COMPINAR IN YOUR COMP CLASS

Today we will:

Move on to Portfolio two.....the essy also doubles as your intergrated assignment

1. The link for the essay is located in the side bar menu. Every student within the triad will receive this handout. Please print it out for your personal use.

The White Paper IA Sp11

2. What is a White Paper?

Typically, the purpose of a white paper is to argue a particular political position or to propose a solution to a problem, addressing a specific audience. White papers are powerful persuasive tools used to aid key decision-makers and influencers to justify implementing specific solutions.

In short, a white paper is a research report of sorts. This paper is designed to do two primary things: educate and persuade. 

3. The Writing Assignment:

This assignment will allow students to comprehensively explore a particular political issue. You will select a specific, narrowed political focus to research.

Step A: Political Bio The student will research and find a political figure whose political biases are similar to his/her own. (Example: United States Congressman Senator or Representative.)

The student will discover the political ideology of the selected political figure and research their political biography.

Step B: Choose a topic/issue. Your audience for this paper is the Congressman/Senator of your choice. You will be acting as their staffer and trying to persuade them to consider your thoughts and reasoning.

• You will need to research the history of what legislation has been considered or passed by Congress regarding your issue of choice.
• You must research the topic extensively and provide a sufficient background on the origins of the problem, efforts (if any) to deal with the problem, and then propose a variety of different options for dealing with the problem.
• This paper should conclude with the clear advocacy for one particular option. This of this assignment as a comprehensive policy paper that is suitable for submission to a member of Congress.
• Look only at the last three Congresses (111^th, 110^th, and 109^th). Feel free to see if the 112^th Congress has considered your issue, but understand that it has only recently convened and may not have addressed your issue at this point. 

Step C: Persuasion. Give details regarding what should be done for your issue. Keep in mind that you are a member of the legislative staff for your Congressman or Senator. One of the key jobs of staffers is to inform or persuade their legislator. If a bill is currently under consideration, provide an argument for why your Congressman should vote for or against the legislation based on your research. If no bill is currently under consideration, provide an argument for why your Congressman should propose new legislation or reintroduce old legislation.

• Use the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and/or logos to persuade the legislator to your position. Remember, depending on your chosen topic, certain appeals might work best in your efforts to make the best persuasive argument.
• Use the rhetorical elements (purpose, audience, voice, and situation) to argue your position. You should address why this solution is the appropriate one for the target audience and present the benefits of the solution to the Congressman. 

4. How seminar will aid you in this process?

Seminar Portfolio two Sp11 

5. How Composition will help you in this process?

6. How to get started? 

HW: Read Chapter 8 for Com.  Seminar: Come to class with a Congressman of Interest and information (webpage) on this individual.