TASK: Using your research (the 6 videos you watched and took notes on last class), use the notes you took to write an op ed article concerning the problem(s) with social media. You may add your own personal experience, but you must reference at least 3 of the 6 videos and their content to support or refute the position that social media is "bad" for our society.
Before you commit finger to keyboard, you want to look through your notes and the arguments made by the speaker of each video. You should be looking through 6 sources.
Answer: Your question often can be the title of your paper, or it can be the last line of the introduction. Your answer to this question is your essay.
Refute Objections: If there are opposing positions on the topic (Social media is good, for example) it is important to mention these objections briefly. It is a good idea to show that you are refuting other ideas about your answer or position in your argument.
Roadmap thesis: An additional way to make a strong thesis is to do a "roadmap" which covers specifically the main points you are attempting to cover build your case. [Usually this is limited to 3 main points that you will cover in the body of your essay/argument...but you can also do this with less than 3 or more than 3 main points. Usually, each main point is further developed in a body paragraph.]
Before you commit finger to keyboard, you want to look through your notes and the arguments made by the speaker of each video. You should be looking through 6 sources.
After gathering and reviewing your notes, consider your position on the matter:
1. Fact: Is it true or not? Do you agree with the source(s)? Why or why not? [Try to get at least 2-3 reasons--you may have more...]
2. Definition: What does "social media" really mean? Separate different types of media so that you are clear what you are defending or arguing. For example: while books are media, is a book club or book group blog social media that is a problem for the speakers in these videos? Is listening to music on the radio with friends social media that we should be concerned with? If you watch a film with friends and then discuss it at a coffee-shop social media--or is Skyping your grandmother who lives nine States away to wish her a happy birthday the kind of social media the naysayers are talking about? Or if your job has a video conference that you are required to attend online, is that social media?
3. Value: How important is it? On a scale of petty annoyance and Nuclear devastation of the planet, how serious is a person's problem with social media? Is this something we all should be worried about or something only adults with children have to be concerned with? What is your position on how much or how little you value the topic?
4. Cause and Effect: What is the cause? What are the effects? Be clear about what social media does to the brain, for example. What do the sources say about what or how that causes an effect on us?
5. Policy: What should we do about it? If it's a concern, what is to be done about social media? What may be some ways to address some of the problems the sources have with social media? If the issue is not a concern, how might we best manage the naysayers and problem makers rallying around the issue?
How to Write A Thesis & Build an Argument
Question/Answer format: To make your topic idea into a thesis you need to turn the topic idea into a question first. Examples:
2. Definition: What does "social media" really mean? Separate different types of media so that you are clear what you are defending or arguing. For example: while books are media, is a book club or book group blog social media that is a problem for the speakers in these videos? Is listening to music on the radio with friends social media that we should be concerned with? If you watch a film with friends and then discuss it at a coffee-shop social media--or is Skyping your grandmother who lives nine States away to wish her a happy birthday the kind of social media the naysayers are talking about? Or if your job has a video conference that you are required to attend online, is that social media?
3. Value: How important is it? On a scale of petty annoyance and Nuclear devastation of the planet, how serious is a person's problem with social media? Is this something we all should be worried about or something only adults with children have to be concerned with? What is your position on how much or how little you value the topic?
4. Cause and Effect: What is the cause? What are the effects? Be clear about what social media does to the brain, for example. What do the sources say about what or how that causes an effect on us?
5. Policy: What should we do about it? If it's a concern, what is to be done about social media? What may be some ways to address some of the problems the sources have with social media? If the issue is not a concern, how might we best manage the naysayers and problem makers rallying around the issue?
How to Write A Thesis & Build an Argument
Question/Answer format: To make your topic idea into a thesis you need to turn the topic idea into a question first. Examples:
- Does divorce cause serious problems for the children? (fact)
- What is "divorce?" (definition)
- What are the causes of divorce? (cause)
- How important is it for couples to avoid divorce? (value)
- What can you do to make your marriage divorce-proof? (policy/proposal)
Answer: Your question often can be the title of your paper, or it can be the last line of the introduction. Your answer to this question is your essay.
Refute Objections: If there are opposing positions on the topic (Social media is good, for example) it is important to mention these objections briefly. It is a good idea to show that you are refuting other ideas about your answer or position in your argument.
Roadmap thesis: An additional way to make a strong thesis is to do a "roadmap" which covers specifically the main points you are attempting to cover build your case. [Usually this is limited to 3 main points that you will cover in the body of your essay/argument...but you can also do this with less than 3 or more than 3 main points. Usually, each main point is further developed in a body paragraph.]
Rules:
- Length: your article should fall between 500-1,000 words in length.
- Please use MLA format for your article.
- Make sure you have cited at least 3 of the 6 articles you took notes on. (You may cite more than 3!)
- Your citations can be direct quotes or parenthetical (indirect) statements drawn from your viewing of your source's arguments. Either way, you need to name (attribute) your sources.
- Make sure you provide a counter-example to your argument. You must bring up the other case or side of the issue, if only briefly.
- Use your main argument points as the topic sentence of each paragraph. Provide enough detail afterwards to support your topic sentence.
- Use transitions between points.
- Title and proofread your work before submitting your draft.
- Complete your essay draft by the end of today's writing lab/class.*
- Penalties will be applied to any article missing these 'rules.'
*If you have finished and turned in your article, please surf the internet and relax--or complete missing or late assignments.
HOMEWORK: None.
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