Engage your audience and structure your call to action appropriately for the genre you have chosen. (Make sure to look at examples of your chosen genre.)
An argument typically has 4 pieces. You’ll need to include these 4 pieces as the body of your argument. This portion of your call to action should be at least 3 pages.
thesis (problem + opinion) and explanation of the problem and the context.
sub-topics/specific reasons to support your thesis.
evidence (sources) to support each subtopic.
“Create a conversation” (analysis/commentary) to explain the evidence and connect it to the thesis.
Your thesis (your position) is that X is negatively impacting Y. (Sample thesis statements: X is hurting Y group of people; Community college students are seriously struggling with balancing work and school; Online classes are hurting the motivation of college freshmen.) However, stating there is a problem and that the problem has negative effects is often not enough to get readers engaged. This is why you need to state your thesis and also briefly explain the problem and the context. Include the 5 W’s of reporting (who, what, when, where, why) so that readers can see the problem within the broader context where and when it occurs and can picture how it impacts the individuals, communities, the field/profession, etc.).
After you’ve established context and stated your thesis, you will need to begin persuading your readers by identifying at least 3 negative effects of this issue/problem. Each negative effect is its own subtopic within your call to action. Your sub-topics are like mini-theses that identify the ways in which X is negatively impacting Y. Instead of thinking of your argument as one long reason, think about it like mini chapters in a book. The title of the book is that there is a problem and it has negative impacts. Then each chapter is a specific negative impact, supported by research and explained through analysis and commentary.
Each negative effect sub-topic needs to be supported by relevant, credible, current research. The CRAAP text will help you determine reliable, credible, current sources. You will need at least 5 sources that pass the CRAAP test.
2 of the 5 sources can be from your Unit 2 essay or from the Unit 2 source sets.
3 of your sources, therefore, need to be newly found, by you, for this project.
As you select sources, think about what each source brings to your argument. Ideally, your sources will help you create a blend of evidence that persuades through logos, ethos, and pathos.
Every time you include evidence, make sure to format it with author/source tags and proper citation.
D. Your call to action will also need to include strong analysis/commentary connected to each subtopic and each piece of evidence. This is “creating a conversation” with your evidence: sentences written by you that help explain the quotes and summaries you have included as evidence. This “conversation” also includes sentences written by you that explain how the included evidence supports or proves the subtopics. This helps your reader see the connection between the argument you are making and the evidence you are including. To you, as writer, analysis may feel like stating the obvious. Resist the temptation to skimp on analysis. It only feels obvious to you because you are the researcher. What feels like an overstatement is often just right to support or prove your point(s).
E. Finally, transition from explaining/proving the issue is a problem to suggesting steps readers can/should take to make change. Your suggested action(s) for change must be supported by your research (properly formatted and cited) and/or specific personal experience. Make suggestions for change and then explain those in detail. If your evidence includes examples of how this has worked or can work, summarize those as part of the way in which you persuade your readers. This portion of your call to action should be at least a page.
CAUTION: Generalized hypothetical solutions or “silver bullet” idealism will undermine the power of your persuasion. It can be tempting to say “just eliminate X and everything will be better!” but if the solution were that easy, it would already be done. Really hunker down into your critical thinking and consider what logical, practical, possible steps readers could take to begin to make change, even if more research or help will be needed for a long time to truly erase the problem. You letter is a call to action, not the final word in the solution.
F. Conclude with last-impressions/reasons why readers should seriously consider your argument and take action.
Taking action on an issue within a community
You have identified a problem in your academic discipline or profession. What choices will you need make as a writer to persuade your audience/readers that there is a problem and then persuade them to take action in response to the problem?
In Unit 3, you are going to create a researched, evidence-based call to action letter (or editorial, or professional/organizational blog) that identifies a problem within your academic discipline or profession, explains the impacts (on individuals, communities, the field/profession, etc.), and suggest what action(s) readers could take to make change.
You are highly encouraged to send your letter (or editorial, or professional/organizational blog), however you do not have to. The reason we will be structuring finished arguments in one of these formats is to help you consider the role of a real audience in crafting an argument and to help you choose an argument that is relevant to your chosen discipline or profession—not just something sensational (i.e. hot media topic). Arguing for change through written, research-based advocacy often happens through genres like letters, editorials, and professional/organizational blogs.
Background and Options: Everything you have been reading, writing, discussing, and thinking about matters and is available for you to use as you build unit 3. You are not writing this essay from scratch! Your topic (issue) and all of the sources you gathered for unit 2 can be used to build unit 3, if you choose. If, during the writing of unit 2, you discovered that your issue/topic or sources were not strong enough or relevant to a academic discipline or profession, you could also choose one of the source sets developed for unit 2. Either way, unit 3 will require researching and locating 3 additional sources.
Unit 3 Essay Prompt: Call to action (4-6 pages)
Create a typed, researched, evidence-based call to action letter, editorial, or professional/organizational blog that identifies a problem for your academic discipline or profession, explains the negative effects of that problem (using research to support), and identifies at least one realistic action readers could take to begin to make change in response.
To persuade your readers, you cannot simply say X is a problem in your discipline or profession; you will need to show that X is a problem by identifying several negative effects or implications connected to the problem and supporting each negative effect with credible research. You will also need to suggest what action or actions readers could take to make change. The outline for Essay 3 (a separate resource) will walk you through the steps to build a really persuasive call to action.
Essay 3 Ingredients submitted with final essay submission:
Essay 3 (written in the genre you have chosen). 4-6 pages
Works Cited Page including all sources
5 Research Review Reports (if you have more than 5 sources, you only need to complete 5). Each RRR is approximately 1 page in length. 5 pages total.
Essay 3 Sources (The requirements are the same as in essay 2)
Please select articles full-text articles published in or after 2010. Single page or abstract-only is insufficient to meet the goals of the assignment.
Find articles in trade journals, newspapers, scholarly journals, magazines.
One of your two texts can be a multimedia source (TED presentation, or other) if you wish.
Texts you have already read within your field of study or for essay 1 are also a great idea to review as possibilities for your issue and article(s).
Websites and other web-based sources: If you find something that you feel meets the criteria listed above but is part of a webpage, blog, or other digital-only source, please reach out and check with me via email before selecting this. There’s good stuff out there; there’s also a lot of squirrelly stuff out there.