw extensively on outside sources for evidence to support your reasons.
6.Make sure you anticipate objections to your argument by planting at least one naysayer in your paper. this naysayer might be hypothetical or might be the actual author of an outside source. to engage effectively with a naysayer, you should:
●name and describe the naysayer
.●represent objections fairly
●make concessions when possible
●answer objections
.7. the previous six steps will help you construct effective logos appeals. You should also make effective ethos appeals to come across to readers as a person of good character, good sense, and goodwill. to make effective ethos appeals, make sure you:
●know what you’re talking about. Draw on all those outside sources you’ve been reading over the course of the semester, and provide ample evidence for your reasons.
●show regard for your readers. try to come across as approachable and thoughtful, not arrogant or insensitive.
● are careful and meticulous in your writing, not sloppy or disorganized.
8. Finally, make pathos appeals to readers by connecting with their emotions, values, and imaginations. to make effective pathos appeals, make sure you:
●choose an appropriate style based on the conventions of your publication venue.
●evoke emotions (sympathy, outrage, anger, delight, awe, horror, and so on in your readers that make your paper more moving
.●evoke sensations (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling) in your audience that make your writing vivid and help readers experience things imaginatively.
●appeal to values (freedom, justice, tolerance, fairness, equality, and soon) that your readers and you share.
STYLE
Readers appreciate coherent, unified paragraphs, even when reading an informal piece of writing. Your paragraphs should include a topic sentence that clearly states the main idea of the paragraph and supporting sentences that cluster around the main idea without detours. You should cite your sources according to the conventions of your publication venue. If you’re writing a letter or an article for a mainstream periodical, then you will probably just introduce your sources and cite them within the text, much as you did for your mapping the issue paper. If you’re writing for a Web-based publication, you might need to include hyperlinks. If you’re writing for a scholarly journal, then you’ll need to use the formal citation system (e.g., MLA, APA, or Chicago) that journal requires. Proofread carefully; avoid errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and mechanics
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Your paper should be five to ten pages. I don’t want any fluff, so construct a thesis that will require at least five pages to support. I also don’t want to read a dissertation, however, so keep the scope of your thesis small enough that you can support it adequately within ten pages. Your paper should be double-spaced, typed in times New Roman font, with 12-point character size and one-inch margins all the way around.
0 comments