Essay 4: Persuasive Essay
Science and Technology
Essay Requirements
Skills Required
| Day 24 10/31 |
Final draft of Essay 3, with metatext. Printout plus submission in Learning Space. | Introduction to Essay 4, a persuasive essay based on the Science and Technology readings in The Presence of Others. |
| Day 25 11/2 |
Read Shelley's Frankenstein excerpt (231) and Bishop's "Enemies of Promise" (237). Summarize the Bishop essay PERFECTLY (elegant and thorough). Write one response that deals with a contrast you see between Frankenstein and Bishop regarding science or modern technology. (250 words) | Pizza day! Discussion of the themes in the essays in order to develop a perspective through which to analyze the various issues in this unit. |
| Day 26 11/3 |
Write a brief essay in which you explain your perspective on science & technology, referring when necessary to both the Shelley and Bishop pieces. (Cite them properly.) | Begin reading Wilson in class as an example of a persuasive essay. |
| 11/7 | Election Day. No classes. | |
| Day 27 11/9 |
Finish reading Wilson (303). Choose one of the following issues and freewrite about the position you have on it and why you think that way. Then read the essay in The Presence that focuses on your issue. Then find an article from another source (internet, paper, magazine, book) that presents an opposing perspective. Prepare to present the issue to the class, referring to both authors' perspectives, summarizing their central arguments, taking into account your "Perspective on Science & Technology" essay, and explaining your own take on the issue. Submit preparatory materials to Learning Space. | Work in small groups, based on the issue you've chosen, to prepare a presentation to the class in the afternoon. Each group will have ten minutes to present the issue and five minutes to deal with comments and questions from the rest of the class. Presentations will be graded in part on my evaluation of how thorough, clear, and persuasive you are and in part on how engaged the rest of the class becomes. |
| Day 28 11/10 |
Do research based upon your small-group work this afternoon. Analyze one argument in your texts that you agree with and one that you disagree with, using the techniques you learned in Essay 2 (see Presence, pp. 5-7). | Share plans, sharpen the focus of your arguments by testing it out on class members. |
| Day 29 11/14 |
Create a plan for Essay 4 and e-mail it to me by Sunday, 10 p.m. This should include a sentence outline for the essay, and an introduction. (See excellent section on argument in The Bedford Reader, pp. 158-167, to help with outline). To prepare for the outline, I suggest you create a chart of arguments and counterarguments. After receiving my comments Monday morning, write a first draft of Essay 4, with Works Cited page. Before submitting in Learning Space, use the requirements for Essay 4 (above) as a checklist to help write your metatext. | Lesson on revision based on drafts received. Peer-response work. |
| Day 30 11/16 |
Work on revision of Essay 4. | Editing work. |
| Day 31 11/17 |
Final draft of Essay 4, with metatext. Printout plus submission in Learning Space. | Basic Skills survey. Post-test preparation. |