Option One: Commentary
Format:3 double-spaced pages 12 pt. font MLA
Weight:50 points
Commentaries take a new angle on a timely topic and back up their claims with good reasoning and solid evidence.For this assignmentchoose a current controversial issue that interests you about some aspect ofyour careerfieldoutline both sides of the issue by researching current events or debates and respond to the argument of others by contributing something new to an ongoing public conversation.
Your goal is to convince readers to agree with you and perhaps to change their minds. Readers of commentaries want to grasp the issue under discussion and understand the authors angle quickly and easily. They want to learn something new and figure out how someone else views an important issue. To catch readers attention a commentary needs to snap making its point quickly and memorably using emotion and character to add life and energy to an argument.
A Commentary typicallyincludessome of or all of these features:
A topicbased on current events or current issues [regarding social media]
An introductionthat immediately engages the reader by clearly announcing theissueunder examination the writers thesis and the angle he or she will take on this topic.
An explanationof the current event or issue that reviews what happened and the ongoing conversation about it.
An argumentfor a specific position that includes reasoning evidence examples and observations.
A clarificationthat qualifies the argument avoiding the tendency to overgeneralize or oversimplify the topic.
A conclusionthat offers an overall assessment of the issue highlights its importance to readers and looks to the future.