Essay 1: Argument – Glocal Issue You are Concerned About
Assignment:
Everyday people have, for eternity, expended great effort in the struggle to define
and solve problems. During that struggle, everyday people figure out ways to communicate, to
argue a claim, or to persuade an audience. They create change through action. But before the
proper course of active change can be determined, they must identify a great many details about
an issue that matters to an individual, or an issue that emerges to interrupt the pursuit of
happiness of an individual. One important fact about most issues is that they are not usually
isolated incidents. Quite often a single event or issue not only has a local impact, but also carries
repercussions across the oceans around the world. These kinds of issues are sometimes referred
to by using a portmanteau: ‘glocal’, which is a combo of GLObal + LOCAL.
Write an essay in which you (1)
unpack and define a glocal issue that is important for you
,
(2) demonstrate your mastery of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, critical thinking, and reasoning
as you (3)
explore how your glocal issue is both an issue on the local level as well as an issue
on a global scale,
and, lastly, (4) detail what your role in all of this will be in the years to come:
what will you do in the face of this issue? Consider carefully what readers may already know
about the particular glocal issue you select to explore and define (or redefine), and how your
essay can effectively add to their knowledge. Please keep your focus narrow by exploring and
writing about detailed and specific examples. Keeping your topic as narrow as possible helps
keep your essay on track. Also, please consider the social impact involved in this topic. Why
should it matter to your reader? In what ways are you as the writer advancing our knowledge of
ourselves and what is going on around us, or, perhaps, that we, in effect, may be contributing to
the problems of this glocal issue. How are you going to reconcile truth and perception?
Objectives: As the writer, you will be able to—
—Ameliorate your diction and
avail yourself of locution suitable for a scholar entering into “The
Conversation” that transpires at this institution. (Improve your word choice)
—Gain insight into a concept, issue, event, and field in which members of society or a society
find themselves to be losing something or to be severely lacking in some way
—Gain further experience in conducting academic research
—Analytically examine subject matter, think critically about your topic, and utilize a variety of
rhetorical strategies
—Write thoughtfully with thorough detail and supporting examples to substantiate the claims
you state
—Write with purpose and direction that demonstrates mastery in the rhetorical technique of
argument
—Inform a reader of something new and/or surprising that they may not have previously known
about your subject of investigation
—Persuade the reader of the need to consider your opinion as valid and true
—Affect the reader emotionally through use of compelling situational examples and case studies
—Use language cleverly and charmingly, with an eye to sustaining reader interest throughout the
length of your essay
Research:
Our class readings, videos, discussions and lectures provide a springboard for you to decide upon
a topic or subject worthy of investigation. You are expected to exercise some agency in your
decision making. We have, although superficially, reviewed several possible glocal issues in
class. Your challenge now is to decide upon a specific issue that you will investigate in detail.
Your paper will incorporate
(a)
a general discussion of the glocal issue you are exploring via
anecdotal examples that illustrate that issue,
(b)
a specific claim about the issue that reflects your
thoughts about what should happen concerning this issue,
(c)
several cases that exemplify the
issue as well as the context surrounding your specific case,
(d)
the location where this specific
issue resides in local society as well as where, and how, this issue crops up around the world,
(e)
how the media has treated the issue you are exploring
, and
(f)
how you intend to exercise
some agency in this. You are expected to describe what you are going to do about it. Will you
take up a cause? Will you aid those who do? Will ignore it completely? Will you engage in a
silent protest? What can you do? What will you do?
Conduct library and online research to
find a minimum of
6
additional sources.
Then consider how you can interest readers in your
argument.
Planning and drafting:
Review your notes from all readings, videos, and class lectures. How can you present your
argument clearly to readers and engage their interest? How much do they already know about it?
What points do you need to sell to reader? How will you manage counterarguments throughout
the body of your essay? How will you start your argument, ensuring reader interest? Make a plan
for your essay and begin outlining and drafting it. To get the best result, writing requires 60%
revision; you’ll need time to rethink and redo. Start early.
Critical Reading Guide:
What are your draft’s strengths and weaknesses? For example, does your focus seem too broad?
Would visuals or better transitions make your explanation clearer? Get a classmate, a friend, a
writing center consultant, or someone else to read and respond in detail to your essay, focusing
especially on the parts where you are most unsure of your writing.
Editing and Proofreading:
As you consider your essay again in light of your reader’s comments, how can you improve it? If
the beginning failed to engage the reader’s interest, how else could you begin? How could you
integrate quotations more smoothly into your own text? Go through your draft systematically,
making changes wherever necessary.
Have you checked for errors that are especially likely in explanations of concepts? Have you
forgotten to include commas around adjective clauses that are not essential to the meaning or
around phrases that interrupt the flow of a sentence? Look for and correct these and any other
errors.
–Adhere to current MLA formatting standards for heading a paper and citing sources
our class materials. At least
must be hardbound sources (i.e. from a book, journal, magazine).
1.
There are several instances of glocal issues listed in the hand-out provided in class. You
are not restricted to these issues, but you are required to discuss your issue with me
before you begin researching it if it is not from the list provided to you in the hand-out
mentioned above. You must show how the issue is both a local issue as well as a global
one.
Summarize your second source in no less than 500 words. This source will also be required in your final draft. Therefore, use a major source for this summary as well.