Editorial Assignment
WRD 103
Autumn 2010
Bryant-Richards
Editorial Assignment
Genre Paper #2: Editorial
Purpose: Writing in multiple genres is a goal of the First Year Writing Program. Persuasion is a part of life, and an especially important part of college writing. The purpose of writing an editorial is to practice writing persuasively to a real audience with a view toward explaining, interpreting, criticizing, or praising.
Assignment: Choose a topic that has some relationship and importance to your community. Your topic will have a position that you must argue and persuade your audience to agree with your position on the topic. You can define community as our country, our state, our city, our school, or even our classroom. In choosing the community, you will think about audience. Will your audience be the editors of the school newspaper, the city newspaper, an international newspaper, or the head of your school? Avoid overdone topics, such as abortion issues or gun control topics. Try to identify a topic that is seriously impacting your life and your community. You must get prior approval via e-mail for your topic from me. In this e-mail, include your understanding of the proposed audience for your editorial. Failure to get topic approval will result in a lowering of your final grade by 10 points.
After you determine your topic, work on pre-writing and gathering any evidence you need about the topic. Make a plan and write a rough draft of your editorial piece.
Use the editorials we have read in class as models for your own writing.
Attach the self assessment rubric to your final draft.
Due dates: Rough draft due in class on Wednesday, October 13. Bring three printed copies of your rough draft to class and three peer review forms on this day. Failure to bring your rough draft to class and the peer review form will result in a lowering of the final paper grade by 20 points.
Final draft due: Monday, October 18, 2010
Length: 3-4 pages, 9-11 paragraphs
Format: MLA style; see owl.english.purdue.edu