I am embarking on the 6th Assignment on the Online Rhetorical Composing II with Ohio State University. You’ll be setting your opinions and arguments in conversation with the work of others by composing a researched argument.
I need ideas – I am struggling for an INSPIRING argument –
I wanted to connect it to writing, my ideas;
- Self publishing Vs the Traditional Route
- Book Vs Nook
- Getting published for the 1st time…
Or I could follow the Non-Fiction text I am writing on Depression – Breaking down the Taboo.
This is the assignment brief;
For this assignment, we ask you to compose a text intended for a public audience in which you engage an issue that you find worthwhile. Ideally, this will be the same issue about which you constructed your Assignment 3 visual argument, but you can also engage a different topic if you prefer. The text you produce must set in conversation others’ texts about the issue and should seek to influence your audience by changing mood, mind, or action (terms introduced during Week 3: Analyzing Rhetorically).
You may elect to compose such texts as internet blog posts, articles or opinion pieces for a local newspaper or an industry or advocacy newsletter, or informative articles. (Please note that this list is not exhaustive of the kinds of texts you might produce.)
I am considering posting the assignment on this blog – depending on how it works out I may see if I can get something from the article published in newspapers, websites or newsletters.
PLEASE HELP ME IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA I CAN USE.
awritersfountain 
The subject matters you have to write from in both scenarios are bursting full of info everywhere so either choice will be good. If you are looking for it to be published, I would chose depression (the new DSM 5 is being written about right now) – because the writing choices have been well combed over by very well known writers and organisations. Good luck with it all… 🙂
Thanks for your input Lesley – If I used mental health I would need an argument to hang the research on. Although I may choose this in the end and possibly could use it somehow in my own work, I am also attracted to finding a post that would benefit, aid, entertain, support, inform or/ and interest my readers.
The thing with depression is that it plants itself in a multitude of mental illnesses either in a clinical, long term sense or a situational one. It is a fascinating if somewhat sad subject that so many can relate to at least once in life.
1 in 10.
I have completed research and experienced first hand what power and hold this state causes. I guess if I choose this I could look at the acceptance of mental health issues in the workplace or something.
It sounds like a complex assignment. For me the key words in the assignment brief are ‘engage an issue that you find worthwhile’.
Given that your have already started a conversation with others regarding your intended response here on your blog maybe composing blog texts that somehow elicits responses from other bloggers could be a way to approach the assignment.
What are you so passionate about that you would engage in reasoned argument with others?
Oh Suzanne I cannot begin to tell you how complicated they make these assignments sound. I have 2 degrees and English is my first language and yet I swim in technical academic jargon trying to find the simple outline of What they need – what we do…
This is the hardest yet though as I don’t know what to write about. (Hence asking for help!)
I really like your idea and appreciate the help, I am still drawing a blank though. I have no concrete idea. The things I am passionate about probably don’t have too many debatable frames. As they are things all creative spirits love. I guess it could be about the power of blogging or persuasion in social media or something.
Feel a little wobbly. like I don’t have a tight enough grasp on this concept.
Hope this reply isn’t a repeat of what I just said. My comment disappeared as I was writing it.
I have two degrees too and found the jargon in your assignment brief really difficult to interpret. Maybe the mainstream publishing v. self publishing might be a fruitful area for debate. There are lots of blogs about it. Here’s a link to a friend of mine who blogs about self publishing.http://gailkavanagh.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/what-to-avoid-in-self-publishing/
Thanks Suzanne – I think that’s the subject area I will go for – I just hope I am still in time for the assignment! Cheers for the blog link, I will be sure to check it out.
I agree with Suzanne! Also, there is so much going on in media that I am sure you can find an issue with which to engage…
Thanks for helping me with this idea, every day I deliberate I lose a little more time on it.
As I said to Carrie, I would quite like the subject matter to be blog related somehow.
Although looking to media and media stories is a great start for any writer in many genres.
The theatre script writing workshops started with a media challenge for plot ideas!
Thanks for your help.
I like the argument about self-publishing vs traditional publishing, there are a lot of information already written for it to be easy to research. You could focus on the argument about how easy it is to be published, but have we fallen into this idea that we shouldn’t pay or expect that creative (and non-fiction) works to be really cheap. Should we then give our ideas away for free? Good luck with your assignment!! 🙂
Thanks Carrie – I have read some articles recently about how amazon offer free downloads for a limited time and how that can increase profit and sales for authors. This world does expect things for free – so the companies respond. The floodgates are open.
I liked the idea of a publishing argument because if I elect to ‘publish’ my assignment on this blog I at least want it to be an interesting read for the followers of this blog. Possibly even helpful for some or a topic opened for discussion and debate. Thanks for your help.
Pingback: Rhetorical Compostion II – Brainstorming Activity – The Beginning | awritersfountain